This is a valid RSS feed.
This feed is valid, but interoperability with the widest range of feed readers could be improved by implementing the following recommendations.
line 30, column 0: (11 occurrences) [help]
<site xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">190532686</site> <item>
line 40, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https ...
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https ...
line 40, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https ...
line 40, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https ...
line 40, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https ...
line 40, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https ...
line 40, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https ...
line 40, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https ...
line 40, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https ...
line 40, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https ...
line 40, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https ...
line 40, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https ...
line 40, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https ...
line 40, column 0: (10 occurrences) [help]
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https ...
line 46, column 0: (31 occurrences) [help]
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" s ...
line 46, column 0: (31 occurrences) [help]
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" s ...
line 46, column 0: (27 occurrences) [help]
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" s ...
line 46, column 0: (27 occurrences) [help]
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" s ...
line 46, column 0: (27 occurrences) [help]
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" s ...
line 46, column 0: (27 occurrences) [help]
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" s ...
line 46, column 0: (27 occurrences) [help]
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" s ...
line 46, column 0: (27 occurrences) [help]
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" s ...
line 46, column 0: (27 occurrences) [help]
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" s ...
line 46, column 0: (27 occurrences) [help]
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" s ...
line 46, column 0: (27 occurrences) [help]
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" s ...
line 46, column 0: (27 occurrences) [help]
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" s ...
line 46, column 0: (27 occurrences) [help]
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" s ...
line 160, column 0: (7 occurrences) [help]
<h4 class="wp-block-heading section-header" id="related-stories" style="font ...
line 309, column 0: (21 occurrences) [help]
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding ...
<div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter" data-effect="slide" styl ...
<div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter" data-effect="slide" styl ...
line 357, column 0: (6 occurrences) [help]
<div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter" data-effect="slide" styl ...
line 357, column 0: (4 occurrences) [help]
<div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter" data-effect="slide" styl ...
line 357, column 0: (3 occurrences) [help]
<div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter" data-effect="slide" styl ...
<div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter" data-effect="slide" styl ...
<figure data-carousel-extra='{"blog_id":1,"permalink":"https:\/\/newbedfordl ...
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"
xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
>
<channel>
<title>The New Bedford Light</title>
<atom:link href="https://newbedfordlight.org/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
<link>https://newbedfordlight.org/</link>
<description></description>
<lastBuildDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 20:36:55 +0000</lastBuildDate>
<language>en-US</language>
<sy:updatePeriod>
hourly </sy:updatePeriod>
<sy:updateFrequency>
1 </sy:updateFrequency>
<image>
<url>https://newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/cropped-cropped-cropped-new-elliptical-logo-32x32.png</url>
<title>The New Bedford Light</title>
<link>https://newbedfordlight.org/</link>
<width>32</width>
<height>32</height>
</image>
<site xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">190532686</site> <item>
<title>New Bedford woman denied bond at immigration hearing</title>
<link>https://newbedfordlight.org/new-bedford-woman-denied-bond-at-immigration-hearing/</link>
<comments>https://newbedfordlight.org/new-bedford-woman-denied-bond-at-immigration-hearing/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kevin G. Andrade]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 19:37:46 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Immigration]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://newbedfordlight.org/?p=169002</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?w=1800&ssl=1 1800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=1568%2C1045&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=706%2C471&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="151825" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/1647/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?fit=1800%2C1200&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1800,1200" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"","camera":"ILCE-7M3","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1738589184","copyright":"","focal_length":"350","iso":"160","shutter_speed":"0.002","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="–1647" data-image-description="<p>For use with Immigration 2025 series</p>
" data-image-caption="<p>The Department of Homeland Security flag waves outside the facility in Burlington. Credit: Eleonora Bianchi / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p>The city’s first-known detained female immigrant of 2025 has filed a new asylum claim.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/new-bedford-woman-denied-bond-at-immigration-hearing/">New Bedford woman denied bond at immigration hearing</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?w=1800&ssl=1 1800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=1568%2C1045&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?resize=706%2C471&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="151825" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/1647/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?fit=1800%2C1200&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1800,1200" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"","camera":"ILCE-7M3","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1738589184","copyright":"","focal_length":"350","iso":"160","shutter_speed":"0.002","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="–1647" data-image-description="<p>For use with Immigration 2025 series</p>
" data-image-caption="<p>The Department of Homeland Security flag waves outside the facility in Burlington. Credit: Eleonora Bianchi / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/1647.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p class="has-drop-cap">CHELMSFORD — A New Bedford mother of three was denied bond in immigration court Thursday — a decision likely related to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-detention-ice-trump-e1c2322c3f88c1f7d7e83c8c42109cb6">a recent policy memo</a> issued by ICE that disallows bonds for those who entered the U.S. illegally. </p>
<p>Yury Melissa Aguiriano-Romero, 35, an asylum applicant from Honduras, was denied bond by Immigration Judge Natalie Smith during a hearing at Chelmsford Immigration Court regarding a reopened asylum claim. </p>
<p>“Based on the current law before this court,” Smith said at the hearing’s conclusion, “client remains ineligible for bond.”</p>
<p>A legal team led by immigration attorney Robin Nice filed the new asylum claim and motion to stay removal on Aguiriano-Romero’s behalf on June 25, more than three weeks after <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/honduran-mother-of-three-arrested-during-scheduled-immigration-check-in/">U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took her into custody</a> during a check-in at an Intensive Supervision Appearance Program in Framingham. Her original asylum claim was rejected in February 2023.</p>
<p>“I think I was hopeful that it would be a different outcome,” Nice said. “But not shocking is how I can best describe it.”</p>
<p>The bond denial comes after Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, issued a policy memo on July 8 that states those who arrived in the U.S. illegally are no longer eligible for bond hearings and subject to indefinite detention for the duration of their removal proceedings, which could be months or years long.</p>
<p>That was, in essence, the brief argument an ICE official made during the 15-minute hearing.</p>
<p>“[She was] apprehended at the border and present without being admitted or paroled,” said Casey Christo, assistant chief counsel for ICE. He cited that as the chief reason for her ineligibility for bond.</p>
<p>The memo, in Nice’s estimation, reinforced a May 15 decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals, the nation’s highest immigration court. The decision in <a href="https://www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1400431/dl?inline">the Matter of Q. Li</a> found that those who enter the country and are detained without a warrant are not eligible for bond. </p>
<p>“DHS is now filing these very boiler plate motions — it’s like a two-paragraph thing,” Nice said regarding today’s move. “There’s no specificity.” </p>
<p>“This certainly goes hand in hand [with the memo],” she said. “But I think the underlying thing was the Matter of Q. Li.”</p>
<p>Dana Lopez-Flores, a law student under Nice’s supervision, argued that Aguiriano-Romero had already been released on personal recognizance and with check-ins as a condition after her original detainment in 2021. She argued that Aguiriano-Romero is subject to a different section of the Immigration and Naturalization Act that allows those detained under warrant and whose deportation proceedings are pending to be released on bond.</p>
<p>Lopez-Flores said other courts appeared to agree with her argument.</p>
<p>“Several district court judges are finding individuals in similar circumstances are bond-eligible,” she told Smith.</p>
<p>Nice said they intend to continue to pursue Aguiriano-Romero’s release through a <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/detained-immigrants-use-habeas-corpus-petitions-to-challenge-ice/">habeas corpus petition</a> filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. They said they intend to file an update in that case by Thursday and reserved the right to appeal the decision in immigration court as well.</p>
<p>The hearing and decision came after a 3.5-hour delay when authorities at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington, Vermont — where she has been held since June 16 — said they did not realize she was scheduled for a hearing that morning.</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Aguiriano-Romero’s case</h3>
<p>The mother of three, including one U.S. citizen born shortly after her arrival in the U.S. in 2021, Aguiriano-Romero has said she was a youth organizer for the Partido Nacional in her native Honduras when partisans of the opposing Partido Liberal began to harass her and her family. According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, she was sexually assaulted on multiple occasions and her brother — another worker with Partido Nacional — was murdered.</p>
<p>In 2021, she and her husband, Victor Emilio Murillo-Avila, along with two children, came to the U.S. seeking asylum. Their original lawyer sought relief under the claim of Murillo-Avila. An immigration judge denied that claim in February 2023 due to insufficient evidence and ordered their removal. </p>
<p>Following the denial of their asylum claim, the couple was placed in ISAP, an ICE electronic surveillance program for immigrants awaiting court proceedings or deportation. They continue to insist that a return to Honduras would be unsafe for themselves and their children.</p>
<p>According to documents filed in U.S. District Court, ICE initially transported Aguiriano-Romero to the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Field Office in Burlington, Massachusetts. In an affidavit filed as evidence, Aguiriano-Romero said she was given poor quality food, only mylar blankets with which to sleep on the floor, and had to share three sanitary napkins with 18 other women while menstruating — conditions U.S. District Court Judge Brian E. Murphy called abhorrent during a <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/detained-immigrants-use-habeas-corpus-petitions-to-challenge-ice/">hearing on June 13</a>.</p>
<p>Shortly after her detention, a family friend filed a habeas corpus petition in U.S. District Court Massachusetts to ensure she was not moved without notification. Judge Murphy <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/detained-immigrants-use-habeas-corpus-petitions-to-challenge-ice/">allowed ICE to move her</a> to Vermont following the June 13 hearing.</p>
<p>Nice said the facility is an upgrade in conditions for Aguiriano-Romero, though it is relative.</p>
<p>“When she starts talking about her kids, she starts sobbing,” she said.</p>
<p>Murillo-Avila and the couple’s two older children have master hearings scheduled in the Boston Immigration Court in May 2026.</p>
<p><em>Email Kevin G. Andrade at kandrade@newbedfordlight.org</em></p>
<div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow">
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide"/>
<div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow">
<div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow">
<h4 class="wp-block-heading section-header" id="related-stories" style="font-style:normal;font-weight:400"><a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/immigration"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">More immigration coverage</mark></a></h4>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/new-bedford-woman-denied-bond-at-immigration-hearing/">New Bedford woman denied bond at immigration hearing</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://newbedfordlight.org/new-bedford-woman-denied-bond-at-immigration-hearing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">169002</post-id> </item>
<item>
<title>Opinion: Don’t let New Bedford erase its Portuguese soul</title>
<link>https://newbedfordlight.org/opinion-dont-let-new-bedford-erase-its-portuguese-soul/</link>
<comments>https://newbedfordlight.org/opinion-dont-let-new-bedford-erase-its-portuguese-soul/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Scott Edward Anderson]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 19:02:36 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Community Voices]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[no promo]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://newbedfordlight.org/?p=168998</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="538" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1024%2C538&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?w=1500&ssl=1 1500w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=300%2C158&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=1024%2C538&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=768%2C403&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=1200%2C630&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=400%2C210&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=706%2C371&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1024%2C538&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="93729" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/make-your-voice-heard/your-voice-bendy2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1500%2C788&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1500,788" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="your voice bendy2" data-image-description="<p>your voice</p>
" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=300%2C158&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=780%2C410&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p>The proposed closure of Casa da Saudade isn’t just a budget cut, it’s cultural erasure. The library has been the beating heart of Portuguese American identity in one of America’s most Lusophone cities.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/opinion-dont-let-new-bedford-erase-its-portuguese-soul/">Opinion: Don’t let New Bedford erase its Portuguese soul</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="538" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1024%2C538&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?w=1500&ssl=1 1500w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=300%2C158&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=1024%2C538&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=768%2C403&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=1200%2C630&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=400%2C210&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=706%2C371&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1024%2C538&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="93729" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/make-your-voice-heard/your-voice-bendy2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1500%2C788&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1500,788" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="your voice bendy2" data-image-description="<p>your voice</p>
" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=300%2C158&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=780%2C410&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p class="has-drop-cap">Last October, I was honored to be the featured author in <a href="https://libraryaware.com/2410/Posts/View/4db21994-e315-4a8b-8119-70f8e50ca562?enableTracking=false">Casa da Saudade library’s monthly newsletter</a>, a publication that reaches Portuguese Americans far beyond New Bedford’s borders. Today, that same library faces closure as the city attempts to balance its budget through cultural amputation.</p>
<p>The proposed closure of Casa da Saudade library isn’t just a budget cut, it’s cultural erasure. This institution has served as more than just a repository of books for over five decades; the library has been the beating heart of Portuguese American identity in one of America’s most Lusophone cities.</p>
<p>Imagine a young child discovering their heritage through the library’s extensive collection of Portuguese-language literature, or a second or third generation descendent dipping into a language they crave to understand, or an elderly immigrant finding solace in familiar stories from their homeland. These are the irreplaceable experiences that Casa da Saudade provides. </p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The numbers tell the story of potential irrevocable loss</h3>
