THE
FREEMAN'S
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ONEONTA
ALL OTSEGO
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LAST WEEK'S EDITIONS
THIS WEEK'S HEADLINES
HOMETOWN ONEONTA/5-10
Hartwick Begins 'It's Personal' Campaign
8 Oneontans On Visiting 'Wall That Heals'
Dad, Son Turn Love Of Baseball Into Business
Newman Wins Tax Reduction From Council
THE FREEMAN'S JOURNAL/5-9
Ban Secure, Frack Foes Consider Horizons
'Wall That Heals' Here On Memorial Day
Hartwick Begins 'It's Personal' Campaign
Get Ready, Coop: Dead Heads Coming
Ommegang's IronThrone Ale Runs Out
AllOTSEGO.life
Don Howard Invitational, In Photos
LEAF Winners: Grueling Struggles, Gripping Art
NATIONAL &
WORLD NEWS
FOLLOW TERRY BLISS
ON APPALACHIAN TRAIL
Terry "Blue Moon" Bliss, the retired Otsego County planning director, is fulfilling a life-long dream: Hiking the Appalachian Trail. He's been sharing his adventures on a blog, and you can participate by clicking here
BREAKING NEWS
SPECIAL FEATURES
LOCAL COLUMNS
TOM MORGAN'S MONEYTALK: Have you ever noticed you are governed by a ruling class? This is an elite group. You might liken them to the aristocrats of olde England. The lords and ladies and sirs and muckamucks. These are folks who simply know it is their job to govern us (4-13-13). Full column, click here
ALAN CHARTOCK'S CAPITOL CONNECTION: If Governor Cuomo REALLY wants campaign-finance reform to pass, he will get what he wants because he has one of the sweetest deals that any governor has ever had in the history of the state of New York. He has virtual control of the whole political process. (4-1-13) Full column, click here
FREDRIC U. DICKER: Governor Cuomo is looking to use last week’s round of embarrassing scandals in Albany to oust Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and replace him with Rochester Assemblyman Joseph Morelle (4-8-13). Full column, click here
NEW YORK STATE CARTOONS
PROPUBLICA: Journalism In The Public Interest
WHAT WENT WRONG IN WEST, TEXAS: The fertilizer plant hadn’t been inspected by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration since 1985. Its owners do not seem to have told the Department of Homeland Security that they were storing large quantities of potentially explosive fertilizer, as regulations require. And the most recent partial safety inspection of the facility in 2011 led to $5,250 in fines. Click here
For more cartoons, click empirewire.com
Just my dog...
Etta Place got her name from the Katherine Ross character in "Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid."
Since Etta Place and Barbara Cadwell arrived in Cooperstown in 2003, the two companions were often seen walking along Elm, Susquehanna, Beaver, Chestnut streets – most everywhere in the village – inseparable.
On Tuesday, April 2, 2013, Etta passed away, inspiring "her mama" to break out a portion of her book, "Outlaws & Angels," into a stand-alone reminiscence of her pet.
For the text of "Just my dog...," please click here
Editor's Note
CELEBRATE!
Bud Fowler's Accomplishment
COOPERSTOWN
Astonishingly, Bud Fowler, whom historians recognize as the first black professional baseball player, was raised in Cooperstown (as John Jackson) in the 1860s, four decades before the Mills Commission and eight decades before the Hall of Fame's founding.
Despite his exceptional skills, the color of his skin kept him from full participation in the American Dream. After the "Gentleman's Agreement" of 1887 that barred African-Americans from professional baseball for 60 years, he was banished to the Negro Leagues.
This February, however, was the 100th anniversary of his death, and that's become an opportunity for the substantial research of recent decades to come into focus. At 4 p.m. this Saturday, the Village of Coopertown will unveil a street-sign, "Fowler Way," on the lane leading from Chestnut Street to Doubleday Field, with recognitions to follow at Doubleday itself.
