Top Stories from NCPR

Actor and public education advocate Cynthia Nixon announced her campaign for governor of New York Monday. She wants to run in a Democratic primary against incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Almost 22% of people in the Watertown area live in poverty. That's well above the state average. Other parts of the North Country suffer from similarly high poverty rates.A new anti-poverty campaign launching in Watertown is the first of its kind in the state. Four groups will share more than $800,000 in state funding for the Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative. Similar programs will launch in sixteen other communities statewide later this spring.

In the days since actor and progressive activist Cynthia Nixon indicated she might want to run against Andrew Cuomo in a Democratic primary for governor, Cuomo has made a number of public appearances and taken several steps to shore up his political base.

The National Weather Service and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation have both issued a warning of an increased risk of avalanches. Avalanches can occur on steep open terrain. Recent thaws and heavy snows have increased the chance for avalanches and several requiring rescue have already been reported, including one on Wright Peak. If you are unsure, don't go. If you do, have a knowledge of avalanche risk, prediction, avoidance and rescue.

Vietnam veterans are more likely to have hepatitis C - a bloodborne virus that attacks the liver - than their civilian counterparts. But the reasons why are up for debate. The VA expanded hepatitis C testing and treatment options for veterans several years ago. But one North Country veteran is pushing the agency to do more.

Thursday brought two bits of bad news for the emerging bitcoin mining industry in the North Country.

The Our Town Theatre Group opens its spring main stage performance of the heartwarming comedy, "Over the River and Through the Woods," next Friday evening. The Tannery Pond Community Center stage is being transformed into a cozy living room where Nick and his two sets of grandparents gather together to celebrate Sunday dinner. "Over the River and Through the Woods" opens on March 23 and runs through March 25.Director Allison Studdiford says the story has something that most of the audience will relate to and probably tug at heart strings a little, too. But, she says, despite the play's title, it's not set in the woods.

Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager talk about eye shine, and why some animals' eyes reflect light and others' don't.

From Lowville to Saranac Lake to Canton, hundreds of students left class on Wednesday to speak out against school shootings.

A law firm that represents victims of sexual abuse by clergy is urging the North Country's Roman Catholic diocese to release the names of priests suspected of committing sexual crimes.At a press conference yesterday, the firm Jeff Anderson and Associates published the names of eight priests suspected of molesting children.They say Church officials have other names which haven't been made public, a claim the Diocese of Ogdensburg confirms.