January
• The Town of Milton swears in new officials. Voters chose in November Dan Lewza as the new supervisor and Barbara Kerr as a new member of the Town Board.
• In Saratoga Springs, Judge Jeffrey Wait administers the oath of office to new Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan and Public Safety Commissioner Christian Mathiesen, as well as Mayor Scott Johnson, Account Commissioner John Frank and Public Works Commissioner Anthony Scirocco.
• The Ballston Town Board votes to reinstate the position of town bookkeeper. The reinstatement comes after the job was eliminated after the members of the board felt Supervisor Patti Southworth unfairly fired bookkeeper Joanne Bouchard.
• Saratoga Springs police arrest Nickolas D. Capone, 72, of Rodger Street, Glens Falls, and charge him with grand larceny in the second degree. Capone is alleged to have stolen in excess of $50,000 from an elderly female victim by using his status as power of attorney to misappropriate funds from the bank accounts of the victim, and then use those funds for his own personal use and the use of his family.
• The League of Women Voters of Saratoga County sponsors a community forum on voter suppression at Skidmore College.
• Saratoga Casino and Raceway officials announces preliminary plans for an expansion to the Racino that would include an additional 15,000 square feet of gaming space, a hotel, event center and more dining options.
• Ballston Spa National Bank announces a $10,000 donation to Brookside Museum, which is home to the Saratoga County Historical Society. The museum has seen its state aid dwindle in recent years and was dealt another blow when the county cut its 2012 funding in half.
• The Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office investigate an apparent murder-suicide of an elderly Greenfield couple. After an investigation and an autopsy, police say Kenneth Sherman shot hiswife and then turned the weapon on himself.
• The Saratoga Springs Board of Education hears a presentation on technology in the classroom. “Creating Bridges Between Individuals and the World” is the title of the presentation, and it reflects the goals of the IT Department, including providing IT resources to the district’s learning community and supporting the use of those resources for the district.
• Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Accounts John Franck holds a workshop that allows the City Council to ask questions of members of the board of the Saratoga Springs Housing Authority regarding bed bugs and accountability for an outbreak at the Stonequist Apartments.
February
• The Ballston Town Board unanimously decides the town will not adopt a six-month moratorium on the placement of standalone solar panels. Neighbors of a home with a large solar array had complained they panels create an eyesore.
• The Saratoga Springs City Council approves new ambulance service fees in anticipation of the Saratoga Springs Fire Department taking over ambulance service.
• The Independence Party State Committee appoints Town of Ballston Supervisor Patti Southworth as Saratoga County chairwoman to replace Lee Kolesnikoff. Southworth changed her enrollment from Democrat to Independence Party member in 2008.
• Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy announces the arrest of Jason Rich, 41, of Mechanicville and owner of J. M. Rich LLC on charges of 14 counts of grand larceny in the third degree, 350 counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, two counts of failure to pay prevailing wage (all felonies) and 14 counts of failure to pay wages in accordance with the labor law. Authorities say Rich failed to pay his workers their required wages on contracted jobs and pocketed the savings.
• The Town of Malta Round Lake Road Corridor Planning Committee holds a public workshop to address questions and concerns about proposed traffic improvements for the area.
Albany County District Attorney David Soares announces that Eric Headwell, 47, of Ballston Lake, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted dissemination of indecent material to a minor as a sexually motivated felony. The plea follows several inappropriate communications with a 15-year-old female.
• Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas Wood announces he would be holding four community forums throughout 2012. Wood also sets up a new webpage at communicatingwith
thechairman.com to help residents put a face to his name. Developments at the county level that Wood feels would be worthy to communicate with the public will be posted on the site.
• The majority of the Ballston Planning Board votes in favor of a draft environmental impact statement for a proposed asphalt plant in the Curtis Lumber Industrial Park.
March
• The Malta Town Board adopts an updated noise ordinance that sets thresholds for noise levels within the town at 50 decibels from the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. and 60 decibels between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.
• Authorities remove a small amount of low-level radioactive material from a basement of a home in Saratoga County. An anonymous tip was called into DEC’s Ray Brook Dispatch Center notifying officials that radioactive material was buried and cemented into the basement floor of 7F Tupelo Drive in the Town of Halfmoon. Authorities determine the public was never in danger.
