A Nov. 10 traffic stop led NBPD Patrol Officers to seize a Sig Sauer P250-22 (.22 caliber pistol) near the intersection of Scott and Crapo streets.

As a result of the stop, vehicle passenger Davante Cromwell, 21, 9 Bedford St., Apt. #27, was charged with several firearms offences. Cromwell, who attempted to hide his name when questioned, is a validated gang member with previous firearms conviction.

Another passenger, Jean E. Neves, 23, 318 Purchase St., Apt. #1, was arrested on an outstanding warrant. Officers N.J. Almeida and Matthew Sylvia made the arrests.

If you have any information on criminal activity in your neighborhood, the New Bedford Police Dept. wants to hear from you. You can leave an anonymous tip on our voicemail at (508) 991-6300 Ext. 1.

New Bedford Police

Within the last few days, Massachusetts State Police and Revere Police have located and arrested two suspects who had remained at-large following a July homicide on Revere Beach.

Early Friday morning, Revere officers responded to a report of an erratic driver at the Wendy’s drive-through on Squire Road. Upon approaching the car, the vehicle fled, almost striking an officer, headed east down Squire Road, and entered the Brown Circle rotary traveling in the wrong direction. Revere officers pursued the vehicle onto Malden Street, where it came to a stop after crashing into a traffic island and knocking over a utility pole.

Two occupants of the vehicle fled on foot. Revere officers, with assistance from a State Police K9 team, pursued and apprehended a 17-year-old male. Three days earlier, the male, an East Boston resident, had been indicted for murder and armed robbery for the July 26, 2020 shooting homicide of 20-year-old Yaseen Butt on Revere Beach Boulevard.

The juvenile male was located with assistance from MSP K9 Unit Trooper Michael Murphy and his partner, Keira, who acquired a scent and tracked into a yard near where the suspect vehicle crashed. Keira pulled hard behind the house, and as the search team rounded a corner of the home there, they observed the suspect sitting on a bench. Trooper Murphy gave verbal commands to the suspect to surrender or face apprehension by the dog, and the suspect surrendered.

Shortly before 7 a.m. today, Troopers from the State Police Detective Unit for Suffolk County and the State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section, along with Revere Police, located another suspect in the homicide of Mr. Butt. Troopers and Officers arrested that suspect, who is also a 17-year-old male from East Boston, inside a Hutchinson Street, Revere residence on a warrant charging him with murder, armed robbery, and firearm and ammunition offenses.

The arrests made since Friday are the second and third overall in the Yaseen Butt homicide. During the summer, FELIX MARTINEZ, 20, of East Boston was charged in Mr. Butt’s killing and remains in custody awaiting trial.

The homicide is being prosecuted by the office of Suffolk District Attorney Rachel Rollins. The suspects arrested Friday and today are considered juveniles and thus their names are not being released at this time. The District Attorney’s Office will determine when names may appropriately be released per judicial protocols.

By Colin A. Young
State House News Service

With about two months of a lame duck session remaining for the Legislature, supporters said Monday that this may be their best chance yet to pass legislation that would allow terminally-ill patients to get a prescription for a substance that would end their lives.

In late May, bills (H 4782/S 2745) that would legalize medical aid in dying — sometimes referred to as doctor-assisted suicide or death with dignity — filed by Rep. Louis Kafka and Sen. Will Brownsberger were redrafted and reported out favorably by the Committee on Public Health. The committee said the House and Senate versions were each redrafted with the same language and referred back to their respective chambers. The legislation is now before the Committee on Health Care Financing with a deadline of Dec. 31 for that panel to act.

“The opportunity to talk to you and to encourage everybody to contact their own legislators, whether it be in the House or the Senate, and ask them to work towards getting this bill passed into law and hopefully signed by the governor is important to me as I end my career,” Kafka, who did not seek reelection this year after serving in the House for nearly 30 years, said during the virtual rally of nearly 200 people. “I will always be involved with this bill and should we not have the opportunity to get it passed this session, I certainly am committed to working with everybody in the next session to get the bill on the governor’s desk relatively quickly during that session.”

Under the bill, the patient must have a terminal illness reasonably judged to result in death in six months and must make the request themselves, first orally and again in writing at least 15 days later. The patient must also have two people, including one non-relative who does not work for the health care facility involved, witness the written request. The bill also requires patients to meet with a counselor to determine if they are suffering from psychiatric or psychological conditions that may affect their judgment.

“I desperately want to live, but I’m dying,” Gloucester resident Lee Marshall, a retired nurse who has metastatic breast cancer, said. “Massachusetts’ medical aid-in-dying bill is my hope for a peaceful death. I’m terrified of lingering pain. I am imploring Massachusetts lawmakers to listen to their terminally ill constituents, to their constituents who have seen a loved one die needlessly painful deaths, full of suffering, and to have the compassion to pass the End of Life Options Act.”

Massachusetts voters spoke directly to the issue in 2012, when they rejected a ballot question similar to the bill filed by Kafka and Brownsberger with 51 percent opposed and 49 percent in favor, a margin of 67,891 votes. Nine states have authorized some form of medical aid in dying: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, along with the District of Columbia.

