A shooting that took place on Interstate 195 early Sunday morning, April 19, sent one victim to the hospital with a gunshot wound. 

Sgt. Ross Aubin of the Fall River Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards said the incident occurred between a motorcyclist and the driver of a pickup truck on the state highway, before it “spilled into the city” close to eastbound exits 12 and 13.

The victim of the shooting was treated for their injuries at a local hospital, Aubin said.

The incident is currently under investigation by the Massachusetts State Police.

See more at heraldnews.com.

Two people were injured in a rollover crash on I-195 East in Westport Sunday morning, according to Massachusetts State Police.

Investigators believe the driver hit a guardrail and rolled over around 6:30 a.m.

The driver and passenger were trapped inside the vehicle and had to be freed by Dartmouth and Westport firefighters, according to police.

Both were transported to the hospital for treatment, though the severity of their injuries remains unknown at this time.

See more at wpri.com.

Eight dogs were found in “extremely unsanitary conditions” at a New Bedford apartment following an animal cruelty investigation, according to police..

On April 15, officers were called to an apartment building on Davis Street for a welfare check after receiving a report of a strong odor coming from one of the units.

Police said officers knocked several times with no answer while hearing dogs barking inside, prompting them to force their way inside.

Officers found three adult dogs and five puppies confined to cages and a pen, surrounded by feces, urine, garbage-covered floors and a heavy ammonia odor, according to police.

See more at wpri.com.

 A 47-year-old man is facing charges after a fire broke out in Taunton Tuesday morning.

Firefighters rushed to Grant Street around 7:15 a.m. and found heavy smoke coming from a triple-decker.

Taunton Fire Chief Steven Lavigne said firefighters and two officers entered the home to help the three occupants get out safely.

“The fire had gotten into the walls, so we had to do some overhauling,” Lavigne said. “We had to take down some ceilings and walls to get to the hidden fire.”

See more at wpri.com.

A 62-year-old Fall River man is sentenced to up to five years in prison for possession and distribution of child pornography. 

Mark Nicholson was found guilty Thursday in Fall River Superior Court. 

The Bristol County District Attorney's Office said about 86-hundred images of child porn were found on Nicholson's home computer and two hard drives.  Police traced files of child pornography being shared to Nicholson's home in 2020.

An armed robbery Friday night in New Bedford that left the victim with stab wounds is under investigation. 

Responding officers found the victim in the vicinity of Acushnet Avenue and North Front Street.  He said a man asked for money, stabbed him and fled with his wallet. 

Anyone with information is asked to contact New Bedford police. 

Arthur T. Demoulas lost his bid for reinstatement Monday after a judge determined Market Basket’s Board of Directors “acted in good faith” by suspending him last May and then firing him in September.

“The CEO sought to prove that the [board] breached their duty of loyalty by acting in bad faith to benefit his sisters and their families,” the judge wrote in his decision. “He failed to carry his burden.”

The board “rationally concluded” that Demoulas’ “longstanding resistance to board oversight, imperious manner, and refusal to compromise” threatened the grocery store chain’s success, according to the judge.

The sisters each control 20% of the Tewksbury-based grocery store chain, while Demoulas owns 28%. The remaining 12% is owned by a trust for the grandchildren.

See more at wpri.com.

The online auction for the city's surplus property, including decommissioned vehicles, is live, and registration is free for bidders interested in getting their hands on a few big-ticket items for entry-level prices.

Online municipal marketplace service, GovDeals, is handling the sale and advertising of old property. Using the online platform that services over 15,000 federal, state, local and educational agencies, potential bidders can gain access to view and purchase items up for auction.

GovDeals' membership and bidding process allow interested parties to register online, create an account, and login to view Fall River's lots.

At the March 24 City Council Committee on Finance meeting, Councilor Linda Pereira spearheaded talks revolving around how exactly the city might declutter old junk that costs more to repair than it’s worth.

See more at heraldnews.com.

Governor Maura Healey is signing a sweeping overhaul of Massachusetts's cannabis laws. 

On Sunday, Healey restructured the embattled Cannabis Control Commission.  This will raise the number of licenses businesses can hold and increase legal possession limits for adults. 

The law dissolves the current commission and reduces the body from five to three members.  Now Healey has 30 days to appoint the new panel.

A Freetown home is likely a total loss after a fire Sunday night.

