A Ballston Spa Man has been charged with a crime after attacking a vehicle with a hammer.
Christopher Brothers was arrested Sept. 7 in the Blue Herron Trail Apartment Complex in the Town of Ballston after deputies from the Saratoga County Sherriff’s Office were dispatched there around 2 pm for domestic disturbance.
According to the Sherriff’s Office, Brothers allegedly jumped on the vehicle and struck it with a hammer causing more than $1,500 in damage. Brothers allegedly selected the victim — who the Sherriff’s Office said is Black — based on perceived race.
Brothers has been arrested for criminal mischief in the second degree as a hate crime, a class C felony and first-degree criminal contempt, a class E felony. The Sherriff’s Office said that in carrying out the attack, Brothers Violated an order of protection. Brothers was arraigned and released to pre trial services.
Two Separate incidents in Malta have brought the total number of animal abuse incidents up to seven.
Eugene Willis, 69, of Malta was arrested by the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 28 after deputies received a complaint of animal abuse that morning. Willis wasn’t the only one arrested recently as on Sept. 2, the Sheriff’s Office arrested Ashley Ross for animal abuse and falsifying business records.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Willis allegedly kicked a black lab causing bruising and digestive issues. The dog and a brown lab found at the residence were seized by the Malta animal control officer. They were transported to the Saratoga County Animal Shelter and received medical treatment.
Ross’s case, meanwhile, stems from an incident that occurred Aug. 16 when she surrendered a pit bull to the Malta animal control officer. At the time of the surrender, Ross claimed the dog hadn’t bit anyone in the last 10 days, however the Sheriff’s Office said that the dog had bitten someone the previous day. In addition, the dog had bitten another pit bull at the residence causing an injury for which Ross failed to get treated. That dog has been transported to the Saratoga County Animal Shelter and is receiving treatment.
Both Willis and Ross were released on appearance tickets for their respective offenses.
Willis and Ross’ cases represent the sixth and seventh cases of animal abuse this year in Saratoga County. Last month, two people were arrested in Malta for abusing three dogs while there have been several high-profile cases across the county. Their charges bring the total 203rd misdemeanor count brought against residents by Sheriff’s Office.
In response to these incidents, The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors proposed legislation to create a registry of animal abusers and held a public hearing on the bill Sept. 10 — coverage of which can be found at saratogatodaynewspaper.com.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A mother cat and her five kittens need new homes after they were discovered behind the Impressions of Saratoga store on Broadway. Those interested in adding a furry feline friend to their home can contact Kitten Angels at 838-292-5680.
The six cats, dubbed the Phila Felines, were found in late August by Jason Thomas, a local realtor who noticed a cat in the alley behind the Impressions building on Phila Street. Thomas called Kitten Angels, a local cat rescue group, to help catch the cats and get them to safety.
When Tom and Kristie Roohan of Roohan Realty were told about the cats, they offered to pay for vetting, a welcome gift for Kitten Angels, a small organization that relies solely on donations. After getting checked out by vets, all six kitties are now being fostered by members of the Impressions of Saratoga crew.
To keep with the Phila Feline theme, each cat has been named (at least temporarily until they’re adopted) after a business on Phila Street. Since there are six ladies, their names are Phila (mother cat), Hattie, Lena, Mimi, Magic, and Bailey.
Impressions will be posting Phila Feline photos and updates on social media, and all funds donated to the coin drops at both Impressions of Saratoga and The Dark Horse Mercantile will be given to the Kitten Angels to help offset the cost of care.
A Saratoga Springs man and two minors have been arrested after a police chase across Saratoga and Albany Counties.
Eugene Shaw, 21 was arrested for criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree, two counts of fourth degree criminal mischief, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, reckless endangerment of property and other traffic violations, according to New York State Police.
The chase occurred Sept. 6. It started at 6:18 p.m. when a vehicle was reported stolen from Freeman Lane in Saratoga Springs. Within 10 minutes, the vehicle was spotted going southbound on I-87 in Malta. State Police as well as Deputies from the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office attempted to stop the vehicle, leading to the chase.
The chase ended in Albany County when State Troopers elected to terminate pursuit due to public safety concerns. After the pursuit ended, the vehicle exited the interstate at exit six but didn’t make it far. Troopers said Shaw attempted to make a left turn onto Troy Schenectady Road but lost control of the vehicle and flipped over multiple times before coming to rest on the overpass.
Shaw, along with a 12- and 15-year-old exited the vehicle and attempted to flee on foot but were taken into custody. All three were taken to Albany Medical Center for evaluation. The two minors were arrested Sept. 8 for fourth degree criminal possession of stolen property.
After being released from the hospital, Shaw was taken into custody and issued an appearance ticket for Sept. 25.
The bat at the Field of Dreams. Photo provided by The Saratoga County History Roundtable.
