Buttonwood Park Zoo’s Virtual “Wildlife Education Series” returns this spring with two incredible talks highlighting two magnificent species. This educational program covers a variety of scientific topics, ranging from biology to animal behavior to conservation science. The events are geared to inquisitive individuals who are eager to learn and ask questions.

On April 1, 2021, BPZOO is proud to welcome Dr. Susan Mikota, Director of Veterinary Services and Research for Elephant Care International (ECI), who will present “Care and Conservation of Elephants in Asia”. ECI is dedicated to the healthcare, welfare, and conservation of elephants and to facilitating data sharing among elephant professionals and programs focused on care (healthcare and welfare of individuals and groups), conservation (mitigation of disease where captive and wild elephant interface) and capacity building (through training veterinarians and providing technical support, equipment, and supplies).

Buttonwood Park Zoo photo.

Dr. Mikota will discuss the status of captive and wild elephants in Asia with a focus on ECI projects in select countries. This free virtual event begins at 7:00 pm and will be held on Zoom. Preregistration is required at https://www.bpzoo.org/whats-new/wildlife-education-series/.

In addition to being Director of Veterinary Programs and Research for ECI, Dr. Mikota is also co-founder of the not-for-profit organization. She has written numerous scientific articles and book chapters and co-edited Biology, Medicine, and Surgery of Elephants, the first modern veterinary textbook dedicated to elephants. Dr. Mikota worked for the Audubon Zoo/Audubon Institute for almost 20 years, before moving to Indonesia for three years to care for elephants in government training centers in Sumatra. Dr. Mikota has also worked in Nepal, Myanmar, India, Thailand, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka. She is a member of the IUCN Asian Elephant Specialist Group, the IUCN Wildlife Health Specialist Group and the Asian Captive Elephant Working Group (acewg.org). In 2017 she became a Diplomate of the American College of Animal Welfare, a specialty acknowledged by the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Buttonwood Park Zoo photo.

The second installment of this popular education series will be held on April 28, 2021 and will feature Alysa McCall, Director of Conservation Outreach, and Marissa Krouse, Program Manager for Polar Bears International (PBI). PBI is the only conservation organization solely dedicated to wild polar bears. Through research, education, and advocacy we work to inspire people to care about the Arctic and its connection to our global climate.

The “Wildlife Education Series” will be held virtually, on Zoom, and is free to attend, but pre-registration is required. For more information, visit https://www.bpzoo.org/whats-new/wildlife-education-series/.

By Brendan Kurie
Contributing Writer

That certainly wasn’t how the GNB Voc-Tech football team imagined its season starting.

Riding the optimism of a 2019 playoff appearance, there were high hopes that the Bears would prove they belong in the upper echelon of the South Coast Conference when they hosted Apponequet in both teams’ season openers on Friday afternoon at Jeffrey E. Riley Stadium. But then the Lakers ground game got going and piled up 391 rushing yards in a 45-7 victory.

“We have a lot to work on,” head coach Justin Cruz said. “This was our first game in more than a year. You can’t take anything away from the fact that I think (Apponequet) is one of the strongest teams in our conference with those horses back there.”

The thoroughbred of Apponequet’s stable is senior Kevin Hughes, who piled up 299 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries. Also finding the end zone were Lakers running backs Cole Dixon (67 yards, two scores) and Chace Gorman (28 yards, one TD).

“For us, it was poor tackling,” Cruz said. “We talked about that a bunch as a team. Not to take away from (Hughes), he’s a great back, but there were a lot of times where we would meet the guy at the line and he’d break a couple tackles.”

The Bears’ struggles weren’t limited to the run defense, however. The offense gained just 117 total yards, and 56 of those came on a single pass from Cam Lynch to Avery Sylvia late in the second quarter.

Voc-Tech had 11 possessions in the game. Seven ended in three-and-outs. Two possessions lasted just three plays before a Lakers interception. In all, the Bears had two first downs and 51 rushing yards.

Part of the problem was how well the Lakers were able to contain talented senior Heiser Cacho, who did get free for an 87-yard kickoff return touchdown in the second quarter. But Cacho ran for a mere two yards on seven carries, adding two catches for 10 yards.

“We have to find ways to get him the ball and block the guys up front so he has a little time to do what he needs to do,” Cruz said. “We need to get him out in space, but we need to block the guys up front.”

Lynch ended up leading the team in rushing with 42 yards on nine carries.