<p>Casa da Saudade houses approximately 34,000 volumes, many in Portuguese and Kriolu, including my own bilingual volume of poetry, <em>Azorean Suite/Suite Açoriana</em>, which is not available in the United States, and Margarida Vale de Gatos’ translation of another of my books, published only in Portugal. These and other materials simply don’t exist elsewhere in the region, and certainly not in an institution accessible to the public. </p>
<p>Portuguese Americans comprise nearly 34 percent of New Bedford’s population, while Cabo Verdean Americans account for an additional 8.8%, and the numbers increase if you expand the area served by this library to include Fall River, Bristol County, and the rest of the South Coast. In fact, Massachusetts and Rhode Island combined rivals California for the highest populations of Luso Americans. These communities rely on multilingual programming, literacy support, and culturally relevant resources that mainstream libraries simply cannot provide. </p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The library serves as an anchor for cultural transmission</h3>
<p>For generations, Portuguese and Cabo Verdean families have gathered here to maintain linguistic connections, share traditions, and access materials in their native languages. Children learn Portuguese through story hours while adults access immigration resources — all within a space that understands their cultural context. The library is a living, breathing part of the community. </p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">This proposed closure represents a broader pattern of institutional neglect</h3>
<p>Across America, immigrant communities watch their cultural institutions disappear to budget cuts, while mainstream institutions receive protection. New Bedford’s decision sends a clear message about whose heritage the city values.</p>
<p>To be sure, cities face genuine budget pressures, and tough decisions must be made. However, the operational cost of Casa da Saudade likely represents a fraction of the city’s budget, hardly the solution to New Bedford’s fiscal challenges. </p>
<p>As a third-generation Portuguese American of Azorean descent, I appreciate the importance of a place that preserves our heritage, legacy, and culture while continuing to provide relevant services to the vibrant community of Portuguese speakers, readers, and those curious about the culture. </p>
<p>The “Saudade” in the name of this library is an iconic Portuguese word that I have defined in one of my poems as “a longing for lost things.” New Bedford built its identity, in part, on Portuguese immigration and culture. Closing Casa da Saudade does not balance a budget, but it most certainly abandons a soul. The city council must recognize that some institutions are worth more than their line items. Let’s ensure that Casa da Saudade continues to be a beacon of Luso American culture for generations to come.</p>
<p><em>Scott Edward Anderson is the award-winning author of six books of poetry and prose, including </em>Azorean Suite/Suite Açoriana, <em>as well as a translator of important Azorean and continental Portuguese poets. He was the featured poet at last year’s Poesia Celebration of Portuguese Poetry & Culture in Fall River. Born in Providence, he currently resides in western Massachusetts.</em></p>
<div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow">
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide"/>
<h4 class="wp-block-heading section-header" style="font-style:normal;font-weight:400"><a href="http://www.newbedfordlight.org/community-voices"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">More Community Voices</mark></a></h4>
</div></div>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/opinion-dont-let-new-bedford-erase-its-portuguese-soul/">Opinion: Don’t let New Bedford erase its Portuguese soul</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://newbedfordlight.org/opinion-dont-let-new-bedford-erase-its-portuguese-soul/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">168998</post-id> </item>
<item>
<title>Community Boating crew completes Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race</title>
<link>https://newbedfordlight.org/community-boating-crew-completes-marblehead-to-halifax-ocean-race/</link>
<comments>https://newbedfordlight.org/community-boating-crew-completes-marblehead-to-halifax-ocean-race/#respond</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Brenton Jackson]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2025 18:55:57 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[linkinbio]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://newbedfordlight.org/?p=168985</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?w=2560&ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="168810" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/img_2909/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1920" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="IMG_2909" data-image-description="<p>From left to right, Daniel Renehan (Fairhaven, 18), Matthew Prezner (New Bedford, 17), Shealin Palmer (Swansea, 19), Sophie Litos (Dartmouth, 18), Peter Herlihy (Dartmouth, 18), Maisy Sperry (Dartmouth, 18), and Richard Feeny (Bristol, 53). Not pictured are Navigator Tyler Rose (23), Helmswoman Isabella Furey (23), Crew Boss Kevin Tongue (30), and Director at Community Boating Center, Andrew Chin (39). Credit: Brenton Jackson for the New Bedford Light</p>
" data-image-caption="<p>From left to right, Daniel Renehan (Fairhaven, 18), Matthew Prezner (New Bedford, 17), Shealin Palmer (Swansea, 19), Sophie Litos (Dartmouth, 18), Peter Herlihy (Dartmouth, 18), Maisy Sperry (Dartmouth, 18), and Richard Feeny (Bristol, 53). Not pictured are Navigator Tyler Rose (23), Helmswoman Isabella Furey (23), Crew Boss Kevin Tongue (30), and Director at Community Boating Center, Andrew Chin (39). Credit: Brenton Jackson for the New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C585&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p>The crew earned the Academy Cup Trophy and the Commodore J.C. MacKeen Trophy for their nearly 40-hour effort.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/community-boating-crew-completes-marblehead-to-halifax-ocean-race/">Community Boating crew completes Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?w=2560&ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="168810" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/img_2909/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1920" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="IMG_2909" data-image-description="<p>From left to right, Daniel Renehan (Fairhaven, 18), Matthew Prezner (New Bedford, 17), Shealin Palmer (Swansea, 19), Sophie Litos (Dartmouth, 18), Peter Herlihy (Dartmouth, 18), Maisy Sperry (Dartmouth, 18), and Richard Feeny (Bristol, 53). Not pictured are Navigator Tyler Rose (23), Helmswoman Isabella Furey (23), Crew Boss Kevin Tongue (30), and Director at Community Boating Center, Andrew Chin (39). Credit: Brenton Jackson for the New Bedford Light</p>
" data-image-caption="<p>From left to right, Daniel Renehan (Fairhaven, 18), Matthew Prezner (New Bedford, 17), Shealin Palmer (Swansea, 19), Sophie Litos (Dartmouth, 18), Peter Herlihy (Dartmouth, 18), Maisy Sperry (Dartmouth, 18), and Richard Feeny (Bristol, 53). Not pictured are Navigator Tyler Rose (23), Helmswoman Isabella Furey (23), Crew Boss Kevin Tongue (30), and Director at Community Boating Center, Andrew Chin (39). Credit: Brenton Jackson for the New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2909-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C585&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p class="has-drop-cap">Before many finished their morning coffee on Monday, the New Bedford Community Boating Center’s Baltic sailboat, Crazy Horse, docked in the Fairhaven Shipyard. The 11 sailors, including six graduates of the center’s youth training program, were returning from the Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race — one of the longer sailing races in North America and the longest offshore race that this Community Boating crew has ever completed.</p>
<p>The 361-nautical-mile race stretches on open ocean from Marblehead to Halifax, Nova Scotia, a roughly 40-hour trip if all goes according to plan. </p>
<p>The crew left Sunday, July 6, for open waters as one of 45 participants in this biennial race. The Crazy Horse finished in an impressive eighth place after a 39½-hour slugfest, with no serious injuries or significant damage to their Baltic boat.</p>
<p>The Community Boating Center also won the Academy Cup Trophy and the Commodore J.C. MacKeen Trophy, earned for having the best corrected times in their respective division, as well as sailing the best as an academy.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="585" data-attachment-id="168812" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/20250710_181006/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1920" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.4","credit":"","camera":"Galaxy S23 FE","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1752171006","copyright":"","focal_length":"7.12","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"0.0166674","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="20250710_181006" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C585&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006.jpg?resize=780%2C585&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-168812" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250710_181006-1024x768.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The crew of the Crazy Horse finished eighth in the 361-nautical-mile Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race. Credit: Photo provided</figcaption></figure>
<p>The young crew described the race departure as ideal conditions for sailing — favorable wind and a clear and visible night sky. Throughout the two-day race, fog, weather, and around-the-clock demands tested the sailors.</p>
<p>“No other sport is like this… [it can be a] terrifying night of strong winds or a boring endurance contest,” said Richard Feeny, education director at Community Boating and the ship’s captain, recalling what his team endured during its journey.</p>
<p>“You can’t really see anything [in the fog],” recalls Peter Herlihy, a senior instructor on the crew. “You mostly have to rely on hearing and navigation.” The navigation path, speed, and current position are revealed by the automatic identification system (AIS), which is crucial for moments when vision is obstructed in the open ocean.</p>
<p>The crew continued onward through seasickness (aided with the help of ginger), hunger, fatigue, and poor visibility, all under the safety and guidance of Feeny.</p>
<p>The crew rotated positions on the ship, taking turns cooking, sleeping, steering, and navigating. Each crew member worked for two to three hours at a given time and switched off to perform the other tasks on the ship. Each station was invaluable in ensuring the successful completion of the race.</p>
<p>“These guys did everything … If I remember correctly, I only steered about an hour and a half, but I didn’t need to do much,” said Feeny.</p>
<p>Outside of Feeny’s guidance, the crew of senior instructors mostly relied on themselves. And there were plenty of moments they got to experience the beauty of sailing.</p>
<p>Pre-frozen meals, such as homemade mac and cheese and lasagna, were reminders of home. And Feeny’s sandwiches were a hit among the crew members, making the journey just a bit homier.</p>
<p>Once the crew arrived in Halifax, they spent two days touring the Nova Scotia capital — renting bikes, sampling local cuisine, and working on the boat. But watching the TV show “Love Island” together at the beach house is among the crew’s favorite memories. </p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="439" data-attachment-id="168991" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/20250711_192609-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1440&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1440" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"1.8","credit":"","camera":"Galaxy S23 FE","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1752261969","copyright":"","focal_length":"5.54","iso":"25","shutter_speed":"0.002875476","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="20250711_192609" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C169&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C439&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C439&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-168991" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?w=2560&ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C432&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C864&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1152&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C675&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1125&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C439&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C450&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C225&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C397&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250711_192609-edited-scaled.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Crazy Horse crew rotated positions on the ship during the race, taking turns cooking, sleeping, steering, and navigating. Credit: Photo provided</figcaption></figure>
<p>Returning to Massachusetts was bittersweet, crew members said. After a brief stop in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, a town known for its maritime and boating history, the crew left Canada Saturday morning. Without a clock to track the time, their return trip lasted nearly 48 hours. They said there was less stress on the open ocean during their return, allowing them to take things slower and embrace their surroundings. Each member recalls seeing a wide variety of marine life — whales, sharks, seals, and even a bird that landed on the stern, whose company they enjoyed for three hours.</p>
<div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter" data-effect="slide" style="--aspect-ratio:calc(1024 / 683)"><div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper-container"><ul class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper"><li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"><figure><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" alt="" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-168821" data-id="168821" data-aspect-ratio="1024 / 683" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4689097605259635425.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4689097605259635425.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4689097605259635425.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4689097605259635425.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4689097605259635425.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4689097605259635425.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4689097605259635425.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4689097605259635425.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4689097605259635425.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4689097605259635425.jpg?resize=706%2C471&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4689097605259635425.jpg?w=1620&ssl=1 1620w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4689097605259635425-1024x683.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">Credit: Andrew Chin</figcaption></figure></li><li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"><figure><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" alt="" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-168820" data-id="168820" data-aspect-ratio="1024 / 683" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9169143399944208853.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9169143399944208853.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9169143399944208853.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9169143399944208853.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9169143399944208853.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9169143399944208853.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9169143399944208853.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9169143399944208853.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9169143399944208853.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9169143399944208853.jpg?resize=706%2C471&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9169143399944208853.jpg?w=1620&ssl=1 1620w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/9169143399944208853-1024x683.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">Credit: Andrew Chin</figcaption></figure></li><li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"><figure><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" alt="" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-168819" data-id="168819" data-aspect-ratio="1024 / 683" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4475707008779193057.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4475707008779193057.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4475707008779193057.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4475707008779193057.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4475707008779193057.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4475707008779193057.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4475707008779193057.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4475707008779193057.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4475707008779193057.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4475707008779193057.jpg?resize=706%2C471&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4475707008779193057.jpg?w=1620&ssl=1 1620w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/4475707008779193057-1024x683.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">Credit: Andrew Chin</figcaption></figure></li><li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"><figure><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" alt="" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-168818" data-id="168818" data-aspect-ratio="1024 / 683" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2008499252671598162.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2008499252671598162.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2008499252671598162.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2008499252671598162.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2008499252671598162.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2008499252671598162.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2008499252671598162.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2008499252671598162.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2008499252671598162.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2008499252671598162.jpg?resize=706%2C471&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2008499252671598162.jpg?w=1620&ssl=1 1620w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2008499252671598162-1024x683.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">Credit: Andrew Chin</figcaption></figure></li></ul><a class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white" role="button"></a><a class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white" role="button"></a><a aria-label="Pause Slideshow" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause" role="button"></a><div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white"></div></div></div>
