As we prepare to kick off a new week, let's take a look back at the week that was. Here are the most read stories of the week on heraldnews.com according to our readers:
Council president steps down
Just a few hours before she was to convene a City Council meeting on Tuesday, fourth term Councilor Pam Laliberte-Lebeau resigned from her position as City Council president as she faces pending criminal charges of harassment and obstruction of justice in a case unrelated to city matters.
Laliberte-Lebeau, in an email to her colleagues, expressed being “incredibly thankful for the outpouring of support the residents and employees of the city have shown me, and know that I am lucky to have the friends and family that I do.”
Charges against Laliberte-Lebeau were filed by Westport police after receiving complaints of harassing cell phone calls and text messages to the wife of an ex-lover in late August and made public.
'A devastating experience':Pam Laliberte-Lebeau steps down as Council president amid criminal charges and scandal
A different kind of coaching
Diman head coach Luke Bahry’s most important job started a couple weeks ago.
And no, we're not talking about football.
For two straight days at Women & Infants Hospital in Providence, the Bengals head coach was doing a different kind of coaching. He was helping his wife, Sam (Silvia) Bahry, with the delivery of their firstborn child.
The newest Bengal:Diman head football coach excited for new season — and new role as dad
Dance studio making moves
As the saying goes, "The show must go on." And that it did for one longtime Fall River dance studio, who save a short hiatus are back in their dancing shoes and ready to kick things off at their new home.
After over a decade at Tower Mill, the owners of Artistic Dance Studio, formerly located at 657 Quarry St., were informed this past spring their lease was not being renewed and they would have three months to relocate.
While it was a very "stressful and overwhelming" time, co-owner Marissa Tavano said, the pair ultimately landed on their feet at their new spot and are excited to start their next chapter.
'You don't have to ever stop dancing':Fall River dance studio kicks off ne
w space
City kid shares screen with Big Papi
Aviyen Merced was thrilled to attend this reunion. The 11-year-old city resident not only got to work again with baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz, he got paid to do it.
For the second year in a row, Merced, an actor, has recorded a television commercial with Ortiz, aka Big Papi, for eternalHealth, a cloud-based health insurance company.
The commercial, a sequel to last year’s baseball-game themed production, was recorded two weeks ago at a private residence in Southboro and is expected to start airing on cable television on or about Oct. 1, coinciding with Medicare’s enrollment period.
Merced, a sixth-grader at Holy Trinity School, said that Ortiz absolutely remembered him from last year and that Big Papi remained as friendly as ever. “He treats everyone like family,” Merced said.
City kid teams up with Hall of Famer:This 11-year-old once filmed a commercial with Big Papi. This year, he got to do it again.
FRPD cracks down on illegal motorbikes
Illegal motorbikes menacing the city roadways has been a growing and problematic trend, and the latest incident has left a 23-year-old dirt bike rider with serious injuries after he and a vehicle collided on Sept. 10.
It’s an issue that is on the radar of Fall River police and city officials.
“Ultimately we’ve been dealing with this issue the entire summer,” said Police Chief Paul Gauvin. “We’ve been working on it, for sure, kind of quietly, but we have certainly stepped up our efforts.”
During the week prior to the accident, police gave out close to 40 citations, there were three arrests and two dirt bikes were seized, said Gauvin.
Stepping up enforcement:An illegal dirt bike rider was seriously hurt — which is why FRPD is cracking down