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Author: Jonathon Norcross

An Interesting Skidmore Talk On The Limits of International Law

Written by Jonathon Norcross on . Posted in Saratoga Springs Politics.

THE INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS PROGRAM & THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE PRESENTS:

HOLDING NATIONS ACCOUNTABLE THROUGH INTERNATIONAL LAW? A CONVERSATION ON THE GLOBAL JUSTICE SYSTEM WITH PROFESSOR WILLIAM BURKE-WHITE

APRIL 9 (5PM) DAVIS AUDITORIUM

Criminal Actions by Governments all over the world are policed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) with the intent of keeping the world safe for humanity. Recent high-profile cases involving countries like Russia, Israel, South Africa, Myanmar, Iran and others have drawn attention to the courts’ jurisdiction, legitimacy and overall efficacy. Professor Burke-White will be engaging in a focused conversation with Professor Pushkala Prasad (MB & IA) where he will lay out the foundations of the international legal system and discuss its continuing relevance while alluding to specific recent cases.

William Burke-White has a JD from Harvard Law and a Ph.D. in International Relations from Cambridge University. He is currently a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania Law School where he teaches courses on international law, human rights and global legal governance. His research is at the intersection of international law and international relations and his focus has increasingly been on the international courts and tribunals. He has published widely in various law journals and is currently working on a book “The New Geography of Global Governance”.

Professor Burke-White has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and was a non-resident Fellow at Brookings Institute. He is also the founder and inaugural director of the Perry World House, an interdisciplinary policy think tank at UPenn. He served under the Obama Administration as a member of the Policy Planning Staff to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. He has also worked in various capacities with the International Criminal Court and was an active participant in the Rwandan Genocide case that was presented to the court.

Please circulate this among students and anyone likely to be interested in this topic. This vent is being sponsored by the President’s Office.

We look forward to seeing you at the event.

Pushkala Prasad

Zankel Chair Professor of Management for Liberal Arts Students

Spa Catholic Ballplayer Commits to Siena

Written by Jonathon Norcross on . Posted in Sports.


Image via Coach Alphonse Lambert’s X account.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Pierce Byrne, a junior pitcher and hitter for Saratoga Central Catholic, has agreed to play college ball at Siena, Saints Coach Alphonse Lambert announced in a social media post last week. 

“We’re all very proud of you Pierce,” Lambert wrote. “You worked very hard to get to this point. I believe the best is yet to come.”

Byrne is a 6’2” right hander from Warrensburg with a fastball that can hit 88 mph. In previous seasons, he’s posted ERAs as low as 0.48 and 0.82, racking up more than 200 strikeouts in the process. On Saturday, he crushed a walk-off home run in a Florida scrimmage game.

Byrne will be joining a program that has sent dozens of players to the majors. Currently, two Siena alum, Matt Gage and Brendan White, are pitchers for the Toledo Mud Hens, the AAA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.

“Unbelievable”: Ballston Spa Runners Celebrate Historic Achievements 

Written by Jonathon Norcross on . Posted in Featured, Sports.


From left to right: Ballston Spa Superintendent of Schools Dr. Gianleo Duca, Petrina Zborovszky, Devin Hemraj, Gabrielle Bozeth, Coach Matt Germann, and School Board President Jason Fernau. Image via the district’s March 19 board meeting livestream.

BALLSTON SPA — Matt Germann, a coach for Ballston Spa High School’s indoor track program, celebrated his team’s “unbelievable” achievements at a March 19 Board of Education meeting.

Germann said that runners Devin Hemraj, Petrina Zborovszky, Kala’i Makanani, and Gabrielle Bozeth have broken a combined 40 school records. 

In Section 2, which Germann called “the best running section in the state,” Bozeth and Zborovszky are ranked #3 in the 4×200 meter relay, #1 and #5 in the 200-meter dash, #1 and #4 in the 300-meter dash, and #1 and #2 in the 55 meters. They’re also top two in the 60-meter dash.

Bozeth, this season alone, broke the 55, 60, 200, and 300-meter school records. In the 55, she was 5th in the federation championships and 4th in the state. She was also #2 in both the state and federation championships in the 300. 

In New York State, Bozeth is ranked #11 in the 4×2, #7 in the 55, #3 in the 60, and #2 in both the 200 and 300. She holds the all-time Section 2 records for the 60 and 300. At New Balance Nationals, she was #15 in the country in the 200-meter dash en route to breaking the school record.

Zborovszky has broken the 55-meter record four times this season. In the 55, she’s ranked #6 in the federation out of all public and private schools, and she’s ranked #5 among all New York public schools. Out of roughly 30,000 athletes in the state, Zborovszky is ranked #31 in the 300, #24 in the 200, #11 in the 4×2, #8 in the 55, and #6 in the 60.

