(02/03/12) Yesterday was Groundhog day, and Punxsutawney Phil tells us there'll be six more weeks of winter.

But for the North Country, winter doesn't really seem to have started yet: rain instead of snow, temperatures that have often been unseasonably warm, and a real lack of snow.

Nora Flaherty put in a call to the National Weather Service. Meteorologist Brooke Taber says there a few things going on. First, the polar jet stream is farther north than usual, and so far this winter, the North Country has been on the warmer side of the air flow.

(02/03/12) Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced last week that the military wants to close some installations as its reduces its force size and winds down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The process is called BRAC, for "base realignment and closure."

A spokeswoman for Fort Drum said the post isn't commenting on the announcement, but reporter Joanna Richards spoke with Carl McLaughlin, executive director of the Fort Drum Regional Liaison Organization in Watertown, about how Fort Drum may fare as the BRAC process takes shape. more

(01/30/12) Taking old things and using them for something new is far from a new concept in the North Country. More and more North Country artists are bringing that idea into their work. It's called upcycling. That's a new term that emerged in the '90s; it means taking something you might otherwise toss out, and making it into something new and better. Artists see it as a way to make interesting pieces with their own histories.

The materials they're using might not be new, but a lot of these artists are using new technology to build community with other artists, and to get their work out in our far-flung region. Nora Flaherty reports. more

(02/03/12) Winter carnivals fill the February calendar in the North Country. This year, continuing mild weather is proving a real challenge for towns whose annual winter festivals normally punctuate a cold, snowy season.

The WinterXcape Winterfest in Lowville was cancelled when heavy rains washed away most of their snow this week. But despite widespread rain and warm temperatures most festivals are still ago. Trevor Alford reports. more

(01/30/12) Officials in Harrietstown have organized a new citizens committee to study the cost and future management of the Adirondack Regional Airport in Lake Clear. The airport was the target of a scathing report from the state Comptroller's office earlier this month that found the facility had been mismanaged.

(01/31/12) One of the most controversial and colorful figures in modern Adirondack Park history is Bob Glennon.

Glennon is an attorney who served as executive director of the APA from 1988 through 1995.

He held that leadership role at a time when the state agency was often fiercely at odds with local government and pro-development groups.

Gennon later served 12 years in the state Attorney General's office.

After retiring last November, Glennon, who lives in Ray Brook, announced that he hoped to take a leadership role once again in the Park's environmental movement.

Glennon sat down recently to talk with Brian Mann. They spoke about the Park's environmental challenges, about the recent Big Tupper decision, and about the leadership of APA chairwoman Lani Ulrich.

(01/31/12) A new plan for controlling water levels in lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River is intended to restore diversity in shoreline plant and animal communities by permitting greater fluctuations.

The International Joint Commission, representing both the U.S. and Canada, released the regulatory plan yesterday. more

(02/01/12) The Town of Newcomb in the central Adirondacks has purchased 348 acres from The Nature Conservancy for development projects along Route 28N.

The deal is part of a series of transactions involving former Finch, Pruyn paper company lands bought by the conservancy five years ago. more

(02/02/12) St. Lawrence County legislators are scheduled to take another look at a Climate Action Plan next week. When legislators asked the County Planning Department to write the plan last March, they wanted ways to save money by being more energy efficient.

The climate plan was tabled last summer, when students and professors at the four universities in Canton and Potsdam started a cost-benefit analysis of some ideas in the plan. more

(02/03/12) Gov. Andrew Cuomo is scheduled to come to Plattsburgh this morning. He's bringing his budget message to the Warren Ball Room, in the Student Center at SUNY Plattsburgh at 10:30 am.

Senior Cuomo staffers have fanned out across the state to talk about the budget.
The state's top environmental official was in Lake Placid Wednesday afternoon.

Joe Martens, spoke to a small crowd of local politicians, tourism officials, government employees and business owners. Chris Morris has our story. more

(02/03/12) Comptroller Tom DiNapoli is out with a report on the state of New York's economy, and the news is bleak. The Comptroller's numbers show that the already sluggish economic recovery in New York is losing momentum. The slowdown began in the second half of 2011, and is expected to continue into 2012, says Comptroller DiNapoli. In Albany, Karen DeWitt reports. more

(02/02/12) Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the "Battle of Albany'' is on.

