Top Stories from NCPR

Actor Viggo Mortensen will help kickoff the annual Snowtown Film Festival in Watertown this weekend. Mortensen will lead a panel discussion after a showing of his critically acclaimed 2016 film "Captain Fantastic." The festival will be held Friday and Saturday at the Dulles State Office Building. It includes dozens of films, filmmaker panels, a short film competition and awards ceremony.Kylie Peck, one of the organizers of the film fest, says the event celebrates winter and the North Country through film. [full story]

Some North Country leaders made it down to Washington for President Trump’s inauguration last Friday. Republican State Senator Joseph Griffo attended the festivities. [full story]

Hundreds of people walked the steep cemetery road on Saturday up from the Congregational Church in the town of Lewis. They came to show solidarity with women's rights marchers across the United States and around the world. [full story]

A lawmaker in St. Lawrence County is facing discipline after posting a racially insensitive comment on Facebook, criticizing former President Barack Obama. [full story]

Six to 8,000 people in Ottawa added their numbers to the Women's Marches Saturday. They jammed the Human Rights Memorial square in front of City Call and Laurier Ave., walking a mile and a half through downtown. The crowd was all ages and genders - lots of "pussy" hats. [full story]

One of the chief arguments over the state budget will be whether to renew an income tax surcharge on New York’s wealthiest.The state is facing a $3.5 billion deficit, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to add a billion dollars to the state’s public schools. He also wants to offer free tuition at public colleges for families making less than $125,000 a year. [full story]

This week saw a few inches of wet snow before another warming into the 40s with rain and mixed precipitation. Currently rain and warm temperatures have created a mix of soft snow and some open, snowless areas at lower elevations, with icy trail conditions and deep snow at higher elevations and off trail, and several feet on and near summits. Rain and melting snow has resulted in some difficult stream crossings, and open drainages. Traction devices, and snowshoes or skis are recommended. [full story]

Today, Donald Trump takes the oath of office and officially become our nation’s 45th president. Trump has promised to make sweeping policy changes right out of the gate. Everything from immigration to healthcare, some of the most divisive issues our country will face.We want to know what those policies will look like here, in the North Country. NCPR reporters been traveling all across the region for our series The First 100 Days. You’ve been hearing their stories throughout the week. Today, we’ll hear from Brian Mann, Lauren Rosenthal, and David Sommerstein about what our region is expecting from Trump and what we’re likely to get. [full story]

From Broadway to small towns, over 500 theatres across the country participated in a pre-inaugural "Ghostlight Project" last night. Named after the traditional light that breaks the darkness in theaters after the stage and house lights go out, the event is an effort to shine a light, figuratively and otherwise, on diversity and other values. Dozens of St. Lawrence University students, faculty, staff and members of the wider community gathered in the darkened lobby of Gulick Theatre. The darkness symbolized what organizers call "challenging times" ahead on the eve of the presidential inauguration. Those who gathered at St. Lawrence made or renewed pledges to stand for and protect the values of inclusion and compassion for everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, immigration status, gender identity and sexual orientation. [full story]

One of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s signature economic development programs is being downsized in his new state budget. Start-Up NY is being rebranded as other economic development projects have suffered setbacks. [full story]