- Watertown Daily Times

MASSENA — A Syracuse educational consulting firm will perform a consolidation study for the Massena Central School District.

During their meeting Thursday night, Board of Education members accepted a bid from Castallo & Silky to conduct the school consolidation feasibility study. They were among three firms that bid on the project.

MALONE — Mohawk Networks is preparing a bid for the next round of the state’s broadband initiative.

Alison Doctor, interim CEO for Mohawk Networks, met with Franklin County legislators Thursday afternoon to give a basic overview of the bidding process.

The company and its subsidiary, North Country Broadband, are preparing their bids for Phase 3 of the New NY Broadband Initiative, which is intended to bring high-speed internet access to sparsely populated areas of the state.

THE TELEGRAM

AKWESASNE –– A 60-year-old Akwesasne woman is facing a felony charge for allegedly making threats against the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and the Tribal Council.  She was charged Thursday with making a terrorist threat, a felony. The arrest came the day after St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police were notified of threats against the tribe and the council.

The woman reportedly “uttered threats,” according to a news release from the tribe. Additional details of the incident that led to her arrest were not available Friday evening.  She was arraigned on the charge in Bombay Town Court; prosecution is pending, the release said..

- Malone Telegram

Despite increasing national attention to prescription price sticker-shock, a recent study found that in 2016 alone, New York state saved $21 billion by choosing generic prescription drugs over brand-name supplies.

According to the Association for Accessible Medicines, nearly 90 percent of prescriptions nationally are filled with generics, while constituting only 26 percent of all drug spending. This means that in the United States, 11 percent of prescriptions make up 74 percent of drug costs.

JOSH DAVIS - Malone Telegram

BRUSHTON — Cases of Lyme disease in Franklin County have roughly quadrupled in the past 15 years, following an influx of deer tick populations in the north country and Northeast United States.

A forum discussing the rapidly increasing risk of tick-borne illness was held in Brushton Friday, offering information and perspectives from medical, environmental and academic fields.

- Massena Daily Courier

MASSENA — Two graduating Massena Central High School seniors shared their concerns with Board of Education members Thursday night about the use of the Red Raider school nickname and, in some cases, the use of the old Indian head mascot or lack of any mascot.

Superintendent Patrick H. Brady said two seniors, Paige Cook and KC Herne, along with counselor Julie White, had addressed the board’s Policy Committee in May about the lack of a school mascot and continued use of the old mascot in some circles. They were part of a School Climate Committee that had been formed in October following a racial incident at the high school led to disparaging remarks on social media and divisiveness among students.

- Massena Daily Courier

A study recently released by the Vera Institute of Justice reported that rural jails are now growing at a faster rate than their urban counter parts.

Though crime rates are still lower in rural areas, and even nationwide, the study notes that rural areas in southern and western country lack the justice department resources, such as additional judges, adequate probation services and incarceration alternatives, that urban centers typically have.