Top Stories from NCPR

The state Senate is likely to confirm Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s nomination to fill the latest vacancy on the state’s highest court.

Life during the Gilded Age takes center stage this summer at the Sembrich Opera Museum on Lake George. Originally the lakeside home and teaching studio for Met Opera diva Marcella Sembrich, the landmark hosts summer concerts, lectures, and recitals.Sembrich was born in the 1850s in the Ukraine. She first studied violin and piano with her father, and later became an opera sensation and lived in New York City. She spent summers in Lake Placid and bought a cottage on Lake George in the 1920s. Today, it’s a museum and performance space.Sembrich Artistic Director Richard Wargo says the theme this year is "Sembrich and her Circle" - a look at some of the people who shared her life and career in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

This morning we remember George Canon. The town supervisor in Newcomb in Essex County for 25 years, Canon grew into a major power broker in the Adirondack Park. He struck deals with governors. He fought bitterly with and sometimes collaborated with environmental groups. He left office in 2015 after a lengthy illness. Brian Mann talks with Martha Foley about George Canon and his legacy.

The board that manages water on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River is pushing record amounts of water through the hydropower dam in Massena. Regulators are trying to bring down water levels that are flooding thousands of homes and boathouses from Buffalo to Ogdensburg.

There was a flurry of activity - along with threats and ultimatums - on Monday at the State Capitol, but there were no agreements on major issues as the session draws to a scheduled close on Wednesday.

Heroin has deep roots in St. Lawrence County. That’s what a recent drug bust showed, and it’s sparked outrage.

“Three Chances” is a story from Greece about Fate. In this story, a man works hard but can never seems to gain any monetary profit from it, so he decides to pay a visit to Chance and ask her to change his situation. He arrives at her door with his problem and with the problems of three others whom he has met along the way.Story Traveler is an occasional series of five-minute stories told by Gioia Timpanelli, widely considered to be one of the world's foremost storytellers. Her unscripted stories, both contemporary and world folktales, come from everywhere and blend ancient and modern themes. They speak to the heart and the imagination.

It's hard to make a broad generalization about how much water is right for your particular garden. The type of soil matters, the maturity of the plants and whether you're getting localized downpours or slow steady rains.Cooperative Extension's Amy Ivy says paying close attention to the moisture in your soil is step one. The way to figure that out? Dig a hole and see for yourself.

Kaleidoscope Children’s Center, a day care facility that serves over a hundred children in Plattsburgh, had a close call. The owners couldn’t make ends meet, and they recently told parents they’d have to close. The announcement came on short notice, sparking some angry comments on social media. But the leaders have found a way to keep the center open.

One of the Adirondack Park's most influential cultural and environmental leaders over the last half-century has died. John Collins passed after a battle with cancer at his home in Blue Mountain Lake.