Northern Light

Senator Schumer is trying to get the word out on a program that provides veterans property tax breaks and credits that could save them hundreds of dollars per year. The North Country is slated to undergo a large health systems overhaul pending the recommendations of the North Country Health Systems Redesign Commission, which was announced this week. Following a burn ban four years ago, farmers are now finding new ways to dispose of their agricultural plastics waste: recycling. Renovations are underway in Watertown, where the historic Woolworth building downtown is getting a major facelift. Also, Todd Moe spoke with Lake Placid birder Larry Master about the unusual amount of Snowy Owl sightings in the region recently.

What's next for the North Country's prison towns? One tiny not-for-profit from New York City has an idea: Take the money saved from shuttering prisons and spend that money on agriculture. David Sommerstein has the latest from the Prison Time Media Project. Farmers across the state donated 8.4 million pounds of food to food banks this year. A meeting in Cape Vincent could clarify the future of a proposed wind farm. One of the most controversial recommendations in the report from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's anti-corruption commission report is to enact public financing of campaigns for statewide elections. In today's installment of Natural Selections: how seeing color is subjective. And we learn about a holiday tradition that's provided toys and clothing to families in need for decades in the Canton area.

Recent Inspector General reports found that Clayton's town supervisor, among dozens of current and former state prison officials, misused his work-issued vehicle at taxpayer expense. As part of the Prison Time Media Project, today Chris Knight shares a story on the culture of drug busts here in the North Country. In Albany, the governor's Moreland Act Commission on Corruption reports with harsh criticism on the culture of corruption and bribery in the state. Burlington will be the base for the new Air Force F-35 fighter jets that will phase out the existing F-16s.

Our Prison Media Time Project continues with the story of two men - a former inmate and a former corrections worker - who talk about their shared experience behind bars. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's anti-corruption commission released a scathing report Monday evening, criticizing what it called Albany's "culture of corruption." David Chanatry reports on the closing of a church in Syracuse... We meet Greg Caron, who transformed his Winthrop front yard into a park. Aileen O'Donoghue joins Martha Foley to talk about the December night sky. And Todd Moe talks with teacher and author John Austin about his new book that explores St. Lawrence County's divided role in the War of 1812.

The Prison Time Media Project continues this morning with a look into the culture and closures of North Country prisons and prison towns that depend on them. Fort Drum soldiers help spread Christmas cheer to the needy by volunteering at the local mission in Watertown. Martha Foley talks to Amy Ivy about winterberry and how to decorate with seasonably appropriate foliage during colder months. Connie Meng has a review of the Great Canadian Theater Company's "Goodnight Desdemona, (Good Morning Juliet)".

Heavy, wet snow is spreading across much of upstate New York as a wintry storm moves up the East Coast.Upstate New York's cities take in around 90% of all refugees coming to the state. As they adapt to new homes, the newcomers re-shape neighborhoods - but it is not easy. Todd Moe visits Long Lake Central School, where students, teachers, and staff celebrated Thanksgiving with a special lunch last week. Governor Andrew Cuomo has been urging New Yorkers to give to local food pantries, and as Zach Hirsch reports, his own office is leading by example. All this year, NCPR will report on how the school serves its two masters: the state and its students. In the first installment of our Inside School series, Sarah Harris takes us to Canton Central.

People across a broad swath of New York, Ontario and Vermont are in for some hard traveling this from a major winter storm bearing down on the region from the Midwest. New York State craft brewers are lobbying for tax reductions they say would help them keep their momentum. Hospitals, research labs, and universities provide some of the best jobs, but they face big hurdles, including the loss of government dollars. The governor has some harsh words for state lawmakers who are fighting his commission in court. And Todd Moe speaks with California singer-songwriter Jonathan Foster, who released his debut studio album, Sabbatical, earlier this year.

In recent days, Governor Andrew Cuomo seems to have cooled from his initial endorsement of the rapid transition to the adoption of the national education standards. And the first Common Core test results are out: only about 30% of students in grades three through eight were considered proficient in English. Monica Sandreczki of WSKG in Binghamton reports on why those scores are so low. Leaders of non-profits gathered last week in Tupper Lake to talk about their impact and their challenges. A Silver Lake man has settled the remaining claims in a multi-million-dollar federal lawsuit he brought against the state Adirondack Park Agency and the Adirondack Council. And in today's gardening conversation with horticulturist Amy Ivy: how cold is too cold for trees and shrubs?

Gov. Andrew Cuomo threw his support behind a pair of big hotel projects in Saranac Lake, meaning the two could win millions of dollars in state economic development funding. Also in Saranac Lake: the original manuscript of Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau's autobiography, which was hidden away for decades, was finally opened recently at a biomedical research institute there. Environment New York's Research and Policy Center says wind power is saving New York State more than 800-million gallons of water every year. A Rochester nonprofit has set up an alert system that will notify doctors when their patients are admitted to a hospital, or seen by an ambulance crew. Today is the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout. This year. the Cancer Society in New York is using the day to call attention to a decline in state spending on antismoking programs. And Todd Moe talks with historian and author Glenn Pearsall about his new book, When Men and Mountains Meet. It focuses on the history of the Adirondacks, just after the Revolutionary War.

Yesterday was a long day for state education commissioner John King. He and board of regents chair Merryl Tisch faced a barrage of criticism when they traveled to Schroon Lake in the Adirondacks to meet with parents and educators. And in Albany, King faced a bi-partisan grilling at a hearing on growing concerns over student privacy...Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that the state will partner with Trudeau Institute and Clarkson University to create a "world-class" biotechnology research and development enterprise. Cuomo also announced that New York will spend 12-million dollars refurbishing Whiteface Memorial Highway in Wilmington... Two of the North Country's most prominent villages have begun studying the possibility of merging their school districts. And the United Way of Northern NY is launching a campaign to distribute prescription discount cards to help those who are either uninsured or underinsured...In Natural Selections: why do pigeons do so well in urban environments? And from our Book Reviewer Betsy Kepes, Alice Wolf Gilborn explores the idea of "a literature of the Adirondacks" in Out of the Blue.