Morning Edition on WAMC

Anti fracking groups presented Governor Cuomo with 200,000 signatures asking for a ban on the gas drilling process in New York, and a State Senator predicts the opposition will have an effect on the governor.  Capitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt reports...

The coalition New Yorkers Against Fracking delivered boxes containing 200,000 signatures to Governor Cuomo’s offices that they say are from state residents who want the gas drilling process banned. An aide politely accepted them, but Governor Cuomo, whose public schedule listed him as being in Albany, did not appear.

A survey of tornado survivors finds many with unmet needs as the one year anniversary of the natural disaster in western Massachusetts approaches.  WAMC’s Paul Tuthill reports…

Eight days of canvassing by disaster response volunteers in tornado impacted neighborhoods of Springfield found dozens of people who still need help ranging from major roof repairs to replacing household appliances and furnishings.

Steven Abdow, a board member of Springfield Community Together, the FEMA organized long term recovery group, said the unmet needs are estimated to cost $1 million…

A county coroner in New York says a police captain, his wife and two daughters who died in a house fire this week were killed by smoke inhalation. WAMC’s Dave Lucas reports.

Putnam County Coroner William Stahl said Wednesday that the Larchmont police captain, Thomas Sullivan, and the others all died of asphyxiation from breathing smoke and carbon monoxide.

Stahl says that probably means the family died before being burned in the fire at their home early Tuesday in Carmel.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is slamming Alabama and Arizona over their tough immigration policies.  WAMC’s Lucas Willard reports…

The Boston Globe reports that in a speech earlier this week at Tufts University, Patrick said the actions of states on the issue have been ham-fisted, self-defeating and even racist. He also calls much of the debate over immigration reform hysterical and poisonous.

Vermont's governor has allowed a ban on the use of tanning beds by young people to become law without his signature.  WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley reports… 

Governor Peter Shumlin said Wednesday that he did not approve of the legislation because of concerns about how it would be enforced.

Owners of establishments with tanning beds caught allowing people younger than 18 to use them would face fines.

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Let's talk about this more with NPR diplomatic correspondent Michele Kelemen. She's traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She's in Beijing. And Michele, how did this seem to go so wrong so quickly?

Listen to Paul Caiano's WAMC Regional forecast.  Paul Caiano is 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.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And I'm David Greene.

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Last night at the Sotheby's auction house in New York, there was something to scream about. Our last word in business is: "The Scream."

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

As we reported yesterday, the Expressionist masterpiece by Edvard Munch went up for sale. There are four versions of this composition, but just one had been privately held by an heir of one of Munch's patrons.