Top Stories from NCPR

For the first time in the history of New York's Franklin County, a woman has been picked to lead the county's seven-member legislature. Barbara Rice of Saranac Lake was elected to the county's top political post at a meeting Thursday in Malone. It's also the first time in 20 years a legislator from the southern end of the county has held the chair’s seat. [full story]

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is doing something different with the State of the State this year. Instead of delivering a speech in Albany to lawmakers who will have to approve his proposals, he’s giving six mini speeches in three days all around the state. Legislative leaders will not be attending. [full story]

Under the Trump Administration, overseeing care for military veterans will continue to be a huge issue. Thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have experienced big failures in their federal health system.In Watertown, near Fort Drum, veterans have been taking their well-being into their own hands to supplement government support.The Vet Peer-to-Peer counseling center sits on Watertown’s Public Square downtown. [full story]

Dozens of people turned out for a ceremony honoring new local leaders at Plattsburgh City Hall Thursday night. [full story]

There’s wide disappointment over Gov. Andrew Cuomo's veto of a bipartisan bill to have the state take over the costs of public defense. His decision means that at least for now, most counties will keep footing the bill for defending poor people accused of crimes. [full story]

The new year for the state Legislature has begun in discord, with an absent governor and Republicans in the Senate vowing to take a harder line against Democrat Andrew Cuomo. The year began without Cuomo, who abandoned the tradition of conducting a State of the State speech on the first day of the session in favor of giving a presentation on airport renovations to a group of business leaders in New York City. He’ll do speeches across the state later. [full story]

Rains this past week left popular, well-traveled trails, especially those at mid-elevations in the High Peaks and east of Hamilton and Franklin counties very icy. To the West, including the Southwestern and Northwestern Adirondacks, expect deep fresh snow and some of the best skiing and snowmobiling. [full story]

It’s been a year since medical marijuana hit the shelves in New York State. Under the tight regulations of the Compassionate Care Act, people with certain chronic conditions can buy pot in the form of liquids and capsules. State health officials are slowly expanding the program. Chronic pain was recently added to the list of qualifying conditions, and nurse practitioners are now allowed to prescribe marijuana. But patients, doctors, and drug manufacturers still have a long wish list for 2017. [full story]

Susan Rahn's doctors first discovered cancer in her back a few years ago. They traced it to her breast, and she's now at Stage 4 - a terminal diagnosis. Rahn changes her medication every three months to fight the pain."The pain is going to at some point get substantially worse as the cancer progresses," Rahn said. "Because it's eventually going to get into a vital organs: my lungs or my liver or my brain." [full story]

Static electricity plays a role in getting pollen to come loose from the blossom and to stick to the pollinator. According to a recent study using petunias and bumblebees, British researchers observed that the flowers increase their electrical charge in response to the presence of pollinating insects.The charge peaks in intensity just before the potential pollinator begins feeding on nectar, and decreases after they go away.Martha Foley and naturalist Curt Stager discuss this unique example of "flower power." [full story]