Top Stories from NCPR

New York's Attorney General has subpoenaed documents from the North Country's Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg. Barbara Underwood is demanding records from all eight Catholic dioceses across New York state as part of a growing probe into past clergy abuse.

Black squirrels are becoming more common throughout the St. Lawrence Valley. They are a normal variation of the more familiar gray squirrel species. Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager discuss melanism, an increase in the pigmentation of some species that can be a response to environmental factors.

There are 27,000 children in foster care in New York State, more than 350 in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties alone. Some children may live with foster parents for just a few months. Others may get adopted into a new family. But they all need a foster home.

Internet service is better, but still really patchy, sometimes slow in the North Country and other rural areas. New York state pledged $500 million to help companies expand rural broadband. It doesn't always turn out the way people hoped.

A new art exhibit that marks the 50th anniversary of the 1968 My Lai Massacre, and the tragic suffering of the Vietnamese people, opens at the Whallonsburg Grange Friday night. The exhibit is coming off a national tour including stops in California, Washington, New Mexico and Iowa.

U.S. and Canadian negotiators return to the table today as they try to rewrite the NAFTA trade deal. The result could have huge implications in the North Country, from manufacturing in Plattsburgh to tourism in the Thousand Islands. U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is calling for a better deal for New York’s dairy farmers.

What happens to the butter sculpture at the New York State Fair once the event is over? Well, for the third year, it will be recycled and used for electricity.

What can a wild lake teach us about the world? In the 1850s, Henry David Thoreau published his book "Walden." He used his experience living on a small lake near Concord, Massachusetts to think and write about relationships between nature, human life and time.

In his new book, called "Still Waters," Dr. Curt Stager from Paul Smith's College in the Adirondacks does much the same. He uses scientific data gathered from lakes all over the world to ask equally difficult questions about climate change, stewardship and the growing impacts of climate change and a rising human population.

If you've ever taken a tour of a museum or art gallery, chances are your guide was a docent. They're members of a corps of trained volunteers who help visitors better understand and enjoy their museum experience.

Some are retired teachers, others are just love art and volunteering.

Todd Moe caught up recently with a small group of docents at the Frederic Remington Art Museum in Ogdensburg. They say there are a few rules for docents: be engaging and accessible, but not imposing. All admit it can be a delicate act.

Democratic congressional candidate Tedra Cobb held her first-ever press conference Tuesday in Canton, in an effort to clarify her platform and turn the page on a turbulent summer.