PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Many drivers have changed their travel habits amid the extended closure of the westbound Washington Bridge, according to R.I. Department of Transportation data obtained by Target 12.

On Monday, just under 65,000 cars used the temporary westbound I-195 lanes on the eastbound Washington Bridge, RIDOT data shows. That was down 33% from the daily average of 96,000 before the abrupt closure of the westbound bridge last December.

However, that was a significant increase compared with earlier this month. Monday marked the first weekday with three lanes of traffic in both directions on the eastbound bridge.

See more at wpri.com.

TAUNTON, Mass. (WPRI) — Several Taunton residents gathered outside Morton Hospital Tuesday to express their concerns over the facility’s potential closure.

“We’re a city of 60,000 people,” Jamie Kelley said. “Who is going to move here if there’s no hospital?”

Morton Hospital is one of nine facilities on the chopping block for the financially embattled Steward Health Care.

“We need someplace to go for health care,” Jacqueline Fitts said. “Not just my family, but every family in this community.”

See more at wpri.com.

FALL RIVER — A Tiverton man faces up to a decade in state prison for robbing a man outside a Fall River marijuana dispensary and attempting to stab city police officers and a paramedic in January 2022, the Bristol County District Attorney's office announced.

Dillon Nobles, 26, was sentenced last week to six to 10 years after pleading guilty in Fall River Superior Court to indictments charging him with four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count each of armed assault with intent to murder, armed assault with intent to rob and resisting arrest. 

All charges stem from Jan. 24, 2022 incidents in Fall River.

Read more at heraldnews.com.

SOMERSET — Voters will get a second shot at approving plans to make athletic fields a part of the ongoing new Somerset Middle School building project. And this time, one can argue, paying for the fields would not be a financial burden.

Earlier this year, the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) announced that Somerset was one of 31 state towns/school districts to receive a supplemental grant for unanticipated cost escalations. Somerset's supplemental grant is for $6,886,598 million. The current middle school project is for $85 million and the MSBA's original grant, paid in monthly reimbursements, is for $31.8 million.

The town's middle school building committee is finalizing an article, requesting funding for construction of athletic fields and for solar panel installation on the new school, for the May 20 Town Meeting. Voters had previously rejected a similar proposal, thereby forcing middle school outdoor sports teams to be bused to other town venues for home events since spring of 2023.

Read more at heraldnews.com.

DIGHTON — Michael Stephens, a former deep-sea fisherman from Dighton, became the second $1 million Lottery prize winner in the Massachusetts Lottery’s new JAWS instant ticket game.

The odds of winning were one in 1,344,000, according to the Massachusetts State Lottery's website.

Stephens, who bought the lucky scratch off ticket at the Olde Village Corner Store in Somerset, claimed the one-time cash payment of $650,000 at the Massachusetts State Lottery headquarters in Dorchester on April 22.

He plans to share the winnings with his family and travel with his wife.

Read more at heraldnews.com.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Monday said she would not propose tolls on motorists driving in from across any of the borders with neighboring states.

The statement came after state Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt discussed the possibility of erecting border tolls during an April 10 meeting of the advocacy group WalkMassachusetts. Following remarks in which she took municipal police departments to task for not doing enough to cite speeding motorists, she raised the tolls as a potential source of revenue for transportation improvements.

"The secretary's comments do not represent the views of this administration; and to be clear I am not proposing tolls at any border," Healey said in the Monday statement. "I have spoken to the Secretary and made that clear, and that I have confidence in her leadership moving forward in this important time as we work to ensure a strong and robust state transportation system."

Read more at heraldnews.com.

FALL RIVER — In the three months since the City Council voted down the sale of the Bank Street Armory for redevelopment into market-rate housing, there’s been some progress to move oversight to the Historical Commission to help restore the 1897 building. 

Mayor Paul Coogan said his administration is using $35,000 left from a previous Community Preservation Act grant to shore up the building and avoid further damage. 

“We’re buttoning it up,” said Coogan. “We’re going to secure the windows and putting drains up to make sure water is running away from the building.” 

City Council Vice President Linda Pereira, a vocal opponent of the sale, wants to work with the Historical Commission to acquire grants to fund repairs so the city can use the space for things like office space and cultural events.   

FALL RIVER — The School Committee is seeking input into what parents, teachers, students and members of the general public want to see in the next school superintendent. 

Fall River Public Schools sent parents an online survey asking for guidance in the committee’s upcoming superintendent search. 

Superintendent Maria Pontes announced recently that she’s retiring as of June 30. She led the city’s schools as interim superintendent starting in 2021, with the job being made permanent in September 2022. 

Pontes has worked nearly four decades in the city’s school system. 

Read more at heraldnews.com.