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Hughes, easily. He nearly ran for 300 yards. He found the end zone three times. He even recovered a fumble, recorded a sack and caught a 12-yard pass.

THE BIGGEST PLAY
Late in the second quarter, with Voc-Tech trailing 21-7, Lynch connected on back-to-back passes to Cacho and Sylvia for a combined 64 yards, setting the Bears up with 1st-and-10 on Apponequet’s 12-yard line. A touchdown would have sent Voc-Tech into the locker room trailing by just one score. But instead, the Bears surrendered two sacks and threw an incomplete pass before fumbling the ball away on 4th and 35. The Lakers would score the game’s next 24 points.

THE GAME PLAY
Cole Dixon got the scoring going for the Lakers, running 20 yards untouched before bowling over a would-be tackler on a 26-yard scoring jaunt midway through the first quarter.
The Lakers extended their lead to 14-0 on a 13-yard Hughes touchdown early in the second quarter, then got a 7-yard TD run through a wide-open gap opened by the offensive line, making it 21-0 with a little over four minutes left in the second quarter.

That’s when Cacho got loose for an 87-yard kickoff return that he blazed through the middle of the field and then down the left sideline. Jason Ayala kicked the extra point.

Apponequet started pulling away in the third quarter with an 11-yard touchdown by Gorman and a 14-yard touchdown from Hughes. In the fourth quarter, Logan Tsika, who also hit six extra-points, drilled a 43-yard field goal with room to spare, then Hughes wrapped things up with a 75-yard scoring jaunt with a little over four minutes remaining.

THE RECORDS
Apponequet is now 1-0. GNB Voc-Tech is 0-1.

THE NOTES
The Voc-Tech defense did force Apponequet to punt four times, but with both teams trading short possessions, that meant the Lakers got the ball 11 times. … The Bears got a sack from Ed Fragata. … Apponequet interceptions came from Mike Henricksen and Gorman. … Kobe DeSousa forced a fumble, Caleb Procaccini blocked a punt and recorded a sack and Timothy Clerc added two sacks for the Lakers. … The Lakers had a 55-yard touchdown pass to Henricksen called back for an illegal hit, but still ended up scoring on the possession.

THE STATISTICS
Total offense: Apponequet 414, GNB Voc-Tech 117
Total rushing: Apponequet 391, GNB Voc-Tech 51

GNB Voc-Tech
Passing: Cam Sylvia 3-12-66-0-2
Rushing: Cam Sylvia 9-42, Heiser Cacho 7-2, Joey Brightman 4-5, Avery Sylvia 2-2, Kyle Langlois 1-0
Receiving: Avery Sylvia 1-55, Heiser Cacho 2-10

Apponequet
Passing: John Mahan III 2-8-23-0-0
Rushing: Kevin Hughes 22-299-3, Cole Dixon 9-67-2, Chace Gorman 5-28-1, Stephen Navega 1-5, Vincent Oliveri 1-4, Adam Medas 1-(-5)
Receiving: Kevin Hughes 1-12, Mike Henricksen 1-11

Colin A. Young
State House News Service

From July 2020 through February 2021, eight pandemic-filled months, the Massachusetts Lottery sold $3.78 billion worth of its products and turned an estimated profit of $747.9 million — a 4.1 percent increase in sales and a 7.2 percent increase in profit over the same eight months leading up to the pandemic.

Lottery Executive Director Michael Sweeney told the Lottery Commission on Tuesday morning that February sales “held their own” and that six of nine products on the Lottery’s roster have seen sales increases so far this fiscal year.

“We’re doing very well. Actually, in my opinion, outstanding overall. Just about 4 percent over sales compared to the prior year. Instant tickets are very strong, up over 6 percent,” Sweeney said.

February sales of $420.8 million were up $3.6 million over February 2020 sales. Sweeney said the month generated $76.2 million in profit, a roughly $7 million decrease from February 2020 that he attributed to a $22.2 million increase in scratch ticket grand prize claims last month. Sales of Keno and All or Nothing, both monitor games often played inside at bars and restaurants, are each down more than 10 percent year-over-year, but Sweeney said Keno sales have rebounded a bit recently. “We’ve done our best to try and recover those previous heights and I think we’ve done pretty well,” he said. “We’re at about the 2019 level.”

