Latest news with #Wampanoag
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Yahoo
Former Mashpee employee files race-based discrimination complaint against the town
MASHPEE — After experiencing what she calls racial discrimination as a town employee, a woman has filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination against the town of Mashpee. Stephanie Coleman, a former administrative secretary for Town Manager Rodney Collins, filed the race, color, and retaliation complaint on March 25. The commission has scheduled an investigative conference with the town and Coleman on Aug. 6. The race specifically identified is African American. Coleman, 39, of Mashpee, identifies as Wampanoag and African American. She alleges she was underpaid compared to a white co-worker and that the town retaliated against her for speaking openly about wages. She resigned from her job Feb. 7. "Mashpee deserves a government that values fairness, integrity, and equal treatment for all employees," Coleman said in an interview with the Times. In an email on April 22 to the Times, Collins said the town strongly denies any discriminatory practices or decisions related to Coleman. The complaint is "filled with factually inaccurate information," he said. The town won't comment any further, while the matter is pending, he said. Coleman has not hired a lawyer related to her complaint against the town, she said. She was not a member of a union, and instead worked under a personnel administration plan, she said. The commission, a state agency, enforces Massachusetts anti-discrimination laws by investigating complaints in employment, housing, public accommodations, and other aspects of everyday life. There is no cost to file a complaint, and no lawyer is needed. The commission first reviews a complaint to see that it falls within its jurisdiction, according to the agency's online guide. An investigator is assigned, and the complaint is then sent to the person filing the complaint and the entity or persons named in the complaint for a response. The complainant can then give an answer to the response. An investigative conference may be held, mediation may lead to a settlement, or an investigation and disposition will be made on whether unlawful discrimination may have occurred. From there, a number of avenues exist to move forward, such as appeal, settlement or a public hearing. In fiscal 2024, the commission recorded 3,553 new complaints, according to the annual report. The top three protected classes in the complaints were retaliation, disability and race. Since 2020, two other complaints were filed with the commission against the town of Mashpee, both against the town school department and school officials, according to information provided by the commission to the Times. One complaint was closed in July 2021, and the second was closed in January 2024. The commission does not confirm or deny the existence of an open complaint filed with the agency, Justine LaVoye, the press secretary for the commission said. Coleman started her work in town hall in 2017 in the town treasurer and tax collector department, and in 2023 she was working in the the four-person town manager and Select Board office with a salary of $60,000, according to the town reports. Coleman's supervisor, the administrative assistant, was making $90,000 in 2023. The four people in the office at that time were Collins, an assistant town manager, an administrative assistant and Coleman. In the 2023 town report, the Select Board describes Coleman and the administrative assistant as "vital intermediaries" with the public. In total, the town paid about 800 people for work in 2023, ranging from $241,168 for a firefighter with overtime to a building department worker for $31, according to the town report. In March 2024, Coleman learned her supervisor — the administrative assistant — was retiring. To prepare for that retirement, Coleman trained for the supervisor's position, according the the complaint. In September 2024, Collins offered another town employee, from the health department, a pay increase to assist with administrative assistant duties for the town manager's office, according to the complaint. Coleman said she learned about the pay increase because in her job she regularly handled salary paperwork. She knew the increase was higher than her pay and that she was working her normal duties and also training to replace her supervisor. She talked to an assistant town manager about it. The town then dropped the other employee's pay increase, according to the complaint. In September 2024 Coleman's supervisor retired, and she was hired in October 2024 to fill the job, at $37 an hour, according to the complaint. In November 2024, the town posted an additional administrative assistant role externally for the town manager's office, and the other town employee, from September, who is white, was hired at $45 per hour, according to the complaint. Because the pay was more than what Coleman was offered she asked Collins to increase her pay so it was comparable. He refused, according to the complaint. In December 