“Hello my name is Renee Randall, a single mother of two girls: one 20-years old and the other 14-years old. We’ve been living in housing for almost 15 years and I have never had any major issues till this past year.

Ever since housing got a new manager my rent has been out of control and way beyond my means. The only income I receive is $122 a month through the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) and I also get SNAP benefits. My only other income is for my youngest from Social Security due to her father being disabled which is now $537 a month last year was $510.

I have been giving paperwork for my income from day one. Since I injured myself in February of 2021 and was terminated from worker’s comp in April of 2021, I was not receiving DTA benefits until September of 2021. I have given proof of all income over and over and they have yet to adjust my rent and continue charging me $630 a month which is way above and beyond what it should be.

Then they had a program pay over $2500 in back-owned rent that should have never been owed. They now had this program pay over $3,000 because they have yet to rectify my situation. I have called Housing Authority and spoke to a higher-up who only passed me back to new office manager. I also gave paperwork and spoke to another office worker and she explained that if my rent was overpaid that it would credit my account.

They just again did my rent review and now they want to charge me $511 a month which is way beyond the subsidy of 30% of my income. I have been denied over and over by social security even though I have so many medical issues and am on many prescriptions but because I’m under 50 they keep denying me.

This is all so stressful and has my every moment of every day full of anxiety and I can’t get ahead. My car’s radiator blew so I can’t get anywhere and no one will help me. I feel like I’m losing everything and my home will be next because of these issues and being pushed aside.”

“IS THERE A WAY I COULD POST THIS ANONYMOUSLY PLEASE. I WOULD Love to know what people thought I should have done. But people are so mean. Could we not put my name please?

My husband recently caught COVID, the week the kids were to return to school after Christmas break. I contacted all the schools letting them all know that because we tested negative AFTER testing positive that I felt it be necessary to keep my family in closed quarantine for 14 days. I and my 4 children didn’t show signs yet.

A couple of the kids started to show symptoms of simple colds and I thought ‘Well let’s wait a couple of days to make sure it doesn’t turn into COVID.’ Then I got sick. I’m saying to myself, ‘This can’t be good right???’

I contacted the schools and told them what my plan was: I would get the kids tested on day 10. Wait for results and start life again. Or so I thought.

3 of my children’s schools accepted the pediatrician letters excusing them from school because we have a large family and wanted to be considerate. What if we were carrying it right? Only 1 school decided that they wanted my son in school. They didn’t care that my house was sick or that their father was damn near ready for the emergency room.

That school DECIDED TO REPORT ME for school negligence and sent an investigator to my house to check on the well-being of my children. Keep in mind my youngest has a heart defect and we literally are just trying to do what’s best for everyone including ourselves.

Honest opinion without bashing. Because they decided not to accept and report UNEXCUSED absences and not tell them THEY HAD AN ACTUAL DR NOTE.

Would you have rather me:

(A) send my child to school while there is an active COVID case in household; or

(B) keep the children home to be sure they aren’t sick and to save it from spreading?

And what can I do about the nurse going against my children’s doctor’s note?! Isn’t this a form of false accusation and character deformation when I already contacted the schools?!”

“I recently read an article “Charter school proposal roils South Coast” by Michael Jonas published by CommonWealth Journal of Politics, Ideas, & Civic Life. In it I was troubled to learn that Jim Mathes from South Dartmouth is using his voice to advocate and defend the shady “Mattapoisett Boy’s Club” and the banker$’ plan for the “Innovators” Charter School.

Shamefully, Jim goes beyond supporting the scheme and actually has the audacity to state that New Bedford Coalition to Save Our Schools members are wrong to exercise our freedom of speech.

Jim Mathes. Facebook photo.

Jim Mathes we not only have the right to stand up against this corporate and colonial scheme we also have the moral obligation to give voice to our community’s disapproval of the “Innovators” Charter School scheme.

Especially, given the fact that the scheme would take $10,000,000 annually from New Bedford public schools and the Fall River public schools. Our cities’ public schools are already disproportionately underfunded.

It is unethical that the “Innovators” Mattapoisett cluster and others plan to siphon ten million dollars annually from our historically overstretched public school budgets in New Bedford and Fall River.

