News

By Deborah Runcie

By Jessica Bloustein

Springfield, MA – Flood-ravaged communities in Western Massachusetts are awaiting assessment by State and Federal emergency management agencies. The assessments will determine whether or not the cities and towns will get money to repair damaged property.

WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Jessica Bloustein reports.

By Jessica Bloustein

Albany, NY – Students at the University at Albany had one last chance Friday to register to vote in the November eighth general election. Student leaders joined the New York State Public Interest Research Group in reinforcing its push for election day voter registration in New York.

W-A-M-C's Jessica Bloustein reports.

By Carrie Saldo

Stockbridge.MA – The soggy, damp weather hasn't deterred leaf peepers from the Berkshires. In Stockbridge, Massachusetts it's the typical autumn scene. People are walking the downtown with snapping pictures and recording video footage of the fall foliage as they go. Our Berkshire Bureau Chief, Carrie Saldo spoke with some of them Friday afternoon.

By Pat Bradley

Ray Brook, NY – The chair of the Adirondack Park Agency is proposing changing the public comment period that is allowed during the Board's monthly meeting. APA Board Chair Ross Whaley wants to reduce public input, and the idea is stirring up a hornets nest of criticism in the Adirondacks. WAMC's North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley has more.

By Pat Bradley

Albany, NY – The Environmental Protection Agency has announced proposed changes to provisions of the Clean Air Act that requires power plants to upgrade emissions controls when physical changes are made to older power plants. Environmentalists say the EPA's proposed changes to the New Source Review provision would actually increase emissions and lead to more acid rain and detrimental health affects for those downwind. WAMC's North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley reports.

By Deborah Runcie

Albany, NY – Car insurance rates in New York State are dropping faster than anywhere else in the country.
WAMC's Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Deborah Runcie tells us why.

By Carrie Saldo

Cheshire, MA – Many communities are still in the process of assessing the damage resulting from heavy rainfall over the past week. The wet weather has also kept highway crews in Berkshire County extremely busy maintaining and repairing the many dirt roads that wind through it.

By Jessica Bloustein

Boston, MA – The Massachusetts state legislature voted unanimously Wednesday to give forty-two million dollars in retroactive pay raises to thirteen thousand state college and university employees. The decision was an override of Governor Mitt Romney's September veto of the pay raise, contracted during former Governor Swift's administration.

W-A-M-C's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Jessica Bloustein reports.

By Carrie Saldo

Pittsfield, MA – The sole provider of natural gas for heating for Western Massachusetts may need to raise its rate by nearly 30 percent this season.