2024, Coleman spoke to a town human resource manager about the difference in pay and her claim of discrimination based on race, according to the complaint. At a meeting, then, with Coleman, Collins and the human resource manager, Coleman repeated that she felt the difference in pay was discriminatory. Collins raised his voice at that meeting and said he would not be accused of being a racist, according to the complaint. On Dec. 30, 2024, Coleman formally withdrew any request for an increase in pay, according to the complaint. She became fearful, she said to the Times, that she could lose her job for speaking out. "I felt really alone. I felt no one was listening to me," Coleman said. Throughout January, 2025, Coleman continued working full time. The town gave her back pay for the extra work she performed in September and October, according to the complaint. In or around January, 2025, an anonymous letter was sent to Collins, stating that the town was paying people differently based on race, according to Coleman's complaint filed with the state agency. On Feb. 3, 2025, Collins held a meeting with Coleman and others about the letter, according to the complaint. In that meeting, Coleman denied knowing who wrote the letter. At the meeting, Collins became angry and said the letter was Coleman's fault, for discussing salaries in the office, according to the complaint. In an email Feb. 4, Coleman told an assistant town manger that she was uncomfortable in the office and wouldn't be back to work the next day, according to the complaint. Coleman was placed on paid administrative leave on Feb. 6, and told to attend an administrative hearing on Feb. 11, according to the complaint, due to unprofessional conduct and falsified sick time. Coleman denied these allegations and did not attend the hearing, the complaint stated. "This isn't about me," Coleman said to the Times. "It's about ensuring that no other employee of color faces the same discrimination and retaliation that I have endured." Rachael Devaney writes about community and culture. Reach her at rdevaney@ Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @RachaelDevaney. Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans. This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: A former secretary to Mashpee Town Manager Rodney Collins claims bias
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mass. destination makes 2025 list of top 40 family-friendly vacations
One of the world's top family-friendly vacations is in Massachusetts, according to a new report from TODAY. The top 40 list includes beaches, museums, amusement parks and outdoors meccas — and one of the entries is close to home for Bay Staters. Under its 'Historical outings' heading, TODAY lists Plimoth Patuxet Museums, also known under its former name of Plimoth Plantations Museums. 'As a Massachusetts native, Plimoth Plantation was a hot field trip destination during my school years, and for good reason,' wrote TODAY senior social media editor Kate McCarthy. 'The outdoor recreation of a 17th-century village makes kids (and adults) feel like they're stepping back into time.' The article highlights the costumed actors, Native American cooking, crafts and culture, taking home corn ground at the Plimoth Grist Mill, and of course a view of Plymouth Rock. 'You won't believe how tiny it is,' the article reads. TODAY recommends the vacation particularly with children ages 8 to 12. 'The best part is that there are actors who fully stay in character like it's the year 1627, so while there are plenty of moments to learn about what life was like then, kids will also get a kick out of asking them questions about modern life and seeing the confusion on the actor's faces,' McCarthy wrote. The museum announced its name change in 2020, saying they would be changing the name to Plimoth Patuxet in honor of the Wampanoag name for the region. More information about Plimoth Patuxet Museums can be found at Other destinations on the TODAY list include: Aspen Snowmass, Colorado Cedar Point Amusement Park, Ohio Cooperstown, New York Denver, Colorado Disney World Florida's Space Coast Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Jackson Hole, Wyoming Miami Beach, Florida Niagara Falls, New York The San Diego Zoo Sesame Place, Pennsylvania Strong National Museum of Play, New York The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Florida Waikiki Beach, Hawaii Snack, sip and sing at Boston's new underground piano bar Boston's make-your-own charcuterie board shop pops up at Cambridge hotel Here are some of the best restaurants for Mother's Day brunch in Mass. Mass. Hidden Gems: A world-class distillery in a historic mill building at GlenPharmer From Guinness to giveaways, this Irish pub in Boston is turning 25 in style Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Meet the two new Select Board members in Mashpee, following May 10 election
