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NCPR News Staff: Brian Mann
Adirondack Bureau Chief
Brian Mann grew up in Alaska, where he fell in love with public radio. In 1999, Brian moved to the Adirondacks and helped launch NCPR's news bureau at Paul Smiths College. "I love the chemistry of water and mountains," Brian says. "But I'm also pretty crazy about village life in the north country. It's the kind of place where you know your neighbors." Brian lives in Saranac Lake with wife Susan and son Nicholas. He's a frequent contributor to NPR and also writes regularly for regional magazines, including Adirondack Life and the Adirondack Explorer. E-mail Stories filed by Brian Mann
Keene Central School, Keene Valley, NY
Stressed schools face troubling budget votes
May 20, 2013 — Across the North Country voters go to the polls to decide the fate of their local school districts, electing new school board members and approving or rejecting school budgets.
This isn't just another ho-hum year for school districts. For half a decade, many districts have faced a nightmare of declining, or flat state aid, skyrocketing costs, a property tax cap and in some parts of the region, sharply declining enrollment. Those pressures have pushed some districts to the brink. Go to full article
This isn't just another ho-hum year for school districts. For half a decade, many districts have faced a nightmare of declining, or flat state aid, skyrocketing costs, a property tax cap and in some parts of the region, sharply declining enrollment. Those pressures have pushed some districts to the brink. Go to full article
Saranac Lake village mayor Clyde Rabideau dressed in "6er" swag. Rabideau says he still has one summit to bag before he's an official member. Photo: Brian Mann
Do you have what it takes to be a Saranac Lake 6er?
May 17, 2013 — We've all heard of the Adirondack 46ers. They're the club of hikers and climbers who have summited all 46 of the Adirondack's highest peaks.
People who compete that grueling task are given an official number and official bragging rights. Now the village of Saranac Lake is hoping to launch its own version of that challenge with its new "6er" program.
The goal is to draw visitors to the ring of beautiful but less difficult mountains that surround the village. Go to full article
People who compete that grueling task are given an official number and official bragging rights. Now the village of Saranac Lake is hoping to launch its own version of that challenge with its new "6er" program.
The goal is to draw visitors to the ring of beautiful but less difficult mountains that surround the village. Go to full article
Prisons for sale. As two more prisons close down, there a dozen corrections and juvenile justice facilities in NY will be mothballed or up for sale. Photo: Brian Mann
Act now! Clinton County prison just $140,000!
May 15, 2013 — State officials have set a price tag on the mothballed prison in Clinton County and it looks like a bargain.
The Office of General Services says it will accept a minimum bid for the Lyon Mountain Correctional Facility of just $140,000.
That includes more than 27 acres of land and 23 buildings. Go to full article
The Office of General Services says it will accept a minimum bid for the Lyon Mountain Correctional Facility of just $140,000.
That includes more than 27 acres of land and 23 buildings. Go to full article
On the inside looking out. An image from the documentary film "The House I Live In." Photo: "The House I Live In," used by permission
Why don't we talk more about North Country prisons?
May 14, 2013 — Locking people up and keeping them behind bars is one of the North Country's biggest industries. There are more than twenty jails and prison facilities scattered across our rural region. Corrections and law enforcement agencies provide high-paying jobs from Ogdensburg to Glens Falls.
But the prison industry isn't something we talk about very often. The North Country's Regional Economic Development plan talks about renewable energy and trains and farms and government. But it doesn't even mention prisons -- not once.
Earlier this month, a student group at SUNY Plattsburgh invited community members, faculty and activists to meet and talk about mass incarceration and how it affects communities. Go to full article
But the prison industry isn't something we talk about very often. The North Country's Regional Economic Development plan talks about renewable energy and trains and farms and government. But it doesn't even mention prisons -- not once.
Earlier this month, a student group at SUNY Plattsburgh invited community members, faculty and activists to meet and talk about mass incarceration and how it affects communities. Go to full article
Helen Demong leads the Northern Lights choir in rehearsal. Photo: Bob Sweet, used by permission
150 years after Emancipation, a new song of freedom
May 10, 2013 — Today and tomorrow in the Adirondacks, activists and artists will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.
That document, signed by President Abraham Lincoln, freed more than three million enslaved human beings.
Lincoln's action during the Civil War followed decades of sacrifice by slaves, free blacks and whites who formed the abolitionist movement.
One of the most powerful symbols of that movement was Timbuctoo, the colony of freed slaves near Lake Placid.
This weekend, that history is being celebrated in a performance of traditional music from the 1800s and also in a brand new oratorio commissioned by the group John Brown Lives. Go to full article
That document, signed by President Abraham Lincoln, freed more than three million enslaved human beings.
Lincoln's action during the Civil War followed decades of sacrifice by slaves, free blacks and whites who formed the abolitionist movement.
One of the most powerful symbols of that movement was Timbuctoo, the colony of freed slaves near Lake Placid.
