Jul 22, 2011 — 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.  Go to full article

Port Leyden, NY, Jul 12, 2011 — 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.  Go to full article

Croghan, NY, Jul 08, 2011 — 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.  Go to full article

Lowville, NY, Jul 07, 2011 — 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.  Go to full article

Croghan, NY, Jun 20, 2011 — 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.  Go to full article

Apr 14, 2011 — 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.  Go to full article

Apr 14, 2011 — 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.  Go to full article

Apr 13, 2011 — The latest Siena College poll found Governor Cuomo enjoying the support of near three-quarters of New Yorkers even after his austerity budget cut $1.2 billion to schools. Now reality's setting in as districts finalize their budget plans. And in many North Country districts, the news is ugly, with teacher layoffs and program cuts the norm.

The news is so bad, students themselves are fighting back. Today we have two stories from opposite ends of the region. We start in Croghan in Lewis County, where the Beaver River school district may cut or reduce a third of its staff, including several music and art teachers. Students organized a talent show last night to raise money. David Sommerstein was there.  Go to full article

Fort Drum, NY, Apr 11, 2011 — The war in Libya, unrest through the Middle East, and the nuclear crisis in Japan have pushed America's war in Afghanistan down the news agenda.

Fully half of Fort Drum's soldier population is on the ground in Afghanistan. The Army base's commander is in charge of coalition troops in the most dangerous part of the country. General James Terry briefed the media while on leave from Afghanistan last week. David Sommerstein was there and has out report.  Go to full article

Croghan, NY, Mar 23, 2011 — Our series on New York's aging infrastructure continues this morning with a look at a crumbling dam in Lewis County and why it threatens a community's identity and culture.

There are more than 5,000 dams in New York State. They're mostly used for flood control, to provide drinking water, for hydropower, and to create lakes and ponds for recreation.

Even dam safety officials don't know how many need repair. But they do know 50 of the most potentially hazardous ones need to be fixed or dismantled.

One of those is on the Beaver River in the village of Croghan. If it can't be fixed, it may force the closure of one of the state's last water-powered sawmills. David Sommerstein reports.  Go to full article