New Bedford Police 'go green'

NEW BEDFORD — They are so quiet, a police officer riding one can almost sneak up on someone.

A steady, quiet hum was the only sound heard Monday as police Sgt. Jill Simmons and Officer Christian Gomes rode the Police Department's two new electric scooters around Pleasant Street.

City and police officials touted the Vectrix, an emission-free scooter manufactured in the New Bedford Industrial Park, as emblematic of a new environmentally [read more]

  New access plan for Fairhaven Mills

NEW BEDFORD — The city and the developer for the Fairhaven Mills site say the project is moving forward with a new access plan, and Mayor Scott W. Lang said the city has asked the state to free up $1.3 million for improvements to an Interstate 195 ramp and local streets.

Officials said they have abandoned longstanding plans to use a key piece of Fairhaven Mills owned by John Meldon as the development's primary access off Coggeshall Street.

Instead, they plan substantial upgrades to [read more]

  New Bedford tallies up its industrial mills; some to reuse and others to demolish

NEW BEDFORD — Officials here say an inventory of the city's 101 mill structures is the most comprehensive document of its kind in the state, claiming it can be a powerful tool for economic development and historic preservation.

The report has information about specific mills, geographic areas where they are located and clusters of mill buildings.

Officials said Friday they expect the "City of New Bedford Historic Mill Inventory" report to become a cornerstone of future planning for the mills — including using it [read more]

 

  Public access key component of New Bedford's upper harbor plan

NEW BEDFORD — A draft plan for upper New Bedford Harbor revitalization proposes three new, east-west, public-access ways to the Acushnet River and a north-south walkway starting above Coggeshall Street and continuing for miles along the river to above Wood Street.

Under the plan, the public would gain access to the riverfront and walkway at both ends of the promenade or from Sawyer and Hathaway streets and Howard Avenue.
At present, there is extremely limited [read more]

  Salvage firm enjoying brisk business in new location

NEW BEDFORD — When buying and fixing up a new place, homeowners can spend thousands of dollars on building materials such as doors, windows, and hardware. But instead of buying new, buyers might want to take a look at a growing architectural salvage store, New England Demolition and Salvage.

Located in the South End, New England Demolition and Salvage has more than 110,000 square feet of vintage building materials, doubling the square footage of its previous location at the former Ocean Spray [read more]

 

  Governor's road show comes bearing gifts

NEW BEDFORD — Gov. Deval Patrick, in the midst of a summer blitz of town hall and Cabinet meetings across the state, visited the city Tuesday, and senior administration officials announced a $500,000 grant for Bristol Community College for job training in health and human services.

Also announced at the meeting was the planned opening of a regional health services office in New Bedford.

In a 90-minute session before about 150 people at Normandin Middle School, Gov. Patrick [read more]
 

  2008 Working Waterfront Festival slated for September

New Bedford, MA – The 2008 Working Waterfront Festival will take place in New Bedford, Massachusetts, America’s largest commercial fishing port, on Saturday and Sunday, September 27th & 28th. This free, family-friendly event opens the waterfront to the public with a rare look into commercial fishing – America’s oldest industry.

The theme of this year’s Festival is Connecting Communities, Preserving Ports. Commercial fishing communities are facing a host of challenges to their traditional way of life including development [read more]

  New Bedford efforts to lure airlines facing roadblocks on way to takeoff

NEW BEDFORD - Mayor Scott W. Lang is trying something that might not fly: He's lobbying small, regional airlines to launch service from here to Boston's Logan International or Warwick's T.F. Green International airports.

To some, it might seem absurd to fly for 20 to 25 minutes between New Bedford Regional Airport and Boston instead of driving the 60 miles, and even more so for the 40-mile trek to Warwick, R.I.

But commercial air service from New Bedford to [read more]

  Those underestimated fishing boats

So 28 years ago this summer, a guy named Biff MacLean threw a big party on the New Bedford waterfront for a guy named Ted Kennedy who was running for president at the time.

As 85-year-old local politico Sylvester Sylvia remembers it, Ted's campaign against then-President Jimmy Carter was going badly.

Now, I'll bet that Biff wasn't a natural Kennedy fan but he nevertheless came to his aid. Local pork is local [read more]