The City of New Bedford has roadwork sites for the upcoming week of November 28, 2022 – December 2, 2022, and they are as follows:

Eversource will be working on gas main relays and test pits on:

• Phillips Rd from Holly Tree Lane to Route 140

Other:
• Contractor (KR Rezendes, Inc.) will be painting all pavement markings on Monday at MassDOT’s Hathaway Triangle project located at the newly signalized intersection of Hathaway Rd x Nauset St. Lane shifts required, police officers and signage will be posted during operations.
• Contractor (PA Landers) will be raising structures on Clifford St from Ashley Blvd to Acushnet Ave. Contractor will be stabilizing the site to wrap up for the winter season. Sidewalk reconstruction and top paving course to take place in the Spring 2023.
• Contractor (PA Landers) will be working on West Street in the vicinity of St. Luke’s Hospital raising structures in the roadway and stabilizing the site for the winter season. Final top course paving to be done in the Spring 2023.
• Contractor (PA Landers & various utility companies) will be working at the MassDOT project, Kings Highway.
• Contractor (PA Landers) will be working on various streets, citywide, completing minor repairs and installations.
• Contractor (PA Landers) will be working on sidewalk installations and street furniture installations on Union St from Sixth St to County St. Tentatively scheduled for pavement markings, weather permitting.
• 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.) If you have questions, please email the project team at SouthCoastRail@dot.state.ma.us
• The Hathaway Road elevated water storage tank will be removed from service for a repair with a tentative schedule of Wednesday, November 30th, 2022. During work, supply and flow will be maintained to the Hathaway Road high service area by opening boundary valves between service pressure zones. These procedures may cause variations in system pressures and changes in flow patterns that could result in temporary water discoloration. 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.

“The New Bedford Fire Department would like to wish everyone a joyous Thanksgiving!!! ? The holidays are about food, fun, and family, but they’re also a prime time of the year for the dangers of fire. ?

NBFD urges you to use caution when preparing your holiday meals. To help you stay safe when cooking, check out this PSA and read the below tips from Chief Scott Kruger and Fire & Life Safety Educator Firefighter Anthony Poente.

✅ Test your smoke alarms monthly.
? Be prepared, have an escape plan.
? Remember to “Stand by your Pan”
✅ Always stay in the kitchen when boiling, broiling or frying.
✅ Set a timer when using the oven.
? NEVER leave the house when the oven is on.
? Keep pot handles turned inward to prevent accidental spills of hot contents.
? If there is a fire on the stove, “Put a Lid on It” and turn off the burner.
? DO NOT USE WATER. If you do not have a lid use baking soda or a fire extinguisher.
? If there is a fire in the oven or broiler keep the DOOR CLOSED and turn the oven OFF.
? Every time you open the oven door, you are adding oxygen helping ignite the fire.”-New Bedford Fire Department.

Check out this video from the MA Department of Fire Services on the dangers of turkey fryers:

“So… it’s sad to say my daughter misplaced her favorite stuffed animal giraffe ‘Maria.’ She was named after my grandmother who passed away. I gave my grandmother the stuffy as a ‘get well soon’ gift from the hospital gift shop when she was not doing well. So when she passed away I gave the stuffy to my daughter Jay and told her to treasure it forever because it means a lot to mommy.

She last had it on 11/9/22 when she went to Seabra Supermarket and Price Rite both in the south end of New Bedford.

I know it’s just a stuffed animal but it had so much meaning to me…and yes I’m sad over a stuffy. In the last 5 years ‘Maria’ has been everywhere with us from Boston to Connecticut to New York to New Jersey and etc.

I’ve searched her school, daycare, my house, and my mom’s house and ‘Maria’ is nowhere to be found. My daughter is so sad that she made a flyer to help find her ‘Maria.’ I feel so bad/sad and buying another is not an option because that’s not the one I gave my grandmother. I just don’t know what to do.

Sincerely,
Broken-hearted daughter and mom. ????
shayrosa7786@gmail.com”-Shayna Lee.

All photos by Shayna Lee:

The new “Autism Awareness” patrol vehicle driven by New Bedford Police Chief Paul Oliveira stopped by Carney Academy and other schools throughout the city to show to kids and give them an opportunity to sit behind the wheel as well as take selfies.

Dog is man and woman’s best friend, so the NBPD also brought along their compassion dog, ‘Rosie.” Deputy Police Chief Adelino Sousa and other officers interacted with the kids, answered questions about the car, their duties, as well as discussed Autism.

