Midday Magazine on WAMC

WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard spoke with Rosalynn Frederick, a teacher from Great Barrington, Massachusetts, who is planning to run from California to New York in order to raise money for a fund that will allow middle and high school students to travel outside the country.

New York State will have some new laws that take effect January first. One is a multi-layered legislative package that provides new protections for domestic violence victims. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill package October 25th.  One piece of the legislation increases the penalty for repeat offenders to a felony by creating a Class E felony, Aggravated Family Offense. Manhattan District Attorney and President of the New York District Attorneys Association of the State of New York Cyrus Vance, Jr., said this addresses an underlying issue: the ability of offenders to abuse their victims again and again without serious consequences.

Just as people in places like the Maldives, Bangladesh and Japan shook their heads at the cluelessness of Americans who suddenly woke up to climate change when Sandy came to town, people living in hot spots of violence around the world now have every right to be shaking their heads at the collective American refusal to see and understand how, in the wake of the Newtown massacre, we are the cause of our own misery.

Schenectady joins Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Utica on the list of most impoverished school districts in New York State... Capital Region Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.

Massachusetts has once again been recognized as the number one state in the US for its “New Economy.” WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

Although the truce between Gaza and Israel didn’t lead to an unequivocal result, Israeli officials said they destroyed most rocket launchers and Gazan leaders maintain the settlement means they resisted the Israeli offensive and have been emboldened by their relative success. Is there a victor in this struggle?

Since the next two Tuesdays fall on Christmas and New Year’s Day when this station will be airing special holiday programming, I need to get my New Year’s wishes in now.

The mass-shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut is sparking more conversation about public safety, treatment of mental illness, and gun control, and the argument remains how state and federal will governments approach the issue.

John Rosenthal is Founder and Chairman of Newton, Massachusetts-based Stop Handgun Violence. He says that the common thread between the crimes in Newtown and others in recent history remains unregulated access to weapons.

Citizens are looking for answers in the wake of Friday's deadly shooting in Connecticut; police agencies are reviewing their preparedness and procedures; lawmakers are attempting to tighten already strict gun control laws in New York.

Capital Region Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.

New York is often referred to as a state where it is "difficult to get a gun". The way the law is interpreted can vary from county to county.

Each year, so many downright awful movies make it into theaters. If you set out to compile a list of the ten-best films of a given year, you easily might cite the 25 worst films... or the 35... or the 50. And unfortunately, 2012 was no different.