And in the first skirmish of what's expected to be a long fight, Cuomo is putting the pressure on teachers and their unions.

Speaking yesterday, he said that if negotiations between the unions, the state Education Department and school districts on tougher evaluations for teachers and principals fail, he'll impose his own Feb. 16. Under law, a governor may try to enact policies in budget bills.

The governor spoke at the annual meeting of the state Association of Counties, trying to drum up support for his proposed budget.

The county leaders were pressing for relief from state-mandated costs. Cuomo said he would meet them half way in providing mandate relief by helping to defray health care and future pension costs.

But, as Karen DeWitt reports, he told the county officials it's up to them to do the rest. more

(02/02/12) Mandate relief--especially on Medicaid costs--was at the forefront of many county leaders' minds at the annual meeting this week of the New York State Association of Counties.

In his budget address January 17th, Governor Cuomo laid out a plan for the state to take over increases in Medicaid costs over the next few years--but some county leaders say that's not enough. more

(02/02/12) The state Senate has emphatically passed legislation that would expand New York's criminal DNA database. The bill would require people convicted of all crimes, including misdemeanors, to submit DNA samples to the state's DNA databank. Currently, only someone convicted of a felony, or certain types of misdemeanors, is required to submit a DNA sample.

Senators voted 50-10 Tuesday to pass the DNA Databank Expansion Bill. As Chris Morris reports, the bill has a lot support, but it could be tested in the Assembly. more

(02/01/12) Governor Andrew Cuomo is leaning on New York's network of public colleges to play a bigger role in economic growth and he's proposing to provide the resources to do so.

But there could stiff competition for those funds, as the Innovation Trail's Ryan Delaney reports. more

(02/01/12) Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is continuing to push for his bill to increase the state's minimum wage. The Speaker is also expressing reservations about Governor Cuomo's plan to offer an option of 401k-style retirement plans for future state workers. In Albany, Karen DeWitt has the details. more

(02/02/12) Symbiotes are species that must collaborate with another to survive. But some partners are more equal than others. Martha Foley and Curt Stager talk about how organisms can monitor cheaters in symbiotic relationships. It's the first of two conversations about the biological marketplace.

(02/03/12) Artists Matt Burnett and Scott Fuller are known for creating several large scale outdoor art installations from Long Lake to Canton in recent years. They're back again this winter, and despite a lack of deep snow, they've put together an outdoor show at SUNY-Potsdam that combines elements of winter, nature and projected images.

Matt Burnett, who lives in the Adirondacks, and his collaborator Scott Fuller, from Maine, used large snow sculptures as a canvas for video images in a large scale outdoor exhibit at St. Lawrence University last year. They worked on similar outdoor art projects in Saranac Lake and Long Lake.

They launched their outdoor "E-Fraction" show last night on the SUNY Potsdam campus. It will be illuminated nightly on campus through the middle of next week. Todd Moe has a preview. more

(01/30/12) The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released the new version of its Plant Hardiness Zone Map. It's an update of a useful tool for gardeners. Clinton and Essex County Cornell Cooperative Extension Service Horticulturist Amy Ivy says it's a "great piece of the gardening puzzle" in the North Country, but not the whole story. She spoke with Todd Moe.

(02/01/12) A new photo exhibit in Potsdam connects art, music, gardens and friendship. Photographer Jane Lammers spent time last spring, summer and early fall in the perennial gardens of three North Country friends.

She also assembled a playlist of music to accompany her exhibit, Perennial Bliss. It includes music by Jean-Pierre Rampal, Yo-Yo Ma and James Galway. The eight photos in the exhibit follow the seasonal flow in flower gardens.

Todd Moe spoke with Jane Lammers about gardens, photography and music. Her show is up through the end of the month at First Crush Bistro in Potsdam.

(02/01/12) Root cellars were an essential part of nearly every home a hundred years ago. And along with an increase in the number of people growing their own food is the return to the root cellar. More than a basement, it's the cousin to canning and freezing and another way of preserving the harvest into the winter months. A couple of winters ago, Todd Moe visited Winnie and Rob Sachno's root cellar on their St. Lawrence County farm for a closer look at a simpler way of storing food.

(02/02/12) There were clear skies, cool temperatures...and a woodpile. A perfect combination for our Heard Up North.