Author: Aidan Cahill

In February 2026, internet provider SLICFiber announced that as part of their expansion into Saratoga County, they would do things differently. 

The wires would be pink and for every new customer, the company would set aside $25 for a local cancer-related charity, Kelly’s Angels. 

In the seven months since the announcement, the money has been adding up and on Sept. 29, SLICFiber made their first donation to Kelly’s Angels at the Saratoga Spa State Park. The company donated $16,850 to the charity, the largest single donation in the 16-year history of Kelly’s Angels.

“The one thing that was really important to us is that if we were going to do this, that it had to be a meaningful donation,” Kevin Lynch, CEO of SLICFiber said. “We didn’t want it to just be a token.” 

The initiative began on February 4 with the first installation of the pink cable in Mechanicville, the first customer being the Mechanicville-Stillwater Chamber of Commerce. The cable is unique to SLICFiber and was developed by Sterlite Technologies (STL). While developing a new color may not sound like much, Lynch said that it took a lot of work to develop a pink cable that could stand up to the same conditions as the traditional black color. 

“Initially they’re like, ‘oh yeah, we can do pink,’ and then it turned out to be a little bit more involved with that,” Lynch said. “But their engineering team got really excited behind it as well.” 

As part of their contribution to the campaign, STL took on the cost of developing the cable at no additional cost to SLIC. 

Mark Mulholland, WNYT-TV anchor and founder of Kelly’s Angels, said that the donation represents the largest contribution to the charity since its founding. 

“This is pennies from heaven,” Mullholland said. “To have an organization like SLICFiber to say ‘hey we want to support you no strings attached just because we’re committed to the community and we see that you’re committed to the community,’ there’s nothing better than that.”

Mulholland started Kelly’s Angels after the death of his wife Kelly Mullhulland. Kelly died in 2007 of breast cancer. The objective of Kelly’s Angles is to support those who’ve lost a parent to cancer. 

“We came up with this idea to bring smiles to the faces of children who are left behind. We send them on trips,” Mullholland said. “We send them to Disney, Universal. We send them to Yankees games. We give them backyard bouncy houses. Whatever they want to do to bring smiles to their face, they choose.”

Since it’s founding, the charity has allocated over a million dollars to these efforts, Mullholland said and is all volunteer. 

The Sept. 29 donation won’t be the last as the campaign is still ongoing, Lynch said.

Correction: An earlier version of this article had the incorrect first name of SLICFiber CEO Kevin Lynch. We apologize for the error.

A Saratoga Springs man is dead following a midair collision between two gliders near the Town of Edinburg. 

James Morzillo, 80 of Saratoga Springs was killed on Sept. 18, 2026, when the glider he was piloting collided with another glider during a flight between the Saratoga Country Airport in Milton and the Piseco Airport, according to New York State Police. The incident occurred around 2:26 p.m. 

According to an FAA notice, the incident occurred when the left wing of Morzillo’s glider, identified by records as a Schempp-Hirth Ventus-2b, struck the nose of another glider, which was identified by records as a Schleicher ASW-24. 

The glider with nose damage was able to successfully land at Plateau Sky Ranch Airport in Edinburg. Its pilot was uninjured. 

After the collision, New York State Police, New York State Forest Rangers, the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office and numerous other agencies initiated a search for the down glider, eventually finding it around 4:54 p.m. in a remote area near Sand Lake Road in Edinburg. At the crash site, troopers found the glider’s lone occupant, later identified as Morzillo dead at the scene. 

The crash marks the third deadly aircraft accident in Saratoga County in less than a year and is the second glider involved accident in less than six months. Prior to the October 30, 2025, crash near Saratoga County Airport, the County hadn’t seen a fatal accident since 2014. 

The latest crash is under investigation by the NTSB. 

An obituary published in Saratoga TODAY, (which can be found on our website or on page four), said Morzillo was a Navy Veteran and long time teacher at Maple Avenue Middle School where he taught 7th grade science from 1977- 2001. After retiring from teaching, Morzillo became a flight instructor and developed an interest in gliders. 

FAA pilot records show that he held several certifications including single engine rating for both land and sea flight, multiengine rating for land flight and instrument flight, instructor ratings for gliders, single engine airplanes, and instrument flight, a remote pilot certification and an advanced ground instructor certification. 

Outside the classroom and cockpit, Morzillo was active in the Saratoga community, volunteering with several organizations including the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, and the Coast Guard Auxiliary. He also served as a Docent at the New York State Military Museum and an usher at SPAC. In lieu of flowers, his family has asked for donations to donations to the Wilton Wildlife Preserve, the Adirondack Soaring Association’s Junior Kids Learning to Fly Program, or Saratoga Plan. 

In the comments of his obituary, Morzillo was remembered by students and fellow pilots for being a great teacher and instructor with many comments noting his compassion, wit and knowledge. 

The Ballston Spa Village Court is in new quarters after their current building was deemed unsafe for habitation by an engineer. 

The determination was announced on Sept. 22 by Ballston Spa Mayor Frank Rossi in a Facebook post. In the same post, Rossi announced the Village would hold a special meeting to approve contingencies for continuing court operations in light of the closure. 

