Bristol County News

With the state's lawmakers heading off for a six-week recess before reconvening, it is not too soon to remind them that major issues - from education reform that could mean as much as $300 million for Massachusetts schools to passage of legislation that would benefit New Bedford and other old manufacturing cities - have been left unaddressed.

Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter says he is taking a hands-on approach to improving his office's operations in the district courts, which handle more than 98 percent of all criminal cases each year.

Philip N. Beauregard is a New Bedford attorney who represented corrections officers in a case against Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson.

Like Scott Lang and Sam Sutter, it turns out that state Rep. John Quinn is not afraid to take on a popular incumbent.

Scott Lang, when he gets ready to leave office two years from now, will be the first New Bedford mayor in almost 30 years to leave office voluntarily.

Calling the Bristol County Sheriff's Office a patronage-driven, irresponsibly run entity with no accountability, Rep.

The fall season with its cool crisp air signals that preparations are under way for an "Old World Dinner" sponsored by Bristol County's German Club.

A Freetown man has been charged with killing a Florida man who was brought dead to Morton Hospital.

Thomas Garnett might not have known it was the police kicking in his door Thursday morning at 21 Shawmut Ave., family members said.

A New Bedford man was shot and killed by Massachusetts State Police after he allegedly shot a state trooper who was executing a search warrant, according to police.

A State Police special operations trooper was shot, and the alleged gunman was killed, during a heavy exchange of gunfire in a drug raid at the break of dawn yesterday.

A suspect in a drug investigation was killed Thursday in a gunfight with a state police tactical unit, authorities said.

The Gloucester skipper of the power boat involved in a fatal 2008 collision in Buzzards Bay pleaded guilty yesterday to negligent operation of a vessel, death involved, and was given a one-year suspended sentence and 10 years probation.

Bristol County District Attorney Samuel Sutter's office is investigating a homicide that happened last night in Taunton.

Alan D. Garcia, who recently retired after 27 years as a Massachusetts State Police trooper, is running for Bristol County sheriff.

A black man who killed a New Bedford art student in a high-speed car crash on Thanksgiving in 2003 saw his convictions for motor-vehicle homicide and drunken driving thrown out yesterday because the lone black person on his jury was dismissed by the trial judge.

The highest court in Massachusetts will hear arguments this week in a sheriff's bid to charge inmates fees for rent, haircuts and medical visits.

Level 3 sex offender accused of trying to rape a woman at a Hub hospital last week will undergo further psychiatric evaluation after a psychologist and defense attorney revealed he fears being locked in a closet and believes he's not on Earth.

The Bristol County Visitor Centers on Interstate 195 in Swansea and I-95 in Mansfield will close Sunday, the victim of Gov.

Seven New Bedford police officers, six state troopers assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office and a Lord Phillips Apartments security guard will be honored today in Boston for their actions in apprehending double-murder suspect Gary A. Gomes in January.