The South Shore’s Morning News on 95.9 WATD-FM

Rob starts the week in review by talking about food scarcity and the need for more food donations with South Shore Chamber CEO Tim Cahill and Pam Denholm, Executive Director of the South Shore Food Bank. Later, Bob Terravecchia, the CEO of Coastal Heritage Bank, stops by the studio to discuss the latest interest rate news and a conversation on the worst Halloween candy. Finally, local author Michael J. Foy stops by to talk about latest ebook/audio book: "The Ghostly Hand of Retribution". 

Welcome to another week in review. We start with the CEO of Coastal Heritage Bank, Bob Terravecchia, as we talk about many interesting money idioms. Then we talk about the Jordan Hospital Club in Plymouth and what they do to support BID Plymouth. Later, David Snell from ACT Smart I.T. in Wareham joins us to talk about having all your technology support in one basket. Finally, Rob talks about proposed legislation in Massachusetts that would limit self-checkouts in stores. 

Welcome to another 'Week in Review'. This week, we start with an amazing interview with Braintree Girl Scout Rileigh McLoughlin who received the Medal of Honor, which is a prestigious national level award, recognizing Rileigh's heroic achievements in saving her neighbor's life. Then, the wait is over! Beloved by trivia buffs, bathroom philosophers, and casual readers everywhere, Uncle John is back with its 38th annual edition. Brian Boone joins us with all the details. Finally, it's our "Paws & Claws" segment with our friends from Cape Cod Veterinary Specialists as we answer your pet questions. 

Welcome to another week in review. This week, we talk with Bob Terravecchia, CEO of Coastal Heritage Bank about financial literacy and Massachusetts schools. Then, it's our South Shore Chamber of Commerce segment with chamber CEO Tim Cahill. Later, our tech guy, David Snell joins us from ACT Smart I.T. in Wareham about what might be wrong with your FREE anti-virus program. Finally, Rob laments the closure of another Friendly's restaurant. 

Welcome to another week in review. This week we talk with Adrienne Sullivan, the owner of Sullivan's Castle Island, along with the General Manager of the Hanover location, Laura Lambert. They join us to talk about the new Hanover location along with the details about the WATD/Sullivan's Castle Island "Sully" or "Seagully" contest. Then we check in with our tech guy, David Snell, at ACT Smart I.T. in Wareham as we discuss text scams. Finally, Pamela Schwabe and Sandra Smith join Rob to preview the upcoming "Walk to End Alzheimer's" in Plymouth on October 25th. 

Welcome to another edition of the week in review. This week we start with award-winning author and illustrator Brian Lies as he joins us to preview his newest book: "Cat Nap". Then we check in with our tech guy, David Snell from ACT Smart I.T. in Wareham as he discuss the latest A.I. issue involving Chrome. Later, Dr. John Hayes joins us to discuss heart health and the family factors. Finally, Rob and Christine discuss a possible solution to prevent shoplifting. 

Welcome to another week in review episode. This week we talk about the 250th anniversary of the Revolution and a great upcoming series of lectures in Hingham with local historians John Galluzzo and Hilary Goodnow. Then, it's Bob Terravecchia from Coastal Heritage Bank as we talk about more Americans living alone. Finally, it's our Paws and Claws segment with Corinne from the Animal Protection Center of Southeastern Massachusetts. 

Welcome to another edition of our 'week in review' podcast. This week, we talk with Tish Adams from the Marshfield Hills General Store about the 'Run for the Hills 5k' held on Labor Day. We also talk about the end of summer and Genny's Ice Cream closing up for the season. Then, we check in with Bob Terravecchia from Coastal Heritage Bank about does money really bring happiness? Later, our tech guy, David Snell from ACT Smart I.T. in Wareham about Macs under attack and a new info-stealing malware known as 'shamos'. Finally, Rob and Christine chat about the end of summer and Labor Day. 

Welcome to another edition of our 'week in review'. This week we start with a special interview with Lizzie, her brother and mom about a special car show to benefit "Lizzie's Ladybugs". Then we check in with our tech guy David Snell from ACT Smart I.T. in Wareham. Finally, it's our South Shore Chamber of Commerce segment. 

