Northern Light

(Jul 29, 2026) We visit the Long Lake Fish & Game club, where the school's trap shooting team competes each spring and fall; the New York State Fair opens in about a month, and one day is free for SUNY students; our Adirondack reporter Emily Russell breaks down her reporting process.

(Jul 28, 2026)

(Jul 27, 2026) The missing piece of a cannon that exploded during an early battle of the Revolutionary War was brought out of Lake Champlain last week; a new lawsuit is challenging New York’s Medical Aid in Dying law; and we have a conversation with our station manager Mitch Teich about how NCPR is faring amid the end of federal funding for public media.

(Jul 24, 2026) A food collection event in Potsdam aims to help food pantries stock up ahead of a busy summer; the state DEC wants to implement a new strategy for pheasant conservation that focuses on recruiting new hunters; and we check in with John Warren for trail conditions ahead of a beautiful weekend in the Adirondacks.

(Jul 23, 2026) A food pantry in Watertown says need is sharply increasing amid the rise in food insecurity and reduction of SNAP benefits; we go to a video game shop in Ticonderoga, where they're creating a safe space for the community; and we have a conversation about an upcoming conference in Potsdam that’s starting the conversation about fire risk in the North Country.

(Jul 22, 2026) Amid months of financial turmoil, the North Star Health Alliance announced it’s cutting labor and delivery services at the hospital in Ogdensburg; a new amphitheater is set to host year-round concerts on the shores of Lake George; and we take a tour through the historic Edwards Opera House in St. Lawrence County.

(Jul 21, 2026) A man in Lake Placid who was detained by federal immigration authorities and later released is now sharing his story; the 27th annual Ironman was held in Lake Placid on Sunday, with a man from Belgium and a woman from Canada taking home the top spots;  and astronomer Aileen O’Donoghue guides us through the morning and evening skies.

(Jul 20, 2026) A future day care center in Plattsburgh aims to help close that gap and promote workforce development; the governor is defending her executive order that bans data center development in New York for the next year; and we have a conversation about President Teddy Roosevelt’s status as a political outsider and why his visits to the North Country were so significant ahead of an event i...

(Jul 17, 2026) Jefferson County has launched its long-awaited public transit system, the final piece of a regional bus network connecting the western half of the North Country; we head to the southern Adirondacks for a short hike up Stewart Mountain for big views of the Chestertown area; and we preview a Shakespeare in the Park performance in Peru.

(Jul 16, 2026) A community ceramics studio in Keeseville is opening for the first time this weekend, and its owner says it’s a way to bring people together; volunteers in Long Lake run the book nook, a way to raise money for the public library; and Kitty O’Neil joins Northern Light for a closer look at how the heat affects livestock in the North Country.

(Jul 15, 2026) We hear from a filmmaker in Akwesasne who's documenting the people working to bring cultural traditions back to her community; we visit the Sargent Ponds Wilderness for beautiful views of Raquette Lake; and a painting by artist Harold Weston from nearly a century ago is being auctioned off to benefit the Keene Valley Library.

(Jul 14, 2026) Gov. Kathy Hochul has ordered a moratorium of up to one year on large data centers in New York; scientists on a research vessel on Lake Champlain are studying the algal blooms that appear each summer; and we get a preview of the largest pan-African music festival in North America. 

(Jul 13, 2026) NCPR's Albany reporters talk primary fallout, a prison report and more in their weekly chat from our capital bureau; indigenous communities in the Adirondacks have relied on plants for food, medicine and other uses for generations. We meet a local college student who's working to preserve the knowledge her Mohawk ancestors passed down about those plants; and, a conversatio...

(Jul 10, 2026) In many rural areas of New York and the US, there’s a critical shortage of healthcare providers. Physician assistants say that modernizing the way that they’re allowed to practice could help address the shortage; the military is rolling back its decision to make the flu vaccine voluntary after an outbreak sickened 280 people in Texas; and, we'll get a preview of Ogdensburg&apos...

(Jul 9, 2026) With the midterm elections just four months away, we get an update on the race to replace Elise Stefanik in Congress; advocates are pushing for Governor Hochul to sign Kyra's Law, a bill that aims to protect children during contentious child custody proceedings; and, David Sommerstein previews the Ottawa Blues Festival, which kicks off tonight in Canada's capital. It's...

(Jul 8, 2026) President Trump wants to abandon the USMCA trade deal; some families on tight budgets are getting breakfast and lunches delivered to their homes while their kiddos are on summer break; and, we’ll go on a fishing trip with a group of middle schoolers from Chazy.

(Jul 7, 2026) JB Nicholas served nearly thirteen years behind bars and has spent the last decade building a career as a prison journalist based in Malone; Senator Chuck Schumer meets with union leaders in Rome to criticize a ban on collective bargaining; and Betsy Kepes reviews "Real Ones" by Kathereena Vermette. 

(Jul 6, 2026) Opponents of a potential new nuclear reactor in St. Lawrence County rallied last week in Massena; local hospital employees are worried as the blood donor center in Plattsburgh is scheduled to close on Friday; and we hear about what it's like to tutor community college students in Franklin County.

(Jul 2, 2026) North Country officials hope the recently completed state energy transmission upgrade will help boost the regional economy; ahead of the nation's 250th birthday, the curator from Fort Ticonderoga shares recent discoveries of artifacts from the American Revolution; and we take a look at a St. Lawrence County family's unique 4th of July tradition.

(Jul 1, 2026) Since the COVID-19 pandemic, rising rent and the cost of living have been driving up homelessness in the North Country; a business owner in Alexandria Bay has turned a former motel into seasonal worker housing to help boost the Thousand Islands’ tourism economy; and Chef Curtiss Hemm joins us this morning for a fresh recipe to spice up your summer.

(Jun 30, 2026) A North Country lawmaker is calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to veto a statewide moratorium on data centers; we head to the Southern Tier, where a group is trying a new approach to helping unhoused people in rural areas; and we meet a mother and son in Edwards who are taking on a new challenge by caring for a litter of puppies. 

(Jun 29, 2026) A research lab at Paul Smith's College was awarded a million dollars in state funding to study Adirondack lake and stream health; Lawmakers and policy analysts are reacting to primary results last week, including how the candidate who President Trump endorsed beat a fellow Republican in the North Country; and a religious order that was founded nearly two hundred years ago is co...

(Jun 26, 2026) Nurses at Alice Hyde in Malone have a new contract that includes raises and AI protections; a colorful new mural now covers the side of a historic theater in downtown Au Sable Forks, bringing attention to a years-long effort to transform the building into a new home for the arts; and we get a preview of a Trans Pride punk show in Potsdam, and Independence Day celebration in Clinton...

(Jun 25, 2026) Advocates in New York are worried about the Trump administration moving to restrict access to gender-affirming care, especially after lawmakers failed to vote on two bills that would've countered those efforts; we’ll go to Keeseville, where a man always thought he would be a farmer, then soon realized his true calling was far from the fields; and a group of pro-bono lawyers are...

(Jun 24, 2026) Democrat Blake Gendebien and Republican Anthony Constantino won their respective primaries in New York's 21st Congressional District; we hear from voters around the region on what their top priorities are for new representation in Congress; and as the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, we take a historic look at the job of finding and mapping places.