COOPERSTOWN

Close to 100 people took two tours this morning to Leatherstocking Falls, the first property protected by the Otsego Land Trust, part of commemorations marking the trust's 20th anniversary.
Journalist Lizzie Cooper, descendant of James Fenimore Cooper, read an excerpt from "The Deerslayer" on the Leatherstocking's reaction when he first saw Glimmerglass. naturalist Joe Homburger led the hike sharing, among other things, that wintergreen comes from yellow birch; he broke off a twig and passed it around.
The Otsego Land Trust is also planning a reception at 5 p.m. Aug. 23 at The Thayer Farm, another protected property.
CAPTION: Naturalist Joe Homburger points the way toward Leatherstocking Falls, located off Pierstown Road, to a seemingly apprehensive Emily Odell.

COOPERSTOWN

Tim Russert's death this afternoon from an apparent heart-attack left his friends at the National Baseball Hall of Fame "shocked and deeply saddened," Hall chairman Jane Forbes Clark said in a statement issued at 4:39 p.m.
"He was an integral member of our Board of Directors and its executive committee," said Miss Clark, "and he cared about the Hall of Fame and its mission so much. We'll miss Tim's critical thinking and his unsurpassed passion for the game tremendously."
Russert, moderator of NBC's "Meet The Press," died after being stricken in the network's Washington news bureau earlier in the day.

WASHINGTON

With just three days to go until the 2008 Hall of Fame Game, the savethefamegame.com campaign said today more than 175 letters have been e-mailed to MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, MLB president Bob Dupuy, MLB Players Association chief Donald Fehr and Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson in the last 24 hours, all urging them to reverse the decision to end the annual baseball tradition in Cooperstown after this year.
"Following the campaign's first truly national exposure yesterday in Jayson Stark's ESPN.com column, savethefamegame.com has helped facilitate nearly 200 emails in a 24-hour period, all of them expressing opposition to ending a baseball tradition that has existed since 1940," said savethefamegame.com creator Kristian Connolly.
Earlier this week, savethefamegame.com announced that is asking fans in attendance at the final game Monday, June 16, to observe a "moment" of silence throughout the bottom half of the third inning, as an appropriate demonstration of opposition to the decision to end the Hall of Fame Game after this year.

COOPERSTOWN

Beginning Tuesday with Cole Porter's "Kiss Me Kate," Glimmerglass Opera will be taking the public behind the scenes for show-specific panel discussions on what it takes to put together a production in the 2008 Festival Season.
Moderated by Kelley Rourke, the company’s resident dramaturg, the panels will include the conductor, director, and the scenic, costume and lighting designers.
Handel’s "Giulio Cesare in Egitto" will be the topic on Tuesday, June 24, Wagner’s "Das Liebesverbot" on Thursday, July 10, and Bellini’s "I Capuleti e i Montecchi" on Friday, July 18.
For informations on the seminars, check www.glimmerglass.org or call (607) 547-2255.

