Top Stories from NCPR

Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to speak out about national issues, taking on the Republican-controlled Congress, and, by association, Pres. Donald Trump.Yesterday at new health care clinic in New York City, Cuomo defined the conflict over changing the health care laws in Washington as a class struggle, saying it's all about the rich versus the rest.

State leaders are hosting informational meetings for people in Oswego, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties with damages from this year's flooding.More than 100 people jammed the first workshop in Pulaski Wednesday evening.

It's opening day at the Saratoga Race Course. Thoroughbred racing is one of the biggest summer attractions and money makers in Saratoga Springs. The industry relies heavily on foreign workers, many of whom are undocumented. But President Trump has authorized an aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration. After two federal raids in Saratoga Springs, there are concerns that some laborers will be too scared to show up for work this racing season.

Pendragon Theatre is setting Shakespeare's most popular play, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," outdoors at Dewey Mountain Recreation Center starting tonight at 7 pm.Shakespeare's comedy includes fairies, wedding plans, a play-within-a-play, and a love potion all set in an enchanted forest. So, why not take the play into an Adirondack woods?Pendragon's production includes a cast of all ages, live music and even mountain bikes. Audience members need to be able to do a 1/4 mile hike into woods on an uneven and possibly muddy trail. Todd Moe hiked into the woods earlier this week to watch a rehearsal. Director Karen Lordi Kirkham says this is Pendragon's first outdoor production.

Nuits D'Afrique in downtown Montreal is the biggest African music festival in North America. This year, it's celebrating its 31th anniversary. As with every year, there are dozens of free outdoor shows through Sunday.In 2016, to commemorate its 30th anniversary, the festival wanted to do something special. It brought back one of its first guests, world music superstar Manu Dibango, to give a new generation of young Montreal musicians a chance to share the stage with him.David Sommerstein captured the excitement in this story which first aired last July.

Friends and family are rallying around an Adirondack musician who was seriously injured in a weekend car crash. Alex Marklund of Bloomingdale was in critical condition Wednesday at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington. Marklund's friends and fellow musicians describe him as a skilled artist with a bright future. His medical prognosis is still up in the air.

As part of its 50th anniversary celebration this year, The Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts presents three performances this weekend of Lee Blessing's "A Walk in the Woods." The timely and thought-provoking play features acclaimed actors Burdette Parks and Jordan Hornstein.Hornstein and Parks play two arms negotiators, an older Soviet diplomat and a younger American negotiator, strolling in the woods above Geneva, Switzerland, away from the glare of the negotiating table. The play is suggested by a real-life incident, which occurred in the early 1980s. Todd Moe spoke with director Allison Studdiford, who says the Friday night performance in Blue Mountain Lake, will be outdoors.

The last time the climate warmed the Sahara was green and had a huge lake in the middle that left behind vast deposits of fine mineral-rich sediments. In these drier days the dust from that ancient lakebed now blows all the way across the Atlantic to nourish the Amazon with phosphorus and the ocean with iron.It also shades the patch of the Atlantic where hurricanes form, lessening the strength and frequency of tropical storms that reach the North Country. The current trend back toward a warmer world might be good for the Sahara, but not so good for us. Curt Stager and Martha Foley explain.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's name has been mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2020, but first, he may be facing some obstacles to win a third term as governor in 2018.Cuomo has taken actions in recent months that could be viewed as steps toward a presidential run. He's hired key staff from President Barack Obama's administration, as well as new chief of staff Maria Comella, who has worked on Republican presidential campaigns and was a top aide for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Tom Stoppard's comedy "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" has been set to music, and the opera gets its first full performances this summer at Seagle Music Colony in Schroon Lake. It opens tonight at 8 pm in the Oscar Seagle Memorial Theater.The play and comic opera expand on the exploits of two minor characters from Shakespeare's "Hamlet," who enact fragments from the original scenes. The opera was composed by Herschel Garfein. Todd Moe spoke with Seagle Music Colony Artistic Director Darren Woods, who first saw a scene from Garfein's opera ten years ago in New York City, and composer Herschel Garfein, who is also the librettist and says he's a big fan of Stoppard's verbal wit.