Makanani is ranked #3 in the 200 and 400, and #1 in both the 300 and 600. Makanani also broke the 300 and 600 records this season.

Hemraj is ranked #1 overall in the entire state for the 60-meter hurdles.

“It’s been an absolute joy to coach them,” Germann said of his historic team. “It’s just amazing what these people have done.”

Local Author Advocates for Retired MLB Players

Written by Jonathon Norcross on . Posted in Sports.


The cover of the 2019 edition of “A Bitter Cup of Coffee,” written by Douglas J. Gladstone. Image via Word Association Publishers/Amazon.

HOUSTON, TEXAS — Douglas J. Gladstone, a freelance writer from Gansevoort, is advocating for retired MLB players who he says are getting stiffed out of pensions.

Gladstone discussed the issue, detailed in his book “A Bitter Cup of Coffee,” at the Houston Public Library last Friday alongside two retired ballplayers, David Clyde and Scipio Spinks.

According to Gladstone, in 1980 the Major League Baseball Players’ Association (MLBPA) told MLB that they would strike unless their demands were met regarding a collective bargaining agreement. A strike was averted when the league’s negotiator approached Marvin Miller, who was the head of the players’ union, and made him the following offer: call off the strike and MLB will allow its players to be vested into the pension plan after just 43 game days on an MLB roster (the previous eligibility requirement was 4 years). 

The offer was accepted, but the deal did not retroactively include players who were on an MLB roster for 43 game days prior to 1980. Thus, post-1980 players benefited from the new deal, but more than 500 other players, such as Clyde and Spinks, did not benefit because they played prior to 1980.

After the first edition of Gladstone’s book was released in 2010, MLB and the MLBPA announced that these pre-1980 players would begin receiving annual stipends. However, those payments, Gladstone said, are significantly less than those received by vested retirees. The stipend also doesn’t allow players to designate a beneficiary for when they pass away.

Gladstone, who described himself as a “pro-union man,” said he thought the MLBPA was “stiffing the pre-1980 players.”

“I’m pleading with you,” Gladstone said at the event in Houston, “to help me end this blight on the national pastime.”

By day, Gladstone is an assistant public information specialist with a public retirement system in New York. An updated edition of his book, “A Bitter Cup of Coffee,” was released in 2019. For more information on the book, or to view a comprehensive list of pre-1980, non-vested MLB players who do not receive pension or benefits, visit bittercupbaseball.com.

Saratoga School Board Approves Resolution,Attracts National Attention

Written by Jonathon Norcross on . Posted in Education.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Springs School Board voted to approve a resolution that reaffirmed the district’s support for, among other things, DEI policies and transgender students’ ability to participate in sports consistent with their gender identity.

At a Mar. 27 meeting, seven board members voted in support of the resolution. One opposed it, and another abstained from voting.

Board member Dr. Connie Woytowich said she abstained due to the resolution being a “political act” that could create deeper division in the community and put the district at odds with federal regulations. Dean A. Kolligian Jr. was the lone “no” vote. 

Board member Dr. Deborah Amory said the district’s lawyers reviewed the resolution prior to the vote and found it to be “certainly legal.” The lawyers recommended some minor edits to the resolution, which Amory and several other board members addressed. 

Prior to the vote, students, parents, and community members offered their thoughts during public comment periods. Most speakers supported the resolution.

One transgender student said that the federal government was targeting trans people and that school board members who voted “yes” were “brave.”

A parent who opposed the resolution said that his daughter on a track and field team won’t compete due to transgender students being allowed to play on teams consistent with their gender identity. 

A district resident who called the issue of transgender people in sports “touchy” and “not clear-cut,” said she still supported the resolution as a whole because kids “need to know” that grownups “have got their backs.”

A parent with two daughters in the district said swimming record times showed that biological male high schoolers significantly outperformed biological female college athletes. As a result, she called for delaying a vote on the sports-related section of the resolution.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Patton responded to comments about trans athletes, saying that the New York State Public High School Athletic Association has already established guidelines for transgender students that all districts in the state must follow. Those guidelines state that students should be placed on teams that most align with the student’s gender identity.

News of the resolution attracted national attention in the days preceding the vote, when the popular conservative X account “Libs of TikTok” accused the Saratoga Springs School District of supporting “radical gender ideology” in a post that garnered more than 237,000 views. The account also retweeted a post from the local conservative blog Moving Saratoga Forward that listed the names and emails of Saratoga School Board members.

The resolution, titled “Affirming Our Support for Every Student,” states, among other things, that the Board of Education would:

reaffirm its support for the district’s policy and regulation 0105 titled “Equity, Inclusivity, and Diversity in Education”;

uphold New York State laws safeguarding vulnerable populations and not comply with directives that violate civil rights protections;

affirm that every student has a right to an education regardless of immigration status, and that law enforcement officers may not question students on school property except under very specific conditions;

respect students’ chosen names and pronouns while also ensuring their right to use facilities and participate in activities and sports consistent with their gender identity.