Love Bites is a weekly segment on The South Shore’s Morning News with lifestyle coach Francesca Luca. You can listen for advice every Wednesday morning at 9:10. The Francesca Luca Show airs every Wednesday evening between 8 and 9pm. Dating App Burnout Is Real But It Doesn’t Have to Be Your Reality You’ve heard it before and maybe even said it yourself: Dating apps suck. But here’s the truth: What you think about, you bring about. If you keep saying the apps are trash, guess what they’ll feel like? Trash. That said… let’s not pretend dating app burnout isn’t real. Because oh, it is. Loudly. And for good reason. Too Many Choices Are Killing Effort When it feels like there’s always someone better just one swipe away, why invest energy in the person right in front of you? Abundance can create apathy. And that apathy is showing up everywhere, half-baked convos, lazy replies, and no actual follow-through. People Aren’t Always Dating With Intention Let’s be honest: Some people are on apps because they’re bored. Some are looking for a hookup. Some just want attention. And some? They genuinely have no idea what they’re looking for. The result? A sea of mixed signals, ghosting, and “good morning” texts that somehow feel like winning the lottery (when they really shouldn’t). Real Connection Takes Something Most Are Afraid to Give: Effort In a world full of “whatchadoing” and disappearing acts, effort is sexy. Someone who replies thoughtfully, asks questions, and actually plans a date? That’s not just rare, it’s a unicorn. Vulnerability Is the Missing Piece Apps make it easy to stay surface-level. There’s no tone. No eye contact. No real emotional risk. But also? No real connection. Because what does connection actually require? Being brave enough to show up, even if it means you might not be chosen. Most People Are Scared to Show Up It’s not that people don’t want to try. It’s that trying feels dangerous now. Fear of rejection. Fear of wasting time. Fear of caring more than the other person. So what do people do instead? Hide behind sarcasm, detachment, or worse, ghosting. So What Can You Do? Here’s your real-world dating app survival guide minus the fluff: 1. Swipe With Clarity, Not Boredom Don’t scroll just to scroll. Know what you want and be bold enough to say it. Mixed intentions lead to mixed results. 2. Vet Faster. Meet Sooner. Exit Quicker. No more small talk purgatory. No pen pals, PAAAAALEASE!!!!! Video chat or meet (safely) within a week. If it fizzles, let it. Next. 3. Upgrade Your Profile Vibe Your bio is not your body. Add personality, not just pics. LIMIT THE DOG PHOTOS! No more “If you can’t handle me at my worst…” energy. Say what you're into, what lights you up. Ask a friend to review your profile. Seriously. They know your vibe better than you think. 4. Stop Fishing With the Same Bait Tired of dating the same type? Change your type. Your swipes reflect your vibe not the app. If you're exhausted, maybe it's your energy, not your algorithm. 5. Filter Out the Flakes If they’re dry in the chat, they’ll be dull on the date. If they can’t form a sentence or ask you a real question? Keep it moving. 6. Red Flags Aren’t Pink If someone says, ‘I’m not looking for anything serious’,  believe them.” Don’t try to decode unclear signals. Attention isn’t connection. Intention is. Final Thought: Real People. Real Eye Contact. Real Life. Your dating life doesn’t live inside a screen. Log off sometimes. Meet people where the Wi-Fi’s weak and the eye contact is strong. Because at the end of the day? You’re not looking for a swipe. You’re looking for a spark.

Tech Talk is a weekly feature all about the tech world on The South Shore’s Morning News with David Snell of ACT Smart I.T. in Wareham. Listen to David discuss the latest information you need regarding the tech and computer world on Tuesday mornings at 8:10. Check out our Features Page here for previous episodes.  David Snell of ACT Smart I.T. in Wareham always knows the best tech advice to give us during our weekly 'Tech Talk' and this week... we got serious! Your data, our data, everyone's data... could be found online. Have you ever searched for yourself or somebody else and realized how much personal information is on the internet!? Your personal information could probably be found in different online databases... one of which called the National Public Data, which now goes by "free people search engine":  One such database is National Public Data, a background check site formerly operated by Jerico Pictures Inc. In early 2024, the company suffered a massive cyberattack by a group called USDoD, resulting in the leak of 2.7 billion records containing sensitive information like Social Security numbers. The breach affected individuals in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. Following multiple lawsuits and a bankruptcy filing, Jerico Pictures shut down the site. However, National Public Data has since reappeared under new ownership, now registered to Perfect Privacy LLC, a Florida-based company offering anonymous domain registration. The site now brands itself as a “free people search engine”, claiming to use publicly available sources such as government records, social media, and property databases. David doesn't leave us out in the cold though! He has steps we should take to protect ourselves, our data, and our personal information. Click here to read David's full blog post and please listen to our discussion here: 

Welcome to our week in review podcast. This week, Rob & Beth talk with Chris Atwood, host of "The Alternative" on WATD on Friday nights. Chris joins us to talk about a recent health scare and why we need to pay attention to the warning signs. Then, we check in with Dr. John Hayes from Marshfield to discuss the impact social media has on our mental and physical health. Finally, David Snell, our tech guy from ACT Smart I.T. in Wareham talks with us about the latest ChatGPT. 

