Top Stories from NCPR

Bill Torrey, who won our Plattsburgh Howl Story Slam, came back to the Grand Slam at Pickens Hall with this story about the risks a teenage boy will take to spend some alone time with a girl.The Adirondack Center for Writing is co-sponsor of the Howl Story Slams [full story]

Aileen O'Donoghue is one of those people we count on to bring us the passion and excitement in their lives. She delivers.She was excited to tell us today about a lovely set of lights coming up this evening. Bright Venus and the new crescent Moon will form a triangle with Mars (fainter but still visible) to frame an conceptual intersection that's important in the map of the sky. It's the spot of Vernal Equinox, where three lines meet: The Celestial Equator, the Celestial Meridian and the Ecliptic. Yes!!!! [full story]

Canadians from Ottawa to Montreal to Quebec City and right across the country held vigils last night following Sunday's mass shooting at a mosque in Quebec City. Brian Mann is in Quebec City to help cover the latest developments there and spoke with Martha Foley. [full story]

Gov. Andrew Cuomo told a crowd of cheering Planned Parenthood advocates that he’s proposing an amendment to put protections from the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade into the state’s constitution. [full story]

Oscar season is officially upon us. Nominations for the very best in acting and film came out last week, and a North Country native was on the list. Viggo Mortensen is up for best actor for his role in "Captain Fantastic," which he personally presented at a sold-out screening last Friday, as part of the Snowtown Film Festival in Watertown. [full story]

Two Saranac Lake arts organizations have combined forces to strengthen and expand their impact in the arts community. ArtWorks and BluSeed Studios, both well-respected in the Adirondacks, formalized their "under one roof" collaboration earlier this month. There will be one board overseeing the combined group, with a special ArtWorks committee, but memberships for each will continued to be handled separately and funds raised will be kept apart.Saranac Lake photographer Mark Kurtz, a past ArtWorks Chair, said he’s excited about a closer working relationship between BluSeed and ArtWorks. The two groups spent months working out the details of a collaboration.Leaders of ArtWorks and BluSeed say individual missions and identities will remain in place.BluSeed Studios founder and Artistic Director Carol Vossler calls it a "marriage" that is both natural and logical since the two arts groups have worked together in the past. [full story]

In Canton on Sunday hundreds of people protested President Trump's executive order sharply restricting immigration and refugee protection for Muslims. Clarkson professor Joseph Andriano led part of the rally. [full story]

Donald Trump's first week in office sparked strong reactions across the country and right here in our region. The president's temporary ban on refugees from seven predominately Muslim countries drew protests but also some support. [full story]

The U.S. Army has chosen a familiar figure to become the new commander of Fort Drum and the 10th Mountain Division. Major General Walter Piatt served at the base near Watertown twice. [full story]

The new year has brought a lot of uncertainty for healthcare providers in the North Country. Republicans have promised to repeal, and [then possibly] replace Obamacare. The details are sketchy. And as Watertown Daily Times reporter Jen Jackson told this NCPR last week, that’s making it especially hard for rural hospitals to do business. [full story]