NCPR Regional News Archives

(02/03/12) Will Fort Drum suffer in the new round of Base Realignment and Closure? Bleak economic news for New York state. And the North Country's annual winter festivals go ahead, even if it is unseasonably warm.

(02/03/12) Gov. Andrew Cuomo is scheduled to come to Plattsburgh this morning. He's bringing his budget message to the Warren Ball Room, in the Student Center at SUNY Plattsburgh at 10:30 am.

Senior Cuomo staffers have fanned out across the state to talk about the budget.
The state's top environmental official was in Lake Placid Wednesday afternoon.

Joe Martens, spoke to a small crowd of local politicians, tourism officials, government employees and business owners. Chris Morris has our story. more

(02/03/12) Comptroller Tom DiNapoli is out with a report on the state of New York's economy, and the news is bleak. The Comptroller's numbers show that the already sluggish economic recovery in New York is losing momentum. The slowdown began in the second half of 2011, and is expected to continue into 2012, says Comptroller DiNapoli. In Albany, Karen DeWitt reports. more

(02/03/12) Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced last week that the military wants to close some installations as its reduces its force size and winds down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The process is called BRAC, for "base realignment and closure."

A spokeswoman for Fort Drum said the post isn't commenting on the announcement, but reporter Joanna Richards spoke with Carl McLaughlin, executive director of the Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization in Watertown, about how Fort Drum may fare as the BRAC process takes shape. more

(02/03/12) Winter carnivals fill the February calendar in the North Country. This year, continuing mild weather is proving a real challenge for towns whose annual winter festivals normally punctuate a cold, snowy season.

The WinterXcape Winterfest in Lowville was cancelled when heavy rains washed away most of their snow this week. But despite widespread rain and warm temperatures most festivals are still ago. Trevor Alford reports. more

(02/03/12) Thursday was Groundhog day, and Punxsutawney Phil tells us there'll be six more weeks of winter.

But for the North Country, winter doesn't really seem to have started yet: rain instead of snow, temperatures that have often been unseasonably warm, and a real lack of snow.

Nora Flaherty put in a call to the National Weather Service. Meteorologist Brooke Taber says there a few things going on. First, the polar jet stream is farther north than usual, and so far this winter, the North Country has been on the warmer side of the air flow.

(02/03/12) A new plan for controlling water levels in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River will be the main agenda item at Save the River's annual conference at the Clayton Opera House this weekend.

The new plan allows water levels to stay high (or low) for longer periods than the current plan does. The more natural fluctuations are intended to restore diversity in the shoreline ecosystems. Martha Foley has more. more

(02/03/12) John Warren, of the Adirondack Almanack, joins us Friday mornings with information about local outdoor and back-country conditions. more

(02/03/12) Artists Matt Burnett and Scott Fuller are known for creating several large scale outdoor art installations from Long Lake to Canton in recent years. They're back again this winter, and despite a lack of deep snow, they've put together an outdoor show at SUNY-Potsdam that combines elements of winter, nature and projected images.

Matt Burnett, who lives in the Adirondacks, and his collaborator Scott Fuller, from Maine, used large snow sculptures as a canvas for video images in a large scale outdoor exhibit at St. Lawrence University last year. They worked on similar outdoor art projects in Saranac Lake and Long Lake.

They launched their outdoor "E-Fraction" show last night on the SUNY Potsdam campus. It will be illuminated nightly on campus through the middle of next week. Todd Moe has a preview. more