Every year, Sam Telford is asked the same question. "How bad will this year's tick season be?"

Telford, a professor of Infectious Diseases and Global health at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, gives the same answer. It's never going to be a good tick season, so take the same precautions as always.

"People just need to just take the precautions as part of their normal behavior," said Telford. "Get into the habit of reaching for the repellent every time we go outdoors."

This applies not only to hikers and dog walkers but gardeners and landscapers, anyone who may be digging around in backyard bushes.

Learn how to protect yourself at heraldnews.com.

FALL RIVER — The downtown area will hum with life next month during the fourth annual We HeART Fall River Festival. 

The free event will take place Saturday, May 11, from noon to 4 p.m. The family-friendly event will take place on the south side of Government Center along Sullivan Drive, and will feature food trucks, vendors, live entertainment, arts and crafts activities and more. 

The festival will be presented by the Fall River Arts and Cultural Council and Viva Fall River, in partnership with the city of Fall River, the Narrows Center for the Arts and the Fall River Farmers and Artisans Market. 

It will be supported in part by a grant from the Fall River Cultural Council, which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, with support from the Rotary Club of Fall River, the Office of Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III, and by the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism and Southeast Massachusetts Visitors Bureau.

Read more at heraldnews.com.

FALL RIVER, Mass. (WPRI) — A man was taken to the hospital Friday after he was stabbed during a fight in Fall River.

City police tell 12 News they were called to the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA) bus terminal on 4th Street just after 3 p.m. and arrived to find the victim suffering from “at least one serious stab wound.”

One of the men involved was said to be armed with a large knife, according to police.

See more at wpri.com.

If you're a soccer fan, you know how big a deal the game is between Inter Miami CF and New England Revolution on Saturday, April 27.

It's a chance to see one of the greatest soccer players of all time, Lionel Messi, without having to leave New England. And as the 2022 World Cup Champion has a relatively short contract with the team, it could be a relatively rare event.

Which is why, the sellout match is expected to set a new single-game attendance record at Gillette Stadium for the Revolution.

And it's why if you're one of the people with tickets to the big game, you might want to start thinking about how you're going to get there.

Read more at heraldnews.com.

Need context for the Karen Read murder trial?

That would make sense, after all, it's been more than two years since Boston police officer John O'Keefe was found dead in the snow in 2022.

Since then, Read was arrested and charged for the alleged murder and an investigation has been launched into a lead investigator on the case.

If it seems like a story made to be a Dateline episode, it appears to be in the works. Last summer, NBC released a clip of an exclusive interview with Read and said an episode titled "Taillight Murderer" is forthcoming. So far, no release date has been given for the episode.

But, if you want know more about this highly divisive and controversial case, here are some places you can learn more.

Read more at heraldnews.com.

A Fall River woman has won an all-expenses-paid trip to shark-infested waters. 

The Massachusetts State Lottery named Jean Keough of Fall River one of the first six winners of a trip to Martha’s Vineyard, inspired by the classic blockbuster film “Jaws.” While there, she’ll have a chance at winning $1 million.  

In the summer of 2025, Keough and a guest will enjoy a three-night stay at the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown, with meals, a “Jaws”-themed tour of the island, $1,000 spending cash and more. 

She and five other winners were randomly selected in a second-chance drawing from those who held non-winning “Jaws” scratch tickets from the Mass. State Lottery. 

Read more at heraldnews.com.

FALL RIVER — Drivers along Davol Street through the Route 79 corridor construction will have to get used to some new traffic patterns, including a permanent change starting Monday. 

According to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, one U-turn will be closing while another opens, while lanes from the Veterans Memorial Bridge will shift. 

Read more from Dan Medeiros at heraldnews.com.

FALL RIVER — The City Council earlier this month took the first of two votes to set water and sewer rates in the upcoming 2025 budget, and ratepayers are going to see a significant increase this year of nearly 24% in their utility bills. 

But the vote to increase the rates was not unanimous. 

“There are people who are really, really going to struggle with this,” City Councilor Michelle Dionne said during the April 8 council meeting. 

Dionne was one of three no votes for rate increases, along with city councilors Linda Pereira and Cliff Ponte.

Read more from Jo C. Goode at heraldnews.com.

Massachusetts State Police continue to investigate the death of a woman who was hit by a car Monday night on I-195 East.

The woman was identified Wednesday as 51-year-old Sherry M. Henderson of New Bedford.

Police said Henderson got out of a vehicle in the area of Exit 15 in Westport after getting into a fight with her boyfriend. She was walking in the right lane when she was struck by a Ford Fusion.

Read more at wpri.com.

FALL RIVER — The city is on the hunt again for a new veterans’ agent, as Michelle Hamilton, after a year on the job, is moving on to another community.

