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.
Exclusive Interview: Osborne Talks Dylan, Dala Lama, The Who and ‘God’ Song
Joan Osborne sings Bob Dylan at Universal Preservation Hall on April 10.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Joan Osborne’s performing life in Saratoga Springs dates back more than 30 years and includes onstage appearances at everywhere from The Metro to Caffe Lena, and SPAC to the Saratoga Springs City Center.
On April 10, Osborne will kick-off her new U.S. tour at Universal Preservation Hall, performing the songs of Bob Dylan with her three-piece band.
“I’ve been to Saratoga a number of times,” Osborne said, during a telephone interview in advance of the start of her tour. “It’s an interesting place because you have the seasonal character – people coming up for the races, to visit the springs – but there’s also this old upstate New York character as well – the beautiful architecture. It’s always an interesting place to go.”
The songs to be performed at UPH likely will include reimagined works honoring one of America’s greatest musical poets issued in Osborne’s 2017 collection “Songs of Bob Dylan,” some newly reinterpreted tunes slated to drop in late April titled “Dylanology Live,” and potentially some original surprises as well.
With Dylan’s songs specifically, Osborne says, there is a lot of thought that goes into her reimagination of the works. “When I cover someone else’s song, I never try to repeat what they did because A – it’s impossible, and B – it’s a waste of time,” she says. “What I’m always looking for is trying to find the place where that song and my voice can come together in a way that some aspect of the song can be new, refreshed, where this song can live through me in a way that’s unique.”
During her career, Osborne served as co-headliner for the Lilith Fair tour, performed for The Dalai Lama at his monastery in India, played in support of The Who during a multi-night run at Madison Square Garden, and appeared before a massive crowd of 100,000 at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. She has been a featured partner in duets with the likes of many – Luciano Pavarotti, Patti Smith, and Bob Dylan himself, among them.
Her launch into the mainstream began 30 years ago, nearly to the day, with the release of her major label debut album ‘Relish,’ and more specifically with a song written by Eric Bazilian of the Hooters which gained Osborne worldwide attention.
The song begins opens an a cappella fragment descending from 1930s Appalachia, followed by seven sultry guitar notes kept time-steady by the tapping of a closed high-hat. The full band then breaks in, celebrating the eruption of a new dawn, followed by Osborne’s haunting voice:
“If God had a name/ What would it be and/ Would you call it to His face/ If you were faced with Him in/ All His glory/ What would you ask if you had: Just. One Question…”
The song (What If God Was) “One of Us” fueled the popularity of her debut album ‘Relish’ and secured a multitude of Grammy Award nominations in record, album, vocal and new artist bests. The song asks: What would you do if you came face-to-face with a God living in your everyday? It remains a well-known entity, 30 years later.
“I feel that if it’s one thing that I’ve got to be known for in the larger world, the song ‘One Of Us’ is a pretty good thing. It’s a pop song, but it’s also talking about matters of faith, so it’s a little bit of a Trojan Horse – you have this pop song with deeper messages in it,” Osborne says. “I’ve felt really good singing it over the years, and that people connect with it. I have gotten letters and emails from church people who talked about using that song to engage the youth in their congregation and to open up discussions. So, I feel it’s been a real blessing to me – if that’s the right word.”
Some more of our discussion with Joan Osborne, presented in Q&A Format:
Can you talk about performing a special concert in India for The Dalai Lama?
“Dharmasala. That was a pretty crazy episode, and I was incredibly honored to be asked. I traveled to India where we flew on this tiny little plane. Then we were driven way, way up in the mountains, and got out of this rickety bus, stepped into the street and… it was like another world. Everywhere you looked were monks and nuns, burgundy robes and identical shaved heads. It was like stepping into an alternate universe. The show we did was in the monastery that the Dalai Lama had in Dharamsala, the mass majority of people at the concert being the monks and nuns who were in the monastery. The Dalai Lama himself sat cross-legged on this little dais. He’s got this very genial sort of happy demeanor. He sat, just smiling and rocking his body back-and-forth, enjoying the show. Yeah, there was definitely a moment where I was: Is this really happening? It was so out-of-the-realm of what I expected. I got to meet with him the next day and had a very brief audience with him. It was wonderful, to just sit in his presence and talk with him a little bit.”
You also opened for The Who at Madison Square Garden?
