1370 Connection

One of the most active journalists covering the story of natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale Region says it's become controversial partly because of a spotty environmental record for the industry, and partly because of a lack of openness on the part of gas drilling firms about what they're doing and how they're doing it.

Tom Wilber is author of "Under The Surface; Fracking, Fortunes and the Fate of the Marcellus Shale." He says part of the reason why the process of drilling for gas with the hydraulic fracturing method, is the secretive nature of the process and the companies that use it.

Click on the audio player above to listen to a portion of his conversation with WXXI’s Bob Smith on Tuesday’s 1370 Connection.

In honor of National Healthcare Decisions Day, Excellus BCBS CEO David Klein talks personally about the importance of advance care planning, sharing his experience during his wife’s battle with cancer.  His wife Linde died in 2011, three years after her cancer diagnosis.

Klein spoke on 1370 Connection on WXXI-AM 1370 with WXXI’s Elissa Orlando. Dr. Patricia Bomba, Vice President and Medical Director, Geriatrics, at Excellus BCBS, joined in the conversation and reviewed the process for advance care directives.

The program aired on Monday, April 16, National Healthcare Decisions Day, which is an initiative designed to inspire, educate and empower the public about the importance of advance care planning.

Former Rochester Mayor Bill Johnson has publicly shared his thoughts about the controversial shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin.

Johnson wrote an op-ed piece published the Orlando Sentinel newspaper. Martin was shot and killed in Sanford, FL, a suburb of Orlando.

You can read Johnson’s piece at the newspaper’s website. In it he talks issues of race and police community relations in Rochester and the unique connection between our city and Sanford.

Click on the audio player above to listen to Johnson talk with WXXI’s Bob Smith about what he wrote and why he wrote it.

New York State is behind the curve when it comes to implementing President Obama's Affordable Health Care Act.

Blair Horner, American Heart Association Regional Vice President for Advocacy, says that because of the indecision and uncertainty created by ongoing court challenges to the program, New York has fallen behind in creating the program's mechanisms for shopping for and buying health insurance at an affordable price.          

Horner says if the courts eventually allow the program to stand, New York will have to act fast, or the federal government will have power to set up health care exchanges for New Yorkers.

New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has introduced a bill to boost the state's minimum wage by $1.25 per hour, but a new study by an Albany-based think tank shows that we would still lag behind a number of states, including several in the Northeast and Great Lakes, even if Silver's proposal passes this year.

Frank Mauro, executive director of the nonpartisan Fiscal Policy Institute, says our state compares poorly with some of the states around us.

Click on the audio player above to listen to a portion of WXXI’s Bob Smith interview with Mauro during Thursday’s 1370 Connection.

Mauro says hundreds of thousands of minimum wage workers in New York actually lag further behind an average worker in this state, than their counterparts in every other state. 

A co-inventor of digital photography whose pioneering work began 36 years ago at Eastman Kodak says he's proud of what he and his colleagues accomplished--even if Kodak was never able to take full advantage of it the way it once dominated chemically based photography.

Steve Sasson, who is now retired from Kodak, says in general he's happy to see the way digital picture-taking has blossomed.

Click on the audio player above to listen to a portion of the interview with WXXI’s Bob Smith on 1370 Connection on Thursday, February 16.

The State Education Department and New York State United Teachers have until Thursday to resolve their litigation over new evaluation standards for teachers and school administrators.

Click on the audio player above to listen to a portion of Urbanski's interview on 1370 Connection with WXXI's Bob Smith.

If they fail to do so, Governor Cuomo says he'll impose his own standards as part of his package of amendments to his proposed state budget.

Rochester Teachers' Association President Adam Urbanski says he's not surprised by the Governor's declaration, but teachers and the education department hope to agree to a settlement before the governor can act.

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says Governor Cuomo’s proposed budget looks balanced, but he has concerns about the future.

Speaking on 1370 Connection with WXXI’s Bob Smith, DiNapoli said the state needs to keep track of revenues and do whatever it can to encourage more growth and more balance in the state’s economy so that revenues can remain stable and predictable.

Click on the audio player above to listen to a portion of the interview from 1370 Connection on Monday, February 13, 2012.

The Susan B. Anthony House has been granted an official state charter as a museum.

Executive Director Deborah Hughes says they'll soon unveil the official new name, The Susan B. Anthony Museum and House.

Click on the audio player above to listen to a portion of Hughes’ interview on 1370 Connection with WXXI’s Bob Smith on Tuesday, February 7.

The name change comes with an expanded range of exhibits and programs designed to bring visitors in touch with Anthony and the women's rights movement she helped found.

Hughes says the mission of the Anthony Museum and House will include greater online outreach to expand on the hundreds of thousands of online visits they now host each year on their website.

Rochester Police Chief Jim Sheppard talked with WXXI’s Bob Smith on 1370 Connection.  Sheppard says he’s already in talks with the Regional Greater Rochester Transit Authority about security and safety at the upcoming transit center as part of an overall effort to maintain and improve public safety in the downtown area.

He adds that there’s little cause for the kind of concern MCC brass expressed when they chose the Kodak HQ campus over the Sibley building for a center-city campus, and that the new transit center will further help alleviate any problems with loud and rowdy troublemakers away from Main Street.

Click on the audio player above to listen to a portion of the interview from Thursday, January 26.