<p>“That almost never happens,” recalls Sophia Litos, another senior instructor.</p>
<p>The senior instructors, under the guidance of Feeny, said they are optimistic that they’ll be able to carry this momentum into their next major race in the spring of 2026, when they sail from Newport to Bermuda. That race is nearly double the length, at 635 nautical miles.</p>
<p>Upon their return to the misty Fairhaven shipyard on Monday, the young crew shared their appreciation for their captain. “We definitely cannot do it without Richard,” said Litos, her crewmates nodding in approval.</p>
<p><em>Brenton Jackson is a summer intern with the New Bedford Light, as part of the South Coast Internship designed for local students.</em></p>
<div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow">
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide"/>
<div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow">
<h3 class="wp-block-heading section-header" id="related-stories" style="font-style:normal;font-weight:400"><a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/colinhogan/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">More stories by Colin Hogan</mark></a></h3>
</div></div>
</div></div>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/community-boating-crew-completes-marblehead-to-halifax-ocean-race/">Community Boating crew completes Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://newbedfordlight.org/community-boating-crew-completes-marblehead-to-halifax-ocean-race/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">168985</post-id> </item>
<item>
<title>City’s first Mayan officer marks milestone for a people, and a language</title>
<link>https://newbedfordlight.org/citys-first-mayan-officer-marks-milestone-for-a-people-and-a-language/</link>
<comments>https://newbedfordlight.org/citys-first-mayan-officer-marks-milestone-for-a-people-and-a-language/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kevin G. Andrade]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Jul 2025 20:59:41 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[linkinbio]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Police and Courts]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://newbedfordlight.org/?p=168834</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?w=2560&ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="167472" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/toj/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1920" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"1.78","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1751462268","copyright":"","focal_length":"6.7649998656528","iso":"80","shutter_speed":"0.0028248587570621","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Toj" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>Patrolman Edwin Yat Toj, 25, sits in a patrol vehicle in front of the New Bedford Police Headquarters on Wednesday, July 2. Toj is the first-ever K’iche’-speaking police officer in New Bedford. Credit: Kevin G. Andrade / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C585&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p>Edwin Yat Toj, 25, is the first New Bedford police officer to speak K’iche’, an Indigenous Central American language. </p>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/citys-first-mayan-officer-marks-milestone-for-a-people-and-a-language/">City’s first Mayan officer marks milestone for a people, and a language</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?w=2560&ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="167472" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/toj/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1920" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"1.78","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1751462268","copyright":"","focal_length":"6.7649998656528","iso":"80","shutter_speed":"0.0028248587570621","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Toj" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>Patrolman Edwin Yat Toj, 25, sits in a patrol vehicle in front of the New Bedford Police Headquarters on Wednesday, July 2. Toj is the first-ever K’iche’-speaking police officer in New Bedford. Credit: Kevin G. Andrade / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Toj-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C585&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p class="has-drop-cap">NEW BEDFORD — A group of police recruits gathered in the Centro Comunitario de Trabajadores on Acushnet Avenue in a video posted to Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/adrian.ventura.90/videos/1966678404103739">on June 18</a>. Dressed in black patrol uniforms, topped off with police hats, they listened intently as acting Chief Derek Belong spoke on why the place should be a frequent visit on the beat.</p>
<p>“We need to build trust,” he told the recruits. “If you work in the North End, knock on the door. Pop in and say hi.”</p>
<p>The camera panned over the scene and, at around 14 seconds, stopped to zoom in on one recruit. He stands tall, hands folded before him, listening intently. </p>
<p>His name is Edwin Yat Toj, and on June 20 Belong swore him in as the first member of the city’s Mayan community to join the police force.</p>
<p>“A knot formed in my throat,” said Adrian Ventura, executive director of the CCT, in Spanish as he recalled the moment. “He chose this path and for me, it was the fulfillment of a goal of mine.”</p>
<p>Toj, 25, is also the first police officer to speak K’iche’, his first language. His joining the force is a move advocates, officials, and Toj himself all hope will increase ties with the city’s Mayan community. </p>
<p>“I feel the weight of the moment, but I try not to let it get to me,” Toj said. “If I can help bridge the gap between the Guatemalan community and the police, I would love to do it.”</p>
<p>The move was overdue, in Belong’s estimation.</p>
<p>“I think his representation on the force shows that we are building trust,” he said. “Now we have some representation from the K’iche’ community.”</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">‘A better life’</h3>
<p>Toj said he came to the U.S. when he was 5 years old as an undocumented immigrant in 2005 with his mother, a monolingual K’iche’ speaker. He said she did it for her children.</p>
<p>“I guess she wanted a better life for me,” he said. </p>
<p>He said his mother normalized his status and her own when he was still a child. He is now a legal permanent resident.</p>
<p>Growing up in New Bedford, he didn’t always have police work on his radar. He said he saw a lot of mistrust of police, stemming from community experiences here and in Guatemala, where authorities often caused harm to Indigenous populations. </p>
<p>“I was told [growing up] that if you had to interact with the police, it was a bad thing,” he said. “I’ve always really admired the police. But when I was younger, I was afraid to speak with them.” </p>
<p>His first positive interaction with police was with his school resource officer when he was a student at Roosevelt Middle School.</p>
<p>“When I first started getting the idea [of joining the police] and I told people,” he said, “they said that’s not really a safe job to do and that I’d be going against my community in a way.”</p>
<p>K’iche’ was Toj’s first language. He learned English through his peers and teachers in New Bedford’s public schools and improved it until his graduation from New Bedford Vocational Technical High School.</p>
<p>He said he learned Spanish, the most widely spoken language in his native Guatemala, while working at a fish house as a teenager.</p>
<p>“I learned by speaking Spanish with a couple of friends from the fish house,” he said. “I’ve only been fluent for two or three years.”</p>
<p>Toj entered the police academy on Jan. 6, graduated June 13, and was sworn in on June 20.</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Decades and centuries in the making</h3>
<p>Toj’s presence on New Bedford’s police force marks a moment of arrival for a people who’ve been increasingly visible in the city for decades. It also signals centuries of resistance to erasure, both here and in the language’s Central American homeland.</p>
<p>Indigenous people make up an estimated <a href="https://www.pionerophilanthropy.org/guatemalas-indigenous-community/#:~:text=Most%20indigenous%20Mayan%20groups%20live,back%20at%20the%20Spanish%20conquest.">43% to 60% of Guatemala’s population</a>. Of them, the majority consider themselves Maya. This runs contrary to what anthropologists view as the popular narrative of the colonial conquest.</p>
<p>“It has been convenient for Spanish colonizers and subsequent colonial governments to claim the Maya disappeared,” said Erich Fox Tree, an anthropologist at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada.</p>
<p>Throughout the colonial era, Indigenous people, and their languages, were not so much suppressed as they were isolated, according to Lisa Maya Knauer, an anthropologist at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. </p>
<p>“The policy was a little bit different than [in the U.S.],” she said. “There was usurpation of land. There was forced labor. But there wasn’t the equivalent of the [Indian] boarding schools. There wasn’t this idea of ‘teach them the way of the Spanish man.’”<br><br>Isolation often left Indigenous Guatemalans in poverty, but it also allowed them to keep many of their cultural and social practices.</p>
<p>“There was this policy of people being permitted to a degree to live lives that were somewhat autonomous and independent,” she continued. “Leaving them in isolation in these cultural backwaters is part of what allows these languages to thrive.”</p>
<p>K’iche is the most widely spoken of the Mayan languages — with more than 2 million speakers — and is one of 22 Indigenous languages spoken in Guatemala. </p>
<p>At one point in the 19th century, non-Indigenous Guatemalan nationalists even set out on a campaign to standardize K’iche’ and make it the nation’s national language, renaming it “Guatemalan.”</p>
<p>“It was a notion of picking the language that was the most-spoken language,” Fox Tree said. “If you could speak it well, you could speak it with a lot of people. The more crucial thing is that Guatemala was trying to set itself up apart from the rest of Central America.” </p>
<p>Even so, Indigenous communities continued to be marginalized economically, politically, and socially. In 1954, <a href="https://ufcguatemala.voices.wooster.edu/#:~:text=U.S.%20President%20Dwight%20D.,TimelineJS">a U.S.-backed coup</a> ousted the left-leaning president Jacobo Árbenz and replaced him with a right-leaning military man, Carlos Castillo Armas. The move eventually led to a civil war that would last <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/latin_america-jan-june11-timeline_03-07">from 1960 until 1996</a>.</p>
<p>In the 1980s, the military regime launched a genocide against Mayan communities in rural areas, prompting a flood of migration north from Guatemala to the U.S. and Mexico in search of safety and economic security. It also interrupted the education of millions — particularly women. That’s one reason Guatemalan women in New Bedford are more likely than men to speak only K’iche’.</p>
<p>“They were just more isolated than men who may have had to learn Spanish for work,” Knauer said. “You even see it in clothing. Men took on western styles years ago and women still wear more traditional cortes and güipils.” </p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">New Bedford-bound</h3>
<p>The Mayan community <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/new-bedford-immigrants-trump-deportation-promise/#:~:text=The%20Central%20American%20presence%20in%20New%20Bedford">first arrived in New Bedford</a> in the 1980s as Reagan-era politics led to the breaking of unions along the waterfront. This opened up hiring and created opportunities for many undocumented in the city’s 45-plus fish houses. </p>
<p>Since then, the community’s presence in the area has grown. According to the most recent Census estimate, there were 1,500 Guatemalans in the city, though many activists say 6,000 or more is closer to reality.</p>
<p>New Bedford school officials say 258 active students in the school system spoke K’iche at home as of October 2024. That’s about a 62% increase from 2022, when the system <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/doj-settlement-new-bedford-schools-must-increase-focus-on-kiche-language-and-culture/">entered into a consent agreement</a> with the Department of Justice to improve services for K’iche’ families. It is the fifth most common home language in the district, after English, Spanish, Kriolu (of Cabo Verde), and Portuguese. </p>
<p>Despite moves in recent years to improve access in K’iche’ in New Bedford, workers say hundreds in the city still struggle. </p>
<p>“K’iche’ is its own language, but within this language, there are four different branches,” said Manuela Cuin Tzoc, a community health worker at the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts, speaking in Spanish. “When I have to speak with someone from a different town, it takes a lot of effort sometimes.”</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="585" data-attachment-id="167953" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/560bf4fa-c174-4754-a447-9dd7b075115b_1_105_c/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/560BF4FA-C174-4754-A447-9DD7B075115B_1_105_c.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1024,768" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"1.78","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 15 Pro","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1751541323","copyright":"","focal_length":"6.7649998656528","iso":"80","shutter_speed":"0.0082644628099174","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Tzoc" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>Manuela Cuin Tzoc, a community health worker at the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts, explains differences in local dialects of K’iche’ from her desk on Thursday, July 3, 2025. Credit: Kevin G. Andrade/The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/560BF4FA-C174-4754-A447-9DD7B075115B_1_105_c.jpeg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/560BF4FA-C174-4754-A447-9DD7B075115B_1_105_c.jpeg?fit=780%2C585&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/560BF4FA-C174-4754-A447-9DD7B075115B_1_105_c.jpeg?resize=780%2C585&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-167953" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/560BF4FA-C174-4754-A447-9DD7B075115B_1_105_c.jpeg?w=1024&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/560BF4FA-C174-4754-A447-9DD7B075115B_1_105_c.jpeg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/560BF4FA-C174-4754-A447-9DD7B075115B_1_105_c.jpeg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/560BF4FA-C174-4754-A447-9DD7B075115B_1_105_c.jpeg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/560BF4FA-C174-4754-A447-9DD7B075115B_1_105_c.jpeg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/560BF4FA-C174-4754-A447-9DD7B075115B_1_105_c.jpeg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/560BF4FA-C174-4754-A447-9DD7B075115B_1_105_c.jpeg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/560BF4FA-C174-4754-A447-9DD7B075115B_1_105_c.jpeg?resize=780%2C585&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/560BF4FA-C174-4754-A447-9DD7B075115B_1_105_c.jpeg?resize=706%2C530&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/560BF4FA-C174-4754-A447-9DD7B075115B_1_105_c.jpeg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Manuela Cuin Tzoc, a community health worker at the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts, explains differences in local dialects of K’iche’ from her desk on July 3. Credit: Kevin G. Andrade / The New Bedford Light</figcaption></figure>
<p>Tzoc, who speaks K’iche’, Spanish, and English, added that K’iche’ was never taught in schools in Guatemala and, as a result, most speakers of the language can’t read it, herself included.</p>
<p>“Sometimes, a family will come to me with a document in K’iche’ from the schools,” she said. “I understand nothing and it’s my first language.”</p>
<p>Fox Tree said that in the early 1950s, the leftist government led a project to transcribe K’iche’ in the Latin alphabet as part of an effort to increase the reach of Spanish. But the destruction of the war impeded the effort’s success. </p>
<p>“People who had been trained to read and write their own languages in order to become Spanish speakers said, ’Why don’t we read and write our own languages?’” he said.</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Trust</h3>
<p>Federal authorities appear to have targeted New Bedford, and <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/ice-defends-may-arrests-of-nearly-1500-immigrants-statewide/">other Massachusetts communities</a>, as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, which has led to <a href="https://archive.md/kNVi6">more than 100,000 immigrant arrests</a>. According to the latest data collected by The Light, 41 New Bedford residents have been taken into custody by ICE. The vast majority are Guatemalans of Indigenous descent.</p>
<p>This has strained relations between New Bedford police and the Guatemalan community, despite repeated statements by local officials that they do not cooperate with ICE.</p>
<p>“We meet with a lot of the folks who live in that community regularly,” said Belong, who served as acting chief between Paul Oliveira’s May 3 retirement and <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/new-bedford-hires-new-police-chief/">new chief Jason Thody’s</a> arrival on July 14. “They seem to think that if they call the police, federal agencies will automatically follow.”</p>
<p>A 2017 decision by the state Supreme Judicial Court prohibits cooperation between state and local law enforcement and ICE for immigration enforcement. Nonetheless, the fear is still there amid the uptick in ICE operations. </p>
<p>“They’re around and they’re prevalent in the community,” Belong said of ICE agents. “It’s going to raise alarm bells.”</p>
