Keith Benman
St. Lawrence County Reporter
WWNY
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Keith Benman is St. Lawrence County reporter for 7News, covering Canton, Potsdam, Ogdensburg, Massena and the rest of the largest county in New York state.
He came to 7News from the world of print journalism, where he was most recently business editor at The Times of Northwest Indiana. In his 15 years there, he won statewide awards for outstanding journalism, as well as numerous Chicago Headline Club awards for stories on the housing crisis, utilities, and casino regulation.
The Little Falls Evening Times gave a start to his journalism career when it hired him in 1995, and he subsequently worked at the Herkimer Evening Telegram and Rome Daily Sentinel. He them moved on to larger newspapers in Indiana, reporting for the Elkhart Truth and South Bend Tribune.
More than two decades of reporting at newspapers in Central New York and Indiana have made him well acquainted with agriculture and other industries that drive the North Country.
He is a graduate of the journalism program at Utica College. Before attending UC, he worked for eight years in the Joseph & Feiss clothing factory in Utica.
He is married with five grown children and lives in Massena.
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Baby formula is hard to find on store shelves. So far the shortage is getting worse and that can be a real crisis for some parents.
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Not into the garbage, but onto the farm. That’s where food scraps from local colleges, schools and businesses are going.
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Four fire departments responded to a fire that heavily damaged a one-story home at 547 Sissonville Road in Potsdam Wednesday morning.
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Potsdam will get a second Stewart’s gas and convenience shop. But it will get a little harder to find a good breakfast or quality oil change.
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Contract negotiations are underway between the United Steelworkers union and Arconic, which has a plant in St. Lawrence County.
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Ogdensburg’s mayor wants to take a look at replacing city police with sheriff’s deputies. St. Lawrence County officials say they know next to nothing about it.
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Officials say 18-year-old Jared Hussey is accused of having sex with someone who was incapable of consenting because they were physically helpless.
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There are new revelations -- and still some unknowns -- in the murder of a SUNY Potsdam student.
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Enrollment has dropped dramatically at SUNY Potsdam, but college officials say recovery is underway.
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Three fire departments initially responded to the fire at the home in the heart of the village.
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There will be no jail time for a St. Lawrence County legislator for his involvement in a two-vehicle crash that led to a drunk driving arrest.
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A woman and nine dogs escaped without injury after a fire swept through their St. Lawrence County home.
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A former Potsdam town constable gets no jail time for secretly making video recordings of people in a bathroom.
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Canton Middle School is warning parents about the “choking challenge” circulating on social media after a student apparently fell victim to it.
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Potsdam High School’s Positivity Club was recognized Wednesday for being a role model to similar clubs throughout the nation.
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They’re going all-in on emergency services education at Clarkson University. They want to train up the next generation of emergency medical responders in St. Lawrence County.
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Homeowners can apply for $5,000 for an inside project and up to another $5,000 for an outdoor one.
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The murder weapon in the shooting death of SUNY Potsdam student Elizabeth Howell has yet to be found. And suspect Michael Snow’s appearance in court is delayed by COVID protocols.
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The Army Corps of Engineers has withdrawn funding for Ogdensburg’s long-awaited port dredging project.
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The new Department of Social Services commissioner in St. Lawrence County has some ideas on how to right the ship in the troubled department.
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Ogdensburg City Manager Stephen Jellie could stay on the job through the end of this year or even longer.
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The COVID delay is over and Potsdam Downtown Regional Initiative projects are moving forward.
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Democratic St. Lawrence County Legislator Tony Arquiett will apparently not be running to keep his seat. He did not hand in any party nominating petitions by Thursday’s deadline.
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Doyle’s annual salary will be hiked to $165,000 retroactive to January 1.
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SUNY Potsdam will welcome former New York Yankee and recording artist Bernie Williams as the keynote speaker for its 2022 commencement ceremony.
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There are new mental health care options for patients in Ogdensburg: a Citizen Advocates urgent care center on Park Street and a new children’s unit at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center.
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Right now, it’s just a big empty lot at 17 Main Street in Ogdensburg. But by spring, a craft brew pub should be going up.
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Should St. Lawrence County employees get a pandemic bonus? Legislators there are wrestling with that question.
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We expect them to always be there for us when we need them most, but emergency medical responders say that may not always be the case in the future.
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St. Lawrence County has a new social services commissioner. He comes in as the state demands improvement.
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Richville and four other fire departments were called out to the 7 a.m. blaze at 1116 River Road.
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There are new details about the two Pakistani men accused of blackmail that caused a Lisbon teen to take her own life.
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State investigators will take a hard look at alleged racist incidents in the Heuvelton Central School District. That’s according to a lawyer for two parents.
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Dozens of concerned district residents attended a Heuvelton school board meeting Wednesday night.
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For the first time in recent memory, a rural St. Lawrence County school will have its own full-time school resource officer.
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It’s not the dancing, but the lyrics of the song that have the superintendent apologizing.
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BOCES Career Tech centers in St. Lawrence County have a whole new look. And new tools, equipment, and classrooms.
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Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a 47-year-old Heuvelton man accused of tying up and raping a child in February.
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The last of the Riverview Towers fire victims left Wadhams Hall Friday for new apartments.
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Six homicide cases await trial in St. Lawrence County - each one causing heartache for victims’ families and friends. Officials say there are a variety of reasons for the backlog.
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A court ruling bolsters Mohawk land claims in Franklin and St. Lawrence counties. And it has big implications for a “mile square” in the heart of Massena.
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Last week’s fire at Riverview Towers in Ogdensburg took out the elevators' electronic panels. It could be months before things can start to get back on track there. Meanwhile, the displaced residents may have to move outside Ogdensburg.
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Two former Massena cryptocurrency miners face fraud charges. Prosecutors say they scammed investors out of millions of dollars.
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Lisbon businesswoman Susan Duffy says she has the right mix of experience to serve residents of the 116th Assembly District.
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When residents were evacuated from the burning Riverview Towers, they left behind their prescription drugs. One pharmacy says it did emergency refills without help from one insurance company.
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As smoke filled Riverview Towers Tuesday morning, some residents of the Ogdensburg high-rise sat fearful in their apartments, waiting for help. For many, that help came knocking on the window.
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A solidarity rally and march for Ukraine will be held Saturday. It will start at the Canton village park at noon.
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Gunfire in Massena. A wild 45-mile, high-speed chase with police. Numerous vehicles forced off the road. A head-on crash with a state police vehicle. It all happened Sunday afternoon, leaving a Massena man under arrest.
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College officials are hearing things like this: “First and foremost, being scared to walk in the footsteps of where Beth did."
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Ogdensburg says it will stop doing police dispatching by year end. City officials want the county to do it. The county says not so fast.
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