Midday Magazine on WAMC

Anyone who's jumped off a haystack or played on a trampoline, knows the pleasurable feeling of weightlessness, wherein there are, for a fleeting moment, no more sagging body parts.

Felix Baumgartner, a 43-year old Austrian military parachutist, intentionally jumped from a capsule 24 miles up, on Oct 14, thus certainly knowing weightlessness for a decent amount of time. And what a fascinating lot of physics the man who fell from space experienced!

Kudos for crank radios, jeers for the two-party system and some ideas about fracking - they're all included in this week's highlights from the WAMC Listener Comment Line. 

The monumental effort to restore power and rail service to counties north of New York City continues, but as we hear in this report from Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas, communities are struggling with a variety of other challenges... Most of the electricity is back on, the MTA and CSX have crews working on railroad services, but there's still a lot of debris that needs clean-up and still a lot of problems with landline and cellular telephone service.

The two candidates competing for a seat in the Massachusetts legislature’s 4th Berkshire District squared off in a debate Wednesday evening. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard attended the event and filed a report…

Last night, the Berkshire Beacon sponsored a debate between current  4th Berkshire District Representative democrat William “Smitty” Pignatelli and Green-Rainbow party challenger L. Scott Laugenour at the Lenox Town Library. The candidates discussed environmental policy, taxation, health care, education, and more.

Some commuters were able to board Metro-North trains this morning and more households and businesses have the lights back on - Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas has more on the Hurricane Recovery effort.
 

Late last month, renowned cyclist and cancer activist Lance Armstrong was stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles and banned for life from competitive sport. Mr. Armstrong has repeatedly denied the allegations, and has only tested positive once for a banned substance -- cortisone -- for which he provided a prescription. The prohibited steroid was in a doctor-provided cream used by many riders to treat saddle sores.

Hurricane Sandy's greatest impact in the Empire State affected New York City and much of the watershed area including Westchester, Ulster and Dutchess counties - Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas has an update...

Major flooding along the Hudson River, some areas now receding... New York City the heaviest hit... with severe power and property losses extending up through Westchester and beyond...   

Crystal Payton with FEMA says the agency is in "triage" mode.

As the shadow of a doomsday triad looms over the coming first week in November, this WW-II combat-veteran-turned-commentator is compelled to dwell on an over-riding truth, that any military commanders who have seen war’s effects on the bodies, minds and spirits of combatants must – ever after – become reluctant warriors.  This does not make them more timorous or less diligent in carrying out the savage and frightful actions that combat leadership compels; it does, though, constrain them from committing those they command to needless or foolhardy slaughter.

Governor Cuomo says pre- storm preparations are finished, and he and state officials are now actively monitoring the situation as Hurricane Sandy approaches.  

The governor , speaking at a briefing in New York City,  says he spent the day Sunday touring the state, and he says he and his aides have done all they can at this point to prepare for the storm.

“We are very comfortable with the preparation that has been done all across the state,” said Cuomo, who said his office is coordinating with federal and local officials.