THE PARTIAL OBSERVER

---

KRISTIAN CONNOLLY


Editor’s Note: Cooperstown native Kristian Connolly, now working in Washington, D.C., set up www.savethefamegame.com as a vehicle to combat MLB Commissioner Bud Selig’s decision
to cancel the Hall of Fame Game after 70 years.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a baseball person.
I’ve loved the sport for as long as I can remember. I’ve been a student of its history, and I’ve always been respectful of its place in American culture and society. I’ve also worked in the game, being a part of how baseball operates from just about every angle possible. So saving a tradition like the Hall of Fame Game is very important to me, just given my passion for the National Pastime.
But my love for Cooperstown exceeds my love for baseball. It is my hometown. It is where I was allowed to experience, learn, mature, and to develop into the person that I am today,
and it continues to move me every time I return.
I haven’t been a full-time resident of Cooperstown for more than a decade, but there is not a day that goes by when I don’t feel that I am a part of the Cooperstown community.
To me, Cooperstown is a living, breathing entity, deserving of the same care and attention that I would give to any of those people in my life that I care deeply about.
As a result, I have viewed the decision to end the Hall of Fame Game as something that is being done to the detriment of my hometown and my community, and I can’t just sit on the sidelines and allow that to happen.
The savethefamegame.com has given people from all over the world the chance to stand up to this decision, too, and frankly, most of them are not from Cooperstown or the surrounding area.
People are choosing to fight because they don’t like how the commissioner’s
office and the Players Association are treating baseball only as an industry, always choosing to chase the extra dollar without regard to serving the sport’s best interests as a national game and as an integral part of our American identity and history.
Most importantly, people don’t like how MLB and the union are treating baseball fans.
Most folks are responding to the campaign not because they are concerned about a small-town, tourism-based economy of 2,000 full-time residents losing a day during the summer when there are 10,000 people on and around Main Street.
They are responding not because they’re concerned about Cooperstown Central School students losing an opportunity to fundraise for their senior trip or other class activities, taking the burden off the local community to fund activities that have a lasting impact and benefit for those who are able to experience them.
People are responding not because they want to be sure kids in Cooperstown and the surrounding area have a chance to see Major League teams and players without having to travel to New York City or Boston, or any other big-league city.
They are responding not because they are worried about a family of four losing an up-close-and-personal opportunity to see Major League teams and players for roughly the same cost as one mid-level, binoculars-necessary seat at a game in Yankee Stadium.
People are responding simply because they love baseball, and they love Cooperstown as a result.
They don’t want to be the people who sat by and allowed Cooperstown to lose out to someone else’s bottom line, and as a result have an integral part of its own identity and history taken away from it without a fight.
They are responding without being concerned about how large the potential
obstacles may appear to them, or how voicing their own personal opinion might appear to others. People are responding because they know it’s best to never simply give up.
Since 1940, generations of Americans have built their own personal and family traditions around making the pilgrimage to Cooperstown to see two Major League teams play in the sport’s celebrated hometown. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and friends and neighbors alike have been able to experience firsthand the glory of the National Pastime in a setting that is intimate, pure, and inspiring, and more true to baseball’s history than any other setting
you can find today.
Cooperstown is a place that has always respected the past and has always respected traditions, and I like to think that the Hall of Fame Game is a Cooperstown tradition worth trying to preserve for my generation, and for those generations that will follow.

Labels: Columns, Opinion, The Partial Observer

Don’t you get the impression that even George W. Bush is eager for his tenure as president and commander-in-chief to be over?
The Iraq War, torture scandals, oil by the barrel and gasoline prices through the roof, the economy shrinking, health care still expensive and deteriorating, the Katrina mess lingering on, the Army secretary fired over Walter Reed’s sub-quality care of wounded soldiers, the Air Force secretary fired after nuclear armaments are exported to Taiwan by mistake.
Oh, my. Retiring to Crawford must seem awfully
inviting.
If it wasn’t that often things have to get really bad before they get better, it would be easy for a citizen to get discouraged.
•
What’s worse in the United States of Baseball, we have our own George. Or Bud, that is, Allan H. Selig, Jr.
As with the other president, it sometimes seems the commander-in-chief of baseball, many say with some justification, does little if nothing right either.
“Commissioner Bud Selig is the dark lord of Major League Baseball,” is the quote the Baseball
Almanac uses to introduce its biography of the man. “...Fans, reporters and players hate him. Even other owners hate him. Clearly, the man must be a genius.”
As it happens, a Milwaukee fan was standing in front of Doubleday Field the other day and was perturbed and mystified to discover the 2008 Hall of Fame Game may be the last if Major League Baseball has its way.
“What the capacity?” he asked.
“10,000,” was the reply.
“That’s more than used to go to Brewers’ games when Selig was there.”
While baseball is prospering now, Selig presided
over the 23-day strike that staggered the sport. The resulting disillusionment caused a 30 percent dip in Hall of Fame attendance, only rebounding during the Maguire-Sosa home-run race.
That, it turned out, was the opening act of the long-running scandal surrounding steroid and HGH abuse. Selig has seemed unable to wrap his brain around the issue.
•
And what an embarrassment, to say the least.
Did you read how Congressman Henry Waxman
and his House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform had been lulled by data Selig provided into assuming steroid use was on the decline?
Not so, it turns out. The dip in test results between the 2003 and 2004 seasons was caused, not by a dip in the use of illicit substances, but by a hiatus in testing while the feds investigated the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative steroid ring, the New York Times reported the other day.
“It’s clear that some of the information Major League Baseball and the players union gave the committee in 2005 was inaccurate,” Waxman was quoted as saying. “It isn’t clear whether this was intentional or just reflects confusion over the testing
program... In any case, the misinformation is unacceptable.”
Selig’s office was unabashed. “The testimony of Major League Baseball officials was completely
accurate,” his deputy responded.
•
Selig’s tin ear was particularly evident in his dissing of the low-cost, high-dividend American tradition called the Hall of Fame Game, being played for the 70th time this year – and final time, if the commissioner’s decision stands.
In its 69-year history, the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum – simply “Cooperstown”
to generations and millions of baseball fans – has become the gold standard, not just of the National Pastime, but of the values Americans
yearn to associate with their nation – honesty,
fair play, hard work, accomplishment, family life, you name it.
Yet Selig rejected “Cooperstown.” Honoring it, coming all the way up here from wherever in this era of air travel and good highways, had simply
become too inconvenient and too expensive, the MLB said. Then, blind to the irony, the MLB opens this year’s season in Tokyo.
Yes, baseball has prospered during the Selig years despite the black eyes. But money has become the measure of baseball, as of most anything
else. Say it ain’t so, Bud.
•
Even if George W. Bush were constitutionally permitted to serve a third term, it’s unlikely he would do so.
Bud Selig can continue indefinitely, but isn’t it time for retirement to his personal Crawford as well? After all, he’s served since 1992, longer than any other MLB commissioner. Isn’t everybody
in baseball – fans, players, owners, certainly,
the powers-that-be at 25 Main St. – ready for a new beginning?
Let’s look beyond what, by and large, has been a too-roiled era for baseball. Let’s look to a era of goodwill and good feeling, where Cooperstown,
“Cooperstown” and the Hall of Fame regain their central role in defining the things about baseball – and being an American – that matter most.

