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The NCPR News Team

Martha Foley
News and Public Affairs Director

Martha Foley joined the staff of NCPR (then WSLU) as morning host in 1981. She helped found the news department in 1982, and has seen it grow, and shrink, and grow again. "I especially liked the 'grow again' part," she says, "it means working with really talented reporters, and being able to tell more and more stories from around the North Country."

She's proud and happy to have spent her career in the North Country. And she's encouraged the growth of community-focused local news at other public radio stations as a member and director of Public Radio News Directors, Inc., an organization of over 100 local newsrooms across the country.

Martha grew up on an Adirondack foothill in northeastern Saratoga County. She lives just south of Canton with her husband, boat builder Everett Smith. E-mail

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Brian Mann
Adirondack Bureau Chief

Brian Mann grew up in Alaska, where he fell in love with public radio. In 1999, Brian moved to the Adirondacks and helped launch NCPR's news bureau at Paul Smiths College. "I love the chemistry of water and mountains," Brian says. "But I'm also pretty crazy about village life in the north country. It's the kind of place where you know your neighbors." Brian lives in Saranac Lake with wife Susan and son Nicholas. He's a frequent contributor to NPR and also writes regularly for regional magazines, including Adirondack Life and the Adirondack Explorer. E-mail

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David Sommerstein
Reporter/ Producer

David Sommerstein, NCPR's roving St. Lawrence Valley/Fort Drum/Tug Hill reporter, began his career in radio, strangely enough, as a high school Spanish teacher in Buffalo. While drilling verb conjugations and teaching a love for Latino culture during the day, he sat in as a late night jazz and Latin DJ at Buffalo's NPR affiliate, WBFO. The radio bug bit, and David found his way to southern Colorado/northern New Mexico (the Taos/Santa Fe area) where he was Program Director, Music Director, Volunteer Coordinator, and "Just About Anything Else You Can Think Of" Director at NPR affiliate KRZA.

Since joining NCPR's news department, David has reported from the chilly deck of a St. Lawrence icebreaker, the power-chord filled stage of the High School Rock Band Festival, and the tense Albanian street market of post-war Kosovo with soldiers from Fort Drum. David also gets to fulfill his passion for music of all kinds when he spins world dance and groove music on editions of The Beat Authority. E-mail

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Todd Moe
Morning Host and Producer

A native of rural Minnesota, Todd Moe grew up on a farm not far from mythical Lake Wobegon. He attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN; studied Speech/Theatre and Norwegian, and began his radio career as a student announcer at WCAL (2002 marks its 80th anniversary!).

Moe sings in the Potsdam Community Chorus, and hobbies include food, gardening, history and tango! He was a newscaster and reporter for Minnesota Public Radio for eight years. A favorite memory from that job was interviewing Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann. Moe and his partner, Paul Siskind, moved to the North Country in 1998. Siskind teaches at the Crane School of Music. E-mail

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Nora FlahertyNora Flaherty
Reporter and Producer

Nora Flaherty got into public radio kind of by mistake--the local public radio station was in the same building as the office of the Anthropology department at the University of Michigan, where Nora was studying to be a professor. But after a few weeks as an intern, she was convinced she'd stumbled into the right place.

Nora became a reporter and on-air host at Michigan Radio, where she did stories on environmental issues, housing, the arts, among other things. Nora moved to New York City in 2005, and became a producer at WFUV. At WFUV, Nora hosted a weekly interview program and reported on the long-term issues faced by September 11th survivors, education, and less serious topics like fairy tales, freak shows and pop music.

A serious dog person, Nora loves hanging out with her "pack" (her husband and their dog), cooking, and driving in foreign countries. E-mail

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Julie GrantJulie Grant
Reporter and Producer

Julie Grant grew up on the north shore of Long Island, NY, and moved to the Midwest to attend Miami University. She stayed in Ohio to start her career as a public radio reporter, host, and news director. Julie covered city hall, the statehouse, and loads of political stories. She focused on education coverage for many years, and then turned her attention to environmental issues. Julie was Ohio correspondent for The Environment Report, and covered agriculture, wetlands, chemicals in everyday products, and many other issues.

