Saranac Lake, NY, Sep 30, 2010 — Two men familiar to North Country health and environmental interests are already off the state payroll. Al Hicks and Dr. Ward Stone both accepted early retirement offered to help close New York's budget deficit. The two made names in the region by sorting through some of the most troubling health and environmental problems, from PCB contamination along the St. Lawrence River's Massena industrial zone, to the emerging threat of white nose syndrome killing bats across the east. Martha Foley talks with Adirondack Bureau Chief Brian Mann about what the loss of Hicks and Stone means.