I love the movie Field of Dreams. I especially love the part where the spirits walk out of the cornfield to join in the baseball game. To me, it showed spirits in a whole new light. So, when Mike Sullivan tipped me off that in our own Hudson View Cemetery we might have had some spirited baseball going on some years back, I thought I’d check it out.
Mike is an avid historian, particularly interested in military history as well as local history. When, on one of his visits to Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth’s grave, Mike spotted a baseball bat and helmet hanging from a massive maple tree, he was, of course, intrigued.
The message on the black bat reads “This bat is for all the great baseball games played here . . . 1982, 1983, 1984 . . . and the kids that played it”. Baseball games played here? In a cemetery?
Hudson View is a lovely old cemetery, with graves dating back at least to 1830. It sits on rolling ground at the crest of a hill overlooking the city, 76 acres of knolls and woods and wide expanses of green grass. There are old family plots, some with soaring monuments marking the resting places of once-prominent figures in the city’s history. There are neat rows of more recent gravesites. There are soldiers’ graves, babies’ graves, clustered graves of whole families, and often single and seemingly lonely graves. More than 6,000 folks have been buried here in Hudson View.
If you walk along the eastern side of the cemetery, along the top of the hill, you’ll come to the Old Section. A tall granite spire topped by a brass eagle and surrounded by a wrought iron fence marks the grave of Colonel Ellsworth, who was a dear friend of President Abraham Lincoln. The colonel was the first Union officer to die in the War Between the States.
Reared here in Mechanicville, Elmer was a boy who played at being a soldier, who wanted desperately to be a soldier. He dreamed, played, learned and worked on the streets of our town and probably in the fields that surrounded this little village at the time. One might wonder, as baseball was invented around the time he was born, reportedly by a man from our neighboring community of Ballston Spa, if Elmer ever gathered his buddies, a bat and a ball, and went to the top of the hill overlooking the canal and the railroad to play a game of pickup baseball.
The Ellsworth monument sits back in the quiet far reaches of Hudson View, and overlooks a small open field, a yet-to-be-used part of the cemetery. The field is a natural bowl amid the rolling knolls and is ringed with rows of granite and marble headstones. It was to this field, a “field of dreams”, so to speak, that these very-much-alive boys of summer came to play back in the early 1980s.
Caretaker Jim Doty, who was the caretaker back then, too, saw no harm in it, he says. They weren’t tipping tombstones; they weren’t desecrating graves. He says they were always respectful and considerate and picked up after themselves. They weren’t bothering a living soul. They were just indulging in the great American pastime, down there in a quiet, lonely field in the back part of the cemetery.
It was an era when Steve Carlton was baseball’s finest, when the St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers were World Series champs, when George Brett used too much pine tar on his bat. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was the album of choice, but there was no such thing as an iPod. Donkey Kong and PacMan were lighting up the screens at the video arcades. Few homes had computers, Game Boys didn’t exist, and not one kid owned a cell phone. But there was baseball.
Inscribed on the Louisville Slugger, which hangs to this day on the tree, in neatly painted silver letters are the names of 13 neighborhood boys from down the hill . . . boys now grown to men.
These boys dreamed, played, learned and worked here in the streets of our town. Most of them graduated from well-known colleges and universities. Some have remained here and have become respected and productive members of the community. Some have careers and families in other places. One became a professional athlete, and one is himself now buried here in the cemetery where he used to thrill to the crack of the bat.
Today, as always in the early days of autumn, the baseball playoffs are the talk of the sports world, and fans everywhere are eagerly anticipating the upcoming World Series. Some things never change.
But I like to think that back then, in the carefree summer and early autumn days of the mid-1980s, the spirit of young Colonel Ellsworth enjoyed watching those boys play baseball. I like to think that he and all the other spirits who rest here in the peace and quiet of Hudson View became baseball fans for just a few brief years, treated to the greatest game there is — kids playing ball just for the love of the game.
Flight-Medic Kevin Robert died while treating a patient. He was 55. (Courtesy of LifeNet)
First responders across Saratoga County are mourning one of their own this week after a flight medic suffered a fatal heart attack while treating a patient.
Kevin Robert died Aug. 27 after he suffered a heart attack while treating a patient on board a LifeNet 7-13 helicopter, based out of Ticonderoga. The helicopter diverted to Saratoga Hospital however medical crews were unable to revive Robert. He was 55.
“Our priority now is the well-being of our teammates and the continued support of Kevin’s family,” LifeNet said in a Facebook post. “The Ticonderoga base remains on safety stand-down as we allow our team the time and space they need to grieve.”
Robert had been with LifeNet for 15 years, according to his obituary. In addition to his work as a flight medic, he was a founding member of the John Ahearn Rescue Squad in Mechanicville and served in several EMS agencies throughout Saratoga County including the Clifton Park & Halfmoon Emergency Corps, Malta- Stillwater EMS and as a paramedic instructor at Hudson Valley Community College.
