MALONE — Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateaugay Lake) joined leaders today at North Country Community College’s Malone campus to announce that he secured $250,000 in state funding for upgrades to the college’s science laboratories.
The current Malone campus science labs are in need of repairs to meet student needs.
New bus shelters with green, living roofs are coming to public transportation stops throughout the North Country thanks to a collaboration between Paul Smith’s College, the Franklin County Highway Department and The Heart Network.
The senior capstone project is led by students in Paul Smith’s College Environment and Society Professor Deb Naybor’s Social Research and Sustainability classes. Students produced 40 initial designs for the living roofs, and the senior capstone students honed them down to create a set of environmentally responsible concepts for review by the county’s Highway Department.
School leaders in Franklin County have decided to bring students back into school buildings early after seeing progress in COVID-19 protocols throughout the county.
Schools will start bringing students back Monday, Dec. 7. Most will use a phased approach that will continue through Dec. 10.
Franklin County’s school districts shifted to fully remote learning in November, when officials from Franklin County Public Health asked school district superintendents in the county to help them slow the spread of COVID-19 cases. At the time, schools weren’t ready to meet the state testing requirements if the region were to be designated a yellow zone, and public health staff were too busy with contact tracing and other efforts to slow the virus spread to help. School leaders initially said the pause of in-person learning would last through Jan. 4.
Franklin County Economic Development Corp. (FCEDC), formerly the Franklin County Local Development Corporation, is the county’s economic development organization, and as of 2020, its destination management organization. Tourism is one of the region’s largest industries and we have set out to do tourism differently, by integrating it more fully into broader economic development efforts.
All schools in Franklin County will shift to fully remote learning through Jan. 4, Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES announced earlier this evening.
Franklin County Public Health officials strongly recommended making this change because COVID-19 infection numbers have risen exponentially in the last week, calling it an epidemic within a pandemic. The county has reached a point of community spread, meaning officials aren’t able to identify where every case comes from.
In a Monday morning video call, health department leaders asked for help containing the virus from superintendents of each of the seven school districts within Franklin County as well as the district superintendent of Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES.
4H and County Fairs are as much a part of Americana as country songs and denim jeans. 4H youth work on a host of hands-on projects, gardens, community service programs, raising and training animals of all sorts, and a slew of science discovery programs throughout the year. All with the hope of exhibiting their masterpieces and menagerie at the county fair.
Thousands of people usually walk by exhibits in the Youth Building of photography, foods, woodworking, crafts, artwork, and educational exhibits that are usually judged face to face by volunteers with expertise in the subject.
Horses, dairy and beef cattle, goats, sheep, poultry, swine, hedgehogs, rabbits and critters of all sorts are trained, handled, groomed, and wearing their finest show gear in hope that there will be ribbons above doors and on cages. 4H youth can be found with their exhibits answering questions and proudly telling the public about their special projects.
I’ve heard it said that, ‘You can’t call yourself a local until you’ve been to the Franklin County Fair.’ It’s the area’s longest running tradition and one of the oldest County Fairs in New York State. Unfortunately, there won’t be a Franklin County Fair this year. In fact, there won’t be any county fairs at all this year, in the North Country.
For the kids, that means no midway; no Scrambler, no Tilt-A-Whirl, no Starship 3000, no Crystal Lil’s funhouse, no Ferris wheel. For us older folks, it means no sausage sandwiches, no fried dough, no maple donuts, no French fries, no cotton candy, and no bloomin’ onions. It also means no grandstand stage shows, no demolition derbies, no tractor pulls, no harness racing. And no beer tent.
And for all of the 4-H families and Future Farmers of America (FFA) members, who work especially hard and really look forward to showing their cattle, their skills, and their projects at the Fair, it means no competitions and no ribbons attached to their well-cared-for livestock or their produce, plants, and crafts projects.
Or does it?
New York State has begun providing the New York Forward Loan Fund, geared towards small businesses, nonprofits, and small landlords. The fund will be targeting small businesses with 20 or fewer full-time equivalent employees, as well as nonprofits and small landlords that have seen loss of rental income due to the pandemic. Pre-applications for the NYFLF opened May 26.
Assistance and/or more information is available through the following links:
More Information about the New York Forward Loan Fund.
Franklin County based businesses: View the Small Business Relief Loan Fund.
During winter break managing screen time can be difficult for many families, especially those with younger children.
One way to reduce screen time is to create a “tech free” zone in your home. Load this area with books, interactive games, musical instruments, and puzzles.
There is no time for the winter doldrums with the Saranac Lake’s Winter Carnival just around the corner. This festival of fun, January 31-February 9, is a must for Adirondack residents and visitors alike. First started in 1897, the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival history is as vast and varied as the community that has shaped it. Originally a one-day event, this celebration of winter has evolved to include an expansive ice palace and over 100 events and activities.
According to Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Committee Public Relations Chair Colleen O’Neill, the festival is a special time for everyone. The Carnival provides entertainment for visitors and locals alike and pulls the surrounding communities together. » Continue Reading.
News came from New England’s north woods last fall that a large residential and commercial development on 17,000-acres near Maine’s Moosehead Lake conceived before the Great Recession has not begun and would not move forward.
The APA-permitted Adirondack Club and Resort near Tupper Lake has also not commenced, largely for economic reasons. The developer, Preserve Associates, is being foreclosed upon, their creditors are pressing for relief, and the new mortgage holders (Crossroads LLC) are trying to figure out what to do once they acquire the 6,200 acres.
The Oval Wood Dish Company was founded in 1883 in Delta, Ohio. Four years later, the company relocated to Mancelona, Michigan. There they manufactured wooden dishes, made of a single piece of wood, scooped out to form a bowl a sixteenth of an inch thick.
The bowls were disposable containers used by butchers as temporary containers for the ground beef and other meats purchased by customers. Eventually, the company replaced the wasteful method of scooping out the bowls with a wood veneer, cut and stapled to form a bowl. » Continue Reading.
Snowmobilers in the Adirondacks will now have access to an interactive trail map on their phone to better plan their outdoor riding adventures in one of the largest trail networks in New York State.
The new, free Adirondacks, USA snowmobile app contains information about the trails in Essex, Franklin and Hamilton counties, and nearby gas stations, stores, restaurants and lodging properties that welcome sledders. Additional trails in neighboring counties are expected to be eventually be added to provide a more comprehensive map. » Continue Reading.
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Franklin County has announced a Franklin County Farm Trail event, set for Saturday, October 5th, from 10 am to 4 pm. Attendees will be able to travel the self-guided trail across northern Franklin County to explore some beautiful farms producing a variety of products. » Continue Reading.
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Keeping young kids active during winter
By Kat Harkins
Physical activity and healthy play are critical to the development of young children, but keeping them active when it’s cold outside can be tough. The Heart Network’s Creating Healthy Schools & Communities (CHSC) program works to enhance nutrition and physical activity for kids by working with childcare providers across Franklin County to promote adoption of policies that ensure young children can thrive. With winter settling in across the North Country, we’ve partnered with Play ADK — a Saranac Lake-based nonprofit working to establish a children’s museum and family resource center serving the Adirondacks — to provide families with tips for keeping kids active.
» Continue Reading.