Photos of bloody animals killed by hunters belong on a special page, not the home page

Boy, do emotions run high when the subject of hunting comes up in St. Lawrence County.

More than 180 viewers voiced their opinions in the past 24 hours as to whether it is appropriate to display photos of dead animals killed by hunters on the home page of NorthCountryNow.com.

A photo of a bear shot with a bow-and-arrow in South Colton that was featured Thursday prompted the debate. It was shown partially gutted, hanging from a rafter with bloody areas visible.

By early afternoon, three viewers told us they were revolted by the image, and at least one vowed to remove NorthCountryNow.com as their home page.

So we decided to ask more viewers for their opinions. That blog and the viewer comments appear here.

The results?

Based on a quick tally of comments posted by viewers:

-- Approximately 54 percent of viewers approved of the photo, feeling it reflects life in the North Country. Some said they would like to see other photos of hunters’ “trophies.”

-- About 34 percent were repulsed by the sight of a dead, bloody animal, and felt offended at being forced to look at the image without warning when visiting NorthCountryNow.com for the first time in the day. Several people were concerned such photos could startle or scare children.

-- Another 12 percent offered a “middle ground” suggestion. They recommended posting hunting and fishing photos on a special page instead of on the home page.

We like that idea.

It’s clear many North Country residents enjoy and advocate hunting. At the same time, a large number of people in St. Lawrence County find the sport revolting and tasteless.

We agree that the many who are offended by hunting should not be forced to look at a bloody animal when first logging on to the internet.

We'll still run occasional photos submitted by proud hunters and fishermen and women on the home page, but will be more sensitive in selecting the pictures that will appear for all to see.

Our hope is that NorthCountryNow.com can serve all factions of the population in St. Lawrence County, regardless of their views on particular issues.

With that in mind, we will be developing a special page for viewer-submitted hunting and fishing photos for the slight majority of viewers who would enjoy such a feature. We expect it will be operational by Thanksgiving weekend. We wish the page could be ready sooner than that, but our web site developer is tied up with other projects that must be completed first.

In the meantime, those who would like to submit photos to be considered for posting on that page are welcome to send them to webmaster@NorthCountryNow.com. Remember to include the name(s) of people in the photo, location, date the picture was taken and any other pertinent details.

Thank you to all who submitted their views on the subject.

Should NCNow post photos of animals killed by hunters?

Today’s photo of a bloody, partially gutted bear shot with a bow-and-arrow in South Colton prompted strong objections from several viewers.

“That is a pretty tasteless photo of a dead bloody bear on the front page. After a few days of nice pictures of Moose (ALIVE) in the area, you show this??” e-mailed one person.

Said another, “You have had many nice photos greeting readers on your home page in the past, but I find the hanging, gutted bear photo very disturbing.”

And a third person said they would stop using NorthCountryNow.com as their home page: “My internet browser has been set up to open with NorthCountryNow.com as homepage. The daily continuous local news updates, and the local pictures have been enjoyable. However, the sight of the partially degutted black bear corpse, slaughtered for no apparent reason but the joy of killing, as well as earlier photos of children with hunted pheasants, dead turkeys and fish has made me leery of what images will assault my sight next. NorthCountryNow.com will be retired to bookmark status on my computer.”

For the many hunters in St. Lawrence County, pictures such as today’s can be interesting and exciting.

But for many others, they are revolting.

Do you think NorthCountryNow.com should post photos of animals killed by hunters? Share your opinions with us by posting a comment.

Ogdensburg receives nationwide tv recognition this morning.

Ogdensburg received nationwide recognition this morning from New York's senior Senator, Chuck Schumer.

Appearing as a guest on "Morning Joe," a daily talk show broadcast on MSNBC, Schumer noted he could feel the excitement of today's Obama inauguration downstate as well as in "Ogdensburg New York."

New York's soon-to-depart junior senator, Hillary Clinton, however, has visited St. Lawrence County many more times than Schumer in recent years. She is slated to become the next U. S. Secretary of State.

Only one bank serving our county receiving funds from $350 billion TARP program

The U. S. is feverishly spending $350 billion through the Troubled Assets Relief Program in hopes of stabilizing the nation’s faltering economy, but only one bank serving St. Lawrence County is receiving the funds.

Key Bank , which has branches in Ogdensburg, Massena, Gouverneur, Canton, Potsdam, and Winthrop, is selling $2.5 billion in preferred stock and warrants through the TARP program. The 12th largest bank in the nation based on assets, Key is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

Details of the TARP financing are available from the U. S. Treasury’s website.