Bud Fowler, back row, center, in Keokuk, Iowa
Here is an archive of recent reports on the Bud Fowler story:
NEW YORK TIMES: Acclaim Comes Late for Baseball Pioneer
STAR TRIBUNE, MINNEAPOLIS: Belated honors for pioneering black ballplayer Bud Fowler
TIMES-ARGUS, BARRE-MONTPELIER, VT: Bud Fowler’s time in Vermont made him a pioneer
STILLWATER, MINN., PATCH: Stillwater's Mark on the National Baseball Hall of Fame
THEROOT.COM: They Could Have Been Jackie Robinson
WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM ARCHIVE
ATTEND DEDICATION OF 'FOWLER WAY'
4 PM SATURDAY, APRIL 20,
NEXT TO COOPERSTOWN CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE, 31 CHESTNUT ST.
Frack Ban Affirmation Turns
'Protest' Into 'Celebration'
Cooperstown Village Historian Hugh MacDougall listens at the dedication of a plaque in Bud Fowler's honor Saturday afternoon in Doubleday Field, shortly after delivering an address to SABR's 19th Century Committee at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. For the full text of MacDougall's "Bud Fowler: Knight of the Diamond; Knight of the Razor", please click here
Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com
ONEONTA
Anti-frackers are planning a rally at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 2, at Foothills, to protest a pipeline safety meeting planned there by Paradigm Liaison Services for local officials and businesses.
"Let us tell them that we know – that the nation now knows – safety and pipelines and fracking do not go together," said an e-mail circulating today on the Sustainable Otsego listserve. "Bring signs, banners, posters."
The e-mail refers back to the "cold, wet, dark fall evening" last October, when anti-frackers protested in front of Foothills prior to a FERC hearing on the Constitution Pipeline that is planned through the region.
Anti-Frackers Plan Rally
Outside Pipeline Briefing
MONDAY, April 28, 2013
Seward Wins $100,000
To Pay For History Day
Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com
As 1,500 students, parents and teachers descended on Cooperstown today for New York State History Day, state Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, announced that, at his insistence, $100,000 has again been placed in the state budget to underwrite the activity. History Day, he said, "promotes academic achievement, intellectual growth and offers the personal reward of knowing more about our past." At a press conference at The Farmers' Museum, the senator was joined by NYSHA President/CEO Paul D'Ambrosio, center, and Garet Livermore, VP for education. The awards ceremony is at 5 p.m. in Cooperstown Middle/High School's Sterling Auditorium. More on History Day, click here
COOPERSTOWN
Calling hours for Ted Lamb, 80, the longest-serving member of the Cooperstown Fire Department, who died Friday morning, will be 4-7 p.m. Tuesday at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home.
The Clark F. Simmons American Legion Post No. 579 will conduct a service at 6:30 p.m. at the funeral home, followed by a Firefighter Memorial Service. For a full obituary, click here
Calling Hours Tuesday For Ted Lamb
IN MEMORIAM: Corinne L Fink, 61, assistant vice president at Wilber Bank, where she worked for 32 years, passed away Wednesday at home with her family by her side after a battle with cancer. For obituary, click here
WEDNESDAY, May 1, 2013
Blodgett Application Complete,
City Planning Commission Finds
Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com
Dennis Finn, chairman of the City of Oneonta Planning Commission, calls for a vote, where the commission accepted Newman Development Group's application for a 325-student housing complex to be complete. Other members, to Finn's right, are Gary Herzig and Barry Holden. Behind them is Ed May. The committee will now have 62 days to review the application, which included drawings, landscaping sketches and an environmental study and approve, disapprove or approve with changes before turning the site plan over to the city for final approval.
FRIDAY, May 3, 2013
COOPERSTOWN
Emma Harnett, Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School, won second place in the senior (grades 9-12) individual website category at New York History Day on Monday at The Farmers' and Fenimore Art museums.
The website was titled, "The Fall of the Berlin Wall and Decline of Communism." Her teacher was Traci Waterman.