“That was pretty awesome, too. They were doing a multi-night stand there, and we did two or three nights. Pete Townshend was a fan of the ‘Relish’ album and came backstage and knocked on the dressing room door. I remember having a conversation with him where we were talking about mechanical noise and how you can sometimes hear music within that mechanical noise. I was talking about a refrigerator I had in my apartment, how the hum of the refrigerator would come on in certain moments and how I would intuit these musical patterns within that. And he was like: ‘Oh yes, that happened to me when I was very young. I was on a boat with my parents and the boat had a motor. I was lying down in the boat looking up at the sky and I could hear all these melodies, this music in the sound of the motor. When we got to the point where we were going, my parents turned the motor off. I jumped up and said: No! Turn it back on! Turn it back on!’
This was the conversation I was having with Pete Townshend. Hearing music in the white noise of these mechanical noises.”
You attended NYU Film School for a while – did seeing things from a visual pe4rspective in that way help you as a songwriter – do the arts all come together for you in that way?
“I do think that influenced me a lot. The notion of telling a story visually. Especially learning about film editing and the order in which things happen really dictates a lot of the meaning. I think I took a perspective in that for writing lyrics and presenting visual images and taking care in the order in which I presented them as lyrics.”
How has the landscape changed for the touring Artist since the 1990’s?
“The landscape of how people listen to music is very, very different since when I started out. My major label record ‘Relish’ came out 30 years ago. Most artists are in the position of having to tour to make a living, and I’m certainly one of those people, but I’m very fortunate, I really enjoy touring and that was my first love – performing live. I started out singing in small clubs in New York City on the Lower East Side and in The Village, so that was my first love, and I still really enjoy it. I feel fortunate and grateful for the audience I have and for the career that I’ve had and that this is how I’m able to make a living, but it’s definitely not a secure position.”
You meet many different people with many different points of view during your travels across the globe. What is your sense about the state of the country in 2025?
“I don’t have some overarching philosophy. I can only see it through the lens of my work and my life. I do think that music has an important position, an important job to do in the world right now. The most dangerous thing about that’s happening in our country is the way that we have lost sight of each other as fellow citizens. The way we have demonized each other and been separated and divided into Us vs. Them. I think one of the things that allows us to lay that aside and come together in a physical space within our communities is live music. Everybody’s there just for the enjoyment of this basic human need: hearing the music. I’m not saying that it’s going to change the world, but I do think it’s valuable for us to step out of this Us vs. Them mentality, embrace these moments as a community, and to try and maintain those connections if we can because there are so many trying to destroy them.”
Joan Osborne: The Music of Bob Dylan will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 10 at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs. For tickets and more information, go to: atuph.org.
WILTON — The Wilton Mall is being sold for $25 million by its owner, The Macerich Company.
The news was announced during the Q4 2024 Macerich earnings conference call on Feb. 27.
“We are currently under contract to sell the Wilton Mall for $25 million, which is expected to close in the first half of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions,” said Macerich’s new Chief Financial Officer Daniel E. Swanstrom II.
Swanstrom added that the sale of the mall, along with Macerich’s other recent sales and transactions, was consistent with the company’s “stated disposition plan to improve the balance sheet and refine our portfolio.”
The sale comes in the midst of plans to create hundreds of apartments at the mall that could be occupied as soon as the summer of 2026. As previously reported by Saratoga TODAY, the residential project was allowed to move forward thanks to the Wilton Town Board’s approval last year of a Planned Unit Development District (PUDD).
Wilton Town Board Supervisor John Lant, who cast the lone vote against the creation of a PUDD, told Saratoga TODAY that the board will consider news of the sale “once we have all the information via confirmed sources.”
Dashboard Statistics, Saratoga County Poison Data Dashboard.
BALLSTON SPA — The Saratoga County Department of Health has partnered with Upstate New York Poison Center in the development of a dashboard to provide vital, localized poison data that organizations countywide can use for poison prevention education efforts.
The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors announced the partnership – believed the first of its kind in the state – during National Poison Prevention Week in March.
Each year, the third week in March is dedicated to reminding families to safeguard their homes from potential poisonings and to urge everyone to save the Poison Control number, 1-800-222-1222, ahead of needing to call.
In Saratoga County, officials are using the week to remind residents of the importance of poison prevention and how the poison data dashboard is helping to shape poison prevention education efforts.
“Understanding poison data is essential for effective prevention efforts, helping to identify risks, track trends, and guide public health strategies to protect communities from harmful exposures,” Saratoga County Department of Health Commissioner Daniel Kuhles said, in a statement. “I thank Upstate New York Poison Center for sharing their call data with our epidemiologists so we can track current data on potentially harmful substances that Saratoga County residents, young and old, are exposed to and help shape poison prevention efforts.”
Saratoga County Department of Health epidemiologists update the dashboard monthly, analyzing call data on exposures from harmful substances collected by Upstate New York Poison Center and identifying emerging hazards and high-risk populations in Saratoga County.
