New Bedford has roadwork sites for the upcoming week of November 22, 2021 – November 26, 2021

The City of New Bedford has roadwork sites for the upcoming week of November 22, 2021 – November 26, 2021 and they are as follows:

Offices will be closed & no construction works Thursday, November 25th and Friday, November 26th.

Eversource will be working on the gas main relays and services at:

• Replacing gas services on Elizabeth St, Bedford St and Taber St
• Abandoning gas main on Hersom St / Waldo St and Vernon St
• Tie in gas main and replacing gas services on Phillips Rd starting from Birchwood Dr to Hillcrest Dr
• Working on the regulators on Holly St at Belleville Ave
• Relaying gas main on Church St at Tarkiln Hill Rd

Other:
• Contractor (PA Landers) will be on Cottage St (Parker St to Sycamore St) for various sidewalk restoration areas. No Parking zone signs will be posted in areas as necessary.
• Contractor (PA Landers) to continue sidewalk roadway improvements on Weld St from Summer St to Myrtle St.
• Contractor (PA Landers) will be conducting test pits on Cedar St (Maxfield St to North St) for upcoming sewer main installation.
• Contactor (AGS) will be replacing sidewalk panels at various utility pole locations throughout the city.
• Contractor (PA Landers) will be repairing various roadway and sidewalks citywide.
• Contractor (PA Landers) will be working on wheelchair ramp reconstruction on Pleasant St by North St / Tower Dr
• Contractor (JH Lynch) to continue work at MassDOT Project #608536, intersection improvements at Rockdale Ave X Allen St. Detours during working hours will be required for installation of new drainage throughout the project site. Signage will be posted for detour routes.
• Contractor (K.R. Rezendes, Inc.) to continue work at MassDOT Project #606718, roadway reconstruction and related work (including traffic signal installation) along a section of Hathaway Rd, Nauset St and Mt Pleasant St.
• Contractor (PA Landers) to continue work at MassDOT Project #606709 with roadway and sidewalk reconstruction related work along a section of Kings Highway and Tarkiln Hill Rd.
• Contractor (SCR Constructors) will continue site work at the future South Coast Rail station platform locations in the City. (Church St at Carlisle St and Wamsutta St at Acushnet Ave.) Contractor will be performing test pits in Wamsutta St. Street closure from Acushnet Ave to N Front St. Detour signage and police details will be in place. If you have questions, please email the project team at SouthCoastRail@dot.state.ma.us
• Due to ongoing construction at the High Hill Reservoir residents may experience discolored water. The water is safe, and the discoloration will be temporary. We recommend allowing the water to settle for a few hours and then flushing your service line by letting the bathtub run for a few minutes until the water runs clear.
Hydrant Flushing:
• The City will be flushing hydrants Saturday and Sundays between November 13th and November 27th. Industrial Park (along Braley Rd, Church St, Phillips Rd, Duchaine Blvd, Samuel Barnet Blvd and John Vertente Blvd.), the Fish Houses (along Coggeshall St and North Front St, Herman Melville Blvd, MacArthur Drive from Front St to Cove St), Pier 2, Pier 4, State Pier and Downtown (between Maxfield St and Walnut St and from County St to the Waterfront)
Union St. Phase II Sewer Separation Project:
• Contractor (C. Naughton Corp.) will work Monday to Wednesday to continue installing catch basins and drain piping along Union St between Sixth St and County St. During working hours, Union St will be closed between Sixth St and Eighth St. Westbound traffic on Union St will be detoured via Pleasant St, Elm St and County St. Eastbound traffic on Union St will be detoured via Spring St and Pleasant St.

** Please note: Contractors will continue to follow guidelines and protocol regarding COVID-19 social distancing while conducting work in construction zone.




New Bedford’s Zeiterion “Drive-In” presents a Sunday afternoon of live Salsa, Cha Cha and Merengue on the waterfront

“The best dance band. So fun and so sassy!” -Grupo Sazón fan.

Put on your dancing shoes for Grupo Sazón, a seven-piece orchestra led by master percussionist, founder and musical director Jesús Andújar. A mid-day matinee of Salsa, Cha Cha & Merengue music in the Whale’s Tale Parking Lot by the waterfront!

Andújar was born into a family of musicians in Samaná, Dominican Republic. At a young age he developed his rhythm, timing, and ear for music while working on the farms. He now leads a group of incredibly talented musicians performing authentic music from the Spanish Caribbean with an expansive repertoire of Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Cha Cha, Calypso and Latin Jazz.

Featuring Aníbal Cruz on piano, Wilson Vera on bass, Miguel Martínez and Anthony Carrillo on percussion, Doug Olsen on trumpet, and José Humberto on vocals.

