Apr 19, 2012 — They say fashion is cyclical. On today's Heard Up North, Tasha Haverty takes us to one of the North Country's most glamorous evenings of the year: the semi-annual Women's Clothing Swap at the Canton Free Library.  Go to full article

Albany, NY, Apr 03, 2012 — The Obama administration set off a firestorm when it released rules requiring employer-provided health insurance to cover the cost of contraceptives. Leaders in the Catholic Church said the policy violates their right to religious freedom.

Meanwhile, states around the country are considering hundreds of bills addressing women's health care: everything from forcing women to carry dead fetuses to term, to forcing women who seek abortions to go through invasive ultrasounds, to cutting funding for health clinics. Many women say these bills violate their right to to make their own health care decisions, and will limit access to quality health care..

The New York State legislature is considering a bill called the Reproductive Health Act. It codifies a woman's right to contraception and abortion. But even so, some women see a trend, and they're worried.  Go to full article

Mar 13, 2012 — A new, ecumenical church community has been formed in Saranac Lake that's trying to appeal to those who feel marginalized by the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The Crossroads Catholic Community, founded by the Rev. Christopher Courtwright-Cox, bills itself as a non-judgemental, independent religious community that welcomes gays and lesbians, and women as priests, yet still retains most Catholic traditions and practices. Chris Knight attended a Crossroads service on Saturday and filed this report.  Go to full article

Plattsburgh, NY, Mar 01, 2012 — This week, North Country Public Radio has been talking to religious leaders and politicians in our region about the national debate surrounding birth control and sexuality. It's become a big issue for Republicans in the 2012 presidential primary.

Republicans in Congress are also advancing national legislation that would allow all employers, not just religious groups, to deny health insurance coverage for things like contraception if those services violate the beliefs of the company's owners.

These culture-war debates could shape big races here in the North Country this November, including the battle for the 23rd district congressional race. Republican challenger Matt Doheny has accused Democratic congressman Bill Owens, of working "to violate the free exercise of religion."

Republican Assemblywoman Janet Duprey from Peru is also expected to face a strong primary challenge, in part because of her support for same-sex marriage, which is now legal in New York.

This political debate may, at times, seem disconnected from the reality of modern American life. According to the widely-respected Guttmacher Institute, roughly 90% of fertile, sexually active women in the United States are using contraception. But for some women, religious teachings play a profound role in shaping and defining their sexuality. Away from the glare of politics, faith and intimacy can be closely intertwined.

Our Plattsburgh correspondent Sarah Harris sat down recently to talk in-depth with Erica Macalintal. She's a 22-year-old nursing student at SUNY Plattsburgh who will graduate this May. Macalintal is a devout Roman Catholic who says her sexual life has been deeply influenced by the theology of her Church.  Go to full article

Ogdensburg, NY, Feb 28, 2012 — After the long recession, most pundits expected the 2012 political campaign to revolve around economic issues.

But politicians on the right and left have instead been reviving some surprising social questions, ranging from contraception to prenatal testing to the role of religion in politics and public life.

In an interview with Newsweek magazine, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, argued that opposition to insurance coverage for those services amounts to "an attack on women."

"Many of us are outraged, really outraged," Sen. Gillibrand told the magazine. "In the year 2012, we should not be debating access to birth control. No boss should be making a decision about what health care their employees should be eligible to take."

Polls show that the vast majority of American families use contraception and think contraception should be widely available. Surveys also suggest that a smaller majority of Americans think religious groups should provide full insurance benefits to employees.

But Bishop Terry Lavalley, who heads the Diocese of Ogdensburg, sees this very differently.

He argues that Federal changes to healthcare laws proposed by the Obama administration threaten the religious freedom of groups like the Roman Catholic Church.

Bishop LaValley met recently with Brian Mann to talk about the Church's prominent role in this year's political campaign and about the difficulties of teaching Catholic doctrine in an age when even many Roman Catholics are making very different moral choices.  Go to full article

Potsdam, NY, Nov 04, 2011 — A Potsdam woman was one of the founding members of the Women's Air Force Band back in the early 1950's. Beverly Washburn was also the first female tuba player in an Air Force band and the ensemble's assistant conductor.

The WAF Band was organized in 1951 at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Washburn was one of the first eighteen women musicians in the ensemble. In its ten-year lifespan, the group toured the country and marched in three presidential inaugurations.

As she prepared for the 60th reunion of the musicians in Arizona next week, Washburn spoke with Todd Moe about her tuba-toting military career.  Go to full article

Canton, NY, Feb 16, 2011 — Civil War buffs are commemorating the war's 150th anniversary this year. As part of an occasional series of conversations about the Civil War and its North Country connections, Todd Moe talks with a local re-enactor about women soldiers. Some women served as nurses, spies or camp cooks during the war, but others marched into battle. Forbidden from the military during the Civil War, hundreds of women disguised their gender by wearing uniforms and using masculine names. Canton Civil War re-enactor Martha Maine takes on the persona of her great grandfather, Harrison Carter Maine. She says patriotic, eager for adventure, or to accompany their husbands, hundreds of women assumed male identities to win the right to fight.

Maine speaks on "Women Soldiers in the Civil War" at a Brown Bag Lunch program at noon this Thursday at the St. Lawrence County Historical Association in Canton.  Go to full article

Hogansburg, NY, Aug 27, 2010 — Women are the traditional leaders in Iroquois culture. Their models of government and leadership were seeds for the U.S. Constitution and the women's suffrage movement. But the reservation system, Indian boarding schools, and racism helped weaken the matrilineal connection among the Iroquois people. This weekend, a hundred Iroquois women will convene at a heritage center in Akwesasne. They'll use conversation and sweat lodges, and also Power Point and Facebook, to try to reassert women's traditional roles amidst the fast pace of modern life. David Sommerstein reports.  Go to full article

Sep 10, 2009 — The annual Arts and Healing Retreat for Women has expanded to include two events in the Adirondacks this fall. Todd Moe has a preview.  Go to full article

Jun 23, 2009 — An Adirondack group that combines the arts and healing begins its eleventh season this summer. The annual gathering at Great Camp Sagamore for women with cancer and chronic illness uses music, visual arts, yoga, writing, storytelling and nature walks to help women deal with their disease. Women at the Arts and Healing retreat say the rural setting of Great Camp Sagamore helps them slow down and focus. There are two retreats this year at Camp Sagamore and Piseco Lake. Creative Healing Connections co-founder and storyteller Fran Yardley tells Todd Moe that this year also marks a new chapter; the group is offering a retreat for women veterans dealing with issues from active duty in the first Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam.  Go to full article