News

By Deborah Runcie

Hudson, New York – With concerns about ethics and ongoing discussions about campaign finance reform, democratic congressional candidate Kirsten Gillibrand from Columbia County, New York, has pledged that she will run her campaign
on a code of ethics. However, incumbent Congressman John Sweeney, a republican from Saratoga County, questions her commitment to reform.
WAMC's Hudson Valley bureau Chief Deborah Runcie has more.

By Jessica Bloustein

Albany, NY – The New York Racing Association is pushing back plans to install video slot machines at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens. And while NYRA entertains ideas of installing them by 2007, problem gambling hotlines in the Capital Region are seeing increases in calls for help in the last two years-since the Racino opened in Saratoga Springs. WAMC's Capital District Bureau Chief Jessica Bloustein reports.

By Dan Bobkoff

BOSTON, mA – Students have been getting out of school in the early afternoon since the days when most of them had to go help with the farm after classes. But is the current school schedule obsolete? Lawmakers in Boston are getting closer to passing legislation that will make it easier for school districts to expand the school day and the school year.

WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Dan Bobkoff has the story.

By Carrie Saldo

Pittsfield, MA – Massachusetts is home to the second largest number of biotechnology firms in the nation. And according to the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, biotech could directly and indirectly create nearly 100,000 new in-state jobs and raise more than $1 billion in income tax revenues by 2010.
And as our Berkshire Bureau Chief, Carrie Saldo reports, with a Pittsfield, Massachusetts native opting to re-locate his biotechnology business, the city is getting in on that action;

By Dan Bobkoff

SOUTH HADLEY, MA – Amherst College and Mount Holyoke are among eight colleges making a big investment in attracting and assisting low-income transfer students from community colleges.

WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Dan Bobkoff reports.

By Pat Bradley

Burlington, VT – The University of Vermont has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health that will fund a state-wide biomedical research network. The sixteen-and-a-half million dollar grant is the largest in the university's history. WAMC's North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley has more.

By Jessica Bloustein

Colonie, NY – Consumer confidence in New York is up as of February, thanks to an upstate boost. That's according to a Research Institute survey out of Siena College. Researchers say a mild winter and stable energy costs has boosted confidence to a greater degree upstate than in the New York City area.

WAMC's Capital District Bureau Chief Jessica Bloustein reports.

Albany, NY – Coming up on In Our Backyard: Ward Stone is the New York State Wildlife Pathologist--How exactly do you get into that line of work? We'll ask Ward and also talk about the role the pathologist plays in the environment and how he works with his counterparts in other states.

By Pat Bradley

Burlington, VT – For the first time in a mayoral election in the United States, voters in Burlington, Vermont will use what's called instant runoff voting when they go to the polls Tuesday. WAMC's North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley has more.

By Jessica Bloustein

Albany, NY – New York lawmakers from both houses are ironing out the details of civil commitment for the state's most violent convicted sex offenders. The push to keep sexual predators off the streets and protect communities has inspired quick action from the legislature--but has garnered the disapproval of mental health advocates and sex offender treatment providers.

WAMC's Capital District Bureau Chief Jessica Bloustein reports.