WAMC Northeast Report on WAMC

There will be no senate comeback bid this year for Scott Brown. The former Republican senator announced Friday he will not run in the special election to fill the vacancy left by  John Kerry’s departure.

Brown  who became a national Republican star with his upset victory in the 2010 special election for senate in Massachusetts, then lost to Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren last year, has decided to sit out this year’s senate campaign.

Your afternoon regional weather summary with meteorologist Garett Argianas.

A coalition of groups is again calling on Vermont’s leaders to impose a tax on  sugar sweetened beverages to combat obesity.        

The Alliance for a Healthier Vermont is once again proposing that the state impose a one cent per ounce tax on sugar sweetened beverages. The Alliance has failed to get such a measure through the Legislature in past sessions.  American Heart Association Vermont Government Relations Director Tina Zuk says formal legislation will be introduced next week.

John Kerry is spending his final day as a United State Senator thanking the people of Massachusetts. Events were scheduled in the state’s three largest cities, with the farewell tour beginning in Springfield.

After 28 years representing Massachusetts in the United States Senate John Kerry said closing that chapter of his career is bittersweet.

There’s a danger for commentators who gather listeners with age.  It’s a trap to be avoided at all costs; too easy to fall into and escapable only with the greatest of difficulty…  as this commentator can now attest, from bitter experience.  The trap?  A wily metamorphosis that turns commentators into ‘cussed’ curmudgeons.

Your afternoon regional weather summary with meteorologist Garett Argianas.

The New York Farm Bureau has released its state priorities for this year. During a conference call,  officials outlined their agricultural policy goals.

Officials with New York’s farm advocacy organization said their focus this year is strengthening the economy and future of farms and growers. Farm Bureau President Dean Norton noted that the average age of a New York farmer is 56. According to a 2007 Ag census, about 19-hundred farm operators are under the age of 35, while over 33-hundred are over age 75.

Pittsfield-area commercial leaders and experts participated in a forum Tuesday to discuss bringing their businesses to an international level. 

U.S. Representative Richard Neal said that the forum he organized for the business community in his new Congressional district is similar to forums he previously held in a former district closer to Boston. Neal said that across the Massachusetts have a significant potential for growth in a new global marketplace.

The President of the United States has some tough questions to answer.  And how he answers might determine what he can do over the next four years, whether he’s effective or lame-duck, an elitist or a man of the people.

Your afternoon regional weather summary with meteorologist Garett Argianas.