Living and Practicing by Design is a weekly segment with Dr. John Hayes. It airs Thursday mornings at 9:22 on The South Shore’s Morning News with Rob Hakala and Beth Foster.  It is fun to stay in touch with friends and find out information through social media, but using it TOO much may have an impact on our health, mentally and physically:  Social Media can indeed have a significant impact on stress and anxiety levels for many people. The constant exposure to curated images, comparisons, negative news, and even cyberbullying can contribute to feelings of inadequacy, fear of missing out, and anxiety, leading to incredible stress. To many, the pull to look at Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Pinterest, etc., over and over again is compulsive. On this week's Living and Practicing by Design with Dr. John Hayes, he talked about the impact social media can have on us, the ways to lessen your social media use,  and how to raise your happy levels. You can read the full blog post by clicking here and listen to the segment below:

Love Bites is a weekly segment on The South Shore’s Morning News with lifestyle coach Francesca Luca. You can listen for advice every Wednesday morning at 9:10. The Francesca Luca Show airs every Wednesday evening between 8 and 9pm. Can a Relationship Survive Without Chemistry? Let’s Be Honest… Some questions I get for Love Bites make me tilt my head and go, “Wait… what?” Here’s one: “I’ve been seeing ‘Sarah’ for about a year. We have fun, we get along, we even have an intimate relationship. But here’s the truth—I’m not attracted to her. I thought the spark might eventually show up, but it hasn’t. I care for her deeply, and she’s definitely attracted to me. I don’t want to break up—so please don’t tell me to. Can a relationship really work without chemistry?” Let’s unpack this. First things first… You’re not attracted to her—but you’re still having sex—and she thinks you are attracted to her? That’s not just an awkward situation, that’s emotional quicksand. But since you brought up chemistry, let’s break it down. The Four Kinds of Chemistry 1. Physical That can’t-help-myself magnetic pull. You see them, and your brain short-circuits in the best way possible. Without at least some of this, intimacy feels more like an obligation than something you look forward to. 2. Emotional It’s the “I can tell you anything” vibe. You feel safe, understood, and completely yourself. This is what gets couples through the tough seasons when the physical side takes a dip. 3. Intellectual You can talk for hours without getting bored. You challenge each other, you’re curious about each other’s opinions, and you make each other think. 4. Lifestyle & Values Your visions for life actually align. You want the same big-picture things, which means fewer blow-ups over the “how we live” stuff. Why Chemistry Matters A relationship doesn’t need all four types in full force, but if you’re missing both physical and emotional chemistry? You’re looking at more of a friendship than a romance. The healthiest relationships usually have: Enough spark to keep the attraction alive. Enough compatibility to keep the drama low. Think “steady campfire” instead of “fireworks that disappear after ten seconds.” The Chemistry Trap Sometimes, intense chemistry feels amazing—but it’s not always a good sign. The brain trick: Dopamine, oxytocin, and all those feel-good chemicals can cloud your judgment. That adrenaline rush? Not the same thing as love. The trauma bond: If chaos or emotional highs and lows are familiar from your past, extreme chemistry can feel like home—when really, it’s your nervous system chasing old wounds. The crash-and-burn: Pure passion with no shared values burns hot… until life throws stress, bills, or family drama your way. Then it fizzles. Bottom line Can a relationship function without chemistry? Technically, yes—if you’ve got strong friendship, respect, and shared goals. But if you’re looking for a romantic, passionate connection… you’re going to need at least some spark. And if you know there’s no spark now, after a year? It’s time to stop pretending it’s going to magically appear. Listen: 

Tech Talk is a weekly feature all about the tech world on The South Shore’s Morning News with David Snell of ACT Smart I.T. in Wareham. Listen to David discuss the latest information you need regarding the tech and computer world on Tuesday mornings at 8:10. Check out our Features Page here for previous episodes.  We have said before that AI is not going away... and so David wanted to introduce the newest form of Chat GPT from OpenAI... Chat GPT-5: OpenAI has officially launched GPT-5, the latest evolution of its flagship language model—and it’s already making waves. CEO Sam Altman calls it “a significant step along the path to AGI,” though he’s careful to note that it doesn’t quite reach artificial general intelligence. Still, GPT-5 is smarter, faster, and more capable than any model before it. So what’s new? Smarter, Faster, More Human GPT-5 feels like a leap forward in conversational AI. Altman likened the jump from GPT-4 to GPT-5 to the iPhone’s upgrade to Retina display—suddenly, everything feels sharper. He described it as “talking to an expert in any topic, like a PhD-level expert.” The model boasts a 256,000-token context window, meaning it can handle longer conversations, documents, and code without losing track. It also hallucinates less, thanks to improved safety mechanisms and better instruction-following. Listen to Rob, Beth, and David discuss this newer version and click here to read David's full blog post. 