Freetown Fire Department Chief Harrie Ashley told a 12 News crew at the scene that first responders were initially called to the area around 7:24 p.m. for a report of a car fire in a garage.

When crews arrived, they found heavy fire on the first and second floors of the home. Firefighters were able to knock down the flames relatively quickly.

They say April showers bring May flowers, but you don’t have to wait until next month to catch one of spring’s most breathtaking sights — daffodils in bloom.

At Parsons Reserve in Dartmouth, the first bursts of white and yellow signal the season’s arrival, offering a quiet reminder of new beginnings.

For more than 80 years, the 32-acre property, part of the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust, has drawn visitors each spring. Roughly four acres are filled with hundreds of daffodils, originally planted during World War II along the banks of Destruction Brook.

The trailhead, located across from Dartmouth Town Landing, leads to an eight- to 10-minute walk with a somewhat steep climb through the woods. Beneath a canopy of beech trees, the path opens to a stunning display of blooms, a small utopia tucked quietly away from the bustle of everyday life.

See more at heraldnews.com.

More than 50 students participated in the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School of Law's first in-house mock trial competition April 10 to 12.

The event, organized by mock trial coaches Amy McNamee and Dana Sargent, featured a bracket-style format where teams advanced through multiple rounds of simulated criminal trials. Students argued both prosecution and defense positions, gaining experience in trial advocacy, including opening statements, witness examinations and evidentiary objections.

See more at heraldnews.com.

The MBTA is planning services changes on several subway and commuter rail lines in May. 

Service suspensions will be necessary for various infrastructure maintenance and upgrades. The Blue, Green and Red subway lines will be affected.

Commuter rail lines impacted will be the New Bedford/Fall River, Greenbush, Kingston and Framingham/Worcester lines. 

Details will be on the MBTA's website.    

Officials have declared the city is ready for Monday's 130th Boston Marathon.

Heightened security measures will be in place throughout the weekend.  Multiple local, state and federal agencies are also involved in security in all eight communities along the race route. 

At a media briefing Friday morning authorities said there are no known credible threats to the safety of 30-thousand runners and tens-of-thousands of spectators.  

A Massachusetts judge on Friday temporarily blocked a turbine manufacturer from pulling out of a major offshore wind farm project, saying it would be “fanciful” to imagine a new contractor could finish the installation.

Vineyard Wind went to court last week after GE Renewables said it would be terminating its contracts for turbine services and maintenance. GE Vernova, the parent company for GE Renewables, argued that Vineyard Wind owes it $300 million for work it performed, but Vineyard Wind countered that the manufacturer remains on the hook for about $545 million to make up for a catastrophic turbine blade collapse in July 2024 that set the project back by two years.

See more at wpri.com.

An investigation is underway after a child was hit by a car in Fall River Friday evening.

Police said the child was struck by an oncoming car on Choate Street. The child was brought to a nearby hospital for treatment and is expected to be OK.

The driver who hit the child took off after the crash. Investigators believe the driver was bringing a gunshot victim to the hospital at the time.

Police said the gunshot victim is also expected to survive their injuries, but didn’t specify where the shooting happened or if anyone is in custody.

See more at wpri.com.

The former Bishop Connolly High School is in process to come under city ownership, but it’s unlikely the city will be able to close on the property before January 2027 — after the purchase and sales agreement gets a rubber stamp from the Vatican. 

At a joint meeting of the Fall River Public School Committee and the City Council on April 14, the school district’s Chief Operating Officer Ken Pacheco spoke not only of the prospect of a drafted sales agreement, but what buying the property would mean to Fall River’s “youngest and most vulnerable” students in terms of providing programs and classes “breathing room.”

The $29.8 million, 55-acre property with outdoor facilities and seven buildable acres is just over 600,000 square feet. It houses 18 classrooms and 133 students — both of which are expected to double in number after the purchase is finalized and updates to the building are made. 

“There’s a lot more work to do to get there,” Pacheco told councilors and members of the school board. “This is where we want to go.”

See more at heraldnews.com.

A 22-year-old Fall River man was found guilty this week of a 2022 shooting in Providence that left one man dead and another injured.

Following a 10-day trial in Providence County Superior Court, a jury found Fall River resident Je’avonie Dorvil guilty of one count of second-degree murder, two counts of discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence, one count of assault with a dangerous weapon resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of carrying a pistol without a license, and one count of possession of a stolen firearm.

