WSSV News

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced over $46 million in grant awards through the New York State Council on the Arts. The grants are focused on arts groups including museums, and music, dance, and theater companies. Also, artists themselves and money for renting studio and performing spaces and regional arts and culture organizations.

A $5.7 million project that added a new sidewalk and bike lanes to Union Avenue is done, well-ahead of the project’s projected completion date. The sidewalks and bike lanes will enhance safety and improve bicyclist and pedestrian access to the historic Saratoga Race Course and the city’s vibrant downtown business district. The project also included the resurfacing of Union Avenue.

What’s next for Saratoga Biochar? That question is the subject of a meeting – not connected to town government, but to some of the voices that have spoken out against the project. The Clean Air Action Network of Glens Falls is holding a community meeting on Thursday, Nov. 16, at Moreau Community Center. From 6 to 8 p.m., the state of the project is center stage.

Recently, Forest Rangers participated in the CTE Works! Career Exploration event in Saratoga. Approximately 1,600 students from various school districts attended the one-day event that introduces participating students to different career opportunities. Rangers discussed the job duties of a Forest Ranger at this annual event.

Two Saratoga Springs City School District coaches named in a legal complaint have been rehired for the indoor track season. The Daily Gazette reports the Board of Education approved hiring Art and Linda Kranick as the coach and assistant coach of the indoor track team. The Kranicks account for the bulk of complaints filed by Safe Athletics For Everyone (SAFE), which alleges the Saratoga Springs City School District knew about complaints of abuse by the Kranicks and other coaches and did nothing about it.

Two were arrested by state police in Clifton Park after allegedly attacking a loss prevention officer from Boscov’s.
State Police responded to the Boscov’s parking lot last week on Clifton Country Road for the report of a fight in progress.
44 year old Lanette Stearns had reportedly exited the store without paying for multiple items and was confronted by the store’s loss prevention officer. Kolawole Fashuyi, 32, who is known to Stearns, then interfered and also reportedly hit the store employee multiple times with his fists.

A veteran has a new roof over his Gansevoort home. It was installed on Veterans Day. WNYT reports Army Veteran Joseph Gilheany received the new roof through a partnership between Next Generation Roofing and the Owens Corning Roof Deployment Project.

Saratoga County officials recently unveiled the County’s tentative 2024 budget, which is highlighted by an 8% decrease in the property tax rate while making significant investments in economic development, public safety, and new services and programs for residents. The Saratogian reports the proposal allows Saratoga County to maintain its position as having both the lowest property tax rate and sales tax rate out of all 62 counties statewide.

A former inmate has filed a lawsuit claiming she was sexually abused by corrections officers at the Albany County Correctional Facility and got pregnant as the result of a rape. WNYT reports the woman claims she was forced to engage in sexual conduct when she was incarcerated from about July 1, 2014 to March 25, 2015. She said that she was raped by a corrections officer, which resulted in a pregnancy.

The Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office arrested Jesus Antonio Menendez-Flores, 26, for attempted robbery at a Halfmoon restaurant. At around 4:25 p.m. Saturday, the Sheriff’s Office responded to Mi Mexico Lindo Tienda y Taqueria regarding Menendez-Flores attempting to rob the store while implying he was armed with a handgun. He was arrested for first degree robbery and is in the Saratoga County lock up.