She has traveled to Egypt, India, and around the U.S. for documentary work and public radio stories, and has won many awards through the years. Julie is excited to be back in New York with her family--even though it's much further north this time! Email Julie

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Karen DeWitt
NYS Capitol Correspondent

Karen DeWitt has covered state government and politics at the New York State Capitol for public radio for since 1990, and is a contributor to the statewide public television program New York Now. Before that she worked for WINS, New York. She has also written for numerous publications, including Adirondack Life, Empire State Report, and Metroland. Email Karen | Karen DeWitt on Twitter

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Chris Knight
Adirondack Correspondent

Chris Knight Chris Knight is a senior staff writer for the Adirondack Daily Enterprise in Saranac Lake. Before joining the Enterprise, Chris was the news director for Mountain Communications, which owns several Saranac Lake radio stations, for eight years. Chris works for North Country Public Radio as an occasional contributing reporter.

Away from work, Chris enjoys hiking, skiing, kayaking and just about anything else in the outdoors. He and his wife Kate-Lyn live in Saranac Lake and have two children. E-mail

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Chris Morris
Tri-Lakes Correspondent

Chris Morris is a staff writer at the Adirondack Daily Enterprise in Saranac Lake. He has worked as a journalist in northern New York and Vermont for nearly 10 years, reporting for numerous newspapers, magazines and radio stations. Chris reports on Tri-Lakes region news for North Country Public Radio.

Chris has lived in the Adirondacks for most of his life, and currently resides in Saranac Lake. He's an avid cross-country skier and coaches at the Dewey Mountain Ski Center in the winter. In the summer, he enjoys golfing, camping and the outdoors in general. E-mail

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Lucy MartinLucy Martin
Ottawa Correspondent

Lucy Martin covers regional news and events from her home in rural Ottawa. Her radio roots go back to the early years of Hawaii Public Radio, where she had many roles, including news anchor and station announcer. A family move traded ordinary Honolulu for exotic Canada in 1999. Lucy enjoys village life with her husband, Craig Miller. When not editing sound or text on her laptop, she likes to garden, read, travel and play outdoors. E-mail

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Joanna RichardsJoanna Richards
Watertown Correspondent

Joanna Richards grew up in Louisville, Kentucky but feels like a true north country native now that she owns winter boots rated for temps down to forty below zero. She worked for an alt weekly paper, as an associate editor for the NPR series This I Believe, and as a staff writer for an arts and entertainment weekly in Louisville, before moving to Watertown in 2008 to work as a reporter for the Watertown Daily Times.

She's thrilled to be working in radio again as the Watertown correspondent for North Country Public Radio and especially enjoys doing stories about intriguing local subcultures. Outside of work, she is a regional explorer, vegetarian cook, and regular volunteer for various community groups, as well as a voracious reader, aspiring pool shark and an orange belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. E-mail

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Sarah HarrisSarah Harris
Champlain Valley Correspondent

Sarah Harris was a sophomore in college when the radio bug bit. She spent the year producing audio narratives of students' journeys to Middlebury (where she went to school) through the Middlebury Fellowship in Narrative Journalism. A long-time public radio lister, Sarah thought she might've found her niche. She spent the money she earned from the fellowship on equipment and promptly headed abroad to the Maldives and Nepal, where she did a ton of interviews and spent a month at Community Radio Madanpokhara, South Asia's first rural-based community radio station.

Upon returning to the United States, Sarah decided she needed to learn how to do radio for real. So she called NCPR on a Friday afternoon and proceeded to pester station manager Ellen Rocco until she agreed to give Sarah an internship. Sarah spent the following summer interning at the station and living on Ellen's Dekalb farm. She's been producing stories for NCPR ever since. 

Sarah now covers the Champlain Valley. Her work has aired on Morning Edition and All Things Considered and has been published in The American Prospect and Slate. She reported on cement production in Chanute, Kansas through the Middlebury Fellowship in Environmental Journalism and contributed to the award-winning NPR/Center for Public Integrity collaborative series "Poisoned Places." Sarah assistant taught the first session of the Transom Story Workshop in fall 2011. She lives in Burlington, Vermont. E-mail

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Natasha HavertyNatasha Haverty
Reporter/Producer

Natasha Haverty has an English degree from Brown University and got her radio training at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Maine.

