Tell Me Your Story

Joni Bonilla is great with dogs.

She has cared for and trained them. And for the past 10 years, she has paired dogs from shelters with veterans and first responders and provided a free guided training program for post-traumatic stress and mobility service dogs.

If you ask her "How many placements have you made?”

Her answer is simple — “I don’t know.”

Her reasoning is unique, heartwarming...

Daily Gazette reporter Chad Arnold will be changing roles within the Gazette News Group shortly, leaving the daily Schenectady County beat and focusing solely on healthcare within the Capital Region.

This new role is supported by the newly established Community Journalism Fund, managed by The Schenectady Foundation in partnership with The Daily Gazette.

It is just the first plank within ...

Heather Lent is a mainstay on Jay Street in Schenectady, offering the sweetest offerings in the Electric City from her Bittersweet Candy storefront, but she hasn’t always been there. The Schalmont grad spent time in the Hudson Valley, opened Bittersweet Candy in several variations before returning to the Capital Region.

Niskayuna resident Jordan Modiano has had a passion for speed since childhood. It was only surpassed by his love for his daughter, Rachel.

The business owner, race car driver, and parent of a daughter within the autism spectrum merged those passions to create the annual Upstate Chevy Dealers Autism Acceptance Race at A...

At just 14 years old, Sydney Worthley released her first album. Fast-forward through the pandemic, and two more albums later, she is the opening act for the Schenectady County Summer Night free concert series on State Street, in front of thousands of fans.

The 2025 Eddy Pop Artist of the Year award-winner talks about her musical influences as a Taylor Swift fan, her time spent at Freedom...

The All-American celebration in Saratoga Springs has stepped off with the annual Firecracker 4 4-mile race throughout the city for the past 18 years.

Its creation, growth, and continued success began with a meeting among a dedicated group of parents seeking to raise funds for Saratoga Springs High School’s cross-country...

Ballston Spa rising senior Roman Mangino hit new heights during the spring musical season, performing as Frank Abagnale, Jr. in “Catch Me If You Can.” 

His stage presence, voice, and dashing choreography drew all eyes to him amidst the ensemble members throughout the performance.

La...

Last month Amsterdam High School senior Lianelys Ovideo Roman was awarded the High School Musical Theatre Award for top performer after portraying Eurydice in Hadestown: Teen Edition

Amsterdam High School garnered two additional awards - Back Stage excellence and Best Musical Tier C, thrilling high school music teacher and director Christopher Stefani.

With the honor, Lianelys is current...

When Sustainable Saratoga executive director Kelsey Trudell is not helping make our environment a better place throughout Saratoga County, she is a busy videographer and, along with her husband, Ben, are YouTube stars!

Her career took her to Arizona, where she worked early on with the Arizona Sustainability Alliance before the opportunity to move back to the area presented itself for her...

For most people, Halloween is less than six months away, but for graphic designer Kayla Ek, the time is now. This Saturday, Ek will deliver new, intriguing, and — to some pedestrians — odd arts and exhibits to her second Nightmare on Jay Street.

Ek provided the first early evening exhibit in the marketplace last October...

For the past 22 years, Maggie Fronk has been front and center at Wellspring, the domestic violence and sexual assault services resource for Saratoga and Washington County in New York.

April is Domestic Violence Awareness month, and April 30th is Denim Day.

On a beautiful spring day, I sat down with Maggie Fronk, who shed light on Wellspring's mission, the history of Denim Day, and what e...

Paula Fidalgo is a familiar face in New York's Capital Region - one of the first staffers hired in 2002 at Time Warner Cable's Cable News 9 channel.

She spent years on screens, delivering the news, using her creative talents behind the scenes, and more before venturing out on her own.

The stories she helped deliver and the people she met helped her as she decided to craft her first book ...

Five years ago, Steve Derrick found himself working from home ... indefinitely.

The game developer and artist took the time to work on his craft and focused on portraits. He went from friends and family submissions on Facebook to finding the true heros of the pandemic - essential workers in some of their most trying moments.

Steve Derrick drew those portraits and sent them to the subject...

For the past 22 years, Skidmore College professor Daniel Nathan has taught American Studies on the Saratoga Springs campus. With the liberties given to him and his students, his '10 Books that Changed America' spurred on a new course - '10 Movies that Changed America.'

Nathan discusses creating the new course, what movies ended up on the proverbial cutting room floor, his favorite films,...

From Syracuse to the university to Albany to the streets of Baltimore, Tasha ‘Freedom’ McBride has made a difference. She was part of Art Night in Schenectady, shown inside the Schenectady County office buildings, first two floors, in a photo exhibit entitled “An Artist's Perspective: Defying a Broken System in celebration of Black History Month.

Winston Grady-Willis is a Skidmore College professor and the founding director of Black Studies. He was an associate professor of American Studies from 2008 to 2011. He became the inaugural director of the School of Gender, Race, and Nations at Portland State University and chaired Africana Studies at MSU Denver. He returned to Skidmore College in 2019 with...