This week on 22News InFocus with Patrick Berry

22 News In Focus continues to air on our 22 News Plus app. Host Patrick Barry joins us live in studio now with a preview. Patrick, what can we expect this week? This week, the Massachusetts Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, Lauren Jones, was here in our studios to talk about two important job opportunities. One for kids. Kids are always looking for summer jobs, so there's a youth employment opportunity that comes out of her office, as well as apprenticeship programs. It ties in perfectly with the report that came out earlier this week about the number of white-collar jobs that have disappeared over the last 18 months. So apprenticeships into the trades is really booming, and her office is trying to help people make those transitions. Additionally, we all are glued to our phones all the time, but there's a national organization with a chapter out of East Longmeadow called Wait Until Eighth, which is helping kids, those kids on eighth grade and younger, get off devices and be kids, have fun. So I talked with the two organizers here from the local chapter, learned more about that. A brilliant scientist out of UMass, Michael Rollins, has been studying Alaskan permafrost thawing. So in a big study, a multi-year study, just came out with important ramifications across the globe. I had the simple question, why should we here in Western Mass Care? Fascinating answer that he gave me. Additionally, prediction markets, they are all over the news lately. I had no idea about prediction markets. They first came to my mind back when the conflict with Iran first started. Moments before President Trump announced it, somebody placed a bet on these prediction markets that we would have a war with Iran, and that anonymous person made a lot of money. So the preeminent researcher on gambling and gaming, Dr. Rachel Volberg, also from UMass, came in to educate me and our viewers about what prediction markets are. So it was fascinating. And then the middle class, there's a lot of talk about the middle class disappearing. A researcher out of Boston came out to the studios here in Chicopee to talk about the study that she's been updating for the last 20 years about where the middle class stands, how much it costs to be in middle class nowadays. Some great interviews this past week. You can always catch them on the 22 News Plus app. If you haven't downloaded it yet, go to your Apple TV, your Fire TV, or your Roku device, search on 22 News Plus, download the app. There are a bunch of shows there, your shows there, my shows there. If you're into movies, Simply Cinema is up there. The summer movie season is coming out. If you're a sports person, Sports Corner is also there, which talks about all the latest Red Sox woeful games, as well as the Bruins playoffs, Celtics playoffs, and a whole bunch of other things. And then a unique program, Echoes of Us, In the Loop, and The Weather Blast, and like I said, your show and my show are all there. Download it now. Thanks, Patrick.