The Freemans Journal - Cooperstowns Newspaper Since 1808

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Lightning Hits SteepleAt 1st Pres

COOPERSTOWN

During the wild thunder and lightning storms Tuesday, April 21, lightning struck the steeple at First Presbyterian Church at 9:15 p.m.
A committee meeting was under way in the sanctuary next door, and the Cooperstown Fire Department was summoned quickly to the scene.
Electrician Kevin Preston conducted a subsequent review, and the scene was declared all clear by 11 p.m., according to Katie Boardman, church elder.

LOTS OF CLAMS: Lamont Engineers has told the village’s Zebra Mussel Committee that is will cost between $150,000 and $300,000 to protect the municipal water system from the multiplying mollusks.

TWO RAPES? Mayor Carol B. Waller let on the other day that two rapes are under investigation in the village. Police Chief Diana Nichols said both cases contain complications, making it unlikely either will actually go to prosecution.

HISTORY HOPEFULS: More than 425 middle and high school students from across the state will descend on the New York State Historical Association and The Farmers’ Museum Friday, May 1, for History Day competition.

Labels: 04-24-09, Cooperstown and Around, Front Page

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 9:56 PM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Four Trustees Challenge Mayor

New Bloc Asserts Budget Ignores Deteriorating Streets

By JIM KEVLIN

COOPERSTOWN

A new bloc has emerged on the village board.
Newly elected Trustees Joe Booan and Willis Monie Jr. joined with incumbents Eric Hage and Neil Weiller Wednesday, April 22, to block Mayor Carol B. Waller’s effort to ramrod through the $5 million 2009-10 budget, saying it included almost no money for street repairs.
“Every street between Irish Hill and Brooklyn Avenue is going to be ignored again,” said Hage during the rancorous meeting that lasted from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon, while 20 village employees filled the seats.
Booan, over the objections of Mayor Carol B. Waller and Trustees Jeff Katz and Lynne Mebust, was able to carry the day, requiring Public Works Superintendent Brian Clancy to return to the session – to be reconvened Monday, April 28, at 7 p.m. – with a list of street priorities.
The new bloc was also concerned that, with 57 percent of the village’s budget going to personnel, 2 percent raises and a 4.47 percent increase in the tax levy, not a single reduction is being made in salaries, staffing levels, hours, overtime, or any other people-related budget lines.
“Are you saying our streets are more important than our employees?” said Waller.
Before the budget is adopted – the deadline is April 30 – the trustees have options: reducing the work week, cutting back hours, and so on, said Hage. After the deadline, the only option is jobs cuts, he said.
At several points, the meeting became heated.
At one point, Katz challenged Hage: “That’s just bulls–-. That’s just straight out bulls–-.” He added a few moments later, “I think you’re lying about that.”
At another point, Mebust was on the verge of tears.
When the mayor recognized Hage, then Weiller, in particular, she constantly interrupted when they tried to express their points.
At one point, she went after a surprised county Rep. Jim Johnson, R-Fly Creek, when he suggested the trustees might be wise not to count on the $100,000 from the county board until it is actually allocated. Plus, he said, adjustments in Workers’ Comp may add another $30,000 to village costs.
“You’re starting $120,000, $130,000 in the hole,” he advised.
That cause Waller to take a dig or two at Johnson, asking him what county Treasurer Myrna Thayne is making ($63,000) compared to Village Treasurer Mary Ann Henderson ($40,000).
“The county treasurer oversees a $116 million budget,” said Johnson. “I don’t think that’s fair.”
He said other public entities are looking into attrition, consolidation and shared services.
At another point, Booan pointed out his budget – he is Milford BOCES principal – is coming in at 1 percent, the CCS budget is at 1.9 percent and most school districts are coming in under 3 percent.
“Without firing anybody?” asked the mayor.
“Yes, we had layoffs,” said Booan.

Labels: 04-24-09, Front Page

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 9:51 PM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Ex-Publisher Bernhardt: Shut Down The Mercury

We’re Not Seeking Fight, Just To Serve Community, New Publisher Responds

Editor’s Note: Since the Richfield Springs Newspaper only has one reporter – Editor & Publisher Jim Kevlin – he had to both report and be interviewed for this article. In the interest of full disclosure, the editor who wrote this note is also Jim Kevlin.

