|
| Index | ||
NEW BEDFORD -- With $5 million in federal funds for youth programs in the balance, the city is struggling to find a way to properly take care of juvenile prisoners, according to social service, law enforcement and city officials.
The city was told early last year that its practice of housing teen prisoners too close to adult prisoners at police headquarters had to stop.
Despite spending $50,000 in community development funds and promising to turn a Gifford Street building into a juvenile jail by Sept. 1, the city has missed two federal deadlines. State officials who distribute the federal funds insist, though, that they won't retract their offer of $114,000 per year to operate the lockup.
MATTAPOISETT -- A state official is threatening to close Town Hall to public meetings if a handicapped-accessible bathroom is not constructed immediately.
But town officials say they have been trying to resolve the issue since a meeting last June and the latest demand is unreasonable.
Bruce Bruneau, a state coordinator for the office of disability's Community Access Monitoring Project, is prepared to demand that public meetings be held at another location unless a unisex handicapped bathroom is constructed.
By Rachel G. Thomas, Standard-Times staff writer
A Wareham woman said she is convinced the image of an "angel" in the clouds featured in an Oct. 18 Standard-Times photograph brought a sense of peace to a critically ill woman she loved as a "second mother," and allowed the woman to face death.
Cheryl Salemme said she was reading the newspaper in her kitchen last Saturday, marveling at the image in the clouds, when the phone rang.
"It was my friend, Linda," Mrs. Salemme said. "She was crying. Her mother was in the hospital and they didn't think she was going to make it."
WAREHAM -- The town has been awarded $500,000 from the state Department of Education -- the maximum amount available -- while other area towns and cities that applied to the Foundation Reserve Program received nothing.
Fall River, New Bedford and Freetown each applied to receive some of the $15 million available to municipalities with "exceptional and unique circumstances in meeting their educational responsibilities," but received nothing.
Wareham, on the other hand, received $500,000 of the $970,000 it requested, much to the delight of local officials.
WESTPORT -- The contracts for union employees have been sanctioned by the Finance Committee for the special town meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Westport High School.
However, the $275,000 to fund the first year of the teachers' contract will come from two sources.
According to Veronica Beaulieu, vice chairwoman of the Finance Committee, the board is recommending that voters appropriate $138,319. The remaining $136,681 will come from state "cherry sheet" reimbursements earmarked for the schools.
DARTMOUTH -- In gaining a brewery Dartmouth might lose a landmark.
The town approved a parking variance for the do-it-yourself Bristol Brewery Tuesday. Plans call for the removal of a 20-foot high loom that has been displayed outside Dartmouth Carpet Factory since 1976.
"They want to take the loom out and put it another place," said Elisa Jardin, who took charge of the family carpet factory after the death of her husband Manuel. "I have no place to put it."
DARTMOUTH -- In theory, at least, the range of beers available in town is about to get infinitely wider.
A new do-it-yourself brewery will soon allow customers to concoct beer according to their own varied and idiosyncratic recipes.
By Bridget McSweeney, Standard-Times staff writer
MATTAPOISETT-- When Stefan Mendell, 5, looked up from his sandbox and saw flames in the kitchen window, he knew exactly what to do.
While his mother, Jane, ran for a fire extinguisher and to call 911, Stefan took his sister Lydia, 3, by the hand to the family's designated meeting place: the swing set.
Yesterday, Fire Chief Ronald Scott and Sparky the fire dog presented Stefan and Lydia with certificates and pencils to reward them for remembering what to do in case of a fire.
"We're really proud of you both and we really appreciated your help. It makes our job a lot easier when we know where you are," Chief Scott told the smiling children.
NEW BEDFORD -- The New Bedford Regional Airport terminal soon will get a $540,000 facelift thanks to a Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission grant approved yesterday.
The grant actually was funded by the state's 1995 Transportation Bond approved by the Legislature. State Sen. Mark C.W. Montigny requested the funds in 1995, but it took two years for the money to actually land in New Bedford.
Dick White
"Captain Jack will get you high tonight. Take you to your special island." -- Billy Joel
After being aboard for so long, the last thing Captain Jack expected was to walk the plank.
Jack Peterson became a local icon, of sorts, in the last 17½ years on "What New Bedford Hears" (WNBH) with his wife and morning radio partner, First Mate Lynnie.
Though the station's format would often change -- from oldies to the big band sound to talk radio to country -- Captain Jack, the bright good-morning voice who was heard and often seen doing good things for the community, endured through it all.
More...
As the mayor continued her assault on her challenger's tenure at the Fall River Junior Achievement program nearly a decade ago, Frederick M. Kalisz Jr.'s former colleagues came to his defense yesterday.
The former chairman of the J.A. Board of Directors, Paul Gelzinis, and former Treasurer William Neilan lauded Mr. Kalisz for his management of the youth agency as someone who committed his personal time and resources to the group.
FREETOWN -- The Fox family has found comfort in the strides of complete strangers.
Next Monday, 150 to 200 Massachusetts runners will take part in the 26-mile Dublin, Ireland, marathon to raise money to battle leukemia.
