Morning Edition on WAMC

Vermont officials say the total cost of recovering from Tropical Storm Irene is estimated at $733 million and the federal government is expected to pay about three quarters of that amount.  WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley reports…

Administration Secretary Jeb Spaulding says the state expects it will have to pay about $110 million for its share of the repair costs.

Spaulding and other top state officials gave a briefing Thursday on the efforts to recover from the biggest natural disaster in almost a century.

A bank has sued Curt Schilling to recover $2.4 million in loans it made to the former Boston Red Sox pitcher's video game company. WAMC’s Lucas Willard reports…

The Boston Globe reports that RBS Citizens, better known as Citizens Bank, says Schilling personally guaranteed the debt to the bank but has "failed and refused" to pay it.

Schilling's 38 Studios filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection last week. It laid off its entire workforce in May soon after it was late in making a $1.1 million payment to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp.

Listen to Paul Caiano's WAMC Regional forecast.  Paul Caianois a meteorologist at WNYT Newschannel 13. He graduated from SUNY Albany in May of 1993 with a B.S. in the field of Atmospheric Science/Meteorology.

Well the Miami Heat jumped out to another quick, double-digit lead last night - only this time they managed to hang on…

ABC had the coverage of Game 2 last night in Oklahoma City…

That fall-away kiss off the glass in the waning minutes, two of Lebron James’ team-high 32 points, helped the Heat fight off a late charge from the Thunder 100-96.  Miami’s win knots the NBA finals at one game apiece.  James says he thinks the young Thunder team will have no problem bouncing back from this home loss.  Game 3 is Sunday night in Miami.    

Massachusetts has spent over $300 million in the last four years to boost the life sciences industry with administration officials insisting the initiative has been a great success.  WAMC’s Paul Tuthill reports.

           Patrick administration officials say the life sciences initiative has so far lured dozens of new companies to the state, and led existing ones to expand.   Brian Jamele of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center says the public money that was spent leveraged almost $1 billion in private investment.

In recent months, economic growth in China has not only slowed — it's slowed faster than most people expected. Last week, for the first time since the depths of the global financial crisis, the government actually cut lending rates to try to spur growth. All of this has people wondering: Where is the world's star economy headed?

In the car business, Lincoln once stood as the pinnacle of luxury. Frank Sinatra drove a Lincoln. So did the Shah of Iran. In the U.S., the presidential limo was a Lincoln.

The brand peaked with the 1961 Lincoln Continental, a beautiful, innovative car that stood for style, individuality and sophistication.

But after the '60s, Lincoln started on a long, slow decline that mirrored the slide of the American auto industry.