Northern Light NCPR

New York's electric bus mandate is seeing resistance from local voters in their district's yearly budget votes; we hear from a North Country transplant on a mission to promote Adirondack tourism on social media; and, we a preview of the Ottawa Jazz Festival, which continues through Sunday night.

On Saturday, 30 North Country veterans of Vietnam, Desert Storm and the Cold War flew together to Washington DC to visit the memorials to the wars they and their comrades served in. They were part of the North Country Honor Flight; Governor Kathy Hochul signed new social media regulations for children into law on Thursday, but poll numbers show New Yorkers aren't satisfied with her leadership; and, North Country transplants and longtime Adirondackers are welcome to play music and jam every Monday night at the Saranac Lake Hootenanny at the Garagery.

After years of removing the invasive aquatic water plant Eurasian water milfoil by hand, the Adirondack Park Agency has voted to allow the use of a chemical herbicide in three lakes, despite pushback; US Customs and Border Protection wants to build a new facility on a part of undeveloped shoreline on the St. Lawrence River. Residents, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and environmental groups have all said it's not the right place; a Montreal-based pharmaceutical company that’s been in the North Country for more than 30 years held a ribbon-cutting for a new state-of-the-art facility in Plattsburgh yesterday; and, a preview of Potsdam's Juneteenth celebration.

Earlier this week, over 100 people gathered at Paul Smith's College to talk about the intersection of climate change impacts and an aging population; after 34 years as public radio's eyes and ears in Albany, reporter Karen Dewitt is retiring on Friday. We talk with her about her career and how Albany has changed for a journalist.

Watertown Juneteenth is hosting the second part of its Juneteenth celebrations today. Organizers hope the events inspire other Black people to share their stories; while a national memorial for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans goes through a lengthy planning and fundraising process, veterans are working with state and local governments to build smaller monuments around the country; and, two ducks. A goose. And competing taco trucks. That's all part of a new kids book out now from Canton author, Laura Lavoie.

This week's heat wave is part of a trend of warmer, more extreme weather events in the Adirondack North Country; because of the Canadian wildfires last year, officials are asking New Yorkers to monitor air quality every day this summer; and, our book reviewer Betsy Kepes stops by to talk about a novel set in St. Lawrence County about two sisters who try to hide the fact that their parents abandoned them. It's called "She Taught Me Everything" by Amy Smith Linton.