RICHFIELD SPRINGS

An attorney for Jay Bernhardt, the publisher who suspended publication of “The Mercury” Thursday, April 9, has directed the publisher who is seeking to maintain The Richfield Springs Mercury, which has served this community since 1867, to “cease and desist.”
The lawyer, Virginia A. Hoveman of the Syracuse firm Green • Seifter, wrote in an April 21 letter that continued use of the name, Richfield Springs Mercury, “constitutes a willful violation of the trademark rights and additional common law rights. The statutory penalties for such willful infringement include rights to claim attorneys fees and costs.”
Editor & Publisher Jim Kevlin, who reinstated the combined edition of The Freeman’s Journal & Richfield Springs Mercury Friday, April 17, said his interest is in serving the Richfield Springs area – readers and advertisers – and thereby strengthening both publications and the communities they serve.
“I’m surprised,” said Kevlin after receiving the letter. “I know Jay loves the Mercury. I thought he would be glad to see someone pick up the torch. I was looking forward to his advice and support.”
Kevlin said The Freeman’s Journal owns the name, not Bernhardt, but that a protracted legal argument serves no one: For the time being, the publication will bear the generic name, Richfield Springs Newspaper.
“Rather than fight with Jay,” he said, “we thought it might be fun to hold a ‘name your newspaper’ contest – maybe with a $200 prize to the winning entry. Watch next week’s paper for details.”
Contacted Wednesday, April 22, at his winter home in Florida for comment, Bernhardt said, “I have an important call on the other line,” and that he would call back, but no call was received.
After the first edition of the combined Journal/Mercury hit the stands, Jason Bernhardt, associate publisher of “The Mercury,” sent Kevlin an e-mail, CC’d to associates in Richfield Springs, calling him “a liar and a thief.”
Wednesday, April 22, father and son e-mailed a joint statement titled, “Don’t Be Deceived,” to advertisers and subscribers.
“Kevlin – or anyone else – has every right to publish a newspaper in Richfield Springs, but he doesn’t have the right to publish under our name or make false claims that we support it. It’s deceitful and it should make potential readers and advertisers wonder what else he’s capable of deceiving them about,” the statement said.
At least, said Kevlin, the Bernhardts recognize they “don’t own the First Amendment in Richfield Springs. Yes, we do have a right to publish a newspaper to serve the community and we intend to do so.
“‘Deceitful’ and ‘deceiving’ are strong words, and I’m surprised they are being bandied about so indiscriminately,” he said.
The name, Richfield Springs Mercury, was chosen by its founding editor, Henry L. Brown, who in 1867 declared, “It now appears to be decided that the rapid growth of Richfield Springs is a sure guarantee of the success and permanency of a weekly newspaper.” (Mercury was the Roman god of commerce.)
The newspaper was in continuous publication until 1972, when it closed and Fred Lee, then owner of The Freeman’s Journal, bought the mailing list, name and other remaining assets.
For several years, The Freeman’s Journal continued to run the flag, “Richfield Springs Mercury,” inside the newspaper on a page dedicated to Richfield Springs news.
In 2003, when Jay Bernhardt revived the Richfield Springs Mercury as an independent entity, he paid the then-owners of The Freeman’s Journal, Michael Moffatt and Lin Vincent, $1,000 a year for rights to the name.
After two payments, Bernhardt decided Moffatt and Vincent did not own the name, and he suspended payments and on April 11, 2006, filed for registered-trademark status with the U.S. Patent & Trademarks Office.
On Aug. 13, 2008, Bernhardt filed a small claim in Cooperstown Village Court against Otsego Templeton Inc., Moffatt and Vincent’s company, seeking to regain the $2,000. The papers were incorrectly served on Iron String Press, current Freeman’s Journal owner, so the case was dismissed.
At the time, however, M.J. Kevlin, Freeman’s Journal business manager, checked with the New York Department of State and discovered no one had a certificate of assumed name on “Richfield Springs Mercury.” For $85, she reclaimed the name on behalf of The Freeman’s Journal.
“I understand that Jay continued to pursue his argument with Otsego Templeton and eventually lost,” said Jim Kevlin, “which is why ‘Richfield Springs’ was removed from the newspaper’s flag – and its Web site – the last few months it was published by the Bernhardts’ company.
“Given the history and conflicting claims,” he continued, “The Freeman’s Journal claim is longstanding and as good – better – than any of the others.”
The point, he added, is that The Freeman’s Journal is intending to actually publish a newspaper – cover the news and serve advertisers – and no one else is.
However, Kevlin went on, “last time I spoke with Jay, he mentioned that his JGB Enterprises grosses $60 million on a given year, and doubled that last year by building a desalination plant for Iraq. The last thing I want to do is get into a fight with Jay Bernhardt.”
For at least the next three weeks, he said, the combined publication – The Freeman’s Journal & Richfield Springs Newspaper – will continue to be mailed to 2,089 households and businesses, all the mailing addresses in the Richfield Springs and Jordanville zip codes.
“This is a big opportunity for advertisers to maximize the impact of their messages,” he said. “Let’s embrace the ‘Mercury’ tradition, whatever we call it.”
For readers and citizens at large, he continued, the newspaper will promote community life, recognize accomplishments, connect people and foster debate.
“We’re here to serve you,” Kevlin said. “If you have news to report or advice to share, I’ll see you around town. Or just pick up the phone. You’ll find I’ll be glad to hear from you.”
Call him at (607) 547-6103.

