WILTON – Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park offers “naturally” fun programs with a full week of outdoor programs scheduled for all ages. 

The 25 miles of trails owned by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Saratoga County, and the Town of Wilton are always open to the public. As a bonus, the Historic Cornell Fire Tower will be open on April 20 and 21 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. 

Orra Phelps Preserve Spring Wildflower Walks on Sunday, April 21, 10 -11 a.m. and 1 – 2 p.m. Take a hike with our educators to learn new information about wildflowers blooming, and other sights and sounds of spring at one of Saratoga PLAN’s trails. 

Nature on the Move on Monday, April 22, 10:30 a.m. to noon. Come enjoy nature with others looking to get outside. This walk is geared towards gentle exercise and those with basic fitness levels. This program is suitable for ages 16 and up.

Registration is required at least one business day in advance. To register please visit the website at www.wiltonpreserve.org For more information, call the Wilton Wildlife office at 518-450-0321 or email info@wiltonpreserve.org.

WILTON – Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park offers “naturally” fun programs with a full week of outdoor programs scheduled for all ages. 

The 25 miles of trails owned by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Saratoga County, and the Town of Wilton are always open to the public. As a bonus, the Historic Cornell Fire Tower will be open on April 20 and 21 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. 

Orra Phelps Preserve Spring Wildflower Walks on Sunday, April 21, 10 -11 a.m. and 1 – 2 p.m. Take a hike with our educators to learn new information about wildflowers blooming, and other sights and sounds of spring at one of Saratoga PLAN’s trails. 

Nature on the Move on Monday, April 22, 10:30 a.m. to noon. Come enjoy nature with others looking to get outside. This walk is geared towards gentle exercise and those with basic fitness levels. This program is suitable for ages 16 and up.

Registration is required at least one business day in advance. To register please visit the website at www.wiltonpreserve.org For more information, call the Wilton Wildlife office at 518-450-0321 or email info@wiltonpreserve.org.

STILLWATER — Saratoga National Historical Park is planning a series of prescribed fires. The areas to be burned this year include approximately 60 acres of grasses, shrubs, and woodlands on the hillsides and fields along  the park tour road. 

Depending on favorable weather and site conditions, the first burns could take place during the second or third week in April. Because certain prescription parameters must be met (including wind speed, relative humidity, fuel moisture, and drought index), it is not possible to precisely schedule prescribed fires in advance. Roads, visitor use facilities, and hiking trails may be temporarily closed while burns are underway. Notification of burns and closures will be posted the day of in the alerts section of the park’s website and on social media.

Prescribed fire is an approved tool for natural resource management throughout the National Park System and is part of Saratoga National Historical Park’s fire management program. The primary objectives of the prescribed fire program are: restoration and perpetuation of scenic and cultural landscapes, including native plant species; reduction of wildland fuel loading; and enhancement of wildlife habitat.

Assistance may be provided by firefighters from other National Park Service units, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the New York State Forest Rangers and The Albany Pine Bush Preserve.

SARATOGA SPRINGS —A free advanced screening of PBS’ upcoming Revolutionary Road Trip episode featuring Saratoga County will take place 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 22, at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs. 

Produced by Travels with Darley in coordination with Saratoga: America’s Turning Point, Saratoga County Historian and Chair of the Saratoga County 250th Commission Lauren Roberts takes Emmy nominated host, producer, and writer, Darley Newman to fascinating local revolutionary sites and to some of the amazing amenities Saratoga County offers destination travelers during this Saratoga centric episode. 

In addition to the Saratoga Battlefield and historic sites, the episode highlights local businesses including Adirondack Trust Co., Caffe Lena, Hatsational, Hattie’s, Impressions, Morrisey’s, Olde Bryan Inn, Revolutionary Rail, Saratoga Apple, Saratoga Arms, Saratoga Tea & Honey, Stewart’s, and Walt & Whitman. 

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Heading into the nation’s 250th anniversary, Saratoga County’s Revolutionary Road Trip episode will air in 97% of PBS national markets, including WMHT in the Capital Region, this spring. It will continue to air and stream across multiple services in future years, promoting Saratoga County as a premier heritage tourism destination. 

To attend the screening at UPH, register at www.saratoga250.com. 

Start Time is 5:30 p.m., and the 25-minute episode screening will begin at 6:30 p.m. following brief introductory remarks. 

For more information about Saratoga: America’s Turning Point, visit www.saratoga250.com.

BALLSTON SPA — The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors during its monthly meeting on April 16 expressed its intent to create a Local Law that authorizes property owners to request the removal of unlawful occupants from dwellings. 

The potential law’s stated purpose “is to protect owners of dwellings in Saratoga County from unlawful occupants commonly referred to as ‘squatters’ and to protect lawful occupants of dwellings from unlawful evictions.”

“The unlawful property and intruder law is in relation to the stories we’ve seen publicized, both in New York State and around different parts of the country,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Phil Barrett. “Generally known as squatters, these are people that take over peoples’ homes, set up shop and decide to live there.”

According to a draft of the proposed law, an “unlawful occupant” is defined as “a person who knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a dwelling having entered the dwelling without permission of a party entitled to possession.” 

Barrett said he has asked county attorneys to draft legislation for supervisors to consider. 

Additionally stated, the draft explains the proposed law “does not mean a person who entered the dwelling upon consent of a party entitled to possession even if the consent is later revoked including: tenants whose oral or written lease has expired; family members who have been in the dwelling unit for at least 30 days; roommates or other licensees of tenants and occupants who have been in the dwelling unit for at least 30 days, or workers who have been provided housing as part of their job.”

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To request the immediate removal of an unlawful occupant of a dwelling, the property owner would need to submit an affidavit to law enforcement that lists 27 points, including that they had directed the unauthorized persons to leave the dwelling, but the person(s) had not done so.