Tributes to Robert have poured in from across the county and beyond. In a statement, Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Chairman Phillip Barrett offered his condolences and said Robert served the county with professionalism and compassion. Similar sentiments were expressed by Clifton Park and Halfmoon Emergency Corps who said he was known for being one of the most talented EMS providers across the region.
Services for Robert were held at St. Edward the Confessor Church in Clifton Park. A Go Fund Me has been set for his family, which as of time of printing has raised over $17,000.
Those looking to donate can find the link in the online version of this story or on the Malta-Stillwater EMS Facebook page.
Moran ( seen here in his official city portrait) also faced censure by City Council after he was found guilty.
Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran was ordered to pay $660 in penalties after he was found guilty of violating New York State’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL).
The verdict came after a three-day long bench trial which ended on Aug. 28 and centered on three FOIL requests made by Saratoga Springs Republican Party Chair Mike Brandi. According to prosecutors, Moran purposefully withheld documents subject to FOIL by issuing certificates saying the requested materials didn’t exist.
The three FOIL requests in question were related to messages sent by Moran in relation to the city’s short-term rental legislation which was being considered at the time the messages were sent.
Through the testimony of Anna Smith, an advocate for short term rental owners, Sarah McFee, the FOIL officer for the City at the time the requests were sent, Brandi, the prosecution, showed that messages not only existed but would’ve been subject to FOIL.
In addition, Robert Millis, a local music executive and event organizer, testified that Moran had told him that several of his devices were not subject to FOIL and that he maintained two phones for a reason.
While Brian Hill, Moran’s defense attorney, tried to argue there wasn’t a deliberate effort to conceal the records and some of the records might not have been subject to FOIL, City Court Judge Jeffrey Wait disagreed.
“I first find that the evidence is sufficient to demonstrate that the text messages in question were subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Law,” Wait said in his ruling. “I also find that Commissioner Moran knew this. Furthermore, the evidence shows that he was told by the city’s Freedom of Information Officer and by the assistant city attorney that text messages concerning city business were subject to disclosure, and that this was true, even if they were recorded personally.”
Wait also noted that while he couldn’t find any rulings on officials being charged with violating the FOIL law, the legislative memo clearly states that there needs to be consequences for violating the law.
Following the trial, Hill said that he disagreed we the judge’s verdict that he planned to appeal and that there were several fundamental legal issues with the case.
In addition to the trial and fine, Moran also faced censure by Saratoga Springs City Council. The censure motion was introduced by Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll and also called on Governor Cathy Hochul to investigate Moran’s misconduct.
During a contentious City Council meeting, Moran objected to the censure and called the investigation into him and others politically motivated. Ultimately the measure passed with Coll, joined by Republican Public Works Commissioner Chuck Marshall and Mayor John Safford voting in favor while Moran and fellow Democrat, Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi opposing the measure.
Sovereignty – winner of the 2025 Travers Stakes, Jim Dandy Stakes, and Belmont Stakes at Saratoga – practices on the Oklahoma Training Track on Aug. 9. Photo by Susie Raisher/NYRA.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The New York Racing Association (NYRA) revealed the final numbers for the 2025 Saratoga Race Course Summer Meet after races concluded on Monday evening.
Over the 49 days of racing at Saratoga this summer, inclusive of the Belmont Stakes and July 4th racing festivals, wagering handle from all sources totaled more than $1 billion ($1,072,548,515) with paid attendance of 1,224,504.
All-sources handle for the 40-day summer meet was $791,129,471, including a record $49,651,341 of wagering on Whitney Day and $54,309,929 on Travers Day, the third-highest amount ever wagered on a single day in the history of the summer meet.
Saratoga Stats: 2025 vs. 2024
• All-sources handle: $791,129,471 vs. $803,806,964
• Average daily handle: $19,778,237 vs. $20,610,435
• Total on-track handle: $136,218,024 vs. $136,295,228
• Total paid attendance: 1,061,787 vs. 1,051,092
• Average daily paid attendance: 26,544 vs. 26,951
• Races off the turf: 33 vs. 45
• Total races: 420 (244 dirt and 176 turf) vs. 412 (257 dirt and 155 turf)
NYRA also announced the final tallies for the winningest trainers, jockeys, and owners during the 2025 summer meet.
Five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown and Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher each posted 32 wins to share the H. Allen Jerkens training title at the 40-day meeting that ran from July 10 through September 1.
“It’s really rewarding because my friends and family are here,” said Brown, who is a Saratoga County native. “It’s one of the rare times of the year between July and August I get to catch up with people I don’t see the rest of the year. It’s a lot of work. It’s my busiest time of year but I also get to see a lot of people that are important to me.
