To the Editor:

In response to North Country Assemblyman Mark Walczyk being endorsed by the National Rifle Association: I feel it important to go on the record regarding guns and the Second Amendment. All too often, this issue is painted as falling along clear partisan lines, but the truth is far less clear cut.

Boiling a position down to the NRA’s multiple-choice questionnaire can oversimplify and confuse the issue. I talk with North Country residents to understand how these laws actually affect their lives and our communities.

Submitted.

MASSENA -- Professional hockey player and Massena’s hometown hero Zach Bogosian has won the Stanley Cup.

Bogosian, 30, is a defenseman having spent time with the Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets, Atlanta Thrashers and now the champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

GOUVERNEUR — The Village of Gouverneur, Department of Public Works is informing residents that hydrant flushing will be done during the day, from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday Oct. 5. It will be done a second time 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday October 6.

Residents may notice a loss of water pressure and a slight discoloration of the water. While the water is safe to drink, residents are encouraged to hold off on doing white laundry.

“Thank you for your cooperation and we are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause,” said DPW Superintendent Terry Simmons.

MADRID -- A drive thru pumpkin sale will be held Saturday, Oct. 3 from noon-2 p.m. at the St. Lawrence Power & Equipment Museum.

The sale includes a pumpkin and a treat bag for $5, or three pumpkins and 3 treat bags for $10 until sold out.

BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG -- Without conducting a search, advertising the position or performing any interviews, Ogdensburg City Council voted 4-3 to name Interim City Manager Stephen Jellie as the new city manager at a salary of $120,000 per year.

The decision came after many members of the public and three city councilors protested the move, not because of direct concern about Jellie himself, but at the unprecedented method of filling the city’s top position.

AKWESASNE -- The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe’s Environment Division and its Water Resources Program have completed a study of ice jams in the Lower St. Regis River, led by Environment Division Director Tony David and Water Resources Program Manager Tiernan Smith.

The studies have produced a report authored by ice jam experts Dr. Hung Tao Shen and Dr. Fengbin Huang at Clarkson University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.