Two new Select Board members will fill contested seats after the Mashpee town election was held May 10. Tracy Kelley, a Wampanoag tribal member and executive director of the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project, won a two-year Select Board seat with 237 votes, according to unofficial results from the town clerk's office. Michael Richardson, executive director for Peninsula Council Inc., won a three-year Select Board seat with 321 votes. Select Board members in Mashpee serve three-year terms. The board has five members. The town of Mashpee has 13,297 registered voters and five precincts, according to the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Kelley has never held a Select Board seat but said during her campaign that she will address water quality issues, focus on establishing equitable housing, and will reengage townspeople across generations and income levels to address key issues and overall community wellness. "I am committed to listening to the voices of all residents with respect, ensuring we build a future that represents everyone," she said. For Richardson, it will be important to also address water quality, and to focus on clean water initiatives and sewering projects. The balance of housing solutions, conservation and open space were also issues on Richardson's radar. "Collaboration can help us work in tandem to find the best path towards success. Everyone's separate visions can be transformed into one global vision for Mashpee. That's my goal," he said. During the May 5 town meeting, residents approved Article 5, to spend roughly $37 million for the construction of a new police station at 19 Frank E. Hicks Drive. The article required approval of a Proposition 2 ½ debt exclusion ballot question, No. 1 on the ballot, which passed at the election with 1,380 yes votes, and 584 no. The station, according to town documents, was built in 1979 and had an addition in 1991. Ballot question No. 2, for a wastewater phase III recharge evaluation for $200,000 passed with 1,547 yes votes and 401 no. Town meeting also passed the measure. Community members also voted on whether to fund a $2.5 million Mashpee Wakeby cluster wastewater treatment facility under Article 11 on the special town meeting warrant, which passed. The project, according to the warrant, is the next step approved by the Sewer Commission and the Select Board in implementing the town's watershed nitrogen management plan and comprehensive wastewater management plan. The ballot question, No. 4, passed at the election with 1,456 yes and 458 no votes. Voters also approved ballot question No. 3, with 1,462 yes votes, and 463 no, which will authorize $250,000 to pay an aluminum sulfate treatment for the Mashpee/Wakeby Pond. The Wakeby side of the pond, according to the town warrant, has elevated nutrient levels and declining water quality. The proposal passed at the town meeting as well. Voters also considered a nonbinding public advisory ballot question related to Holtec, owner of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth. Residents voted yes with 396 votes to call on Gov. Healey and other officials to stop Holtec from releasing gaseous discharge of the radioactively and chemically contaminated industrial wastewater at Pilgrim. The vote was 1,718 yes and 221 no votes. Rachael Devaney writes about community and culture. Reach her at rdevaney@ Follow her on X: @RachaelDevaney. Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans. This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Mashpee election results: Police station, Select Board, Holtec, more
Boston Globe
24-04-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
R.I. museum urged to rethink historical exhibit
Advertisement The name of the gallery, 'Coming to Rhode Island,' is problematic in and of itself. It suggests the area we know today as the State of Rhode Island has always been called such. Of course, this isn't true. It wasn't even true for the first Europeans to make contact. Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up The Wampanoag, Narragansett, and other Algonquian-speaking peoples called the large island at the mouth of Narragansett Bay 'Aquidneck.' After Puritan leader Roger Williams established Providence Plantations in 1636, European settlers consolidated their neighboring communities under the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. By the mid-1640s, Europeans Advertisement The Colonial English disrupted Indigenous trade networks, dismantled political structures, and waged war on local tribes and nations. They By calling the gallery 'Coming to Rhode Island' and foregrounding the English as the earliest inhabitants of the land, Providence Children's Museum perpetuates a remarkable power imbalance. 