Sunday Hundreds

ONLY on HERALDNEWS.COM Video: Wrestler Ric Flair on the death of Roddy Piper. Blogs: Jamie Tyrrell on bringing back the boom. $$$ SUNDAY HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS ! ... in savings from coupons ! ! Serving the SouthCoast since 1872 I 143rd year No. 214 inside today’s Herald News. www.HeraldNews.com AUGUST 2, 2015 Newsstand $1.75 SPORTS TIMES OF CHANGE JAYS FLY HIGH: EXPLORING THE PRESENT, SEEING THE POTENTIAL American Blue Jays overcome 6-run deﬁcit in Little League tourney. C1 t would be too easy — are unhappy with city residents. match those who took out — and cliche — to government. But it’s also spurred papers, it shows people want simply say Fall River The vocal uprising residents to become more to change how the city is is at a crossroads, began in 2014 with action active and interested in run. And in addition to the but there is certainly to remove now former the city they call home. active political atmosphere, LIFE something going on Mayor Will Flanagan. It Residents have come out an opportunity exists to in this city. brought change to the with the intention of run- review and potentially alter It’s obvious a segment of mayor’s office, but not ning for City Council, the city’s charter, paving the Ithe population — and not necessarily an overriding and though the number way for changes to how the just 10 people on Twitter sense of approval from of actual candidates won’t TURN TO FUTURE, PAGE A4 Nicknames, mottos and a NO CLUBS city’s image NEEDED: ho are we in Fall Ever heard of foot golf? This River? What face do combination of soccer and golf we show the world? How do we want is catching on. D1 Wpeople to think of us, remember us? What will draw people to the city? All those questions either do, MONDAY or should, go into the creation of Side a city identity, a motto. Landlords Streets Over the cen- turies, Fall River and tenants has had more than one identity. Fall River will The old bend over granite pile was backward to give (and sometimes businesses a tax still is) called break, but not for “The Spindle the landlords of City.” MARC MUNROE owner-occupied That nick- DION tenement houses. name, not used much these days, is easy to understand. A spindle is part of the machines that once made the city’s rich people richer every WEEKEND year. Lots of cotton mills meant lots of spindles, and it’s not much of a leap from that to the nick- ILLUSTRATION BY JIM CHARETTE name “Spindle City.” Fall River’s motto “We’ll Try” captures the city’s tenacity, that when faced with a huge challenge, the people are willing to make an effort The same sort of industrial regardless of the odds. logic led to New Bedford being HERALD NEWS PHOTO | DAVE SOUZA TOP: Fall River has been undergoing plenty of changes lately, as people raise their voices and make their opinions known. TURN TO MOTTOS, PAGE A4 Community leaders voice their WISHLIST visions for a better Fall River Good citizens in the making Proﬁling kids learning to do the right thing. INSIDE Business.............................C5 Dear Abby......................... D6 Focus .................................B1 Lotteries ............................C2 KEN FIOLA PATRICK NORTON NANCY PAULL MARIA PONTES Nation................................A6 Fall River Office of Economic Narrows Center for the Arts SSTAR B.M.C. Durfee High School Obituaries..........................A2 Development Executive director and co-founder CEO Principal Opinion..............................B2 Executive vice president Public Notices....................C6 Michael Holtzman As the CEO of SSTAR, an inte- Michael Gagne Scoreboard ........................C2 Kevin P. O’Connor Herald News Staff Reporter grated primary care, addiction and Herald News Staff Reporter Herald News Staff Reporter mental health organization I have FALL RIVER — Before launching three wishes to improve the chal- FALL RIVER — “I’m a product FALL RIVER — One technolog- into blue-streak talk about the lenges we are facing in the city. of Fall River. I feel responsibility ical innovation made Fall River rich shakeup Fall River needs, Patrick 1) Create more opportunities for to give back to the city,” said WEATHER and famous. Norton prefaced his wish list. employment. A large body of litera- Maria Pontes, B.M.C. Durfee When James Watt perfected the “The first thing is there ture shows that economic High School’s new principal, from propeller for steamboats, indus- is no one solution to make INSIDE downturns like we have her new office in the school on H:84 I L: 66 trialists scraping by in the villages Fall River a better place. We Hear more of experienced