Midday Magazine on WAMC

A slow-moving winter storm has blanketed the region with up to 10 inches of snow in some spots. It is expected to add a bit more snow by the time it clears out early this afternoon. 

Polls show Democratic  Congressman Ed Markey is the frontrunner in the special election for US Senate in Massachusetts.   His primary opponent, Congressman Stephen Lynch is trying to shore up support among key Democratic constituencies. 

   The dean of the Massachusetts delegation, Ed Markey has a huge lead of 29 points over his Democratic primary opponent, fellow Congressman Stephen Lynch, in a poll released this week by the Boston Herald and  UMass Lowell. Markey leads Lynch, 50 percent to 21 percent among likely primary voters.

Some 175 people packed a large room last evening at New Horizons Resources in Dutchess County. They were there to hear about how a proposed funding cut to non-profit service providers for people with developmental disabilities, like New Horizons, would affect them and their families.

In Albany today, state legislators, patient advocates, labor leaders, and health care professionals unveiled a new proposal for government funded, universal, single-payer statewide health insurance.

WAMC’s Patrick Donges spoke today with New York Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, Democrat of Manhattan’s 75th district, sponsor of the bill and chair of the Assembly Health Committee.

Study abroad programs are expensive programs for colleges and universities.  In Vermont, two small colleges reflect different approaches - one is struggling with costs, while another expands international studies. 

As many of us expected, our leaders in Washington were unable to overcome their ideological differences long enough to actually do something about the looming and manufactured deadline for federal budget cuts known as the 'sequester'.

Restaurants across the Hudson Valley will be highlighting their culinary offerings and locally-grown ingredients during the seventh annual Hudson Valley Restaurant Week to be held March 11-march 24.  In the middle of it all is the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park . More than 170 establishments in seven counties will take part. For more on Hudson Valley Restaurant Week, we spoke with founder Janet Cranshaw, the publisher of the Valley Table.

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In the prayers associated with the biblical tale of Exodus is the idea that each generation seeks new found freedoms extending the rights of individuals. The seder has come to endorse the expression of this liberation. At some level this is understandable since Pharaoh denied Jews religious freedom prompting Moses to lead his flock to a land where Jews could live without dictatorial imposition.

The Dutchess County clerk has written to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in relation to implementing The New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, or SAFE Act. He is asking the state to reimburse Dutchess for the costs affiliated with enacting the legislation.