LOWVILLE â It was 201 years in the making but the 200th edition of the Lewis County Fair opened Tuesday.
Just before the annual parade was about to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday, heavy rain began pouring down, canceling the event. Lewis County Fair board members confirmed it would not be rescheduled.
But the rain didnât dampen spirits roughly 1,000 people gathered at the fairgrounds for the fairâs opening day.
Kaitlyn Ward Lee played the bagpipes as a crowd of about 100 gather at the fairgrounds gate off Bostwick Street. Lewis County Agricultural Society Board of Directors President Douglas P. Hanno in his opening remarks noted it was a great accomplishment to reach the bicentennial of the fair.
WATERTOWN â Jefferson County officials are hoping that more interaction between law enforcement and mental health services will help save the county hundreds of thousands of dollars, and cut down on the number of mentally ill people put into the criminal justice system without adequate treatment.
In April of this year, Jefferson County was billed $244,000 for competency restoration services â a New York state program run by the Office of Mental Health. When a criminal defendant charged with a felony is found to be unable to understand the court proceedings in their trial, theyâre referred to competency restoration at a state-run mental health care facility.
MORRISTOWN — Local elected officials and candidates, as well as a few of the north country’s representatives to the federal government, all gathered Sunday for a meet-and-greet barbecue.
WATERTOWN â While some north country school districts have figured out ways to bring more students back for in-person instruction each day, many have cited challenges, including transportation and distancing during lunch periods.
In a letter Monday, 45 school district superintendents in the St. Lawrence-Lewis, Jefferson-Lewis-Hamilton and Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES regions appealed to state legislators to advocate for additional guidance to allow all students to return to school in person each day beginning in the fall.
The letter states that while the most recent guidance from April 9 is helpful in many regards, there continue to be many restrictions that will ultimately make a complete return to school impossible: cohorts at the secondary level; social distancing on school buses; social distancing in classrooms and cafeterias where students are eating; and guidance on in-person, virtual and hybrid learning.
WATERTOWN â Jefferson County has agreed to settle a legal case regarding treatment of new inmates at the county jail.
In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Albany in 2017, the plaintiff Brad Nourse alleged that he was mistreated when he was taken into custody at the Metro-Jefferson Public Safety Building.
Mr. Nourse was arrested on a bench warrant after missing a court date in the town of LeRay regarding a charge of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. According to the complaint, when he was taken into custody at the jail, he was taken to a side room and immediately ordered to strip in front of a corrections officer.