Compassion & Choices, a national group that supports giving terminally-ill people a sanctioned option for ending their lives, pointed to poll results published as part of the Boston Globe’s recent Spotlight series on end-of-life issues that showed that just shy of 70 percent of respondents in Massachusetts think terminally-ill people should be able to end their lives with the assistance of a doctor.

But Not Dead Yet, a group that opposes the policy and advocates on behalf of people with disabilities, points to national polling conducted by Pew Research Center that showed 49 percent of Americans disapprove of medically-prescribed fatal doses while 47 percent approve.

When the legislation got out of the Public Health Committee with a favorable report earlier this year, it was the first time in at least five legislative sessions that bills dealing with aid-in-dying cleared the committee hurdle. Kafka, who has been behind the legislation for a decade, said he will soon talk to House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s office about bringing the bill to the House floor sometime in December.

“In the House, we’re starting a budget debate tomorrow and it will last until the end of the week. The Senate, I think, is scheduled to do the budget next week and then the conference committee the week after, so that gets us pretty much to Thanksgiving,” Kafka, who serves as a division chair in DeLeo’s leadership structure, said. “And what happens after that is up for grabs.”

Investigation Update: The BPD is releasing a second image of the person wanted in connection to a sexual assault which occurred on Sunday, November 8, 2020, at about 2:03 AM in the area of The Public Garden located at 2 Charles Street in Boston.

Detectives have learned that the suspect encountered the victim in the area of Bromfield Street, where he forcefully brought her through the Boston Common into the Public Garden where he sexually assaulted her. The suspect is described as an unknown male.

The Boston Police Sexual Assault Unit is actively reviewing the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident. Anyone with any information is asked to call detectives directly at (617) 343-4400.

Community members wishing to assist this investigation anonymously can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).

The Boston Police Department will stringently guard and protect the identities of those who wish to help this investigation anonymously. If you are a victim of a sexual assault that has or has not been reported to police and would feel more comfortable seeking confidential advice from a non-law enforcement agency, the Boston Police Department encourages you to call the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) at 1 (800) 841-8371. BARCC provides free and confidential counseling, case management, legal, and medical advocacy services to survivors in the greater Boston area. To learn more, please click on the enclosed link: www.barcc.org.

On Monday, the crew of Ladder 4 (using a reserve Ladder 3), Group A stopped at Campbell School to talk to the preschoolers in Ms. Heydt’s, Mrs. Martin’s, Ms. Fogg’s and Mrs. Simmons’ classrooms.

These young scholars learned about ?safety and prevention. ? A special thanks to Lt. Cormier and his crew for making this happen.

Here at the New Bedford Fire Department, we believe it’s never too early to start educating the children about fire safety! ? #themoretheyknow

(Photo credit: Ms. Heydt)

(Photo credit: Ms. Heydt)

(Photo credit: Ms. Heydt)

(Photo credit: Ms. Heydt)

NBPD Detectives recently seized 10 grams of cocaine, 4 grams of fentanyl, a loaded Colt 32 caliber handgun, and more than $4000 at 383 Wood St.

Hector Abreu-Garcia, 26, 21 Warren St. Apt. #1, was charged with multiple firearms offenses, two counts of drug possession with intent to distribute, and conspiracy. This is a subsequent weapon offense for Abreu-Garcia, who was previously found guilty of possession of a firearm without a license in 2013.

Malik Cannon, 19, 383 Wood St. was charged with two counts of drug possession with intent to distribute, and conspiracy.

Detective Samuel Algarin-Mojica of the NBPD Gang Unit investigated the case.

Seismographic instruments at New Bedford Public Schools Sea Lab Marine Science Education Center register 3.6 earthquake near epicenter.

New Bedford Public Schools Sea Lab recorded a 4.2 earthquake, reduced to a 3.6 magnitude, on its three seismographs on Sunday, November 8, 2020. The earthquake lasted approximately 10 seconds. The U.S. Geological Survey initially recorded a 4.2 magnitude earthquake in Buzzards Bay at 9:06 a.m., indicating the location of the epicenter as “11 kilometers south of Bliss Corner, Massachusetts”, which is approximately two miles south of Sea Lab.

Simone P. Bourgeois, Facilitator of the NBPS Sea Lab Marine Science Education Center, remarked that instrument sensors reacted vigorously, recording the sustained and pronounced surface waves felt across the region.

Sea Lab owns three seismographs and is a member of the Boston College Educational Seismology Program. New Bedford Public Schools has sponsored the study of seismology and global tectonics for all students matriculating through the Sea Lab Program, a nationally recognized science program of the district.

Ms. Bourgeois noted the seismographs are an important part of the program. “Sea Lab students record earthquakes nationally and internationally by pinning a world map on the exact location of the earthquake. Data is recorded for all local and international earthquakes. The process helps students identify the tectonic plates on earth’s surface.”

