WAMC Northeast Report on WAMC

Massachusetts State Treasurer Steven Grossman, a potential Democratic candidate in the 2014 race for governor, traveled today to a Berkshire County elementary school, where he joined state and local officials to present an award to a first-grader.

Seth Rogovoy joins for a look at cultural happenings this weekend, in the Berkshires and beyond. 

We get a close look at the weather picture for the upcoming weekend, as Garett Argianas delivers the evening forecast for Friday, June 14, 2013. 

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.”

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute today announced a new university-wide initiative to tackle the challenges and opportunities of Big Data.

At a morning ceremony at the Troy campus, RPI officials christened it "IDEA" - the Institute for Data Exploration and Applications – the college’s $60 million initiative involves students and faculty from more than 12 departments across the five schools of the university.

The New York State Public Service Commission Thursday approved a utility merger in the Hudson Valley. The $1.5 billion acquisition of the Poughkeepsie-based utility had its share of controversy in recent months.

And so went the Public Service Commission’s vote in favor of the acquisition by Canadian energy company Fortis Inc. of CH Energy Group, parent company of Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation. Supporters, including Barry Perry, vice president, finance and chief financial officer of Fortis, are gratified.

With barely a week left, Environmental Advocates of New York says the state Senate is ending the session with its worst environmental record in decades.

Under the ballot measure approved by Massachusetts voters legalizing medical marijuana last year, up to 35 licenses for dispensaries could be opened across the state. The state Department of Public Health revealed its final regulations for the distribution of the drug in May, and Pittsfield has been one of many localities working to change zoning regulations to accommodate the arrival of the dispensaries.

Members of the New York state legislature’s Black and Hispanic caucus and their allies made a last-minute push for a bill to decriminalize the public possession of small amounts of marijuana, saying current laws unfairly target young black and Latino men.

I've heard it said that if a single person raises an issue, one should listen politely.