Twelve of the runners will be doing it in honor of 5-year-old Michael Fox of Freetown. Michael has battled leukemia since age 2.
NEW YORK -- Sex shrinks certain spinal cord nerves in male rats, says a study with possible implications for research into brain differences between gays and heterosexuals.
The study indicates that adult sexual experience can cause an anatomical difference in the nervous system, said psychologist S. Marc Breedlove of the University of California at Berkeley.
JERUSALEM -- For 2½ years, her family hid from the Nazis in a stifling dugout, too low to stand upright, too cramped to move, dependent on a Polish farmer for food, water, and protection.
A half-century later, 73-year-old Fanya Gottesfeld Heller was reunited Tuesday with her protector's daughter, Irena Sidorovna.
"Thank you," Heller, who now lives in New York City, said in Polish as her eyes filled with tears. "You helped save our lives."
WASHINGTON -- "Hot zones" of untreatable tuberculosis are emerging around the world and threaten a global crisis, the World Health Organization said yesterday.
A study of 50,000 patients in 35 nations found that a third of the countries have a form of TB resistant to multiple drugs. Untreatable cases account for 2 percent to 14 percent of the world total.
That number is low, but WHO said lethal tuberculosis could spread rapidly because only one in 10 patients gets medical care appropriate to curb drug resistance.
WASHINGTON -- In a decision falling short of environmentalists' hopes and his own promises, President Clinton presented a modest strategy yesterday to combat global warming by gradually reducing greenhouse gases over the next two decades.
"Make no mistake, the problem is real," the president said. "And if we do not change our course now, the consequences sooner or later will be destructive for America and for the world."
JERUSALEM -- As if a bogged-down peace process, a spy scandal and a looming political crisis weren't enough, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was weathering a new storm yesterday for saying his dovish opposition has "forgotten what it means to be Jewish."
Netanyahu appeared unaware his comments were being picked up by a live microphone during a synagogue service Tuesday night. Within hours, they were broadcast as the lead item on TV and radio newscasts, raising a furor.
BOSTON -- Two out of 10 women say they have been slapped, punched, hit, pushed, choked or shoved by their partners, according to a nationwide poll. And that violence has serious ramifications outside the home.
The results of the survey, which focused on the effects of domestic violence in the workplace, were released yesterday before a City Hall rally against domestic violence.
"Women cannot leave these problems at home," said the report, which was commissioned by The Body Shop and developed with the YWCA of the United States. "Domestic violence impacts on their ability to perform in the workplace."
BOSTON -- With the murder toll rising daily and angry family members gathered outside his Statehouse door, House Speaker Thomas Finneran relented yesterday and agreed to let his membership vote on a death penalty bill this year.
The news came just a day after the Senate passed a death penalty bill of its own and the state experienced another horrific killing: a mother gunned down in front of her children at a school bus stop.
CAMBRIDGE -- Using plain talk and Silly Putty, a defense expert yesterday reiterated what four of his colleagues have expressed in medical jargon: that an 8-month-old Newton baby could not have been killed by violent shaking, as prosecutors claim in the murder trial of the boy's British au pair.
Neurologist Dr. Ayub Ommaya said the injuries that killed young Matthew Eappen must have occurred well before Feb. 4 -- the day au pair Louise Woodward is accused of killing him by shaking him and slamming his head against a hard surface.
LOWELL -- Annie Glenn's son knew right away who shot his mother at the crowded bus stop.
"Daddy shot Mommy," one of Glenn's two boys told police as he pointed to a photograph of Richard Kenney, a prosecutor said yesterday at Kenney's murder arraignment.
CHIBA, Japan -- The Japanese showed off superclean cars. Their U.S. rivals flashed marketing slogans like "distinctly American muscle car."
The messages being presented at the Tokyo Motor Show, previewed to media yesterday, couldn't be more different. The contrast was so stark it brought to mind an old auto industry nightmare: Americans having to play catch-up with the Japanese.
ALBANY, N.Y. -- For adults, setting the clocks back an hour Sunday to mark the end of daylight-saving time may be briefly disruptive. But for very young children, the switch can be unnerving, child development experts say.
That's because preschool-aged children are too young to understand the concept of time or the annual ritual of setting the clocks back to standard time each fall. The switch can be especially difficult for children in day-care programs who are accustomed to their parents picking them up before it is fully dark.
By Robert Lovinger, Standard-Times staff writer
Fine pours, fancy tours, good cause.
That sums up the seventh annual International Wine Festival and Silent Auction, being held to benefit the work of WHALE (the Waterfront Historic Area LeaguE) tomorrow night, 5:30-8, at the Wamsutta Club in New Bedford.
Over 200 of the world's best wines, champagnes and micro-brews will be on hand for tasting, along with a selection of international dishes prepared by the Wamsutta's master chef. New additions to the event this year include a port wine tasting room and music from pianist Steve Piazza.
Buddy Thomas
OK, so it was a sloppily played game in temperatures more suited for ice fishing. But tell me Tuesday night's second game of the World Series wasn't more entertaining than Monday night's NFL Sominex Bowl between the Bills and Colts.
