WAMC Northeast Report on WAMC

As more communities in the Commonwealth are placing bans on things like plastic bags and Styrofoam containers, some are calling for more action, while others say it’s creating more headaches. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

Environmental Advocates warn New York can’t afford to wait for the next hurricane or tropical storm to hit:  They're urging the state to take the lead in pushing for stricter carbon emission reduction goals as part of the nine-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas has more...
 

I have often thought back to a conversation I had many years ago with one of my students. She had come from a rural background with a strong, and in many ways admirable, streak of self-reliance. She was dumbfounded when I quoted the saying “There but for the grace of God go I,” often attributed to a sixteenth century evangelical preacher and martyr, John Bradford. How could I, her professor, imagine myself in the position of people who were down and out, people without jobs who needed help?

Pro-environmental groups watching the PCB clean-up of the Hudson River are suggesting a modest change
in 2013 cleanup plans. Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.

The nation just celebrated its 37th annual “Great American Smokeout.”  The Great American Smokeout has been offered as an opportunity for smokers to think about quitting and as an opportunity to reflect on society’s gains against the tobacco menace.

And big changes have occurred over the decades.  Nationally, the smoking rate peaked at 42 percent when the U.S. Surgeon General’s report was issued and proved the link between smoking and cancer.  Today the nation’s smoking rate is 19 percent, and here in New York that rate is even lower.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick headed a list of hundreds of government, academic and business leaders who gathered in Holyoke Friday to mark the completion of an energy efficient high performance computing center.   WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

 Governor Patrick said the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center holds great scientific and economic promise, and he praised the partnership of government, academia and business that built the $165 million dollar center.

As the holiday season approaches and cold weather sets in, food pantries in the region will be seeing more visitors. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports that in Western Massachusetts, demand for services is up, while  food supply is low.

Education and business officials came together today in Saratoga County with the high tech future in mind.  GlobalFoundries and the Center for Economic Growth organized the meeting at the Saratoga Technology and Energy Park to develop a regional 13 county laboratory to promote the future of an educational system that must meet the needs of a growing technology sector. Michael Tucker is the CEO and executive director of the Center for Economic Growth. He spoke with WAMC’s Brian Shields.

On election night, we spent part of the evening with friends who, like us, had served in the U.S. Peace Corps. The group had invited Diane Reiner to speak about her experience in Uganda. She brought Ronald Sseruyange (pronounced Sse as in send, ru as in rue the day, yang as in fang, and ending with the ge pronounced gay) from Kampala. Diane described going to Kampala originally on a photographic expedition. While there, she wanted to see the conditions of the poor and was introduced to Ronnie. Ronnie had lived in the street for ten years beginning when his mother died when he was six.

Neighborhoods in one Orange County city have embraced activism as a tool for social change. Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.

.Citizens in Newburgh are known for being vocal: community activists affiliated with "Community Voices Heard" recently rallied over affordable housing  - concerned about high rents and buildings they say are in poor condition. Beatrice Pulliam is a 23 year old mother with severe health issues - worried about the neighborhood she lives in.