The resolution appeared to be a clear attempt to combat several Trump administration policies that threaten to rescind federal funds from educational institutions that don’t comply with the president’s orders. According to Board Vice President Tony Krackeler, $3.1 million of the district’s 2024-25 budget came from the federal government. All of those funds, Krackeler said, are only amendable by an act of Congress.

Popular Saratoga PizzeriaAnnounces Expansion Plans

Written by Jonathon Norcross on . Posted in Business.


Logo via Caputo’s Pizzeria.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Caputo’s Pizzeria, located near the Wilton Mall in Saratoga Springs, is currently undergoing renovations that will transform the eatery into a more formal dining establishment.

Caputo’s Trattoria will offer an “elevated dining experience” via its new “upscale,” expanded dining room and vestibule.

“Our grand opening of the expanded space is coming soon,” Caputo’s said in a Facebook post. “We continue to operate during renovations.”

Caputo’s is also looking for waitstaff, busers, and food runners. Interested applicants should contact or stop by the restaurant to apply.

Caputo’s is usually considered one of the best pizza joints in the Saratoga area. In 2018, Dave Portnoy, of Barstool Sports fame, gave the eatery an 8.1 rating (out of 10) during his “One Bite Pizza Review.” 

Saratoga Softball Alum Sensational at SUNY Adirondack

Written by Jonathon Norcross on . Posted in Sports.


Photo of Natalie Conroy via SUNY Adirondack.

QUEENSBURY — Former Saratoga Springs softball player Natalie Conroy recently won the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Region 3 Athlete of the Week Award for the week ending Mar. 16, going 15 for 25 at the plate in her debut season with the SUNY Adirondack softball team. She also hit a double, two triples, a home run, and stole 7 bases to earn the honor.

Conroy has had a superb season thus far, despite only being a freshman. In her first 8 games, she notched 18 hits in 30 at-bats for a .600 batting average, .647 on-base percentage, and a .933 slugging percentage. 

Conroy is a right-hander who plays both shortstop and catcher. In addition to her time with the Saratoga Springs Blue Streaks, she also played for the Electric City Bombers National 18u team and she competed in the inaugural 518 Futures High School Softball Classic in 2024.

Saratoga Native Leads Teamin March Madness Game

Written by Jonathon Norcross on . Posted in Featured, Sports.


Dolly Cairns with her family following the championship victory.
From left to right: Cairns’ brother Jack, Dolly Cairns, Cairns’ mother Kay, Cairns’ father Don, Cairns’ aunt Barb, and Cairns’ uncle Pat. Photos via Coach Rich Johns & Dolly Cairns.

NORMAN, OKLAHOMA — At Saratoga Springs High School, Dolly Cairns sank hundreds of buckets to become the school’s all-time points leader. On Saturday, she brought her sharpshooting skills to the NCAA March Madness tournament, leading all Florida Gulf Coast University players in points (15 total, 12 from beyond the arc) and minutes played (36).

Despite Cairns’ show-stopping performance, the No. 14 seed Eagles fell to the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners, 81 to 58.

The game was within reach at the start of the final quarter, with Florida trailing by only 7. But the  Sooners had an advantage that was difficult to overcome: height. The Eagles’ tallest player was 5’9”, and Oklahoma’s 6’4” center loomed large over her would-be defenders. Although the Eagles hoped to best the Sooners from long range, the team collectively only made 8 of 41 three-point attempts, half of which were made by Cairns. In the fourth quarter, Oklahoma was able to use its considerable size advantage to outscore Florida 26 to 10, solidifying their victory and advancing to the second round to face No. 6 Iowa.


Dolly Cairns cuts down the net after her Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles won the 2025 Atlantic Sun Conference Women’s Basketball Championship.

In a news release, Cairns credited her teammates for getting her the ball when she was open.  “I wish a couple more went down, but just credit to my teammates for setting screens for me, looking for me, and getting the ball to me when I was open,” she said.

“They are just a resilient bunch,” said the Eagles’ first-year Head Coach Chelsea Lyles. “They don’t back down from a challenge, and they don’t play to the scoreboard. So, they continued to play hard and continued to attack. We just had a few lapses going into the fourth, and we couldn’t come back from that. But there was never a doubt in my mind that we would come out and compete.”

In addition to netting 15 points, Cairns also grabbed 4 rebounds and blocked a shot in the tough loss. It was the second time in as many years that the Eagles were knocked out of the March Madness tournament by the Sooners. Last season, the game came down to the final shot, with Oklahoma barely eking out a 73 to 70 victory.

Earlier this month, Cairns and the Eagles won their 12th Atlantic Sun Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship, which allowed them to qualify for the March Madness tournament. Cairns scored 10 points in that contest.

