The following was posted by the New Bedford Police Department today:
“New Bedford Police Department Chief Joseph Cordeiro welcomes newly-sworn Officers Sommer Cardoso, Manuel Sequeira, William Soloman, Eric Boulay, and Jordan Barbosa. Please join the NBPD and the City of New Bedford in congratulating them and wishing safety and success for their futures!”
Ryan Silvia, 37, of Fall River died at Rhode Island Hospital Sunday evening as a result of injuries sustained when he was struck by a motor vehicle last Thursday night on State Road in Dartmouth.
Police continue to actively investigating a motor vehicle crash that took Mr. Silvia’s life. Dartmouth Police were called to the area of 671 State Road in Dartmouth at approximately 9:15 pm on Thursday, July 16th. They discovered the victim had been struck by a white BMW 323i in the area of 671 State Road. The driver remained on scene. The victim, identified as 37 year old Ryan Silvia was located by first responders unresponsive in the roadway with significant injuries. Due to the serious nature of the victim’s injuries he was transported by Med Flight to Rhode Island Hospital where he remained in critical condition until Sunday evening.
Massachusetts State Police detectives from Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III’s office responded to the scene and are being assisted in the active and ongoing investigation by the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, and Dartmouth Police detectives.
As the investigation is pending at this time, no further information can be released.
Chris Lisinski
State House News Service
One of Massachusetts’s neighbors to the south will subject visitors from nearly two dozen states to fines up to $1,000 if they do not self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday that travelers from 22 states with high rates of COVID infection must complete an online form before visiting Connecticut and those who fail to do so or to remain quarantined upon arrival will be subject to a $2,000 fine, according to an NBC Connecticut report. The new enforcement provision is a reversal for Lamont, who in June asked travelers from hotspots to quarantine but said it was voluntary, according to the Hartford Courant.
In Massachusetts, travelers from most states are also instructed to self-isolate for two weeks upon arrival under a Baker administration order, but they are not subject to fines. Legislation filed by Reps. Jon Santiago and Mindy Domb and Sen. Harriette Chandler would impose a penalty of up to $1,000 for anyone who violates mandatory self-quarantine after travel.
Last week, both the House and Senate agreed on a revised to-go cocktail bill and sent it to Governor Baker’s desk for approval, which he signed on Monday. With Governor Baker’s signature, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts joins 30 other states allowing cocktails to-go.
The new law created to help restaurants adversely impacted by the pandemic stipulates that to-go mixed drinks up to 64oz can be sold along with food orders until Feb. 28, 2021, or until the state of emergency is lifted, whichever one comes later.
There are some minor restrictions and guidelines must be followed: if a person is picking it up after ordering the drink must go in the trunk. In addition, it must serve before midnight and be in a sealed container.
“Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, who died last week, touched countless lives throughout his own lifetime.
He was leader of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, heroically taking part in such watershed events as the Freedom Rides, the March on Washington, and the march from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama. He later served for more than three decades in the US House of Representatives, where he championed progressive causes and gun safety legislation and also earned a reputation for independence and integrity.
Two of the hundreds of thousands of lives he touched were those of Massachusetts State Police Lieutenant Carmelo Ayuso (right) and Trooper David St. Germain, seen here flanking Congressman Lewis.
The two MSP members were honored to meet the Congressman at a conference last year. We offer our condolences to the family, friends and staff of this American political legend.”
Written by Steven Froias, contributing writer.
If you follow New Bedford Creative on Instagram — and you shouldn’t deny yourself the visual pleasure of following @_nbcreative — you will notice something new during the last week of July, August and September.
During those weeks, the account defined by #NBcreative will experience a takeover. It’s an entirely benign and welcome takeover by New Bedford artists who answered the call to showcase the city, these times and their work through their own smartphone camera lenses.
“We’re constantly looking for new ways to promote city artists and what better way to showcase through their own personal lens,” says Senior Creative Fellow Jasmyn Baird. “Especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s important that we mobilize every tool we have to support arts and culture for the entire region.This opportunity allows for artists to share not only what they do but how and why they create their art. It gives our audience an exclusive experience into each artists’ life which contributes to the creative community within New Bedford.”
With social distancing still on the agenda, one of the most useful tools at an artist’s disposal is digital, and perhaps that is why eleven artists signed up to populate the New Bedford Creative Instagram account with their visual thoughts and fancies.
During the last week of each month through September, the following artists will handle the posting duties and thus represent the City of New Bedford and its artists.
They are: Violet Foulk; Brittany Baglini; Alyn Carlson; Tracy Silva Barbosa; Adrian Burke; Jim Charette; Lana Quann; Patricia A. Thomas; Scott Bishop; Ephraim Christopher Morgan; and Rhonda M. Fazio.
About three to four artists will be featured during any given week during the takeover term. What will they be posting? It’s anyone’s guess! The line-up boasts artists of many disciplines – visual, performance, musical, textile – reflecting the range of talent in this authentic seaport community with a cultural heritage that stretches back centuries.
