SARATOGA SPRINGS —Designer Staci Snider’s fashion store in downtown Saratoga Springs closed its doors at the end of December. Snider will relocate to Raleigh, North Carolina, according to a statement released on the company’s social media pages. Snider’s garments will continue to be made in New York City and available for sale online.
Snider Fashion, formerly located at 18 Congress Street, first opened its doors in 2019.
Saratoga Springs Police
Thomas Sims, 38, of Saratoga Springs, was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, and criminal sale of a controlled substance.
Carmen Cammuso, 40, of Mechanicville, was charged with criminal contempt.
Jah-sier Roberts, 21, of Troy, was charged with harassment, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.
Brendan Ives, 24, of South Glens Falls, was charged with DWI.
Jillian Underhill, 20, of Bradford, was charged with criminal tampering, criminal mischief, and criminal impersonation.
Kiara Cage, 20, of Saratoga Springs, was charged with criminal mischief.
Steven Shedd, 38, of Saratoga Springs, was charged with resisting arrest, and harassment.
George Chillis, 32, of Saratoga Springs, was charged with assault, criminal mischief, and aggravated criminal contempt.
Delfino Gomez, 67, of Saratoga Springs, was charged with DWI, aggravated DWI, and moved from lane unsafely.
Giselle Nadeau, 55, of Corinth, was charged with unauthorized use of vehicle.
Hasson Harris Wilcher, 28, of Clifton Park, was charged with DWI, speed not reasonable, and speeding.
Darrick Conners, 50, of Saratoga Springs, was charged with criminal trespass.
Chyeanne Jennison, 27, no address, was charged with criminal mischief, criminal tampering, and harassment.
Taylor Ruddy, 22, of Greenfield, was charged with criminal impersonation.
Roy Hawn, 47, of Saratoga Springs, was charged with assault, and act in manner to injure child.
Bryan Browne, 58, of Saratoga Springs, was charged with grand larceny.
Heather Smith, 37, of Saratoga Springs, was charged with failure to pay service based on stealth.
Mickey Grande, 18, of Saratoga Springs, was charged with burglary.
Elijah Maxwell, 21, of Saratoga Springs, was charged with operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs, moved from lane unsafely, and speed not reasonable.
Jeffrey Salerno, 22, of Mechanicville, was charged with DWI, aggravated DWI, and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
William Durfee, 39, of Saratoga Springs, was charged with criminal trespass.
Paul Venice, 36, of Mechanicville, was charged with DWI, aggravated DWI, refusal to take breath test, and act in manner injure child.
George Mette, 42, of Saratoga Springs, was charged with criminal mischief.
Courtney Clotworthy, 35, of Saratoga Springs, was charged with criminal mischief.
Sean Wells, 42, of Latham, was charged with grand larceny.
Samuel Fowler, 29, of Saratoga Springs, was charged with criminal mischief.
Stephen Parker, 45, of Milton, was charged with obstruct governmental administration.
Saratoga County Court
Brandin M. Marble, 33, of South Glens Falls, pleaded Jan. 5 to felony burglary, charged August 2023 in Corinth. Sentencing March 7.
Kevin D. Johnson, 38, of Cohoes, was sentenced Jan. 4 to 2 years in state prison/10 years post-release supervision, after pleading to felony sexual abuse, charged April 2023 in Saratoga Springs.
Eugene R. Lavelle, 37, of Mechanicville, pleaded Jan. 2 to failure to register as a sex offender, charged November 2023. Sentencing March 5.
Steven T. Stangle, 41, of Ballston Spa, pleaded Jan. 2 to felony driving while ability impaired by drugs, charged February 2023 in Clifton Park. Sentencing March 5.
Joseph P. Howard, 48, of Albany, was sentenced Jan. 2 to time served, after pleading to felony DWI, charged February 2023 in Mechanicville.
New York State Police
Konrad D. Odhiambo, 29, of Troy, was charged with DWI and other Vehicle and Traffic Law violations, after State Police of Saratoga stopped a vehicle on Excelsior Avenue in Saratoga Springs. Further investigation discovered Odhiambo has had a previous DWI conviction in the last 10 years, according to state police. He refused to provide a sample to determine the alcohol content of his blood.
Michael D. Robyck Jr., 22, of Ballston Lake, was charged with DWI and other Vehicle and Traffic Law violations after State Police of Saratoga responded to the report of a vehicle off the roadway on Malta Avenue in Malta. He was transported to SP Saratoga for processing, where he recorded a 0.18% BAC, police said.
BALLSTON SPA — Stewart’s Shops’ annual Holiday Match program raised $2 million for local children’s charities this year. Customers donated $1 million, with Stewart’s contributing the rest. The money will be distributed over the next few months across New York and Vermont.
“Even during uncertain economic times, our customers continue to amaze me with their generosity,” said Stewart’s COO Chad Kiesow.
Stewart’s Holiday Match fundraiser began in 1986, and has raised more than $38 million since then. According to Stewart’s, the company does not charge any administrative fees, meaning that all of the funds are re-distributed into the community.