‘What’s Shaking?’– Seismographs at NBPS Sea Lab reacted vigorously to Sunday morning’s 3.6 earthquake. The epicenter was located about two miles south of Sea Lab. (NBPS photos)

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About Sea Lab
The Sea Lab Marine Science Education Center is funded through the New Bedford Public Schools for the perpetuation of real science activities. Sea Lab maintains a marine and aquatic educational facility servicing New Bedford Public School students interested in studying principles of oceanography, limnology, meteorology, physics, chemistry, geology, and biology as related to the marine and aquatic environments.

Researchers from across the globe publish resource that expands known diversity of bacteria and archaea by 44%.

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute announced a new project, the Genomes from Earth’s Microbiomes, that pulled together the research of more than 200 scientists and researchers to increase the known bacteria and archaea by 44%.

Among those researches was UMass Dartmouth Dean of Engineering and interim Dean of the School for Marine Science & Technology Jean VanderGheynst.

Despite advances in sequencing technologies and computational methods in the past decade, researchers have uncovered genomes for just a small fraction of Earth’s microbial diversity. Because most microbes cannot be cultivated under laboratory conditions, their genomes cannot be sequenced using traditional approaches. Identifying and characterizing the planet’s microbial diversity is key to understanding the roles of microorganisms in regulating nutrient cycles, as well as gaining insights into potential applications they may have in a wide range of research fields.

A public repository of 52,515 microbial draft genomes generated from environmental samples around the world, expanding the known diversity of bacteria and archaea by 44%, is now available in Nature Biotechnology. Known as the GEM (Genomes from Earth’s Microbiomes) catalog, this work results from a collaboration involving more than 200 scientists, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI), a DOE Office of Science User Facility located at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), and the DOE Systems Biology Knowledgebase (KBase).

VanderGheynst’s contributions are related to her research on the discovery of industrial enzymes from compost microbiomes for the conversion of plant biomass to biofuels.

Metagenomics is the study of the microbial communities in the environmental samples without needing to isolate individual organisms, using various methods for processing, sequencing, and analysis. “Using a technique called metagenome binning, we were able to reconstruct thousands of metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) directly from sequenced environmental samples without needing to cultivate the microbes in the lab,” noted Stephen Nayfach, the study’s first author and research scientist in Nikos Kyrpides’ Microbiome Data Science group. “What makes this study really stand out from previous efforts is the remarkable environmental diversity of the samples we analyzed.”

Emiley Eloe-Fadrosh, head of the JGI Metagenome Program and senior author on the study elaborated on Nayfach’s comments. “This study was designed to encompass the broadest and most diverse range of samples and environments, including natural and agricultural soils, human- and animal-host associated, and ocean and other aquatic environments – that’s pretty remarkable.”

A 37-year-old Florida man wanted in connection with the recent disappearance of an 18-year-old Mashpee girl, last seen getting into his vehicle in New Bedford, died in Crestview, Florida last Thursday morning while US Marshall’s were attempting to take him into custody.

New Bedford Police, working in conjunction with Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney’s office, have been investigating the disappearance of Jalajhia Finklea since shortly after she went missing on October 20th.

Ms. Finklea was last seen in New Bedford getting into the Luis Zaragoza’s vehicle, which investigators learned he recently rented from Logan Airport in Boston. Zaragoza is also known to go by the alias, Luis Barbosa.

As a result of the ongoing investigation into this matter, police learned Ms. Finklea’s cell phone was last used to call the suspect shortly before she got into his vehicle. Further investigation determined that the Zaragoza turned off his own cell phone minutes after Ms. Finklea got into his rented vehicle.

During the course of the investigation, police were able to locate Ms. Finklea’s discarded cell phone on Route 140 in New Bedford, approximately five miles away from where she first entered into the suspect’s vehicle.

Police have been actively attempting to locate her and the suspect ever since. As a result of those efforts, police determined the suspect had left the state and travelled south along the eastern seaboard to Florida. The suspect then travelled to Texas before driving back to Florida. Police have been able to locate surveillance footage from some of the places the suspect travelled to during the course of the last two weeks, but none of the surveillance shows Ms. Finklea.

As police here in Massachusetts began to obtain more information about the suspect and his travels, the US Marshal’s were contacted to assist in the attempt to locate him and Ms. Finklea.

The US Marshal’s were able to succesfully locate the suspect last Wednesdsay night and began surveilling him. As the search for Ms. Finklea continued, police here in Massachusetts sought and obtained an arrest warrant for the suspect, charging him with kidnapping and larceny of a motor vehicle.

New Bedford Police detectives were en route to Florida Thursday morning as the US Marshal’s and an assisting Okaloosa County Sheriff’s deputy attempted to arrest the suspect at a McDonald’s parking lot in Crestview, Florida. The suspect, who was armed with a handgun, died during a confrontation with police.

The investigation into the shooting is being conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. All requests for information regarding that incident should be made to officials in Florida.

Investigators have yet to locate Ms. Finklea and the search for her continues at this hour. New Bedford Police and State Police detectives assigned to this office have been working tirelessly to locate Ms. Finklea and will continue to do so​. If you have any information regarding this case, please contact the New Bedford Police Department Station 3 at 508-991-6360