Other than HSBC, which is headquartered in London, England and has branches in Massena, Potsdam, Ogdensburg and Gouverneur, the only other financial institution not based in New York State is Woodforest National Bank. It has been opening branches in Wal-Marts throughout the nation, including those in Massena and Potsdam.

All the rest of our financial institutions are small and local, with headquarters within our county or northern or upstate New York.

North Country Savings and SeaComm Federal Credit Union headquarters are in Canton and Massena, respectively. Community Bank, whose roots are in Canton, is now based in Dewitt. Gouverneur Savings and Loan and Massena Savings and Loan are both hometown institutions. And St. Lawrence Federal Credit Union, is based in Ogdensburg with a branch in Canton.

Adirondack Regional Federal Credit Union, which has a Potsdam location, is based in Tupper Lake. Upstate National Bank, with headquarters in Rochester, has branches in Ogdensburg and Lisbon.

According to CNN, the money for the first half of the total $700 billion in TARP funding was allocated for shoring up financial institutions. The program:

• sent checks totaling $168 billion in varying amounts to 116 banks;

• committed another $82 billion to capitalize more banks;

• bought $40 billion in preferred shares of American International Group (AIG, Fortune 500) so the troubled insurer could pay off an earlier loan from the Federal Reserve;

• committed $20 billion to back any losses that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York might incur under the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility;

• committed to invest $20 billion in Citigroup on top of $25 billion the bank had already received;

• committed $5 billion as a loan loss backstop to Citigroup;

• agreed to loan $13.4 billion to GM and Chrysler to get them through the next few months.

Clean out the basement: North Country Now now offers free 'for sale' ads

Clean out the garage, go through the basement … perhaps you can make some money.

NorthCountryNow.com recently launched another new feature, Items Under $500 .

It’s a free, self-service way to sell unneeded and unused items to your friends and neighbors in St. Lawrence County.

To list an item, click on the “Items Under $500” link below the “Classifieds” heading at the top of the tool bar on the left of most pages on NorthCountryNow.com. Currently posted items for sale will appear.

Then, to submit your ad, click on the “Sell an Item” link in the green bar running across the page. You will be prompted to select a category from a pull-down menu, state the price and provide a description. You’ll also have an opportunity to revise your description if you wish.

After a quick review by our staff, your submission should appear online by the end of the next business day. Currently, our plan is to keep the ads posted for a month, but that may change depending on the number of ads that are submitted.

The new feature was designed by Kristin Shumway of Potsdam, a junior at SUNY Geneseo majoring in computer science. She also created the recently launched “Lost and Found” feature.

Now, do you think there’s value in those Beanie Babies packed away in the attic?

Flashback: What was happening in each St. Lawrence County town 200 years ago?

Welcome to 2009!

But what was happening in St. Lawrence County 200 years ago?

Connie Sterner, whose fascinating North Country History website , is filled with historical photos census data, newspaper clippings and more, can tell us.

Here’s a “Flashback” she sent to us the other day with highlights of what was going on in 1809 in each of St. Lawrence County’s towns.

Bucks Bridge -- Isaac Buck, from Shoreham Vt, a veteran of the Revolutionary War built a bridge (yes, Buck's Bridge!) and saw mill.

Canton -- Daniel Campbell was Town Supervisor

DeKalb -- Judge Cooper was killed in Albany. Licenses were granted to Jonathan Haskins and Salmon Rich to keep taverns. Salmon built a saw mill on Borland Creek.

Depeyster -- James Averell 2nd came from Cooperstown on pack horses and settled near Silas Kellogg's Tavern. He opened a store in a log building. Smith Stillwell came the same year.

Fowler -- the Hailesboro grist mill was carried away by flood.

Gouverneur - In 1809 a clearing of 80 acres was ade in the vicinity of the Natural Dam by Joseph Bolton for Mr. Morris who erected a saw and grist mill which were know as Morris' Mill. (Gouverneur Morris traveled down the Oswegatchie River from Gouverneur to Ogdensburg by flat boat in 1808.) In the autumn of 1809 the first district school was opened and a small school was built by the Presbyterian church taught by Silas Brook. He was succeeded by Betsy Sackett who became the wife of John Parker. John Brown opened the first store at the east end of the bridge.

Hermon -- Thomas Tanner came to Hermon.

Hopkinton -- Henry McLaughlin was Town Supervisor

Lawrenceville -- Ephraim Martin arrived and built the first saw mill.

Madrid -- Hamblin-Castle Distillery was built

Massena -- a wolf bounty of $3 was voted in.

Norfolk -- There were no roads in Norfolk, only a trail from Potsdam to Raymondville in 1809. Erastus Hall and Ira Brewer came from Tyringham, Mass., cleared land and built a frame house near Louisville. Eben Johnson came from Williston Vt.

