Northern Light

(Dec 5, 2025) The North Star Health Alliance says delayed reimbursements from the state threaten patients and over 1,700 jobs; a new study from the Adirondack Land Trust is helping people with disabilities navigate which Adirondack trails are truly accessible; and it's a big weekend for holiday celebrations throughout the North Country, and we'll hear about one for kids in Parishville.

(Dec 4, 2025) Two North Country community colleges had the highest enrollment gains among state schools in the region this fall; we hear about what it's like to work as a home health aide; and we have a conversation with the author and illustrator of a new children's book about how each of Santa's reindeer got their names.

(Dec 3, 2025) For the first time in years, SNAP work requirements will be enforced in the North Country; we sample the Tom and Jerry holiday cocktail at the Crystal in Watertown, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary; and Chef Curtiss Hemm joins us this morning for a rich and comforting recipe, full of melty cheese. 

(Dec 2, 2025) Amid one of this winter's first snowstorms, we head out with a young plow driver through Cascade Pass in the Adirondacks; a young family outside of Malone is determined to preserve their farmland by using sustainable farming methods; and NCPR book reviewer Betsy Kepes takes us out to her beaver pond to talk about a new book out of Vermont on beaver kit rehabilitation.

(Dec 1, 2025) A new state historical marker at Akwesasne Lake by Paul Smith's College is paying homage to its Indigenous history; NPR's Brian Mann sends an audio postcard from a wintry hike up Wright Peak in the Adirondacks; and we preview the Plattsburgh State Gospel Choir's Soulful Christmas concert this Sunday. 

(Nov 26, 2025) For some North Country communities, local food options are few and far between. This Thanksgiving, special food boxes connect families in the Indian Lake school district with regional farms; Gov. Hochul approved amendments to the Adirondack State Land Master Plan, which notably did not include a special provision for electric mobility devices in wilderness areas, and we continue the story of how the hermit thrush got its song with Mohawk artist and storyteller Dave Fadden. 

(Nov 25, 2025) After the state vastly expanded eligibility for childcare programs, funds haven't been able to keep up with demand, with over half of counties running out of money; delays in federal assistance and high food prices are making it a hard start to the holiday season for many in the North Country;  and we'll hear a Mohawk story about how the hermit thrush got its song.

(Nov 24, 2025) A new lodge at the base of Gore Mountain is ready to open, but is tied up in disputes between ORDA and the town of Johnsburg; Republican New York State Assemblyman Robert Smullen launched his campaign for the NY-21 seat last week, and he's playing up his connection to President Donald Trump; and an exhibit in St. Lawrence County explores how the work of three artists evolved after they developed Parkinson's Disease. 

(Nov 21, 2025) A village bill meant to protect immigrants in Saranac Lake sparked months of tension at board meetings and has left some locals questioning how their police force will respond to the growing threat of immigration enforcement; a federal jury in Rochester has awarded the largest wrongful conviction award in American history to the estate of one of the so-called Buffalo Five; and John Warren checks on trail conditions in the Adirondacks for this weekend.

(Nov 20, 2025) Assemblyman Scott Gray hosted two nuclear forums so locals could learn more about what it could mean to have a nuclear power plant in the North Country; today's North Country at Work story looks back in time to the creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway, and Ottawa musician Hannah Judge talks about how her chronic illness helped to inspire her band, fanclubwallet's new album. 

(Nov 19, 2025) The state plans to close Bare Hill Correctional Facility in Malone this spring; we talk with Jim Odato from the Adirondack Explorer, about how the sale of the 36,000-acre Whitney Estate has fallen through due to a deed restriction;  and Monica and Catherine try to stump each other with a sound quiz.

(Nov 18, 2025) As Elise Stefanik sets her sights on the governor's mansion, we take a look at her impact on New York's 21st Congressional District; the village of Potsdam is getting millions of dollars from the state to address flooding after months of community members working together to find solutions; and astronomer Aileen O'Donoghue guides us through this month's night sky.

