New coronavirus cases continue to show up across the North Country. Jefferson County reported five new COVID-19 cases yesterday. It’s unclear if those were connected to an outbreak stemming from parties in the Thousand Islands July 4th weekend. St. Lawrence County reported four new cases yesterday. Lewis County logged one new case.

Since January, New York's prison population has plummeted by more than 6,000 people, a 13% reduction just this year. That’s a big deal in the North Country, where correctional facilities employ thousands of workers.

“This is one of the largest businesses in the North Country, one of the largest employers in the North Country,” said Sen. Betty Little in 2013. But this year’s decline in inmate population is part of a decades-long trend, putting the future of North Country prisons up in the air.

Governor Cuomo is giving the green light to enact more election reforms after problems with the June primary.

Former Glens Falls mayor and longtime area booster Ed Bartholomew had died. He was 70 years old.

Martha Foley and Curt Stager continue their discussion of trout varieties in Adirondack waters. One variety that is found in streams and lakes in the region is the splake, a hybrid of the native strains of lake and brook trout. While some refer to them as "Frankenfish," fishery managers like the hybrid because it grows quickly, but does not breed well in the wild, which makes it manageable in a stocking program.

The big news in the skies of July is Comet NEOWISE, first detected in March and now reaching its best visibility. Look beneath the Big Dipper over the next few days after 10 pm. Binoculars or a small telescope will give the best view.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is soliciting bids for large-scale renewable energy projects as part of his administration’s aggressive plan to combat climate change.