SPRINGFIELD

Funeral services will be Saturday for Nancy McBlair Payne Tilton of Briar Hill Farm, Town of Springfield, who died peacefully at her home on Sunday evening. She was 86.
The Office of The Burial of the Dead will be 3 p.m. in St. Agnes Chapel of Christ Episcopal Church, Cooperstown, with the Rev. Samuel B. Abbott, rector, officiating. After a reception in the parish house, committal will be in Lakewood Cemetery.
For a complete obituary, see the next edition of The Freeman's Journal

CHERRY VALLEY

A second Cherry Valley Kite Festival -- the first was in 2006 -- is being planned from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, on Campbell Road, Cherry Valley Artworks announced today.
The $3 admission includes on-site parking. Kids under 10 get in free, and features hayrides, food and music, as well as kite flying.
Other activities include a Children's Kite-Building Workshop, 45, at 9 a.m. at the Old School Gym, precision team flying by Team IQuad, and a 7 p.m. an Indoor Kite Fly at Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School.
Activities will wrap up with a pancake breakfast 7-11 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 21, at the firehouse.
CAPTION: A painting on the first kite festival by Ed Johnson, Fly Creek, is being used for the poster of the second.

COOPERSTOWN

Today is Ida (Sally) Lee's 100th birthday, and will be celebrated this evening with a party at the home of her niece, Nancy Erway, Roseboom. Sally was born in Kansas, but her family moved to Middlefield when she was a young woman. She has lived in Cherry Valley and Hartwick as well as Cooperstown.

COOPERSTOWN

Practice is under way this week for all fall sports in the three school districts around Otsego Lake -- Cooperstown Central, Cherry Valley-Springfield, and Milford Central -- in anticipation of the opening of the 2008-09 school year the day after Labor Day.
TOP CAPTION: JV coach Joe Kennedy puts receivers through the paces this morning at CCS. The JV and varsity teams practice together.
BOTTOM CAPTION: Brenda Wedderspoon's CCS field-hockey team is also training for the season opener.

CHERRY VALLEY

Nik Pressly, the former Cherry Valley town board candidate and a foe of wind development, has is distributing an e-mail explaining why he signed a lease with a natural-gas drilling company.
Pressly said he concluded there would be "minimal risk of cumulative impacts to the community over a long period of time using the horizontal process with 640 acre spacing."
Here is the text of his e-mail:
/nik%20pressly.rtf

Labels: Natural Gas Drilling

The New York State AFL-CIO announced today it is backing Otsego County's two congressmen, Kristen Gillibrand, D-20, and Mike Arcuri, D-24, for reelection. The only Republican endorsed was John McHugh, congressman from Watertown.
The endorsement vote was taken this morning at the AFL-CIO's annual state convention in New York City.

CHERRY VALLEY

Don Brigham, mayor of the Village of Cherry Valley for 15 years, resigned Monday evening, citing time constraints. The resignation is effective Aug. 31, and he will be replaced by Trustee Jeff Stiles.

ALBANY

Natural-gas drilling presents "the potential for an untold level of social and environmental damage," Ron Urban, state chairman of Trout Unlimited, wrote today in the Albany Times-Union.
For the full article, please click here

Labels: Natural Gas Drilling

COOPERSTOWN

Pamela Bliss of Cooperstown has been named principal of St. Mary's School in Oneonta. A 1972 CCS grad, she lives in the Cooperstown area with her family. For the full story, please click here

State Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo has opened investigations into corruption of town officials in connection with wind-farm development in the North Country and elsewhere.
For the full New York Times story, click here
CAPTION: Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo

COOPERSTOWN

The village trustees this evening scheduled a public hearing on a law to create a local Historic Preservation Commission. The hearing will be at the next village board meeting the third Monday in September.
One point of debate was whether a non-resident of the village could serve on the panel if no resident could be found with sufficient historic-preservation credentials. Mayor Carol B. Waller appeared to carry the day, insisting on residency.
Another point was whether the village trustees would act as an appeals body if someone disagreed with a commission recommendation. The trustees voted that any appeals go directly to an Article 78 court proceeding.
Planning Board member Cindy Falk, who has headed the committee studying whether to create a commission, presented the proposal.

FLY CREEK

The funeral Mass for Frederick Karl Knapp, a long-time dairyman and maple-syrup producer, is 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 22, at St. Mary’s “Our Lady of the Lake” Roman Catholic Church. Calling hours are 5-7 p.m. the evening before at Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home. Mr. Knapp, 72, passed away Monday morning.
A full obituary will appear in the next edition of The Freeman's Journal.
CAPTION: Fred Knapp from a family photo.

There may be enough natural gas in the Marcellus Shale Formation to supply the United States' needs for two years, according to two geology professors whose research has only recently come into the spotlight.
For the complete article in the Observer-Dispatch, click here

COOPERSTOWN

Richard and Kathryn Busse's All American Cafe, 99 Main St., won the "Most Attractive Floral Display in a Business Setting" category in the Clark Foundation's annual Cooperstown Beautification Program Contest.
Other first-place winners were:
"Most Effective Overall Planting Which Enhances a Residential Property, As Seen From the Street": Paul and Mary Margaret Kuhn, 51 Chestnut St.
"Most Appropriate Residential of Business Window Box or Boxes and/or Hanging Basket or Baskets": Richard and Barbara Havlik, 94 Fair St.
For full results, see Friday's edition of The Freeman's Journal.
CAPTION: Paul and Mary Margaret Kuhn sit this evening on the front steps of their 51 Chestnut St. home, which won "Most Effective Overall Planting Which Enhances a Residential Property" in this year's Clark Foundation beautification contest.

ALBANY

With Governor Paterson's special session due to begin Tuesday, Alan Chartock had this to say:
"Fiscal crises like the one that we're in currently have one good feature: they offer politicians the opportunity to stand up and say, 'This has got to be done now.' At this juncture, the tax payers may well be in a mood to listen since their tax bills have become so onerous. Just remember that Medicaid is now the biggest target on the scene."
To read Chartock's full column -- posted every Monday -- click here
/chartock%20--%208-18.rtf
CAPTION: Alan Chartock is president of WAMC public radio and publisher of the Legislative Gazette.