Labels: Editorial

Backed by Democrats, She Faces Lambert in Fall

COOPERSTOWN

In remarks after taking theoath as Otsego County judge Tuesday, June 10, Jhilmil “Jill” Ghaleb emphasized she will preside in criminal and surrogate court, but the bulk of her case load will be in family court. Ghaleb, a Cooperstown resident who practices in Richfield Springs, noted she has championed the cause of 700 children in her appointive role as law guardian, and told the story of reuniting an 8-year-old and his grandmother. “These things don’t change the world,” she remarked. “But to the people involved, it IS the world.” She also cited her civic involvement, having served twiceas president of the Richfield Springs Rotary Club. She is also vice president of theSusquehanna SPCA. The new judge fills the vacancy created when County Judge Michael V. Coccoma was elected to the state Supreme Court last November. Ghaleb went through a state certification process, was nominated by the governor and, last week, confirmed by the state Senate. On Thursday, June 5, the registered independent received the endorsement of the county Democratic Committee. She will be facing Cooperstown lawyer John Lambert, the Republican nominee, in the fall. Seventy-five well-wishers filled up much of the main courtroom in the historic county courthouse for the early morning swearing-in, including her parents, Bishu and Gouri Deyof North Springfield and a friend from law school, Faith Rossello of Greenwich, Conn. In his invocation, her pastor, the Rev. John Bartle of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Richfield Springs, gave thanks for “the legal system of our nation and our state, a legal system that seeks to serve the well-being of all in the spririt of liberty and justice.”

Labels: Front Page, Ghaleb

MSG Entertainment’s Music Fest Application Filed

SPRINGFIELD CENTER

MSG Entertainment submitting its application for a 75,000-fan music fest failed to spur the Springfield town board to adopt a proposed nine-month development moratorium. After hearing 90 minutes of evenly divided citizen input, pro and con, Monday, June 9, the board members were unsure whether to take action now, while the town’s comprehensive plan committee is still at work. Town board member Rick Morris suggested it might make more sense to wait until the committee reports back, since the resulting deliberations are likely to be lengthy as the town board debates what new regulations may be required. If the moratorium were approved now, he asked, “have we shot Barney’s bullet?” The vote in favor of waiting a month to study the matter further was a unanimous 5-0. The previous Thursday, the corporation that owns MadisonSquare Garden submitted itsapplication to build a venue forthe music fest – classic rock, C&W, jazz, blues. The company hopes to holdthe first event in the summer of 2010 on 1,000 acres south of Route 20 between Route 30 and the Continental Road. For years, regulating devel-opment has been a hot local is-sue, but it has heated up furtherlately due to three large projects that have surfaced. In addition to the music fest, two partners from the Chicago suburbs are proposing to build a Dreams-Park like facility nearRichfield Springs that would be party in Springfield. Further, a businessmen’s motorcycle club from Westchester County has been seeking per-mission to built a race track off the Chyle Road, although it isalready being slowed down bythe state Environmental Quality Review Act process. Monday’s meeting began with Paul Leentjes, a local real-tor, reading a petition signed by 189 people supporting themusic fest. Several supporters of the pe-tition then read a couple dozenof names apiece,.“I love farming, I love theland,” said Barry Griffis. “To me, what better way to keep it open, to keep it green?”But opponents immediatelycriticized the petition, saying numerous signatures were from18-year-olds who don’t pay taxes in the town. “We haven’t done enough research on these people down in New York,” said Harry Clark, referring to negative pressabout James Dolan, president ofthe company.“I see nothing wrong withholding off,” Clark continuied. “If these people want to comehere that bad, they’ll wait for us.” Rosemary Harrison, another opponent, feared MSG would incrementally expand the operation. “Then they want a springfestival,” she said. “Then a fall festival. They might even want a winter festival.”

