The Capitol Pressroom

Nov 04 2024 500 ep. 15 mins 98

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Tracking New York's background radiation levels

Nov 04 2024 9 mins

Nov. 4, 2024 - Riverkeeper staff attorney Victoria Leung explains the rationale behind legislation requiring state environmental officials to proactively disclose the results of background radiation monitoring they're conducting.

Meeting the unique mental health needs of veterans

Nov 01 2024 22 mins

Nov. 11, 2024 - In light of the severe and unique mental health needs of some veterans there is an effort to treat them with specially trained mental health providers. We discuss the idea behind a veterans mental health training initiative with Dr. Frank Dowling, an associate professor with Stony Brook University, and Aynisa Leonardo, a licensed clinical art therapist.

Chronic absenteeism continues to plague New York schools

Nov 01 2024 15 mins

Nov. 1, 2024 - Chronic absenteeism spiked during the pandemic around the country and continues to be a problem, with nearly one in three kids meeting this distinction in the 2022-2023 school year in New York, according to a report from the state comptroller's office. We discuss the issue and how it can be addressed with Lynn Jennings, senior director of strategic initiatives and na

New York veterans surveyed on their thoughts and needs

Nov 01 2024 13 mins

Nov. 1, 2024 - A new survey of former service members in New York is providing a fresh perspective on the challenges facing veterans and how to meet their needs. We discuss these findings and what should come next with Derek Coy, a senior program officer for the New York Health Foundation, which commissioned the study.

Using Medicaid funds to fight child poverty

Oct 31 2024 12 mins

Oct. 31, 2024 - Sen. Andrew Gounardes, a Brooklyn Democrat, wants to get creative with federal and state resources by doling out an $1,800 cash payment for families on Medicaid who have a child.

Tapping into early warning network to fight wildfires

Oct 31 2024 11 mins

Oct. 31, 2024 - To better prepare for future wildfires the State Department of Environmental Conservation is partnering with the early warning weather detection system at the University at Albany. We discuss the new partnership with June Wang, director of the New York State Mesonet at UAlbany, and Scott Jackson, a captain with the state forest rangers.

NY incident management team responds to Hurricane Helene

Oct 31 2024 20 mins

Oct. 31, 2024 - In the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, more than 200 state and local government employees from New York were deployed to help communities across the South. We talk about this experience with Adam Picket, Nick Johnston, and Erin Hanczyk, who are part of the state's incident management team and were deployed to North Carolina.

Connecting student journalists with local news outlets

Oct 31 2024 13 mins

Oct. 31, 2024 - SUNY is looking to build on the existing partnerships between local news outlets and students journalists with a summer internship program starting in 2025. We explore the potential benefits of these relationships with Todd Franko, project manager for the Center for Community News, which is working with SUNY on these initiatives.

Rethinking New York's environmental goals

Oct 30 2024 23 mins

Oct. 30, 2024 - New York is not on track to hit its green energy and emission reduction goals for 2030, so the Citizens Budget Commission says it's time to reset our goals so our response to the climate crisis can be recalibrated. We examine this argument, including what it means for an effort to cap pollution, with Andrew Rein, the group's president.

SUNY leader discusses higher education landscape

Oct 30 2024 19 mins

Oct. 30, 2024 - SUNY Chancellor John King discusses the effort to bring higher education into New York's prisons, ensure a smooth transition for transferring students, and a campaign to automatically accept qualifying students into select public institutions.