Ogdensburg -- The schooner "Experiment", first boat built in the city, was launched. Construction of the Parish mansion was underway. Rossell grants building of a school for 30 children. The First Baptist Church was organized.

Parishville -- Town Supervisor was Joseph Crary and that year Mr. Hoard surveyed and cut a road from Potsdam to the site of Parishville village. From Vt. and Mass. came Luke Brown, Isaac Towner, Hartwell Shattuck and Levi Sawyer. Mr. & Mrs. Whitmore came to cook for men clearing land and two Barnes brothers built a saw mill. When settlers arrived in Parishville they found the gorge spanned by a great pine tree trunk which served as a bridge by the Indians traveling the trail to Tupper Lake for a century. This causeway was replaced by a single span wooden bridge which served until 1868.

Potsdam -- Liberty Knowles came to Potsdam in 1809 and was admitted to the Bar the next year. The first bridge was built across the Racquette River. Before that people crossed on a raft. Benjamin Raymond was Town Supervisor. In North Potsdam the Union Settlement, established in 1807, an experiment in communistic living, was underway. The first settlers here were William Bullard, John Burroughs, Manasseh Smith, Nathan Howe, Ammi Currier, Thomas H .Currier, William Currier, Isaac Ellis, Alba Durkee, John McAllaster. The Smiths were from Turnbridge. Vt. and were relatives of Joseph Smith the founder of the Mormans. John Smith left the colony in Potsdam in 1809. He later became the High Priest in Salt Lake City Utah in 1853.

Rossie -- A road to Gouverneur was built and one from Somerville to Wegatchie to Natural Dam where there was a grist mill. A Sawmill was built in Wegatchie by Reuben Streeter.

Russell -- the state legislature selected Russell for as a location to build an arsenal. Plans were started between James LaRay and David Parish to build the turnpike road. Russell Atwater, Town Supervisor, was succeeded by Reuben Ashman. The Zion Episcopal Church had 15 members and the Baptist Society was building a church, led by Samuel Rowley a Baptist Missionary from Massachusetts starting his church with 7 members.

Stockholm -- the first school district was organized.

Waddington -- Construction of David Ogden's Island House started. Col. Mathew Myers admitted to the Bar in SLC - First Lawyer in Waddington.

Elsewhere in New York State and the U.S.:
James Madison was sworn in as 4th President of the U.S., while Jefferson quietly retired to his beloved Monticello. George Clinton - X- NY Governor was VP. (Uncle of DeWitt Clinton).

Daniel D Tompkins was Governor of New York.

Shawnee leader Tecumseh begins to establish a defensive confederacy to resist the westward movement of white settlers.

New England governors refuse to supply militia to enforce the Embargo Acts of 1807 and 1808.

The Napoleonic Wars i n Europe are well underway.

The Illinois Territory was created.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, is born in a humble Hardin, County, Kentucky log cabin to carpenter Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks on February 12, 1809.

February 20, 1809 - The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the power of the Federal Government is greater than the power of any individual state.

Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Darwin, Christopher Huston Carson (Kit Carson) were born.

Robert Fulton patents the steamboat. The same year the first steamboat on the St. Lawrence River - the "Dalhousie" - is built in Prescott. Meanwhile in Montreal the "Accommodation", a side wheel type steamboat is built.

Thanks, Connie, for the look back!

Medicare rates local nursing homes: Claxton the best; Highland, Kinney, Canton the worst

How good are St. Lawrence County’s nursing homes?

According to a new report available on Medicare’s website, Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center’s 23-bed Residential Health Care Facility is the best. It has a five-star rating, the highest possible.

Highland Nursing Home, Massena, Kinney Nursing Home in Gouverneur and United Helpers Canton Nursing are the worst. They are rated with one star, the lowest possible.
According to the Medicare website, the overall rating is a combination of health inspection rating, staffing levels, and other quality measures.

While staffing levels at Highland, Kinney and the Canton nursing are rated at three or four stars, all received the poorest marks because of relatively high levels of deficiencies uncovered during health inspections. Kinney had 12 deficiencies recorded for the reporting period, while Kinney and Canton each had eight. The New York State average is six, while the U.S. average is nine.

The Canton nursing home is operated by Ogdensburg-based United Helpers, but other St. Lawrence County facilities managed by the organization fared much better in the Medicare report. The United Helpers Nursing Home at 8101 NYS Hwy. 68 in Ogdensburg received four stars, while the Untied Helpers Cedars Nursing Home at 6695 NYS Hwy. 37 in Ogdensburg is rated with three stars.

The Nursing Home Compare report offers detailed information about every Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing home in the country. Medicare officials urge in-person visits to nursing homes and other considerations such as distance from family and relatives when selecting a nursing home.