Labels: Front Page, MSG

Chris’ Mother Mounts E-Mail Drive To Get ‘Chris’ Law’ Vote by June 23

COOPERSTOWN Racing against the clock, Chris Gentile’s mother Penney has initiated an e-mail campaign to get a21st century driver’s-education law before the General Assembly for a full vote before the session ends Monday, June 23.And it may be working.Wednesday, June 11, House Bill A10293 was voted out of the House Education Committee in Albany and sent on to the Ways & Means Committee, which must approve all bills that may require an appropriation. Penney Gentile got the e-mail campaign going Tuesday, June 10, but before it could build a head of steam, word arrived that the Education Committee would act the following morning. Wednesday evening, Penney was revising her message and the list of e-mails to correspond with Ways & Means members.The House bill, introduced by western Otsego County’s assemblyman, Bill Magee, D-Nelson, echoes one introduced by state Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, that passed the Senate last month.It would establish a committee co-chaired by the education and DMV commissioners to recommend by the end ofthe year how driver’s-ed curricula can be upgraded.Chris’ mother – her son, a CCS senior, died in a car crash on Holy Thursday 2007 – said she’s heard the state Education Department is worried about the cost; the DMV is concerned the timeline is unrealistic.

Labels: Front Page

Bassett Promotes Andrews, Stamp, Wiley To Top Posts

• Sue Andrews to vice president of finance. She will continue to work for Chief Financial Officer Nicholas J. Nicoletta. She and husband Bruce live in Schuyler Lake.
• William Stamp to executive director of marketing, corporate communications and strategic planning. He joined Bassett in 1999, and lives in Oneonta with his wife Pauline and three daughters.
• Ronette Wiley to vice president for performance improvement and care coordination. She joined Bassett five years ago and lives in Richfield Springs with her husband, Scott, and their five
children.

PHARMACY GRADUATE: On Mother’s Day, Ryan Madison, graduate of Cooperstown Central School, graduated with a doctorate in pharmacy from Albany College of Pharmacy. As president
of the class, he delivered a speech incorporating the Mother’s Day theme. Dr. Madison will be working at Walgreens in the Buffalo area while he and his fiancee do a residency with hospice; he is also being trained in a speciality: HIV drugs. He is the son of Mona Levandowski-Madison and the late Donald Madison.

JUNE STUDENTS: Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School has announced its June students of the month: Ethan Drugatz, seventh grade; Emily Wilmot, eighth; Brittany Crandall, 10th; Adam Halay, 11th, and Savannah Whiteman and Michael Fassett, both seniors.

NEW LAWYER: Ryan Miosek, son of Frank and Susan Miosek, Cooper-stown, received his juris doctor degree from New England School of Law Fri-day, May 22. He also received the President Anna P. Hirsch Award for service to the law school. He will join the law firm of Morrison & Mahoney in Boston as an associate. Ryan and his wife Caitlin live in Marblehead, Mass., with their daughter, Madilyn, 3.

ONEONTA GRADS: Local graduates in SUNY Oneonta’s Class of 2008 include William M. Davidson, chemistry, Jesus M. Gomez, education and Spanish, and Alan R. Rowe, history museum studies, all Cooperstown; Veronica L. Coletti, sociology, Richfield Springs; and Dawn Anne Bernard, computer art, Roseboom.

OSWEGO HONOREES: Emily L.Pokorny, a marketing major, was named to SUNY Oswego’s President’s List for the spring semester. Beth A. Havlik, elementary education major, was named to the Dean’s List. Both are seniors from Cooperstown.