For guidance, the artists were given the following topic examples: What’s a day like in the life of an artist during this moment in time? Has your art been impacted by #COVID-19 and/or #BlackLivesMatter? Can you give us a glance into your art studio, creative space, and process? Or, tutorials of making your art at home or in your studio…?
Normally, @_nbcreative spotlights many of the artists employing their talent in the city. Also, the various programs and projects designed to support arts and culture in New Bedford and for the entire South Coast are shared through its Instagram account.
This includes the successful Wicked Cool Places grant program, administered by New Bedford Creative as part of the New Bedford Economic Development Council.
In a reflection of the reality that is the coronavirus, Wicked Cool Places now encompass cyberspace. So, each of the artists sharing their time and skill will be compensated with a stipend for their work during the Instagram takeover.
“It’s important to ensure that our arts community receives some practical support at this time,” says Creative Strategist Margo Saulnier, “and this is one way we can help place a value on the immense contribution they and all of our arts and culture purveyors have made on New Bedford, especially in recent years.”
Indeed, the city has largely been viewed as enjoying both a cultural and economic renaissance over the past ten years or so, reclaiming its historic role as a regional hub and destination in Massachusetts.
“We don’t want to lose what got us to this point,” concludes its Creative Strategist. “We’ll find innovative ways to persevere and keep the focus on the unlimited possibility New Bedford’s arts and culture promises into the future.”
Find it on Instagram, once again @_nbcreative, featuring the outstanding images and spirit of a city still and always on the move.
Chris Lisinski
State House News Service
The University of Massachusetts system, the third-largest employer in the state, will cut about 6 percent of its full-time equivalent workforce and furlough thousands as part of its efforts to close a $264 million budget gap ripped open by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nearly three in 10 UMass employees will be affected by the cost-saving measures, and university officials will also scale back spending on supplies and capital projects.
At a virtual meeting Monday where the Board of Trustees approved a $3.3 billion fiscal 2021 budget that freezes tuition, President Marty Meehan warned that the four campuses and medical school must overcome an “unprecedented financial challenge.”
“We face difficult decisions today and we will continue to face them in the weeks and months ahead,” Meehan said. “We are coming at this problem from every possible direction.”
UMass officials cut workforce spending by about $163 million and non-personnel costs by $92 million to help balance the budget, according to a budget summary provided by a spokesperson.
The system has already laid off 134 of its nearly 24,000 workers and will terminate employment of another 397. About 1,125 student and temporary positions have also been cut, 790 open full-time equivalent jobs will not be filled, and more than 3,000 employees face furloughs this fiscal year, according to the summary.
About $243 million in planned long-term capital projects are on hold across the UMass system. Other savings will come from consolidating procurement for the multiple schools and continuing a years-long efficiency effort.
Planning for the upcoming year is made more challenging by uncertainty about federal legislative action and enormous budget strain on state government. In Massachusetts, officials project a revenue shortfall of $2 billion to $8 billion below earlier estimates, and state leaders have not fashioned a plan to deal with that.
Other questions linger about the number of students who will remain enrolled once their schools shift to mostly or entirely online classes. UMass campus officials anticipate a decline in enrollment of about 5 percent, but said Monday that number could change as the fall semester approaches.
The fiscal 2021 budget UMass trustees approved Monday, which is about $171 million less than fiscal year 2020’s spending levels, also responds to the outbreak by planning for additional precautions and aiming relief at students and their families.
Campuses will collectively spend about $30 million more on testing, personal protective equipment, physical distancing preparations, and other precautions against transmission of the highly infectious virus.
Meehan praised UMass for confronting the COVID crisis “better than many.”
With Monday’s vote, trustees gave their approval to a plan Meehan unveiled in May to freeze tuition for nearly 48,000 in-state undergraduates and 9,500 graduate students across the Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell schools.
Officials had increased tuition annually to mirror inflation for the past several years, but it will remain at last year’s level for the 2020-2021 academic year. That change means UMass will forego about $18.6 million in revenue for the system next year.
“Freezing tuition is the right thing to do, but will put additional stress on our budgets,” Meehan said.
UMass anticipates its student population will receive almost $1 billion in financial aid from a combination of federal, state, private and university sources in fiscal year 2021.
The board approved both the fiscal 2021 budget and the tuition freeze unanimously, with trustees Stephen Karam and Julie Ramos Gagliardi abstaining from the student fees question.
UMass labor representatives flagged concerns with the plans during Monday’s call, urging campus leaders to embrace more defined plans for providing personal protective equipment and cleaning and to seek alternate ways to balance the budget rather than imposing cuts.
Anneta Argyres, who directs UMass Boston’s Labor Extension Program and is the president of the Professional Staff Union for the Boston and Amherst campuses, told the board her 2,000-member union is “very concerned” about the positions that will be lost, arguing that online learning requires more teaching and support staff than in-person instruction.