In the post, Rossi cited several issues impacting the building which led to its closure. Among these included:  water entering the building at the roof, cornice, and fascia, with substantial damage at the rear, apparent mold and a musty odor throughout the building, a south chimney that has separated from the building wall, and a furnace vent connected to that chimney that could not be verified as intact. 

The next day, crews tore down the chimney in question and Rossi confirmed that while the building is unsafe to occupy, there are no concerns about the exterior structure falling or harming the public.

“The bell tower is definitely caving a little bit internally, so I wouldn’t go in there,” Rossi said. “That’s why we’ve got them out of there at this point and trying to get them permanently out of there in terms of files, records, and getting everything together.”

During the meeting, which was held on Sept. 23, The Village Board of Trustees approved several resolutions to handle the change in venue. In total four resolutions were passed by the board. 

Under the resolutions, court functions would be spread out across four properties. Regularly scheduled court sessions would be held in the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors room, located at 40 McMaster in an agreement that would go from September 27 through March 31, arraignments would be held at the Milton Town Court, located at 345 Rowland Street in an agreement that would go from September 27 through March 31 and court records storage and other administrative functions would be handled in leased space at 199 Milton Avenue units five and eleven. 

If the Milton Town Court is unable to handle an arraignment, however, arraignments could also be handled at 199 Milton Avenue. If this were to take place, additional law enforcement personnel would be required in these cases as the building is not currently set up to handle these matters. 

The final resolution authorized the village to apply for $30,000 in grants to digitize court records. 

While all resolutions passed unanimously, speakers during public comment expressed concerns that the building on 30 Bath Street was allowed to fall into disrepair and questioned the mayor and Board of Trustees about the process. They specifically questioned the timing of the special meeting, which took place during most people’s working hours.

As for the future of the court, Rossi said that before a permanent home for the court is sought, the village will first look at what the long-term plans are for County offices located in the village to see if they’re planning on relocating, something that has been a topic of discussion since the county issued a request for proposals for a possible new office building in June.

The Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office has arrested two individuals after they were caught transporting nearly 500 pounds of weed during a traffic stop. 

Kevin Wilbur, 46 of Brushton and Quinton Carle, 23 of Bombay were both charged with felony 1st degree criminal possession of cannabis. 

According to the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office, the two men had been traveling on Interstate 87 in Clifton Park when they were stopped by deputies at around 2:28 p.m. on Sept 15. The traffic stop was initiated after Wilbur allegedly followed another vehicle too closely and was found to have insufficient taillights. 

“This was excellent police work by our deputies,” Sheriff Jeffrey R. Brown said in a statement. “They single handedly prevented nearly one-quarter ton of illicit cannabis from reaching our streets and made sure that the other negatives we often see with drug trafficking will never come to fruition.”

The two men were arraigned in the Clifton Park Town Court with Wilbur being remanded into custody while Carle was released on his own recognizance. 

Wilton is still recovering after two tornados ripped through the town on August 27. 

The first, called the Wilton Tornado by the National Weather Service (NWS) was an EF-1 tornado that started near Greylock and Glenburnie drives before crossing Interstate 87. The second, dubbed the Ruggles Road Tornado, was an EF-0 that occurred in the vicinity of Ruggles Road and Preserve Way. 

The two tornadoes happened almost simultaneously with the Wilton Tornado starting at 6:05 p.m. and lasting until 6:10 and the Ruggles Road Tornado touching down at 6:10 and lasting until 6:11. 

The Wilton Tornado traveled for 1.75 miles and had a maximum width of 250 yards. It saw winds hit 110 miles per hour. The Ruggles Road Tornado, meanwhile, traveled .19 miles with peak wind speed of 85 miles per hour and a max width of 50 yards. 

No injuries or deaths were reported in either tornado. 

The next day, residents and local contractors came out to assess the damage and start repairs on homes and properties impacted by the Wilton Tornado. Residents described the tornado to Saratoga TODAY. They reported hearing debris hitting their homes, followed by everything going dark and a loud freight train like noise as the tornado rolled through.

Tornados are a rate sight in Saratoga County. Since 1950, there have only been 15 recorded tornadoes, the strongest of which was an EF-3 tornado which struck Mechanicville and cut all the way to Vermont, injuring 68 and causing $71 million in damage. The only other reported tornado that caused injuries was a 2020 EF-1 tornado in Stillwater which injured one person. 

The last time two tornadoes hit on the same day in Saratoga County was on July 5, 1992 when two EF-0 tornadoes hit opposite sides of the county within 30 minutes of each other — the first hit Charlton while the second hit Stillwater. 

Residents said they received ample warnings of the danger and were able to seek shelter well in advance of the tornado’s arrival. 

In response to the tornadoes, the Town of Wilton has declared a state of emergency until Sept. 5. Residents can leave leaves, branches and other natural debris on the side of the road for town crews to pick up with information on pick up of other debris to be determined by Sept. 4. In addition, the town is waiving permit fees to repair damage caused by the tornadoes.