The other local honoree was Megan Wilmot, also of Cherry-Valley-Springfield, who received The Farmers' Museum Award.
For a full list of winners, click here
History Day Honors 2 CV-S Students
Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com
Mayor Jeff Katz signs a proclamation declaring Friday, May 10, "Paint The Town Purple" Day in Cooperstown, to raise awareness of the fight against cancer. With him are co-chairs Rena Lull, left, and Dawne Dietz.
'Paint Town Purple,' Mayor Proclaims
COOPERSTOWN
"The Wall That Heals," a half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., will be on display Memorial Day Weekend – Saturday-Monday, May 25-27 – in the Doubleday Field parking lot.
The display is in connection with the Hall of Fame's Cooperstown Classic, which will be played at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 25, preceded by a noon parade and a 1 p.m. Legends Hitting Contest. Hall of Famers Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Rickey Henderson and Phil Niekro, plus two dozen Major Leaguers, are expected to play.
“We are privileged to bring the Wall to Cooperstown," said Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson, "and we thank the Village Board of Trustees for its support in providing a venue for this historic occasion.”
"The Wall That Heals" will be on display 24 hours a day, and is free and open to all.
For full announcement, click here
'Wall That Heals' Here
Memorial Day Weekend
"The Wall That Heals" is due in Cooperstown Memorial Day Weekend.
The Town of Middlefield's fracking ban has been upheld by the state Supreme Court appeals division in Albany.
The decision, released within the past hour, reads in part, that the Appellate Division, Third Judicial District, "granted defendant's cross motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and declared that defendant's zoning law was not preempted by the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Law."
The court also partly upheld the Town of Dryden's ban, which was also appealed.
Text of Town of Middlefield decision, click here
Text of Town of Dryden decision, click here
Court Upholds
Middlefield's
Fracking Ban
Ruling 'Unanimous, Unequivocal,'
Otsego 2000 President Declares
The appellate court's decision upholding the Town of Middlefield fracking ban was "unanimous and unequivocal," Otsego 2000 President Nicole Dillingham said is a statement.
In both Cooperstown Holstein v. Middlefield and Anschutz v. Dryden, the court upheld the constitutional right of towns to determine what land-use activities are best for their communities, Dillingham said.
"We are indeed fortunate to have such a strong community committed to protecting our region's singularly beautiful resources," she said, in praising the "courage" of both town boards and the organizations and individuals that supported them.
For full statement, click here
Robert Ashley brings Diane Nixon to the protest. Both are from Meredith.
Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com
"This is not a protest, this is a celebration," declared Howard Hannum Jr., left, of Trout Creek, as he picketed with 50 other pipeline-safety advocates across from Paradigm Liaison Services' annual training session, held at Foothills in Oneonta. Hannum was referring to today's court decision affirming the Town of Middlefield's fracking ban. Some in the gathering opposed the Constitution Pipeline planned through the Del-Sego region, but the point this evening was to opposed gas pipelines generally as unsafe, said organizer Carole Marner. "Pipeline safety is a lie," some of the 50 people chanted, "pipes explode and people die."
'Phantom' Soloist Performs
With Catskill Chorale Tonight
Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com
Colby Thomas, right – a soloist from the Broadway production of "Phantom of the Opera" – and Kyle Gonyea rehearse with the Catskill Choral Society for this evening's 7:30 "Walk On Broadway" performance in Foothills' 620-seat theater. The evening will also feature songs by Lerner & Loewe, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. To buy tickets online, click here. Adults, $18 ($22 at door), $15 ($18) seniors, $12 for students, under 12 free.
THURSDAY, May 2, 2013
GALA OPENS SEASON: The Old Blacksmith Shop Gallery, Route 28, Schuyler Lake, is opening the season with an open house gala 10 a.m-5 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, May 4.
Mayor Asks Council
To OK Newman PILOT
ONEONTA
Mayor Dick Miller has asked Common Council to approve two resolutions Tuesday that will allow Newman Development LLC to begin work in June on its 325-student apartment building on Blodgett Drive.
