“The following was posted by the State Police Association of Massachushetts. We are pleased to be able to share it to highlight the life-saving efforts of Troopers Vargas (left) and LaMonte (right).

On a recent evening in Hanover, New Jersey, MSP Troopers LaMonte and Vargas were having dinner at a restaurant after attending an out-of-state training. While the two Troopers were eating, a 91-year-old woman near them became unresponsive. Immediately they jumped into action, running to her aid.

Using their training they checked her breathing and pulse and determined she was in cardiac arrest. Trooper LaMonte with the assistance of Trooper Vargas performed CPR for over 10 minutes while 911 was called and EMS responded to the scene. EMTs quickly arrived and took over care of the woman, and she was transported to Morristown General Hospital.

The two Troopers got word the next morning that the woman was now stable and recovering from her near death scare. Strong work gentlemen!” -Massachusetts State Police.

Massachusetts ranked seventh on the list of states people moved out of the most last year, up from eighth in 2020.

A recent study by United Van Lines has revealed that not only are fewer people moving to the Bay State, but they are also fleeing in record numbers. The billion-dollar company is a worldwide leader in domestic and international moving and/or relocation services.

Approximately 58% or 2,984 of the 5,183 of their shipments that involved Massachusetts last year were outbound, ranking the Commonwealth 7th in the nation. Only California, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York had higher rates of outbound migration. In 2020, the Bay State ranked 8th and then officials warned that the state’s high housing costs and need for remote work could start a downward trend for outward migration from the state – something reflected in this year’s numbers.

Causes for the migration from highest to lowest:

• Retirement (37.5%)
• New Job or transfer (35%)
• Family reasons (17.5%)

As for inbound migration, Massachusetts was ranked 47th for the second year in a row. South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and other states on the top 10 list for inbound migration tended to be more rural than the outbound migration list. For a second straight year, Massachusetts was 47th on the list for inbound migration.

A Guatemalan national pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to illegally reentering the United States after deportation.

Darwin Geovani Herrera Orellana, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful reentry of a deported alien. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for May 5, 2022. Herrera Orellana was indicted in September 2021.

Herrera Orellana was initially encountered in Arizona in 2009, determined to be illegally present in the United States and subsequently deported. Sometime thereafter his removal, Herrera Orellana illegally reentered the United States and was arrested in Texas in 2012. Herrera Orellana was again placed into removal proceedings and deported.

In December 2020, Herrera Orellana was arrested in Waltham and charged with, among other things, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. In June 2021, he was convicted of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and sentenced to 14 months in prison. In July 2021, while serving this sentence in the Middlesex County House of Correction, agents determined that Herrera Orellana was illegally present in the United States after the fingerprints from his Waltham arrest and noncitizen records were determined to be a positive match. Upon completion of his prison sentence, Herrera Orellana was subsequently transferred into federal custody where he remains detained.

The charge of unlawful reentry of a deported alien provides for a sentence of up to two years in prison, one year of supervised released and a fine of up to $250,000. Herrera Orellana will be subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell and Todd M. Lyons, Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in Boston made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Mendell’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery that occurs in all 50 states and is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world.

Find out more including statistics here.

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“The New Bedford Police Department will be raising awareness for #HumanTraffickingAwarenessMonth. Across the nation, law enforcement and organizations strive to eliminate human trafficking.

If you are a victim of human trafficking, or if you have a tip about a potential trafficking situation, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text “HELP” or “INFO” to BeFree (233733).

You can also always call 911 – we are here to help. If you see something, say something. #humantraffickingawareness?” -City of New Bedford Police Department.

Katie Lannan
State House News Service

Lawmakers advocating to make school meals available to all students at no cost got a hand Tuesday from a New England neighbor, as Maine Senate President Troy Jackson urged Massachusetts to follow his state’s lead in passing the bill.

Introducing himself as “a fifth-generation logger from northern Maine,” Jackson spoke of his own experience accessing reduced-price meals as a child, saying some of his classmates thought he was rich because his lunch wasn’t free while others looked down on him for not paying full price. He testified before the Education Committee in support of universal school meals legislation (H 714, S 314) from Democrats Rep. Andy Vargas of Haverhill and Sen. Sal DiDomenico of Everett. Under the bills, families would not be required to sign up for free meals or provide income information.

“As a lawmaker, and more importantly as a parent, I want children in Maine and all across this great nation to get a chance to focus on being kids, on playing with their friends and learning how to read, not worrying about where their next meal is going to come from and who’s going to pay for it,” Jackson said. “Now I imagine the folks in Massachusetts want the very same thing that I do. No child should have to ever prove that they’re worthy of nutritious food, regardless of which state that they live in.”

DiDomenico, the committee’s Senate vice chair, said a quarter of food-insecure children in Massachusetts do not qualify for free or reduced-price lunch and breakfast. “This is important because we can’t wait for next year or two years from now,” he said. “Our children are hungry today.” Vargas said students are more academically successful with universal free meals, making them “just as essential as universal free desks and visits to the school nurse.”

