May 17, 2013 — We've reported for months - years even - that the Great Lakes, from Superior to Ontario, are at historically low water levels.

So we were surprised to get the news this week that regulators are lowering the gates at the Iroquois Dam near Ogdensburg because the St. Lawrence River is too high.

It's quite a puzzle.  Go to full article

Clayton, NY, May 13, 2013 — The New York wine industry is booming. According to the New York Wind and Grape Foundation, five million people visit New York wineries every year. The industry generates almost $4 billion.

The New York Farm Bureau is pushing for an official designation for a new Adirondack Wine Coast Trail to bring enthusiasts to seven vineyards in Clinton County.

A lot of the credit for New York wines can go to a team of researchers that's doing what you might call "extreme winemaking": Breeding grapes that survive the North Country's frigid winters and still make delicious wine.

They hope names like Frontenac and Marquette will one day be as popular as Cabernet and Merlot.  Go to full article

May 10, 2013 — Spring means life on St. Lawrence River in the Thousand Islands is coming back to life. One of the region's anchor destinations, the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, opens for the season this weekend.

Fritz Hager is the museum's executive director. "We've got a lot going on here. We've got a lot of boats under restoration here," says Hager, "including our gigantic 110-foot houseboat, La Duchesse, which will be in restoration for a couple of years. So there's always a lot going on here boat-building wise. We also have boat rides, sailing classes, and other educational programs, and it all starts on Friday."  Go to full article

Apr 05, 2013 — Update: The EPA released its final plan for the Alcoa Grasse River cleanup late this morning. More information is at The Inbox.

Just ahead of the release of a plan to clean up toxic chemicals from the Grasse River near Massena, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe blasted federal officials for putting the economy ahead of the environment.  Go to full article

Apr 03, 2013 — You never know who you're going to meet by the side of the road in the North Country. David Sommerstein stopped to chat with a guy sawing firewood recently. It turns out he painted one of the tallest bridges over the St. Lawrence River. Today's Heard Up North features Frank Forney of Philadelphia.  Go to full article

Apr 01, 2013 — The company that built Massena will keep its plants open there for at least another 30 years.

Alcoa announced Saturday it will invest $42 million to modernize its East plant and build a new smelting the line. The company will also guarantee at least 900 jobs. In return, Alcoa will get low cost electricity from the hydropower dam on the St. Lawrence River.

The deal hinges on how the Environmental Protection Agency decides to clean up PCBs Alcoa and Reynolds dumped in the Grasse River decades ago.

David Sommerstein joined Martha Foley for more on the deal.  Go to full article

Hogansburg, NY, Mar 28, 2013 — Alcoa and Reynolds Metals will pay almost $20 million to restore habitat and wildlife on the St. Lawrence River near Massena. The settlement ends a more than 20-year-old lawsuit spearheaded by the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe.  Go to full article

Ottawa, ON, Mar 13, 2013 — It's been more than 50 years since Inundation Day -- July 1, 1958, when ten Ontario communities along the St. Lawrence were purposefully flooded and 6,500 people relocated so the St. Lawrence Seaway could come into being. This spring, an Ottawa photographer will be collecting stories about the so-called "sunken villages" - that handful of Canadian villages have been hidden under the St. Lawrence Seaway for over 50 years.

Todd Moe talks with Ottawa aerial photographer Louis Helbig about his "Sunken Villages" project of photos of the lost communities between Cornwall and Prescott, Ontario. For the last few years, Helbig has arranged exhibitions of his birds-eye-view of the underwater remnants of houses and streets. Now, he's looking for stories and family histories to accompany the photos.  Go to full article

Hogansburg, NY, Mar 06, 2013 — A memorial service was held yesterday for a Mohawk woman who lived to be 100 years old. The family of Beatrice Jacobs says she's lived a healthy life at a nursing home in Snye for the last ten years.

According to her obituary, Jacobs worked in the cafeteria at St. Regis Mohawk School, and later with the Warner Brothers Corset Factory in Massena. She won a "Woman of the Year" award from the local Professional Women's Club and helped found an advocacy group for senior citizens of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe.

David Sommerstein met Jacobs in 2000, when she agreed to tell him some stories about what life used to be like in Akwesasne. One was a wintertime story about crossing the frozen St. Lawrence River to Ontario, for work, trade, and dancing.  Go to full article

Ogdensburg, NY, Feb 21, 2013 — The bicentennial of the Battle of Ogdensburg will be commemorated on the streets of the city this weekend. On February 22nd, 1813, hundreds of British-Canadian soldiers crossed the frozen St. Lawrence River and attacked Ogdensburg. Historical re-enactors with the group, Forsyth's Rifles, will battle the British on Ford and State Streets to commemorate the skirmish. Both sides will fire period muskets and firearms in recreating the battle.

It was a Canadian victory during the War of 1812, and an end to the American threat to trade in Upper Canada. Depending on what side of the border you lived on, the battle had its share of heroes and legends.  Go to full article