(Nov 17, 2025) The Adirondack Park Agency is sending its first project in 14 years to an adjudicatory hearing; the Senior Planet Center in Plattsburgh will host an emergency preparedness training for North Country families tomorrow; and we head into the woods in Oswegatchie to track down a missing buck.

(Nov 14, 2025) Supporters and critics are weighing in on the state's decision to delay a plan to ban natural gas and other fossil fuels from most new homes and buildings; we talk with Whiteface's operations manager ahead of opening weekend; John Warrens checks on winter conditions in the Adirondacks this weekend, plus a winter sound quiz!

(Nov 13, 2025) An expert says the North Country's cold climate could prevent a widespread infestation of the invasive spotted lanternfly; one North Country worker says there's beauty in working the night shift; and we'll hear from the author of a new thriller set in the North Country.

(Nov 12, 2025)

(Nov 11, 2025) The government shutdown could cause a program that provides free preschool and childcare for low income families in Warren County to close at the end of the month; woters in the North Country are finding flaws in the candidates who are running to be New York's governor; and local PBS stations will host sneak previews of Ken Burns' much-anticipated docuseries on the American Revolution this week.

(Nov 10, 2025) Jimmy Vielkind and Andrew Waite from the New York Public News Network discuss Congresswoman Elise Stefanik's bid for New York governor; Assemblyman-elect Michael Cashman says he plans to make the North Country's voice heard as a member of the legislative majority in Albany; and today is the 50th anniversary of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck in Lake Superior, and we have a conversation with the drummer on the song that sought to memorialize the tragedy.

(Nov 7, 2025) North Country Congresswoman Elise Stefanik announced her run for Governor of New York this morning; amid cuts to social safety net programs like SNAP, folks in the North Country are stretching their dollars even further; in today's North Country at Work story, we hear from a code enforcement officer who's responsible for a big chunk of Essex County; and John Warren checks on trail conditions ahead of a snowy Adirondack weekend. 

(Nov 6, 2025) Prop 1 was narrowly approved by voters, paving the way for a constitutional amendment to allow further development at a ski complex in Lake Placid; a house for sale in Newcomb represents a potential solution for affordable workforce housing; and we'll sit down with the head of a statewide sportsmen's group about why he wants hunters to forego lead bullets as much as possible.

(Nov 5, 2025) We have results for local races across the North Country; lawmakers in Essex County are pushing back against the Adirondack Land Trust's plan to rename a mountain near Westport; and Chef Curtiss joins the show for a quick and easy beer bread recipe. 

(Nov 4, 2025) In the North Country, the number of people who cast their ballots early is way up compared to the previous off-year election; we visit a small farm in Keeseville that's rethinking what it means to grow and share food; and we look back at a conversation on how St. Lawrence County fiddler Gretchen Koehler shares her project on North Country folk artists with students. 

(Nov 3, 2025) Ahead of Election Day, we have stories on two local races, the Canton town supervisor and the Clinton County clerk; New York could soon enter the national fight over redistricting; and we have a conversation with Matthew Algeo, the author of a book that details the history of New York's subway system.

(Oct 31, 2025) With food stamp checks expected to be withheld due to the federal government shutdown, low-income residents are a food pantry in St. Lawrence County are anxious about where their food will come from; Proposition 1 would fix a constitutional violation tied to an Olympic sports complex in Lake Placid and add 2,500 to the forest preserve in the Adirondacks; the City of Watertown's decades-long contract with National Grid is expiring; and John Warren has the Adirondack conditions ahead of the weekend.

(Oct 30, 2025) We'll hear about a couple of upcoming elections in the North Country that feature political newcomers, including for Watertown's city council seats; as nearly three million New Yorkers prepare for a disruption in their SNAP benefits, the Regional Food Bank is planning for its largest-ever Thanksgiving meal distribution; and a Lake Placid poet is telling the story of the "Lady in the Lake,” nearly a hundred years later.

(Oct 29, 2025) There are an unusually high number of write-in campaigns for this November's election in Essex County;  a New York State lawmaker is talking about distraction concerns from the modern LED headlights;  and Kitty O'Neil joins the show to talk about how North Country farms are doing as they wrap up the 2025 growing season.

