WAMC Northeast Report on WAMC

As we all know, the fate of the federal health care reform law is to be decided by voters this November.  There are those running against the law that argue that they want to “repeal and replace” the law. 

However, there has been no alternative offered by opponents – just vague promises, partial pledges and grotesque distortions of the federal law itself.

In the heat of the political season, it’s important to take a closer look at opponents’ promises.

If women were the only people who voted for president, Barack Obama would be poised to re-take the White House next month with a higher margin of victory than he had in 2008.

If only men voted, Mitt Romney would have the possibility of issuing a crushing defeat along the lines of Ronald Reagan’s 1980 victory over Jimmy Carter.

The Adirondack Council has released their annual State of the Park report, reviewing the actions of individuals, agencies and lawmakers and the subsequent impact on the 6-million acre Adirondack Park.

Today in Pittsfield the Governor of Massachusetts joined local and state officials to announce the opening of a brand new affordable housing building set to help revitalize a working class neighborhood. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

Governor Deval Patrick stood in the community room of the newly opened Rice Silk Mill, a 45-unit affordable housing building in Pittsfield’s Morningside neighborhood to pay tribute to the team work it took to make the project a reality.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s cross-party endorsement of Republican Senator Stephen Saland could be a blow to Rhinebeck Village Board of Trustees member Terry Gipson, the Democrat in the three-way race for the 41st district seat. Cuomo says he’s endorsing Saland to honor his courage in breaking with his party to vote for same-sex marriage last year. Gipson spoke with WAMC’s Ian Pickus.

The North Country Mission of Hope works to help the impoverished in Nicaragua.  Annual trips by volunteers from New York’s North Country have aided schools, medical clinics and hospitals. The group, based in Plattsburgh, just received its second largest donation of materials.

Old hospital beds, chairs, file cabinets, wash basins, dressers, even bathroom sinks were being loaded onto trucks at the old Cedar Hedge Nursing Home in Rouses Point.    

This week, arts and cultural leaders in the Berkshires welcomed the launch of a new statewide advocacy organization that places an emphasis on arts education and arts as economic development. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

At the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield this week, supporters gathered to introduce MASSCreative. Matt Wilson, MASSCreative’s Executive Director, said that the organization is ready to send a unified political message advocating for arts education and building strong communities.

A new bakery is being hailed as economic shot-in-the-arm for the town of Ulster - Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer announced this week that Bread Alone, Inc. & Largay, LLC have been jointly awarded a Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan for a total of 4-point-6 Million Dollars from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development. This funding will be used to acquire a 26-thousand square foot facility at 2105 Ulster Avenue, which will be converted into a commercial bakery and retail outlet.

In last night’s presidential debate, former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney stated that while in Boston both sides came together to create an assault weapons ban. But is that statement accurate? WAMC’s Lucas Willard did some fact-checking and filed this report.

In last night’s presidential debate, moderator Candy Crowley pressed Mitt Romney’s stance on a federal assault weapons ban – asking why he came from supporting an assault weapons ban in Massachusetts to not supporting a federal ban. This was his response.