“Melts your heart…

Trooper Jim Burke who is assigned to the State Police – Milton Barracks responded to the Blue Hills Reservation to take a report of a missing bicycle.

When he arrived, he learned that a young girl and her family were visiting the Houghton’s Pond area. They left her bicycle at the pavilion as they walked the beach area. When they returned to the pavilion, they found that the bicycle had been stolen. The young girl was devastated.

After a conversation with the family, Trooper Burke offered the girl a bike he had at home which his daughter had outgrown. The family was ecstatic and accepted the offer! The girl was so excited as she took her new bike for their first ride!

That’s dedication to community. Thank you Trooper Burke for going the extra on this one!”-Massachusetts State Police.

The following was posted by Mirasol’s Cafe’s Instagram account:

“In strict compliance with the guidelines set forth by the CDC, Dartmouth Board of Health and OSHA and to provide the highest degree of transparency, we are informing our community that a staff member at our cafe has recently tested positive for COVID-19.

We excused this staff member from any work-related activity shortly after arriving at the cafe. The staff member had some underlying symptoms of COVID-19, so was promptly sent home. According to the Dartmouth Board of Health and the Massachusetts Department of Health, we are cleared to resume operations as normal, but we are taking it upon ourselves to close in order to sanitize, using an outside firm and get additional testing, so we will close on Tuesday (5/12) and Wednesday (5/13) and re-open on Thursday – Saturday of this week.

Mirasol’s Cafe has exceeded the necessary steps to ensure the safety of our staff and customers. These steps include:

The staff member will not be permitted to return to work until meeting all CDC guidelines. These include: allowing at least seven (7) days to pass, testing negative twice within a 24 hour period in secondary COVID-19 testing, and/or they must be without fever and symptoms (under 100.4° F without fever-reducing medication) for 72 hours, with or without secondary COVID-19 testing.

Performing a comprehensive investigation of the employee’s contact with others throughout the cafe. From this investigation, we have informed the necessary staff, third-parties, and authorities to ensure that the issue is contained to the highest degree. Any staff members who are symptomatic but have not been tested for COVID-19 will not be permitted to work.

We will continue our rigorous cleaning and sanitizing program of the entire workspace throughout our hours of operation as well as having our PPE on at all times and taking staff temperatures before staff members start to work, random checks throughout the day and a final one upon exiting the cafe.

As always, the community’s and our staff members’ continued health and wellness are always our top priority and we will do everything in our control to make Mirasol’s Cafe the safest customer experience possible.

Thank you for your understanding.” – Mirasol’s Cafe.

At approximately 8:30 p.m. Saturday Massachusetts State Police patrol units, detectives and crime scene specialists, along with Boston Police officers and detectives, responded to the Stony Brook Reservation in the West Roxbury section of Boston after human remains were discovered.

The body was located in a swampy wooded area adjacent to the Enneking Parkway. The remains were observed by a passerby who reported the observation to police.

The body is believed to be an adult female. Detectives are currently working to identify the body.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has begun a post-mortem examination; the cause and manner of death is pending as part of the ongoing investigation.

In order to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation, no further information is being released at this time.

With more people turning to video-teleconferencing platforms as a way of communicating, the Dartmouth Police Department has received some reports of video-teleconferencing hijacking (also called “Zoom-bombing”).

As individuals continue the transition to online lessons and meetings, the FBI recommends exercising due diligence and caution in your cyber security efforts. The following steps can be taken to mitigate teleconference hijacking threats:

• Do not make meetings or classrooms public. In Zoom, there are two options to make a meeting private: require a meeting password or use the waiting room feature and control the admittance of guests.
• Do not share a link to a teleconference or classroom on an unrestricted publicly available social media post. Provide the link directly to specific people.
• Manage screensharing options. In Zoom, change screensharing to “Host Only.”
• Ensure users are using the updated version of remote access/meeting applications. In January 2020, Zoom updated their software. In their security update, the teleconference software provider added passwords by default for meetings and disabled the ability to randomly scan for meetings to join.
• Lastly, ensure that your organization’s telework policy or guide addresses requirements for physical and information security.

If you were a victim of a teleconference hijacking, or any cyber-crime for that matter, report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.

At 8:15 pm on Wednesday, May 6, 2020, Officer Patrick Lee prevented a 39 year old Lakeville man from attempting to commit suicide.

Officer Lee overheard a state police radio broadcast regarding a man walking in the northbound lane of Rt. 140 near Chace Rd. Officer Lee arrived in the area and parked his cruiser on the Chace Rd. overpass. He then walked down an embankment where he discovered the man attempting to throw himself in front of passing vehicles. The man refused Officer Lee’s plea to walk over to a guardrail, and yelled, “I’m done, I’m done, I should have used the tractor trailer.” Officer Lee climbed over a guardrail and entered the darkened highway where he narrowly averted being struck by a vehicle. He then rushed the man, subdued him with the use of a Taser, and dragged him from the high-speed lane and onto the median strip.