From Maine she went to work at The Moth, a nonprofit in New York City devoted to the art of live storytelling, where she was the coordinator of the community outreach program that teaches workshops to schools and community centers and brings storytellers to the Moth stage (and the radio). She also helped produce the first two seasons of Peabody Award-winning Moth Radio Hour (now playing on NPR stations across the country).

Tasha returned to her home state after receiving the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities’ “Liberty and Justice for All” grant to create an oral history of the Norfolk Prison Debating Society, which had an outstanding record against top college teams in the Forties and Fifties. She recently premiered her original 'improvised audio drama' The Yankee City Series at a live listening event at Harvard University. Tasha arrived in the North Country on April Fool's Day, 2012. E-mail

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Adirondack News Fund Founding Supporters:
Paul Smith's College, The College of the Adirondacks • Wildlife Conservation Society • Adirondack Medical Center Foundation • Adirondack Museum • Niagara Mohawk Foundation • Schumann Foundation • John A. Sellon Charitable Trust • several anonymous individual donors

Award-Winning News

2009-2010 award-winning features and series

Seaway Valley & Hackett's: A Special Report, David Sommerstein
2010 National Edward R. Murrow Award, Investigative Reporting
Radio and Television Digital News Association
2010 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, Investigative Reporting
Radio and Television Digital News Association
2009-10 First Place, Best News Special/Documentary
New York State Associated Press
2009-10 First Place, Best Enterprise Reporting
New York State Associated Press

A Year of Hard Choices, NCPR News Team
2010 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, Continuing Coverage
Radio and Television Digital News Association
2010 Second Place, Continuing Coverage
Public Radio News Directors, Inc.
2009-10 First Place, Best News Series
New York State Associated Press

Cougars in the North Country?, Jonathan Brown
2009-10 First Place, Best Feature
New York State Associated Press

Hackett's: Under Water, David Sommerstein
2010 First Place, Enterprise/Investigative Reporting
Public Radio News Directors, Inc.

All Before Five 5-19-2009 Broadcast, Jonathan Brown
2009-10 First Place, Best Regularly-scheduled Local News Program
New York State Associated Press

Dede Scozzafava on the Heart & Soul of the GOP, Jonathan Brown
2010 Second Place, Interview
Public Radio News Directors, Inc.
2009-10 First Place, Best Interview
New York State Associated Press

Stories, Food, Life, Ellen Rocco, Editor
2010 First Place, Mid Atlantic Region
Tabasco Community Cookbook Award

Special Elections 2009, NCPR News Department
2009-10 First Place, Best Continuing News Coverage
New York State Associated Press

2008-2009 award-winning features and series

The Impact of War at Home, NCPR News Team
2009 National Edward R. Murrow Award, Continuing Coverage
2009 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, Continuing Coverage
Radio and Television News Directors Association
First Place, Continuing Coverage
Public Radio News Directors Inc.
Special Mention, Best News Series
New York State Associated Press

Native American's in Baseball's Past and Present, David Sommerstein
2009 National Edward R. Murrow Award, Sports Reprting
2009 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, Sports Reprting
Radio and Television News Directors Association
First Place, Best Sports Coverage
New York State Associated Press
First Place, Sports Reporting
Public Radio News Directors Inc.

NCPR.org, Dale Hobson
2009 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award: Best Website
Radio and Television News Directors Association

Migrant Workers on the Right Side of the Law, Part 1 | Part 2 | David Sommerstein and Brian Mann
First Place, Best News Series
New York State Associated Press

All Before Five, Jonathan Brown
Best regularly scheduled local news program, 11/13/08, 12/10/08 program,
New York State Associated Press

Food Bank Provides, David Sommerstein
Special Mention, Best Feature
New York State Associated Press

When Both Parents Go to War, Part 1 | Part 2 | David Sommerstein
Special Mention, Best News Series
New York State Associated Press

Stories, Food, Life, Ellen Rocco, editor
Gold Medal, Best Regional Non-fiction
Independent Publisher Regional Book Awards
First Place, Edited collection
Adirondack Literary Awards


2007-2008 award-winning features and series

The 2007-08 Steve Flanders Award, The grand prize given by the New York State Associated Press for the best radio news operation in New York State.