The scheme would also eliminate the democratic process in our communities. Public voting ensures accountability of our public schools. Public elections for school committee members and for the elected officials who appoint the superintendent are fundamental to democracy.

On the other side, charter schools are private corporations that undermine public control by eliminating public vote. For charters there is no democratic process, only a private corporate board in control.

Jim Mathes, do you realize that the greater majority of New Bedford people, the mayor of New Bedford, the entire New Bedford city council, the New Bedford school committee, and all of New Bedford’s State Representatives oppose the “Innovators” Charter School scheme?

One would think you would take your lead from our community in New Bedford. Yet deplorably there you are in South Dartmouth defending a scheme that will hurt New Bedford Public Schools and the people of New Bedford.

It is equally disturbing, to read you are critiquing New Bedford community members for exercising our constitutional rights and freedom of speech. As Dr. Ricardo Rosa pointedly stated ““Democracy gets loud, Frederick Douglass, who lived in New Bedford, said power concedes nothing without a demand. There’s a need to have that kind of pressure from below.”

Jim Mathes I pray you pause and think long and hard about your position during your next drive to New Bedford to collect your paycheck from your comfortable position as President and CEO of Dennison Memorial.

Jim Mathes, I also pray you learn to listen to our community and follow our lead. To continue to ignore our community is to move forward with a colonial mindset and the arrogant assumption that you know what is best for our community. Jim you don’t.” -Erik Andrade.

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Mayor Jon Mitchell Statement Following Withdrawal of Innovators Charter School Proposal:

Mayor Jon Mitchell released the following statement after today’s withdrawal of the Innovators Charter School proposal from state consideration.

“We’re pleased that the Innovators Charter School withdrew its application, as we believed that the diversion of funds from our school district would have undermined the district’s progress.

I wish to thank Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan, state and municipal leaders, educators, parents, and community members for making their voices heard in the process. We remain committed to improving educational opportunity for all children in the region, and we believe that can best be accomplished when we work together.”

“My youngest daughter uses a ramp van because yes she’s disabled. Today I had her all dressed and ready to go and the handicap van can’t put the ramp down because of all the snow.

Okay. So I call housing, housing says they can’t help me it’s not they’re issue. They say it’s on the streets so it’s city’s responsibility.

So I call the city of New Bedford and they say that they can’t help because I’m in housing and it’s housing’s responsibility.

I’m like at my last straw!

So my kid can’t and won’t be going to school because they don’t want to help me shovel out a tiny section of your own property? They gave me the run around for 15 mins.

Tremblay’s bus needs a phone call from the school to let them know that it was completed and done so their bus driver can use the van ramp effectively. No one wants to cooperate with me and I’m so done with this!!

MY KID IS DISABLED, SORRY ITS A BURDEN TO YOU GUYS, THOUGHT THAT WAS YOUR JOB ???????????” -Hailey Manley.

“I went to 51 Elm Street where you pay your parking ticket and was denied their service due to my payment method.

I was using quarters to pay for a $25 dollar ticket. They pointed to a sign that said they could only take a limited amount of coins. I had called before I went and was told “There was no exact limit to the coins I could use to pay.”

According to the U.S. Treasury, Section 31 U.S.C 5103, and the Coinage Act of 1965 “U.S. coins and currency are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues.”

The city is extorting their own civilians by issuing currency as a government and then turning around and not accepting that same form of payment that THEY issued.

Screw the city and the mayor’s office who did nothing but violate my rights and degrade me. Laurie Elfonco with the customs and border protection who was on site was disrespectful, inconsiderate, a lair, and most of all should not work for such an agency when violating the rights of their civilians.” -Tyler Hancock.

“My ex and I split up in the beginning of November. When he left he left a dog we had in my home.

The dog had a vet bill that I paid for back from September. The agreement was for him to pay half of the vet bill ($175) to have visitation with the dog. On 1-6-22 he called me and said he had $50 for the dog. So I agreed the dog could stay with him overnight. I called the next day and my ex proceeds to tell me that he went and had the dog licensed in his name and that he is not returning the dog.

