WAMC Northeast Report on WAMC

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.

Work began Wednesday  in the western Massachusetts town of  Pelham to remove a public safety threat and at the same time provide an ecological benefit to the region.  WAMC”s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

Environmental officials, and others celebrated as work began to remove a stone dam on the Amethyst Brook. It will result  in better water quality and open a corridor for the migration of aquatic wildlife, according to  Wendi Weber, the northeast regional director for the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service.

One of the most-watched contests in Vermont this election season is the race for the state Attorney General.  The state’s largest newspaper recently hosted a debate between the three candidates vying for the position.

Massachusetts launched a network Tuesday to allow healthcare providers to share patient’s electronic medical records.  It was hailed as a milestone in the effort to bring better coordination to the cumbersome health care system.. WAMC”s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

During the fund drive I heard Joe Donahue and this station working hard to bring Bill McKibben to this audience and lead us away from the catastrophe of global warming. He and the station did a great service and I am proud to be associated with them.

If your house was on fire you wouldn’t stand like a bystander waiting for it to collapse; you’d call the fire department and get anyone you could reach out of there fast.

Massachusetts is going to offer a secure electronic data storage service for municipalities at a new facility in Springfield. Its part of an effort by the state to help communities with information technology needs.   WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports

The third search this year for a new superintendent of a 6,000-student Berkshire school district is set to begin at the end of this month. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

At the end of this month, the Pittsfield School Committee will again begin its search for a new school superintendent. Currently, Dr. Gordon Noseworthy is serving as temporary superintendent, after being selected by the school board last June, though only for the current school year. Former superintendent Howard “Jake” Eberwein left his position last June.

A collective of agencies, institutions and individuals is working with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to prevent hundreds of acres of pristine land in Columbia County from falling into the hands of developers. Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.

Officials have their fingers crossed that the federally-supported Forest Legacy Program will help a band of groups including the Columbia Land Conservancy, Darrow School and the Berkshire Farm Center and Services For Youth, permanently protect 13-hundred-ten acres located in Canaan and New Lebanon.