News Staff

Peter Bauer will step down as the Executive Director of Protect the Adirondacks, a position he has held since 2012. Sun Community News reports previously, Bauer worked as the Executive Director of the FUND for Lake George, now merged with the Lake George Association, and the Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks, which merged to form Protect the Adirondacks.

Warren County has been awarded over $600,000 in New York State grant funding to pursue economic development and environmental projects across the county, including money to begin development of a countywide composting facility. Sun Community News reports the grants were awarded through the most recent round of Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) funding.

Glens Falls School District completed its 11th annual Pennies for Pink (P4P) coin drive to support cancer patients at Glens Falls Hospital, pushing the overall grand total to over $40,000 raised in the 11 years of P4P. The Post Star reports students presented a check for $4,386.93 to Cristina Britton, Vickie Yattaw, and Sunday Conine from the Glens Falls Hospital Foundation.

Ralph Grasso, the cherished vendor behind Grasso’s Italian Ice in Saratoga, has died at the age of 91. WRGB reports Grasso was a well-known figure in the city , serving generations of locals from the window of his iconic white truck. He took over the family business from his father, Ralph Grasso Sr., who founded it in the 1930s.

Alex West, the man convicted of driving his boat over a family on Lake George and killing an 8-year-old girl, will be released from prison. The state parole board voted 2 to 1 to release West during its meeting this month., WNYT reports West was convicted at trial of manslaughter in the July 2016 boating crash that killed little Charlotte McCue and badly injured her mother. West had been drinking and drugging all day on the lake before he ran his boat over the top of the other boat and then kept going without calling 9-1-1.

Police stopped a vehicle on Lake Avenue in Gansevoort around midnight on December 30 after the driver failed to signal a turn. A passenger, identified as 39-year-old Jon Carpenter of Gansevoort, was asked to exit the vehicle for further investigation. He tried to flee but was caught. Upon searching Carpenter, officers discovered he was in possession of 87 grams of cocaine.

A Clifton Park woman was arrested on grand larceny charges after an investigation into a reported theft of a Halfmoon business. Mandy Navarro, 50, is accused of stealing over $30,000 from the business. WTEN reports Navarro allegedly used the business’s credit card, multiple times without permission or authorization. The purchases were made from August 2023 to December 2023.

Thanks to generous Stewart’s Shops customers, the company’s 2024 Holiday Match program raised more than $1.75 million for local children’s charities. Sun Community News reports customers donated more than $880,000 between Thanksgiving and Christmas. With Stewart’s doubling that amount, hundreds of local nonprofit children’s organizations will benefit as the money is distributed over the next few months.

The state of emergency for Whitehall remains in effect as the village continues to monitor water levels. WNYT reports Mayor Francis Putorti said in a statement on Monday, Dec. 30 that the levels for the lake remain far below the levels necessary to support unrestricted water use. The water remains in a water deficit. The village is pumping water from below the maximum height of the village’s intake pipe.

Southern Adirondack Child Care Network (SACCN) has joined forces with Warren County Department of Workforce Development to administer a new program that provides funding and assistance with training to open new home-based childcare centers.
Warren County residents who are interested in applying for funding can call Warren County Career Center at 518-743-0925 or Southern Adirondack Child Care Network at 518-798-7972.