Bassett’s Dr. Blask To Brief Congress On Light Pollution

David E. Blask, Ph.D., M.D., senior research scientist and head ofBassett’s Laboratory of Chrono-Neuroendocrine Oncology, will be a featured speaker at a Congressional briefing, entitled “Combating LightPollution” Friday, June 20, at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington. He will be discussing thehuman health consequences oflight at night, with particularregard to cancer risk.The congressional briefing is sponsored by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, in conjunction with the International Dark-Sky Association.






Jessie Ravage, president of Cooperstown’s Friends of the Park, wields a rake along with volunteers who completed installation of a playground at Badger Park, behind the Great American, on Friday and Saturday, June 6-7. Talking at right is Karen Armstrong, a Richfield Springs native who is working with Parkitects, the Ithaca-based playground designer; she will be working on 16-20 similar playgrounds over the summer. The work was done by early afternoon Saturday. A reception to celebrate the project is planned at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 22, on the site.

CV-S Senior Class Announces College Plans

Here are the college plans of members of the Cherry Valley-Springfield High School senior class:
Lyla G. Abdallah, SUNY Cobleskill, business management. Jennifer Lynn Bowen, Herkimer County Community College, liberal arts Anthony Franklin Brant, Mohawk Valley Community College, general studies Kendra Lynn Burst, Ithaca College, Speech-language pathology Audrianna Irene Butler, SUNY Delhi, nursing Keegan R. Butts, Herkimer County Community College, criminal justice/cyber security Jordan Alexander Carter, University Northwestern Ohio, high performance motor sports technology Scott Ono Chiba, Temple University, Italian Dylan Joshua Clements, SUNY Cobleskill, general studies Desiree A. Cornelia, Cazenovia College, liberal arts Tylor Cornell, enter the world of work Don P. Corns, enter the world of work Blaze Cayenne Cox, Rotary Exchange Thailand/College Sebastian Daou, Rennsselaer Polytechnic, engineering
Cody Wayne Duncan, Entering the Military Michael Gordon Fassett, SUNY Cobleskill, early childhood education Catherine Grace Fischer, SUNY New Paltz, liberal arts Janet Marie Fish, SUNY Cobleskill, physical education Kaitlyn Ann Fox, Rochester Institute of Technology, accounting/business Steven G. French, University of the Arts, animation Scott H. Fullington, Herkimer County Community College, cybersecurity Barry Charles Gaughan, SUNY Cobleskill, agribusiness Jason R. Guernsey, Elmira College, business Braden Michael Hanlon, Nassau
College, psychology Calvin B. Hardy, LeMoyne College, nursing Zachary S. Hayes, Fulton Montgomery Community College, automotive Technology Nathaniel T. Herringshaw, Fulton Montgomery Community College, general Studies Kyle Thomas Hysack, Utica College, business management Ashley Nicole Jacoby, Ithaca College, history/political science/pre-law Weston Walker Johnson, SUNY Albany, English/pre-law Nicholas Tivon Jordan, Herkimer County Community College, television and radio broadcasting Kyle Shane Kraham, SUNY Cobleskill, agribusiness Laura Rebekah Kroon, University of Kentucky, pre-pharmacy Richard Marvin Lantz, enter the world of work Adrienne Elizabeth Mabie, Utica College, childhood education
Jesse Jon Miller, enter the world of work Tawny Erin Montgomery, Fulton Montgomery Community College, accounting Michelle Louise Natali, Herkimer County Community College,
physical therapy assistant John M. Odbert, SUNY Potsdam, liberal arts Zachary K. Pecenak, American International College, coaching Benjamin D. Prime, enter the world of work Sabrina Marie Proctor, Cazenovia College, equine business Management Robert Kurt Schafsteck,
SUNY Albany, 2 plus 3 law program Lucas F. Sikkema, College, undecided Owen Michael Stenz, SUNY Cobleskill, sciences Matthew Aaron Tracy, entering the world of work Amanda Lynn VanBuren, Hartwick College, liberal arts James Thomas VanDerKrake, Utica College, history
Scott Jeffrey VanDerKrake, Utica College, mathematics education Joseph Varone Jr., entering the world of work Emily Louise Vesely, Mohawk Valley Community College, general Studies
Savannah Marie Whiteman, Herkimer County Community College, criminal justice Devin Lee York, entering the world of work Anthony Dewitt Young, entering the world of work.


