May 03, 2013 — An audit by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says St. Lawrence County is "walking a financial tightrope". The audit found the county's fund balance decreased 68 percent from 2007 to 2011. Legislators used surplus funds to close budget gaps and keep property tax increases last year to an already-high 14 percent.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Oct 10, 2012 — Profits on Wall Street are going to be up this year, according to a new report from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. But he says they're still below their pre-recession highs.

The report also finds fewer job losses in the securities industry, but still many economic uncertainties ahead.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Sep 03, 2012 — Local governments in New York continue to flounder, but there are signs that the state's finances are improving as Governor Cuomo and his budget director Robert Megna announced last week that the state finally got an upgrade in an assessment from a major rating agency.

Standard & Poor's changed the state's outlook from "stable" to "positive". Megna says he hopes that lays the groundwork for an improvement in the state's credit rating, which has been ranked as weak for decades: "This outlook revision is professional evidence from an outside observer that New York is once again on the right track."  Go to full article

Alburg, VT, Mar 20, 2012 — When you drive across the bridge from Rouse's Point, New York, into Vermont, the first town you hit is Alburgh. It's a small community, about 2,000 people. And its geography is unusual: it's on a peninsula that borders Quebec, is surrounded by Lake Champlain, and doesn't touch any land in the United States.

Alburgh may be small and isolated, but the People's United branch has been on Alburgh's Main Street for as long as most people can remember. And when the local bank announced it would close, townspeople decided that was just too isolated. Sarah Harris has our story.  Go to full article

Ogdensburg, NY, Nov 11, 2009 — An iconic North Country retailer has filed for bankruptcy. Hacketts stores filed a petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday. President and COO Herbert Becker said in a press release the move will allow the company to "assure its financial viability while repaying creditors". He said Hacketts intends to keep its existing stores in Ogdensburg, Massena, Tupper Lake, and Sackets Harbor open.

Hacketts was founded in Ogdensburg in the mid-1800s. At its peak two years ago, Hacketts had expanded to nine stores as far-flung as Pulaski and Hamilton. But that growth hid massive debt in Hacketts' parent company, Seaway Valley Capital Corporation, owned by Thomas Scozzafava, brother of Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava. Martha Foley talks with David Sommerstein, who has reported extensively on Seaway Valley and Hacketts, about what the bankruptcy means.  Go to full article

Watertown, NY, Sep 16, 2009 — This morning, we have a special report on how two North Country retailers, Hacketts and Wise Buys, came together in a shifting delta of deals and dreams. And debt, because this is a story of a bold idea for a homegrown venture gone sour. Republican Dede Scozzafava's run for Congress helped turned the spotlight on the business dealings of her brother, Tom, and her involvement in them. But the fortunes of Wise Buys and Hacketts had been in the headlines for years. They were joined two years ago in a new company, headed by Tom Scozzafava. Seaway Valley Capital Corporation has now absorbed other local businesses as well, including Sackets Harbor Brewery and Alteri's bakery in Watertown. Dede Scozzafava plays no active role in the company, but she is one of its most valued lenders. The company is now buried under $37 million in debt, double its assets. A look at the company's public filings shows a thicket of complex debt instruments, used to raise capital and pay off other loans. Stockholders have lost millions of dollars. As with all struggling companies, it wasn't supposed to turn out this way. In this special report, David Sommerstein untangles the complicated story of Seaway Valley, Hacketts, and Dede and Tom Scozzafava.  Go to full article

Gouverneur, NY, Sep 16, 2009 — Seaway Valley Capital Corporation has become a concern in Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava's campaign for Congress. According to her personal finance disclosure form, Scozzafava has at least $1 million invested in the company. Financial filings show her firm, Seaway Capital Partners, loaned Seaway Valley more than $400,000 last month.

Dede Scozzafava was mayor of her hometown of Gouverneur and has enjoyed broad support while serving in the state Assembly since 1999. Her public stature is often cited by investors as a factor in their decisions to buy stock in her brother's company. And now that their investments are nearly worthless, they want answers. "I can't defend any of that," Scozzafava says, "because I'm not involved in any decision making in the public company." Dede Scozzafava is vice-president and chief operating officer of Seaway Capital Partners, the firm that started Wise Buys in 2003. In 2007, Seaway Capital sold its share in Wise Buys to Seaway Valley in exchange for preferred shares of stock. Scozzafava told David Sommerstein she has always been just a "passive investor" in the new company.  Go to full article

Oct 08, 2008 — Senator Hillary Clinton voted for the $700 billion bailout last week to keep the nation's financial crisis from spreading because, she said, all elements of the economy, from Wall Street banks to small-town businesses and farms, are interconnected. But whether and how much the bailout helps Americans depends on what happens next to implement the bailout and make sure Main Street as well as Wall Street benefits. Clinton said she'll be introducing legislation modeled on the New Deal Homeowners Loan Corporation to help people refinance their home mortgages. Speaking with All Before Five host Jonathan Brown yesterday afternoon, she started with a long list of what more needs to be done.  Go to full article

Nov 20, 2006 — Eliot Spitzer will face a number of challenges when he becomes New York's Governor. One of the first is the state budget, which the governor-elect has already said is riddled with problems. Karen DeWitt reports from Albany.  Go to full article

Aug 05, 2006 — In this year's final Adirondack Roundtable sponsored by the Lake Placid Institute, we hear John C. Bogle, founder and former chief executive of The Vanguard Group, Inc., one of the two largest mutual fund organizations in the world. In his latest book, The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism, he looks at the inequalities and inefficiencies that result from the shift from "owner capitalism," with its emphasis on the production of tangible assets, toward "manager capitalism," where the interests of investment managers collide with the interests of business owners and shareholders. Mr Bogle is introduced by Marilyn Heimerdinger.  Go to full article