Top Stories from NCPR

Actor and director Ben Stiller is working on a major Hollywood production about the 2015 Dannemora prison break, and you could be a part of it. It's called "Escape at Dannemora," an eight-part miniseries for Showtime. A casting call went out this week for extras. Locals are encouraged to use their real-life experience to audition as journalists, law enforcement, and other roles in the series.

Artists in the Ausable River Valley will offer an insider look at the creative process this weekend during their annual Studio Tour. More than 20 artists who live from Keene Valley to Au Sable Forks will open their home studios and galleries for the self-guided driving tour.The weekend kicks off with the 4th Annual Jay Invitational of Clay, an exhibit featuring local, regional and national works in clay, and a special preview event tonight as a benefit for the Ausable River Association. Both events are being coordinated by the group Norte Maar, an advocate and presenter of the visual, literary, and performing arts in the North Country and Brooklyn. Todd Moe spoke with Norte Maar director Jason Andrew for a preview of the studio tour and clay invitational.

The modern supermarket holds a bewildering variety of oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, tangerines and more. But they are all the product of 4,000 years of selective breeding by humans to tease out tastier, larger, sweeter and juicier variations and hybrids from four ancestral Asian fruits. Dr. Curt Stager and Martha Foley climb back down the citrus family tree to look at the Mandarin orange, the pomelo, the citron and the papeda.

NCPR has uncovered disturbing details about the Army soldier accused of murdering his wife and a New York State Trooper Sunday night in the town of Theresa.

A bill to expand New York state's medical marijuana program to cover sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder passed both houses of the Legislature, but will Gov. Andrew Cuomo sign it into law?New York's medical marijuana program is far more restrictive than most states. About a dozen conditions are eligible for treatment, including, according to the State Health Department, "severe and debilitating" forms of cancer, HIV, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy.

Traditional Arts in Upstate New York wants to learn more about the making, collecting, and use of folk instruments in the North Country.Camilla Ammirati, TAUNY director of research and programs, is looking for people who make instruments, those who keep family heirloom instruments, the stories connected to them, and people who have larger collections of instruments. TAUNY will be doing a series of documentation days this summer in Potsdam, Canton, Croghan and Saranac Lake. Ammirati says folk instruments typically reflect the region's musical traditions and culture. Acoustic string instruments are obvious examples, but she says even a clarinet in a klezmer band would qualify. She says the project will also document who makes instruments, from one-of-a-kind to professional craftspeople.The research will result in an exhibit next spring at TAUNY that Ammirati says will showcase the region's musical heritage, including instrument makers, keepers and collectors.

It's been a deadly spring and summer for paddlers and swimmers across the North Country. State officials say they've helped recover six bodies from rivers and lakes in the region after drownings that took place over the last week alone.

A Fort Drum soldier is being held in Jefferson County jail without bail on charges that he murdered his wife and a State Trooper on Sunday night in the rural town of Theresa, NY.

The state's lieutenant governor said New Yorkers should be deeply worried if the U.S. Senate approves a plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.Currently, the Senate does not have the votes for the GOP plan, but Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul said that doesn't mean opponents of the measure should be complacent.

Plattsburgh police are investigating an alleged arson spree in part of the city. Officials say at least eight vehicles were set on fire on Sunday. No arrests have been made, and police are asking for the public's help.