Morning Edition on WAMC

Police say three Bronx men have been arrested in connection with a January home invasion in Westchester County. WAMC's Dave Lucas has more...

Brandishing weapons, the trio burst into the home of a Hastings restaurant owner and tied family members' hands behind their backs. One robber claimed they were the police and flashed a badge.

They got away with about $5,000 in cash.

Hastings Police Lt. David Dosin tells the Journal News that the May 9 arrests were not made public at the time because the investigation is continuing. More arrests are expected.

Nearly 60 Massachusetts cities and towns are urging Congress to pass a constitutional amendment that would overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the Citizens United case. WAMC’s Lucas Willard has more…

A total of 56 cities and towns from across the state have passed resolutions on the issue, with more expected to vote on similar resolutions in the coming weeks.

A kung fu grandmaster has been sentenced to seven years in prison for sexually abusing girls during martial arts lessons in the New York suburbs. WAMC's Dave Lucas reports…

Frank DeMaria of Ossining was convicted in February of sexual abuse, sexual conduct with children and endangering children.

Four girls aged 6 to 11 claimed that DeMaria had them grab and pull his genitals during lessons at his school in Croton-on-Hudson between 2009 and 2011.

The state of Vermont is now a part of a federal program aimed at identifying illegal immigrants arrested and charged with crimes.  WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley reports…

The Department of Homeland Security says its Secure Communities program went into effect Tuesday in Vermont.

The program shares the fingerprints of illegal immigrants charged with crimes with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.

State environmental officials are kicking off a plan to fight the spread of the invasive zebra mussel in Massachusetts.  WAMC’s Tristan O’Neill reports…

Later today, Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Edward Lambert and Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Mary Griffin will outline plans at a press conference at Pontoosuc Lake in Pittsfield,

Zebra mussels can multiply quickly, disrupting local ecosystems by covering other freshwater mussels and cutting off resources for other species.

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.

Oregon officials are trying to ease the stress of road construction along the Sunset Highway for at least one resident. Rose-Tu is a pregnant elephant at the nearby Oregon Zoo.

Well the Kings are headed to the Stanley Cup finals…

Game 5 on the ice last night in Glendale, Dustin Penner's tally at 17:42 of overtime lifted the Kings to a 4-3 series-clinching win over the Coyotes.  Sound courtesy of CBC.  Los Angeles advances to the championship series and awaits the winner of the Rangers-Devils series.  Those two skate in Game 5 tonight – their series is tied at two. 

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Nearly two years ago, Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered that gun-toting private security companies in his country be brought under state control. But the Afghan force to replace the foreign-funded contractors is off to a rocky start.

According to the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR), the new force will increase security costs for USAID projects and could even shut some of them down, at a loss of about $899 million. USAID in Kabul disagrees, and the dispute has gone public.