New England News

Additional federal funding has been formally approved for a project to renovate the historic Union Station in Springfield Massachusetts.  WAMC”s Paul Tuthill reports.

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A year after Vermont inmates at a Massachusetts jail rioted over conditions there, Vermont has discontinued the contract under which it sent inmates there.

Vermont Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito says the Franklin County Jail and House of Detention in Greenfield reduced the number of Vermont inmates it would take from about 100 to below 50. He says at that point, it didn't make sense to continue the contract, which was allowed to expire June 30.

Vermont inmates rioted at the jail last July, amid complaints about conditions at the facility.

Food pantries are in dire straits this summer. Programs that feed the poor are seeing rising demand, less government help and higher prices for food.   WAMC”s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.

      An emergency food pantry in Springfield Massachusetts had to close temporarily for one day last week after its shelves went bare.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Emails between top state officials show that a week before Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced last year that the state will build a costly and contentious bus-only corridor between Hartford and New Britain, federal transportation officials still did not know if he would support or kill it.