Midday Magazine on WAMC

Months after an adult learning center was shut down in Berkshire County after being denied funding by Massachusetts education officials, the Southern portion of the county is still without a program to provide for the area’s education needs. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

       Hampshire County Massachusetts is marking the  350th anniversary of its founding this year. Later this week people will have an opportunity to view rare old documents that highlight some of the early history of the region.  There is a grand celebration planned for this Friday in Northampton. WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill spoke with Todd Ford, the executive director of the Hampshire Council of Governments.

The polls don’t indicate it and my colleagues don’t believe it, but I think there are many reasons to assume Mitt Romney will be the next President of the United States. For one thing, the Romney candidacy is less significant than what is emerging as a referendum on the Obama presidency. President Obama has gone negative attempting to point out why voters should not support Romney, but he has not provided a narrative for his own support. In fact, with an approval rating of 47 percent he is losing the pro Obama constituents.

Two challengers will face off against the incumbent in Thursday’s primary for New York’s new 115th district.

Republican incumbent Janet Duprey, repeat challenger David Kimmel, and Karen Bisso, who has never before run for office, are on the ballot in Republican primary for the 115th Assembly District. Incumbent Janet Duprey was first elected in 2006 to the Assembly.

Janet Duprey joins her challengers in citing the key issue for the region as jobs.

Among the many races to be decided by primary elections tomorrow in New York, a very contentious contest for the Republican nomination in  the 43rd State Senate District , and a more issues-driven campaign for the Democratic nomination for the 107th Assembly District. The candidates in the 43rd, incumbent senator Roy Mc-Donald and challenger Kathy Marchione met for a debate last night and the charges and counter-charges flew.  Andrew Beam of the Troy Record was there. He spoke with WAMC’s Brian Shields.

A congressional committee has been looking into why the federal government overpaid New York State by more than $10 billion for the care of developmentally disabled people in state developmental centers. Congress began its probe after reports in the Poughkeepsie Journal. Mary Beth Pfeiffer, projects writer with the journal, says even though the overpayments were first detected in 2007, they still continued. She spoke with WAMC’s Brian Shields.

Question:  In a nation in which individual freedom is its most telling characteristic, how and why would church organized and ordained control of religious belief and practice become the most actively initiated and consistently sought-after power; second only to influence of the political system itself?

A 19-turbine industrial wind farm is near completion in the Northern Berkshires, but according to nearby residents, some uncertainties about the project’s impact on the environment and health remain. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

The Hoosac Wind Project, also known as the Bakke Mountain Wind Farm, could see all 19 standing wind turbines erected by the end of this week, according to spokesman from owner Iberdrola Renewables, Paul Copleman.

Eight candidates are vying to replace the retiring Jack McEneny in the 109th Assembly district. It is the first time in 20 years that someone has a shot at the Assembly seat that includes the state Capitol. Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.

Issues, Answers and Endorsements are spread across a six-candidate Democratic field: William McCarthy Jr. is a lawyer and political newcomer making his first bid for public office. He considers himself among the front runners going into Thrusday's primary.

As this political season and the race for the U.S. presidency in particular barrel toward Election Day, it seems that the real issues facing average, middle and working-class Americans are being obscured by innuendo and accusation. The goal here apparently is winning at all costs and amassing power, rather than practical problem-solving and serving the U.S. citizenry.