Northern Light

Governor Cuomo awarded over three quarters of a million dollars for economic development projects at a ceremony Wednesday at the State Capitol. For the second year in a row, the North Country won top honors in the statewide economic development competition organized by Governor Cuomo. Leaders at Lake Placid's National Sports Academy say an outpouring of community support is helping the private school weather a financial storm. A new mobile app designed by researchers at the University of Rochester sifts through twitter feeds and alerts users to who around them might be contagious.On Natural Selections: "Burning" calories. And Todd Moe spoke with Captain Mike Seymour about his love of fishing and his new book, The Smart Guide to Freshwater Fishing.

A new model of primary health care in the Adirondacks aims to provide a solution to the area's primary care physicians. Gov. Cuomo is vague on the locations of potential non-Native casino sites. The new Senate Democratic leader says she expects a seat at the table in budget negotiations. Gov. Cuomo says that schools that don't submit teacher evaluation plans on time won't be eligible for state school aid increases. David Sommerstein visits an Ithaca, NY, rutabaga curling competition. An Ogdensburg man has been playing Santa for more than 45 years. The Adirondack chamber choral group explores traditional English Christmas music. And Heard Up North: Save a bro, grow a mo'!

The group that's pushing for an Interstate to be built from Watertown to Plattsburgh has collected hundreds of local endorsements. North Country Assemblywoman Addie Russell says she's talked with State University Chancellor Nancy Zimphor about preserving separate presidents at the SUNY colleges in Canton and Potsdam. The number of people requesting help at North Country food pantries continues to rise, but there's worry that leaders in Washington, D.C. will dramatically cut food stamps, and that means pantries will have to pick up the slack. Governor Cuomo says federal gun laws need to be strengthened, and he says New York State's assault weapons ban has loopholes that need to be closed. In Binghamton University's bioengineering labs, researchers are looking for ways to make workplaces healthier.And NCPR's book reviewer Betsy Kepes speaks with poet Becky Harblin about her book, Eating the Bread of this World.

New York Gov. Cuomo is pledging to work for gun control in the wake of the shooting in Newtown, calling it "yet another senseless and horrific act of violence involving guns." Health care in the North Country has begun to incorporate information technology to improve efficiency, accuracy and collaboration. The Adirondacks' beloved icon - the common loon - has enjoyed unprecedented population growth over the last 30 years, outliving DDT and a time when people used to shoot loons for sport, but a recent study says things could have been even better had the loon not faced mercury pollution. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is joining with leaders of New York's congressional delegation to urge Congress to finally act on a federal aid package for victims of Superstorm Sandy. And Martha Foley talks with horticulturist Amy Ivy about everyone's favorite seasonal plants.

New York's Attorney General says a Lake George tree trimming operation gouged customers in the days following tropical storm Irene. The Adirondack Park Agency approved a new $16 million emergency communication system that will link first responders over a huge swath of the central and eastern Adirondacks. A once powerful social services agency in the North Country will close its doors for good on Saturday. Fort Drum's 2nd Brigade Combat Team is getting ready for for a January deployment to eastern Afghanistan. With proposals from both Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, it now seems clear that 2013 will be the year campaign finance reform takes the stage in Albany. A new art display at View in Old Forge puts nature and animals front and center. And weekend conditions in the Adirondacks.

New York's senators are ramping up pressure on House Republicans to pass a new farm bill before year's end. A new report says climate change has had a negative impact on the winter tourism industry in the U.S. and the problem will get worse unless politicians take action. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says he will soon introduce legislation to regulate not for profits that have become increasingly influential players in political campaigns by dumping millions of dollars into races in the state and around the country. Neither side in the controversial hydro-fracking debate is satisfied with the latest developments. The switch to electronic medical records will have a huge impact on the way healthcare is delivered. On Natural Selections: Flames. And a new art exhibit that connects First Nations history and culture in Quebec with a variety of printmaking techniques opens at BluSeed Studios in Saranac Lake on Friday night.

A new center to help veterans through mental health problems opened Friday in Watertown. Senate Republicans dampened expectations that the new governing coalition in the Senate would move quickly on progressive issues championed by Democrats, including a minimum wage increase and public financing of campaigns. Adirondack Recreational Trail Advocates, known as ARTA, formed last year, reviving the debate over what should be done with the historic rail corridor that stretches from Old Forge to Lake Placid.Betsy Kepes reviews Half-blood Blues by Esi Edugyan, a novel that won the 2011 Giller Prize, Canada's premier literary award for fiction in English. And Todd Moe talks with David Schryver, co-author of the new book, Waterfalls of New York State.

FBI officials now say the serial killer, Israel Keyes, who spent time in the North Country and in Vermont may have murdered as many as eleven people. Adirondack Health adds to the string of hospital layoffs in the North Country. As parents, students, and school officials in Canton and Potsdam Central schools gear up a full-scale lobbying effort to increase state funding, an education policy group is set to release two reports on the status of education funding in New York state.The newly formed coalition in the Senate is facing some heat from African American leaders, who says blacks and Hispanics have been left out. The Cuomo Administration could be headed toward approval of hydraulic fracturing in New York by the end of February, when a 90-day extension on a rule making process ends.The Canton Goldenaires have been singing four-part harmonies for fifty years now. And Martha Foley talks with horticulturist Amy Ivy about Christmas Trees.

Federal officials revealed frightening new details yesterday about the activities of serial killer Israel Keyes. NCPR's Martha Foley spoke with NCPR reporter Brian Mann about Keyes. The new road connecting Interstate 81 with Fort Drum's north gate on Route 11 opens today.New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has maintained that he has stayed out of the fight for leadership in the state Senate, but in remarks yesterday, he endorsed the newly formed coalition of Senate Republicans and five Democrats

A breakaway Democratic faction is joining with Republicans to form a new governing coalition in the Senate. Brian Mann caught up with North Country state Senator Betty Little yesterday, just a few minutes after the power-sharing coalition deal was unveiled. About one-thousand high school students and teachers from around New York are traveling to Albany today, to lobby lawmakers to increase spending on schools. NCPR's Nora Flaherty spoke with author Brandon Mendelson on his new book, Social Media is Bulls**t.And Andy Flynn visits the Adirondack Museum for a closer look at an early 19th century map of the region.