WAMC Northeast Report on WAMC

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s cross-party endorsement of Republican Senator Stephen Saland could be a blow to Rhinebeck Village Board of Trustees member Terry Gipson, the Democrat in the three-way race for the 41st district seat. Cuomo says he’s endorsing Saland to honor his courage in breaking with his party to vote for same-sex marriage last year. Gipson spoke with WAMC’s Ian Pickus.

The North Country Mission of Hope works to help the impoverished in Nicaragua.  Annual trips by volunteers from New York’s North Country have aided schools, medical clinics and hospitals. The group, based in Plattsburgh, just received its second largest donation of materials.

Old hospital beds, chairs, file cabinets, wash basins, dressers, even bathroom sinks were being loaded onto trucks at the old Cedar Hedge Nursing Home in Rouses Point.    

This week, arts and cultural leaders in the Berkshires welcomed the launch of a new statewide advocacy organization that places an emphasis on arts education and arts as economic development. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

At the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield this week, supporters gathered to introduce MASSCreative. Matt Wilson, MASSCreative’s Executive Director, said that the organization is ready to send a unified political message advocating for arts education and building strong communities.

A new bakery is being hailed as economic shot-in-the-arm for the town of Ulster - Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer announced this week that Bread Alone, Inc. & Largay, LLC have been jointly awarded a Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan for a total of 4-point-6 Million Dollars from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development. This funding will be used to acquire a 26-thousand square foot facility at 2105 Ulster Avenue, which will be converted into a commercial bakery and retail outlet.

In last night’s presidential debate, former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney stated that while in Boston both sides came together to create an assault weapons ban. But is that statement accurate? WAMC’s Lucas Willard did some fact-checking and filed this report.

In last night’s presidential debate, moderator Candy Crowley pressed Mitt Romney’s stance on a federal assault weapons ban – asking why he came from supporting an assault weapons ban in Massachusetts to not supporting a federal ban. This was his response.

Work began Wednesday  in the western Massachusetts town of  Pelham to remove a public safety threat and at the same time provide an ecological benefit to the region.  WAMC”s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

Environmental officials, and others celebrated as work began to remove a stone dam on the Amethyst Brook. It will result  in better water quality and open a corridor for the migration of aquatic wildlife, according to  Wendi Weber, the northeast regional director for the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service.

One of the most-watched contests in Vermont this election season is the race for the state Attorney General.  The state’s largest newspaper recently hosted a debate between the three candidates vying for the position.

Massachusetts launched a network Tuesday to allow healthcare providers to share patient’s electronic medical records.  It was hailed as a milestone in the effort to bring better coordination to the cumbersome health care system.. WAMC”s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

During the fund drive I heard Joe Donahue and this station working hard to bring Bill McKibben to this audience and lead us away from the catastrophe of global warming. He and the station did a great service and I am proud to be associated with them.

If your house was on fire you wouldn’t stand like a bystander waiting for it to collapse; you’d call the fire department and get anyone you could reach out of there fast.