Chris Resendes Show – Special Election Edition with attorney and former New Bedford mayor Scott Lang.

The Chris Resendes show is hosted live on New Bedford Guide’s Facebook page every Thursday at 7pm.

Amanda Vicente, 39, of 79 Query St., New Bedford, was arrested by New Bedford Police Thursday on one charge of child abuse and 17 counts of animal cruelty after police found 19 dead animals and 17 living animals at her home.

Police and animal control responded to the address after reports that a stray dog that had been picked up over the weekend might belong to that address. In searching the house, police found 19 dead animals and 17 living animals in 27 cages.

The dead animals included lizards, hamsters, cockatiels and finches. Many of the living animals, including a bull mastiff, were emaciated and lacking food and water.

Her 13-year-old son was living in the home amid the dead animals. He had dead lizards in cages in his room. There were piles of feces in the kitchen and the house was in disarray, with piles of clothes, trash and empty cages in the dining room. The boy is now in the custody of relatives.

The dead animals included lizards, hamsters, cockatiels and finches. The surviving animals were taken to a veterinary clinic for care and will be released to Forever Paws animal shelter.

She was released by Third District Court Judge Robert Ovoian on personal recognizance on condition that she not possess any animals. The district attorney’s office had requested $1,500 bail, a mental health evaluation and that she not be allowed to possess animals.

She is scheduled for a pretrial conference Dec. 20.

New Bedford Police made 14 arrests Wednesday, including the apprehension of a suspect with a long criminal history that includes pending warrants for home invasion and assault to kill.

The arrests were made in collaboration with Massachusetts State Police and federal agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The agencies were targeting street-level drug activity and warrants as part of an ongoing effort to combat illegal activity in the city.

As part of their effort, narcotics detectives attempted to stop Michael Viruet, 40, 672 Tucker St. Apt. 2, Fall River, who was known to have multiple warrants. As detectives attempted to stop his vehicle in the vicinity of 56 Potomska St., he fled at a high rate of speed, lost control of his vehicle and landed in a ditch.

Once he was taken into custody, police seized 10 grams of Fentanyl and more than $3,000 in cash.

He was charged with possession of Fentanyl with intent to distribute, failure to stop for a police officer, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, leaving the scene of a property damage accident, resisting arrest, possession of Fentanyl with intent to distribute within Gomes School zone, destruction of property valued at over $250 and on warrants.

Viruet has a long criminal history, including 20 prior convictions. He has four convictions for armed robbery, two for possession of a firearm, three for breaking and entering, one for assault with a dangerous weapon, one for assault to kill and one for armed assault to rob.

He is on probation in Superior Court until 2020 and has pending warrants for home invasion and assault to kill.

Also arrested were:
Terance Russell, 28, of New Bedford, warrant.

Dakota Whoriskey, 21, of New Bedford, warrant.

Joel Morales, 23, 113 Rounds St., New Bedford, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, conspiracy to violate drug laws.

Sheena Andrade, 35, 777 County St. Apt. 1, New Bedford, possession of cocaine, conspiracy to violate drug laws.

Christina Tingley, 30, 17 Crapo St. Apt. A, New Bedford, possession of Fentanyl, conspiracy to violate drug laws.

Olando Perez, 51, 126 Crapo St. Apt. 3, New Bedford, distribution of Fentanyl, possession of Fentanyl with intent to distribute and conspiracy to violate drug laws.

Randall S. Harding, 53, of East Freetown, warrant.

William A. Perez, 30, 14 Adams St. Apt. 1b, New Bedford, possession of crack cocaine, warrant.

Lisa McGonagle, 22, of New Bedford, warrant.

Tito J. Morales, 45, of New Bedford, warrant.

Joao Santos, 40, homeless, warrant.

Gregory Teixeira, 52, of New Bedford, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, illegally attaching plates, driving an uninsured motor vehicle, driving an unregistered motor vehicle and receiving stolen property.

Ryan Arthur Veenstra, 34, of New Bedford, disorderly conduct, illegally carrying weapons.

New Bedford Police collected 356 pounds of prescription drugs Saturday, Oct. 28 at the 14th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, the second highest amount in the region.