The Upstate New York Poison Center serves 54 counties across New York State, providing lifesaving support and expert guidance during poisoning emergencies.
According to the Dashboard Statistics:
-Unintentional pediatric exposures to edibles are the most frequent reason for poison center calls about cannabis and have increased in recent years.
-In 2024 the top exposures to children 5 years old and under were personal care products/cosmetics; cleaning supplies; foreign bodies/toys/miscellaneous; pain medications; and vitamins.
-The top exposures to adults age 20 and older in 2024 were sedatives, pain medications, antidepressants, alcohol, and cardiovascular drugs.
Steps to prevent unintentional poisoning include: store medications and chemicals safely; read labels carefully; keep button batteries away from children, and dispose of unused medications properly. To the latter point, the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office has a drug take-back drop box, accessible 24/7, in the County Jail lobby, located at 6010 County Farm Road, Ballston Spa.
To view the Saratoga County Poison Data Dashboard, visit www.saratogacountyny.gov/DOH.
Saratoga Springs swimmers Anderson Baird, John Gregory, Anthony Sanchez, and Preston Arnold pose with their medals after the New York State Federation Championship event in Ithaca. Photo via Elizabeth Baird.
ITHACA — School records were broken and medals were brought home after the Saratoga Springs varsity boys swim team competed in the New York State Federation Championships in Ithaca earlier this month.
Blue Streak Anderson Baird placed 4th in the 200 IM A Final with a school record-breaking time of 1:50:72. He also placed 7th in the 500 freestyle with another school record-breaking time of 4:38:70.
The 200 Medley Relay team of Baird, John Gregory, Anthony Sanchez, and Preston Arnold finished 7th in the A Final with a time of 1:35:75, good enough to smash yet another school record. Then in the 400 Free Relay, the same team finished 5th in the finals with (you guessed it) a school record-breaking time of 3:12:72.
As a team, Saratoga placed 9th overall with a score of 105.
BALLSTON SPA — During its monthly meeting, held March 18 at the county complex in Ballston Spa, the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors approved executing an agreement with the Saratoga County Foundation Inc. for $50,000 in support of 2025 Belmont on Broadway Festival activities.
The funds are targeted for economic development and tourism promotions within the county.
The six-day “Belmont on Broadway” celebration is currently being organized to coincide with the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival in Saratoga Springs in June.
The Saratoga County Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit charitable organization managed by the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce.
In Other County News
* A board resolution was approved 16-0 urging the New York State Legislature and Gov. Hochul take legislative action to restrict the sale of kratom across the state.
Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is a psychoactive substance derived from the leaves of a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia, which has been marketed and sold as an herbal supplement with claims of pain relief, mood enhancement, and opioid withdrawal treatment, according to the resolution.
In February, Ballston Spa resident Cari Scribner addressed the Board of Supervisors during the monthly meeting’s Public Input segment and spoke about her son, Nicholas, who died last November at the age of 27.
“Nick had a very common affliction: insomnia. Since he was a child, he could not sleep,” Scribner told the Board. “A friend told him about an herbal, all-natural energy enhancer to overcome fatigue with no side effects. This substance was kratom.”
When Nick was 17, a doctor prescribed medicine to help with insomnia. “In an effort to take something from nature rather than from a pharmaceutical company, my son chose this all-natural substance,” Scribner said. “And that choice ended his life.”
The United States Food and Drug Administration has not approved kratom for medical use and has warned of its potential health risks, and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration has identified Kratom as a substance of concern due to its opioid-like properties and potential for misuse, according to the county resolution.
Multiple states and local governments across the country have taken steps to regulate or ban the sale of kratom due to growing concerns over public health and safety. In New York State, the sale of kratom is unrestricted.
The Board of Supervisors measure requests that legislative action be taken “whether through regulation, age restrictions, or an outright ban,” to restrict the sale across the state.
*The Board approved a resolution proclaiming April 2025 “Donate Life Month” In Saratoga County. The measure encourages county employees to wear blue and green on April 11 to raise awareness of the need for organ and tissue donations.
Statistically, one person is added to the organ transplant waiting list every eight minutes in the U.S. More than 100,000 men, women and children are currently awaiting organ transplants. More than 6,000 people nationally and 400 people in New York State die annually because the organ they need is not donated in time, according to the resolution.
Donate Life New York State, a non-profit comprised of organ and tissue recovery organizations, health professionals, and individuals affected by donation, encourage employees of participating agencies and local governments to wear their official colors on “Blue and Green Day,” held on April 11. Anyone 16 years of age or older can register with the New York State Donate Life Registry.