I have proof of all of this. Under Massachusetts state law a dog is looked at as a piece of property. I have called the police several times and they refuse to do anything. Police say that they do not want to do anything because the dog was obtained while we were together. So it’s disputed property. But under law, as I said, a dog is considered property (I know it’s sad) and he moved out at the beginning of November and took the dog away last week. Property left after 30 days is considered abandoned. So by law, the dog is mine and that means that he stole the dog.

I’ve contacted a lawyer and the DA office who both say this is a larceny case.

But again police are no help. I’ve been to the courthouse to file my own criminal charges and a small claims case. With COVID and staff issues at the courthouse, I’m looking at July before I get in court.

I’m so frustrated and at my wit’s end about this. I was just wondering if you knew of any resources I could use? If you knew any help I’d greatly appreciate it. I need any help I can get at this point. I get a lot of advice like “Steal the dog back!”. Thing is, we have the same landlord. And if I ’cause problems’ he is threatening to kick me out.” -Anonymous.

“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!”

“Some things I wish people knew about the restaurant industry and what it’s like to be a server.

Being a server is not all that bad, it’s a great job to keep as a side job, or a seasonal job, even as a full-time job. As a server, we want to get the best possible tip so always try our hardest to give the best service as humanly possible, however, that’s not always the case.

With the industry being one of the hardest hit by COVID it has left many restaurants short-staffed – something people should always keep in mind when going out to eat. I understand some people don’t believe in tipping, that’s fine and dandy, but if that’s the case then you should let the server know beforehand that they will not be receiving a tip. Most restaurants have a tip-out policy.

How this works for some places is the server comes in already with a negative balance. Then at the end of the shift, a percentage of the gross sales is tipped out to the bar, and for some places cooks, sushi chefs, meat runners, bussers, etc.

Bad servers do not last. I repeat bad servers do not last at all in the industry. So if you for some reason receive bad service at a restaurant, there is usually a valid reason behind it.

The point being that if you think that leaving no tip or anything less than 18% is okay, please do all the servers of the industry a favor and let them know beforehand or tell them directly if there are any issues. Otherwise a majority of the time we end up paying out of pocket for your and your friend’s/families’ meals.

If your answer is to seek another job, well that’s what a lot of great servers already did, and that my friends is why the industry faces the mess we have today.

Just some food for thought. No pun intended.”-Anonymous.

“Something has to be done about Normandin School and their administration! They do NOTHING to protect these kids at all.

I’m about to go to the superintendent as well because this is absolutely ridiculous already!! These kids bully my son who is bald because of alopecia so bad that they have a whole page dedicated to bullying him on Instagram! My son didn’t chose to be bald, he has Alopecia Areata which is an autoimmune disease that attacks the hair follicle and may be brought on by severe stress. He lost his hair and bullying in that school hasn’t helped him get it back since.

I edited the picture to protect his condition and more bullying. These kids are such bullies that they have pages dedicated to kids sleeping in class, bathroom feet pics etc. It’s all on Instagram and the school isn’t worried about it.

Phones should NOT be allowed in school anymore! Especially because of the fact that now that kids are using their phones to make videos in the bathroom stalls. God forbid someone’s kids’ private parts end up on the internet!!!!

I reported it to the school about my son being bullied multiple times and they still do nothing. Yet yesterday he got in trouble for saying something back to a girl who was bullying him. They called me right away and gave him detention but why is it not a big issue when he’s getting called names for being bald or getting picked on and bullied or being cyber-bullied?!

PLEASE educate your kids about bullying!!! I just want parents to educate their children to be better human beings and treat others how they would like to be treated and for the school to do their part instead of always sweeping things under the rug.” -Anonymous.

A perennial question that has no simple answer. How do we put an end to it? Is it one thing in particular or a number of them? Where are the problem spots in your neighborhood?

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“Why does it take so long to stop drug activity???

Throughout the year, there’s been drug activity everyday on Warren St across the police station on Brock Ave. This activity has been reported a number of times beginning earlier in the year and nothing has been done about it.

What does it take to stop this obstruction of tenancy (5 other units) due to the daily visits of drug addicts to this 1 unit??? The Mayor’s office was recently contacted, due to the failure of the police department throughout the year.” -Dean H Rose.