"I am confident we are moving appropriately and expeditiously," Miller said in a memo distributed to Council members today.
One resolution is a PILOT, a payment in lieu of taxes that would pay $92,316 to the city, county and school district in Year One, rising to $418,909 on Year 15 and $575,301 a year after that.
The second is a policy governing future PILOTs, limiting them to projects of $3 million or more, or involving 40 or more units.
The mayor said he expects the city Planning Commission, which Wednesday accepted Newman's application as complete, will have completed its review of the proposed Hilltop Commons by the end of May.
For Miller's memo to Common Council
For first resolution, detailing PILOT
For second resolution, on future PILOTS
Eight other Otsego County towns and the City of Oneonta, in addition to Middlefield, have approved bans against fracking, according to the fractracker.org website.
Sustainable Otsego Moderator Adrian Kuzminski expressed delight today at Thursday's state appellate court decision affirming town bans in Milford and Dryden.
However, he said this adds some urgency to towns that are considering bans to adopt them; if they don't and an application is submitted, that might limit a town's options.
The eight Otsego County towns that have approved bans are Cherry Valley, Middlefield, Milford, New Lisbon, Otsego, Plainfield, Roseboom and Springfield. (Richfield was incorrectly listed in an earlier version of this posting.)
Moratoria, which are temporary, are in place in the towns of Oneonta, Otego and Butternuts.
Seven more local towns are considering bans or moratoria: Burlington, Hartwick, Maryland, Morris, Pittsfield, Unadilla and Wesford, according to the site.
For a map showing the statewide picture, click here
8 Otsego County Towns,
City, Have Fracking Bans
MONDAY, May 6, 2013
Keuka-based Citizens Against Hydrofracking now lists 208 communities with fracking bans, including 48 in the Syracuse and New York City watersheds, and 92 municipalities considering bans. For complete list, click here
Chambers Named Chief
Of SUNY Oneonta Police
So Far, 208 Communities
Have Banned H-Fracking
ONEONTA
SUNY Oneonta has named Daniel P. Chambers university police chief. His appointment follows a national search.
He has been interim chief since May 2012, filling in for Barton Ingersoll, who has been on leave.
For full announcement, click here
COOPERSTOWN
The public hearing on the Cooperstown Central School District's 2013-14 budget is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the middle/high school cafeteria.
Hearing Wednesday On CCS Budget
IN MEMORIAM: Sylvia Snyder Landers, 74, who owned and operated the Sears Catalog Store in Cooperstown, passed away Monday at her home in Richfield Springs. For obituary, click here
IN MEMORIAM: Robert Dabreau Sr., 72, of Laurens, a state trooper whose busy retirement included operating Cooperstown's Red Sleigh Restaurant, passed away today at home with family by his side. Full obituary, click here
TUESDAY, May 7, 2013
CHECK ONEONTA GAS PRICES HERE!
Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com
CCS Superintendent of Schools C.J. Hebert addresses the final hearing on the 2013-14 school budget, held this evening. Two citizens attended, Amy Mulligan, mother of a second-grader and two younger sons, and Ed Johnson of Fly Creek. The $17.2 million budget is up 2.9% over the current one, but keeps the tax increase to 2%, the state cap. The budget vote is 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday, May 21, in Sterling Auditorium. At the time, incumbents Mary Leonard and Andrew Marietta are standing unopposed for three-year terms.
2 Attend CCS Budget Hearing
THURSDAY, May 9, 2013
WEDNESDAY, May 8, 2013
ONEONTA
After seven years, SUNY Oneonta's public radio station, WUOW, went off the air at 10 a.m. today, "with sadness," according to the announcement by station manager Gary Wickham.
"The idea behind this experiment was not just to provide the area with diverse content, but also to be a connection to the community," Wickham wrote in his farewell Facebook message.
WSKG public radio, based in Binghamton, had been among entities negotiating to keep the station alive.