They also urge weighing other long-term care choices like community-based services, home care or assisted living, depending on a patient’s needs and resources. That information is also available on Medicare’s website.

To view the full reports on St. Lawrence County’s nursing homes:

1. Visit Medicare’s Nursing Home Comparison Web Page

2. Click the “Find and Compare Nursing Homes” button

3. Select “Find a Nursing Home Within a County,” then in the “State/Territory” pull-down menu, choose New York – Upstate. Click “Next Step”

5. In the “Select a County” pull-down menu, choose Saint Lawrence County. Click “Continue”

6. Scroll down the page to view the report. Click on each individual nursing home name for detailed information about the facility.

Announcing a new 'instant' lost-and-found service for St. Lawrence County

Viewers of our website, NorthCountryNow.com,, may have noticed a new feature quietly debut this week.

It’s the Lost and Found Page, designed to help St. Lawrence County residents find lost pets, wallets and other valuable items. A link to the page appears under the "Classifieds" heading on the tool bar of every page on NorthCountryNow.com.

Over time, we hope local citizens will appreciate and depend upon the ability to immediately post information about lost animals and valuables. No longer will it be necessary to try to figure out when and if local radio stations broadcast “lost and found” reports or to wait days for a notice to appear in a local newspaper.

Currently, the “Lost and Found” page is set up so that viewers can immediately post information seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Our hope is that the service is not abused by people who post profane or inappropriate submissions. If that becomes the case, we will convert to an e-mail system, which will mean items won’t be posted until our staff reviews the submissions at the beginning of the next business day.

For now, we hope you tell your friends and neighbors about the new service. And hopefully, you won’t have to use it!

The page was created and designed by Kristin Shumway of Potsdam, a junior at SUNY Geneseo majoring in computer science.

Taxing cigarettes on Mohawk reservation more important than preserving jobs

St. Regis Mohawk leaders are saying hundreds of jobs will be lost because of Gov. Paterson’s recent decision to prohibit Native Americans from selling tax-free cigarettes to non-natives , as reported by WWNY-tv.

North Country Public Radio also recently reported on the issue, noting native tribes are vowing to fight the law in court, , saying it violates their sovereignty. Jim Ransom, chief of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe in Akwesasne, says it also would make the economy worse and deepen an already grave smuggling problem.

It may well be true some jobs will be lost at the many convenience stores, smoke shops and gas stations on the Akwesasne reservation because cigarettes and other tobacco products would be more expensive. The jobs of people employed at six cigarette manufacturers on the reservation would also be in jeopardy.

But it’s worth it to require the taxes on tobacco sold on the reservation.

Sure, we want to do everything we can to create and retain jobs in our economically depressed North Country.

But cancer is hideous disease. How many of us have family members or friends who have suffered a painful death due to lung cancer? And think of the millions of dollars in health care costs that are wasted caring for people who could have avoided getting lung cancer if they had quit smoking or not started in the first place.

Taxing tobacco – along with education -- discourages people from continuing or not starting the addictive tobacco habit.

And in this case, the health and well-being of our population trumps the importance of jobs.

Our next Senator will be challenged to visit St. Lawrence County as often as Hillary did

Whoever succeeds U. S. Sen. Hillary Clinton will be challenged to pay as much attention to the North Country as the former presidential candidate did.

Over the years, she made appearances at the St. Lawrence Seaway and Clarkson University, met with local Democrats and worked with County Administrator Karen Hilaire when she was St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce executive director.

The media and bloggers have been having a field day predicting who Gov. David Paterson will name to replace Clinton, now that she has been nominated by President-Elect Barack Obama to be the next Secretary of State. The “The Fix” blog from the Washington Post has even provided odds of selection for the many potential nominees.

Know as a hard worker, New York’s junior senator made multiple trips to the sparsely populated North Country most years since she was elected to the Senate. New York’s other U. S. senator, Chuck Schumer, has made far fewer trips north over the years.

As Clinton’s website points out, she has been actively involved with several issues in our region.

She has worked to expand broadband access and bring high speed wireless service to underserved rural areas in the North Country, In September 2007, the Senate approved $200,000 for the St. Lawrence County Regional Rural Broadband Expansion, designed to be a catalyst for the region’s entrepreneurial economy.

Clinton worked with the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce and major corporations such as eBay to form the Northern Adirondack Trading Cooperative, which teaches North Country entrepreneurs, artisans, and producers how to utilize the Internet and grow their businesses online.

She has also been a supporter of regular, affordable air service in the North Country and has been a strong supporter of the Essential Air Service Program. The EAS subsidizes Cape Air service to Albany from the Massena and Ogdensburg airports.