WAMC Northeast Report on WAMC

Until two days ago, Jason Collins was part of the answer to an obscure trivia question. That is, name the two sets of twins that played center for the Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball team. And the answer is Jason and his brother Jarron along with Brook and Robin Lopez. But now Jason Collins is the answer to a less sports wonky trivia question, kind of first row on Jeopardy. The longtime NBA cener will forevermore be known as the first openly gay male on a current roster in a major American professional team sport.

Meteorologist Garett Argianas joins us to deliver the evening weather summary for Wednesday,  May 1, 2013.

Forty years ago, Richard Burns was a high school senior, getting ready to begin college at Hamilton in the fall. Today, he is the executive director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in New York City. This afternoon, Richard Burns returns to Hamilton to speak on “LGBTQ Rights, Past and Present” at the Red Room in the Kirner-Johnson building. He spoke to WAMC about what it was like 40 years ago to be gay and in college

The mayor of Springfield Massachusetts and a top official with MGM Resorts International signed a casino development deal on Wednesday.  The signing ceremony marks the start of a campaign to convince the city’s voters to ratify the agreement.

The Adirondacks came to life at the state capitol in Albany Monday as a wide sector of interests were showcased during Adirondack Day.

A day after veteran NBA player Jason Collins made national headlines by becoming the first active male athlete in the four major sports to come out as gay, state lawmakers, gay rights advocates and labor and law enforcement officials participated in Empire State Pride Agenda's annual lobby day in Albany.

Although New Yorkers are becoming more accepting following the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2011, activists and advocates want to ensure that gay rights and gay pride stay in the media spotlight.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno has chosen MGM Resorts International to develop an $800 million casino project in the city’s downtown. It puts MGM one step closer to competing for the lone casino license available in western Massachusett.

   Springfield would receive more than $25 million annually in taxes and other payments from MGM Resorts if it is successful in building the resort casino, under the terms of a comprehensive development agreement announced Tuesday by Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.

Meteorologist Garett Argianas delivers the evening weather summary for Tuesday, April 30, 2013.

I got into a discussion about a proposed 28th Amendment to our Constitution a few days ago. Turns out there's more than one proposal calling itself the 28th Amendment. I'm talking about the one that begins, "The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons only." There may be similar ones. There certainly are some calling themselves the 28th Amendment that address very different subjects and are totally misinformed. But the restriction of constitutional rights to natural persons is worth talking about.

One of the State University of New York campuses has a new Office of Campus Sustainability. Already, the college is one of eight SUNY campuses listed in the Princeton Review’s 2013 Guide to Green Colleges.

The State University of New York at New Paltz has hired a full-time sustainability coordinator, who begins May 1, and a part-time energy coordinator. The new office and its hires come in support of the SUNY New Paltz president’s recent submission of the Campus Sustainability Plan to the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment.