News stories tagged with "lewis-county"

(04/05/12) At one time, there were four mills located at the Croghan Dam, on each side of the Beaver River. John Martin is owner and operator of the last remaining, the Croghan Island Mill.

He specializes in custom windows and doors...things you can't get at Lowe's or Home Depot.
Up until the stop logs were removed from the dam, Martin's machinery was powered by water, which drove pulleys and belts in the historic mill. He's had to rely on electricty since then, but he's had to cut back.

Martin's glad the dam has been reclassified as a lower risk. "Hopefully we can go back to water power," he said, and "business will pick back up and I can get back to normal life again."
Martin gave David Sommerstein a tour of the mill a year ago.

Martin says his father bought the mill from Lehman & Zehr, the original owners, in 1969.

(03/16/12) Two North Country not-for-profit agencies will get nearly $500,000 from the Federal department of Housing and Urban Development, to fund programs for the homeless. more

(09/15/11) NCPR is media sponsor for Saturday's 7th annual Lowville Cream Cheese Festival in downtown Lowville. The event celebrates Lowville's distinction as home of the world's largest cream cheese manufacturing plant. Todd Moe spoke with Eric Virkler, Director of Economic Development and Planning for Lewis County, who says the event includes music, art, contests and lots of cheese cake.

(07/27/11) State environment officials won't remove stop logs from the village of Croghan's historic dam - at least for now. As David Sommerstein reports, the delay comes as Croghan won a $100,000 grant to begin rebuilding the dam. more

(07/22/11) Yesterday, we heard about a not-for-profit called LightHawk, which offers environmental groups private flights to help them give an aerial perspective to their "green" issues.

Today we focus on one group using that service to fight for its survival - the Tug Hill Commission. The Commission isn't exactly an environmental group. It's a state agency, and it's facing elimination in Governor Andrew Cuomo's effort to streamline government.

But the communities of the Tug Hill Plateau see the Commission as indispensable to balancing the economy and the environment in a "working forest". And more than that, they see the Commission as a potential model for other state agencies.

David Sommerstein was invited for a flight recently and has this story. more

(07/12/11) Today, we continue our week-long series Farmers Under 40 with a look at the young people getting into what many consider a shriveling industry.

Dairy remains one of the biggest overall drivers of the North Country economy. Yet half the dairy farms there were twenty years ago are gone. The average age of a dairy farmer is almost 60 years old. Some years it costs more to milk a cow than you can sell the milk for.

till, young farmers are going into dairy. And as David Sommerstein reports, they're bringing a sharp business acumen and a passion to the barn. more

(07/08/11) The Department of Environmental Conservation says it's on schedule to remove the last stop logs from the Croghan dam any day now. That'll lower the pond on the Beaver River by some five feet. That's after the pond in Lewis County was lowered two feet last summer when stop logs were removed.

DEC engineers say the dam's a hazard. But local officials say it's part of history and there's no rush while they seek money to save it. David Sommerstein reports. more

(07/07/11) State environmental officials are trying to nip a huge, dangerous plant in the bud.

The giant hogweed, a monster plant with flowers the size of umbrellas and sap that causes blisters and blindness, is spreading across New York. The Department of Environmental Conservation is asking for help locating outbreaks. more

(06/20/11) The Lewis County village of Croghan is mounting a last-ditch effort to save its dam on the Beaver River as well as the historic sawmill it powers.

The dam is crumbling and is considered a high hazard by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. State officials said they'll remove the stop logs next month and may breach the dam completely. Local officials say that will leave shoreline residents high and dry, and hurt a grassroots effort to rebuild the dam. David Sommerstein reports. more

(04/14/11) Across the North Country, school districts are wrestling with deep cuts to their budgets - the result of Albany's efforts to rein in billions of dollars in deficit spending.

Governor Cuomo has stood firm on his belief schools have the finances to absorb a $1.2 billion cut in education funding. But those cuts are hitting rural school districts especially hard. Educators blame a byzantine and outdated school funding formula. David Sommerstein reports. more