At the start of March, the Lottery upgraded its fiscal year 2021 profit projection by $45 million to $985 million as its sales defy expectations formed earlier in the pandemic. The Massachusetts Lottery had its third-best year in terms of revenue in fiscal year 2020 and generated a net profit of $986.9 million for the state to use as local aid.

A 39-year-old Taunton man arrested early last summer for stealing a motor vehicle while already on parole for the same type of crime was sentenced to serve seven to 10 years in state prison, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Randall Mosher pleaded guilty Friday in Fall River Superior Court to a single-count indictment charging him with larceny of a motor vehicle.

On Sunday, June 28, 2020 at approximately 7:00 pm, Taunton Police were dispatched to the CVS at 7 Washington Street for a report of a stolen motor vehicle. The female victim victim had gone inside CVS to make a quick transaction and had left the key inside her car. When she returned to where she had parked her 2005 Toyota Rav 4, she observed her car traveling down Washington Street and called 911. Responding officers searched the area with negative results.

On the next day, the vehicle was located in the driveway of the defendant’s grandmother’s Dartmouth home. The defendant was found sleeping inside a bedroom in the home and, despite his denials about stealing the vehicle, the key to the vehicle was found underneath the mattress he was sleeping on.

At the time of the offense, the defendant was on parole for a 2014 case involving Larceny of a Motor Vehicle, Kidnapping and Carjacking. As a condition of his parole, the defendant was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet.

Taunton Police then investigated the GPS’s data on the night of the crime, and it proved he was at the CVS where the vehicle was stolen at the time of the crime Subsequently, the GPS data showed the defendant went to Fall River and New Bedford before going to the Dartmouth home on June 29, 2020 at 12:45 am.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Carolyn Morrissette and the state prison sentence was imposed by Judge Sharon Donatelle.

“The defendant is a career criminal who was on parole for carjacking and stealing a car when he again stole another victim’s car. Being on parole with a GPS device was no deterrent. He simply doesn”t get it and needs to be kept off the street to protect the public,” District Attorney Quinn said.

State Police Association of Massachusetts Event Introduces Young Girls to Law Enforcement – G.I.R.L.S. Highlights Policing from Female Perspective During National Women’s History Month.

“On Saturday, 40 girls from the ages of 6-12, from diverse backgrounds and recruited via youth agencies and Boston-area schools, participated in G.I.R.L.S. Day at Massachusetts State Police General Headquarters in Framingham.

Sponsored by the State Police Association of Massachusetts, the union that represents Department members holding the ranks of Trooper and Sergeant, G.I.R.L.S. Day aimed to celebrate Women’s History Month and showcase law enforcement as a future career consideration for the attendees.

G.I.R.L.S. Day — an acronym for the themes Grit, Intelligence, Resilience, Leadership and Strength — put together a series of age-appropriate activities highlighting what it means to be a Trooper and leader at the Massachusetts State Police.

The event kicked off with an introduction and warm welcome from Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police. The girls enjoyed detailed presentations and hands-on activities led by female Troopers working in a variety of fields within the State Police, including the Cyber Crime Unit, Crime Scene Services, and the Fire Investigation Unit.

They also learned about the history of our department from members of the Massachusetts State Police Museum and Learning Center. Participants took part in group sessions as well as breakouts segmented by age.”-Massachusetts State Police.

All photos by the Massachusetts State Police:

This heart-warming story begins with 16-year-old Sierra Fletcher, a special needs teen with down syndrome that lives in Vermont. We all know the value of fresh air and exercise and during a pandemic where we are all stuck at home or limiting our social movement, it is more important than ever.

Once the community found out that the bike would need to cross state lines to be delivered, they jumped at the chance.

____________________________________________________________________________

“On Friday, March 26th B Troop Community Police Liaison, Tpr. DeShawn Brown, C Troop Community Police Liaison Tpr. Farrah Gray, along with Tpr. Andrew Canata and Tpr. James Carmichael assisted Hampden County Dep. Sheriff Robert “Bob the bike guy” Charland escorted a custom-made bike from Springfield to Bellows Falls, VT for 16-year-old Sierra Fletcher.

The escort also included Lt. Stephen Rose of the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office, Troopers from the Vermont State Police, along with Chief Bemis and Ofc. Tuttle of the Bellows Falls PD.

Tpr. Brown adjusted Sierra’s helmet to the proper fit, and gave her a brief bike safety lesson before she went on her first ride!”-Massachusetts State Police.