Officer Lee then requested Emergency Medical Services from the Freetown Fire Department to respond. The man was transported to an area hospital for a mental health evaluation.

According to Chief of Police Carlton E. Abbott, Jr., the life-and-death drama played out within the span of a few minutes. Chief Abbott remarked, “Officer Lee exemplifies the values of bravery and selfless service. He is a credit to the Freetown police department.”

On Friday, May 8, at about 4:05 p.m. Wareham Police Communications Officers Nicolle Amaral and Scott McDaniel began receiving multiple 911 calls reporting a fire on Cranberry Highway near McDonald’s restaurant. Onset Fire Department was notified and Wareham Police officers responded to assist.

Officer Christopher Corner had just left the police station, was off-duty, and observed the smoke in the sky while traveling on Cranberry Highway. Officer Corner determined that a home was on fire in the Silver Lake Mobile Home Park and observed neighbors who had forced open a door. He immediately responded by entering the burning building to check for occupants, and in the process located a dog that was safely removed.

In addition, Officer Corner was able to provide incoming emergency responders updated information by radio. Additional police officers responded, assisting fire personnel and redirecting traffic.

Chief of Police John Walcek said, “Chris jumped into action even after working a double shift on patrol. He is an excellent police officer who gives 100 percent all of the time.”

The dog was returned to the owner unharmed.

“Congratulations to BARRETT!!! He has started his new leash on life! After 15 very long weeks at the shelter, he has finally been adopted.

We want to say “Thank You!” to each and every one of you who shared his videos and post, and a HUGE “Thank You” to New Bedford Guide and Fall River Reporter, for sharing him in our streams but also taking him out and showcasing him outside the shelter environment. We are so grateful.

Thank You so much to his adopters for taking a chance on this VERY deserving shelter dog! We wish you all the very best.” –Forever Paws Animal Shelter.

“Let’s put an end to this person’s criminal activity!

She has been cashing large sum fraudulent checks and we need to identify her. She may work in a local hospital and is believed to be in New Bedford area. Share away! Thank you in advance and stay well!

Please email Detective Guerreiro at Janis.Guerreiro@fairhavenpolice.org or call 508-997-7421 and leave a message if you know who this woman is. “-Fairhaven Police Department.

“THE BLESSINGS BOX IS NO MORE – Thank you to all who made it possible.

After six months of providing food to anonymous passersby, the New Bedford Board of Health made me close it, ostensibly because they “did not know where the food was coming from,” in reality because one of our neighbors complained.

This really saddens me because, with the exception of this particular neighbor, it made me appreciate the goodness and kindness of so many people, not only of those who kept the shelves stocked but also that of those who took food from it.

Since nobody was supervising the box, they could take whatever they wanted; they could take everything if they chose. But they never did. They took only what they needed, leaving the rest for others. It made me believe in Americans, although it also made me experience first hand how the selfish actions of a single mean individual can cause undue hardship for countless others.

My heartfelt thanks to those who over the last six months nourished our bodies and souls with their donations.”Gloria de Sa.

City of New Bedford has roadwork sites for the upcoming week of May 11, 2020 –May 15, 2020 and they are as follows:

Eversource:

Eversource will replace the gas mains at the following locations:

• Tarkiln Hill Rd. and Park Ave. from Tarkiln Hill Rd., at railroad track crossing, to Church St.
• South Front St. from 460 S. Front St. to Gifford St.
• Brook St. from Collette St. to Earle St.
• Davis St. from Riverside Ave. to 389 Davis St.

Eversource will be doing final street and sidewalk restoration at various locations citywide.

Other:

• Contractor (PA Landers) to continue work at MassDOT Project #606709, New Bedford- Roadway Reconstruction and Related Work (including signals) along a section of Kings Highway and Tarkiln Hill Road, Construction to take place during regular working hours (Monday – Friday), police details and traffic controls will be in place.
• Contractor (PA Landers) to resume work on JFK Blvd, Griffin St to Cove St.
• Department of Public Infrastructure will be filling potholes on a continuous basis throughout the city.
• Department of Public Infrastructure conducting its annual street sweeping program city-wide.
• The contractor (WES Construction) is scheduled to continue construction of the new pumping station and installation of the site utilities at the Front St./ Elm St. site. Elm St, between JFK Memorial Highway (RTE 18) and Macarthur Dr. will be closed to westbound traffic. Westbound traffic will be detoured via MacArthur Drive. There will be detour signage and traffic controls in place.
• 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 clears.

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

Due to the current COVID-19 situation the Department of Public Infrastructure will be closed to the public entry. Office staff is available to assist by email and telephone.