This weekend, that history is being celebrated in a performance of traditional music from the 1800s and also in a brand new oratorio commissioned by the group John Brown Lives. Go to full article
Ship discharging ballast water. Photo US Geological Survey
National Wildlife Federation expands challenge to new invasives rules
May 06, 2013 — A national environmental group is expanding its legal challenge to new state and Federal rules designed to keep invasive species out the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes.
Neil Kagan, senior counsel with the National Wildlife Federation, says new standards aren't strict enough to keep dangerous organisms from reaching the US in the ballast water of ships, "Neither the EPA permit, nor the state's certification of that are sufficient to prevent new invasive species from coming into New York waters."
The National Wildlife Federation is already suing New York, pushing the state to adopt tougher standards. Go to full article
Neil Kagan, senior counsel with the National Wildlife Federation, says new standards aren't strict enough to keep dangerous organisms from reaching the US in the ballast water of ships, "Neither the EPA permit, nor the state's certification of that are sufficient to prevent new invasive species from coming into New York waters."
The National Wildlife Federation is already suing New York, pushing the state to adopt tougher standards. Go to full article
Once a public school, the Lyon Mountain Correctional Facility operated from 1984 until 2011. Now it's up for sale. Photo: New York state
Want to buy a North Country prison? Bargain basement prices!
Lyon Mountain, NY, May 02, 2013 — What happens to prisons and correctional facilities when there aren't enough inmates to fill the jail cells?
That's the dilemma facing nearly a dozen communities in upstate New York. After a massive prison construction boom that continued for nearly four decades, the state has seen its inmate population decline steadily in recent years. The change follows a sharp decline in crime rates and changes to sentencing guidelines that mean fewer nonviolent drug offenders spending years behind bars.
Now a state agency called Empire State Development is struggling to auction off eleven former prisons and juvenile justice centers, including two facilities now for sale here in the North Country.
But many rural communities fear that another economic engine is dying with nothing to replace it. Go to full article
That's the dilemma facing nearly a dozen communities in upstate New York. After a massive prison construction boom that continued for nearly four decades, the state has seen its inmate population decline steadily in recent years. The change follows a sharp decline in crime rates and changes to sentencing guidelines that mean fewer nonviolent drug offenders spending years behind bars.
Now a state agency called Empire State Development is struggling to auction off eleven former prisons and juvenile justice centers, including two facilities now for sale here in the North Country.
But many rural communities fear that another economic engine is dying with nothing to replace it. Go to full article
Bicknell's Thrush. Photo: Larry Master
Emergency Adk tower plan worries bird experts
Apr 25, 2013 — A plan to build and upgrade emergency communications towers on four summits in the Adirondack Park is sparking new controversy because of the possible impact on a rare songbird called the Bicknell's thrush. The thrush is a "species of concern" in New York, because of its dwindling population and its small, alpine breeding area.
Last winter, the Adirondack Park Agency set strict rules for the construction project, designed to limit any impacts on the songbird. But facing pressure from local leaders, the APA decided earlier this month to scrap those restrictions.
The last-minute change is drawing criticism from scientists and conservation groups that study Bicknell's thrush. Go to full article
Last winter, the Adirondack Park Agency set strict rules for the construction project, designed to limit any impacts on the songbird. But facing pressure from local leaders, the APA decided earlier this month to scrap those restrictions.
The last-minute change is drawing criticism from scientists and conservation groups that study Bicknell's thrush. Go to full article
OK Slip Falls, considered one of the prizes of the Finch, Pruyn deal Photo: C. Heilman, courtesy Adirondack Nature Conservancy
NYS confirms big expansion of Adk forest preserve
Apr 24, 2013 — State officials are moving forward with two land purchases in the Adirondacks totaling nearly 10,000 acres.
State Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens will be on Prospect Mountain near Lake George later this morning unveiling one of the deals. Go to full article
State Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens will be on Prospect Mountain near Lake George later this morning unveiling one of the deals. Go to full article
The Via Rail/Amtrak train "Maple Leaf" (shown here near Niagara Falls) makes the Toronto to New York City run. Photo: Diego Torres Silvestre, Creative Commons, some rights reserved
Canada disrupts Al Qaeda-supported "major terror plot"
Apr 23, 2013 — Canadian officials say they have disrupted a "major" terror plot involving two men in Montreal and Toronto who were planning to derail a VIA passenger train.
According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the pair were working with support from Al Qaeda elements based in Iran. Sources in the US say the men were planning to attack a train traveling from Toronto to New York City.
This news comes at a time when concerns are rising about terrorism activity based in Canada. Go to full article
According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the pair were working with support from Al Qaeda elements based in Iran. Sources in the US say the men were planning to attack a train traveling from Toronto to New York City.
This news comes at a time when concerns are rising about terrorism activity based in Canada. Go to full article
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St. Lawrence University, Canton,
New York 13617 • phone: 1-877-388-6277 • email
radio@ncpr.orgNCPR is a proud affiliate of:
NPR • American Public Media • Public Radio International