<p>Toj is still assigned to a field training officer, but police expect him to go out on patrol.</p>
<p>“He has a couple more weeks to go and then he’s on his own!” said Holly Huntoon, media relations specialist for New Bedford Police.</p>
<p>Toj said it is a moment he looks forward to.</p>
<p>“I want to bridge that gap,” he said. “To show that, as a police officer, I am here to help. To challenge that narrative and show that, really, we are not ICE agents.”</p>
<p>It is a hope that community members share. </p>
<p>“The system needs this,” Ventura said. “It helps us to see this inclusion and see that leaders notice the necessity and see us as part of the community.”</p>
<p>Tzoc, the CEDC health worker, called Toj’s hiring a great step forward. “It creates a little bit more trust with the police, because people see someone of their color and culture and say ‘wow!’” she said.</p>
<p>“But we’re still not represented sufficiently,” she continued. She said that one police officer is not enough and that many local health providers still do not provide the necessary level of services to their K’iche’-speaking patients.</p>
<p>Despite the weight of the moment, Toj said he intends to focus on doing his job to the best of his ability. </p>
<p>“I’m still a police officer, and I try not to let it get to me,” he said. “If I can just project a good image to the younger and juniors in our community that it’s not a bad job,” maybe more will join the force, he said. “It is possible. We just have to be willing to do it.”</p>
<p><em>Email Kevin G. Andrade at kandrade@newbedfordlight.org</em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/citys-first-mayan-officer-marks-milestone-for-a-people-and-a-language/">City’s first Mayan officer marks milestone for a people, and a language</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://newbedfordlight.org/citys-first-mayan-officer-marks-milestone-for-a-people-and-a-language/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">168834</post-id> </item>
<item>
<title>Comments to The Light: Budget battle provokes intense response</title>
<link>https://newbedfordlight.org/comments-to-the-light-budget-battle-provokes-intense-response/</link>
<comments>https://newbedfordlight.org/comments-to-the-light-budget-battle-provokes-intense-response/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[The New Bedford Light]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Jul 2025 18:23:37 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Community Voices]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[no promo]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://newbedfordlight.org/?p=168825</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="538" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1024%2C538&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?w=1500&ssl=1 1500w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=300%2C158&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=1024%2C538&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=768%2C403&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=1200%2C630&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=400%2C210&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=706%2C371&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1024%2C538&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="93729" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/make-your-voice-heard/your-voice-bendy2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1500%2C788&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1500,788" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="your voice bendy2" data-image-description="<p>your voice</p>
" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=300%2C158&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=780%2C410&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p>One reader writes: “What another embarrassing moment for our ‘governing body.’” Another writes: “The Z should be self-supporting!” </p>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/comments-to-the-light-budget-battle-provokes-intense-response/">Comments to The Light: Budget battle provokes intense response</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="538" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1024%2C538&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?w=1500&ssl=1 1500w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=300%2C158&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=1024%2C538&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=768%2C403&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=1200%2C630&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=400%2C210&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=706%2C371&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1024%2C538&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="93729" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/make-your-voice-heard/your-voice-bendy2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1500%2C788&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1500,788" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="your voice bendy2" data-image-description="<p>your voice</p>
" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=300%2C158&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=780%2C410&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p class="has-drop-cap">The city budget process doesn’t traditionally excite readers and residents, but this year the back and forth between Mayor Jon Mitchell and the City Council has inspired passionate engagement.</p>
<p>What follows is a sampling of reader comments on The New Bedford Light’s website and Facebook page:</p>
<p>“Both Mayor [Jon] Mitchell and Council President [Shane] Burgo deserve serious criticism for their inflammatory rhetoric and cheap tricks regarding how the budget will be reconciled. These decisions affect our safety, our equity, our cultural institutions, and the future of our city’s economy. I don’t appreciate them playing chicken with vital services and institutions.</p>
<p>“While legal and contractual obligations must be met, they are never the whole picture. Cultural institutions like the Zeiterion provide substantial secondary economic benefits: visitors dine at restaurants, pay for parking, and shop downtown. Even modest cuts to fire services are more than reckless; they are insulting, given how many lives have already been lost to fires in our dense, flammable housing stock. Reducing library services will disproportionately harm low-income neighborhoods and working families. …</p>
<p>“Both leaders need to communicate that every line item affects a much larger ecosystem. Neither is managing the public narrative effectively, and the city deserves better from both.”</p>
<p><em>— Michael Gallant, website (edited for length)</em></p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<p>“To Councilor [Derek] Baptiste,</p>
<p>“As a resident of your ward, I was dismayed to read about your role in canceling Zeiterion funding. You and the city council, rightly in my opinion, made a binding commitment to the Zeiterion organization by agreeing to help fund the renovations. You now open us up to the risk of litigation by reneging on it. Not only is it a bad idea for legal reasons to rescind the funding decision at this point, it’s also bad for the city’s cultural landscape. </p>
<p>The Zeiterion is an anchor point, attracting desirable arts and entertainment to the city. You blame some vague notions of outside pressure for voting to approve the funding previously, without any substantiation of in what form that pressure came. Your words ‘I represent the people of this city, and I want to see more given back to my city and to the community,’ ring hollow. Funding the Zeiterion organization <em>is </em>giving back to the city. Find a way to fix the damage your vote has caused or face the anger of your ward residents at the next election.”</p>
<p><em>— Hugh Gilpatric, email</em></p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<p>“Excellent reporting here by The Light, as usual. And what another embarrassing moment for our ‘governing body.’ Any person who genuinely suggests cutting $6M from already underfunded public schools and then has to be ‘walked’ to a $1.7M cut, the largest of them all, is not a serious person and not someone who needs to be in charge of adult decisions. I think I know some people in Ward 2 who may agree and see fit to relieve Maria [Giesta] of this obviously challenging task.</p>
<p>“Local government matters. This mess is why. Hope to see some new names and real solutions on the ballot this fall. Maybe you’ll see mine!”</p>
<p><em>— Todd Foy</em></p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<p>“So it sounds like some people don’t want [the funding for the Z] because they don’t go there. They believe it serves people from other towns. <em>That’s a good thing.</em> It means people from other cities and towns are going there to spend money. It means more revenue for New Bedford. It means more people shopping, dining, etc. in New Bedford instead of somewhere else.”</p>
<p><em>— Joe Viarella, Facebook</em></p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<p>“I am sorry to see the current controversy regarding the jeopardy of the city funding contribution towards the Zeiterion. The Z is a core component of the many things that help make New Bedford a vibrant city heading in the right direction.</p>
<p>“The surrounding towns and rural areas and New Bedford are the components of a blended eco-system which is beneficial to all of its members. Regardless of home addresses, those who come to New Bedford events at the Z spend money at city businesses and institutions and in return enjoy the food, cultural, and entertainment offering of New Bedford. This is a win-win situation. Most of the money supporting the Z operations and its physical renovations has come from federal and [state] funding and also the generous contributions from individuals and companies from both New Bedford and its surrounding communities. Lets not get myopic! Continuation of a vibrant and financially stable Zeiterion is critical for the City of New Bedford and deserves the city financial support that was promised, justifiable, and needed.”</p>
<p><em>— James Dildine, website</em></p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<p>“‘Austerity measures’ but punish low-income communities.</p>
<p>“How about an extra tax on people/companies who own property in the city but aren’t residents?”</p>
<p><em>— Joe Bouchard, Facebook</em></p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<p>“Art scenes make cities thrive. They draw investments in other businesses that draw tourists. This is very short-sighted.”</p>
<p><em>— Julia Sousa, Facebook</em></p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<p>“Raise the price of tickets and let the people who use it pay for it.”</p>
<p><em>— Allen Wayne, Facebook</em></p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<p>“I wonder if the NB City Council thinks that the city is an ‘encampment’, temporary, just existing, ready to move out? Do they think we have a need only for a water and food source, simple shelter and nothing else? What are we without cultural gifts? What kind of place do they want this to be? I am in favor of living as best we can with some vibrancy if we can manage it and the Z has done that for a century, making no profit, but contributing to our welfare and well being. I for one am ashamed of the city council.”</p>
<p><em>— James Griffith, website</em></p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<p>“The Zeiterion is a landmark of New Bedford. The arts are very important to all and especially the younger generation. Ask the teachers of New Bedford their opinion. Adults and children need the Zeiterion. Keep your word. Fund the Zeiterion!”</p>
<p><em>— Trudy Melissa Medeiros, Facebook</em></p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<p>“The Z should be self-supporting!”</p>
<p><em>— Arthur Rebello Jr., Facebook</em></p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<p>“This does not make sense. The Z is a cornerstone of the arts and culture vibrancy of New Bedford and an economic engine for the downtown area. If they are looking to save money, why did they give over a hundred thousand of ARPA funds with no vetting to the New Bedford Research and Robotics private enterprise?”</p>
<p><em>— Pat Daughton, website</em></p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<p>“This city council is out of control and does not represent the residents of the city. First they ignore the administration <em>and </em>the Secretary of State’s office and move the primary, making it harder for residents to vote in absentia… And now taking away promised funds (seems to be a trend these days) to an important institution in this city — The Z — which benefits <em>all </em>school children in New Bedford. Further, it appears their actions could be illegal. Vote them all out I say! Time for a change!”</p>
<p><em>— Joanne Mendes, website</em></p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
<p>“It seems like they cut the wrong things? Cutting the Z is pennywise and pound foolish. Maybe the worst school district in the state? Let’s cut it!!”</p>
<p><em>— Tom Joad, website</em></p>
<div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow">
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide"/>
<h4 class="wp-block-heading section-header" style="font-style:normal;font-weight:400"><a href="http://www.newbedfordlight.org/community-voices"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">More Community Voices</mark></a></h4>
</div></div>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/comments-to-the-light-budget-battle-provokes-intense-response/">Comments to The Light: Budget battle provokes intense response</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://newbedfordlight.org/comments-to-the-light-budget-battle-provokes-intense-response/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">168825</post-id> </item>
<item>
<title>A day of mourning for Zeiterion</title>
<link>https://newbedfordlight.org/a-day-of-mourning-for-zeiterion/</link>
<comments>https://newbedfordlight.org/a-day-of-mourning-for-zeiterion/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jack Spillane]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 15 Jul 2025 21:16:04 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://newbedfordlight.org/?p=168735</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="528" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?fit=1024%2C528&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=300%2C155&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=1024%2C528&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=768%2C396&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=1536%2C792&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=2048%2C1056&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=1200%2C619&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=1568%2C809&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=400%2C206&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=706%2C364&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?fit=1024%2C528&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="104430" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/zeiterion3/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?fit=2400%2C1238&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2400,1238" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Zeiterion3" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center. Credit: David W. Oliveira / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?fit=300%2C155&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?fit=780%2C402&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p>City Council zeroes out ‘Z’ budget on day of Armand Marchand’s passing</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/a-day-of-mourning-for-zeiterion/">A day of mourning for Zeiterion</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="528" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?fit=1024%2C528&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=300%2C155&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=1024%2C528&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=768%2C396&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=1536%2C792&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=2048%2C1056&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=1200%2C619&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=1568%2C809&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=400%2C206&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?resize=706%2C364&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?fit=1024%2C528&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="104430" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/zeiterion3/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?fit=2400%2C1238&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2400,1238" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Zeiterion3" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center. Credit: David W. Oliveira / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?fit=300%2C155&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Zeiterion3.jpg?fit=780%2C402&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p class="has-drop-cap">It was what they might call in show business a cruel irony.</p>
<p>On the same day the City Council zeroed out the city subsidy for the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center, the man who along with his partner did more than anybody to make the Z the heart of the New Bedford performing arts scene for 30 years died in a tragic accident.</p>
<p>Armand Marchand, 82, succumbed on June 24 in what playwrights might call a sad perfect ending. He died in a harrowing accident at Penn Station after traveling by train to New York City, where he regularly went to scout theatrical performances. Around midnight earlier that day, the New Bedford City Council — after three councilors switched their votes without public explanation — approved eliminating this fiscal year’s city subsidy to the Z, which amounted to $583,996. </p>