However, the college's director of communications, Hal Legg, said "continued investment in WUOW was not aligned with SUNY Oneonta's strategic plan, which directs resources toward student-centered learning, teaching and scholarship."
He referred anyone seeking more information to college President Nancy Kleniewski's original statement on the matter from 2011.
SUNY Oneonta Silences
Its Public Radio Station
SATURDAY, May 11, 2013
Student Showcase Launches
Hartwick's 'It's Personal' Fete
Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com
Paul Patinka presented "Creating Magic Through Music in Theater" as part of the Hartwick Student Showcase, the first in a weekend of events launching the "It's Personal" fundraising campaign. Here, he speaks with Judy Freedman, who, with her husband Allen, established the Freedman Prize, which Patinka received for scoring Hartwick's production of "The Tempest." Details of the drive will be announced at "A Blue Bash!" luncheon under a tent on campus. Check back for details today and Saturday.
HARTWICK RAISES $19.2 MILLION TOWARDS CAMPAIGN GOAL
ONEONTA
Hartwick College President Margaret Drugovich announced to over 100 students, faculty and alumni at the “Blue Bash” luncheon that the college’s “It’s Personal” campaign had raised $19.2 million dollars towards the $32 million fundraising goal. Drugovich and her partner, Beth Steele, personally pledged $100,000 in honor of Drugovich’s parents.
“We must be poised to preserve this experience,” she encouraged the audience. “Students are and should always be our first priority.”
For President Drugovich’s statement and more on the “It’s Personal: The Campaign for Hartwick Students,” please visit the newly-launched website here.
Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com
Hartwick College President Margaret Drugovich recognizes the blue-shirted student volunteers for the "It's Personal: The Campaign for Hartwick Students" at the "Blue Bash" luncheon this afternoon.
Freedman Prize Honors 34 For Student-Faculty Collaboration
Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com
Sabrina Jones, ’14, one of 34 students honored with a Freedman Prize at the recognition ceremony this afternoon, accepts her award from Dr. Allen and Judy Freedman. The prize, established in 2002, recognizes “superior” student-faculty collaborative projects across natural sciences, cognitive sciences and theatre arts.
Drugovich Receives Standing Ovation At "Blue Tie Affair"
Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com
Hartwick College President Margaret Drugovich received a standing ovation when she announced to the crowd at the Blue Tie Affair that the “It’s Personal” Campaign for Hartwick Students had, to date, received $19.2 million, more than halfway, towards the $32 million commitment to fund the William V. Campbell H’10 Fitness Center, the Student Living Room in Dewar Union and J-Term Scholarships.
“We give to Hartwick in thanks for all Hartwick has done for us,” said Hartwick parents Eugenie and David Dieck. “The gifts Hartwick gave changed our son’s life.”
Dig In!
Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com
Margaret Drugovich and Beth Steele dig in at the groundbreaking ceremony for the William V. Campbell H’10 Fitness Center. Though Campbell wasn't present at the ceremony, he sent a video message played at the opening remarks.
FRIDAY, May 10, 2013
32 'Alumni On the Forefront' Inducted on Wall of Fame
Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com
John Doelp, '76, Cyrus Mehri '83 and David Long '83, reminisce about their times at Hartwick at the “Alumni On the Forefront” Wall of Fame unveiling. “We’ll celebrate each other’s success and compete against the rest of the world together,” said Long.
ONEONTA
32 notable Hartwick Alumni, including Rockette Jacey Lambros, Oneonta business leader Gordon Roberts and Senator James L. Seward, were honored with plaques on the brand-new Wall of Fame” in front of Hartwick's Stevens-German Library. “These alumni remind us of the good that can come of a career and a life built on the foundation of a strong liberal arts education,” said Hartwick College President Margaret Drugovich in her opening remarks.
