NBA champion and “Survivor” contestant Scot Pollard has had a heart transplant, his wife said on social media on Friday night.
“Scot has a new heart!” Dawn Pollard posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Surgery went well and I’ve been told the he…
Massachusetts
Worcester boy creating hundreds of Easter baskets to donate to others
A 12-year-old boy from Worcester is giving back to those in need, helping kids in shelters with one Easter basket at a time.
Josh Sowden’s wish is to give every kid a very Happy Easter and he’s doing just that.
All by making and donating baskets full of goodies to kids living in shelters.
“I feel very happy knowing that each one of these, helps out somebody,” Josh Sowden, said.
Josh’s Easter Baskets for the Homeless is an idea that started in 2020 after Josh and his family visited his aunt and cousin at a homeless shelter, his stepmom Crystal Sowden explained.
“Josh whispered — do the other kids get Easter baskets? And I was like bud I really don’t know? And he kind of wouldn’t drop it. So we went over and asked the director and she said no, not unless it’s donated,” Sowden said.
What started four years ago as just a few dozen baskets, has now turned into donating more than 200 of them for those kids in need.
All, thanks to donations from all over the country.
“So we have gotten donations from Canada, Nevada, Indiana and Tennessee so far.” Sowden said
Opening the packages and reading the notes from so many people is Josh’s favorite part.
“Keep changing the world, from Catherine. Thank you, Catherine.” Josh said.
But shortly after last year’s Easter the Sowden family received an eviction notice and themselves experienced homelessness.
“We saw firsthand how little these kids have, compared to you know, what our child had. It was definitely eye-opening.” Crystal said.
Despite the struggles they’ve faced, they will be giving hundreds of baskets this year, thanks to those donations.
Josh hopes to one day help kids all around the world.
“I don’t want to get anything, I hope other kids can get stuff. Like happiness, appreciation, new memories. This isn’t about me, it’s about the kids.” Josh said.
Five inmates charged in Bristol County jail uprising
Five inmates have been charged following an uprising at Massachusetts’ Bristol County House of Correction last April.
The five men are charged under correctional institutions; injury to property for their role in the protest on April 21, whic…
Man wanted in connection with 2 downtown Boston robberies arrested
Police say they have arrested a man who was wanted in connection with two robberies at businesses in downtown Boston last weekend.
Rongit Whistleton, 54, of Boston, was arrested on Friday on Boylston Street on a probation violation out of Suffolk S…
The ‘Dumpling Daughter’ of a legendary Boston restauranteur finds success with her own business
Lunar New Year is in full swing — and for a Boston-area Chinese restaurant business, it’s an increasingly busy time of year.
Dumpling Daughter, founded by Nadia Liu Spellman, has three locations — Weston, Brookline and South Boston. When Spellman was growing up, dumplings made by her mother were a huge part of her childhood.
“When I was in my 20s and working in New York City, I was in my small apartment trying to make dumplings,” Spellman said. “I didn’t have a recipe to go by, and I also couldn’t get them in the supermarkets the way I could get them in the Chinese supermarkets. And so I decided that these dumplings need to be shared with more people.”
That was the whole idea behind Dumpling Daughter, a brand that also includes a cookbook and line of frozen foods.
Spellman’s mom is Sally Ling, the name behind one of the area’s most legendary restaurants. She opened it in the 1980s and helped to usher in a new era of fine Chinese dining in the United States.
Ling was at first against her daughter opening up her own food business in 2014.
“Such a hard business for women,” Ling said. “You have very little time to spend the time with the family… But since your kids have a passion for it, you have to support it.”
That support is everything for Spellman.
“I know why my mom didn’t want me to go into the business, because I think as a mother now, I know I don’t want to see my kid to work too hard,” Spellman said. “But I also feel that the journey of doing it with support is everything. And so when you work really hard and you become smarter and you travel that path and you have support behind you, it’s the most rewarding experience of your life.”
A lot has changed in Boston since the 1980s, when Ling opened her restaurant. For one, the Lunar New Year is now recognized as an official holiday in the city.
“I think since the first year of Dumpling Daughter, until now, every single Lunar New Year is incrementally busier because of the awareness around the holiday,” Spellman said.
It’s a source of pride for Ling to see Chinese cultural representation grow in Boston, and to watch her daughter successfully navigate the food industry with a venture of her own.
“I still feel rewarded that people remember my restaurant,” Ling said. “Chinese culture is being recognized by the Westerner, which I’m very proud of.”
Emanuel Lopes found guilty in retrial over 2018 murders of Weymouth officer, bystander
A Massachusetts jury has found Emanuel Lopes guilty of murder in the killings of a Weymouth police sergeant and a bystander in 2018. It was Lopes’ second trial, after a hung jury in a trial last year.
People in the court cheered after the fir…