City Administrator Seth Aitken said the city has advertised for the position. The city is looking to hire its fourth director for the Veterans' Services department since 2021. 

Hamilton was hired in March 2023. Aitken praised Hamilton for her work and the initiatives she brought to the department. 

“As a veterans' agent, she had a heart for veterans. She had a dedication to, not just the work, but forming relationships in the veterans' community that was outstanding. She made connections with veterans and increased the level of service to veterans,” said Aitken.

Read more from Jo C. Goode at heraldnews,com.

Arthur “Pooch” Tavares, member of the iconic music group Tavares, has passed away.

His brother, Perry Lee “Tiny” Tavares, posted a photo tribute on his Facebook page Wednesday morning, with the message, "Miss what we had."

On the final photo, depicting Pooch with brother Ralph, who passed away in 2021, he wrote, “Now you two can get the stage ready for us. RI-Paradise.”

The post quickly drew over 400 expressions of sympathy and condolence.

"You have to take your music seriously. You have to have a passion for it. If you don't work hard at it you will never last," said Pooch in a previous Standard-Times article. "The constant rehearsing the fighting for everything you want ... without that passion for it you have nothing."

Read more at heraldnews.com.

People who use the Middleboro/Lakeville commuter rail station to get to and from Boston will have a slight detour coming soon. 

The MBTA announced Tuesday that train service between the Middleboro/Lakeville and Bridgewater platforms will be replaced by buses from Saturday, April 27, to Sunday, May 5. 

It’s meant to accommodate ongoing work on the South Coast Rail project, the MBTA stated. 

Read more at heraldnews.com.

FALL RIVER — In February 2022, the City Council voted to approve a nearly $300 million construction project for the new Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School. 

Unlike in Diman's sending communities of Somerset, Swansea and Westport, where paying for their portion of the school was on town ballots, the council side-stepped putting the project before city voters, although it was an option. 

About 75% of Diman's student population lives in Fall River. 

Now the hard financial realities are percolating to the surface regarding how much Fall River’s portion of a new Diman will be in the coming years, and Mayor Paul Coogan wants to place a question on November’s ballot asking voters to decide whether the project should be paid for through a debt exclusion.

Read more from Jo C. Goode at heraldnews.com.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — An additional travel lane on the westbound side of the Washington Bridge will open sooner than anticipated, according to R.I. Department of Transportation (RIDOT) Director Peter Alviti.

Alviti told 12 News the third lane is slated to open sometime Friday night, roughly a week ahead of schedule.

The lane is one of two that RIDOT planned to install in a bid to ease congestion on the bridge. RIDOT added a third lane on the eastbound side last week.

See more at wpri.com.

DEDHAM, Mass. (WPRI) — Jury selection continues Wednesday in Karen Read’s high-profile murder trial.

Read, 43, of Mansfield, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe.

Prosecutors said O’Keefe was found unresponsive in a snowbank outside of a Canton home in January 2022. O’Keefe, a 16-year veteran of the Boston Police Department, was rushed to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Investigators believe Read dropped O’Keefe off at the Fairview Road home and hit him as she was leaving, according to prosecutors.

Meanwhile, Read’s defense says she is the victim of a coverup. They believe that O’Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by a dog, and left outside.

See more at wpri.com.

FALL RIVER — Peggy McGowan was a helper. 

If someone needed cheering up, Peggy helped them forget their problems. If you needed a ride, she’d ask when and where. If a fellow AA member needed anything from a coffee to a sponsor, she stepped up.  

In her job as a crossing guard, her instinct to reach out and help was at its purest — a fixture for several years outside Spencer Borden Elementary School, every morning and afternoon, she guided kids to safety across President Avenue. The fare was a high-five, a fist-bump, a kind greeting, a smile. And while Peggy had had a decades-long career in social services, this simple part-time gig, wearing a reflective vest and holding a stop sign, was the job she was most proud of. 

Peggy died March 28 after her car was hit head-on in Taunton. She was 67. Not only has she left behind a devastated, close-knit family — she is survived by hundreds of friends. She watched generations of them grow up on their way to and from school. 

Read more from Dan Medeiros at heraldnews.com.

TIVERTON, R.I. (WPRI) — A Tiverton gas station won’t be able to sell gas for at least a few weeks after it was targeted by a vandal.

The incident happened around 1:45 a.m. Wednesday at American Dream on Main Road. Speaking on behalf of the owner, an employee told 12 News the suspect was seen on surveillance video trying to use firewood to break the station’s security cameras and gas pumps.

When that didn’t work, the employee said the suspect grabbed a rock and destroyed the screens on all six pumps.

Read more at wpri.com.