Brown earned his fifth consecutive Spa training title, his eighth overall, and his 35th title at a NYRA meeting. He posted a record of 186-32-27-31 and earnings of $4,509,878 at the meet, good for a win rate of 17.20 percent and in-the-money percentage of 48.39 percent.
Pletcher won his 15th training title at the Saratoga meet and his first training title on the NYRA circuit since taking the 2021 Aqueduct fall meet. He posted a record of 131-32-20-18 and earnings of $3,450,915, good for a win rate of 24.43 percent and in-the-money percentage of 53.44.
Linda Rice finished third in the trainer’s standings with 24 wins.
Irad Ortiz, Jr. successfully defended his title as Saratoga’s leading rider for a fourth consecutive year, after registering 59 wins to best his brother and runner-up Jose Ortiz [55 wins] and third-place Flavien Prat [42 wins]. Ortiz, Jr. earned his seventh overall Angel Cordero, Jr. riding title after clinching additional titles in 2015, 2018, 2020, and 2022-24.
Ortiz, Jr. did not ride the Spa’s Closing Day card on Sept. 1 after falling from Mindframe at the beginning of Sunday’s Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, where he escaped serious injury and was medically cleared to continue riding.
“After this, I feel great,” Ortiz, Jr., said, with a laugh.
“It’s an exciting place,” he added, regarding Saratoga. “I think it’s the best place to ride horses and the people show so much love every single day. They support the sport so much, so I can’t be happier to be here.”
Ortiz, Jr. completed the meet with a record of 286-59-56-44 and earnings of $5,341,609, good for a win rate of 20.63 percent and in-the-money rate of 55.59 percent.
Mike Repole’s Repole Stable earned the owners’ title with 14 wins, notching their first title at a NYRA meeting since taking the 2021 Aqueduct winter meet in a tie with Michael Dubb. Repole last won the owners’ title at Saratoga from 2010-12, and was New York’s leading owner in 2009.
Repole Stable completed the meet with a 61-14-11-8 record and $1,123,270 in earnings. Klaravich Stables finished second with 11 wins while Flying P Stable was third with nine wins.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Two years ago, the Saratoga Central Catholic girl’s soccer team managed just one victory all season. Last year, the first of a rebuilding effort, they rocketed to eight wins, despite, at times, not having enough players to fill out a complete roster.
“I think it was a great accomplishment for the girls to turn it around like that, and it’s really a testament to them taking the systems we put in place and actually executing it,” said Head Coach Brian Venn.
Some of the Saints’ losses last season were close, winnable contests. They fell to Mekeel Christian Academy 2-1 and lost to Whitehall 3-2. Had those games gone slightly differently, Spa Catholic would’ve finished with a winning record.
The squad’s remarkable turnaround has attracted attention from just about everyone: interested players, student spectators, parents, and the community at large. When word went around that the Saints were serious about soccer, donations, attendance, and enthusiasm all shot up.
“We’ve got great support from our [athletics director]. We’ve got great student support. Our games were filled with students watching the young ladies play last year, which was awesome,” said Assistant Coach Tony Nucera. “We’re really proud of where we are. It doesn’t mean we’re exactly where we want to be, but we’re trending in the right direction. Our goal, when we did this together, was to sustain a program that for years to come would be available to the student athletes, and also have, eventually, a JV program and a modified program. That’s where we want to get it. It’ll take us a little while to get there, but it’s a lot of fun getting to where we are now.”
Along the path of this ambitious rebuild comes increased expectations for the 2025 season. The coaches are aiming for 11 wins, despite losing key contributors Sydney Caracci and Grace Venn, both of whom were senior team captains. But the Saints won’t go quietly into the night. Juniors Ava Brown and Allison Fuller, who Venn said last year were poised to become standouts, have indeed stepped into leadership roles. Both were named team captains for the 2025 season. Joining them is Addison Quail, a junior who led the team in assists last year and is back for her second stint as a captain.
“I feel confident leading the team,” Quail said. “It’s nice to see everyone coming together and working together to push through the season and win as many games as we can.”
“I think last year we had such a successful team and an organization that we’re starting, and I think that it showed all the younger kids that this has hope and we can do more with this,” Fuller said. “A lot of people tried out and made the team this year, and our numbers rose just because of last year with new coaches and our support by everyone in the school.”
The captains agreed that their biggest games of the regular season will be opening and closing contests against Mekeel Christian. The first is on Friday, Sept. 5, the second, Oct. 11. Mekeel and Spa Catholic have developed a healthy rivalry thanks to their close games last season, all three of which ended in Saints losses. But like many things with this team, all of that could soon change for the better.
Photo of team captains Allison Fuller, Addison Quail, and Ava Brown by Jonathon Norcross.
2025 Saratoga Central Catholic Lady Saints Girls Varsity Soccer Roster