EXTENSION HONORS:

Brenda Berstler, entrepreneur and founder of Savor NY, thanks attendees at the Cooperative Extension open house Thursday, June 6, for placing a plaque in her honor in the renovated kitchen. She donated half the proceeds from her cookbook, “Home Plate,” for that purpose. Also honored was Assemblyman Bill Magee, D-Nelson, for obtaining an allocation to renovate
extension headquarters on Lake Street. From left are Executive Director Dinnie Sloman, Magee, Berstler, state Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, and extension President Doug Geertjens.


NEW MOTEL: John Seamon installs a window-frame at The Heritage Inn, the 14-unit motel he and wife Yvette are completing north of Schuyler Lake on Route 28. Yvette hopes to have an associated gift shop featuring local crafts open for business by the Fourth of July. The couple have operated a dairy farm in the area.














NEW CURATOR: Erin Chrissman has joined The Farmers’ Museum as curator. Previously, she was curator at Historic Cherry Hill in Albany, managing relocating the collection to a new facility. Locally, she will focus on refining and enhancing the museum’s collection of artifacts associated with 19th-century agriculture. She received her B.A. from SUNY Geneseo and master’s from the Cooperstown Graduate Program in Museum Studies. The curator position is underwritten by the Tianaderrah Foundation.

FELDSTEIN ELEVATED: Ron Feldstein of Otego, former county representative and an associate broker at Prudential Fox, Oneonta and Cooperstown, has been named president of the Municipal Electric & Gas Alliance’s board of directors. MEGA is the state Association of Counties’ preferred energy-procurement program. A graduate with SUNY Brockport with a master’s from
SUNY Albany, Feldstein was an administrator at SUNY Oneonta for 32 years.

SAILING STANDOUTS: John and Mary Ford (captain/crew) won the Otsego Sailing Club’s Memorial Day Thistleracing series. On June 7, Thistles captained by Jonas Kelly, John Ford and Jerry Phalen finished in that order. A current national champion and one past national champ are expected when 35 boats race this weekend, beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 14-15.

TOP ADVISER: Barron’s has recognized Erna Morgan McReynolds on its list of the “Top 100 Women Financial Advisers” in its June 7 edition. Morgan McReynolds, who has been with Smith Barney for 20 years, is well-known in Cooperstown as a member of the Friends of Bassett and fund-raising activities for civic causes. She and husband Tom live in Franklin.

The Bassett Healthcare team at the 10th annual Otsego County Relay for
Life Friday, May 30, at the Westville Airport included, from left, Pat Hogan,
tumor registrar; Kathy Kasprowicz, Cancer Treatment Center research coordinator; Mary Johnson, Cancer Treatment Center patient service associate and the team coordinator; Regina Oakes, pharmacist; Dr. Barbara Healey, cancer physician, and Lori Harper, tumor registrar.

Labels: Locals

COOPERSTOWN

Jill Ghaleb, the Cooperstown resident and Richfield Springs lawyer, was sworn in at 8:39 today as Otsego County judge, setting the stage for an intriguing fall campaign.
Endorsed by the Democrats, Ghaleb, who is registered as an independent, will have the advantage of incumbency, however short, in her contest against the Republican nominee, Cooperstown lawyer John Lambert, who will have the advantage of predominant GOP registration in the county.
County Judge Brian Burns, her new colleague, swore in the new judge before a crowd of 75 people in the ornate main courtroom of the historic courthouse. Supreme Court Judge Michael V. Coccoma, who she replaces on the county bench, stood to one side.
As county judge, Ghaleb will preside over family, criminal and surrogate courts.
CAPTION: Attorney Ghaleb is sworn in as Otsego County judge by her colleague, County Judge Brian Burns. From left are the judge's mother-in-law, Samira Foster; a law-school friend, Faith Rossello, Greenwich, Conn.; her parents, Bishu and Gouri Dey of North Springfield; her husband Hany, the Richfield Springs dentist, and Supreme Court Judge Michael V. Coccoma.

