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Guest Commentary

Brown University of Northern New York

Bob Brown always had a story. If you are lucky, you have a few Bob stories yourself. In tribute to my neighbor, professor and friend Robert Emmett Brown, here are a few of my own. Many residents of the Adirondack Park love the woods and wildlife; Bob Brown was leader of the club. Bob and ...

‘Leave No Trace’ in the wilderness

“Leave No Trace” is an ancient concept that our ancestors lived by thousands of years ago. Any group of people living in close contact with the forest and waterways had to care for their environment in order to make it sustainable. In our country, Native Americans are best known for ...

50 local women, almost 3,000 masks

On March 20, my eldest son Spencer was taken by ambulance to Mount Sinai Hospital in Brooklyn. He was a victim of COVID-19. As a mother, so far from him here in Saranac Lake, I cried a lot. I found comfort in the trees and in the forest, like I always do. But I had no way to help the health ...

The bottle bill is a drag on recycling

In mid-March, several states gave redemption centers and retailers the option to temporarily stop accepting bottles and cans. They advised households to stockpile their water bottles and soda cans for several weeks, or to simply toss them in their curbside recycling bins. While it is ...

On visiting the Adirondacks in the time of COVID-19

When to lift the restrictions under which we’ve been living since March should depend on local conditions. In New York City, where the number of new cases of COVID-19 is still over 2,500 per day, a major concern is “flattening the curve.” On the other hand, in some North Country ...

Differences between Lincoln and Trump are stark

While Joseph Biden chimes in from a studio in his basement, President Trump has the biggest bully pulpit in the world, including the ability to stage a town hall in the lustrous shadow of the Lincoln Memorial — an effective display of political theater that reminded a weary nation coming out ...