Top Stories from NCPR
1,050 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsNCPR provides locally-produced news stories from around the Adirondack and North Country regions of New York State, as well as Western Vermont, and Ontario and Quebec in Canada. 010329
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Episodes
The bright side, pandemic is helping one Schroon Lake crossword puzzler up his game
April 23, 2020 04:00 - 2 minutes - 1.15 MB(Apr 23, 2020)
Cuomo has "productive" meeting with Trump on need to ramp up testing for coronavirus
April 22, 2020 04:00 - 1 minute - 749 KB(Apr 22, 2020) Gov. Andrew Cuomo met with President Donald Trump for about an hour Tuesday afternoon at the White House, where the governor asked for federal help to boost testing for the coronavirus.
Books: Betsy Kepes reviews "The Ringmaster" and "Upstate"
April 22, 2020 04:00 - 5 minutes - 2.68 MB(Apr 22, 2020) During the COVID19 shutdown the libraries and bookstores in New York State have locked their doors. But there are other ways to find new books. Todd Moe talked with our book reviewer, Betsy Kepes, about two books she recently read and how she is planning to find more good books.
SUNY Canton funeral science prof & students transporting bodies in NYC
April 22, 2020 04:00 - 4 minutes - 1.98 MB(Apr 22, 2020) Almost 15,000 New Yorkers have died due to complications from COVID-19. Most of them were from the New York City area. That’s overwhelmed funeral homes and crematories in the city. A mortuary science professor at SUNY Canton and his students are helping by transporting human remains and filing paperwork.
Audio Postcard: An ode to North Country trails on Earth Day
April 22, 2020 04:00 - 3 minutes - 1.82 MB(Apr 22, 2020) On the first Earth Day 50 years ago, millions of Americans took to the streets and the parks and the schools to protest environmental injustice. There are no big rallies planned today as we focus on fighting the coronavirus. Instead, Emily Russell is taking us into the woods, where she’s been spending a lot of her free time lately.
Cuomo: "Relative" good news allows some easing of restrictions to begin in parts of New York
April 22, 2020 04:00 - 1 minute - 659 KB(Apr 22, 2020) Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday that 481 people died from COVID-19 over a 24-hour period. That's a slight increase from the day before. But he says the overall trend is still moving in the right direction in many parts of New York state.
If we reopen the North Country's economy will COVID-19 spiral out of control?
April 22, 2020 04:00 - 3 minutes - 1.82 MB(Apr 22, 2020)
Gillibrand: Hospitals to get federal boost, but farms and local gov’t will have to wait
April 21, 2020 04:00 - 6 minutes - 2.77 MB(Apr 21, 2020)
Coping with COVID-19: balladeer Dave Ruch takes centerstage on-line
April 21, 2020 04:00 - 6 minutes - 2.89 MB(Apr 21, 2020)
Death during quarantine: from afar, a daughter's last days with her mother
April 21, 2020 04:00 - 3 minutes - 1.62 MB(Apr 21, 2020) Even as the coronavirus pandemic has changed nearly every aspect of our routines, life goes on. And that means so does death. We hear from a woman in Saratoga County whose mother’s health was failing as the quarantine began.
Antibody testing could inform when different regions can reopen
April 21, 2020 04:00 - 1 minute - 552 KB(Apr 21, 2020)
SNAP increases, left out of current aid bill, could reduce food insecurity and help economy
April 21, 2020 04:00 - 1 minute - 910 KB(Apr 21, 2020) Congress is hashing out what to include in the next federal stimulus package. One program that’s not likely to be included is food stamps, also known as SNAP. Congress offered a big boost in the last aid package, but it didn’t impact Americans who are extremely poor.
More inmates, prison staff sick with COVID-19 in Essex County, downstate inmates transferred to Malone
April 20, 2020 04:00 - 2 minutes - 1.05 MB(Apr 20, 2020) There are more signs of COVID-19 trouble in North Country prisons. Federal officials say there are now seven inmates and six staff sick with the virus at FCI Ray Brook, the federal prison near Saranac Lake. Meanwhile state officials are transferring more inmates from a downstate prison to a correctional facility in Malone.
As impatience grows, still no plan for widespread COVID-19 testing in North Country
April 20, 2020 04:00 - 7 minutes - 3.39 MB(Apr 20, 2020)
North Country at Work: how a Jefferson County church is moving itself out of the sanctuary
April 17, 2020 04:00 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MB(Apr 17, 2020) Under the New York State on PAUSE order, churches are considered essential, making their employees essential workers. But pastors and ministers can’t visit the people they usually do, or preside over weddings or funerals. Churches can’t have in-person services, or events. What they can do is to try and move their services online, which is exactly what the Adams Village Baptist Church is doing.