Several of the honored alumni, including John Doelp, ’76, Senior VP at Sony Music Entertainment, David Long, ’83, President and CEO of Liberty Mutual, Cyrus Mehri, a founding partner of Mehri & Skalet, PLLC and Rob Rowe, ‘81, Managing Director of Citigroup, stayed to discuss their careers at the “Making and Managing Change in the Inevitable Unknown,” panel held in the Slade Theatre.
WEDNESDAY, May 15, 2013
Oneida Nation, CCS Board Meet
COOPERSTOWN
Representatives of the Oneida Indian Nation, which lobbied the CCS board to abandoned the school's "Redskins" nickname, will meet with the school directors at 7 p.m. this evening to discuss a possible grant to the district. The nickname was recently changed to "CCS Hawkeyes."
Cooperstown Distillery
Wins 2 Village Approvals
COOPERSTOWN
Cooperstown Distillery passed two hurdles today at the village Planning Board’s monthly meeting.
One, the Planning Board concluded that the project at Leatherstocking Street and Railroad Avenue meets four criteria that would allow the Village Board to issue it a special-use permit. The trustees could do so as soon as its May meeting next Monday, following a scheduled public hearing.
Two, the Planning Board scheduled its own public hearing on the project for Tuesday, June 18, a necessary prerequisite for site-plan approval. Planning Board chair Charlie Hill said it’s possible the project’s site plan could be approved at that time.
Already, the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals last week reviewed parking for the project, and told the developer – Eugene Marra, a restaurateur from Florida – that the distillery will require 14 off-street spaces, which Marra’s site plan now includes.
The fourth approval would have to come from H-PARB, the village’s Historical Preservation & Architectural Review Board, which has oversight over a new door planned on the building, which the former Agway used for storage, and a fence on the west side that will block neighbors’ views of the parking lot.
Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.life
Planning Board chair Charlie Hill, right, discusses the Cooperstown Distillery application this morning with board members Sally Graumlich, left, and Richard Blabey.
Ioxus President Challenges
Execs To Fund Robokronos
Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.life
After seeing Robokronos' robot perform at today's Otsego Chamber networking luncheon, Ioxus President Mark McGough spontaneously donated $5,000 to the robotics team's 2014 budget, and he challenged the businesspeople at the Holiday Inn/Southside gathering to do the same. He poses here with, from left, Patti Zellmer from Cooperative Extension, a team sponsor, team member Dave Tannenberg and team adviser Paul Agoglia.
ONEIDAS PRESENT
$10,000 DONATION
IN THANKS TO CCS
Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com
Ray Halbritter, nation representative/CEO of Oneida Nation Enterprises, presents a $10,000 check to Cooperstown Central School Board President David Borgstrom, center, and Superintendent C.J. Hebert at this evening's board meeting. It was a gesture of appreciation after the school board changed the school mascot from "Redskin" to "Hawkeye," and will be used to buy new uniforms for the football, basketball and baseball teams.
In front of the TV lights, Hallbritter thanks the four CCS students who lobbied for the mascot name-change. From left are Hope Dohner and Emily Greenberg, who started the campaign and were then joined by Catherine Borgstrom and Josie Hinrichs.
THURSDAY, May 16, 2013
COOPERSTOWN
A state Supreme Court judge based in Binghamton yesterday dismissed charges against two brothers, Angelo and Anthony Sr. Pacherille, of aggravated harassment, second degree, that grew out of their www.coophallofshame.com website.
In dismissing the case, Judge Martin E. Smith said the site "contains neither threat of violence nor advocacy of violence. Nor was the website purposely directed toward the complainant in a way that created a substantial privacy intrusion."
For text of decision, click here
Judge Dismisses Charge
Over Pacherille Website
CCS seniors Abigail Brown and Caley Sky-Shrewsberry today became the first recipients of new scholarships awarded by the Owego-based Charles H. Bassett Youth Foundation. From left are foundation president Robert Clarke Bassett, Sky-Shrewsberry, Brown, Bassett COO Bertine McKenna and CCS Superintendent C.J. Hebert.
CCS Seniors Win New Bassett Scholarships