If nothing else, Florida's 14-11 baseball victory over Cleveland certainly didn't put people to sleep and, for one night at least, restricted baseball bashing to non-football proponents.
It might be tough -- even for a baseball fan -- to warm up to a World Series game played in near-freezing temperatures. But tell me the reaction to Monday night's football game was anything close to lukewarm.
More...
By Ben Walker, Associated Press writer
CLEVELAND -- This World Series game had all the elements: snow, wind, record cold and another big night by Sandy Alomar.
On an evening when flurries fell at Jacobs Field, the only thing that accumulated were runs by the Indians. Manny Ramirez and Matt Williams homered as Cleveland beat the Florida Marlins, 10-3, evening the Series at two wins each.
By Bob Hanna, Standard-Times staff writer
DARTMOUTH -- After two games and a bushel of sideouts, it came down to 13-13 in the third game.
And that was where Bishop Stang's comeback hopes ended and Dartmouth's final push to victory began as the Indians turned back the Spartans, 8-15, 15-6, 15-13 to clinch the Eastern Athletic Conference volleyball championship last night at the Dartmouth gym.
Fittingly, it was Kara Bergeron's kill that gave the victory and the title to the Indians.
"Kara Bergeron provided the spark for us tonight," said Dartmouth coach Denise Brown. "She brought the closure. She was the one that said, 'I'll go for it.' It was nice that she ended the match with that hit."
FALL RIVER -- This soccer game might have ended in a 1-1 tie, but the result was a moral victory for Durfee yesterday against Big 3 Conference rival New Bedford High.
The Whalers controlled virtually every aspect of the game, keeping the ball in Hilltoppers' territory for most of the contest.
FOXBORO -- After Drew Bledsoe had finished throwing for 607 yards and eight touchdowns in victories over San Diego and Indianapolis last month, it was difficult for optimists to imagine the Patriots losing a game this fall.
After the New York Jets had pinned a 24-19 upset on the Pats last weekend, it suddenly became just as easy for pessimists to forecast doom for the defending AFC champions.
BOSTON -- Trader Rick didn't sit still for long.
Faced with an offer he couldn't refuse, Rick Pitino and the Celtics acquired four players from the New York Knicks last night in exchange for forward Chris Mills.
CLEVELAND -- A year ago, Darren Daulton was ready for his retirement watch. Now he's closing in on a championship ring.
The three-time All-Star who became a part-time first baseman has found yet another role at age 35: World Series hero.
"That's one heck of a script to write," he said. "But I'm glad to be in it."
Give proponents of the death penalty in Massachusetts credit for one thing: While their belief that capital punishment will lower the murder rate is unsupported by facts, they certainly know how to exploit a situation.
A rash of particularly heinous murders has sharply focused attention in Massachusetts on the issue, giving rise to the hopes of many that after 50 years the Bay State will once again be putting its worst criminals to death. A Lowell mother of two and her two children were killed and their bodies stuffed in a locker. Ten-year-old Jeffrey Curley was kidnapped, raped and slain before his body was dumped into a river. And now another Lowell mother has been shot to death at a school bus stop by an estranged boyfriend as three of her children and many of their classmates watched in horror.
More...
WASHINGTON -- Drafters of the line-item veto law that Congress passed with great chest-thumping a year and a half ago left out one critical provision: No whining.
That would make the complaining now coming from the very same legislators who voted to give this power to the president a federal crime. The punishment would be to read, twice, the many long speeches on this subject by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., who tirelessly warned his colleagues that they would rue the day they passed "this abomination, this gimmick, this illegitimate legislative end run around the Constitution."
Dr. F. John Adams will raise his baton at 8 p.m. Saturday and open the 84th season of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra.
"Early Romantic Masterpieces" is the theme of the concert at the Zeiterion Theatre, which features pianist Lois Shapiro of Watertown.
Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor and Schubert's Symphony No. 9 in C Major ("The Great") make up the program.
The concert "was set up with the 200th anniversary of Schubert in mind," said Dr. Adams, referring to the bicentennial of the composer's birth. A pre-concert birthday party, billed as "Schubert and Sherbet," will take place at the New Bedford Art Museum.
Most often remembered as the lovable scatterbrain Phyllis Lindstrom on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," Cloris Leachman has always been a compelling performer. Who can forget her Oscar-winning turn as the spurned older lover of Timothy Bottoms in the 1971 classic "The Last Picture Show"?
On tonight's episode of "Promised Land" (8 p.m., CBS, TV-G), Leachman portrays Aunt Mooster, the 101-year-old great-aunt of Claire Greene. Russell Greene sells Aunt Mooster's piano and stirs up old animosities over the death of her daughter.
Local
Headlines
State/Regional
World/National
T O D A Y ' S
F E A
T U R E S
Almanac
____________
E V E N T
C A L E N D A R
____________
C L A S S I F I E D
Today's Classified
Sunday's Classified
____________
E D I T I O
N S
| -Top- | -Home- | -Top Stories- | -Headlines- | -Staff- |  |