We’re so glad to have Diane Jordan ‘realign’ us at the start of the work week with  More Comfort Monday, which airs every Monday morning at 7:45 on The South Shore’s Morning News. Diane Jordan is the owner of Natural Body Works in Kingston and she specializes in all things bodily and metaphysical, and this week, we're talking about a topic that can manifest both physically and mentally: Empathy. Empathy has become a 'trendy' word recently, but some people may not fully understand what empathy actually means: The term Empath is very popular now, very widely used. An Empath is a defined as a person with a heightened ability to sense and feel the emotions of others, sometimes to the point of taking those emotions on as their own.  A balanced Empath is an alchemist of energy. As they feel the low-vibration emotional and/or physical energy of others, they incorporate their method (whatever that is) to guide the other through diffusing and releasing those low-vibration energies, while transmuting that energy into Love, Peace, Joy and other High-vibe energies, and then grounding the other within those High-vibe energies – which will naturally spread from the other, to everyone else.  When the Empath doesn’t have the skills or knowledge to clearly differentiate between their own energy and other peoples’, they can’t achieve that alchemy. Because as they pick-up low-vibe energy from others, they hold onto it. They feel it to increasingly intense degrees. And that causes anxiety symptoms.  But, Empath or not, we all feel one another’s emotional energy to a degree, anyway. Listen in for great advice about this topic from Diane Jordan:

Welcome to another edition of "The South Shore's Morning News" week in review with Rob and Beth. This week we start with a fun conversation with Alex Tainsh, the General Manager of the Brockton Rox baseball team. Then, it's our South Shore Chamber of Commerce segment with Tim Cahill and special guests Sarah and Michael Quatrale, owners of Baya Bar in South Weymouth. Finally, Dr. John Hayes from Marshfield stops by with a serious talk about why laughing is so good for you. 

Living and Practicing by Design is a weekly segment with Dr. John Hayes. It airs Thursday mornings at 9:22 on The South Shore’s Morning News with Rob Hakala and Beth Foster.  There is a reason for the common saying "laughter is the best medicine" and Dr. John Hayes wanted to explain why on our weekly "check-up" today: Laughter may be the best medicine for stress and your heart because it makes the body release endorphins, which are hormones that reduce stress and inflammation and that help the blood vessels relax. Dr. John Hayes also wants to 'stress' the importance of...minimizing stress levels: Sustained stress causes the release of hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, which can temporarily elevate blood pressure. Over time, chronic stress can lead to sustained high blood pressure (hypertension, which is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular problems. The best remedy? Having a chuckle, giggle, laugh, however you want to call it - get those "ha-ha's" out and good health in. Listen to our conversation below and you can read Dr. John Hayes' full blog post by clicking here. 

Love Bites is a weekly segment on The South Shore’s Morning News with lifestyle coach Francesca Luca. You can listen for advice every Wednesday morning at 9:10. The Francesca Luca Show airs every Wednesday evening between 8 and 9pm. Here is the listener question we are answering today: What if the person you are with rarely texts? When you are together it is great just not a lot in between the weekly date Don’t Confuse Breadcrumbs for a Meal I see way too many women settling for crumbs and calling it a connection. Here’s the truth: You’re not a pigeon, so stop pecking at breadcrumbs like it’s a five-course meal. If a man is into you, you’ll know. Why? Because he’ll make it clear without you needing to guess or read between the very dry lines of his last two-word text. A Man Who Wants to Talk to You... Will. He won’t need nudging. He won’t ghost, breadcrumb, or drop one-word replies like it’s some kind of effort trophy. LOVE BITES TIP: When a man’s words are few and far between, listen closely, not to what he says, but to what he’s not saying. Because here’s what’s real: Men make time for what they value. No matter how busy or distracted he is, if he cares, you’ll feel it. Period. Silence and Inconsistency Are Communication Read that again. When his texts slow down, when he gets weirdly quiet, when you're left on read for the third time this week, that’s not an accident. It’s communication. And it’s telling you something important: his level of investment. Love Bites Move: Step back. Just a little. Then watch. Does he notice? Does he reach out? Or does the silence stretch on? So What Could Else Be Going On With Him? Let’s break down some of the usual suspects: He’s Not Sure What He Wants Classic. When men are unsure of their feelings, they often pull back. Hence the inconsistent texting. But here’s the kicker: That’s his struggle, not yours. Don’t carry emotional labor that doesn’t belong to you.  He’s Genuinely Busy or Distracted Work, stress, family issues, mental health, life happens. But if he's into you, he’ll still find a way to communicate. A quick check-in isn’t hard.  He’s Testing You Some guys will intentionally pull back to see if you’ll chase them. That’s not romance. That’s a power game. And trust me you don’t want play it. If you start chasing, you’re already losing.