*A resolution was approved to execute an agreement with Amazing Grace Transportation, LLC, of Schenectady, for the transportation of senior citizens in the towns of Charlton, Edinburg, Galway, Providence, and Saratoga. The term of the agreement is from April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026, at a daily rate of $450, with the total expended not to exceed $90,450 for the twelve-month term.
ALLSTON SPA — The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors set a Public Hearing to take place at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 9 regarding a proposed resolution to modify Last Call hours across Saratoga County. The hearing will be staged in the Meeting Room of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors at 40 McMaster St., Ballston Spa.
The measure, which was officially approved by the Board during its monthly meeting on March 19, requests the NY State Liquor Authority amend the hours that alcoholic beverages for on-premise consumption may be sold in Saratoga County beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
Under current New York State Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, the sale of alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption is prohibited in Saratoga County between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Sundays, and between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. on all other days.
The proposed resolution requests the New York State Liquor Authority implement the following changes, effective January 1, 2026:
Nov. 1 – April 30: Last call at 2 a.m.
May 1 – Oct. 31: Last call at 3 a.m.
A Special Exception is in place on New Year’s Eve, when Last Call is extended to 4 a.m.
The full Board of Supervisors could potentially vote to approve the resolution at its subsequent monthly meeting on April 15.
If approved, the measure will be forwarded to the SLA, which holds the final authority to enact the proposed changes affecting serving times throughout Saratoga County.
Malta-Stillwater EMS Director of Operations Michael Evans poses with Executive Director Scott Skinner in front of an open ambulance. Photos by Jonathon Norcross
MALTA — Malta has been growing so rapidly that some town board members have recently called for a development moratorium.
There’s the massive GlobalFoundries campus, which will soon grow even larger when a new $575 million center is built. Around 100 full-time jobs are expected to materialize over the next five years thanks to the expansion.
There’s a 293-unit development planned for Route 9 that could add hundreds of new residents and another 40,000 square feet of commercial space to the town.
There was also an attempt made late last year to replace the Albany-Saratoga Speedway with a 700-unit development, though that plan hit a dead end. Next to the speedway, however, is a new, 13,000-square-foot, $3 million office for a solar company.
All of this new infrastructure and population growth has created some challenges for the Malta-Stillwater Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team, including higher call volumes (they’ve already received more than 1,000 in 2025), harder-to-retain employees, a decline in volunteers, and newly built elevators that are too small to accommodate nine-foot-long ambulance stretchers.
“A lot of times, that’s a problem; trying to maneuver, trying to get a patient out of their apartment to get them to the hospital and you have to try to manipulate the stretcher to get them out of there,” said Lenore Norris, a member of the Malta-Stillwater EMS board of directors.
“New York State code doesn’t necessarily consider EMS stretchers as an important item because they do allow for smaller elevators,” said Executive Director Scott Skinner.
New York also doesn’t formally recognize EMS as an essential service, though attempts have been made in the state legislature to change that. An essential service designation would have a significant impact on funding, which has been a persistent issue for many EMS agencies, including the one in Malta. EMS agencies are dependent on revenue from Medicare and Medicaid, both of which can reimburse below the cost of care. Private insurers also often deny emergency claims.
“Insurance companies are holding onto their money, not paying. They’re making copays higher. They’re making the cost to the customer more and it’s hard to collect. So we have to go to the towns for funding,” Skinner said. “There are no good solutions, other than making it an essential service.”
EMS agencies seem to be in a state of peril. According to the EMS Leadership Academy, the number of active EMS responders in New York State declined by 17.5% between 2019 and 2022. Additionally, over the past decade, the number of ambulance services in New York State has decreased by 9%, from 1,078 to 982. Nationwide, nearly 60% of EMS agencies report insufficient staffing to meet 911 call demands.
“We have to keep people employed,” Skinner said. “If we don’t have people, that’s our biggest asset. We can have all the nice ambulances and equipment in the world but if we don’t have people that deliver a service, if we don’t have two people in every rig, we can’t run those rigs. There’s a real problem nationwide with getting people to do EMS.”
Despite its challenges, the Malta-Stillwater EMS has been serving the community since 1961, responding to tens of thousands of 911 calls with what Skinner called “emergency rooms on wheels” equipped with ventilators, CPR devices, and cardiac monitors.
“People in EMS, especially our agency, these are people with a heart and they do it because they have a heart,” Norris said. “They enjoy doing patient care and that’s the priority.”
“I’ve been in fire and EMS since I was 18,” Skinner said. “I’ve always liked to help people…My whole adult life, it’s kind of the only thing I know.”
For more information on employment and volunteer opportunities at the Malta-Stillwater EMS, visit https://maltaems.org/volunteer-careers/.