Sunday, October 25th at 3:00pm in the Whale’s Tale parking lot. Each car gets two spots! Feel free to use the empty spot on the driver’s side for dancing or a picnic set-up. For everyone’s safety, masks are required when you’re outside the vehicle.




Massachusetts State Police assist Nevada Police in track and arrest of suspect in multiple child rapes

Police in Reno, Nev., acting on information provided by the Massachusetts State Police, yesterday arrested a former Marlboro man suspected of committing sexual assaults against multiple children in and around that town. State Police had added the suspect, DANIEL ESCALANTE, 42, to their Most Wanted List in late March.

In recent weeks, the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section (MSP VFAS), working with the State Police Cyber Crime Unit, the State Police Watch Center, Marlboro Police, and the US Marshals Service, conducted an extensive investigation into ESCALANTE’s whereabouts. Investigators recently developed information that ESCALANTE had fled Massachusetts and was living in Nevada under an alias.

MSP VFAS then began working with the US Marshals’ Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force for Reno, Nevada. Members of the Task Force, acting on information provided by MSP VFAS, located and arrested ESCALANTE without incident at approximately 9 p.m. (Pacific) yesterday.

ESCALANTE is currently being held in Nevada on a fugitive from justice charge. He was expected to appear in the Reno Justice Court today. Prosecutors in Massachusetts will work with Nevada authorities to arrange his rendition to answer to the child assault charges here.

The charges ESCALANTE faces in Middlesex County are: five counts of rape of a child with force; two counts of assault with intent to rape a child; and four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.

The Massachusetts State Police are grateful to the Pacific Southwest Regional Task Force for its assistance in apprehending this Most Wanted fugitive.




Who Keeps Things Flowing at New Bedford’s Ocean Explorium?

mike mccarthy new bedford guide
by Mike McCarthy

Although most of people would not want to start their day cleaning up after a tank of mussels that overflowed, Warren Gibbons, who oversees the husbandry of the Ocean Explorium’s marine life, seemed remarkably chipper despite this aggravation. Warren and his colleague Abbey Spargo, the Educational Programs Coordinator, have an infectious enthusiasm for their work at the Ocean Explorium, located in the former New Bedford Institute for Savings on the corner of Purchase and Union streets, downtown.

Most major zoos and aquariums focus on eco-tourism to bring large numbers of outsiders and herd through a maze of tanks and exhibits featuring the oddities of the natural world. While this approach can incite awe and excitement (as anyone who has been to the New England Aquarium’s penguin exhibit near a field trip can testify) rarely can they leave a meaningful impression on droves of visitors. The team of educators and scientists at the Ocean Explorium choose to go in the other direction, focusing on interaction at the group and individual level to give visitors something special to take away from their visit.  As Warren puts it; “slow food, not fast food.”

new bedford guide explorium
A crab being held at the Explorium.

Children are the main benefactors from a visit, especially those from New Bedford who have not yet had an opportunity to interact and explore the marine environment of their harbor and beaches. Through place-based learning, educators at the Explorium are able bring groups of community children directly to the waterfront. Once there, they can turn over rocks and learn that crabs, while they have big claws, are more afraid of the kids.

Back in the cavernous marble main hall, visitors are enlightened on the dangers that marine life face in modern world.  This is done via’ Science on a Sphere’, which utilizes a unique three dimensional globe to display environmental issues on a global scale. After these big concepts are explained, a physical representation of at-risk creatures are displayed in the small environs in the coral reef and touch tanks provide.

The pace and level of the education is in a range where both adults and children will have an “Ah-ha!” moment as they are guided by volunteer staff. While the Ocean Explorium may not have five floors of exhibits like other, larger venues, they do make great use of the space available, giving visitors the opportunity to dive deep and ask the staff questions. According to Warren, one parting question can frequently turn into a half an hour discussion. And that’s the Explorium’s real mission: Inviting the public to explore at their own pace, with a knowledgeable staff on hand to engage and educate.

It’s the People that Make the Explorium Go

Abbey Spargo has an impressive resume in the educational field. She has worked as a science teacher at both middle and high school levels, as well as a WOW mobile educator. When she joined the organization five years ago, she brought experience in educating the public in the natural sciences, which can often look daunting to the uninitiated. This why Abbey is the perfect person to plan and coordinate not only the general public, but providing the volunteers at the Ocean Explorium with the tools they need.

inside explorium new bedford guide
Bird's eye view of the interior of the Ocean Explorium.

The volunteers are the ones who provide a lot of the answers, and they are from all over the New Bedford community. Ages fourteen to seventeen are members of the Blue Corps, while the eighteen-plus group is known as Team Blue. Volunteers are given their own opportunity to explore the different facets of the Explorium’s operations, whether it is working as floor staff, assisting in husbandry and creature care, or getting on track to be educators.