New Bedford Public Schools will be pausing all athletic practices and competitions through this Friday, January 7, due to an increase in positive COVID-19 cases among several different ​ athletic teams, Superintendent Thomas Anderson announced today. “In consultation with the New Bedford Department of Health, we have been advised to pause participation in our athletic programming including practices and games for one week, beginning today, and continue with test and stay over the next four days,” he said in a memo to School Committee members today.

“As the number of positive cases continue to rise in our community, we are also experiencing an increased number of positive cases on our athletic teams. We now have several teams proactively participating in the Test and Stay Program due to an increasing number of positive cases over the past weekend,” he said.

Thomas Tarpey, NBPS Director of Physical Education, Health & Athletics stated, “out of an abundance of caution, we have put a pause on all Athletics at New Bedford Public Schools for the remainder of this week. We will re-evaluate this weekend and hope to be up and running again on Monday.”

Jodi Spencer, NBPS Manager of Health Services, noted, “The safety of all our students and staff is our foremost priority and this pause in activities will help to limit spreading infections. As the situation is highly fluid, we will be assessing positivity rates on an hourly basis, which will inform our determination regarding extending this pause in Athletics and for any other district events or activities going forward.”

“On January 1, 2022, officers responded to the Greasy Luck at 791 Purchase Street for a report of a disturbance.

While on scene, police learned a woman, identified as Demi Escalera, 28, of Lowell, had assaulted the bouncer. While talking to her, an officer was kicked by her.

She was arrested on scene and is being charged with three counts of assault and battery, assault and battery on a police officer, and disorderly conduct.”

By Matt Murphy
State House News Service

Attorney General Maura Healey will report raising more than $400,000 in December, the Democrat’s largest fundraising month ever, adding to the $3.3 million she has on hand as she weighs whether to seek the governor’s office this year.

Healey’s campaign committee said Monday that she raked in $403,351 from 1,140 donors last month, more than doubling her previous monthly record. The haul brings her campaign account’s balance to $3,666,104.

“Maura is grateful for the tremendous support she continues to receive from every corner of this state,” said Corey Welford, a Healey committee spokesman.

Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz and Harvard professor Danielle Allen, the two Democrats already in the race, also released numbers for December, reporting $102,606 and $83,000 raised respectively.

Chang-Diaz’s monthly total came from more than 650 contributors, 80 percent of whom live in Massachusetts, and she more than doubled her take from November. Seventy-two percent of the Jamaica Plain Democrat’s donations were for $100 or less.

“It’s clear that Sonia is the people’s choice for Governor,” said Joshua Wolfsun, Chang-Díaz’s acting campaign manager. “This campaign is being powered by working families across the state who know it’s time for real, urgent change in our government. Sonia’s led that fight for her whole career and beaten insiders’ assumptions over and over — and people across Massachusetts are joining her to do it again.”

According to Healey’s team, 91 percent of donors contributing to the attorney general’s political committee were from Massachusetts. The complete report has not yet been posted online by the Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

Healey has been openly weighing whether to run for governor in 2022, but the focus on her decision has intensified in recent weeks since Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito both said last month they would not be candidates for the office this year.

Over the summer, Healey said she hoped to make a decision by the fall, but as the seasons have changed the window for her to announce a decision before Democrats caucus in February to elect delegates to the statewide nominating convention later this year has narrowed.

Last week, former state Sen. Benjamin Downing announced that he was withdrawing from the race, citing a lack of funds to continue. Downing’s exit left Chang-Diaz and Harvard professor Danielle Allen as the two major declared candidates in the race, with U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh also weighing a run.

Allen had a total of $386,270 in cash on hand at the end of November, while Chang-Diaz’s campaign said she now has $248,000. Interest in support Healey surged after Baker’s decision last month, with supporters holding a number of events for the attorney general in December.

December is typically a big month for elected officials to fundraise around the holidays in an effort to max out donors before the new year when contribution limits reset and supporters are free to give again. Individual donors are allowed to give up to $1,000 a year to any one candidate’s committee.

“I wasn’t going to really touch on this subject but… I have to because this is just ridiculous.

Yesterday I got a call, being ‘let go’ from one of my jobs over a review. The review stated that they spent $200 and got served dessert with plastic spoons $95 of that tab was alcohol.

To quickly summarize Tuesday night (when this incident occurred) the restaurant was pretty busy, I was in the front section near the kitchen running food because our runner had called out, my section was full 2 servers got cut early around 7:30pm one was a double the other was hungover. People were still being seated when they were cut outside of my section, so I had 6 tables in total.

We ran out of spoons, I told the manager as I was running food to let the dishwasher know we had run out. She told him so he does one load, (he was also slammed with dishes at this point) two tables at that moment ordered desserts, so there goes six spoons.

After that a table of 3 orders desserts. We ran out of spoons again!!! I’m like, ‘Hey we need spoons once again.” As another server was helping me find some we found zero I had to take another table’s order, so trying to problem solve quickly I grab 3 plastic spoons. As I’m handing it to them I let them know I apologize it took 15 minutes to try and get spoons and asked if the plastics were ok and if not they would have to eat creme brûlée with forks.