Once the claim has been verified, law enforcement may then take the unlawful occupants into custody and may bring them before a local court judge to face applicable charges, including trespassing.

“We’ve had instances of this in the past in the county, and it probably will become more prevalent,” Barrett said. “It’s become increasingly concerning because it’s clearly a coordinated effort. There are organizations working to identify vacant properties and they have people they send in to take over that property.“

A Public Hearing regarding the proposal will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday May 14, at the next county Board of Supervisors meeting. A vote may follow. Meetings are held at the county complex in Ballston Spa.     

If approved, the local law is slated to go into effect 60 days after being adopted. 

BALLSTON SPA — “Your happiness is now taken away from you, like my happiness was taken from me. But I have no fear of you anymore. We are moving in different directions.”

The words of the 9-year survivor of a kidnapping and assault that occurred last fall echoed across a packed Saratoga County courtroom April 17, after the reading of her victim impact statement. 

Craig N. Ross Jr., the 47-year-old man who abducted the girl, was sentenced to serve 47 years-to-life in state prison, after pleading to kidnapping in the first-degree, and predatory sexual assault against a child.

Offered the opportunity to express remorse in front of the girl’s family, Ross declined to do so. 

The girl was with her family and enjoying a bike ride in Moreau Lake State Park when Ross approached and asked her to help him find something in his truck.

“What began as an idyllic day on September 30, 2023 turned into a living nightmare,” Saratoga County Judge James A. Murphy III told the packed courtroom where about 100 people wedged into eight long pew-like rows – more than one dozen uniformed members of law enforcement and Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen, among them. 

Once in reach, Ross snatched the girl, taking off with her in his truck and confining her in the kitchen cabinet of his camper after he reached his destination in Milton. 

“Ross began a pattern of sexual, emotional and physical abuse so horrific that this court dare not speak of the details,” Judge Murphy said.

“Because of you I can’t sleep at night. Why did you do what you did?” reads the girl’s victim impact statement. “It bothered me that you took advantage of me being nice.”

Ross was arrested Oct. 2, following the issue of an AMBER alert, and the discovery of a ransom note left in the family mailbox of the abducted girl’s home. Fingerprints on the letter were entered into the New York State database and a match was made involving a DWI in 1999 in Saratoga Springs. 

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The subsequent investigation led authorities to the camper in Milton where the girl was located by state police, and Ross taken into custody. 

“This case drew national and international attention because quite simply it shocks the conscience,” Judge Murphy said, while announcing the 47-year sentence based on the two felony charges. 

The girl’s mother read her own statement inside the courtroom. “There will never be a sentence that will be sufficient for what you did to my daughter,” she said, her voice cracked with emotion, her hands tensely turning over a tissue in her hands. 

“I don’t understand why people like you do the things you do,” the mother continued. “You took something from my daughter that cannot be replaced. And I don’t forgive you for that. You don’t deserve forgiveness.”

Ross, wearing a green flannel shirt and shackles that wrapped around his torso, stared at a fixed spot in the distance where a vacant table stood, visually expressing no emotion and saying little. 

“You probably hope that this will affect me the rest of my life,” reads the girl’s statement. “I was in prison for 2-1/2 days and now you will be in prison for 47 years. You will crumble and I will be standing tall.”

SARATOGA SPRINGS – A collaborative effort between the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation and the recent purchaser of an Excelsior Avenue property is being hailed as a success in preserving the city’s landscaped heritage. 

Located at 182 Excelsior Ave., the property was sold by Louisiana Management, LLC – which acquired the 2.5-acre parcel in 2004, to Excelsior Ave Property Owner LLC for $1.35 million on March 20, according to Saratoga County Land Records. 

The LLC that acquired the property is associated with brothers Brian and Gregory Green, whose initial plans called for wholesale demolition of the historic buildings on the site. 

Upon learning about the plans for demolition and subsequent research of the property, the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation reported it learned of the significance of the 1869 Henry Lawrence House beyond its Gothic Revival architecture. After sharing this information with the new owners, they began to re-evaluate development plans to see if it was possible to retain the structures as part of their plan to construct apartments, according to the Foundation. 

“Many developers would have held forth on their original plans or walked away from the project – Brian did not.  He was willing to work on a creative solution that allowed for the development of apartments and the preservation of the buildings,” Samantha Bosshart, Executive Director of the Foundation said, in a statement. 

Henry Haydock Lawrence acquired the Valley of Ten Springs, land that extended from what today is Loughberry Lake to Lake Avenue, in 1829. By 1858, Lawrence’s son, also named Henry, retubed and bottled the waters from Excelsior Spring and was selling them worldwide. In 1869, he built the distinctive Gothic Revival residence at the corner of Excelsior Avenue and Excelsior 

Through a series of meetings, a tentative agreement was made to would allow for key elements to be preserved. It required a reduction in the number of apartments built, significant changes to the site plan, and the subdivision of the property to allow the historic buildings to be made into six condos to make the project financially feasible, to ultimately move the project forward. 

 “We at Green Springs Capital are tremendously excited to begin construction on the new 182 Excelsior Avenue,” Brian Green said in a statement. 

“It has been quite a journey the past two years as our team has worked diligently to carefully design a development that will provide homes with exceptional quality while ensuring we honor Saratoga’s storied history. The process was not without its challenges, but in the end, we believe the project will be a huge success,” Green said. “The Lawrence House will be fully restored with six new condominiums and the newly constructed apartments will be home for 36 families. We are very grateful for this opportunity and look forward to making this vision a reality.”

The Foundation added that it believes the final agreement and Planning Board approval will result in the long-term preservation of the 1869 Henry Lawrence House and its carriage house for generations to come.