Birdies Hot Chicken, New Bedford City Council, Northern Edge: Standard-Times top stories

As we head into a new week, let’s take a look at the news from this past week.

Long-awaited plans to construct a new 20,000-square-foot building to house New Bedford Whaling Museum collections, a store, and gallery space are in the works. The existing Hiller Printing building, a one-story warehouse-style building with associated off-street parking at 11 William St., would be demolished, and the new building would be constructed across the plaza from the Whaling Museum.

During Jan. 8’s Little East Conference game against Rhode Island College, UMass Dartmouth’s Nic Boyd lobbed the ball up to Camden Dunbury for a thunderous one-handed alley-oop dunk, earning the No. 1 spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays the following morning.

Make sure to keep up with high school sports with scores, game highlights, and Player of the Week voting at https://www.southcoasttoday.com/sports.

And here are the most-read stories of the week on https://www.southcoasttoday.com:

One of many Birdie’s Hot Chicken’s offering.

A new Nashville-style hot chicken restaurant is coming to New Bedford. Birdies Hot Chicken plans to open its fourth location at the former Honey Dew Donuts site at 250 Coggeshall St. in New Bedford.

Before the New Bedford location can open, the owners must get approval from the Planning Board to reopen the existing drive-thru pick-up window.

What we know: Nashville-style spicy chicken coming to New Bedford at Birdies Hot Chicken.

Burgo takes the podium after his election Monday.

Shane Burgo won the city council presidency for 2025 in a 7-4 vote over Shawn Oliver Monday in a tally that was met with loud, sustained applause by the 80 or so Burgo supporters who packed the council chambers on his behalf.

The run-up to the vote prior to the annual organizational meeting was unusually rancorous, said council “dean” Brian Gomes, who spoke on behalf of Burgo prior to the vote.

Pledging to ‘rise above negativity’: Shane Burgo elected New Bedford city council president.

Twenty years ago, the Northern Edge, a 75-foot fishing vessel with a crew of five led by Captain Carlos Lopes, sank to the bottom of the ocean off Nantucket.

That fateful night robbed sisters Monica Charbonneau and Michelle Eugenio of a future with their dad. On the 20th anniversary of the sinking of the New Bedford scalloper, the sisters shared their thoughts about his loss.

The loss is still painful: 20 years ago, the Northern Edge sank in icy waters.

Ruth and Emily, Asian Elephants at Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford.

After a long and happy life at the Buttonwood Park Zoo, beloved Asian elephant Ruth passed away on Dec. 28, 2024 at the age of 66. Now the staff is monitoring Emily as she continues on without her friend.

Emily is now receiving her human caretakers’ undivided attention. The focus has shifted to her and making sure that the zoo is meeting her needs.

Buttonwood Park Zoo: shares updates on Emily days after Ruth’s passing.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation will perform overnight repairs on the bridge at Shawmut Avenue over Interstate 195 from Sunday until the end of June.

Roadwork will take place weekly, Sunday to Thursday night, starting Sunday, Jan. 12, from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. the following morning. The work is anticipated to be completed by June 30, according to a press release.

What to know: Overnight repairs on New Bedford bridge will take five months, MassDOT says

All of these stories can be read in their entirety at www.southcoasttoday.com.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Top stories of the week: hot chicken, City Council vote, Northern Edge

Image Credits and Reference: https://www.yahoo.com/news/birdies-hot-chicken-bedford-city-090150061.html