NCPR News Staff: Jonathan Brown,
Reporter and All Before Five Host

Signs of summer abound right now across the North Country. Gardens are growing, loons are warbling and "For Sale" signs dot the landscape. Summer is traditionally the season for selling a home. But data compiled by the New York Association of Realtors show that in the Adirondacks alone, the number of homes currently on the market is up 20% over last year. Would-be buyers have to contend with rising prices for food and fuel and a credit crunch brought on, in part, by a real-estate bubble that now appears to have burst. But it's not all bad news for the North Country’s real-estate market according to Mark Bergman. He's the Adirondack Region Vice President of the state Association of Realtors. He tells Jonathan Brown that buyers and sellers entering today's market should focus on what's happening in their neighborhoods, not reports of a national market in decline.

Jefferson Community College recently unveiled a $50-million master plan for future development. The school's president, Carole McCoy, tells Jonathan Brown this is part of a push to make the community college in Watertown what she calls "a school of choice."

The bodies of two missing Fort Drum soldiers - abducted while on duty in Iraq - have been found. The families of Sergeant Alex Jimenez and Private Byron Fouty say word of the discovery came from military sources last night. Jimenez, Fouty and Private First Class Joe Anzack, Jr - a third member of the 2nd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division - were kidnapped in May last year during an ambush in the once-violent area south of Baghdad known as the "Triangle of Death." Four members of the unit were killed in the attack. A few weeks later, Anzack’s body was found floating in the Euphrates River. Yesterday, military officials went to the Lawrence, Massachusetts home of Sergeant Jimenez’s father, Andy, and informed him that his son’s body had been positively identified through dental records. The local Eagle Tribune newspaper reports that - after hearing of his son’s fate - Andy Jimenez said, "I have lost all hope."

Patricia McCarthy lives in Pierrepont and works two jobs in Canton and Potsdam. Rising prices have already changed her family's life in small ways. And she says the cuts and sacrifices are cutting closer to the bone. Jonathan Brown has this profile.

A helicopter carrying a large apparatus is creating quite a stir in St Lawrence County. The sight of the mysterious chopper trailing what looks like a giant hoop suspended from a cable is prompting residents to call the county and local media. The helicopter was hired by St. Lawrence Zinc, which owns the zinc mines near Gouverneur and the now-closed mines in Pierrepont. General Manager Mick Lawler told the Watertown Daily Times the company is looking for new zinc deposits deep within the earth. The helicopter is operated by Geotech, Limited, an aerial surveying company based in Aurora, Ontario. That hoop trailing from the copter uses an electromagnetic system to search for minerals – in this case, zinc - deep within the ground. Geotech’s website says it’s been contracted to seek everything from copper and uranium to measuring the depth of sea ice in Alaska. Lawler says the helicopter will continue flying its grid-like pattern above St. Lawrence County for another few weeks.

Democratic State Senator Darrel Aubertine says lawmakers are talking about consolidation of local governments as a means of saving money. He’s recommending schools and other public employers pool resources for equipment, insurance and prescription drugs. Aubertine says consolidation is now part of Albany’s heated debate over capping property taxes. Speaking with Jonathan Brown, the Senator says he agrees with Governor Paterson’s proposal to cap tax growth at four percent.

More people across the state lost their jobs last month. Unemployment numbers released by the New York State Department of Labor showed the highest monthly percentage point increase since January of 1991. Todd Moe has more.

A strange situation in Albany involving North Country Senator Darrel Aubertine got stranger today. Two days after the Democrat said he was offered - and declined - the chairmanship of the New York Power Authority, Governor David Paterson says Aubertine was never offered the job in the first place. Jonathan Brown has more.

The New York Power Authority and the North Country have a long, shared history. The agency overseeing the state’s energy production is about to get a new leader. A couple former power industry insiders now wonder if this region will get the recognition it deserves. Jonathan Brown has more.

The mysterious "white nose syndrome" has received a lot of media coverage. But little is known about the fungus linked to the deaths of thousands of bats across the northeast. Anxiety is growing over the fate of the animals, one of the region’s most effective predators of mosquitos and other insects. Frustration is building among scientists over the slow march toward answers about the cause and possible prevention of the disease. Jonathan Brown talked to the biologist leading the state's effort to learn more about white nose syndrome.