News stories tagged with "st-lawrence-river"

(05/14/12) Nunsense II is running at the 1000 Islands Playhouse in Gananoque through June 16. Resident theatre critic Connie Meng was at the opening night and has this review. more

(04/27/12) A series of lectures on the War of 1812 will be held in Ogdensburg this weekend. The Fort La Presentation Association's fourth annual War of 1812 Lectures will be held at the Freight House Restaurant on Friday and Saturday. Eight experts from the U.S. and Canada will present the latest research on battles, allies, historic preservation, medical practices, and the work of local museums. It's a chance to share common ideas about different aspects of the war.

Ontario re-enactor Michael Whittaker, one of the organizers, says the event will appeal to students, history buffs and the curious. Todd Moe got his take on this year's War of 1812 bicentennial commemorations and the weekend gathering. Whittaker says the St. Lawrence River was one of the focal points of the war.

(04/04/12) Many of us read The Secret Garden when we were kids. Children's author Ellen Potter takes that story and sets it in the Thousand Islands in her new book The Humming Room. Her characters live in an old children's sanatorium on an island the locals call "Cough Rock." Our book reviewer Betsy Kepes spoke with Ellen Potter about her latest novel.

(03/22/12) An unofficial start to the spring and summer season Thursday, as the St. Lawrence Seaway officially opened with three separate ceremonies. It's the 54th season for the seaway.

The Thousand Islands saw its first ship of the season before the opening--on Wednesday. The Missisagi winters in Hamilton, Ontario, so it didn't need to go through any locks to get to Prescott. more

(03/16/12) Historical re-enactors will gather in Sackets Harbor this weekend as part of a War of 1812 bicentennial commemoration. But the conversations will focus on period clothing and quilts, rather than muskets and cannons. Todd Moe talks with Ted Schofield, a re-enactor from Chaumont, about his early 19th century reproduction sewing implements and a love of recreating historic clothing.

(03/08/12) U.S. Representative Bill Owens says environmentalists shouldn't be concerned about his stand on a new water level plan for Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.

The International Joint Commission started controlling high and low water levels in the 1950s. While that's kept a stable water level, the agency now says it's bad for the environment. The new plan allows water levels to reach higher highs and lower lows.

The IJC has yet to release all the plan details. Congressman Owens recently wrote to the agency, urging closer attention to shoreline property damage along Lake Ontario. He says that damage could exceed $3 million annually. more

(02/27/12) On Friday, we reported that New York state is pushing Federal officials to toughen proposed new standards for ballast water pollution on freighters using the St. Lawrence Seaway.

In that report, we mistakenly reported that the Cuomo administration is still planning to implement its own set of ballast water regulations, scheduled to go into effect next year.

But officials in Albany say they've decided to scrap the state rules, a move that's drawing mixed reviews from industry groups and environmentalists. Brian Mann has our update.

(02/21/12) When spring comes, water levels rise. The spring thaw naturally fills-up lakes and rivers. But you might not know it by looking at Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. For fifty years regulators have been tempering extreme high and low water levels. And shoreline property owners, shippers, and dam operators like it that way. They don't like big fluctuations.

But now a new proposal by the International Joint Commission recommends a more natural approach. Julie Grant reports. more

(08/24/11) A new book offers a slightly different view of life in the Thousand Islands region of the St. Lawrence River. What started as a hobby collecting old photographs for Tom French has grown into a fascination with historic stereographs--antique 3-D photographs--and a passion for preserving Thousand Islands history. French was raised on Thousand Island Park. He teaches English in Massena and splits his time between the St. Lawrence River and his home in Potsdam.

The amateur historian has compiled and edited a book of old stereographs of the region. River Views: A History of the Thousand Islands in 3-D, includes more than 100 sepia-toned stereograph cards that illustrate the history of the Thousand Islands. But he told Todd Moe that it was also the stories behind the old photos that intrigued him.

(08/23/11) For the first time, a top official with the US Environmental Protection Agency has publicly embraced New York's tough new ballast water rules. Those regulations, scheduled to go into effect next year, are designed to stop invasions of non-native animals and plants, like zebra mussels and the spiny water flea.

Industry groups, members of congress and some Federal officials are pushing back hard, arguing that the regulations set standards that can't be met by existing technology. The want New York's rules scrapped. And they're lobbying the EPA to create national ballast water guidelines that are far less strict.

But as Brian Mann reports, the top EPA administrator in New York says new regulations should push the shipping industry to do more to help stop invasives. more