Top Stories from NCPR News

Border Patrol agents shoot a suspected pot smuggler in Franklin County... A conference this week looks at the health of the St Lawrence River... Local officials say high gas prices may not hurt summer tourism in the Adirondack North Country... And remembering a Norwegian explorer who died in Saranac Lake seeking "the cure."

150 scientists from the U.S. and Canada meet in Cornwall, Ontario, today to assess the health of the St. Lawrence River. The St. Lawrence River Institute’s annual conference comes on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the construction of the hydropower dam. The dam brought clean power and good jobs, but also pollution, Superfund sites, and environmental destruction. David Sommerstein reports.

Local leaders and tourism officials say high gas prices will have an impact on the summer tourism season in the Adirondacks. But they’re optimistic that an ongoing surge in Canadian visits will help to minimize any decline. Chris Knight reports.

Next week, the U.S. Postal Service will unveil a new stamp honoring Saranac Lake's Edward Livingston Trudeau. Trudeau did pioneering research in tuberculosis care. His sanatorium attracted patients from all over the world. One of the more famous patients was a Norwegian explorer and anthropologist named Carl Lumholtz. Lumholtz came to Saranac Lake at the end of his life, in the 1920s, after leading expeditions to Australia, Mexico, and the South Pacific. Brian Mann spoke about Lumholtz with Norwegian journalist Morten Andrea Stroksnes. Stroksnes was in the Adirondacks recently researching a new biography of Lumholtz.

Congress might vote soon on a bill that would force foreign ships to treat ballast water to kill unwanted species before entering US waters, including the St. Lawrence. Many environmental groups support the measure, but some worry about the loss of state control. Chuck Quirmbach reports.

Gardening has a well-deserved reputation for providing pleasure and healthful exercise. But sometimes all that outdoor activity leads to problems, as Ottawa reporter Lucy Martin learned the hard way. She spoke with a physical therapist about ways to stay out of trouble while getting the garden work done.

James Bartleman finished his term last year as Ontario's lieutenant-governor. As a boy in Port Carling, Ontario, Bartleman wasn't sure if the town library allowed children inside. Fifty years later he organized a project that has sent over a million books to Native communities in northern Ontario. Our book reviewer, Betsy Kepes, read Bartleman's new memoir, Raisin Wine: a Boyhood in a Different Muskoka.

Schools have been closing and consolidating across the North Country for decades. Declining birth rates and shrinking class sizes threaten schools in nearly every district. When schools close, communities often lose their youngest generation as families move to other districts. This can be a tipping point for the home town. But as Jonathan Brown reports, a tiny Adirondack village has a plan that could reverse this slide.

Good government groups say Albany needs reform to limit the influence of lobbyists and special interest groups... And the tiny, High Peaks town of Newcomb is trying to save its school in hopes of saving the town itself.

Reform advocates held their annual lobby day in Albany last week. They are struggling to overcome a loss of momentum with the political demise of former Governor Eliot Spitzer. Karen DeWitt reports.