Overall, Cairns finished the 2024-25 season averaging 9 points per game on 45% shooting from beyond the arc. Her accuracy was good enough to make her one of the best three-point shooters in all of women’s college basketball. At the end of the season, she ranked 10th in three-point percentage at the Division 1 level. On Nov. 29, she scored a season-high 21 points against California Baptist. 

Cairns played for the Saratoga Springs Blue Streaks girls basketball team, scoring more than 2,000 points to set the school’s all-time scoring record. She also captained the team in her senior year. In 2019, she committed to the University of Rhode Island, where she played for two seasons before transferring to Florida Gulf Coast.

At the end of last season, Cairns told Saratoga TODAY that she intended to pursue a career in healthcare after graduating from Florida Gulf Coast.

Ballston Spa School District Planning to Buy First Electric Bus

Written by Jonathon Norcross on . Posted in Education.

BALLSTON SPA — The Ballston Spa School District may soon purchase its first electric school bus.

The district’s school board is set to vote on a proposition at their next meeting on April 2 that would allow the district to buy a zero-emission bus to the tune of $273,000. 

The actual cost of the vehicle is $481,000, but grant money provided by New York State would pay for roughly half that amount. Despite the state-provided funds, the cost of the electric bus would still be about $100,000 more than a traditional bus, Clerk of the Board and Records Access Officer Brian Sirianni said during the board’s March 19 meeting.

Sirianni also said he would be “surprised” if the state has enough money to continue to pay for a portion of all the electric buses required to transition all fleets in the state to zero-emission by 2035. 

The lone electric bus purchased by Ballston Spa would be used as a sort of pilot program to allow mechanics, drivers, and other staffers to become accustomed to EVs. Acquiring a bus would also allow the district to test out its range once fully charged.

“The bus companies will say, just like the car companies will say, ‘this has a range of 300 miles.’ But does it really? The answer is generally no it does not,” Sirianni said. “It’s significantly less than that, and it’s more significantly less than that when it’s cold.”

The district still hopes that the state government will delay the 2027 deadline, when all school districts are required to begin transitioning their fleets to electric vehicles.

“The longer it gets delayed, the better the buses will be,” Sirianni said. “And hopefully they won’t cost as much.” 

Sirianni estimated that it could cost more than $2 million to acquire bus chargers. Overall, the district has around 80 buses that would need to be replaced by EVs.

According to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), although electric buses cost more to purchase, they are cheaper to operate and maintain.  

“The initial cost of an [electric school bus] may be offset by state and federal assistance, and by lower fueling costs and less maintenance requirements over the bus’s useful life,” NYSERDA says. “Annual maintenance and operations savings vary but can range from a few thousand dollars to more than $10,000 per bus, per year.”

According to New York State’s Electric School Bus Roadmap report, “the total cost of [zero-emission school bus] ownership is expected to reach parity by 2027 due to advances in battery technology, increased supply chain outputs, as well as lower fuel and maintenance expenses.”

Saratoga School District Increasing Bus Driver Pay Amid Ongoing Shortage

Written by Jonathon Norcross on . Posted in Education.


The Saratoga Springs City School District advertised its increased bus driver rates via a flyer image posted to social media. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Amidst the ongoing turmoil created by the nationwide school bus driver shortage, the Saratoga Springs City School District has increased its driver rates from $22.15 per hour to $25.15 per hour. The new rate will be effective starting July 1, per the approved CSEA contract.

According to the district, its bus driver positions come with guaranteed annual increases through 2030, full health insurance (or a $4,000 annual buyout), a New York State retirement pension, and paid training.

School bus driver shortages have been an issue both locally and across the country. Data from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) indicates that from September 2019 to September 2023, there was a 15.1% decrease in the total number of K-12 bus drivers nationwide. 

According to the EPI, school bus driver wages are typically lower than most other workers. Drivers earned an average of $20 per hour in 2022, which is nearly 17% less than the median wage for all workers. Drivers only work an average of around 32 hours per week, which means their weekly wages are also below average. Many drivers also don’t work during summers, which further decreases their yearly income.

At a Saratoga Springs Board of Education meeting in December, Paul Overbaugh, a former state director of pupil transportation for the New York State Education Department, pushed back against the idea that higher wages would solve the driver shortage. 

“If someone was going to be motivated by a salary increase, it’s only going to be temporary,” Overbaugh said at the meeting. “I mean, it helps, don’t get me wrong…but it’s not going to be the end all, be all. Really, there needs to be a paradigm shift in our communities to want to do something for the good of our district.”

School Board Vice President Tony Krackeler said he respectfully disagreed with Overbaugh. 

“If we’re not paying enough, we ought to pay more,” Krackeler said. “More money will work better than platitudes about getting butts in the seat, I think.”