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American soldiers serve in conflicts all over the world, but because military operations happen quietly in the background, civilians don't always know what the troops are doing. Fort Drum's commander is conducting an outreach campaign designed to change that by letting the public know about the 10th Mountain Division's work at home and abroad.

Glass is basic stuff - melted sand, pretty much. But your lovely crystal decanter or goblet gets its heft and clarity from a big dose of lead, up to one-fourth by weight. That lead can leach out into liquids containing alcohol, such as wine or brandy - significant enough amounts to be a health risk if stored in crystal over a long period of time.Martha Foley and Curt Stager clear up the differences between glass and crystal, and explain how lead can become transparent.Natural Selections is a regular Thursday feature of the The Eight O'Clock Hour on NCPR. Get it delivered to your device automatically. Subscribe to the Natural Selections podcast.

Big unanswered questions remain in the Adirondacks this morning after a skier missing since last Wednesday from Whiteface Mountain suddenly reappeared yesterday 2,900 miles away in California. Danny Fillipidis, a firefighter from Toronto Canada, had been presumed dead. More than 130 forest rangers, state police, local emergency officials and volunteers were searching a vast expanse of rugged alpine terrain for his remains.Then he turned up in Sacramento, California on Tuesday.

Republicans in the State Senate want to close down one of Governor Cuomo's signature economic development programs.START-UP NY offers ten years of tax breaks for new businesses that open in special zones associated with college campuses.

Jordan Greenway is the first African-American to play for Team USA in the Olympics. He grew up in Canton, and his family and friends are cheering him on from home.

VIEW founder and the woman known as Old Forge's artistic "spark" passed away last week. Miriam "Mirnie" Kashiwa died last Friday, a month shy of her 93rd birthday, at her "Cabin in the Woods" in Thendara. She earned a degree in Fine Arts at Syracuse University in 1947, where she met her husband, Hank. In the 1950s they hosted the first Central Adirondack Art Show on their front lawn, and in the '60s she was a founding member of the Arts Center/Old Forge, which would become VIEW. In 1982, Kashiwa started the renowned Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors, one of the most celebrated watercolor exhibits in the country. Mirnie Kashiwa was an artist, teacher, poet and musician. In her later years, she opened her Adirondack home to accomplished musicians to play her vintage Steinway grand piano during The Cabin in the Woods concert series.In 2005, just before crews broke ground for VIEW, Todd Moe joined Mirnie Kashiwa at her piano to talk about her love for arts and culture in the Adirondacks.

UPDATE: The skier missing on Whiteface Mountain since last Wednesday and presumed dead has been found alive and well in California. New York state police confirmed that the 49 year old Canadian man is in good health and in contact with local authorities in Sacramento. Danny Fillipidis is a firefighter from Toronto who vanished while skiing with friends.No details yet on why he disappeared. The 5-day search exposed more than a hundred forest rangers, state police and others to harsh weather and risky alpine conditions.

The flu epidemic is hitting the corruption trial of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's former top aide, Joe Percoco, with proceedings delayed for a day and a half because a key defense attorney has come down with the virus.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget director said 30-day amendments to the governor's spending plan, which is due out later this week, will include an overhaul of the state's tax code. It will include plans to ease the effects of the loss of the state and local tax deductions in the new federal tax overhaul.

June Rockwood McCartin grew up on a small dairy farm with about a dozen cows just outside of the village of Dexter in the small community of Pillar Point. Growing up in the 1940s, her childhood along with those of her four siblings was filled with lots of responsibilities in a time with few amenities. When she was very young, she remembers her father using horses and loading wheat into wagons by hand rather than with the specialized machinery of today. Her family did not have electricity until she was a teenager and so the cows were milked by hand and the milk had to be kept cool with ice until her father could bring it to the cheese factory in Limerick.