They said “OK” to the spoons. The woman who had ordered a pizza and was eating with her hands all night decided to write a review about a plastic spoon that cost me my job.

Not only did I give them great service, switched the man’s side orders on his dish for him, and recommended one of my favorite meals to the other woman who was undecided on what to get, but I truly made sure everything was great from food to service.

To the women who wrote such a review, it was a pleasure serving you for the last time. Before you go and write dumb reviews about little things that can be fixed, please think about the restaurant employees and their families. I have a 3-year-old and honestly, I don’t work just to work I work to pay bills, take of expenses, etc. I’m a hard worker so had I known I would be fired for giving plastic spoons I would’ve jumped behind dish stuck my hands in a bin with knives etc to personally wash them for you.

Being fired over a plastic spoon is beyond me. And to my previous employer, well wishes.” -Carmen R.

Carmen R. photo.

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Carmine’s At Candleworks statement in response:

“Attention Valued Customers and Employees of Carmines at Candleworks:

As most of you who have dined with us know, It is always our goal to give our customers the best possible dining experience around. We take great pride in the food that we make and the service that we provide, and always try to uphold a certain level of standards. We understand that this isn’t always possible to maintain, but we try our best to always do so.

Additionally, we take pride in how we treat all of our employees and are confident that we offer a happy and fair workplace to all. Just as any other workplace, we have rules and standards that all staff are expected to follow, and all are held equally to these standards.

We mention this because it was brought to our attention that a post has been circulating over social media that was made by a former employee stemming from a review that a recent customer posted about their dining experience with us, and their subsequent separation of employment due to it.

Please understand that this is a decision that was made by both ownership and management together, and a decision that we continue to fully support, as there’s more to the story than what has been shared.

We want to be clear, we have NEVER let an employee go solely due to a single review or comment that has been made by a customer regarding their performance or negative dining experience. If somebody was let go, there is more to it than what people may be led to believe. Regarding this particular situation, we will leave it at that, as we cannot comment any further due to privacy and labor laws; though we wish this individual the best in future endeavors.

We always welcome negative feedback from your dining experiences, it helps us know where we need to improve for your next visit. We hope that this doesn’t deter others from leaving feedback, positive or negative, in the future as it helps us improve for you.

Lastly, we don’t ever delete or hide posts when it’s related to your dining experience. However, at this time, as people continue to try to fill our page with false statements solely to hurt the restaurant based on incomplete information that they have read online, we have no choice other than to hide, delete, and if necessary ban those who continue to do so.

We hope that people are able to look past this unfortunate event and thank all of our loyal customers and employees for their continued support. Happy New Year!”

During the month of January, the 29th Lights for Peace flag to fly at the Fort Taber – Fort Rodman Military Museum honors the memory of both Robert H. Andrews and Stephen B. Dahill, the first New Bedford residents killed during WWI.

If you’re a SouthCoast resident, you probably travel Rte. 195 in New Bedford. If so, you will pass over the bridge which is a tribute to these brave men. The bridge on Interstate Rte. 195 over the intersection of County St, Cedar Grove and Penniman Streets was designated as the Robert H. Andrew and Stephen B. Dahill Bridge. The bridge was named in memory of these brave men who were the first residents of New Bedford go be killed in WWI, according to the State Library of MA. This dedication was approved by the Department of Public Works on May 5, 1967.

PVT Andrews and PFC Dahill were “among the 18,556 American Gold Star casualties recorded in the archives with close ties to Massachusetts,” according to honorstates.org.

PVT Robert H. Andrews enlisted in the U.S. Army during WWI. Although military records are difficult to locate for WWI veterans, honorstates.org listed PVT Andrew as serving in Battery Group D, 101st Field Artillery, 26th Infantry Division. He was killed in action on April 12, 1918 and later awarded the Purple Heart. His body was disinterred on March 8, 1921 and received by H.L. Potter for Thomas L. Andrews, Robert’s father, on July 31, 1921.

PFC Stephen B. Dahill served in the U. S. Army, Battery Group D, 102nd Field Artillery Regiment, 26th Infantry Division. He was killed in action 3 months after PVT Andrews, on July 22, 1918 and was buried or memorialized at Plot B, Row 28, Grave 37 at the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery, Fere-en-Tardenois, France.

To be clear, there was some confusion regarding the last name of PVT Andrews. Documentation from Honorstates.org listed his last name as Andrews, yet the State Library of MA listed his last name as Andrew. For the purpose of this article, Andrews was used as the name throughout.

Linda Ferreira, of Empire Ford of New Bedford, researches the life histories of area residents. American flags are provided by Empire Ford of New Bedford. Flags are raised by the staff at Fort Taber – Fort Rodman Military Museum. Those who would like to honor a local veteran in the future can contact Ferreira at lferreira@buyempireautogroup.com.