Residents dropped off unwanted and expired prescription medications during the event, which was sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration and held at New Bedford Police Headquarters, 871 Rockdale Ave.

The event aims to provide a safe, convenient and responsible means of disposing prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse and medications. This ensures that the medications do not end up in the wrong hands or in the ecosystem.

The day’s activities were organized by Detectives Kelly Almeida and Bryan Oliveira.

Medications can also be dropped off year-round at all stations.

Accepted items include prescription patches, prescription medications, prescription ointments, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, samples and veterinary medications.

Needles, syringes and lancets can be dropped off at three New Bedford locations: Greater New Bedford Community Health Center, 874 Purchase St., 508-992-6553; and two locations of Seven Hills Behavioral Health, 1173 Acushnet Ave., 508-996-0546; and 589 South First St., 508-996-3147. Call the locations for specific hours and additional information.

Please check out our current opportunities here.

Meet Joe Neves, 54-year-old Associate Director of Dennison Memorial Community Center.

Joe grew up in Austin, Texas due to his father’s, a New Bedford native, Air Force commitments in Texas. During his time at the University of Texas Austin, he traveled to Massachusetts to work as a beach worker at Horseneck beach for the summer. Because Joe was an out of state employee, he got bumped off the list and with the help of his cousin, ended up working as a counselor at Camp Massasoit.

Originally an accounting major, he had no desire to work with children, but that changed during the summer he was at Camp Massasoit. Joe returned to Texas to finish up his last year in school and moved back to New Bedford to pursue a career in childcare. He quickly rose the ranks working for the YMCA and YWCA, before landing the position of Daycare Program Director for Dennison Memorial’s daycare program.

Dennison Memorial is located in the south end of New Bedford and offers two programs. A free walk in program, where kids in the city can go after school to stay off the streets and get involved in sports, academic tutoring, work on their homework, and be in a safe haven from crime and violence they could be involved in on the street. It also offers a daycare through PACE for parents who are in school, training, or receiving subsidized daycare through the state.

Joe hopes that during his time at the community center that he has been able to push kids to strive above their situations. Leading by example, he wants to show the kids that visit the center daily that no matter your background, race, education, or circumstances, that you can rise and beat the odds in life.

“Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, You are right.” – Henry Ford

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com.

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Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.

Investigation by members of the New Bedford Police Department port security unit led to the arrest of Donald Jordan, 43, of 35 Bay St., New Bedford, on charges of larceny from a boat and breaking and entering into a boat in the nighttime after he stole items from a fishing boat on Steamship Pier.

Jordan is charged with stealing a television and DVD player from the fishing vessel Genesis. The robbery was reported at 10 a.m. Oct. 26. Video surveillance showed Jordan in the area of the boat at 12:30 a.m. Oct. 26.

He was arrested Wednesday at 10:20 a.m.

He currently has four open cases in New Bedford District Court. In the past three years, he has prior convictions for armed robbery, possession of stolen property and possession of class B substance.

This letter is urgent and I am asking for the help of any official to help shut down and stop the building of a slaughterhouse in a nearby town! This is directed to the Town of Westport Massachusetts and the slaughterhouse being built so close to home.

The Town of Westport should highly consider changing the town name to “Town Of Animal Cruelty & Horror” As I live close by to this town, I was outraged to learn that this town being so close to so many homes has accepted money from a meatpacking company to build a slaughterhouse! Construction has already begun and The Town Of Westport needs to cancel all plans allowing the building of the slaughterhouse to continue NOW!

It’s already hard enough to concentrate on anything but animal cruelty when thinking of The Town Of Westport since the Westport Farm incidents with animal cruelty. Now we’ll be facing the stench and screams of innocent animals in agony every time we walk through the neighborhoods of this town! A slaughterhouse being built so locally means that living, breathing animals come into the heart of this town and never make it out alive. It will mean that the animals’ organs, hides, and hooves will be transported from this town in trucks, potentially spilling blood, guts and fecal matter onto the streets of your neighborhoods!

Slaughterhouses are not only cruel to animals, but to humans, too. Workers are subject to intense psychological trauma and severe physical injuries such as amputations.

