(02/09/12) Fort Drum's 3rd Brigade Combat Team is beginning to come home after a year-long deployment in Afghanistan. The brigade, about 3,500 soldiers, was sent to an area just west of Kandahar City in southern Afghanistan, where few troops had been before.

They were deployed as part of President Obama's troop surge in the country. As the mission winds down, brigade commander Colonel Patrick Frank says his unit did a good job in a difficult setting. He spoke from Afghanistan with reporter Joanna Richards.
(CORRECTION: We originally reported that these troops were the first US soldiers in that region. Many comments on our story have challenged that assertion. We've contacted our sources at Ft. Drum for clarification and are still waiting for a reply. To the best of our understanding now, Col. Frank's unit was the first brigade level force to deploy there.) more

(02/10/12) For half a century, one of the most repressive nations in the world has been Burma, or Myanmar, as its military government renamed it several years ago. But recently surprising political changes in that Southeast Asian country have led to a possible opening to the West.

Some of the people watching most closely are the Burmese Karen refugees. They're an ethnic minority, many of them Christian, who live right here in upstate New York. Our story comes from David Chanatry with the New York Reporting Project at Utica College. more

(02/07/12) A new report finds that the project that will carry power under Lake Champlain to the New York City area will create more than 1,000 jobs.

London Economics International recently released its analysis of the macro-economic impacts of the Champlain Hudson Power Express project. more

(02/08/12) Planned Parenthood of the North Country is closing down its teen pregnancy and parenting program after New York cut the program's in its effort to trim statewide Medicaid expenses. more

(02/06/12) Neighbors of St. Joseph's Rehabilitation Center in Saranac Lake are concerned about plans for a new treatment facility for veterans struggling with substance abuse addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder.

St. Joseph's wants to change the zoning of a vacant, 3-acre parcel of land near its main campus to accommodate the 10,000-square foot veterans' community residence. But neighbors say the zoning change, and the uses and activities associated with the project, would impact the character of the mostly residential area.

As Chris Knight reports, the two sides met late last week to talk about a compromise. more

(02/06/12) The top Roman Catholic official in the North Country is blasting the Obama administration for requiring churches to provide health insurance to employees that includes services such as contraception and sterilization. more

(02/08/12) It's been a big year for author and climate change activist Bill McKibben. His organization, 350.org, led a series of national protests against an oil pipeline from Canada known as Keystone XL.

Critics say the pipeline would accelerate carbon pollution. Last month, President Barack Obama rejected the project, sparking a fierce debate in Congress.

McKibben divides his time between North Creek in the Adirondacks and Ripton, Vermont. He sat down this week to talk in-depth with Brian Mann about the debate over global warming.

McKibben says this year's flooding and the unseasonably warm winter are symptoms of big changes that are already underway.

(02/09/12) New York is hosting a meeting of federal agencies, northeastern states, and tribal groups this morning in Albany to talk about adapting to climate change.

Pat Riexinger, director of the division of fish, wildlife, and marine resources at the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, says we can see the weather changing: the intense storms last year, and the mild winter, with little snowfall. She says 16 federal agencies collaborated to write a strategy and action plan to deal with changing weather patterns.

Today's meeting is one of four to be held around the country to discuss the plan. She spoke about it with Julie Grant.

(02/06/12) River and stream rehabilitation is under way in communities hit hard by Tropical Storm Irene last year. But officials say a lot of work still remains to be done to put things right.

Lawmakers, local politicians and state officials joined state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens in Keene Valley last week to inspect stream restoration work on Johns Brook.

Local works crews did emergency repairs immediately following Irene, but environmental specialists said additional work was needed to restore fish and wildlife habitats and protect against future flooding. Chris Morris went along for the inspection. more

(02/10/12) NCPR kicked off election coverage with a series of stories this week. See below for more on the 23rd district race for the House of Representatives.

Politics are everywhere these days, from the bitter Republican primary fight that's playing out on our TV screens to the redistricting battle in Albany that could shake up politics right here in our own backyard. As 2012 goes on, the news and conversation will only get louder and more intense.

Most high school students can't vote, but politics plays a big role in their lives, too. And they're paying attention, at least the teens are who gathered recently in Peru to talk about government and politics. Our correspondent Sarah Harris sends this report. more

(02/07/12) The 23rd district House seat that covers much of the North Country is expected to see one of the hottest election fights in the country this year.