“I hope this conviction provides the victims and their families some measure of peace, and I hope it deters others from committing similar acts of violence,” R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha said.

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Four Fall River residents face criminal charges after being arrested for allegedly stealing scrap metal from the former Montaup Power Plant in Somerset.

Somerset Police Department responded Wednesday, April 15, to a local business reporting a suspicious truck parked behind their building, according to a release posted Thursday on SPD's Facebook page.

Officers determined that the suspect vehicle matched one that had been previously involved in a break-in at the site of the now-abandoned Montaup Power Plant on Riverside Avenue, which ceased operations in January 2010.

Believing that individuals were likely inside the power plant stealing scrap metal, their release states, officers remained in the area to conduct surveillance. A man was seen attempting to enter the truck a short time later and was approached by police.

See more at heraldnews.com.

A new Suffolk University-Boston Globe poll shows 81-percent of respondents have a favorable opinion of  Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. 

Seventy-five-percent rate her job performance as excellent or good.  In her bid for another term, nearly one-third of voters said top issues for Healey to address are the high cost of living, housing and responding to President Trump. 

The poll of 500 likely voters has a margin of error of four-point-four percent.

After more than a decade of planning, a long-envisioned bike path connecting Fall River and New Bedford is finally taking a real step forward as regional planners begin seeking proposals to design the nearly 10-mile Northern Scenic Greenway.

Residents traveling between Westport, Dartmouth and New Bedford do not have a safe way to walk or bike along the busy corridor.

The goal of the shared-use path is to change that, while also opening up access to stretches of coastline, wetlands, and neighborhoods that are difficult to reach without a car.

“This is the first time we’ve collaborated with three communities on one project,” said Sandra Medeiros, president of the South Coast Bikeway Alliance.

See more at heraldnews.com.

The City Council and the city’s administration have, at times, been at odds over the interpretation of the City Charter, the governing legal basis between councilors’ policymaking and the mayor’s executive role.

As of late, the council has attempted to bypass the authority of the Coogan Administration when it comes to the matter of who gets a say in municipal employee contract renewals.

At the April 6 City Council’s Committee on Ordinances and Legislation meeting, Corporation Counsel Alan Rumsey offered the opinion that one approval of municipal department heads from the City Council is enough. But some councilors at the table struck back, led by City Councilor Shawn Cadime, to offer a contrasting view: that all contract renewals ought to return to the Council floor for reapproval. 

“You’re essentially suggesting,” Rumsey told councilors, “That this City Council has the power to terminate, because if [an employee] doesn’t get approval, they’re gone.”

See more at heraldnews.com.

A new poll shows Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey with a double-digit lead over his primary opponent Congressman Seth Moulton for the Democratic Party nomination. 

The Suffolk University-Boston Globe survey found 47-percent of voters would support  Markey if the election were held today, 30-percent would vote for Moulton and 20-percent remain undecided. 

The poll of 500 likely primary voters has a margin of error of four-point-four percent.  

Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley has announced that an MS-13 member living unlawfully in New Bedford admitted his role in three “brutal” murders.

Franklin Antonio Amaya Paredes, 28, pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to racketeering involving murder, conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving murder, and two counts of murder in aid of racketeering.

According to Foley, Amaya Paredes is a Salvadoran national and member of the Uniones Locos Salvatrucha (ULS) clique of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, which operated in various parts of the country, including northern Virginia and southeastern Massachusetts.

After a dinner at another MS-13 member’s home in New Bedford on Aug. 25, 2018, Amaya Paredes and others allegedly beat and strangled a victim to death. They then dismembered the body and buried the remains in nearby woods, the U.S. Attorney said, adding that the victim’s remains have not been found.

See more at wpri.com.

Vineyard Wind 1 is now at the center of a high-stakes legal disagreement, as it asks a judge to step in quickly to keep GE Renewables — a key contractor — from walking away just as the 806-megawatt project off the shores of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard is expected to begin full operations.

In a 22-page filing submitted April 8 in Suffolk Superior Court, Vineyard Wind said turbine and blade supplier GE Renewables is threatening to end its contracts, a move the company says could derail the entire project and leave behind a "dormant wind farm graveyard."

The developer is asking the court for two things: to rule that GE has no legal right to terminate its contracts, and to issue an emergency order to block GE from doing so while the dispute is resolved. A hearing was set for April 16.

See more at heraldnews.com.