Parishville, NY, Dec 10, 2012 — FBI officials now say the serial killer who spent time in the North Country and in Vermont may have murdered as many as eleven people.

Israel Keyes committed suicide eight days ago in a prison cell in Anchorage, Alaska. He left behind troubling questions about his activities in our region, and the identities of his possible victims.  Go to full article

Dec 06, 2012 — Federal officials revealed frightening new details Wednesday about the activities of Israel Keyes, the serial killer who took his own life on Sunday in a jail in Anchorage, Alaska. Keyes is blamed for murdering a couple in Essex, Vt., last year.

FBI investigators now say Keyes also spent a significant amount of time here in the North Country, owning property in Franklin County and disposing of his
murder weapons in St. Lawrence County.

The FBI says Keyes robbed a bank in Tupper Lake in 2009. He also claimed to have brought one of his victims to the North Country, hiding the body here in the region.  Go to full article

Dec 06, 2012 — Brian Mann joined Martha Foley on the line Thursday morning to talk about the new developments in the Israel Keyes investigation.  Go to full article

Anchorage, AK, Dec 03, 2012 — Federal and Vermont state authorities say a serial killer who committed suicide in an Alaska prison Sunday is the man responsible for the abduction and murder of Bill and Lorraine Currier of Essex, Vermont in June 2011.

Investigators say 34-year old Israel Keyes committed at least eight killings nationwide, and possibly more. There had been only enough evidence to charge him in one case, the February kidnapping and slaying of 18-year-old Anchorage coffee stand worker, Samantha Koenig.

Charges in the Currier case were being held back until more could be learned about the other cases.  Go to full article

Saranac Lake, NY, Nov 19, 2012 — An investment banker and securities broker from Saranac Lake has been barred from the securities industry for defrauding his customers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mark J. Gillis and the financial management firm he co-owns, Hudson Valley Capital Management, have been expelled for using customer funds to cover losses caused by his improper day trading.

That's according to an investigation by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the independent corporation that regulates the securities industry in the U.S.  Go to full article

Rensselaer, NY, Oct 17, 2012 — New York's first graduating class of state troopers in three years received their diplomas in a ceremony Tuesday. Governor Cuomo, who spoke at the event, said he hopes some of the recent controversies surrounding New York's elite police unit are behind it.  Go to full article

Lake Pleasant, NY, Oct 12, 2012 — The district attorney in Hamilton County has filed an application to reinstate criminal charges dating back to 2010 against Patrick Cunningham, operator of the Hudson River Rafting Company based in North Creek.

Just three weeks after the DA's action came the death of an Ohio woman who was a passenger in a raft guided by one of Cunningham's employees.

State police have charged the guide, Rory Fay of North Creek, with criminally negligent homicide for allegedly operating the raft while intoxicated.

Phil Brown is editor of the Adirondack Explorer magazine and he's been following this story closely. He joined Martha Foley on the line.  Go to full article

Malone, NY, Oct 04, 2012 — A report released this week by the New York Civil Liberties Union calls for major reforms to the state prison system that would reduce the number of inmates held in solitary confinement or isolation.

According to the study, roughly 8% of state prisoners are being held in special isolation cells. Roughly a third of those solitary confinement cells, known as "special housing units," are located here in the North Country.

Critics say the use of solitary confinement by prison guards has spiraled out of control.  Go to full article

Saranac Lake, NY, Aug 27, 2012 — The former director of a youth center in Saranac Lake was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday. Michael Scaringe was arrested in January, 2010, on charges that he raped a then-13-year-old girl, whom he met through the youth center in December of 2009. At the time, Scaringe was 61.

His trial earlier this summer also included testimony from several women who claim Scaringe sexually abused them in the 1970s when he was a music teacher in the Tupper Lake Central School District.  Go to full article

Massena, NY, Aug 23, 2012 — The village of Massena is considering reviving a 40-year-old curfew. In the past couple decades, juvenile curfews have been challenged by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and often failed constitutional tests in the courts. But the Massena police are confident that this one passes the test.  Go to full article