In recent years, Republicans, Conservatives, and tea party activists have been bitterly divided in the region. That allowed Democrat Bill Owens to eke out two election victories in a region long considered a Republican stronghold.

This week, we'll be talking about the race, listening to the candidates, and talking to young people about this year's election. Brian Mann spoke with Martha Foley about some of the big issues and political trends that could shape the race.

(02/08/12) A St. Lawrence County man plans to run as a Green Party candidate in the race for New York's 23rd Congressional District seat.

Donald Hassig lives in Colton. Since 2000 has run an advocacy group called Cancer Action NY, dedicated to stopping the spread of chemical carcinogens. He believes he's ready to challenge U.S. Rep. Bill Owens, a Democrat from Plattsburgh.

Hassig kicked off his campaign with a party in Potsdam that was attended by local Green Party members, college professors, students and friends. He said he doesn't expect to win the race but hopes to pull in at least 1,000 votes and spread more information about his fight against carcinogens.

Chris Morris has this profile. more

(02/09/12) Kellie Greene has tossed her hat into the mix of candidates seeking to defeat U.S. Rep. Bill Owens in the upcoming congressional election. The Sackets Harbor woman describes herself as a "true" constitutional conservative. She says she's been sitting on the sidelines long enough and is ready to make a go of it.

Greene formally announced her candidacy during an event in Watertown last week. She's challenging businessman Matt Doheny, a former Wall Street financier, for the Republican and Conservative party lines. A primary has been set for June 26. Chris Morris has more on the candidate. more

(02/07/12) We continue our series, the Adirondack Attic, with Andy Flynn. You may know Andy from his series of Adirondack Attic books on local history. He uses the objects people make, use and leave behind to tell stories about the life and times of the region.

NCPR is collaborating with Andy and his sources at the Adirondack Museum and other historical associations and museums in the region to bring these stories to air. Today, we'll get the history and the back-story of Saranac Lake's Winter Carnival, and its famous Ice Palace.

(02/08/12) The musical Caroline, or Change is running at Syracuse Stage through February 26. Resident theatre critic Connie Meng attended a recent performance and has this review. more

(02/06/12) Ladybugs and clusterflies are certainly annoying indoors residents. And a new "leaf-footed" insect, the western conifer seed bug, can be disconcerting. But as Cornell Cooperative Extension horticulturist Amy Ivy tells Martha Foley, they're not harmful, and not worth attacking with pesticides. (Next week: Moths)

(02/09/12) In the second in our series about the biological marketplace, Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager look into the beehive. While some worker bees might try to "cheat," introducing their own eggs into the genetic pool of the hive, other workers will detect and destroy them. The queen presides over a society that shares her DNA, but it is run more like a police state than a family.

(02/10/12) Crane School of Music tenor Donald George tells Todd Moe why he chose to record a second volume of music by Boston composer Margaret Lang, who was the first woman to have had her music performed by a major American orchestra. She wrote more than 130 songs during the early 20th century. Though much of her music was popular during her lifetime, Lang was her own toughest critic, sometimes destroying pieces she didn't like.

Donald George and pianist Lucy Mauro have spent the last few years researching Lang's life. They produced a first volume of Lang's music last winter. With this second recording, New Love Must Rise, released this month, the two musicians continue to revive an interest in her nearly forgotten music.

(02/09/12) Artists and arts supporters from around the region will be in Albany next Tuesday to visit with lawmakers and speak up for the arts. Todd Moe talks with St. Lawrence County Arts Council director Hilary Oak about "Arts Advocacy Day", and why the arts are an essential part of the economy.

(02/08/12) The Grasse River Players' winter production of The New York Idea opens in Canton Thursday night as part of the annual Winterfest. Todd Moe talks with Libby Brandt and Carole Berard, two long-time members of Canton's community theater group, about the show.

The drawing room comedy was a Broadway hit back in 1906. It's been updated for modern ears by David Auburn. The play offers a slice of Manhattan's upper crust and tackles social change and those who can and cannot adapt. Carole and Libby talk with Todd about the joys of community theater and this latest production, starting with the play's opening scene.