SPRINGFIELD CENTER

With Madison Square Garden Entertainment's 75,000-spectator music fest hanging over the deliberations, the Springfield town board tonight nonetheless unanimously tabled a proposed nine-month moratorium on commercial development.
The 5-0 vote -- it followed 90 minutes of inputs from a divided crowd of 75 people in the community center -- came after Councilman Rick Morris asked, if a moratorium were enacted, "have we shot Barney's bullet?"
The board decided it needed more time to decide whether the one-time option would better be adopted later in the process of developing a Comprehensive Master Plan and ensuing land-use regulations.
MSG Entertainment, after briefing the 250 members of the public at an informational meeting Wednesday, June 4, the next day submitted its plan for the annual three-day music fest -- it would feature classic rock, C&W, jazz and other genres -- to the town Planning Board.
CAPTION: Rosemary Harrison emphasizes her opposition to MSG Entertainment's proposed music fest. At right is her husband, David.

COOPERSTOWN

The two Pay & Display machines are in place in the Doubleday Field parking lot but, lacking signage, tourists appear unclear on how to use them or whether they need to pay for parking at all.
Until signs that are on order arrive, village DPW chief Brian Clancy put temporary signs at each entry to the parking lot this morning.
For now, the parking lot, usually full at this time of year, was one-third to one-half empty early this afternoon. Observers say all-day parkers, in particular, have moved elsewhere.
CAPTION: DPW Chief Clancy attaches a "Pay At Station" sign directing parkers to the P&D machines in the Doubleday lot.

COOPERSTOWN

CNN was reporting this morning that the national average price of a gallon of regular has moved over the $4 mark to $4.02, but we've been paying more than that for a while in Cooperstown.
At Stewart's on Chestnut Street this morning, a gallon of unleaded regular was $4.119, and next door at Taylor Mini-Mart's Lighthouse, it was $4.139. Unleaded premium was $4.299 at both outlets, and Super Unleaded $4.399. Taylor's sells deisel, and it was up to $5.079

COOPERSTOWN

Intermittent rains failed to dampen the enthusiasm of participants at the 12th annual Farmers' Museum Benefit Horse Show, which continues at Iroquois Farm until 4 p.m. Although the showers drove away some of the fans, there were twice as many entries in this year's show over last.
CAPTION: Katie Lyons, from SUNY Morrisville, exits the ring after a jumping sequence. Tending the gate are Robert Thompson of Hartwick, right, and Leatherstocking Corp. VP Dave Sanford.

COOPERSTOWN

The Tampa Rays picked Cooperstown's Phil Pohl in the 44th round of Friday's Major League Baseball amateur draft. Pohl, a graduating CCS senior who was singled out in this week's Sports Illustrated "Faces in the Crowd" section, was quoted as saying he's flattered to be picked, but the money isn't sufficient to tempt him away from the full scholarship he received to attend Clemson this fall. He was the draft's 1,313th pick.
CAPTION: Phil Pohl raises his hat in salute to CCS fans after the Redskins lost last week to Pulaski, ending this year's run for a sectional title.

NEW LISBON

Dale L. Parker, 68, of Pegg Road, Morris, has died in an ATV crash in the woods off Parker Farm Road here. He had equipped the ATV with a sprayer, seeking to stem the growth of tent caterpillars by spraying along the sap lines and maple trees in his family's sugar bush. Sheriff's deputies, who discovered Parker at 7:52 a.m. Saturday, said it appeared he had swerved to avoid a downed tree and had been thrown from the vehicle.

COOPERSTOWN

Martha Frey has resigned as Otsego 2000 executive director after a decade "to pursue family business matters and do private consulting."
At Otsego 2000, Frey was at the center of every effort to preserve the region, including the Glimmerglass Historic District, the Route 20 Scenic Byway, the annual Historic Preservation Awards Program, and the Cooperstown Farmers’ Market.
“Martha Frey has been a brilliant leader of Otsego 2000, uniting the principles of environmental protection and historic preservation," said Henry S.F. Cooper, Jr., president and founder of Otsego 2000. "...She has been a defining presence."

HARTWICK SEMINARY

With Friday's arrival of the first round of Cooperstown Dreams Park families, the traffic signal in front of the property -- it has been flashing amber since being installed a couple of weeks ago -- has been turned on and is fully functioning. Keep that in mind as you approach on Route 28.

The park will host a record 96 teams a week this year and is adding a week to its season -- it's now up to 12 weeks. Figure it out: 96 times 14 players per team equals 1,344 a week, or 16,128 per summer. Each player brings an average of 3.5 family members, or 56,448. Add the two numbers, and Dreams Park alone will be bringing 72,576 people to the area by the end of August.