WAMC Northeast Report on WAMC

A New York state Senator who won election by 18 votes, 2 ½ months after Election Day, and only after New York’s highest court became involved, wants to ensure every vote counts. To this end, she is sponsoring two bills.

The 46th Senate District race was decided 73 days after Election Day, after the intervention of New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals. Democratic Senator Cecilia Tkaczyk says her bills are based on her election experience against then-Republican Assemblyman George Amedore. She wants every vote to count.

A ninth grade English teacher at Springfield Central High School has been singled out for a top honor in her profession in Massachusetts.

Anne Marie Bettencourt said it was a teacher who convinced her to stay in school when she was a student at New Bedford High School. Now she pays it forward as she works in a program to improve the graduation rate at Springfield Central High School where she teaches freshman English.  Bettencourt was introduced as Massachusetts Teacher of The Year at a surprise program on Tuesday in the school’s library.

The National Ski Areas Association is reporting that ski resorts in New England and New York rebounded this past winter from a lackluster 2012 season with a 20 percent increase in skier visits.

A hearing by Senate Republicans on New York City’s public campaign financing system was overshadowed by protests, as government reform groups and other members of the public were denied entry, and noisy protests ensued.

The Senate GOP sent out notices that there would be a public hearing on what the Republicans say are the “abuses” in New York City’s public campaign finance system.

Newschannel 13 Meteorologist Jason Caterina pinch hits for Garett Argianas today with our evening weather forecast for Tuesday, May 7, 2013. 

Industrial development agencies across New York granted $1.5 billion in tax breaks to companies that promised to expand, and create new jobs, in 2011. In a new audit, state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says the IDA’s, which operate at the local and country level, have improved their overall performance but some say there are still reasons to be concerned.

It seems clear that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev exploded bombs at the Boston Marathon. Although some wanted him tried as an enemy combatant outside of the requirements of the Constitution, the Obama Administration has brought charges in the federal courts.

As the Farm Bill moves through the Senate Agriculture Committee and eventually on to the full Senate, New York U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand leads one-third of the Senate in calling for the protection of critical food assistance, urging her colleagues not to balance the budget deficit by cutting food stamps. 

The Farm Bill under consideration would slash $4.1 billion in food stamps funding over the next decade. Government statistics show that half of food stamp beneficiaries are children.

Much of the opposition to a proposed utility merger in the Hudson Valley has focused on community concerns, such as jobs, rate hikes, and investing locally. Now, at least one community member has taken his concerns to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Canadian energy company Fortis would acquire Poughkeepsie-based CH Energy Group, parent of Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation, for about $1.5 billion. New Paltz resident Karl Budmen says shareholders will lose.

May is nationally recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month, and mental health advocates in the Berkshires are becoming involved to educate the public about the resources available for those living with mental illness.

As part of a way to draw attention to mental illness is his local community, North Adams mayor Richard Alcombright recently called together a discussion with mental health professionals and representatives of area mental health service providers.