<p><a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/new-bedford-city-councilors-flip-vote-and-defund-the-zeiterion/">Rosemary Gill, the Zeiterion president and CEO, quickly sounded the alarm </a>that the nonprofit that has long run the theater might have to bring down its own flood lights. The Zeiterion is in the midst of a $37 million renovation of the city-owned building, the vast majority of which will be paid by a combination of non-city taxpayers (federal, state, and private fundraising). The rescue, however, is dependent on a subsidy from the city to make ends meet, although the bulk of renovation funds will decrease over the next seven years.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="878" data-attachment-id="168719" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/img_6099/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099-scaled.jpg?fit=2275%2C2560&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2275,2560" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"1.8","credit":"","camera":"iPhone SE (3rd generation)","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1752576487","copyright":"","focal_length":"3.99","iso":"500","shutter_speed":"0.033333333333333","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="IMG_6099" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>Armand Marchand, right, and George Charbonneau of the New Bedford Festival Theatre together packed Greater New Bedford folks of all classes into the Zeiterion over the years. Credit: New Bedford Festival Theatre</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099-scaled.jpg?fit=267%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C878&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099.jpg?resize=780%2C878&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-168719" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099-scaled.jpg?resize=910%2C1024&ssl=1 910w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099-scaled.jpg?resize=267%2C300&ssl=1 267w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C864&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099-scaled.jpg?resize=1365%2C1536&ssl=1 1365w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099-scaled.jpg?resize=1820%2C2048&ssl=1 1820w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C1350&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C2251&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C878&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C900&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C450&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C794&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099-scaled.jpg?w=1560&ssl=1 1560w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6099-910x1024.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Armand Marchand, right, and George Charbonneau of the New Bedford Festival Theatre together packed Greater New Bedford folks of all classes into the Zeiterion over the years. Credit: New Bedford Festival Theatre</figcaption></figure>
<p>For those who loved Armand and George Charbonneau’s productions, and all the other wide variety of programming that the Zeiterion brings to New Bedford every year, with enormous benefits to the quality of life in this out-of-the-way city on Massachusetts’ South Coast, the twin breaking stories were a double heartbreak.</p>
<p>It was Armand, who along with his husband George, who had been responsible for what was perhaps the Z’s best-known programming, the New Bedford Festival Theatre. As regular as clockwork each summer, the musical troupe would raise its curtains for two weeks at the downtown theater.</p>
<p>Armand was the executive director and George the artistic director of the Festival Theatre, and they together packed Greater New Bedford folks of all classes into the restored downtown vaudeville house for generations. </p>
<p>Retired New Bedford English teachers and drama coaches, Armand and George produced shows at the Z that won multiple awards for quality. In 2012, the Festival Theatre’s performances of “Hairspray” won the Moss Hart Trophy for the Best Professional Production in New England, and in 2019, “Mamma Mia!” broke the Zeiterion’s own all-time box-office record.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="678" data-attachment-id="168720" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/img_6100/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C2226&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,2226" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"1.8","credit":"","camera":"iPhone SE (3rd generation)","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1752576527","copyright":"","focal_length":"3.99","iso":"500","shutter_speed":"0.033333333333333","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="IMG_6100" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>The New Bedford Festival Theatre’s production of “Hairspray” was named Best Professional Production in New England in 2012. Credit: New Bedford Festival Theatre</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C261&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C678&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100.jpg?resize=780%2C678&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-168720" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C890&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C261&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C668&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1335&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1780&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C1043&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1739&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C678&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C695&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C348&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C614&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6100-1024x890.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The New Bedford Festival Theatre’s production of “Hairspray” was named Best Professional Production in New England in 2012. Credit: New Bedford Festival Theatre</figcaption></figure>
<p>It is hard to get your arms around what the City Council of our small city was thinking when it killed the entire budget.</p>
<p>Longtime At-Large Councilor Linda Morad, who this week announced her retirement after 20 years of hard-working service to New Bedford, seemed to be arguing that working-class people don’t show up at the Zeiterion. She also dismissed out of hand <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/agreement-to-support-zeiterion-is-a-bargain-for-new-bedford/">the Z’s contention that it brings $10 million to $11 million of annual economic benefit to the city. </a></p>
<p>“Don’t give me all this bullshit about what the Z does for downtown,” she said in arguing for the cuts. “I want you to go to Coggeshall Street and find a person that’s going to the Z on a performance night.”</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="595" data-attachment-id="168721" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/img_6101/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1953&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1953" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"1.8","credit":"","camera":"iPhone SE (3rd generation)","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1752576544","copyright":"","focal_length":"3.99","iso":"400","shutter_speed":"0.025641025641026","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="IMG_6101" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>The New Bedford Festival Theatre’s 2019 production of “Mama Mia” broke the Zeiterion’s own all-time box-office record. Credit: New Bedford Festival Theatre</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C229&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C595&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101.jpg?resize=780%2C595&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-168721" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C781&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C229&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C586&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1172&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1563&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C916&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1526&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C595&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C610&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C305&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C539&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6101-1024x781.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The New Bedford Festival Theatre’s 2019 production of “Mama Mia” broke the Zeiterion’s own all-time box-office record. Credit: New Bedford Festival Theatre</figcaption></figure>
<p>It’s hard for me to understand Morad’s point of view. She has acknowledged that her own uncle was a regular benefactor of the Zeiterion and attended its performances. She says she has an ideological opposition to the city being involved in the running of a theater and cited that as her “principle.” Fair enough. But other city residents, of course, have different ideologies and different principles.</p>
<p>In the past 10 years, the Festival Theatre has staged productions of such popular Broadway vehicles as “Nunsense,” “The Wiz,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas.”</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="967" data-attachment-id="168722" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/img_6102/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102-scaled.jpg?fit=2064%2C2560&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2064,2560" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"1.8","credit":"","camera":"iPhone SE (3rd generation)","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1752576549","copyright":"","focal_length":"3.99","iso":"400","shutter_speed":"0.03030303030303","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="IMG_6102" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>The New Bedford Festival Theatre’s production of “Mary Poppins.” Credit: New Bedford Festival Theatre</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102-scaled.jpg?fit=242%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C967&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102.jpg?resize=780%2C967&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-168722" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102-scaled.jpg?resize=826%2C1024&ssl=1 826w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102-scaled.jpg?resize=242%2C300&ssl=1 242w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C952&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102-scaled.jpg?resize=1239%2C1536&ssl=1 1239w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102-scaled.jpg?resize=1651%2C2048&ssl=1 1651w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C1488&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C2480&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C967&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C992&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C496&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C876&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102-scaled.jpg?w=1560&ssl=1 1560w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_6102-826x1024.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The New Bedford Festival Theatre’s production of “Mary Poppins.” Credit: New Bedford Festival Theatre</figcaption></figure>
<p>I was at their 2016 production of “Grease,” starring professional local singer Samantha Johnson, and I can tell you that its production values took my breath away. To be able to see that high quality of musical theater, right in New Bedford, seems a rare treasure.</p>
<p>Sure, the Zeiterion is also home to higher-brow fare like the wonderful New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, which each year fills the downtown venue with a wall of classical music from the ages. But there is also plenty of quality lower-brow fare at the Z too. Courtesy of a friend, I saw a Queen revival band a couple years ago, and you would have sworn Freddie Mercury himself was belting out the oldies.</p>
<p>The Zeiterion’s value to New Bedford goes beyond that. Active in the city’s school system, the nonprofit says that through its workshops and field trips it will reach every city school child by the time they graduate. The theater has also long had a program for EBT card-holders to see programming for $5 a ticket.</p>
<p>Almost more astonishing than the comments of Morad were the ones made by Ward 4 Councilor Derek Baptiste, whose own ward includes the Z building, in explaining his change of mind to take away the Z money. </p>
<p>Baptiste <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/new-bedford-city-councilors-flip-vote-and-defund-the-zeiterion/">told The New Bedford Light’s Colin Hogan</a> that he didn’t really want to vote for the theater’s subsidy a year ago September but that he was pressured to do so.</p>
<p>“I represent the people of this city, and I want to see more given back to my city and to the community,” Baptiste said. He talked about directing more money to “the neighborhoods” but did not specify where.</p>
<p>It’s no secret that there is a feeling by some that too much government money goes to downtown New Bedford and not enough to the neighborhoods. I would describe this point-of-view in its best manifestation as connected to legitimate fears of gentrification in the center city. But I think those concerns can be avoided with good planning. And rising real estate costs in New Bedford are certainly due to much more than the government grants going to the Zeiterion. I don’t think the answer is to eliminate funding for the vehicle that is the heart of an arts district that has done so much for the city’s revitalization as a whole.</p>
<p>There aren’t as many big commercial venues or nonprofits in the neighborhoods as in the downtown. If you press people about the varied sections of the city, they will talk about better road upkeep or lowering property taxes. </p>
<p>Yes, the roads in New Bedford could certainly be better and more quickly maintained, and we all want lower taxes when possible. But do you really want to close the Z to accomplish that? I don’t.</p>
<p>There is also a feeling by some on the council that the city should not be subsidizing operations that cannot be profitable on their own. I would place Morad and Ward 3 Councilor Shawn Oliver in this category — they genuinely do not want to see government involved in activities that a lot of the rest of us are fine with. There’s an extended list of spending that councilors opposed to the Z rattle off — the municipal zoo, the airport, the golf course — that they also don’t like. They want to privatize them all. </p>
<p>I’d describe Councilor Maria Giesta as the moving force of this wing. She proposed killing the entire zoo budget on cut night.</p>
<p>I’ll disagree with this approach. Capitalism is a fine system and I like to think I support it, but it certainly can’t deliver equitably on all the needs of civilized society. Certainly not in a place like New Bedford.</p>
<p>Zeiterion President Rosemary Gill has pointed out that fine arts theaters in mid-sized cities like New Bedford almost always need some subsidy. Council President Shane Burgo, the only character on the council you could describe as any kind of a progressive, told me “it was shocking” to him when the council voted to completely eliminate the Zeiterion’s subsidy along with some other operating expenses. It happened just at midnight, he said, and the council quickly moved on. Burgo had proposed his own much smaller ($73,000) cut to the theater’s utilities.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="431" data-attachment-id="166815" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/img_0348/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348-scaled.png?fit=2560%2C1415&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1415" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="IMG_0348" data-image-description="<p>City Councilors adjourned at 1:45 am from the marathon cut session. Credit: New Bedford City Council</p>
" data-image-caption="<p>City Councilors adjourned at 1:45 am from the marathon cut session. Credit: New Bedford City Council</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348-scaled.png?fit=300%2C166&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348-scaled.png?fit=780%2C431&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348.png?resize=780%2C431&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-166815" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348-scaled.png?resize=1024%2C566&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348-scaled.png?resize=300%2C166&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348-scaled.png?resize=768%2C424&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348-scaled.png?resize=1536%2C849&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348-scaled.png?resize=2048%2C1132&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348-scaled.png?resize=1200%2C663&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348-scaled.png?resize=2000%2C1105&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348-scaled.png?resize=780%2C431&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348-scaled.png?resize=800%2C442&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348-scaled.png?resize=400%2C221&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348-scaled.png?resize=706%2C390&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348-scaled.png?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_0348-1024x566.png?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">City Councilors adjourn at 1:45 a.m. from the marathon cut session that took place in June. Credit: New Bedford City Council</figcaption></figure>
<p>The fact that Burgo was shocked by the axing of the Z budget is telling. A number of years ago, the council stopped publicizing its proposed cuts to the budget ahead of time. That to me seems designed to avoid pressure from people wanting to save this or that program. But the result is that there is now no time for any public discussion of any proposed cuts.</p>
<p>I don’t know. From what I’ve seen of privatization in New Bedford, it’s not an optimum substitute for government. The municipal trash-hauling service we presently have had rapidly escalating costs. And part of the problem is that there are only so many outfits that can perform municipal waste pick-up, so not a lot of competitive bids. I’m not sure a struggling city like New Bedford would be better off jettisoning things like the Zeiterion theater in terms of public good, or that the private sector could even perform its role.</p>
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignright size-thumbnail"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="150" height="150" data-attachment-id="168736" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/img_7110-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?fit=1685%2C1685&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1685,1685" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"1.78","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 14 Pro","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1735739526","copyright":"","focal_length":"6.86","iso":"64","shutter_speed":"0.0028248587570621","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="IMG_7110" data-image-description="<p>With Jack column</p>
