SHIRLEY — State public health regulators say they found nearly 600 health code violations, including dirty or broken toilets, improperly stored food and sinks with discolored or scalding hot water, during an annual inspection at one of the state’s maximum security prisons.
The Department of Public Health says more than half of the citations at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley were for repeat violations.
The department gave the prison 10 days to come up with a plan to fix the issues.
A corrections department spokesman says prison maintenance staff is “working diligently” to address the problems.
The prison houses about 1,000 of the state’s most dangerous inmates. It is where former NFL star Aaron Hernandez was being held when he hanged himself last year.
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — A Massachusetts woman is facing multiple counts of animal cruelty after 17 dogs, 16 chickens and a dead pig were found in a filthy Rhode Island home that had been condemned and was a vacant.
Police in Woonsocket said Friday that 40-year-old Korina Ferreira, of Fall River, was faces arraignment later in the day.
Police went to the Woonsocket home on Thursday when a neighbor reported seeing a dog on the roof. Responding officers looked in windows and saw the dogs, which included eight newborn puppies, as well as large amounts of animal waste. Police say the home smelled, and had no running water or electricity.
While police were investigating, Ferreira showed up and said the animals were hers.
It could not be determined if she has a lawyer.
BROCKTON — A man convicted of human trafficking has been sentenced to more than five years in state prison.
The Brockton Enterprise reports that 26-year-old Shakwaan Simpkins was sentenced Thursday, two days after jurors found him guilty of one count of trafficking a person for sexual servitude.
Prosecutors say in 2015, Simpkins, of Brockton, was arrested in an undercover sting operation targeting human traffickers after he attempted to recruit an undercover police officer to work for him as a prostitute.
Simpkins was one of nine men arrested in Burlington as part of a series of operations targeting prostitution.
From Associated Press
FALL RIVER — A judge has ruled that a lawsuit against a former Roman Catholic bishop in Massachusetts who allegedly failed to properly supervise a priest accused of molesting two altar boys can move forward.
A judge this month ruled a jury should decide the case involving former Diocese of Fall River Bishop Daniel Cronin.
The plaintiffs say they were abused by a now-deceased priest in the 1970s and 1980s while he served at St. Anthony’s Church in Falmouth.
They say Cronin should have been suspicious of and investigated the priest for spending a lot of time with adolescent boys.
Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney for the former altar boys, called it a “significant decision” for his clients.
Ross Kimball, an attorney for Cronin, says his client “denies the allegations.”
BOSTON — Boston officials have postponed a vote on whether to change Yawkey Way to its original name, Jersey Street.
The Boston Public Improvement Commission agreed to delay the vote to April 12 after a two-hour hearing Thursday that involved speakers on both sides of the issue.
The Boston Red Sox filed a petition with the commission in February to change the name as part of a mission to “reinforce that Fenway Park is inclusive and welcoming to all.”
Yawkey Way is the street Fenway Park is on. The street name has received heavy criticism over the years for its connection to the franchise’s complicated racial past under former owner Tom Yawkey.
Yawkey died in 1976. The street was named for him in 1977.
PITTSFIELD — A former employee of a now-closed western Massachusetts school for boys with autism and behavioral disorders has been sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to assaulting a student.
The Berkshire Eagle reports that 57-year-old James Swift is the first of nearly 20 former employees of the Eagleton School in Great Barrington to be sent to jail in the case.
Prosecutors say in January 2016, Swift punched a 19-year-old autistic student in the face after the student became upset.
Swift’s arrest sparked state and federal investigations and the school’s closure in April 2016.
Swift’s attorney said Thursday his client is a man of faith and a good person who committed a bad act.
Five other former Eagleton workers previously pleaded guilty, but none was sent to jail.