'Coming to Rhode Island' makes only passing mention of the non-white people who occupied the area since time immemorial. It also makes no reference to Aquidneck. In addition, 'Coming to Rhode Island' neglects the Africans who were bound and trafficked to New England as slaves in the early 17th century. By the 1640s, Rhode Islanders were They prohibited slavery as bondage for life and implemented a 10-year limit on their bondage, but the law went largely unenforced. Other measures like taxes on imported enslaved people and strict customs inspections were enacted but likewise went unenforced. By the mid 1700s, the community of Advertisement Rhode Island's posture toward Indigenous, African, and enslaved peoples is a dark chapter in its history, but it's hardly unique. Indigenous dispossession of land and the institution of slavery helped generate great wealth and prosperity around New England. It's a complex dynamic that poses a number of challenges and questions about who lived here, when they lived here, what happens when different cultural identities collide, and whose story ultimately gets told. There's no better place to consider these questions than a learning environment like that at the Providence Children's Museum. The museum made positive strides when it included stories of local Hispanic communities, but its work is not finished. If it's going to interpret the history of immigration in Rhode Island – which is a worthy topic of exploration, and an important one for youths to grasp – it needs to include the bad and the ugly along with the good. To round out the contours of the narrative, it needs to shed light on the darkness. To tell the full story, it must Nick DeLuca is a public historian from New England, resident of Rhode Island, and experience coordinator at the Providence Children's Museum.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What Mashpee chef Sherry Pocknett said after meeting Gordon Ramsey on 'Hell's Kitchen'
James Beard Award-winning chef Sherry Pocknett, of Mashpee, is going to be on television again. Her upcoming TV appearance, on Netflix's "Somebody Feed Phil," won't be the first time the Wampanoag chef is spotted on the small screen. Pocknett has been on TV half a dozen times over the years, and was on at least two major food shows previously. Pockett was a semifinal judge on Season 23 of Gordon Ramsey's "Hell's Kitchen," filmed shortly after she won the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef Northeast in June 2023. In 2021, celebrity chef Padma Lakshmi cooked with Pocknett on the Thanksgiving episode of her "Taste the Nation." A film she was in, "Taste of the Indigenous," won Best Native/Indigenous Short in the 2022 Albuquerque Film & Music Experience. The Wampanoag chef was named Best Chef in the Northeast in 2023 partly for her efforts to preserve Indigenous foods, including Indian fry bread and venison sausage. She was the first Indigenous woman to win a James Beard Award. She is working toward opening the 200-seat restaurant she owns on Poquetanuck Bay in Preston, Connecticut after closing her eatery, Sly Fox Den Too, in Charlestown, Rhode Island. James Beard Award-winning chef is back: Wampanoag chef Sherry Pocknett moves back to Mashpee, hopes to open new restaurant Here's where you can find her on TV: Pocknett was on two episodes of the most recent season - 23 - of "Hell's Kitchen", which aired in 2024. She emphatically called herself a "Gordon Ramsey fan" in one of the episodes. 'He's fun, very fun. He's not that way at all,' Pocknett said in an interview with a Times reporter, of Ramsey's reputation for having a fiery temper. She judged the semifinals, including food from a contestant who made it to the season finale, Hannah Flora, who worked on Martha's Vineyard. Earlier in the season, she cooked lunch — pulled turkey on top of butternut squash bread — as part of a prize for episode 11's winning team. "Getting to shake the hand of a James Beard Award-winning chef is just a dream come true," contestant Egypt Davis said in the episode. "Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi" went to Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard for a Thanksgiving episode in 2021, "Truth and the Turkey Tale." After visiting Wampanoag Tribe members there, celebrity chef Lakshmi cooked Pocknett's stuffed sea bass with her at Pocknett's Charlestown, Rhode Island restaurant, Sly Fox Den, Too. Pocknett and Lakshmi shared childhood stories of eating foods that were culturally different from their classmates' foods. "I used to be embarrassed to have racoon and stuff like that for dinner," Pocknett said. "Going to school: 'What did you have last night?" 'I had raccoon.'" Pocknett pulled a face and Lakshmi collapsed onto the table between them laughing. "I'm laughing because I had a similar experience, but mine was dal and rice, which, you know, Indian food is not very attractive and smelly, too, so I can imagine .... " Pocknett filmed an episode of 'Somebody Feed Phil,' slated to air in May, she said. Also in May, she'll be in a feature with Yankee Magazine TV. 'That's going to be a fun one. My brother is in it and the tribal daycare and language school,' she said. Alison Bosma added to this report. Gwenn Friss is the editor of CapeWeek and covers entertainment, restaurants and the arts. Contact her at gfriss@ Join the Cape Cod Times free Facebook group, Good Stuff at Cape Cod Restaurants, to share tips and participate in food polls. Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans. This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod chef was semifinal judge on 'Hell's Kitchen,' other food TV