One of the main reasons this town was so against animal cruelty when finding out about the local farm abusing animals, made it seem like they have compassion for these living beings. But opening a slaughterhouse so locally in the town is a blatant violation of the towns core commitment against animal cruelty which they spoke so highly of when the farm incidents occurred only one year ago!

If this slaughterhouse is built, I have spoken with hundreds of residents who have signed the petition will be considering moving to another town.  Many incoming residents are changing their decision to live in an area where this is taking place as well. There is no room for cruelty in The Town Of Westport – in fact, no towns anywhere should allow an industry that is so violent to animals, harmful to the environment, and dangerous to humans so close to home.

If you care about the residents of this town and want this harmful construction to stop, please help me encourage Town Of Westport – Building Department Personnel & Inspectors to immediately cancel all plans for building a slaughterhouse of horrors in our town.

Now if you find these images disturbing, imagine living in this town and knowing this is happening in your neighborhoods. Where your families and loved ones live and drive by locally? A Town that has already experienced so much horror, and how they are allowing this to be built is not only heart wrenching but gives you an extremely gruesome feeling in your stomach. If this building is allowed to continue being built I urge that they construct the building with glass walls instead, so that everyone will be able to see what goes on in there. I doubt any official would allow that, if it could not be built with glass walls for the fear of what is going on in the inside then it should not be being built at all.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I truly appreciate it. I look forward to learning how you can help me stop this dreadful and frightful issue.

Respectfully Yours,

Leanne Manning

Welcome to my city, where girls are are called names before pretty.
Where we can write raps, and give dap but not show up to support even a kids concert just to clap.
Where guys go out at night to betray her, and my friends taught me it’s Mikey’s city so I never voted for Mayor.
Where you’re safer driving fast than driving at night, and you don’t see many videos of talent, but everyone will snap chat a fight.
Where you always know someone in jail for a bid, and the only thing that saved more then half of us was having a kid.
Where we shop at Mad Rags before Alta, and every weekend you can see someone you hate if you go to ultra.
Where relationships are built on restrictions and everyone has a deadly addiction.
Where you can get a 10 bag before a ride, and we don’t know who founded the city, but we can point out a man in a wheelchair named Clyde.
Where you’re from the south so it stands for something and you pound your chest, and you hate everyone because they’re a couple miles away in the west.
Where you can’t find hope, but you can find dope, and anyone can humiliate you like in 8 mile when they chanted “choke”.
Where if you mess up once you don’t get a second chance, and more the 65% of the population has food stamps.
Welcome to my city, how was the ride? I hope for your sake you can make it out alive.

By Marissa Despres.

Mayor Jon Mitchell has joined with 27 mayors from across Massachusetts to push for a federal law change to allow the Drug Enforcement Agency to pursue inappropriate wholesale prescription drug distribution, which fuels the opioid addiction epidemic that has afflicted cities throughout the Commonwealth and across the country.

“The epidemic of opioid abuse is felt across all areas of our society, and across the country,” said Mayor Mitchell. “It does not discriminate based on gender, race, age, or income – and people across the country addicted to opioids are struggling and too often dying. There is more that federal policymakers can do to help us, and allowing the DEA to pursue inappropriate distribution of prescription drugs would be an important step in the right direction.”

“For the past several years, we and members of our communities have attended the funerals of friends, and the funerals of the children of friends, with sickening regularity,” the mayors wrote. “What we need and demand on the federal level is a Congress that will prioritize our families over the drug industry, a DEA with the enforcement authority and tools it needs to crack down on illegal corporate drug activity; and a drug czar committed to helping us in our fight instead of supporting industry profit at the expense of our children.”

The letter, addressed to the President and Congress, urges that:

The next nominee for the nation’s drug czar be free of financial or other connections to the prescription drug distribution industry, and be of unassailable professional and personal character; and

That Congress repeal and replace the April 2016 law, passed through a parliamentary procedure without debate, that stripped the DEA of critical enforcement authority; the new law must give the DEA the authority to protect the interests of the public and simply cannot be bought and paid for by the legal drug distribution industry.