Immigration, NCPR News
2008 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, Continuing Coverage
Radio and Television News Directors Association
Best Continuing News Coverage
New York State Associated Press

Hydropower comes at a cost for the Cree, Brian Mann
2008 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, Hard News Feature
Radio and Television News Directors Association
Special Mention: Enterprise Reporting
New York State Associated Press

All Before Five, Jonathan Brown
2008 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, Newscast
Radio and Television News Directors Association
Best regularly scheduled local news program, 5/23/07, 10/25/07 program,
New York State Associated Press

Farm to Farm, David Sommerstein
2008 National Edward R. Murrow Award, News Series
Radio and Television News Directors Association
2008 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, News Series
Radio and Television News Directors Association
Best News Series
New York State Associated Press
Best Enterprise Reporting
New York State Associated Press
Harold L. “Cap” Creal Journalism Award
New York State Agricultural Society
Second Place: Series
Public Radio News Directors Inc.

The Endless Cycle of Migration, David Sommerstein
Best news special/documentary
New York State Associated Press
Best News Feature
Public Radio News Directors Inc.

Winter Dash to Avalanche Lake, Brian Mann
2008 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, Use of Sound
Radio and Television News Directors Association

A Tale of Two Zamboni Drivers, David Sommerstein
Best Feature & Best Sports Coverage
New York State Associated Press

Bittersweet reunions at Fort Drum, David Sommerstein
First Place: Writing
Second Place: News Feature
Public Radio News Directors Inc.

Ft. Drum awaits word on captive soldiers, David Sommerstein
Special Mention: Spot News Coverage
New York State Associated Press

Colo’s Eulogy, Jonathan Brown
Second Place: Commentary
Public Radio News Directors Inc.

2006-2007:

Rugby Brings Elegant Violence to the Adirondacks, Brian Mann
2007 National Edward R. Murrow Award, Sports Reporting
2007 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, Sports Reporting
Radio and Television News Directors Association

Forestport Poker Run, Gregory Warner
2007 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, Feature Reporting
Radio and Television News Directors Association

Latinos on the Farm, David Sommerstein
2007 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, Investigative Reporting
Radio and Television News Directors Association

Farmers on the wrong side of the law, David Sommerstein
2007 First Place, Best News Feature
Public Radio News Directors Inc.

Faith Across Barriers, Brian Mann and Gregory Warner
2007 First Place, Continuing Coverage
Public Radio News Directors Inc.

Creationism vs. Evolution in the Classroom, Brian Mann
2006-07 First Place, Best News Special/Documentary
New York State Associated Press

A Year on the Farm, David Sommerstein
2006-07 First Place, Best News Series
New York State Associated Press
2007 First Place, Best News Series
Public Radio News Directors Inc.
2006-07 Harold L. "Cap" Creal Journalism Award
New York State Agricultural Society

The sound of corn growing, David Sommerstein
2007 Second Place, Writing
Public Radio News Directors Inc.

The Biofuel Economy, Gregory Warner
2006-07 Special Mention, Best News Series
New York State Associated Press

Wind Power, David Sommerstein, NCPR News Department
2006-07 Special Mention, Best Continuing News Coverage
New York State Associated Press
2007 Second Place, Continuing Coverage
Public Radio News Directors Inc.

Faith Healing, Under the Tent, Gregory Warner
2006-07 Special Mention, Best Feature
New York State Associated Press

Food for the Stomach, and Spirit, David Sommerstein
2006-07 Special Mention, Best Feature
New York State Associated Press

Star Trek's Bold New Frontier, Brian Mann
2006-07 Special Mention, General Excellence in Use of Medium
New York State Associated Press

2005 and earlier