News

  Legislation has been proposed to regulate short-term room rentals in the largest city in western Massachusetts.

WAMC's Dr. Alan Chartock discusses President Trump's ongoing impeachment trial in the Senate, and reports that Trump will be the first sitting president to address the March for Life today in Washington, D.C. 

WAMC's David Guistina speaks with Melissa Mangini, editor-in-chief of the Albany Business Review, about a nonprofit coding school in Albany, New York that received $50,000 from Facebook to help expand its programs statewide. 

Here is NewsChannel 13 Meteorologist Paul Caiano's WAMC Regional Forecast:

A mix of sun and clouds today. Highs near 40.

The Mets made it official, hiring Luis Rojas as their manager to replace Carlos Beltrán. New York announced the move Thursday, a week after Beltrán departed without managing a game. Rojas, who had been the Mets quality control coach, was given a multiyear contract. Rojas became New York's fourth manager in the past 2 1/2 years — and third in four months. 

A Middlebury College student organization has invited a guest speaker back three years after his appearance sparked a rowdy protest during which a professor was injured.

The Burlington City Council met on Tuesday this week, its regular session delayed one day due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.  City councilors had a full agenda that included a review of items that will appear on the Town Meeting Day ballot in March.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved Pittsfield, Massachusetts’ Hazard Mitigation Plan.

The University at Albany is joining a number of college campuses across the country in becoming tobacco free.

Meteorologist Garett Argianas delivers the evening weather forecast for Thursday, January 23, 2020.

(Airs 1/23/20 @ 3 p.m. & 1/25/20 @ 5:30 a.m.) WAMC's Dr. Alan Chartock speaks with the new Assembly Minority Leader in New York, William Barclay.

Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg will be in Vermont on Monday.

An environmental group believes the class of toxic chemicals at the center of contamination crises in communities like Hoosick Falls and Newburgh can likely be detected in all major water supplies in the United States.

Jim Lehrer, the co-founder of "NewsHour" on PBS, a journalism giant and frequent presidential debate moderator, has died at age 85. The network announced the news Thursday. Lehrer was a regular guest on WAMC's Roundtable over the years, discussing both his journalism and fiction. Here are two archival interviews, from 2009 and 2011.

(Airs 1/23/20) Today at 1 O'clock- an encore interview - WAMC’s Alan Chartock In Conversation with William K. Black - Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC), Distinguished Scholar in Residence for Financial Regulation at the University of Minnesota Law School, and White-Collar Criminologist.

Michael Barrett was appointed executive director of the Adirondack Mountain Club in late September 2019, taking over for Neil Woodworth, who spent three decades leading the conservation and recreation group. Barrett is a Putnam County native who served as a foreign language interrogator for the U.S. Army and has worked in state government in New York and Missouri. 

Newschannel 13 meteorologist Paul Caiano delivers the Midday Weather Summary for Thursday, January 23, 2020.

In 2014 in the book "Dog Whistle Politics," Ian Haney López named and explained the coded racial appeals exploited by right-wing politicians over the last half century and thereby anticipated the 2016 presidential election. Now the country is heading into what will surely be one of the most consequential elections ever, with the Right gearing up to exploit racial fear-mongering to divide and distract, and the Left splintered over the next step forward. Some want to focus on racial justice head-on; others insist that a race-silent focus on class avoids alienating white voters.

Can either approach - race-forward or colorblind - build the progressive supermajorities necessary to break political gridlock and fundamentally change the country’s direction?

The new book is "Merge Left: Fusing Race and Class, Winning Elections, and Saving America."

Bethlehem, New York Supervisor David VanLuven gave his State of the Town address Wednesday night.

On January 19, The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, New York opened two new exhibitions: “Francisco Goya: The Caprichos Etchings and Aquatints” and “Dox Thrash, Black Life, and the Carborundum Mezzotint.”

The exhibitions celebrate the works of two innovative printmakers from different eras and will be on view through March 22.

Jonathan Canning is the Director of Curatorial Affairs and Programming at The Hyde Collection and he joined us.

Town residents gathered in Great Barrington, Massachusetts for a public forum on marijuana bylaws Wednesday night.

  Shawn Stone joins us to talk about what he's seen lately and what cultural events are coming up this week in our region.

Seen: "Bad Boys for Life"

Upcoming:

• We Banjo 3 - Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, Thursday 1/23, 5 and 7:30 PM
• National Geographic Live - "Spinosaurus: Lost Giant of the Cretaceous" - Proctors, Mainstage, Schenectady, Thursday 1/23, 7 PM
• Eclectic Rock Showcase featuring Brasskill, The Wild Weeeds, Burt Murder - Helsinki Hudson, Hudson, Thursday 1/23, 8 PM
• Ben Butler - Curtain Call Theatre, Latham, preview Thursday 1/23 at 7:30 PM; through Feb. 8
• The Lawn Sausages 30th Anniversary - Hangar On the Hudson, Troy, Saturday 1/25, 5 PM
• Courtney Barnett w/s/g Hachiku - Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, Mass., Friday 1/24, 7 PM Levon Helm Studios, Woodstock, Saturday 1/25, 8 PM
• M.A.K.U. Soundsystem - MASS MoCA, Club B10, North Adams, Mass., Saturday 1/25, 8 PM
• The Lift Concert Series: Cellist Ashley Bathgate - Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Wednesday 1/29, 6 PM
• Greensky Bluegrass - The Egg, Albany, Wednesday 1/29, 7 PM

New movies: "The Gentlemen," "Les Miserables," "The Turning," "The Last Full Measure"

Our continent will soon have a new trade deal.

In today’s Congressional Corner, New York Congressman Paul Tonko, a Democrat from the 20th district, continues his conversation with WAMC’s Alan Chartock.

Thursday night, Massachusetts State Representative Lindsay Sabadosa of the 1st Hampshire District is making a visit to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The Democrat is the co-lead sponsor of a bill calling for Massachusetts to adopt a single-payer system that would offer Medicare For All in the state. Sabadosa was invited to speak by fellow Democrat and 2nd Berkshire District State Representative Paul Mark in Pittsfield at Tavern on the A. First, she talked with WAMC.

  The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond.

Today's panelists are WAMC's Alan Chartock, investigative journalist Rosemary Armao, Siena College Professor of Comparative Politics Vera Eccarius-Kelly, Tetherless World Professor of Computer, Web and Cognitive Sciences at RPI and Director of the RPI-IBM Artificial Intelligence research collaboration Jim Hendler, and Vice President for Editorial Development at the New York Press Association Judy Patrick.

WAMC's Dr. Alan Chartock discusses the first day of Democrats' opening arguments in the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump, and considers whether it will have an effect on American voters.