Stewart’s is currently accepting applications for Holiday Match funds until the end of the month. Local 501c3 charitable groups that benefit children can apply online at stewartsshops.com. The funds will be distributed by the end of March.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The U.S. State Department estimates that, at any given time, there are 27.6 million victims of human trafficking across the globe. There are even victims right here in Saratoga County. Susana Lehan, the Salvation Army’s Eastern Territory Anti-Human Trafficking Director, knows some of them personally. “This is everywhere,” Lehan said. “This is happening in everyone’s backyard.”
Human trafficking is defined as the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person into commercial sex acts or labor services against his or her will.
To raise awareness of this issue, the Salvation Army is hosting an event on January 11 from 12pm to 3pm at 27 Woodlawn Ave in Saratoga Springs. “There’s not a lot of awareness in the communities and all the counties in this area,” Lehan said.
The Human Trafficking Awareness Day event includes a free lunch and a presentation by Julie Chapus, LMSW. Chapus is from Rochester, New York and works with both hair and nail salons, where trafficking victims often interact with workers. “Those are people that have intimate connections with victims,” Lehan said. Traffickers often bring their victims to salons, where workers can see scars and other signs of physical violence.
Lehan said that evidence of trafficking can be hard to spot, even among trained professionals and police officers. “I’ve been in the field for thirty years and I even was not aware of the nuances until I started working with the clients,” she said.
Lehan’s Anti-Human Trafficking program at the Salvation Army helps to stabilize victims’ lives with housing, employment, clothing, food, and other basic needs. Since she first began working on this program four months ago, Lehan has already acquired at least twenty clients.
According to Lehan, only about 1% of victims report trafficking to anyone, and reports to law enforcement occur even less frequently. While trafficking can be organized by criminal groups, it can also happen in intimate partner relationships. “Individuals are coercing people to enter these situations that they can’t get out of, and it’s by use of force, coercion, or fraud,” Lehan said. The Polaris Project, a nonprofit that aims to combat human trafficking, estimates that in 2020, 39% of victims were recruited via an intimate partner or marriage proposal.
The objective of the Human Trafficking Awareness Day event in Saratoga is to bring awareness of this ongoing issue to community members and leaders.
“We’re not asking people to intervene or anything in any kind of situation because it’s dangerous,” Lehan said. “However, we’re asking people to just be aware and to be able to pass on a phone number, and if the client feels safe enough to come to us, they can.”
To contact Susana Lehan, call 518-584-1640 or send her an email at susana.lehan@use.salvationarmy.org.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Joseph Grillo cut his teeth working at trendy Brooklyn wine shops, and now he’s brought his experience and sensibilities to By the Bottle, a wine store located in downtown Saratoga.
The shop was previously owned by Annmarie Guglielmo, who now works at the Kindred wine bar on Henry Street. Grillow took over By the Bottle in July of 2023. His goal is to create an unpretentious neighborhood shop where customers don’t feel intimidated by wine.
“I just want people to be at ease in the shop and ask questions,” Grillo said. “I’m more concerned with people and building a sense of community.”
By the Bottle offers a large selection of orange wines, as well as biodynamic and organic wines. The shop tends to favor smaller production bottles, hoping to offer customers a unique selection. “There are tens of thousands of wines in the world and I’m happy to represent different things, maybe things people don’t see every day,” Grillo said.
“Everything I have, other than maybe two wines, is between $12 and $40,” Grillo said. “I don’t have a lot of expensive stuff because I think that there’s so much wonderful stuff out there that you don’t have to break the bank to try.”
Grillo previously ran Northside Discount Liquors & Wine in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He still goes there regularly to check in, but is now managing By the Bottle full time. Prior to owning Northside, he worked at Trojanowski Liquor in Williamsburg. “That’s where I learned about wine,” Grillo said.
Grillo and his wife were married in the Spa City twelve years ago, and when the pandemic hit, they decided to move their kids to Saratoga in search of a safer, gentler city. “It has a cinema, it has a beautiful book store, it has Caffe Lena, it has all these great things,” Grillo said. “I do like it up here.”
By the Bottle is located at 11 Spring Street in downtown Saratoga Springs.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Chad Kiesow, the Chief Operating Officer of Stewart’s Shops, has been elected this year’s Chair of the Board of Directors of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce. He’ll take over the position from Amy Smith, owner of the Saratoga Arms Hotel. Smith will now become the Immediate Past Chair.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the Saratoga County Chamber’s Board of Directors in 2024, a year that will undoubtedly be historic as our community prepares to host the Belmont Stakes this coming June,” Kiesow said in a statement. “While Saratoga’s economy has outperformed many other communities in Upstate New York, we realize that the number one challenge facing local employers across every sector is our historic labor shortage and that is why the Chamber will focus much of its time and resources in 2024 on talent recruitment via our online Job Zone and expansion of our Live Like You’re On Vacation talent recruitment campaign.”
The Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors has 27 members. The Chamber has an annual budget of approximately $1.8 million.
It’s getting to be that time of year again. The gym will be crowded, alcohol and dessert sales will drop, and you’ll see lots of posts dedicated to our annual tradition of New Year’s resolutions. The problem is that for many, two weeks later we will be back in the same routines.
