His artistic star continues to rise from comic book kid to artist, illustrator, author, producer, and director. 

Our latest meeting, after being wowed by his work with The Daily Gazette and his illustration of the newspaper mascot, Newsie, brought us together in another galaxy.

Richichi created his 30th trading card original artwork series, this time distributed by the Topps Company in the Star Wars Smugglers Outpost series. 

A few days from Saratoga Comic Con, where the trading card illustration opportunity first found him, I sat down with him in his Glens Falls studio.

It is a story from not long, long, ago and not too, too far away, but enjoy the journey.

But that is nothing new for the current mechanical engineer, retired Navy officer, husband, and father.

Full disclosure - Man of La Mancha is my all-time favorite play, so it was a thrill to have him on the 'Tell Me Your Story' podcast.

Learn more about this talented actor, veteran, and tremendous talent.

Restaurateur David Zecchini knew both food and talent, took her in as a bookkeeper, and has never looked back ... because she was always looking ahead. 

Now the Vice-President and COO of DZ Restaurants, including Chianti Il Resorante, Forno Bistro, and Boca Bistro, in Saratoga Springs, sat down before another holiday weekend, another track season, and talked about her career and the industry she loves.

The question may be, what does she want to do next?

This long-time friend is a parent, a former Manhattan Assistant District Attorney, and one of the only female boxing promoters in New York State before she started her latest adventure - One With Life Tequila founder.

We sat down before the holidays and before she returned to a sunnier climate, but the hour went by fast as we talked a lot about boxing, memories that we cherish almost 20 years later, her tequila brand, and what could be next.

Because she isn't done.

Sounds big?

The organization serves 23 counties from the Canadian border down to Rockland County, and nothing has been easy - Nardacci just makes it appear that way.

He is a storyteller and a talker, the ideal guest for this podcast, but take in every word. He is sincere about his mission, his vision, and the future in his role.

The Albany native has dual training as a physician and registered dietitian, serves as a public health nutritionist for the New York State Department of Health, and is the Director of Medical Education for 4th Family, a non-profit that empowers communities in the Capital District.

“I'm not one who chases awards, I do this for the people,” Dr. Ford said prior to the start of his day at Community Care Family Practice in Rotterdam. “I came back to help my community, and that's why I was away for almost a decade doing my training. I was completely moved, humbled, and inspired to keep grinding, pursuing greatness, and helping my people. This just puts an additional battery in my back to continue doing what I'm doing.”

I caught up with Dr. Ford, before his first patient, early on a Monday morning at his Rotterdam office. He rolled up near me in a familiar stool in a patient room and although new, I too felt at home with him.

Ted Remsnyder, a SUNY Stony Brook graduate, will step away from his current beat as the City of Schenectady reporter and take on the role of political reporter within the Community Journalism Fund.

He joins veteran reporter Chad Arnold within the Community Journalism Fund program. Arnold was tapped as a Healthcare reporter in late October.

He joined me in the Daily Gazette podcast studio to talk about the move.

First elected in 1999, he has served the Town of Clifton Park and Saratoga County on the Board of Supervisors for the past 26 years.

He did not return calls for comment on Monday from the media.

On Wednesday, Phil Barrett sat down in The Daily Gazette podcast studio with long-time Capital Region reporter Stan Hudy for an exclusive interview to talk about his decision and reflect on his successes in the Town of Clifton Park.

Breakthroughs continue to be made every day, but the word sparks a whirlwind of emotions and fear to everyone involved.

Devin Lyons knows is all too well about it and shares her story -- of a cervical cancer diagnosis, her fears and how she took the shocking news and shared it with other women. The day she was diagnosed, her upcoming procedures, her recovery, and then the subsequent news.

The Daily Gazette wrote about her journey, mentioned on the podcast.

She is an advocate for health, her own and that of others, many of whom she has never met.

She is close to me and my wife, we cannot imagine a life without her and are thankful for her having the courage to share her story.

“This cookbook is really trying to break the mold of what we perceive as what a cookbook should be,” Burke said during a phone interview last week. “We're seeing that more with the newer cookbooks that are coming out, that the storytelling of food is being included in cookbooks.”

This was planned as an interview for a Sunday Life and Arts story, but Justin Burke was so forthcoming with his thoughts, his stories about his past, baking, and even touching on food insecurity in South Carolina and what he is doing to make a difference.

There was too much for my allotted print space.

Justin Burke was kind enough to let me post our conversation on Tell Me Your Story.

Enjoy.

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, and, at times, heartbreaking.