" data-image-caption="<p>Councilor-at-large Shane Burgo in front of New Bedford City Hall. Caption: Jack Spillane/The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?fit=780%2C780&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited-150x150.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-168736" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?resize=1024%2C1024&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?resize=768%2C768&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?resize=1536%2C1536&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?resize=1200%2C1200&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?resize=800%2C800&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?resize=780%2C780&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?resize=706%2C706&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?resize=100%2C100&ssl=1 100w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited.jpeg?w=1685&ssl=1 1685w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_7110-edited-150x150.jpeg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Shane Burgo</figcaption></figure></div>
<p>Armand Machand and George Charbonneau brought us wonderful entertainment these last 30-plus years at a downtown venue that would not have been available had the city not stepped in and saved and subsidized the Zeiterion theater. We will miss Armand terribly and are especially heartbroken by the circumstances surrounding his untimely passing.</p>
<p>It’s more than disheartening, however, that on the day Armand Marchand made his final exit from New Bedford, the City Council walked away from everything he helped create.</p>
<p><em>A celebration of Armand Machand’s life will be held at a yet-to-be announced date in September. </em></p>
<p><em>Mayor Jon Mitchell has resubmitted the subsidy for the Zeiterion, along with other budget items, in a supplemental budget that the council will consider on Thursday. If one of the six councilors — Derek Baptiste, Brian Gomes, Naomi Carney, Maria Giesta, Linda Morad and Shawn Oliver — change their votes, the subsidy will be saved.</em></p>
<p><em>The New Bedford Festival Theatre will present the musical “Spelling Bee” Aug. 8-17. Tickets are available at </em><a href="http://www.nbfestivaltheatre.com"><em>www.nbfestivaltheatre.com</em></a><em>.</em></p>
<p><em>Email Jack Spillane at jspillane@newbedfordlight.org.</em></p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/>
<div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow">
<div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow">
<h3 class="wp-block-heading section-header" id="related-stories" style="font-style:normal;font-weight:400"><a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/jack-spillane"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">More stories by Jack Spillane</mark></a></h3>
</div></div>
</div></div>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/a-day-of-mourning-for-zeiterion/">A day of mourning for Zeiterion</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://newbedfordlight.org/a-day-of-mourning-for-zeiterion/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>30</slash:comments>
<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">168735</post-id> </item>
<item>
<title>Opinion: New Bedford is on the cusp of something great</title>
<link>https://newbedfordlight.org/opinion-new-bedford-is-on-the-cusp-of-something-great/</link>
<comments>https://newbedfordlight.org/opinion-new-bedford-is-on-the-cusp-of-something-great/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rosemary Gill and Frank Almeida, Zeiterion Performing Arts Center]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 15 Jul 2025 19:50:50 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Community Voices]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://newbedfordlight.org/?p=168732</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="538" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1024%2C538&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?w=1500&ssl=1 1500w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=300%2C158&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=1024%2C538&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=768%2C403&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=1200%2C630&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=400%2C210&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=706%2C371&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1024%2C538&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="93729" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/make-your-voice-heard/your-voice-bendy2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1500%2C788&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1500,788" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="your voice bendy2" data-image-description="<p>your voice</p>
" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=300%2C158&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=780%2C410&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p>“At the Zeiterion, we provide thousands of visitors another reason to come to New Bedford.” — Rosemary Gill and Frank Almeida</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/opinion-new-bedford-is-on-the-cusp-of-something-great/">Opinion: New Bedford is on the cusp of something great</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="538" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1024%2C538&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?w=1500&ssl=1 1500w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=300%2C158&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=1024%2C538&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=768%2C403&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=1200%2C630&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=400%2C210&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?resize=706%2C371&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1024%2C538&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="93729" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/make-your-voice-heard/your-voice-bendy2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=1500%2C788&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1500,788" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="your voice bendy2" data-image-description="<p>your voice</p>
" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=300%2C158&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/your-voice-bendy2.png?fit=780%2C410&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p class="has-drop-cap">By early next year, the Zeiterion will have launched our inaugural season, the culmination of a years-long effort to renew this historic, city-owned building. The $37 million project — made possible through private donations, public investments and historic tax credits — will enable the Zeiterion to remain a center of creative expression for city residents, across age, income, and cultural backgrounds, for generations to come. </p>
<p>This is part of a larger revitalization taking place in New Bedford, which includes plans to reopen the Star Store as an arts hub, expand the New Bedford Whaling Museum and the New Bedford Art Museum, and complete a Cape Verdean Cultural Center — places that help shape and celebrate local identity and bring meaning to the places we call home. Along with these projects, we are seeing new housing construction, a rethinking of State Pier, new restaurant openings, and plans for a new hotel. </p>
<p>Arts and culture are leading the way to new prosperity and improved quality of life for everyone in our city. For that reason, it puzzled us when the City Council voted to eliminate the Zeiterion’s support agreement completely. This financial support, which was overwhelmingly approved by this same City Council through a signed contract, is essential to our ability to operate the Zeiterion, which is also home to our long-standing resident companies, the New Bedford Festival Theatre and the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. It is an example of a public-private partnership that has proven again and again to promote economic and community vitality in cities across the country. </p>
<p>By zeroing out the city’s support agreement, the City Council withdrew funding not just for the Zeiterion and the improvements to the city-owned building in which it resides. It cast a shadow on the progress that has earned New Bedford a growing national and international reputation as a creative center. New Bedford is already known as one of the 10 most creative cities in the country. And just last month, the city was recognized among just 22 cities around the world for its innovative approaches to supporting creative expression. </p>
<p>Why is this important? </p>
<p>Theaters, galleries and museums not only create community vibrancy, together they are a magnet for economic development. They draw visitors who spend money, create new jobs and business opportunities for residents and lure outside investment. That in turn creates new tax revenue. </p>
<p>The National Endowment for the Arts found the arts and cultural industries contributed 4.3% of gross domestic product (GDP), or $1.1 trillion, to the U.S. economy in 2022. In a separate study that year, Americans for the Arts estimated that economic activity by nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences supported 2.6 million jobs and generated $29.1 billion in tax revenue.</p>
<p>From West Oakland, California, to Richmond, Virginia, municipal leaders across the United States are using public investment in the arts to bring new life to their communities. We are seeing the results in New Bedford. With the arrival of commuter rail in March, more and more Boston-area residents are making New Bedford a rewarding day trip, where they can shop, visit a museum or gallery and get a great meal. At the Zeiterion, we provide thousands of visitors another reason to come to New Bedford. </p>
<p>We are approaching our role as a leading cultural institution with a new energy and a new mission that reflects New Bedford’s growing diversity. Our existing partnerships and programs have brought 70,000 patrons and 20,000 school children through our doors every year. Building on that, we will soon announce plans to engage residents throughout the city in our mission to be a place for everyone, sharing our plans and learning how we can serve the neighborhoods and the people of New Bedford better. In that way, we are committed to programming that will deepen our impact within the city of New Bedford and expand our reach beyond The Z’s traditional audiences. </p>
<p>We are optimistic that this budget cut will be reversed and that our work will continue uninterrupted. The city’s financial commitment to The Z is only 15% of our overall $3.2 million budget, but it certainly helps employ 338 people and is a fraction of the $10.2 million economic contribution the Zeiterion generated annually before we closed for renovation. We have every reason to expect that impact will rise significantly after our reopening. </p>
<p>We thank those forward-looking City Councilors who voted to maintain our support agreement and Mayor Jon Mitchell for his unyielding support. We thank our donors and volunteers whose gifts of money and time enable us to fulfill our shared vision. And we thank the people of New Bedford whose enduring support has shaped The Z for the past 100 years and whose continued involvement will carry it into a bright and thriving future. </p>
<p>Together, we will elevate The Zeiterion into a premier regional hub for arts entertainment and learning — a dynamic venue for performers and a cornerstone of our cultural life — helping ensure that New Bedford continues to thrive as the vibrant, creative, and prosperous city we all deserve. </p>
<p><em>Rosemary Gill is president & CEO of the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center. Frank Almeida is the chair of its board of directors.</em></p>
<div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow">
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide"/>
<h4 class="wp-block-heading section-header" style="font-style:normal;font-weight:400"><a href="http://www.newbedfordlight.org/community-voices"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">More Community Voices</mark></a></h4>
</div></div>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/opinion-new-bedford-is-on-the-cusp-of-something-great/">Opinion: New Bedford is on the cusp of something great</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://newbedfordlight.org/opinion-new-bedford-is-on-the-cusp-of-something-great/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">168732</post-id> </item>
<item>
<title>Healey visits site of ‘horrifying’ Fall River assisted living fire</title>
<link>https://newbedfordlight.org/healey-visits-site-of-horrifying-fall-river-assisted-living-fire/</link>
<comments>https://newbedfordlight.org/healey-visits-site-of-horrifying-fall-river-assisted-living-fire/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Colin A. Young / State House News Service]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 15 Jul 2025 19:22:54 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Police and Courts]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://newbedfordlight.org/?p=168728</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="684" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?fit=1024%2C684&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?w=1838&ssl=1 1838w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=1024%2C684&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=768%2C513&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=1536%2C1026&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=1200%2C802&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=780%2C521&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=800%2C534&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=706%2C472&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?fit=1024%2C684&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="168731" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/healey-visits-site-of-horrifying-fall-river-assisted-living-fire/healey-fire-response/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?fit=1838%2C1228&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1838,1228" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="healey fire response" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>Gov. Maura Healey on Monday expressed her sympathies to the families of those who died in the Fall River assisted living facility fire. Credit: Eleonora Bianchi / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?fit=780%2C521&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p>A full investigation is underway after nine residents were killed and many others injured in a five-alarm fire at the Gabriel House facility on Sunday night.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/healey-visits-site-of-horrifying-fall-river-assisted-living-fire/">Healey visits site of ‘horrifying’ Fall River assisted living fire</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="684" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?fit=1024%2C684&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?w=1838&ssl=1 1838w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=1024%2C684&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=768%2C513&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=1536%2C1026&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=1200%2C802&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=780%2C521&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=800%2C534&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?resize=706%2C472&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?fit=1024%2C684&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="168731" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/healey-visits-site-of-horrifying-fall-river-assisted-living-fire/healey-fire-response/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?fit=1838%2C1228&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1838,1228" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="healey fire response" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>Gov. Maura Healey on Monday expressed her sympathies to the families of those who died in the Fall River assisted living facility fire. Credit: Eleonora Bianchi / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/healey-fire-response.png?fit=780%2C521&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p class="has-drop-cap">FALL RIVER — State fire officials are among those investigating what caused the smokey fire that killed nine residents of a Fall River assisted living facility late Sunday night, part of a state government response that also includes efforts to assure health care access for survivors.</p>
<p>Gov. Maura Healey traveled to the site of the Gabriel House assisted living facility Monday, after she had already announced that a “full investigation is already underway.” Saying she could still pick up the acrid smell of the smoke, Healey expressed her sympathies to the families of the deceased and thanked first responders.</p>
<p>“It’s horrifying to think about what happened in the middle of the night, in the dark. People just scrambling as best they could to get out through windows, with firefighters coming up ladders, you know, hauling people down in any way possible to get them out of the building, the panic — it’s so heartbreaking and so sad, and something you never want to see,” she said.</p>
<p>The governor added, “This is government, though, at work. You know, the men and women who show up and answer the call in the middle of the night to put out a fire, to rescue people and to save lives — just really, really struck by those acts of public service and just so grateful that the teams were able to act so quickly, so swiftly, and were it not for that, we would have seen an even far, an unimaginable loss of life here, given the vulnerability of this population.”</p>
<p>Healey continued, “That’s what folks need to understand. This was not a situation where teams arrived and people were able to get out easily. All of these people needed assistance. As you saw, many were in wheelchairs, many were immobile, many had oxygen tanks. They were severely compromised individuals in this assisted living facility, which made it all the more challenging. And you can imagine a fire raging, you’re dealing with a smoke inhalation … but just how precarious this was with oxygen tanks, so many of them on, and the presence of fire, it’s unbelievable that there wasn’t an even greater loss of life.”</p>
<p>The Fall River Fire Department responded to the Gabriel House assisted living facility on Oliver Street at about 9:50 p.m. Sunday, <a href="https://www.mass.gov/news/multiple-fatality-fire-under-investigation-at-fall-river-assisted-living-facility">according to a release</a> from the state Department of Fire Services. The first responding companies “observed heavy smoke and flames at the front of the building with occupants trapped inside.” The fire went to a five-alarm response, drawing about 50 firefighters to the scene, including about 30 who had been off duty.</p>