in Fall River Thursday afternoon. Mostly sunny and nice. around the Quequechan River saw probably take too much what community have negative effects on Pontes assumes her new role at Five-day forecast, B7. potential. time looking for that one leaders have to behavioral health. Durfee having been the longtime In the mid 1800s, Fall River passed solution,” Norton, 51, said. say on Page A7. Boredom and economic principal of the John J. Doran from a quiet country town to an “The No. 1 thing hopelessness all feed into Community School during its turn- industrial powerhouse. Bales of raw that comes to mind is to anxiety and depression around period. cotton came into Fall River’s ports increase what I call the community which often leads to abuse of sub- When asked the broad question and were transformed by 100 mills engagement.” stances to get away from it all. If of what — if money, politics and into sheets of cloth. Fall River became That means, said the Narrows people had the possibility of well other potential obstacles were not the country’s biggest mill town. Center for the Arts executive paying, meaningful work, I think the factors — was on her wishlist to help TURN TO FIOLA, PAGE A4 TURN TO NORTON, PAGE A4 TURN TO PAULL, PAGE A5 TURN TO PONTES, PAGE A5 A4 The Herald News, Sunday, August 2, 2015 WWW.HERALDNEWS.COM FROM PAGE ONE Fiola: Important to diversify business Future: City’s changing landscape FROM PAGE A1 Park began to blossom in coming to Fall River.” the 1980s. There are now The waterfront is getting FROM PAGE A1 series today by asking people That part of Fall River’s ONLINE in the community about history is over. Its future is 6,500 people working there, cleared for development and city will be run in the future. Fiola said. Its neighbor, the healthcare continues to grow. Discussion of change is not Join the conversation at the their wish list for making Fall more complex, according to River great again. We see this Ken Fiola, executive vice pres- biopark, is growing. Amazon “I hope the city will work just limited to the political Facebook page called The is poised to build a 1-million- to become a more balanced realm either. The Route 79 Future of Fall River - as an opportunity to lay the ident of the Fall River Office foundation and then begin of Economic Development. square-foot facility and other city in terms of low income, project has the potential to The Herald News and at companies are surveying land. mixed income and high change how we look at the HeraldNews.com. exploring the obstacles in get- “If we learned any lessons, ting there. And again we ask it is important that the city All around the city, small income people living here, and waterfront and a Fortune 500 companies are popping up in terms of jobs,” Fiola said. company is on the verge of hoods that make Fall River for you to submit to us your not get overly dependent on wish for Fall River and fill any one sector,” Fiola said. in brick and granite mills. It won’t be easy, he added. locating here. special and the problems those New England Shirt, Vanson “We need political leaders Of course there are a lot of neighborhoods face in fighting in the blanks that those we “A healthy city is one that is interviewed or who provided diversified.” Leather, Aquabotix, cabinet and neighborhood groups to challenges to running a city blight and decline, while also and carpentry shops are agree to a course of action such as Fall River and that’s trying to maintain their own submissions may have missed. The end of the city’s time as Columnist Marc Munroe industrial powerhouse began in taking up floor space that and stay the course over sev- why The Herald News brings identities. once held looms. eral administrations,” Fiola to you our new project: The We’ll further explore the Dion also takes a look at the 1930s with the Depression, the city’s numerous slo- but it was signalled, unmistak- “That is a strong sign said. “This sort of revitaliza- Future of Fall River. people that make Fall River about the future of the city,” tion, unfortunately, takes a During the coming work, from those whose gans — from “We’ll Try” ably, in 2005, when Quaker to the “Spindle City” to the Fabric closed their doors. Fiola said. “You see people number of years.” months, the award-winning names we all recognize to reading the market and journalism team at The Herald those who are rarely, if ever, “Scholarship City” — as we But the city was starting wonder if it’s time to consider reacting to it, seeing needs EMAIL KEVIN P. O’CONNOR AT News is going to explore in the press. a comeback before that, a new image for Fall River.

Load more