The “Autism Awareness” patrol car will be utilized for community events throughout the SouthCoast, but day to day will be driven by the City’s School Resource Officers.

“Thank you, Sgt. William H. Carney Academy and New Bedford Public Schools for letting us come by to show the students our new Autism Awareness cruiser!

We at the New Bedford Police Department continue to strive to spread awareness and acceptance of autism.” -New Bedford Police Department.

New Bedford Police Department photo.

New Bedford Police Department photo.

New Bedford Police Department photo.

“Manuscript believed to have been unlawfully removed from Mexico’s national archives.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts filed a civil forfeiture action against a manuscript signed by Conquistador Hernando Cortés in 1527, believed to have been unlawfully removed from the Archivo General de la Nación de México – Mexico’s national archives located in Mexico City – sometime before 1993. It is a violation of federal law to transport or receive stolen goods valued at more than $5,000 that have traveled in foreign or interstate commerce.

The manuscript is a payment order signed by Cortés on April 27, 1527 authorizing the purchase of rose sugar for the pharmacy in exchange 12 gold pesos. It is believed to be one of several documents unlawfully removed from a collection of documents concerning a Spanish expedition to Central America in 1527 that is housed in Mexico’s national archives.

Manuscript signed by Conquistador Hernando Cortés in 1527.

According to the civil complaint, earlier this year an individual consigned the Cortés manuscript for online auction at a Massachusetts auction house. Mexican authorities alerted federal authorities that the manuscript being auctioned appeared to have been stolen. In turn, the auction house removed the manuscript from the upcoming auction and the manuscript was recovered.

“As a result of exceptional work by the Asset Recovery Unit in our office and our law enforcement partners, this historic artifact has been recovered. Mexico, like the United States, has national archives and the Cortés manuscript is nearly five centuries old. Our goal in filing today’s forfeiture action is to return the manuscript to its rightful owner,” said United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins.

“Thanks to the hard work of the FBI’s Art Crime Team, with the assistance of the General Archives of Mexico, we were able to track down and authenticate this historic manuscript signed by Conquistador Hernando Cortés in 1527, three decades after it was stolen,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Boston Division. “The recovery of this national treasure stolen from Mexico and its people not only preserves an important part of Mexico’s history, but reflects the FBI’s ongoing commitment to pursue justice for victims of crime here and abroad. Our investigation into how this priceless artifact ended up in Massachusetts continues, and we look forward to the day when we can return it to the Government of Mexico.”

In 2021, a number of colonial-era documents believed to have been stolen from Mexico’s national archives and placed for auction in the United States were recovered and repatriated to Mexico, including some signed by Cortés.

Anyone with information on stolen art and cultural property are encouraged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL FBI (1-800-225-5324). Tips may also be submitted online at https://tips.fbi.gov/.

U.S. Attorney Rollins and FBI SAC Bonavolonta made the announcement today. The civil forfeiture action is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carol E. Head, Chief of Rollins’ Asset Recovery Unit.

The details contained in the civil forfeiture complaint are allegations.” -Massachusetts Department of Justice.

“What high school student isn’t thrilled about some new wheels?

Attleboro High School students and staff showed plenty of joy Tuesday when the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office handed over the keys and titles of two vehicles it’s donating to the school.

First, an old law enforcement cruiser was donated to the criminal justice program. AHS Teacher Toby Reed said the vehicle will be a big boost to the program.

Bristol County Deputy Mariah Carvalho shows Attleboro High School students how to use the radio in the law enforcement cruiser the Sheriff’s Office donated to the school on Tuesday. BCSO photo.

“We’ll use it for vehicle stops and a host of other scenarios,” Reed said or the white law enforcement car, complete with emergency lights, radio equipment and a caged back seat. “We had an old cruiser that was rusting pretty good, so this will be a huge help to our program.”

The BCSO also donated a passenger van to the school. Sheriff Hodgson presented the keys and titles to Jeremy Guay, director of high school CTE programs at AHS.

The van will be used to transport AHS students on field trips and around the community. For example, he said students in the plumbing and construction programs commonly do work in the community as part of hands-on learning, so the van can transport students to and from job sites.

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson and others from the BCSO join staff and students at Attleboro High School Tuesday during a small ceremony to donate vehicles to the school. BCSO photo.

These donations will also save the school department money as it will not have to pay bus fees for transportation when the vans can be used instead.

Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson met with Reed’s students before the donation and expressed appreciation for their focus on criminal justice and law enforcement careers.

