Oct 27, 2008 — Former North Country Assemblyman and state Parole Board member Chris Ortloff remains behind bars this week. He was arrested earlier this month on charges that he attempted to arrange a sexual encounter with two pre-teen girls. News organizations - including North Country Public Radio -- have declined to report the more graphic details. According to court documents filed by federal prosecutors, Ortloff believed that he was part of an underground network of families who offer their own children for sexual abuse. He allegedly met with an undercover officer who was posing as the guardian of two pre-teen girls. "I have known people who successfully maintained this lifestyle for several generations," Ortloff said, according to a transcript contained in federal documents. Brian Mann spoke about the allegations with David Finkelhor, who heads the Crimes against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. Finkelhor says criminal child-sex rings involving parents do exist and are being targeted by law enforcement.

NOTE: North Country has attempted over the last two weeks to speak with Chris Ortloff's attorney, Andrew Safranko. Safranko hasn't respond to repeated messages.  Go to full article

Aug 21, 2008 — If you go to Fort Ticonderoga this summer, you'll find centuries-old stone walls and a new education center. But you'll also find music and pageantry. For more than three decades the Fort's Fife and Drum Corps has been researching and recreating the traditional military and folk music of the 1700s. The musicians are all paid professionals, who spend years in apprenticeship learning their art. But as Brian Mann reports, they're also high school students recruited from bands in nearby towns and villages.  Go to full article

Mar 27, 2008 — Green, recycle, reuse, and the environment are themes in tonight's show. Canadian artist Pamela Meacher got her start in the arts studying dance as a young girl. The long-time painter and nature enthusiast was an exhibitor at the Canada Blooms garden show in Toronto last spring. She's studied ceramics in Montreal, oil painting in Ottawa and life studies in Toronto. She spent years creating large oil canvases before switching to the delicate botanically-styled native flora she's so well-known for. She told Ottawa correspondent Lucy Martin her latest journey into the publishing world has been very worthwhile.  Go to full article

Mar 19, 2008 — Today marks the fifth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. For military parents, repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan have meant painful choices between family and duty. The dilemma is especially stark for servicewomen with newborn babies. As Brian Mann reports, some lawmakers and some military officials say the Pentagon should expand maternity benefits.  Go to full article

Feb 14, 2008 — Advocates for military families say a growing number of soldiers are losing custody of their children, not because they're bad parents but because they've been deployed overseas to Iraq and Afghanistan. A bill signed by President Bush last month strengthens protections for service-members and their families. But as Brian Mann reports, legal experts say some military moms and dads are still vulnerable.  Go to full article

Feb 06, 2008 — If you and your kids are looking to shake off that cabin fever this weekend, try Boogie Wonderland Sunday afternoon. It's a family-friendly dance party at the Higher Ground Concert Hall in Burlington, with a real dance floor and a real disco ball. And adults can even have a drink while the kids dance. Tom Bacon is music lover, father, DJ, and host of Boogie Wonderland. He told David Sommerstein his wife read about similar family dance parties in New York and Philadelphia, and he thought why not in Burlington?  Go to full article

Dec 28, 2007 — The state Department of Conservation is launching a new nature magazine for kids, filled with photos, articles and tips on activities designed to encourage children to reconnect with the outdoors and the natural world. DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis says Conservationist for Kids will be published three times a year. He told Todd Moe that the new magazine is part of a plan to connect more New Yorkers to nature.  Go to full article

Dec 24, 2007 — A lot of cartoons and children's books wrestle with the ups and downs of friendship, often by telling the story of kids and their animals. There's Charlie Brown and Snoopy. Calvin and Hobbes. Opal and Winn-Dixie. Fern and Wilbur. An artist and illustrator in Saranac Lake hopes to add his own set of best friends to that pantheon. Maxwell Eaton has created a series of children's books about the adventures of Max and Pinky, published by Knopf. Brian Mann has our profile.  Go to full article

Aug 27, 2007 — There's a reason more than 90% of American parents choose disposable diapers over cloth. Nothing beats the convenience of disposable diapers. But cloth diapers are more and more user-friendly, and eco-conscious parents grapple with the effect all those disposable diapers have on the environment. Reporter Mark Brush has two little ones at home and decided to take a closer look at the question.  Go to full article

May 17, 2006 — The 4th Annual North Country Schools Peace Poetry Contest, sponsored by the SUNY-Potsdam Department of English and Communication, culminates with a public reading Friday night (7 pm) in Dunn Auditorium at SUNY- Potsdam. The event is free and open to everyone. Children's poems, selected for publication in the annual Peace Poems chapbook, will be read. Children from across the region - Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties participated this year. Paul Saint-Amand teaches in the English and Communications Department at SUNY-Potsdam and is coordinator of the Peace Poetry Contest. He spoke with Todd Moe about why the poetry is important.  Go to full article