“This is not the time to eliminate jobs in public higher education, but jobs are being eliminated across our campuses,” Argyres said. “The reason we’re being given is you are requiring balanced budgets without the use of reserves. Why? What are you trying to protect? Our system has reserves that should be used to stabilize our campuses during crises, and we all know we’re in the midst of two crises right now: COVID and the economic collapse.”
“This is the time to use those funds to ensure that our institutions weather that storm,” Argyres continued.
Asked about potential use of reserves as Argyres suggested, a Meehan spokesperson replied, “We believe this will be a multi-year challenge we’re facing, and we want to be as flexible as possible.” The spokesperson did not indicate how much the system has in reserves.
Budget-writers anticipate $15 million in additional revenue, including $9 million from the federal CARES Act, but did not include in their plan any additional federal relief that may arrive after congressional talks.
Meehan, a former congressman, said he is working with other university presidents and with members of Congress to push for additional action. He said the so-called HEROES Act, a $3 trillion package the U.S. House approved in May, could bring $119 million in for the UMass system.
Rather than a system-wide approach, officials at each of the undergraduate campuses in Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell are planning their own models for the fall with varying degrees of in-person instruction.
At Amherst, all students who return to campus will be asked to sign an agreement on “responsible behavior” to maintain public health, such as wearing face coverings in public spaces and keeping shared areas clean.
“They’re all required to sign an agreement and we’ll have a huge amount of educational and reinforcement opportunities,” Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy said at Monday’s meeting.
The 87-year-old woman who succumbed to injuries sustained in a multi-vehicle crash on Route 3 in Pembroke yesterday has been identified as Nancy Chamberlin of Quincy.
The crash remains under investigation by Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police along with members of the State Police Collision Analysis Reconstruction Section, Crime Scene Services, and Plymouth County State Police Detective Unit. No other information is available at this time.
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Earlier press release:
State Police Investigating Fatal Crash in Pembroke
July 19, 2020
At approximately 9:30 a.m. today Troopers assigned to State Police-Norwell responded to reports of a four vehicle crash on Route 3 northbound prior to Exit 12 in Pembroke. Upon their arrival they discovered the passenger of a 2017 Volkswagen SUV, an 87-year-old female from Quincy, suffering from serious injuries sustained in the crash. The operator sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Troopers performed life-saving efforts, including CPR, prior to her transport to an area hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.
A total of four people were transported to area hospitals, none with life-threatening injuries. State Police Collision Analysis Reconstruction Section, Crime Scene Services, and Plymouth County State Police Detective Unit responded to the scene to investigate the cause of the crash. State Police were assisted on scene by Pembroke EMS and MassDOT. Route 3 northbound was completely closed at the scene of the crash for approximately two hours, causing heavy traffic delays.
Earlier today and unrelated to this crash, MassDOT dispatched a work crew to repair a road defect north of the crash. This road defect, a pothole, was completely separate and unrelated to thIs crash.
The exact cause and circumstances of the crash remain under investigation, no other information is available at this time. Please do not contact the barracks directly.
On Monday, July 20, the Mattapoisett Police Department along with Detectives from the Wareham Police Department executed an arrest warrant on 30-year-old Alberto “Berto” Velasquez from Onset, MA and a search warrant at the Hillside Motel in Mattapoisett.
Over the past several weeks, Detectives conducted surveillance of Alberto Velasquez at the Hillside Motel in Mattapoisett. During this time, police allege that Velasquez was selling heroin/fentanyl from his room at the motel. Detectives report observing multiple people arrive at the motel day and night to allegedly purchase narcotics. In addition, Detectives report making multiple controlled purchases of heroin/fentanyl from Velasquez at the Hillside Motel.
This morning, Velasquez was observed leaving the motel as a passenger in an unknown person’s vehicle. Mattapoisett Police and Wareham Police initiated a motor vehicle stop. Velasquez was the passenger of the vehicle and was allegedly refusing to obey multiple commands from Detectives to exit the vehicle. Velasquez was observed by Detectives attempting to consume what was believed to be heroin/fentanyl. Velasquez was subsequently removed from the vehicle and placed into custody.
Velasquez is charged with Possession of a Class A Substance (subsequent offense), Resisting Arrest, and Disorderly Conduct. In addition, Velasquez was also arrested on an outstanding arrest warrant from Wareham Police for Assault and Battery on a Person Over 60, Animal Cruelty, and Destruction of Property.
Velasquez was booked at the Mattapoisett Police Station and later transported to Plymouth District Court for arraignment.
Anyone with information involving illegal drugs can leave an anonymous tip with drugtips@mattapoisettpolice.com
On July 17, New Bedford police officers executed a search warrant at 108 Princeton St #1 and report seizing 55 grams of packaged cocaine and $5,940 in cash.
26-year old Devon Dakota Thompson and his mother, 45-year old Tara L. Antonio, both of 108 Princeton St #1 in New Bedford, are both charged with trafficking and conspiracy. Detective Lavar Gilbert investigated the case.
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.