(Oct 28, 2025) A proposal to build a weapons range for military-grade cannons has sparked concerns in the Adirondack town of Lewis; today's North Country at Work story is about a technician whose job is to keep everything online; and we have a conversation with an artist from Akwesasne who is fulfilling his childhood dreams. 

(Oct 27, 2025) Democrat Michael Cashman and Republican Brent Davison are vying for a state Assembly seat in an upcoming special election; to mark the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal, a replica boat is recreating the first trip from Buffalo to New York Harbor; and we talk with St. Lawrence professor Dan Look, the author of “Math Cats: Scratching the Surface of Mathematical Concepts.” 

(Oct 24, 2025) Gov. Kathy Hochul is weighing whether to sign legislation that would allow someone with a terminal illness to end their life; after workers with newly remote jobs left cities for the countryside during the pandemic, some who moved to the North Country are still here;  and John Warren checks on trail conditions in the Adirondacks.

(Oct 23, 2025) An environmental group wants Ontario's transportation ministry to include wildlife over and underpasses in its plans to expand a major highway that cuts through a critical pathway for animals; Watertown's Zoo has seen a surge of donations after The New York Times published an article about it last week; and we hear a review of a thriller set in a fictional Saranac Lake follows a murderous coven of man-killing witches. 

(Oct 22, 2025) Advocates for people incarcerated in New York State are pushing Gov. Hochul to sign a bill that would expand prison oversight and require more cameras; we trek up McCauley Mountain in Old Forge with NCPR's engineers as they prep a transmitter for winter; and one of NCPR's founding mothers, Martha Foley, joins us in the studio to talk about building the station into a community resource.

(Oct 21, 2025)

(Oct 20, 2025) About 7 million people across the country took to the streets over the weekend to protest the Trump Administration, including more than a thousand people in Potsdam; a private group chat is having big consequences for Republicans around the country and in New York; and sit down with a local philosopher and Quaker to talk about what makes for effective demonstrations. 

(Oct 17, 2025) Gov. Hochul wrote a letter last week expressing interest in the state purchasing 32,000 acres of the Whitney estate in the Adirondacks; we meet an elementary school librarian in Malone who doesn't think her library should be quiet; and Catherine Wheeler and a friend hike up Jay Mountain for some fall leaf-peeping. 

(Oct 16, 2025) Many New York families could lose their SNAP benefits next month following federal policy changes; teens in LaFargeville are determined to fix up a local basketball court that's fallen into disrepair; and a European band is reviving the talharpa, a stringed musical instrument, to create a unique sound.

(Oct 15, 2025) The Indian River High School thespian troupe is exploring explores workers' rights, corporate profit, and one of the very first workers' compensation cases in their staging of the play ‘Radium Girls.'

(Oct 14, 2025)

(Oct 13, 2025) We break down what's happening after federal prosecutors secured an indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James last week; amid the ongoing drought, farmers in Vermont are wondering if their water will be enough to last them through the winter; and we get a preview of the Halloween events lineup at the Chapman Museum in Glens Falls.

(Oct 10, 2025)

(Oct 9, 2025) New Yorkers on unemployment benefits could see their payments rise by hundreds of dollars per week; we take you to a competition for utility arborists that happened last weekend in Burrville, just ouside Watertown; a North Country native has made it past the first round of "The Voice;" and a conversation with Lake Placid author Joan O'Leary, who is will be signing books and giving a talk tonight in downtown Lake Placid.

(Oct 8, 2025) As the APA moves forward with plans to build a new headquarters in downtown Saranac Lake, critics are asking the board to question the reasons behind the move; Cornell scientists have come up with a way to use apple scraps to make healthier meatballs; and the DEC has some updates to regulations, including that hunters can now use electronic hunting licenses and tags.

(Oct 7, 2025) Limitations to federal visa programs and ramped up immigration enforcement are creating creating uncertainty for some North Country farmers and farmworkers; we break down federal COVID-19 vaccine guidance after lots of confusion; and a woodworker in the southern Adirondacks is incorporating technology into his pieces.