St041516

Page 1

LOCAL • INDEPENDENT • FREE

HEROIN Volume 11  •  Issue 15  •  April 15 – April 21, 2016

saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com • (518) 581-2480

No Murder Charge For Dealing Death

by Norra Reyes Saratoga TODAY SARATOGA SPRINGS — Another young victim was lost last week to the war on drugs, a 23-year-old local woman who died of a drug overdose right here in Saratoga Springs. For her, and many families like hers, the drug war is more of a street fight, one that lurks in every home medicine cabinet, haunts every playground, and boldly grins through every neighborhood here and across America. Retired New York State police sergeant Fred Scheidt of Greenfield

says you never see it coming. He lost his daughter, Katie-Lynn Scheidt, October 3, 2014, and the grief has never left him or the rest of Katie’s family.

understand the criminal element. They think that criminals are just like you and me. They aren’t.” According to Scheidt, dealers think nothing of handing out free

“On average for the past three or four months, we have been using Narcan a couple times a week.” - Saratoga Springs Deputy Fire Chief Peter Shaw

“But what makes me really angry,” said Scheidt, “is that she was four months clean when her dealer got to her. Regular people don’t

heroin samples to people who are in recovery, because they know they’ll be back for more, willing to pay, willing to beg, borrow and steal to pay for

Recusal Or Refusal?

more. “Katie would say she had to change her phone number because pushers were trying to encourage her to get back into it,” said Scheidt. “Subtly, people are dying. If you took out a pin map and marked all the spots, people would go, ‘are you kidding me?’” The combination of the often painful physical addiction; easy access to cheap opioids like heroin; and the insidious, cloying “friendship” offered by dealers with no conscience suggest overdose deaths are more inevitable than accidental. And murderous. See Heroin pg. 12

State Champ

Introduction: This is a story about transparency in government, overlaid on a timeline. The supporting documents that will be discussed have been placed online –http://saratogatodayonline.com/index.php/news/ news/item/5245-saratoga-emails

- for the reader’s consideration. After discussing this with management, before press time, I contacted Mayor Yepsen and invited her to respond to this story, and we pledged to print her response verbatim, in next week’s issue. SARATOGA SPRINGS — According to correspondence (emails and letters) and documents obtained by Saratoga

Last Chance To Vote See pgs. 26-28

Inside TODAY Blotter 5 Obituaries 6 Business 18-19 Education 22-23 Pulse 36-39

Weekend Forecast

TODAY, between officials at Saratoga Hospital and Saratoga Springs Mayor Joanne Yepsen, Mayor Yepsen opened discussions with the Hospital about fundraising work for her private company in October 2015, after the Hospital’s Planned Unit Development (PUD) amendment See Recusal pg. 10

See pg. 11

Sports 44-48

Mayor/Hospital Communication Submitted to Board of Ethics

by Arthur Gonick Saratoga TODAY

Kasich in Saratoga

FRIDAY

62|33 SATURDAY

65|37 SUNDAY See Gymnast pg. 44

73|41


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.