STILLWATER - Saratoga National Historical Park Superintendent Joe Finan was maintenance chief during the government shutdown of 1995. He was furloughed for three weeks back then.

"Obviously it creates a lot of anxiety on the part of all the employees," says Finan. He's hoping it doesn't happen again, but he's preparing for it. "We will have signs posted at critical locations, the parking areas will be closed. The tour road will be closed."

Finan says if the park has to close, just two of its thirty employees will report to work.

The battle monument  in Victory would stay locked. But that's only if Congress remains locked in battle.

New York's senior senator is hoping for a truce. "Having a shutdown is a bad thing, so I hope both sides will compromise, meet in the middle and come to an agreement," says Sen. Chuck Schumer, D - NY.

The Saratoga County Historical Society has announced that due to issues with the New York State budget, the Brookside Museum in Ballston Spa will be closed for the entire month of January.

New York State’s budget crisis has affected many museums across the state and Brookside is no exception. The New York State Council on the Arts, among other funders, has dramatically reduced funding to the museum. Brookside’s Board expects that the temporary closing of the museum’s physical structure will help ensure that the reduced funding does not impact education programs.  Brookside serves more than 4000 area school children each year during the spring and fall with programs such as Sheep to Shawl, Native New York and Brookside Digs: An Archeology Camp.

Brookside will be closed January 1 through January 31. The museum will reopen on Tuesday, February 1 at 10 a.m. Staff will be available via email and anyone with a pressing need may be able to access library or collection resources by appointment. Details can be found at www.brooksidemuseum.org.

Saratoga Springs - The house that Johnson built stands at the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and Worth Street, just around the corner from the federally subsidized housing where Mayor Scott Johnson grew up. "It's finally built."

The mayor is proud of the of the city's new six million dollar recreation center. Johnson inherited the bonding for the building from previous administrations, but he pushed to make it happen.

Sometimes over the objections of fellow councilmen and even the citizens who live near the center, who filed a lawsuit to prevent construction.

“I think most people have gotten beyond that now. They're accepting the fact that it is here,” says Johnson. “It's reality, get behind and stand behind it."