Mark Marchand blog - Dispatches From Upstate NY

Joining Bob Dylan in his famous movement to "go electric."

Following Bob Dylan to go electric: Our one year of driving an EV

Post published:February 18, 2024

Bob Dylan famously went electric, so we decided to try it too. So off we went last year to shirk off the yoke of an internal combustion, fossil-fuel-burning, pollution-emitting car. We joined the legions of drivers who chose a new electric vehicle, or EV. It wasn’t a huge leap for our family, since I was among the first New Yorkers to buy a hybrid Toyota Prius in 2000. We drove it for years, reveling in over 50 mpg and answering questions from curious strangers who waited in parking lots to talk with…

The panel at the Times-Union of Albany HQ Nov. 15, 2023 (l-R: Kenneth C. Crowe II, Casey Seiler, Jon Schleuss, Judy Patrick, Margaret Sullivan, Mark Vinciguerra, and NY Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner.)

Why we need local journalism more than ever

Post published:November 21, 2023

When Virginia became the 10th and final necessary state to ratify the Bill of Rights on Dec. 15, 1791, those founding fathers probably didn’t realize that 232 years later part of the first of those 10 constitutional amendments would still be so important … yet struggling to thrive. Throughout our nation’s history, freedom of the press has been a firm guidepost for our country and how the news media can and should be used to hold governments and others accountable to American citizens. And while this fundamental right has survived many threats…

Street flooding north of New York City, Sept. 29, 2023. (Credit: New York Times)

Posing the ‘why’ behind the streak of bad weather

Post published:September 29, 2023

Should broadcast news organizations and their weather teams help us better understand the role of human-caused climate change in ongoing weather disasters? The deadly Maui wildfire, widespread New York City flooding, crop-wilting heatwaves, our breathing air fouled by Canadian wildfires, and so many other weather calamities are coming at us in head-spinning waves. Maybe it’s time to elevate the topic to the same painstaking investigation and reporting that take place after other disasters. All it would take is journalists and forecasters asking experts “why” this global bad weather avalanche accelerates. The…

FDR's Springwood mansion in Hyde Park, N.Y.

Presidential history on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River

Post published:March 28, 2023

By Mark Marchand It’s near the end of another typical day for this man living on the east side of the Hudson River in the first half of the 20th century. After long hours in meetings, he propels himself and his wheelchair slowly toward the tiniest room on the first floor of his house. He rolls into the claustrophobic chamber and pulls an iron gate closed behind him. Turning himself and his chair around, he seizes a thick rope. He pulls it down slowly. His little “room” ascends. Together, he and his…

Sitting directly on top of the U.S.-Canada border in northern Vermont, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House has been serving readers, visitors, and show-goers for over a century.

A library and opera house on the international frontier

Post published:December 7, 2022

Visiting the only library that sits atop an international border. The Haskell Free Library and Opera House sits directly on the U.S.-Canada border in northern Vermont.