My goal is to use this article to help you create financial New Year resolutions that you will stick with. I suggest making SMART resolutions for this New Year. That is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based goals that you will be more likely to accomplish than the generic resolutions we usually use. I am going to look at some normal resolutions and offer SMART alternatives.
Save More
I hear this all the time. I need to save more. More for retirement, more for emergencies, more for vacations, just more. The problem is that the goal of saving more is too generic and can be offset by one event.
Instead, focus on a specific resolution that will just take one action that will grow over time. For example, make it a New Year’s Resolution to save more into your 401(k) plan at work. Then, take the specific action of logging into your 401(k)-plan provider and increase your 401(k) contribution rate. Even increasing that savings rate by 1% will mean that you have fulfilled your resolution! This action will mean that you continue to fulfill that resolution as the new rate will be set in the future. The timing of this around the New Year is timely as many people receive a pay increase in the New Year so you may not even notice a decrease in your take-home pay.
Spend Less
Many use the New Year to try and tighten their belt. They are going to spend less. So, they go a week or so without stopping at the store for unnecessary items. They use coupons for a bit and only buy things on sale. Then a life event happens and it is right back to their regular spending program.
Instead of a resolution to spend less, resolve to be aware of your spending in a non-judgmental way. This takes the pressure off. There are tools available to know what your spending is. If you use a credit card, many will offer an online resource that tracks your monthly spending. Banks will also offer similar tools. Take advantage of that and just note how much you spend each month in a journal or spreadsheet. Do this from a place of curiosity rather than judgment. The knowledge of how much you spend will be very beneficial in your financial planning journey as you can then realistically project what you will need in the future.
Update Investments
As a wealth advisor, this is one I hear all the time from friends, family, and clients. I want to change my investments but first I need to take the time to really sit down, study the market, understand stocks, and then make educated decisions. And of course, this never happens because life is busy, and it takes longer than a couple of minutes at the computer to “understand the markets.” So, at best people will decide to buy a stock that just went on a good run, or they read about in the news.
Instead, resolve to ensure that your investments are aligned with your future goals. Predicting the future is hard, so rather than trying to predict which stocks will go up, make sure your investments are aligned with your goals. If you have money you need in the short term, those dollars should be invested very differently from the money you may need in retirement 20 years from now.
This last one is something we do for our clients all the time. Aligning values, goals, plans, and implementation is what we do as wealth advisors.
The New Year is a time for reflection, a natural time for change, and a time to better position yourself for the future. But making the right resolutions will accomplish a lot more than generic goals. So, when making those resolutions this year take the time to think SMART. And if you need an accountability partner, feel free to reach out!
James T. Cox, CFP®, ChFC®, BFA™, is the Senior Vice President of Advanced Planning at Continuum Wealth Advisors in Saratoga Springs. Continuum Wealth Advisors, LLC is a Registered Investment Advisor registered through the Securities and Exchange Commission.For more information, visit contwealth.com.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A new Chipotle location in downtown Saratoga is one step closer to becoming reality.
The Saratoga Springs Planning Board approved Chipotle’s site plan review application on November 30 after considering the proposal for several months. The board will decide upon issuing a building permit after an easement is filed.
The planned Chipotle at 12 Ballston Avenue will be located next to the Saratoga Strike Zone bowling alley. The site was formerly the home of Paddy Duggan’s Irish Pub.
The location will include an outdoor patio with around 20 seats, in addition to a small outdoor seating area with benches and planters. 23 parking spaces will be created on the .32 acre site.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Adirondack Trust Company Community Fund (ATCCF) awarded $84,070 in grants to 38 local nonprofits this month.
Some of the Lend-A-Hand Grant recipients included A Dapple a Day Equine Center, Camp Abilities Saratoga, Family Services Association of Glens Falls, First Baptist Church of Ballston Spa Summer Lunch Program, and Shelters of Saratoga.
“The awarded grants will support programs for a wide variety of needs as a whole, and will include the areas of the arts, education, health, and family activities,” said Colleen Carlson, Volunteer Chair for the ATCCF Independent Advisory Committee. “Thank you to the organizations, volunteers, and donors who provide support, time, and hard work throughout the year,” Carlson said. “We are honored to be a part of this process.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS —Roohan Realty announced that Laura Creazzo has joined the team as a Licensed Real Estate Salesperson.
Creazzo was born in Kansas and has lived in five different U.S. states, Holland, and Germany as her dad is a retired Army Major. She graduated summa cum laude from Thomas University with a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies. Before moving to Saratoga Springs in 2023, she spent 11 years in Enterprise, Alabama where she owned a bakery and a real estate brokerage, Wiregrass Home Heroes. Over the last three years Laura has had 166 successful real estate transactions and has been an active real estate investor. She specializes in residential real estate and is certified in military relocation.
Creazzo can be reached at 518-796-4399 or laura@roohanrealty.com.
Roohan Realty is now celebrating 54 years of serving the community’s residential and commercial property needs. Roohan Realty is located at 519 Broadway, Saratoga Springs