All photos by the Massachusetts State Police:

In a statement released today, The New Bedford Branch of the NAACP is calling on elected officials and area residents to accelerate efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.

New Bedford continues to report among the highest total number of infected individuals in the Commonwealth, at over 12,000 each. Yet, the number of vaccines arriving in our city is woefully inadequate: only 600 vaccines are provided each week, according to the city’s health department for a population of almost 100,000. The city is classified as in the red – highest risk – zone.

Additionally, people of color are being vaccinated at a slower pace than others. The result is that, while the percentage of coronavirus cases in the white community is a smaller number to the overall population, Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians suffered infection disproportionately, with rates much higher than their proportion of the population.

Acknowledging that people of color are scheduling vaccine shots at a much lower rate than the overall population due to suspicions about the safety of the inoculations, NB NAACP urges better outreach to those communities. Additionally, public vaccination sites are sometimes difficult for residents to reach, especially those of low income. Shots should be available wherever residents regularly receive healthcare, from providers they know.

In addition to making vaccinations more accessible, involving trusted providers would help to significantly reduce the skepticism that helps lead to low vaccination rates.

Renee Ledbetter, Vice President of the New Bedford Branch said, “This is a matter of life and death. We have to be sure to do our part to stem this deadly disease. The end is in sight, but will remain out of reach if strong action isn’t taken by the Commonwealth and residents immediately.”

She continued, “We call on our elected officials and the Governor to speed the number of vaccinations available, to make them more accessible to the public, and to make increased efforts in communities of color to educate the public and urge residents to vaccinate.”

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell released the following statement on the Biden Administration’s designation of a new priority Wind Energy Area in the New York Bight:

“The Biden Administration’s designation today of new wind energy areas in the New York Bight leaves no doubt that America’s offshore wind industry is now in full gear. New Bedford has much at stake in these developments.

For nearly a decade, we have been positioning ourselves to become a leader in offshore wind, and will soon host the deployment of the Vineyard Wind project, America’s first industrial-scale offshore wind farm. As the industry rolls out, New Bedford will support wind farms not only off of Massachusetts but in the Bight as well, leading to the creation of well-paying jobs for our residents.

“At the same time, most of the seafood caught in the Bight, by dollar value, is landed in New Bedford, America’s top commercial fishing port. We are grateful that in determining the boundaries of the new wind energy areas, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has taken pains to balance the interests of the wind and fishing industries based on the best available scientific data. While some tailoring of the boundaries may be necessary to avoid the most heavily fished areas, the announcement represents substantial progress after years of inaction.

We look forward to our continued work with the Biden Administration to launch an industry that will be a pillar of America’s response to climate change, while preserving the established interests of commercial fishermen.” – Mayor Jon Mitchell

Oxygen masks provided vital support for many of the 26 cats rescued after a fire at 303 County St. in New Bedford March 21.

But this large rescue effort depleted much of the supply of oxygen masks for animals.

The Coalition for Animals, a New Bedford-based, all-volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to helping animals, is sponsoring a fund-raising campaign to help replenish the supply of this life-saving equipment.

NBCU is helping with that effort with a generous donation of $1,000.

The check will be presented at a press conference at 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 31 at the offices of NBCU, 1150 Purchase St., New Bedford.

Representatives from the Coalition for Animals, the New Bedford Fire Department, EMS, Police Department and Animal Control will accept the check, which will be used to purchase masks.

“We’re happy to donate and are hopeful that other business will come forward to help as well,’’ said Berta Varao, president and CEO of NBCU.

Those attending will have the chance to see an oxygen mask placed on an animal to showcase how valuable these life-saving tools can be and provide an important visual image for the public.

The media is encouraged to attend and spread the word about the ongoing need for animal rescue equipment.

Masks must be worn and social distancing will be maintained by all attendees.

“Massachusetts State Troopers this past weekend assisted members of the Massachusetts Wampanoag Tribe at two community events.

Troopers from the Troop C Community Action Team assisted tribal members at a food distribution site in Central Massachusetts, while Troopers from the Troop D Community Action Team helped out at Wampanoag COVID vaccination clinics in Dartmouth and Plymouth.

We were grateful for the opportunity to provide assistance to members of the Wampanoag community! #WampanoagNation”-Massachusetts State Police.

Massachusetts State Police photo.

Massachusetts State Police photo.

Massachusetts State Police photo.

Massachusetts State Police photo.