When winter hits the North Country, it packs a punch. People who have lived here for more than 20 years will remember the insanity that was the ice storm of 1998. Trees fell, ice jams overflowed rivers, and hundreds of people took refuge at Red Cross shelters. The National Guard even had to ...

What a nice find by my friend Mary Partridge Peria, treasured treasurer of Saranac Lake for so many years. Mary discovered the book in a trash bin somewhere, and she snagged it for posterity — or at least for one more review. It was created in 1945, revised in 1951 and edited by Arthur ...

Parents have been asking me some eye-opening questions about whether or not their child could get pinkeye. Let me see what I can tell you about this problem. --- What is pinkeye, exactly? --- Pinkeye gets its name because it describes the pink or reddish appearance of what is normally ...

Having been a compulsive reader all my life, I always have a book or two on me. That way, during lulls in my inaction, I’ve got some form of entertainment to turn to. Of late, however, I started wondering what besides books and mags could provide me with amusement. My cellphone was ...

Kale has become our “it” green, gaining popularity over the last decade. Once relatively unknown outside the south, today restaurants make sure it is on the menu. Everyone loves kale chips. Kale has the buzz. But collard greens — kale’s first cousin — are still uncommon. Standard ...

I’m so excited for the snow. It’s not that in the past I’ve not enjoyed it, but sometimes the snowy weather really needs to stay in its own lane. I need to finish the yard work and remember where I left the garden tools. Don’t worry. I’m constantly reprimanded by family members that ...

The film industry isn’t just recycling movie plots. The next unoriginal step is recycling actors...who have been dead for 64 years. Despite being in only three movies (he played very bit parts in a few others, but I’m not counting those), James Dean has been considered one of the best ...

Transgender Day of Remembrance occurs annually on Nov. 20. It is a day to memorialize those who have been killed or murdered as the result of transphobia, (hatred or fear of transgender and gender non-conforming/non-binary people). We also remember those who died as a result of suicide. This ...

A day in the life for the royal couple of Silverado, namely, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson, began with coffee on the deck to watch the sunrise. In this case the deck was huge, 120 feet long, and triangular and was better known as the platform but “used as our summer parlour,” said ...

It’s been said that it is hard to imagine a worse or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong. The current management of the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor is proof of this remark. Anyone that has ...

Expect political pundits to mention Thomas More, who was executed in 1535 in London, as they comment on the impeachment hearings in Washington. As the famous and the obscure swear to tell the truth in our nation’s capital, the man who was beheaded for treason and canonized by the Roman ...

Thank you to all who supported, in ways large and small, my campaign for North Elba town supervisor. Special thanks to Cathy LaMare, to my family, to the friends and volunteers who went above and beyond, and of course to the 318 voters who put their trust in me. Your time, belief and ...

Have you heard people say, “They write tickets only to get revenue”? This is an incorrect perception by many drivers, as the purpose behind enforcement (tickets, if you prefer) is to change bad driving habits that we all have. Speeding is a good example — I have said many times ...

The following abbreviated reports happen to have been written 77 years ago. Hopefully you, dear readers, have already noticed a few photos of the handsome, professional men — Saranac Lake’s finest — who were serving our community as pictured in the Saranac Lake Police Protective ...

I surely do miss the old Veterans Days. The pre-2016 ones. Back in the day when Americans agreed on what a hero is. Back when, say, a man who flew 23 missions over enemy territory and was shot down, captured, clubbed, bayoneted, denied medical care, horribly tortured to exact a phony ...

Parents have been hitting new heights with their questions about what to do when their child is concerned about being too tall or too short. Well let me size up those questions and provide some information on the topic of growing pains. - What determines your growing pace - Everyone grows ...

Twitter recently banned political ads. But what it really did was rid itself of lying politicians. That is the real problem facing social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. So Twitter got out of the business. Good for them. Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, said at the time ...

The library has changed which items are acceptable donations for its book sale. Nonfiction books will no longer be accepted. We welcome adult, young adult and children’s fiction, music CDs and unabridged audio books on CD and DVD. Adirondack books are also acceptable. All donations must be ...

I first heard the term “Caveat emptor” when I was in my mid-teens. It’s an ancient Latin phrase that means “Let the buyer beware,” and it seemed a fine rule for the marketplace. That was then. For today’s shopping we need a phrase that’s less exotic but much more appropriate. ...

What’s my favorite way to listen to music? Streaming opens up whole new worlds of sonic discovery, and records have exquisite sound quality, but in all honesty, I prefer cassette tapes. You know, those things teenagers in ’80s movies would make for each other as a sign of ...