<p>The state said firefighters entered the building and rescued multiple residents, but “[t]ragically, several occupants were declared deceased at the scene.” Local fire officials said during a news conference Monday morning that nine residents of the facility died and one was in critical condition at a hospital.</p>
<p>About 70 people lived at the facility prior to the fire and state officials said many “were transported to local and regional hospitals in varying conditions.” Five firefighters were also taken to be treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.</p>
<p>“When you pull up to a building, the first thing you see is the fire, but then you see the multiple people that are asking to be helped and begging to be helped out the windows. So that’s where it complicates the scene and makes everything more difficult,” Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon said Monday morning. “So that is something that none of us want to ever pull up to. And unfortunately, like I said, that happened here last night, and we just pour our prayers out to the families of those who were hurt and killed.”</p>
<p>The Department of Fire Services said the origin and cause of the fire are under investigation by the Fall River Fire Department, Fall River Police Department, State Police assigned to the State Fire Marshal’s office, and State Police assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney’s office. Code compliance officers from DFS are assisting.</p>
<p>“This is an unfathomable tragedy for the families involved and the Fall River community,” Bacon said. “On behalf of the Fall River Fire Department, I want to express our heartfelt condolences to the loved ones who are grieving this morning.”</p>
<p>In a Monday morning press conference, Bacon and Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan said the fire was mostly contained to one wing of the building, and that the smoke was the main thing that affected the people inside the facility. Bacon said he could not say whether the assisted living facility had fire-suppression sprinklers or whether they activated Sunday night.</p>
<p>The chief said “anytime there’s a fire in any facility, there are code concerns” and said that was part of the ongoing investigation.</p>
<p>Sen. Michael Rodrigues, who represents Fall River and chairs the Senate Ways and Means Committee, called the fire “a heartbreaking tragedy.”</p>
<p>“The Fall River Fire Department and EMS personnel worked heroically to rescue people in the chaos of a fire of that severity, and first responders did a tremendous job to save many lives,” he said. “My House colleagues and I will do whatever we can at the state level to assist displaced individuals and families as they assess the situation going forward.”</p>
<p>Healey spoke outside the fire scene late Monday morning and said all five firefighters who had been taken to the hospital had since been released. She said she planned to next head down to the shelter that had been established for survivors.</p>
<p>“The relationship between our administration and the city of Fall River is tight. We’ve worked together on a lot of things. We’ve worked together in good times on a lot of matters of economic development under Mayor Coogan’s great leadership and what I pledge is that we’ll do whatever we can,” Healey said. “I’ve been in touch with our secretariats of health and human services and of public safety. Right now, the first order of business is to make sure we’re assisting the city in any way possible in rehousing what is a vulnerable population.”</p>
<p>Healey said “most, if not all” of the residents at Gabriel House get health care through MassHealth and she was “working with our agencies, and I’ll see what we can do.”</p>
<p>Asked if the state was aware of any previous safety complaints related to Gabriel House, Healey said, “Not at this time, but again, we haven’t had a full opportunity to look into everything.”</p>
<p>Gabriel House of Fall River is certified by the Executive Office of Aging & Independence as an assisted living facility. To obtain certification, the state said facilities must provide a “copy of all required current building, fire safety, and locally approved state sanitary code certificates and permits.”</p>
<p>A family notification center was set up at the chapel of St. Anne’s Hospital, which is just steps away from the Gabriel House. Families seeking information on residents can call 508-674-5741 or use the Emergency Room entrance to access the center, the governor’s office said.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/healey-visits-site-of-horrifying-fall-river-assisted-living-fire/">Healey visits site of ‘horrifying’ Fall River assisted living fire</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://newbedfordlight.org/healey-visits-site-of-horrifying-fall-river-assisted-living-fire/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">168728</post-id> </item>
<item>
<title>‘A nossa terra’ (‘Our land’): Portuguese-speaking community decries New Bedford library closure</title>
<link>https://newbedfordlight.org/a-nossa-terra-our-land-portuguese-speaking-community-decries-new-bedford-library-closure/</link>
<comments>https://newbedfordlight.org/a-nossa-terra-our-land-portuguese-speaking-community-decries-new-bedford-library-closure/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kevin G. Andrade and Colin Hogan]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2025 22:04:59 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[linkinbio]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://newbedfordlight.org/?p=168591</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?w=2560&ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="168577" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/42e20442-114a-4f79-935e-54039fd229d3/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1920" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Casa da Saudade" data-image-description="<p>The exterior of the Sister Aurora Avelar Community Center on Crapo Street, home of the Casa da Saudade branch of the New Bedford Free Public Library, the only Portuguese-centric public library in the U.S. Mayor Jon Mitchell said he intends to close the library in an announcement on July 11, 2025. Credit: Kevin G. Andrade / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-image-caption="<p>The exterior of the Sister Aurora Avelar Community Center on Crapo Street, home of the Casa da Saudade branch of the New Bedford Free Public Library, the only Portuguese-centric public library in the U.S. Mayor Jon Mitchell said he intends to close the library in an announcement on July 11. Credit: Kevin G. Andrade / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C585&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p>The Casa da Saudade library, in New Bedford’s South End, is the only Portuguese public library branch in the United States.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/a-nossa-terra-our-land-portuguese-speaking-community-decries-new-bedford-library-closure/">‘A nossa terra’ (‘Our land’): Portuguese-speaking community decries New Bedford library closure</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?w=2560&ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="168577" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/42e20442-114a-4f79-935e-54039fd229d3/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1920" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Casa da Saudade" data-image-description="<p>The exterior of the Sister Aurora Avelar Community Center on Crapo Street, home of the Casa da Saudade branch of the New Bedford Free Public Library, the only Portuguese-centric public library in the U.S. Mayor Jon Mitchell said he intends to close the library in an announcement on July 11, 2025. Credit: Kevin G. Andrade / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-image-caption="<p>The exterior of the Sister Aurora Avelar Community Center on Crapo Street, home of the Casa da Saudade branch of the New Bedford Free Public Library, the only Portuguese-centric public library in the U.S. Mayor Jon Mitchell said he intends to close the library in an announcement on July 11. Credit: Kevin G. Andrade / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/42E20442-114A-4F79-935E-54039FD229D3-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C585&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p class="has-drop-cap">NEW BEDFORD — Fernanda Teixeira quietly picked up a mystery from the Portuguese section of the Casa da Saudade library on Monday afternoon. She flipped through its pages and her memories of the library, which she’s been coming to since its opening in 1971.</p>
<p>“I hope this place never comes to an end,” the 78-year old said in Portuguese. She told The Light she immigrated to New Bedford from the Azorean island of Faial and never learned English. But throughout the difficulties of life as an immigrant, she always found a safe landing spot at the library.</p>
<p>“It’s about comfort for me,” she said. “Books have so much to teach people and this environment is so congenial.”</p>
<p>Just then, she learned of the announcement Friday by Mayor Jon Mitchell of his intentions to close the library as part of austerity measures enacted in response to City Council budget cuts. Her mouth immediately opened in shock for a moment.</p>
<p>“I don’t like that at all,” she said. “I’m going to lose so much.”</p>
<p>The city <a href="https://www.newbedford-ma.gov/library/locations/casa-da-saudade-library/">established Casa da Saudade</a> at a small storefront on Rivet Street in 1971 as the only Portuguese-language centered public library in the U.S. — a title it still holds. In 1975, it moved to its current location at the Sister Aurora Avelar Community Center on Crapo Street, downstairs from the Immigrants’ Assistance Center offices. The library’s collection includes 34,000 volumes of literature and 92 newspaper subscriptions as well as magazines, audiovisual media, and other items in Portuguese, Kriolu, and English.</p>
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignright size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" data-attachment-id="168592" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/paulina-arruda-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1706&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1706" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Paulina Arruda 2" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>Paulina Arruda, vice-president of 97.3FM WJFD, answers a phone call from a listener concerned about the closure of the Casa da Saudade branch of the New Bedford Free Public Library on Monday, July 14, 2025. Credit: Kevin G. Andrade/The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-168592" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?w=2560&ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AFE57983-07B3-408C-8754-92EA5AE7EC31-edited-scaled.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Paulina Arruda, vice-president of 97.3FM WJFD, answers a phone call from a listener concerned about the closure of the Casa da Saudade branch of the New Bedford Free Public Library on Monday. Credit: Kevin G. Andrade/The New Bedford Light</figcaption></figure></div>
<p>For many area Portuguese and Cabo Verdeans, it is a symbol of their presence and impact on New Bedford.</p>
<p>“We have to keep it going,” said Paulina Arruda, vice president of <a href="https://wjfd.com">97.3FM WJFD</a>, the nation’s largest Portuguese-language radio station, based out of Howland Place on Orchard Street. “We’re talking about a whole building, a whole space, dedicated to our language.”</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Calls for library cuts from council members</h3>
<p>The move came after several City Council members had vocally supported closing at least one library branch in recent months.</p>
<p>“The city needs to look into reducing our footprint in the number of city-owned buildings,” said At-Large Councilor Linda Morad during a council meeting in March. “The expenses are too high. The overall budget is too high.”</p>
<p>City Councilor Maria Giesta joined Morad in those calls and specifically cited the Lawler Library, near Buttonwood Park, which this past winter experienced frigid temperatures because its heater was broken. </p>
<p>“The library got so cold we could’ve closed for OSHA violations,” said Olivia Melo, the director of New Bedford’s public libraries, in March. “We kept open because librarians knew that patrons would be coming in.”</p>
<p>At the time, the mayor’s administration didn’t offer much pushback. Chief Operating Officer Christina Connelly said that closing a library branch was “a discussion worth having as a whole community.”</p>
<p>The library budget received $114,215 worth of cuts during the City Council’s most recent <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/long-hot-cut-night-reduces-city-budget-by-10-million/">“cut night,”</a> stripping away money that the mayor had proposed for library salaries and service purchases. </p>
<p>Last week, Mitchell blamed the closure on the council’s cuts, saying, “I don’t want to close any libraries, but something has got to give.”</p>
<p>The mayor’s office said Friday that the Casa da Saudade branch’s staff and its special collection of materials in Portuguese and Cabo Verdean Kriuolo <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/new-bedford-mayor-mitchell-announces-austerity-cuts-punches-back-at-city-council/">will move</a> into other library locations.</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Immediate pushback</h3>
<p>The decision caused immediate concern from sectors of the Portuguese-speaking community. On Monday, State Rep. António F.D. Cabral, a long-time Democratic representative for the city’s South End and native of the Azorean island of Pico, condemned the closure in a statement released Monday. The library falls in his district.</p>
<p>“Casa da Saudade is more than a branch library. It is a cultural institution,” Rep. Cabral said in his statement. “The library is a symbol of New Bedford’s deep Portuguese roots, and [is] a bridge between cultures. We should be proud of Casa da Saudade because there is nothing like it across the entire country.”</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="585" data-attachment-id="168581" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/68b2f715-aa78-4418-8282-1d43bd8b4231/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1920" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Bem-Vindo" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>The Portuguese phrase for “welcome” is written on the floor before the main entrance of the Casa da Saudade branch of the New Bedford Free Public Library. Credit: Kevin G. Andrade/The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C585&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231.jpg?resize=780%2C585&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-168581" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/68B2F715-AA78-4418-8282-1D43BD8B4231-1024x768.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Portuguese phrase for “welcome” is written on the floor before the main entrance of the Casa da Saudade branch of the New Bedford Free Public Library. Credit: Kevin G. Andrade / The New Bedford Light</figcaption></figure>
<p>Cabral called on the mayor and the City Council to reverse the decision to close the branch. </p>
<p>“I understand the decisions that both the Mayor and the City Council must make with tight budget considerations,” he continued. “However, the closure of Casa da Saudade is not simply a budgetary line item — it is a blow to one of the most culturally rich and historically important institutions in our community. </p>
<p>“I believe there are other options available besides closure, and that is what we expect.”</p>
<p>City Council President Shane Burgo said in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/shane.burgo">post</a> on Facebook that he vehemently opposes the library’s closure and placed the decision squarely on Mitchell’s shoulders. </p>
<p>“The Mayor’s decision to close Casa da Saudade is entirely unnecessary,” he said. “No library closures are warranted. </p>
<p>“None of our cuts justify that and the public deserves the truth.”</p>
<p>The Wilks and Francis J. Lawler branch libraries would also be impacted with reduced hours.</p>
<p>In a statement Tuesday, the Friends of the New Bedford Free Public Library said it stands “wholeheartedly with the staff and patrons of Casa da Saudade, Wilks and Lawler libraries. The decision will have a detrimental effect on our city and ultimately make New Bedford a less welcoming place for those requiring the services of the public library. </p>
<p>“The Friends believe that the decision to close Casa da Saudade would be a shame for us all but most especially the Portuguese-speaking population of the city, including our Azorean, Cape Verdean and Brazilian populations, who need support now more than ever.”</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">‘A nossa terra’</h3>
<p>Arruda picked up the phone at the WJFD radio station immediately when it rang around 1:30 p.m. Monday.</p>
<p>“It’s Casa da Saudade,” she told the person on the other end in Portuguese. “Casa da Saudade, the library, is going to close.”</p>
<p>Arruda said the station had been fielding such inquiries since Mitchell’s announcement. They’ve done their best to clear up confusion around whether the closure would also impact the Immigrants’ Assistance Center, which it won’t. </p>
<p>“The community is not happy,” she told The Light. “It’s not just a library but a center for the [Portuguese-speaking] community.”</p>
<p>Jorge Morais, general manager at WJFD, told The Light that he saw the announcement as a political move by the mayor.</p>
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignright size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="585" data-attachment-id="168578" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/d0f1d968-d922-4f18-b059-e4149bf0e378/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1920" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Jorge Morais" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>Jorge Morais, general manager of 97.3FM WJFD, a Portuguese-langauge radio station based in New Bedford, works at the station’s Howland Place studio on Monday, July 14, 2025. Credit: Kevin G. Andrade/The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C585&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-1024x768.jpg?resize=780%2C585&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-168578" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/D0F1D968-D922-4F18-B059-E4149BF0E378-1024x768.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Jorge Morais, general manager of 97.3FM WJFD, a Portuguese-langauge radio station based in New Bedford, works at the station’s Howland Place studio on Monday. Credit: Kevin G. Andrade / The New Bedford Light</figcaption></figure></div>