“So many people don’t understand what law enforcement officers do every day. Whether you choose to ultimately get involved in public safety or some other career, take pride in knowing you walked through some of what officers do day in and day out,”

Sheriff Hodgson said. “This was an easy decision for us to donate what resources we could to support you and your studies.” -Bristol County Sheriff’s Office.

“Due to boiler issues, Jireh Swift Elementary School, 2203 Acushnet Avenue, will be closed November 23, 2022. Parents/guardians who need to pick up any student belongings may do so on Wednesday morning from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Arthur P. Motta, Jr.
Community & Public Affairs Manager
New Bedford Public Schools.”

“Mayor Jon Mitchell has submitted to the City Council for approval a 25-year Intermunicipal Agreement with the Town of Acushnet which would allow for improvements to waterside public recreational facilities in the Lake Street area of Acushnet.

Under the Agreement, the City, which owns the Lake Street Pond System and associated property in Acushnet, will authorize the Town to upgrade existing public recreational areas located on the City’s property. Both New Bedford and Acushnet residents will continue to enjoy access to the waterside facilities.

Slated improvements include the creation of parking lots and a beach, clearing brush, establishing walking trails, outfitting the pond with fishing docks, creating a playground area enclosed with a fence, and creating a gathering area equipped with in-place Hibachi-style grills and picnic tables.

The Agreement is currently pending before the City Council Property Committee and will be considered at a future meeting, to be scheduled.” -City of New Bedford.

“State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey is urging residents to make fire safety a priority in the kitchen as we approach Thanksgiving Day, the number one day for home fires in Massachusetts.

“Each year, we see about twice as many fires on Thanksgiving as on the next-closest day,” State Fire Marshal Ostroskey said. “Don’t let a fire ruin this special time with your family and loved ones. Practice fire safety when cooking and heating your home, and be sure you have working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms that can alert you to danger.”

Cooking Safety Tips

There were 678 Thanksgiving Day fires in Massachusetts from 2017 to 2021, and 87% of them started with cooking activities at home. These Thanksgiving Day fires caused seven civilian injuries, seven fire service injuries, and more than $3 million in estimated losses. State Fire Marshal Ostroskey offered cooking safety tips that everyone can follow to stay fire-safe in the kitchen this year:

• Be sure your oven is empty before turning it on.
• Keep flammable items away from the stovetop.
• Wear short or tight-fitting sleeves when cooking.
• Turn pot handles inward over the stove.

Remember to “stand by your pan” and stay in the kitchen when boiling, frying. or broiling.

• Use a timer when baking or roasting and never leave the house with the oven running.
• The best way to respond to a stovetop fire is to “put a lid on it” and turn off the heat.
• The best way to respond to an oven or broiler fire is to keep the oven doors closed and turn off the heat.
• If the fire is not quickly snuffed out, leave the house and call 9-1-1 from outside.

Thanksgiving 2021
Residential cooking fires on Thanksgiving Day dropped by more than 20% last year, falling from 127 in 2020 to 97 in 2021.

After a devastating fire in New Bedford on Thanksgiving 2020 that caused severe injuries and displaced almost 30 people, there were no fires attributed to turkey fryers last year. Fire safety experts strongly discourage the use of outdoor gas-fueled turkey fryers that immerse the turkey in hot oil. There are no outdoor turkey fryers that have a listing from an independent testing laboratory such as UL or ETL, and the risk of hot oil spilling or igniting is high. The National Fire Protection Association states that home use of “turkey fryers that use cooking oil, as currently designed, are not suitable for safe use by even a well-informed and careful consumer.” They recommend using new “oil-less” turkey fryers.

Gas Ovens: A Source of Carbon Monoxide
Generally, the confined space of a closed gas oven used for cooking does not produce enough carbon monoxide (CO) to present any dangers, but it can present a hazard if used for several hours consecutively – such as when roasting a turkey. If you have a kitchen exhaust fan, use it; if not, crack a window for fresh air when using the gas oven for a prolonged period. Working CO alarms are vitally important to protect you and your loved ones from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Home Heating: #1 Source of Carbon Monoxide, #2 Cause of Fires
Heating is the second leading cause of fires on Thanksgiving and the primary source of carbon monoxide in the home. Give your furnace an annual check-up, have chimneys cleaned and inspected by a professional at the beginning of heating season, and place space heaters on flat, lever surfaces where in locations where they won’t be bumped or tripped over. Keep a three-foot “circle of safety” free of anything that can burn around all heat sources.

For more information, contact your local fire department or the Department of Fire Services’ Thanksgiving web page.

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