Brian Shields

Next Wednesday, June 19th, will mark 60 years since Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed at Sing-Sing Prison after being convicted of conspiring to pass along U.S. atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union.  They became the first American civilians to be put to death for spying during peacetime. To mark the anniversary, the children and grandchildren of the Rosenbergs will take part in an event this Sunday, Fathers day, at New York City’s town hall. The Rosenbergs son, Robert Meeropol, spoke to WAMC news about the event called “Carry it Forward.”

After the 2000 presidential election which saw Al Gore win the popular vote, but George Bush win the White House, there was an outcry by some to get rid of the Electoral College.  A bill to change that system has just cleared the New York State Assembly.  

Along with the familiar “In God We Trust”, the next one, five, ten or twenty dollar bill you hold may include another message, "Stamp Money Out of Politics".

It is part of the Stamp Stampede, lead by Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream founder, Ben Cohen. Ben Cohen says the Stamp Stampede, which he calls a petition on steroids, is about giving a voice to Americans who understand that unlimited campaign contributions are corrupting democracy. A rally by the group supporting the "Fair Elections Act" is scheduled for tomorrow. Cohen spoke with WAMC's Brian Shields.

A cure for cancer - it could well be the most invigorating , but frustrating goal for medical research, but the work at a lab in Albany may help to end the scourge of cancer one day.

James Brooke will come home to the Berkshires this week. A native of Lenox, who attended Berkshire Country Day School and Yale University, has been a lifelong foreign correspondent, most recently covering Russia and the former Soviet Union for the Voice of America. 

James Brooke will be at the Lenox Library tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. for a free lecture on how Russia views the Boston Marathon, now that one Tsarnaev brother is dead, and another is in custody. He spoke today with WAMC’s Brian Shields.

It has cost the city of Saratoga Springs more than $61,000 to fire a city employee who earned $33,000 a year, and that employee in question is now suing the city for back pay.  

Lucian McCarty, city desk reporter for The Saratogian newspaper, has been following the story of Mary Zlotnick who was suspended for insubordination last august from the Saratoga Springs Accounts Department. He spoke today with WAMC’s Brian Shields.

The city of Poughkeepsie is facing an $11 million  deficit in its general fund brought on, according to New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, by unrealistic budgeting by city officials—including overestimating revenues. DiNapoli, in a new audit, says Poughkeepsie’s debt burden has gone up 45 percent over the past five years as its financial condition deteriorates.

More than 95 percent of the school budgets that went before the voters in New York on Tuesday were approved but, those that exceeded the two percent property tax cap did not fare as well. Only about 30 percent of those spending plans were approved. 

The executive director of the New York State School Boards Association, Tim Kremer, tells WAMC's Brian Shields the initial results show 630 school districts budgets were approved with 30 rejected.

Faced with the possibility of being expelled from the state legislature as soon as next week, State Assemblyman Vito Lopez, a Democrat from Brooklyn, today said he would resign on June 20th at the end of the legislative session and run for a seat on the New York City Council. 

At the age of 34, Andris Nelsons will lead one of the most respected orchestras in the world. Nelsons, a native of Latvia, who has earned a distinguished reputation in European classical music and opera, has been named the new music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, filling the vacancy left by the departure of James Levine, who stepped down for health reasons two years ago. Mark Volpe, the managing director of the BSO, spoke with WAMC's Brian Shields.