Regional Coverage

The town of Avon has become the third community in upstate New York to win a court case over the right to ban fracking operations.

In New York, expected rules on hydro-fracking for natural gas are overdue, and leaders in Albany seem poised to slow the rule-making process further. The delays are not going over well with some people who hope to cash in on the gas boom.

Sen. Charles Schumer is bringing his influence to the latest plan to revive the Hotel Syracuse.  The Democrat senator believes a federal tax credit program would help draw investors that would be willing to spend the millions it would take to restore the Warren Street historic landmark.

A group of private jet owners will build and operate its own hangar at Syracuse's Hancock Airport.

When he was 15, Guy Stern emigrated from Germany to the United States in order to escape the Holocaust. He then returned to Europe following D-Day, as a U.S. Army interrogator. After the war, he became a distinguished scholar of German studies and literature. In this edition of the Campbell Conversations, Guy describes his emigration and his war experiences.

Central New Yorkers want a public park available to everyone along Onondaga Lake. That was the upshot from the latest survey on the future of what was once the most polluted lake in the nation.

Maple producers across New York will throw open their doors to visitors this weekend and next for the state’s 18th annual Maple Weekend. 

Updated, Thursday 5:50 p.m.: Local police officers were "overwhelmed" as they raced from scene to scene yesterday morning in pursuit of a shooter who first set his home on fire and then killed four people and wounded two others at two different locations in Herkimer County.

Several local community organizations have joined forces to create the Central New York Coalition for Immigration Reform.  This group will push a comprehensive immigration reform agenda, with an emphasis towards towards family unity, an improved visa system, and a path to eventual citizenship for undocumented immigrants living in this country now. It's the only hope one undocumented immigrant who lives in Syracuse has of staying in this country.

The Watertown City Council has received a lot of pushback and even ridicule in the media recently for passing what's being referred to as a “roommate ban.” Last month, in response to a neighbor dispute, the City Council removed language from the zoning code that allowed the renting out of rooms in single-family homes. But city planning officials say the regulatory change is completely unenforceable.

Our reporter, Joanna Richards, is a city girl. But since she moved to the north country four years ago, she's been boning up on the traditions and culture of rural life. She had a chance recently for a bit of North Country skill building, in a workshop on wood splitting especially for women. Joanna tells the story of her lesson.