How Fort Drum chaplains are bringing "God to soldiers" virtually
April 17, 2020 04:00 - 3 minutes - 1.66 MB(Apr 17, 2020)
What it's like to battle COVID-19: A Franklin County woman on her son's fight for his life
April 17, 2020 04:00 - 3 minutes - 1.75 MB(Apr 17, 2020) There are nearly 700 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the North Country. While many of those are mild cases, some are far more serious. Andy Hastings is 40 years old and spent two weeks on a ventilator at the hospital in Plattsburgh. Andy is awake now, breathing on his own, but his mother, Linda Hastings says the experience has taught her how vulnerable everyone is to the coronavirus.
Cuomo extends lockdown and sketches out phased reopening
April 17, 2020 04:00 - 2 minutes - 996 KB(Apr 17, 2020) Governor Cuomo is extending the statewide lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus through May 15. That includes schools and non-essential businesses. But at the same time, he’s starting to sketch out the bones of a plan to start reopening.
Cuomo extends stay-at-home order until May 15
April 17, 2020 04:00 - 1 minute - 682 KB(Apr 17, 2020) Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday extended the stay-at-home order for New York residents through May 15. He also reminded everyone in the state that the requirement to wear a mask while out in public begins at 8 pm Friday.
Long reluctant local governments embrace streaming to satisfy sunshine laws, social distancing rules
April 16, 2020 04:00 - 4 minutes - 2.2 MB(Apr 16, 2020)
St. Lawrence County hospitals seek to rapidly expand COVID-19 testing
April 16, 2020 04:00 - 1 minute - 588 KB(Apr 16, 2020) Hospitals in St. Lawrence County are looking to test more people who have symptoms of the coronavirus.
Stefanik opposes federal inmate release
April 16, 2020 04:00 - 1 minute - 483 KB(Apr 16, 2020) There are now three inmates and eight staff sick with COVID-19 at the Federal prison in Ray Brook. The correctional facility near Saranac Lake holds nearly 600 inmates. North Country Congresswoman Elise Stefanik said yesterday she doesn't support the early release of some federal prisoners in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Cuomo orders wearing face covering in public
April 16, 2020 04:00 - 1 minute - 703 KB(Apr 16, 2020)
NYS Prisons: Older inmates with three months left may be released early
April 16, 2020 04:00 - 49 seconds - 389 KB(Apr 16, 2020) Inmates in New York State prisons who are 55 years or older and are within 90 days of their release may now be considered for early release due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus in state correctional facilities.
Stefanik backs Trump's decision to cut int'l health funding during COVID-19 pandemic
April 16, 2020 04:00 - 2 minutes - 1.19 MB(Apr 16, 2020)
How do you tell the age of a fossil?
April 16, 2020 04:00 - 5 minutes - 2.35 MB(Apr 16, 2020) Unlike organic material, which can be dated using carbon-14, stone and fossils often contain no carbon, or may be older than the carbon method can track. Radioactive potassium dating measures the ratio between a radioactive variety of potassium and the substance it breaks down into, argon gas. That can age material back billions of years. One problem: you need the gas to have been trapped in bubbles of volcanic ash. Martha Foley and Curt Stager discuss the problems of reading...
Ottawa cellist digs deeper during isolation
April 15, 2020 04:00 - 3 minutes - 1.63 MB(Apr 15, 2020)
COVID-19 continues Upstate spread, but much less than feared so far
April 15, 2020 04:00 - 1 minute - 558 KB(Apr 15, 2020)
NY nursing homes still face crisis as COVID-19 pandemic deaths rise
April 15, 2020 04:00 - 1 minute - 807 KB(Apr 15, 2020)
Milk shelves are empty, yet dairy farmers are dumping milk. Here's why.
April 15, 2020 04:00 - 4 minutes - 1.95 MB(Apr 15, 2020) The coronavirus pandemic has triggered a major disconnect in the dairy industry. On one hand, milk shelves at the grocery store have been sometimes bare. On the other hand, North Country dairy farmers are having to dump their milk for lack of a market.
Gillibrand seeks farm loan forgiveness in next stimulus bill
April 15, 2020 04:00 - 1 minute - 512 KB(Apr 15, 2020) Just before the coronavirus hit, national farm debt was at an all-time high at more than $400 billion. With schools, farmers markets and restaurants closed now, it’s getting even more difficult for farmers to sell their goods. So, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is pushing to include a one-time loan forgiveness program in the next stimulus package.