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 the Community Journalism Fund planned on focused, deep-dive journalism into issues that impact the Daily Gazette Family of Newspapers readership.

Chad talked about the opportunity, how he came to find a career in journalism and why he dropped an early plan of being a rock 'n roll journalist to write about things that to him, made a difference.

It was my pleasure to have Chad Arnold, journalist, tell me his story.

Business editor Shenandoah Briere and Digital Content Producer invited Lent into The Daily Gazette podcast studio to talk about her culinary travels and her passion for Jay Street and its neighbors.

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 Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Friday, Sept. 5. 

I sat down with Modiano at one of his two Express Employment Professionals locations to talk about racing, his daughter, and autism awareness.

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 Park, and her own Taylor Swift sing-a-long series to her latest album 'It Was Fun While It Lasted.'

She isn't done writing music, producing her albums, and has plans that need to be taken seriously.

She was a joy to sit down with and I think you will enjoy Sydney Worthley as she Tells Me Her Story.

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, track, and field programs.

Charlie Woodruff, Bob Vanderminden, Jr., along with Peter Goutos, were a part of the original group that met and have shepherded the Firecracker 4 4-mile race from its inaugural race with 150 runners to an expected 2,500 runners this year.

The Daily Gazette interviewed Peter Goutos, just days before the event begins on Friday morning in front of the Saratoga Springs City Center, discussing the race’s inception, growth, and its future.

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

Last month, he was named a finalist in the Overall Lead Performer category, along with castmate and friend Peter Hinckley, who portrayed FBI agent Carl Hanratty. In one of the final award presentations, Mangino was announced as one of this year’s Outstanding Lead Performers.

Amsterdam senior Lanelys Oviedo Roman joins Mangino, this year’s other Outstanding Lead Performer, as they finish a 10-day stay at The Juilliard School in New York City. The pair, along with 54 other sets of winners nationwide, are being mentored, trained, and compete before Monday night’s National High School Musical Theatre Awards, known as ‘The Jimmies’.

The Daily Gazette caught up with Mengino and drama club director Matthew Lopez on the stage at Ballston Spa High School to talk about his young career and what is next for him.

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 currently in New York City at The Juilliard School for 10 days of mentorship, auditions, and competition culminating with the June 23 National High School Musical Theatre Awards show, called The Jimmies, with this year's host, Josh Groban, at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre.

Lianelys took my breath away when I had the opportunity to see her and the entire cast perform during dress rehearsal.

Here is Christopher Stefani talking about the decision to choose Hadestown: Teen Edition for this year's musical, talking about his talented cast, followed by the rising star, Lianelys Oviedo Roman, as she tells us her story.

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 and her husband, Ben.

She talked about all the events that kicked off on April's Earth Day, to promoting the work of tiny pollinators during No Mow May to a Black Friday doorbuster type of atmosphere on May 31 for the annual Pollinator Palozza Plant Sale at Oginly's Country Gardens.

She talked about what the organization has done this spring, what's up next after a well-deserved break, including a bucket list destination and what you and I can do to help the environment that we all share.

For more information about the organization, visit www.sustainablesaratoga.org

Ek provided the first early evening exhibit in the marketplace last October, and its success created howls for another marketplace event in May.

Kalya stopped by The Daily Gazette podcast studio to talk about the Nightmare Marketplace, her start as an artist, her vision for the marketplace, and how early she likes to put up her own Halloween decorations.

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 everyone can do to help others who are in need of their services.

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 of fiction "They Even Took My Shoes: How a journalist overcame betrayal, an abusive court system and kept her promise."

I sat down with Paula to learn about her life; her world travels, and and her struggles. I learned how amazingly upbeat she was during her early life and how her energy continued as she told me her story.

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 subjects free of charge, for months.

He said it helped him, but it also helped so many others - including myself and my family.

We both took moments to pause during our conversation because we still feel the memories deeply.

Introducing artist Steve Derrick who was kind enough to 'Tell Me Your Story'.

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

His work is incomplete as he remains busy as a writer, editor, professor, and sports enthusiast, so I plan to invite him again to this podcast.

Link to The Daily Gazette 'Getting to Know' story.

For the first time, McBride's photos will be displayed as part of an essay entitled “Broken Concrete.”

She was the first featured artist of the Schenectady County Human Rights Commission.

I called Tasha ‘Freedom’ McBride at her home in Maryland to learn about her journey as an artist and community officer with the City of Baltimore. 

I sat down with Professor Grady-Willis on campus to talk about his journey and the role of Black History Month and Black Studies on campus and beyond.