Croghan, NY, Mar 23, 2011 — David Sommerstein spent some more time with John Martin, the owner and operator of the Croghan Island Mill, and went on a tour. Martin specializes in custom windows and doors...things you can't get at Lowe's or Home Depot.

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

Mar 18, 2011 — Leaders across Lewis, Jefferson, and Oneida counties are making a full court press to save the Tug Hill Commission. The 38 year-old agency provides planning, development, and natural resource management assistance to the isolated towns and villages of the Tug Hill Plateau.

The State Senate has included $1.1 million for the Commission in its spending plan. That's a 10% budget cut, on par with what other agencies are dealing with. But the Assembly is so far following Governor Cuomo's recommendation to dissolve the Commission. That's left Tug Hill leaders fighting for the agency's survival. David Sommerstein reports.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Mar 10, 2011 — New York's Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would make the Power For Jobs program permanent. The newly named "Recharge NY" program would double in size by using electricity that had been allocated to small residential energy bill discounts. It would still offer low-cost power to hundreds of companies across the state in return for job commitments. The new version of the program would also set aside $8 million to offer power discounts for farmers. The now goes before the state Assembly.

Republican Joe Griffo says the bill is one success in what he calls a "very hectic" session. Griffo says lawmakers are scrambling to finish budget bills while trying to avoid the "three-men-in-a-room" process that's given Albany such a bad name. "To debate these issues in public between both houses and hopefully arrive on a consensus so we can have an on-time budget," Griffo says. "I think everybody is trying to work together and do the best we can despite our philosophic differences."

Those differences include how much to cut education spending and how to make redistricting less partisan.

Griffo represents the 47th Senate district, which stretches from Utica in the south, though Lewis County and the eastern half of St. Lawrence County to Massena. He told David Sommerstein making the popular Power For Jobs program permanent is an important step forward.  Go to full article

Machias, NY, Feb 08, 2011 — Local leaders are scrambling to save a state agency that supports the isolated communities of the Tug Hill Plateau. Governor Cuomo wants to dissolve the Tug Hill Commission in next year's budget. 15 people would lose their jobs.

The Commission serves more than 60 towns and villages in rural Lewis, Jefferson, Oswego, and Oneida counties, helping with economic development, planning, and natural resource protection. David Sommerstein reports on efforts to save the agency.  Go to full article

Copenhagen, NY, Jan 27, 2011 — Earlier this month, you heard David Sommerstein's report on the 2010 Kite Skiing Festival on the Tug Hill Plateau. Skiers and snowboarders tether themselves to high performance kites that harness the Tug's strong winds and pull them along open farm fields.

While David was at this year's kite skiing festival, he learned there's something else you can do with a kite - kite buggying. Here's David for today's Heard Up North.  Go to full article

Boonville, NY, Jan 07, 2011 — In Boonville, in northern Oneida County, it's not easy to get a college education. The closest community colleges are miles away. And in the snowy Tug Hill winter, it's often hard to get anywhere.

So it's not surprising that college graduation rates are low in the community. That drew the attention of Mother Linda Logan, rector of Trinity Episcopal church. She and a parishioner, retired professor and researcher Maureen Casamayou, have worked to bring Boonville its first college class.

Casamayou will teach a three-credit course in American government. It'll be credentialed by Mohawk Valley Community College. The class begins on January 18th.

David Sommerstein spoke with Mother Linda Logan about why she and Casamayou started the class.

For more information and to register, call the college at 315-792-5354.  Go to full article

Watertown, NY, Dec 15, 2010 — Over the next month, we'll hear a lot about earmarks, also known as "pork." They're the district-specific pet projects of members of Congress. The new Republican-led House has vowed to ban earmarks, or at least strictly curtail them.

We've all heard about the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere." But for every one of those earmarks, there are many others that are filling a need in a community.

Fort Drum near Watertown is the only Army base in the country without its own hospital. Soldiers and their families rely on doctors and clinics in Jefferson, Lewis, and southern St. Lawrence counties. A $400,000 earmark funds an organization thats building health care assets for soldiers and civilians alike. avid Sommerstein reports.  Go to full article

Croghan, NY, Dec 07, 2010 — An historic North Country sound is in danger of disappearing, the rhythmic sound of the wheelhouse of the Croghan Island Mill, one of the only operating mechanical sawmills left in New York. It's dam has been crumbling since the 1980s. And the Department of Environmental Conservation says it needs to be removed. But local residents and St. Lawrence University students are teaming up to try to save it.  Go to full article

Lowville, NY, Sep 15, 2010 — Workers at the Kraft plant in Lowville are focussed on one of their biggest assignments this year -- creating a cheesecake large enough to feed hundreds. They call it the world's largest cheesecake and it's one of the highlights of the sixth annual Cream Cheese Festival in Lowville on Saturday. Todd Moe spoke with Eric Virkler, Lewis County economic development director, about the festival. Virkler says there's other food, besides the cheesecake, along with music, art and a recipe contest.  Go to full article

Lowville, NY, Jul 30, 2010 — It's county fair season in the North Country. And that means it's also fried food season. Fried dough, French fries, funnel cakes. At the Lewis County fair last week in Lowville, David Sommerstein bumped into some "X-treme" frying: fried oreo cookies. He sent this Heard Up North.  Go to full article