News stories tagged with "jefferson-county"

(11/11/11) There are support groups for service members and spouses, but what about the children of 10th Mountain Division soldiers sent overseas? Last spring, a theater class at Indian River High School teamed up with a local playwright to produce a very personal look at how teens respond to their parents' deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. In response to positive reaction, the play, In My Shoes, will be performed again tonight in Sackets Harbor and Saturday night in Clayton. Todd Moe met the students and creative team last June.

(07/18/11) We heard St. Lawrence Seaway Administrator Terry Johnson talk about bringing "containers" into the Seaway. Those are the norm of international commerce - all-purpose boxes that fit on ships, trucks, and trains. They can carry anything from paper clips to teddy bears to computers.

Seaway officials have trumpeted container traffic as a huge growth opportunity for the better part of a decade. Yet the infrastructure's still not in place. Few, if any, Great Lakes ports have the cranes to off-load containers.

Todd Moe reports at least one industry analyst is skeptical. more

(07/06/11) The idea of an Interstate across the North Country to connect Watertown and Plattsburgh is more than 50 years old. It's had different names: the rooftop highway, the Northern Tier Expressway, Interstate 98. But it's never faced any organized opposition, until now.

A group of residents in St. Lawrence County has formed "Yes Eleven." They argue that with a price tag of at least four billion dollars, and opposition from the state department of transportation, the rooftop highway is a pie in the sky.

John Danis is the co-coordinator of YES-Eleven. He told David Sommerstein the group's name references the notion that the rooftop highway is siphoning precious funds from existing infrastructure on the region's main existing artery--Route 11. more

(07/05/11) As deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, soldiers are getting more time at home. That means a growing population around Fort Drum near Watertown, and more traffic.

One particularly clogged road is State Route 26, a publicly accessible road that divides the Army base in two. It separates Wheeler-Sack Airfield and some training areas from the main part of the base.

Army planners are considering putting controls on the free-flowing traffic on Route 26. And that worries nearby towns. Joanna Richards reports. more

(06/24/11) A day after addressing the nation about his plans for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, President Barack Obama came to visit Fort Drum.

The Army post has carried a heavy burden of the fighting in that country and in Iraq. The 10th Mountain Division's headquarters, including its commander, General James Terry, are currently leading coalition forces in southern Afghanistan. Todd Moe reports. more

(06/23/11) Last night, President Obama unveiled a plan to withdraw 10,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of the summer, and another 20,000 soldiers by the end of next summer. That accounts for the troop surge Obama began two years ago.

Obama's first stop to sell his new Afghanistan strategy is this afternoon at Fort Drum near Watertown. The President will meet with soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division and with families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Fort Drum's been involved in Iraq and Afghanistan since the beginning. And as David Sommerstein reports, soldiers don't see their roles changing much yet. more

(06/22/11) The buildup of Fort Drum near Watertown has made Jefferson County one of the fastest growing places in Upstate New York. But it's also created a shortage of rental houses for military families and for civilians.

The problem hasn't come to a head yet because soldiers are constantly rotating in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan. But as the U.S. draws down troop presence in the Middle East, the military population around Fort Drum is expected to swell.

Officials have been leading a public-private effort to build more housing for years. Joanna Richards reports now is crunch time. more

(06/21/11) Lawmakers on both sides of the border are looking for answers after a fisherman's boat was seized in Canadian waters on the St. Lawrence River.

Canadian border agents said U.S. citizen, Roy Anderson, didn't check in at a port of entry. They fined Anderson a thousand dollars.

But Anderson's boat wasn't docked or anchored. Lawmakers say requiring boats that drift across the international border to check in would wreak havoc on the fishing and tourism industries. David Sommerstein reports. more

(06/09/11) Save the River is the only policy advocate on environmental issues on the U.S. side of the St. Lawrence River.

Now they are collaborating with area schools and taking students on field trips to learn from the river first hand. David Sommerstein tagged along with a group of seventh graders from Thousand Islands middle school and has this report. more

(06/09/11) The city of Watertown this week granted two food pantries' requests for special funding to buy more emergency food aid.

The pantries say they always see more need in summer, when children on free or reduced-price school breakfasts and lunches aren't getting those meals. As this summer approaches, the slow economy and rising costs means these nonprofit groups are struggling to keep up with increased demand. Joanna Richards has the story. more