With this outreach program, the Explorium has created a real life touch tank, allowing kids who offer their time the chance to explore career paths that might not have appealed to them otherwise. Warren and Abbey beam with a deserved pride when they talk about how the internship and volunteer participants have their confidence built over their tenure at the Explorium.  On all levels the stigma towards learning is broken by their drive to open the eyes of everyone who enters the door.

If this sounds like something you want to experience firsthand, the Explorium is always looking for volunteers, especially as summer closes in. If you interested in educating yourself and your community, you can find more information here on joining Team Blue and signing up your son or daughter for Blue Corps.

A Real-Life Touch Tank

The current buzz around the Explorium is over the construction of touch tank, which features sharks and rays. The tank itself was purchased from the New England Aquarium, which recently replaced it with a larger, more permanent touch tank to meet demand.

Housing sharks and rays that are not regarded as dangerous will help to dispel the mystique of the ocean as full of great white sharks and sting rays that populate movies and television. The direct interaction with nature will really open the eyes of people who have never seen fish this big before.

new bedford guide explorium
Children get to use the new touch tank to find out what sharks and rays feel like.

Warren worked at the New England Aquarium before joining the team at the Explorium, so he has seen this tank in action. He says that the size of the facility in Boston often saw the tank overwhelmed by visitor.  To his credit, Warren does a pretty spot-on impression of kid flipping his lid over the one-of-a-kind experience that is touching the coarse skin of a moving bamboo or cat shark. The focus here is provide a level of educational intimacy where the opportunity to point out that shark skin is only rough in one direction will not be lost on a throng on rambunctious fifth graders

While new tanks are coming together, Abbey tells me, the program itself is undergoing a metamorphosis.  Changes to federal and state grant guidelines mean that free events have to be scaled back for the time being. The directors at the Explorium display great acumen in making up for lost grant funding by transforming the space into an event venue.

The transition began when a catering deal with Russell Morin Fine Catering was signed this January.  The focus is to have the Explorium-as-a-venue in full swing by early next year. The beautiful historic space, which has thankfully been kept intact, lends itself well to wedding receptions and corporate functions as well as birthday parties.  Discounts are being offered for summer and fall bookings.

In between refilling the mussel tank and taking in a delivery, Warren explained his new pet project. The general notion that most people have towards coral reefs is that they are fragile and delicate. This has been, in terms of conservation, an attempt at educating the public in the need to be careful if ever in the vicinity of these endangered animals.

shark new bedford guide ocean explorium
A small shark makes its way through the Touch Tank.

It may be surprising to some, but even though it appears plant-like, the corals are actually polyps with an exoskeleton or poisonous exterior for protection. To make matter even stranger, Warren mentions that the coral in the reef tank frequently need pruning or they will overrun each other. The clippings can then be “replanted.”

The new tank will add a level of personalization that Warren tells me is not offered by other aquariums. After being educated on the coral’s ability to propagate, which allows reefs to restore themselves after an event like a hurricane ravages the seafloor, visitors will be instructed on proper pruning techniques. Then they will be given the opportunity to trim and replant their own micro-reef which will be tagged with their name in a new coral touch tank so they can check in with it whenever they want.

That is just another example of how the staff breaks down the complex systems in our vast oceans to a small nugget, tailored for each person. The Ocean Explorium offers marine education on your terms, face-to-face, and much more than a placard of information on the wall next to a fish tank. Whenever you go to the visit them, the people there seek to make every experience unique and enlightening for you.

The environment created by at the Ocean Explorium is increasingly more dependent on volunteers, especially as the hours of operation expand in the summer. If you are the type of person that would thrive in promoting the personalized educational experience at the Explorium, then volunteer. The decrease in public grants also means more of a reliance on private donation to help bring the natural wonders of New Bedford’s harbors to our community, if you can donate here. But even if you can’t find the time to volunteer or budget a donation, paying a visit to the Ocean Explorium will make you grateful towards those who did.




Vegetarian Favorites in New Bedford

mike mccarthy new bedford guide
by Mike McCarthy

At first, and especially to tourists, it can seem daunting to find a decent vegetarian option in New Bedford amongst the myriad of restaurants specializing in seafood or Portuguese cuisine.  As a vegetarian of seven years, and lifelong resident of the city, I’ve managed to weed out the better choices for a meat-free meal from the numerous restaurants in town. I’ve assembled some personal favorites for lunch and dinner that can be found around the city, making sure to include menus that offer more than one vegetarian option.

