WSSV News

On this day in 2002, we were digging out from a Christmas Day Noreaster; the 6th greatest December single storm snowfall measuring 21 inches and 11th all time greatest single storm snowfall in the area. That storm was topped by the December 1-3 storm, 2019 coming in at 22.6″ and the December 16-17, 2020 storm subsequently eclipsing that record with a 22.9″ snowfall at Albany.

Thirty-two people were forced from their home on Christmas morning, after a fire in Clifton Park. WNYT reports the fire broke out at an apartment building on Huntridge Drive around 2:45 a.m. The damage was mostly contained to an uninhabited apartment and a maintenance/utility room below that apartment. 29 adults, three kids and several pets were forced to leave temporarily.

For the 2025 edition of the Lake George New Year’s Day Polar Plunge, a group of 50 or so family members and friends of Casey Frankoski — the 28-year-old National Guard aviator killed March 8 in a helicopter crash — will be immersing themselves in the cold waters of Lake George to honor. Casey, 28, a Chief Warrant Officer 2 with the Army National Guard was on duty patrolling the Texas-Mexico Border, near Rio Grande City when the crash occurred.

Around a dozen workers at the Starbucks near Northway Exit 12 in Malta staged a one-day strike Tuesday along with baristas across the coffee chain as contract discussions with the company have come to a standstill.
Dubbed “The Strike Before Christmas” by the union, the labor stoppage comes as Starbucks and union reps failed to reach an agreement after making some headway in the early months of 2024.

The Saratoga Springs Police Department is integrating a new software platform that will allow it to connect numerous technologies it has access to such as cameras in the city and use artificial intelligence to expand its policing capabilities. The Daily Gazette reports the city approved incorporating Axon Fusus software for $541,632 over five years at a recent City Council meeting.

Evan Cutler, 25, of Queensbury, New York, was sentenced Dec. 20 to more than three years in prison for his role as a ringleader of a bank fraud conspiracy targeting the State Employees Federal Credit Union. In total, the conspiracy netted the group $88,800, with intended losses exceeding $100,000.

A deed restriction put in place on a Wood Road property more than a decade ago to preserve a small Karner blue butterfly habitat was lifted by Clifton Park lawmakers on Dec. 16 after it was determined the parcel can no longer sustain the endangered species. The Daily Gazette reports the restriction prevented the development of a 1-acre section of the property that at the time was considered a habitat for the Karner blue.

A Saratoga County judge sentenced a Greenfield woman convicted of assault on Tuesday. The Saratoga County District Attorney’s office said Theresa Travis, 44, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in October for the hit-and-run of Saratoga Springs Police Department officer Adam Dingmon back in June, reports WTEN.

After three years, the city of Saratoga Springs has passed its first-ever comprehensive short-term rental regulations. The City Council approved the regulations in a unanimous 5-0 vote. WTEN reports primary and non-primary residences may be leased for a total of 150 days within a year. Also, property owners need a short-term rental license from the city before renting or leasing a property. Owners need a license by June 1, 2025.

21-year-old Jacob Krall, of Milton, was sentenced to seven years in state prison after a three week trial for assaulting an infant. WTEN reports Krall was convicted back in October. Krall was found guilty of assaulting a three-month-old baby in his family at his Milton home in March 2023. The victim needed to be treated for brain injuries at Albany Medical Center for over a week as a result of the incident.