News

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection has begun removing trees around a reservoir in Ulster County to limit the impact of an invasive beetle.

The New York City DEP Friday announced it has started the removal of some 2,000 ash trees to limit the impact of the emerald ash borer.

A recent Oscar winner has roots in the Berkshires. Pittsfield, Mass. native Caitrin Rogers co-produced 20 Feet From Stardom which received the Oscar for best documentary. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Jim Levulis spoke with Rogers about her experiences and the film which chronicles the lives of backup singers for some of music’s headliners.

A gay rights group banned from Boston’s St Patrick’s Parade may march in Holyoke.

   Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse extended an invitation to MassEquality to join Holyoke’s St Patrick’s Parade and a spokesman for the group said it is under consideration.   The Holyoke High School Gay Straight Alliance, which was founded by Morse, has lined up a sponsor to get a spot in the parade.

A woman who received a letter about the potential use of eminent domain to make way for a natural gas pipeline says she and others met with state officials to express concerns about the plan by Vermont Gas.

Officials are looking to raise $20 million to restore a century old landmark in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. 

   The Springfield Campanile – a 300 foot tower that stands between City Hall and Symphony Hall-- requires extensive structural repairs due to age and exposure to the elements, according to the city’s director of buildings Patrick Sullivan.

  " The interior structural steel is rusting and it is pushing out on the limestone blocks. So we need to take the blocks off and treat the steel."

A ruling by the National Energy Board of Canada that will allow a pipeline to carry tar sands oil from Ontario to Montreal is raising concerns from New England environmental groups.

Massachusetts continues to address problems with its health insurance website after a sluggish October launch.

U.S. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts is calling for a three pronged approach to the current drug abuse crisis that has produced an alarming spike in deaths blamed on heroin overdoses.

Senator Markey wants an expanded effort to prevent overdose deaths, increased availability of treatment for drug addiction, and to speed the rollout of new and improved treatments.

Next Wednesday, both houses of the New York State legislature are due to release their one house budget proposals, which they will then use to negotiate a final spending plan with Governor Andrew Cuomo. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, in an interview with NYS-PBS's New York Now and public radio stations, says Assembly Democrats are not yet on board with part of Cuomo’s plan to cut the estate tax.

The trails of the remaining suspects in the murders of three Berkshire County men will be held in Hampden County. David Chalue and Caius Veiovis are charged with helping Adam Lee Hall kidnap and kill David Glasser, Robert Chadwell and Edward Frampton, all of Pittsfield, in August 2011.