Richard Hake

WNYC's news staff is hammering to get outside.  Here are some of their outdoor activity picks.

A salsa musician and Bronx native is stepping into the fray, in the lead-up to the Venezuelan presidential elections this Sunday. Willie Colon released a song that's criticizing the Nicholas Maduro, the candidate picked by the late Hugo Chavez. The song is called Mentira Fresca, or fresh lie, and is getting lots of attention.

Former Congressman Anthony Weiner says he’s interested in running for New York City mayor, two years after a Twitter sex scandal derailed his career. Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin, granted an extensive interview to The New York Times Magazine, and swam right back into the political waters this week.

It’s been two years since the uprising in Syria began. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have fled the country. One woman finds herself back in New York, caught at the intersection between the U.S. immigration system, war refugees and the conflict in Syria. 

Use a payphone, stop and smell the roses or watch as ladies in their Easter finery promenade up and down Fifth Avenue. These are just some of the suggestions WNYC staff have for this spring weekend.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn reached a compromise Thursday night with supporters of a bill that would require companies to provide paid sick leave for thousands of employees in the city.

Here are a few of the events some of the WNYC staff recommends for this weekend.

Here's how we'll be spending our weekend. We suggest you do the same.

For the past three years, ProPublica reporters Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein have been investigating the sometimes cozy relationship between drug companies and doctors. Their reporting has revealed that some doctors receive thousands of dollars a year promoting pharmaceutical products in speeches all over the country. 

There are always too many cultural options in New York City. For those who need some help deciding what to do, here are some tips from the WNYC staff.

The NYPD is trying a unique approach aimed to cut down on the number of juvenile offenders in the city by targeting those most as risk.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is betting on the Lottery to boost the state's coffers. As part of his budget proposal this year, he's calling for an expansion on the Quick Draw game, by allowing smaller Lottery vendors to start selling those tickets. But the proposal is not without controversy.

Significant snow is expected in our area between today and tomorrow. We get updates from:

• WNYC's Richard Hake with expected forecast in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.
• Adam Sobel, professor of Climate and Atmospheric Science at Columbia University, on why forecasts have been so different, what makes a blizzard a blizzard, and why this storm has a name.
• Jerome Hauer, commissioner of the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, on how the state is planning in advance of the worst of the storm.
• MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan on how public transit could be affected by the snow, and what to expect on commuter rail.

"Check on your neighbors, the elderly, make sure they've got water food and heat." -- NY Emergency Services spokesperson. #Nemo

— Brian Lehrer Show (@BrianLehrer) February 8, 2013

International powerhouse Hauser & Wirth has opened a gallery in what was once a roller rink and massive nightclub – the Roxy – on West 18th Street. The gallery is Hauser & Wirth’s second location in Manhattan. It also has a space on the Upper West Side.

As the White House crafts its proposals to overhaul the immigration system, a bipartisan group of senators has also been meeting to draft up its own comprehensive reform bill.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has put forward a plan to clean up the beleaguered Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. 

Stress is often associated with Christmas along with its promise of holiday cheer. But for residents who suffered great losses from Sandy and its aftermath there are extra burdens. In some cases storm's victims are putting their lives on hold.

We continue to cover the latest news from Newtown, CT, where 27 people were killed in a mass shooting. With:

• WNYC's Richard Hake, provides the latest news updates.
• Dr. Alex Afshar, head of Family Health Care Center of Newtown talks about trauma counseling after the shooting.
• Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal on what action the Senate will take and how his office is responding.
• Connecticut Congressman (CT-1) John Larson on what he is doing for his constituents.
• Evan Osnos, New Yorker China reporter, discusses a 36 year-old man's knife attack on an elementary school in China over the weekend in which all 22 victims survived. 

It's been almost a month since Sandy, a storm for the record books. WNYC checks in with some of the many people we met while reporting on the aftermath.

WNYC's Richard Hake and NJPR's David Furst provide extended news coverage of the nor'easter and its effects on the region's recovery from Sandy.