• Plans to build a four-story Residence Inn by Marriott hotel in Clifton Park have new life after years of sitting idle. The Clifton Park Planning Board wraps up its review of the project, giving the developer license to seek a building permit.
• The Town of Malta holds information sessions at the Malta Community Center to discuss coding ideas. The town begins to pursue switching to a form-based code zoning in the downtown area.
• The Jonesville Fire District holds a public forum on a million-dollar renovation project. It is followed by an April public referendum on borrowing money for the project.
• A near capacity audience gathers for two hours at the Saratoga Springs City Hall’s Music Hall to discuss a proposal to change the city’s last call from 4 a.m. to 3 a.m. Though it is hotly debated, no change is made in 2012.
• In a tentative agreement at a March hearing before a judge, three residents in the Town of Ballston agree to donate property to serve as easements for a private connector road to be built between White Beach Road and Saunders Lane. The road will cost $100,000, according to Town Supervisor Patti Southworth, and will keep homes from being cut off from main roads if several railroad crossings close.
April
• The BH-BL Central School District chooses Patrick McGrath as the incoming superintendent.
• The New York State Supreme Court issues a permanent injunction preventing the demolition of the historic Winans-Crippen House at 66 Franklin St., Saratoga Springs, without either approval of the City’s Design Review Commission or an order of the State Supreme Court.
• The Saratoga Springs City School District Board of Education adopts a proposed budget of $109.7 million for the 2012-13 school year.
• The Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake School District adopts a budget of $56.9 million for 2012-13.
• The New York Farm Bureau holds a press conference in Albany to address proposed regulation changes from the U.S. Department of Labor aimed at minors who work on farms.
• The Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Southern Saratoga join forces in co-hosting the annual State of The County address at the Gideon Putnam in Saratoga Springs, where County Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas Wood delivers a stark but hopeful appraisal of the challenges facing the county.
May
• The 6th Annual Busy Bone 500 takes place at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds in Ballston Spa. The event benefits Saratoga County Animal Shelter.
• The Malta Town Board votes on Tuesday, May 7, to advance plans to expand the town highway garage.
• Katherine M. Seeber pleads guilty to manslaughter in the first degree in the 2000 death of her step great-grandmother, Ruth M. Witter.
• Voters in the Saratoga Springs City School District overwhelmingly pass a $109.7 million budget; voters in the Shenendehowa Central School District pass a budget of $151.5 million; BH-BL voters approve a budget of $56.9 million; and Ballston Spa Central School District voters approve a budget of $76.4 million.
• A 67-year-old woman is attacked in the area of Congress Street and South Franklin Street in Saratoga Springs while she was waiting in her vehicle for her husband. Saratoga Springs Police arrest Antonio Lopez-Bautista, 18, of South Federal Street, Saratoga Springs, and charge him with the crime.
• A motion to put to public referendum charter amendments to do away with Saratoga Spring’s city commission form of government are moved forward by the City Council in a 4-1 vote on Tuesday, May 15. Mayor Scott Johnson cast the dissenting vote.
• The Memorial Day Parade steps off in Saratoga Springs after initially being canceled for lack of funding. Ballston Spa resident Paul Brisson spearheaded fundraising efforts to keep the parade going.
• Brian Vecchio, 18, of 110 Brookline Road, Ballston Spa, pleads guilty to criminally negligent homicide, a felony, in Saratoga County Court in connection with a crash on Jan. 7, in which Ballston Spa High School student Noelle S. Johnsen, 17, died. The crash occurred in the Town of Providence.
June
• Jessica L. Atwell, of Saratoga Springs, is convicted of vehicular assault in the first degree, a felony, and felony DWI and sentenced to one to three years in state prison. The convictions stem from a two-car crash involving serious injury that occurred at the intersection of Route 146 and 146A in the Town of Clifton Park on Dec. 28, 2011. Atwell ran a red light at the intersection and collided with another car, seriously injuring four people.
• Brookhaven Golf Club hosts the SMGA NY Wounded Warrior Golf Tournament.
• Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan holds a meeting at the Public Library on Henry Street to answer some frequently asked questions about the city’s budget process.