Midday Magazine on WAMC

Amid the uncertainty of the fiscal cliff and declining state revenues, this week Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick proposed a series of mid-year budget cuts to close a half-billion dollar gap in state funding. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard spoke to some that are concerned about the cuts.

Governor Patrick used his authority to propose emergency cuts in the state’s budget to close a $540 million gap in funding. And many are hoping that some of the governor’s planned cuts can be avoided.

Williamstown, Massachusetts-based journalist and author Alex Kershaw will mark the anniversary of Pearl Harbor with a talk at Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vermont Friday evening at 7. Kershaw will discuss his new book The Liberator, about one soldier’s 500-day march from Sicily to Dachau. Alex Kershaw spoke with WAMC’s Alan Chartock.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced a long-term lease agreement between CSX and Amtrak, enabling Amtrak to take full control of the Hudson Line between Schenectady and Poughkeepsie. Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.

The New York State Department of Transportation led the efforts to transform the 94-mile Hudson Line from Schenectady to Poughkeepsie from a CSX freight-controlled line to an Amtrak-controlled line.

Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole notes the "transfer of power" paves the way for several significant rail improvement projects totaling $181 million...

Earlier this week, officials in five states announced they would be participating in a pilot program that would add hundreds of hours in classroom time to the school year. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard has more…

It's that time of year: across New York, county legislative bodies continue to review and change proposed budgets. Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas takes a look at the process and progress in this "sour" economy...

Ever since New York’s nefarious Kinderhook ‘Kingfish’ unleashed the venal voice of political patronage that forever soiled what could have been a proud and venerable national heritage, with the merit-less motto of: “To the winner goes the spoils!”, those engaged in government via politics and pertinent appointments, at state and local levels, have made the concept of ‘You scrub my back and I’ll scrub yours,’ standard operating procedure.  The problem is that not a lot of dirty laundry has come clean, since political practitioners at state and local levels were seemingly seduced by Thomas Je

Mr. Cuomo is finally going to Washington.

That’s right, Governor Andrew Cuomo is making his first trip today to our nation's capital since he took office back in January 2011. Most governors would not have waited this long. But Cuomo is not most governors. Cuomo has largely avoided out-of-state travel. He has left New York's borders only a handful of times – for a West Coast fundraiser, a quick visit to the annual Somos el Futuro conference in Puerto Rico, a one-day jaunt to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC.

A new $45 million dollar emergency and trauma center opened at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield this morning.  The state of the art facility will treat critically injured and ill people from throughout western Massachusetts.  WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

The new emergency department at Baystate Medical Center’s main campus in Springfield’s North End was opened to receive patients beginning at 7:30  Monday morning. The new facility is 72,000 square feet, 55,000 square feet larger than the old emergency room.

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET. A CHRISTMAS CAROL (the 1938 and 1951 versions). CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT. THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. THE BISHOP’S WIFE. A CHRISTMAS STORY. These are among the holiday perennials: the movies that we savor watching and enjoying, the films that are the equivalent of a warm fire on a cold night and the automatic smile that comes when you are handed a steaming cup of hot apple cider.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is in the Nation's Capitol today to make a 42-Billion dollar pitch to Congress for storm aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.