Veggie Chili – Destination Soups 149 Union Street

destination soups new bedford guideAlthough it gets benched Thursday and Friday for clam chowder, the veggie chili is a perfect choice for a quick lunch downtown. Destination Soups has one of the busiest counters around noon on a weekday, but I’ve never waited more than five minutes for my food.

The chili is perfectly balanced, not so spicy that people back at the office will be wondering what’s wrong with you the rest of the afternoon and by no means bland or soupy, with its chunks of pepper and tomato. The staff is always willing to oblige heat-seekers with a couple extra shakes of hot sauce into your bowl.

If you happen to find yourself in Destination Soups on Thursday or Friday, fear not! Throughout the week, there is always a vegetarian, if not vegan, soup available. For those of us who aren’t vegan, the grilled cheese (provolone AND cheddar) pairs great with a cup of creamy tomato basil, both of which are on the menu all week. The chef also provides some exotic choices for the warmer months, like chilled gazpacho (great with avocado) and melon mint soups.

Tostada – No Problemo 813 Purchase Street

The first time I ordered the tostada, I was presented with a massive bowl of rice and beans topped with lettuce, sour cream, red peppers, cheese, salsa and scallions, crowned with corn chips. The chips are great to dip into the sour cream and salsa on top, but are even better if you can conserve them for use as croutons.

For those familiar with No Problemo’s menu, this is the burrito of salads; you’ll be lucky to get through the whole thing. I am thankful the menu was recently revised to offer a smaller version of this filling meal. There’s always the option of adding guacamole to your salad, which makes a nice replacement for the cheese and sour cream if you’re vegan.

A quick scan over the menu at No Problemo will reveal more vegetarian-friendly options. Rest assured that the refried beans are not cooked in lard, but if you’re vegan you’ll want to stay away from the torta since they are served on Portuguese rolls which are made with butter. Final words of advice- when plantains are available as special, make sure you give the quesadilla a try!

Pumpkin Curry – Spicy Lime 522 Pleasant Street

spicy lime new bedford guideThis is kind of a teaser if you’re reading this article in the winter or spring because the pumpkin curry is only available at the end of the summer and into the fall. It is my favorite seasonal treat in New Bedford, aside from apple cider (but that’s more of a Freetown thing). The Spicy Lime’s year-round red curry is infused with pureed pumpkin as well as giant chunks of the gourd.

I personally feel like the pumpkin curry is filling enough on its own, although, like most Thai restaurants, Spicy Lime has tofu as the choice for protein for almost every dish. The gradient of spiciness might throw new-comers, so I would recommend ordering to the mild version of your dish for your first visit unless you are prepared to go through a lot of water and wine or beer of your choice (they are BYOB).

Insalata – Brick Pizzeria 163 Union Street

brick pizzeria new bedford guidePizza is kind of a no-brainer for vegetarians and omnivores alike, and Brick always pleases. The menu has over twenty specialty pies, so everyone in your group is likely to find something to ease their appetite. Be sure to check out their calzones, which are massive and stuffed with ricotta, and sandwiches served on bread baked fresh for every order.

The insalata is an interesting take on pizza which I’ve never seen anywhere else.  A sour dough, Napoletana-style white pizza comes out of the oven, then has a salad of your choice built on top.  If your ordering take-out, they will put the salad on the side so it won’t wilt on your ride home.

The first time I got the insalata, I ate it very daintily with knife and fork, but now I just dive right in, grabbing a slice and folding it in half to hold the greens on top. The menu has enough salad selections so that this choice never gets old.

General Tso’s Tofu – Grand Wok 840 Kempton Street

grand wok new bedford guideYou can look through the phone book for New Bedford and find over twenty listings for Chinese food. Every person has their favorite, and even after I moved out of the West end in high school, I still stood by Grand Wok. In the past year they’ve expanded their menu to offer more choices for the health conscious and vegetarian, including a seaweed salad and the option to substitute brown rice.

The General Tso’s tofu is a vegetarian take on the Chinese food staple, General Tso’s chicken. The kitchen at Grand Wok never disappoints, with the crispiness of the tofu strips and the potency of the sweet and sour sauce slathered all over them. The only addition I make is occasionally asking for extra broccoli when I want more than the three token florets.

Grand Wok will also deliver to most of the nearby neighborhoods for the tiny fee of one dollar. The food is fast and affordable. They’re one of the best choices for a late night, after work dinner, since they’re open until midnight on the weekends.

There’s always a vegetarian choice for a meal in New Bedford, whether you’re in the mood for a quick bite or a lengthier sit-down place, you’ll always have something on your plate. All these restaurants are also great places to feed a larger party. Dining out with a group can sometime mean having to order the only salad on the menu, so I included the places that offer a variety of dishes that will satisfy everyone at the table, from tofu chompers to those who are always in the mood for steak.