Midday Magazine on WAMC

The race to represent the newly-drawn 19th Congressional district, which includes Ulster, Dutchess, Greene and Columbia counties, returns Chris Gibson to Washington -   Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.

Chris Gibson's supporters gathered last night in Valatie at the Winding Brook Country Club.  There were nervous moments, as a recent Siena poll had challenger Kingston Attorney Julian Schreibman closing the gap: trailing the Congressman by just 5 points...

If high school students could vote, President Barack Obama would sail to an easy re-election. A mock vote was held at 130 high schools across the country, and on Sunday night, the votes were counted. Obama received 50 percent of the vote and 316 electoral votes, while Mitt Romney took 41 percent of the popular vote, and 208 electoral votes. This mock election has been held every four years since 1988. It was organized by Jim Shea a teacher at Northfield-Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts. He spoke with WAMC’s Brian Shields.

Battle lines have been drawn: districts have been redrawn. Several of today's most-watched races are taking place in the Hudson Valley. WAMC's Dave Lucas reports.

In Congress, Republicans Chris Gibson and Nan Hayworth are running for second terms in newly re-drawn districts against fiercely competitive Democratic challengers.

Hayworth is up against former Clinton White House aide Sean Patrick Maloney, in the battle for the new 18th Congressional District, which includes Orange and Putnam counties along with portions of Dutchess and Westchester.

State lawmakers in Berkshire County are asking Massachusetts to hold onto its recently announced fiscal surplus, to use only in case of emergency. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

State financial officials announced last week that the Commonwealth is facing a $116 million surplus in last year’s FY 2012 budget. When desposited into the state’s so-called “Rainy Day Fund”, it brings that amount to over 1.6 billion dollars. That makes Massachusetts a state with one of the largest cash reserves in the country, only behind Texas and Alaska.

In so many Hollywood films of yesteryear, American soldiers and war veterans-- particularly those of the World War II era-- are depicted as valiant, well-adjusted warriors who have fought for their country. They smile, even if they are wounded. Upon coming home, they are ever-willing to be embraced by their loved ones while disappearing into the mainstream and getting on with their lives.

A large employer in Berkshire County has recently announced they are expanding and planning to bring more jobs to the area, with an agreement to purchase a stationery company based in Southern Maine. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

Anyone who's jumped off a haystack or played on a trampoline, knows the pleasurable feeling of weightlessness, wherein there are, for a fleeting moment, no more sagging body parts.

Felix Baumgartner, a 43-year old Austrian military parachutist, intentionally jumped from a capsule 24 miles up, on Oct 14, thus certainly knowing weightlessness for a decent amount of time. And what a fascinating lot of physics the man who fell from space experienced!

Kudos for crank radios, jeers for the two-party system and some ideas about fracking - they're all included in this week's highlights from the WAMC Listener Comment Line.