The 2019 legislative session was among the most productive in several years, with the passage of bills that ranged from strengthening abortion rights, to allowing undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses. If you’re a liberal Democrat, there’s a lot to like. But conservative Republicans are not as pleased.

Brian Mann has been following the legislative session in Albany closely, reporting on some of the big issues and measures that passed over the last week. He joins Martha Foley to discuss the impact of the session on the North Country and reaction from Republican lawmakers, who were largely sidelined for the first time in decades.

Summer is festival season. In the North Country, we’re lucky to live a short drive from major music festivals in Montreal and Ottawa.

State officials have closed the Saranac River to boating between the Lower Lock and Second Pond Boat Launch near Saranac Lake.

The last twelve months were the wettest on record in the United States, causing flooding across the country, including on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.

There was also severe flooding in 2017, coinciding with a new water management plan put in place by the International Joint Commission. While some residents and politicians blame the IJC for the recent flooding, there’s another conversation going on, one about the role of climate change.

It was a long day for the state legislature yesterday. The state Senate adjourned early this morning. The Assembly, after working through the night, has also adjourned.

Yesterday's heavy rain and severe weather is giving way to a dry weekend, but DEC's Mud Season Advisory remains in effect for areas over 2,500 feet. Trails everywhere are very muddy, some water crossings will be difficult, or impassable.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democratic-led state Legislature have agreed on the most ambitious goals in the nation for reducing carbon emissions in the next few decades, but both supporters and opponents say the key to the measure's success or failure is in the details of how it will be carried out.