<p>“This could be a real alarm for the present and a warning to think about the future,” he said in Portuguese. “We need police. We need firefighters. We need schools, and we need libraries.”</p>
<p>Morais said now would be the moment to act if the community really wants to keep the library open. </p>
<p>“I hope there’s some kind of agreement to keep Casa da Saudade open,” he said. “Once you lose something, you almost never get it back.”</p>
<p>Arruda noted that this may be a good moment for the community to activate itself politically, contrary to historical habit she conjectured Portuguese-people picked up after decades of dictatorship under <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/i-was-there-50-years-later-dartmouth-man-recalls-his-role-in-portuguese-revolution/">the Estado Novo</a> regime in the 20th century. </p>
<p>“Many Portuguese people grew up under that system and learned to keep quiet,” she said. “But now the community needs to start learning how to fight for what it wants.</p>
<p>“I’m talking politically, socially, at all levels,” she continued. “The community needs to think about advocating for ourselves.”</p>
<p>Francisco Resendes, editor of <a href="https://portuguesetimes.com">The Portuguese Times</a>, also based in Howland Place, said now is the time to make a move.</p>
<p>“I see here an excellent opportunity to show our strength,” he said in Portuguese. “Now is when we’ll see how the community reacts and what weight it carries.”</p>
<p>But for Fernanda Teixeira, the patron browsing through Casa da Saudade’s books, the fight is about more than a building. It’s about a home.</p>
<p>“This library is very important,” she said. “É como se fosse a nossa terra.”</p>
<p><em>It’s almost as if it were our country.</em></p>
<p><em>Email Kevin G. Andrade at </em><a href="mailto:kandrade@newbedfordlight.org"><em>kandrade@newbedfordlight.org</em></a>. <em>Email Colin Hogan at </em><a href="mailto:chogan@newbedfordlight.org"><em>chogan@newbedfordlight.org</em></a>.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This story was modified on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, to add a statement from the Friends of the New Bedford Free Public Library. </em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/a-nossa-terra-our-land-portuguese-speaking-community-decries-new-bedford-library-closure/">‘A nossa terra’ (‘Our land’): Portuguese-speaking community decries New Bedford library closure</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://newbedfordlight.org/a-nossa-terra-our-land-portuguese-speaking-community-decries-new-bedford-library-closure/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>10</slash:comments>
<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">168591</post-id> </item>
<item>
<title>Mass. joins suit against Trump administration over $6 billion in withheld education dollars</title>
<link>https://newbedfordlight.org/mass-joins-suit-against-trump-administration-over-6-billion-in-withheld-education-dollars/</link>
<comments>https://newbedfordlight.org/mass-joins-suit-against-trump-administration-over-6-billion-in-withheld-education-dollars/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Colin Hogan]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2025 21:25:05 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[linkinbio]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://newbedfordlight.org/?p=168588</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?w=2560&ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="165704" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/new-bedford-school-department-building-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1707" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.2","credit":"","camera":"SM-A516U","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1633611300","copyright":"","focal_length":"1.74","iso":"40","shutter_speed":"0.0012315270935961","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="New Bedford School Department building" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>Credit: Kellen Riell / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p>Education funds were withheld for “review” to ensure consistency with the “President’s priorities,” according to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. Now, Massachusetts and more than 20 other states are suing to get that money back.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/mass-joins-suit-against-trump-administration-over-6-billion-in-withheld-education-dollars/">Mass. joins suit against Trump administration over $6 billion in withheld education dollars</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?w=2560&ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1&w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" data-attachment-id="165704" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/new-bedford-school-department-building-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1707" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.2","credit":"","camera":"SM-A516U","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1633611300","copyright":"","focal_length":"1.74","iso":"40","shutter_speed":"0.0012315270935961","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="New Bedford School Department building" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="<p>Credit: Kellen Riell / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20211007_125459-edited-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1" /></figure>
<p class="has-drop-cap">Massachusetts joined 23 states on Monday to sue Education Secretary Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump, and budget director Russell Vought for withholding over $6 billion in education funding that was appropriated by Congress — with more than $107 million destined for Massachusetts and $2.6 million for New Bedford. </p>
<p>One filing in the lawsuit cites the <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2-Pl.-States-PI-Opening-Brief.pdf">impacts to New Bedford</a>, warning that the “loss of federal funding [is] likely to result in layoffs, cuts to crucial summer and after school programming, and ESL support for English learners” in the Whaling City. </p>
<p>“As a result of the freeze, the [New Bedford] school system will be forced to make difficult choices regarding staff dedicated to improving the lives of New Bedford students, with some staff likely to be terminated,” the filing read.<br><br>In New Bedford, the withheld $2.6 million included grants that support summer-time and afterschool programs, grants for “effective instruction,” and grants that support “English language acquisition” and “academic achievement” for immigrants. </p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" data-attachment-id="168668" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/dsc_0542-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1707" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"8","credit":"","camera":"NIKON D3100","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1752135735","copyright":"","focal_length":"42","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"0.005","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="DSC_0542" data-image-description="<p>Students’ drawings at the 21st Century Community Learning Center summer program, hosted at Jacobs Elementary School. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-image-caption="<p>Students’ drawings at the 21st Century Community Learning Center summer program, hosted at Jacobs Elementary School. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-168668" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0542-1024x683.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Students’ drawings at the 21st Century Community Learning Center summer program, hosted at Jacobs Elementary School. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light</figcaption></figure>
<p>“State and federal law establishes minimum appropriations for public schools,” said New Bedford Superintendent Andrew O’Leary in a statement on Monday. “Arbitrarily holding back such funding with no communication to the affected parties is a disservice to students that should prompt a strong response.” </p>
<p>On the evening of June 30, McMahon’s Department of Education informed all 50 state departments of education that funds were being withheld for “review” to ensure consistency with the “President’s priorities,” according to the lawsuit. Many of the funds were destined for programs that support English learners, extracurricular opportunities, and improved school conditions. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/1-Complaint.pdf">lawsuit</a> was filed in the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island. It claims that “defendants have engaged in this conduct without any statutory or constitutional authority.” The withheld funds came from formula grants designated by Congress, which dictated how much money should be available and when.</p>
<p>The withheld funds were supposed to become available on July 1 — meaning states learned of the withholding one day before the new fiscal year began. Impacts on programs could be immediate. </p>
<p>In New Bedford, a popular program known as “21st Century Community Learning Centers” — also known as 21CCLC — has been reeling from news of the decision. </p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" data-attachment-id="168671" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/dsc_0589/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1707" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"","camera":"NIKON D3100","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1752137601","copyright":"","focal_length":"20","iso":"3200","shutter_speed":"0.008","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="DSC_0589" data-image-description="<p>Learning to ride a bike is one of the more popular summer activities. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-image-caption="<p>Learning to ride a bike is one of the more popular summer activities at the 21st Century Community Learning Center. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-168671" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0589-1024x683.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Learning to ride a bike is one of the more popular summer activities at the 21st Century Community Learning Center. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light</figcaption></figure>
<p>At Jacobs Elementary, in New Bedford’s South End, hundreds of students attend 21CCLC, where they go on field trips, learn to ride bikes, play musical instruments, and work on reading skills. </p>
<p>“These kids need these types of programs,” said Dan Viegas, a site coordinator at Jacobs. “We have lots of latch-key kids and kids who don’t have access to other extracurriculars.” </p>
<p>“We have kids who live within walking distance to the beach but have never been there,” Viegas said. “We take them there.” </p>
<p>The program is chock-full of kids, and Viegas said they never have to advertise. Students tell their friends, and people are always asking to join the program. Kids as young as preschool and as old as fifth grade partake in all sorts of learning activities, free from the testing and strictures of the school year. </p>
<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" data-attachment-id="168670" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/dsc_0581/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1707" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"8","credit":"","camera":"NIKON D3100","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1752137389","copyright":"","focal_length":"40","iso":"3200","shutter_speed":"0.016666666666667","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="DSC_0581" data-image-description="<p>Music class for rising first graders introduces students to xylophones, triangles, and all sorts of new instruments. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-image-caption="<p>Music class for rising first graders at the 21st Century Community Learning Center introduces students to xylophones, triangles, and all sorts of new instruments. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-168670" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0581-1024x683.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Music class for rising first graders at the 21st Century Community Learning Center introduces students to xylophones, triangles, and all sorts of new instruments. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light</figcaption></figure></div>
<p>One grant has allowed 21CCLC to hire students from New Bedford High as interns. </p>
<p>“I reviewed the lesson plan for one of my interns this morning and gave feedback like she was any other staff member,” Viegas said. The funding helps the district to provide valuable work experience, and prioritizes students who want to be teachers and will be the first in their family to attend college.</p>
<p>Other grants are targeted at attracting English language learners, ensuring that their summertimes are spent learning the reading and communication skills that they might otherwise fall behind on at home. </p>
<p>“If we don’t get this money, we can’t continue,” said Jen Ferland, the district’s executive director of strategic initiatives and partnerships. As of this moment, Ferland said, the 21CCLC afterschool program this fall is cancelled. </p>
<figure data-carousel-extra='{"blog_id":1,"permalink":"https:\/\/newbedfordlight.org\/mass-joins-suit-against-trump-administration-over-6-billion-in-withheld-education-dollars\/"}' class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex">
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" data-attachment-id="168669" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/dsc_0549/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1707" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"8","credit":"","camera":"NIKON D3100","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1752136041","copyright":"","focal_length":"18","iso":"3200","shutter_speed":"0.016666666666667","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="DSC_0549" data-image-description="<p>Reading, language skills, and cultural connections are part of the curriculum. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-image-caption="<p>Reading, language skills, and cultural connections are part of the curriculum at the 21st Century Community Learning Center summer program, hosted at Jacobs Elementary School. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1" data-id="168669" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-168669" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0549-1024x683.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Reading, language skills, and cultural connections are part of the curriculum at the 21st Century Community Learning Center summer program, hosted at Jacobs Elementary School. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" data-attachment-id="168667" data-permalink="https://newbedfordlight.org/dsc_0563/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1707" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"8","credit":"","camera":"NIKON D3100","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1752136530","copyright":"","focal_length":"22","iso":"3200","shutter_speed":"0.016666666666667","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="DSC_0563" data-image-description="<p>In a Spanish language class, students learned about music and dance from around the world. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-image-caption="<p>In a Spanish language class at the 21st Century Community Learning Center summer program, students learned about music and dance from around the world. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light</p>
" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1" data-id="168667" src="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-168667" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563-scaled.jpg?w=2340&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/newbedfordlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DSC_0563-1024x683.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">In a Spanish language class at the 21st Century Community Learning Center summer program, students learned about music and dance from around the world. Credit: Colin Hogan / The New Bedford Light</figcaption></figure>
</figure>
<p>“My immediate worry is for the children,” said Monica DaSilva, another site coordinator at Jacobs. If afterschool programs like these go away, kids in this program will have nothing to do — and no supervision — during their summers or after school this fall, according to 21CCLC site administrators. </p>
<p>The only justification for these cuts from the Trump administration remains the June 30 email from the federal Department of Education, which read: “The Department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities,” as cited in the lawsuit.<br><br>Plaintiffs include the District of Columbia, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin — a total of 25 plaintiffs seeking the restoration of $6 billion in funds. </p>
<p><em>Email Colin Hogan at </em><a href="mailto:chogan@newbedfordlight.org"><em>chogan@newbedfordlight.org</em></a></p>
<div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow">
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide"/>
<div class="wp-block-group"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow">
<h3 class="wp-block-heading section-header" id="related-stories" style="font-style:normal;font-weight:400"><a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/colinhogan/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">More stories by Colin Hogan</mark></a></h3>
</div></div>
</div></div>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide"/>
<p>The post <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org/mass-joins-suit-against-trump-administration-over-6-billion-in-withheld-education-dollars/">Mass. joins suit against Trump administration over $6 billion in withheld education dollars</a> appeared first on <a href="https://newbedfordlight.org">The New Bedford Light</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://newbedfordlight.org/mass-joins-suit-against-trump-administration-over-6-billion-in-withheld-education-dollars/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">168588</post-id> </item>
</channel>
</rss>
If you would like to create a banner that links to this page (i.e. this validation result), do the following:
Download the "valid RSS" banner.
Upload the image to your own server. (This step is important. Please do not link directly to the image on this server.)
Add this HTML to your page (change the image src
attribute if necessary):
If you would like to create a text link instead, here is the URL you can use:
http://www.feedvalidator.org/check.cgi?url=https%3A//newbedfordlight.org/feed/