Smithfield
Smithfield, RI · Business
theweektoday.com
petsplusmag.com
Phillips Pet Food & Supplies Expands Northeast Retailer Assortment by 8,000+ SKUs
(PRESS RELEASE) EASTON, PA — Phillips Pet Food & Supplies, the nation’s leading distributor of pet food and supplies, has integrated its Formerly Central Hamilton, NJ operations into its Easton, PA and Taunton, MA distribution centers, expanding the assortment available to retailers across the Northeast by more than 8,000 SKUs and dozens of new brands.
The Herald News
Swansea residents face choice to preserve Stony Creek Farm | Exclusive
It was once a rural community of farms and forests. Today, Swansea has all but made the transition to a suburb, with higher-density development potentially in store . Soon, one of the town’s last remaining farms — Stony Creek Farm — could be permanently conserved, if residents so choose. An article at a Oct. 19 special Town Meeting would appropriate funds for that purpose. “To see it developed would kill me,” said farm owner Erin Babbitt. At Town Meeting, residents will decide whether to let the town’s conservation commission spend $430,000 to preserve 33.7 acres of Babbitt’s farm. Funds would come out of the town’s community preservation fund , which currently holds over $3 million, according to Advisory and Finance Committee chair Robbie Alford. Approving the restriction ultimately depends on the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs . Its success could be at risk, according to new Swansea town administrator Mitch Ruscitti , because the years-long grassroots process hasn’t been done completely by the book. “If this is what the community wants, this is a great project. But it needs a little more time in the oven,” Ruscitti said. Babbitt has owned the farm for a decade, hosting
electrek.co
Solar panels are bringing idle cranberry bogs back to life
Two Massachusetts cranberry bogs that had stopped making financial sense to farm are growing berries again – with solar panels overhead helping pay the bills. The Black Cat project in Plymouth and the Ring Road project in Kingston combine cranberry farming, community solar, and battery storage. Distributed Energy Infrastructure (DEI), which built the projects, says income from leasing the land for solar has made it viable to cultivate the long-idle bogs again.
The Enterprise
Canton earns top financial award for 20th year
The Town of Canton has received a top national award for municipal financial reporting for the 20th consecutive year, recognizing the town's commitment to transparency and financial disclosure. The honor was announced by Interim Town Administrator Jennifer Kemalian and Finance Director Allyson Podgurski, according to a community announcement. The Town of Canton Finance Department earned the Government Finance Officers Association's Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2025. The Government Finance Officers Association, a professional organization representing more than 28,000 public finance professionals in the United States and Canada, presented the award based on the town's annual comprehensive financial report. The association said the report was reviewed by an impartial panel and met the program's standards for clear financial communication and full disclosure. "The report has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program, which includes demonstrating a constructive 'spirit of full disclosure' to clearly communicate its financial story," GFOA said in an announcement shared with the town. The Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting is considered the highest recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting. GFOA created the program in 1945 to
newbedfordguide.com
Dianna Carney
Hanover Businesses Can Win Big in the Chamber’s First Pumpkin Decorating Contest
Hanover Chamber of Commerce of Hanover, Massachusetts, is inviting local businesses to bring a little autumn creativity to town with its first pumpkin-decorating contest. Participants can decorate one or more pumpkins, display them inside or outside their business, and share a photo for the chance to win a $200 gift card to a Hanover business of their choice.
coastalabc.com
Fall River mill building purchased by local family-owned business
FALL RIVER, Mass. (WJAR) — A historic Fall River mill is now under new ownership, and the buyers aren’t a major developer. Instead, it’s a family-owned business with roots in the city. Frank Clegg Leatherworks, which has called the Tower Mill building home for about a decade,...
Boston
Hasbro tells Rhode Island workers: Move to Boston or lose your job
The toy company notified the state that nearly 600 employees could be terminated by year’s end if they don’t transfer to its new Boston office. Nearly 600 Hasbro employees in Rhode Island face a choice as the company moves its headquarters to Boston: work at its new Seaport office or lose their jobs.
nerej.com
WinnCompanies and Arch Communities complete 56-unit transit-oriented community
Braintree, MA WinnCompanies and development partner Arch Communities have completed The Eastwalk, a 56-unit, transit-oriented, mixed-income development. Federal, state and local officials joined WinnCompanies executives for a tour of the five-story community, which offers a range of bedroom sizes for low-income, middle-income, and market-rate households in a riverfront neighborhood expected to benefit from future city and state infrastructure investments.
WPRI
Miss Lizzie’s Coffee shop ordered to pay $31K in legal fees
FALL RIVER, Mass. (WPRI) — It appears the trademark dispute between Miss Lizzie’s Coffee and its former neighbor has come to an end. U.S. District Court Judge Leo Sorokin ordered the owner of the Fall River coffee shop earlier this week to pay U.S. Ghost Adventures, which owns the Lizzie Borden House, $31,207 in attorney fees after losing the trademark infringement lawsuit by default.
northtv.net
nenc.news
After more than a century, an old Massachusetts cranberry farm gets new life as a wetland
Century Bog, a 75-acre stretch of fields and woods across Plymouth and Wareham, looks more like a construction site than a former cranberry bog. Excavators have churned up soil, ripped out pine trees and broken up buried plastic piping. In their place are wide moats of thick, sloppy mud, so dark they're nearly black.
CBS News
Take a look inside a Fall River luxury linen company with customers across the world
The Herald News
Lizzie Borden trademark suit over. Cafe owes $31K but still open
The long-standing legal battle between the two major Lizzie Borden tourist attractions in Fall River seems to be over. A federal district court judge has ordered Miss Lizzie’s Coffee to pay its former neighbor, the Lizzie Borden House, just over $31,000 in attorney fees after having lost a trademark infringement lawsuit by default. The Lizzie Borden House and Miss Lizzie’s Coffee have had bad blood since September 2023, when the museum and inn’s parent company sued its new neighbor on Second Street in federal court. US Ghost Adventures, owner of the Lizzie Borden House, argued it has the exclusive right to use the wordmark “Lizzie Borden” in the restaurant and hospitality industry , and alleged customers mistakenly thought the businesses were related. Who owns Lizzie Borden? How trademarking a dead person's name works Earlier this year, Miss Lizzie’s Coffee lost the lawsuit by default, when a federal judge ruled that owner Joseph Pereira, acting as his own attorney, did not adequately respond to court requests for information. USGA had claimed it was due more than $239,000 for lost profits, damages to the trademark, “damages to [USGA’s] goodwill,” expenses spent “mitigating customer confusion” and more. On Oct. 8, Judge Leo Sorokin
solarpowerworldonline.com
First cranberries harvested from bogs with solar panels overhead
The first cranberries have been harvested from bogs that feature two solar projects in Massachusetts — Black Cat Agrivoltaics Project in Plymouth and Ring Road Agrivoltaics Project in Kingston. The projects are owned by developer Greenbacker Renewables and were installed by Distributed Energy Infrastructure (DEI). Cranberry farmer Iain Ward,...