Non-essential travel ban between U.S. and Canada will likely be extended
April 15, 2020 04:00 - 1 minute - 559 KB(Apr 15, 2020)
Three planets cluster around the moon in the morning sky
April 14, 2020 04:00 - 5 minutes - 2.68 MB(Apr 14, 2020) The planet Venus and the constellation Orion are bright in the evening sky, but the real treat comes in early morning, when three visible planets, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, will be clustered around the waning crescent moon.
Glens Falls hospital furloughs more than 300 employees
April 14, 2020 04:00 - 1 minute - 543 KB(Apr 14, 2020) Glens Falls Hospital is furloughing more than 330 employees due to the coronavirus pandemic. It’s the latest hospital in the region to cut back due to fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
First COVID-19 death in Warren County, third in Clinton County as North Country cases surpass 600
April 14, 2020 04:00 - 42 seconds - 337 KB(Apr 14, 2020) A resident from northern Warren County has died due to COVID-19, the county's first death related to the novel coronavirus.
NY and several other states form task force for reopening society
April 14, 2020 04:00 - 4 minutes - 1.85 MB(Apr 14, 2020)
Cuomo signals rural NY might be able to start relaxing stay-home guidelines sooner than NYC
April 14, 2020 04:00 - 1 minute - 646 KB(Apr 14, 2020) Governor Andrew Cuomo says the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have plateaued in New York state, but he acknowledged yesterday the death toll remains high.
NYS Prisons: Hundreds of staff and inmates contract COVID-19, advocates call for early release of inmates
April 14, 2020 04:00 - 2 minutes - 1.29 MB(Apr 14, 2020) Hundreds of prison workers and inmates in New York have tested positive for COVID-19. State officials won’t say where those cases are. Governor Cuomo says he thinks the public should have more information but says he doesn’t have plans to release inmates early
Ogdensburg nursing home worker tests positive for COVID-19
April 14, 2020 04:00 - 32 seconds - 254 KB(Apr 14, 2020) An employee at the United Helpers Rehabilitation and Senior Care center in Ogdensburg has tested positive for COVID-19.
We asked how the coronavirus was impacting people's lives in the North Country. Here's what they said
April 13, 2020 04:00 - 3 minutes - 1.81 MB(Apr 13, 2020)
Joyful Noise: father and daughter planting a "victory garden" in Peru
April 13, 2020 04:00 - 3 minutes - 1.46 MB(Apr 13, 2020) Chuck and Kris Minster moved from the Finger Lakes to Peru in Clinton County in October of 2019, to be closer to their daughter, Rebecca 'Becky' Shuman. Their houses are just a few miles apart. But Becky’s husband works in a hospital, so the family is socially distancing from each other - no more family dinners or movie nights. What they do still have is what Becky and her dad Chuck are calling their ‘victory garden’ - a 30 by 18-foot garden in Becky’s front yard that they’r...
As numbers flatten, Cuomo orders employers to provide masks for essential workers dealing with public
April 13, 2020 04:00 - 56 seconds - 448 KB(Apr 13, 2020) New York seems to be slowing the spread of coronavirus. The number of people hospitalized has stayed steady over the last few days, as has the number of people being discharged.
Two North Country senior living homes reporting multiple COVID-19 cases
April 13, 2020 04:00 - 48 seconds - 387 KB(Apr 13, 2020) There are now two senior living centers in the North Country reporting multiple COVID-19 cases.
COVID-19 hospitalizations down while deaths continue climbing; jobless claims crash system
April 10, 2020 04:00 - 1 minute - 845 KB(Apr 10, 2020) In his daily briefing yesterday, Governor Cuomo outlined different “projection models” that estimate the number of hospitalizations expected in New York. Some of the models anticipate more than 100,000 hospitalizations, but the state only has about 90,000 hospital beds.
St. Lawrence County eager to get rapid testing, says doctor organizing response
April 10, 2020 04:00 - 5 minutes - 2.34 MB(Apr 10, 2020)
This weekend in the Adirondacks, 4/10/20
April 10, 2020 04:00 - 1 minute - 880 KB(Apr 10, 2020) The best advice remains to stay home and recreate locally rather than heading into the backcountry. Even very experienced people can have something go wrong in the backcountry, a possibility that can take up valuable first responder resources and put others at risk.
Local growers see uptick in sales amid Covid-19 crisis
April 10, 2020 04:00 - 5 minutes - 2.51 MB(Apr 10, 2020)
Elderly home in Plattsburgh quarantined after five people test positive for COVID-19
April 10, 2020 04:00 - 32 seconds - 261 KB(Apr 10, 2020) An elderly apartment building in Plattsburgh has been quarantined after five people associated with the home tested positive for COVID-19.
North Country nursing homes on edge as COVID-19 threatens
April 10, 2020 04:00 - 3 minutes - 1.83 MB(Apr 10, 2020)