Labels: 04-24-09, Front Page

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 9:39 PM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

The Spirit Of Elderhostel Keeps Oneonta Couple Fully Engaged

By LAURA COX

Hostels.
You imagine youthful peregrinations to romantic locales – Germany, Spain or Greece – new places filled with history and romance, learning about yourself and sharing your experiences with similarly minded young people you meet in youth hostels along the way.
Elderhostel. The dream doesn’t die.
For English professor George Richards, 71, and school psychologist Jane Ford Richards, 61, who retired to Oneonta in 2000, Elderhostel is a way to carry that youthful drive into the retirement years.
The Richardses first started taking Elderhostel-like trips before actually joining Elderhostel for the real deal. Looking through trip catalogs in the Library and online they learned about the different Elderhostel-trip destinations and then would plan their own trips using the catalog itineraries as guides.
For more than 30 years now, Elderhostel has been planning exotic and less-exotics trips for people 55 and up who are dissatisfied with a sedentary retirement.
More than 8,000 programs are offered annually, from classical music in the Catskills Mountains or at Glimmerglass Opera to experiencing the culture of Italy while touring its lake district.
While contemplating Elderhostel, the Richardses took a personal Elderhostel to the Vesterheim Norwegian American Heritage Museum in Decorah, Iowa, to experience Jane’s Norwegian heritage.
Like “rosemaling,” Norweigan rose painting, and “lefse,” potato tortillas, and experiencing church services in the Norwegian tongue.
Their first real Elderhostel trip quickly followed, birding on the Rio Grande in January 2005, where they observed the elegant trogon, roadrunners, chachalaca and green jay rarely seen north of Texas. (They visited their grandchild in Huntsville, Ala., on the way down.)
“We learn so much from the guides and other participants,” Jane recalled.
“And it’s so exciting to be around others who love to learn,” George added.
And they’ve made friends they continue to correspond with.
People use these trips for family gatherings, sisters and brothers go on them together, friends use them as a get-away and old college roommates meet up to spend time together, according to the Richardses.
Jane and George often drive to destinations, instead of flying, to make the whole trip part of the experience. En route to the Grand Targhee Resort, they researched the Oregon Trail and followed it out, stopping at historic markers and examining ruts in the ground and rocks left by innumerable wagon wheels.
Many of the participants have special activities they do in correlation with their trips. George said they once met a man whose goal was to photograph all the state flowers; his wife wanted to see all state capitol buildings.
So far, the Oneontans have taken nine trips, including exploring the Gilded Age along the Hudson River, the witch trials in Salem, and Glacier National Park in Montana. They have their 10th Elderhostel trip planned next month, visiting Winterthur and many other museums.
They’ve met people who have taken 50 trips, meeting one man who said he only continued working so he could afford to take the trips. Fellow travelers have ranged from 55 into the 80s and even 90s.
“What is great about these trips is you show up and everything is taken care of, housing, transportation, tickets and all your meals unless specified,” said Jane.
“These trips are for people who like to learn. If you like to just watch TV and shop, then it’s not for you,” said George.
Right now, the Richardses are taking trips that require walking and hiking, planning to save the most sedentary outings until later.
“Many people are so specialized in their jobs and they have always wanted to know more about X and here’s the chance to learn more about crafts, golf, weaving, card games and more,” said George.

Free-Spirited Professor Founded Elderhostel In 1970s

Elderhostel was founded in the 1975 by Marty Knowlton, a world traveler who was also free spirited and a former educator, and David Bianco, a University of New Hampshire administrator, according to elderhostel.org.
After backpacking through Europe and staying in youth hostels, Knowlton was impressed with the concept: “safe, inexpensive lodgings and opportunities to meet fellow travelers.”
He was also impressed with the “folk schools” of Scandinavia, where older generations handed down the age-old traditions of folk art, music, lore and dance to younger generations. American did not have anything like this; Knowlton thought that should change.
Knowlton returned home and shared his conclusions with Bianco, then director of residential life at the University, who was equally enthusiastic and decided the school “ought not to have youth hostel; it ought to be having an elder hostel.”
And the name was born.
The next summer University of New Hampshire and four other schools offered the first Elderhostel programs to 220 participants who were lodged at the schools and able to take not-for credit classes on a variety of subjects.
It took off.
By 1980, 20,000 participants took classes in all 50 states and Canada, the program promoted almost solely by word-of-mouth.
Not always run through a University, Elderhostels are always led by an instructor with a lot of knowledge to offer about a topic.
Almost all the programs include a series of lectures to learn more about the subject of the trip as well as hands on experiences and interactions with the subject matter.
– LC

Labels: 04-24-09, Glimmerglass

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 9:38 PM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Something’s Happening, And It May Be Very Big

Ioxus Trailblazing Here, As Did Fairchild Aviation, IBM

By JIM KEVLIN

In 1889, Oneonta’s Harlow E. Bundy patented the “International Time Recorder.” It grew into IBM.
At the end of World War I, Oneonta’s young Sherman Fairchild figured out the mystery of aerial surveillance and grew that idea and others into huge Fairchild Aviation.
On May 1, 2009, Michael Pentaris’ staff at 118 Winney Hill Road is due to begin manufacturing something that must have been as obscure as an “International Time Recorder” was 120 years ago: “electric double-layer capacitors (EDLC) and modules using EDLCs.”
You may know this company as of offshoot of Custom Electronics Inc., founded in 1963 by Peter Dokuchitz, who at 81 is still chairman of the board.
You may know it as REDI (Renewable Energy Development Inc.), which has been heralded as possibly creating 185 jobs over the next five years, in a recession yet.
As of the other day, however, the operation in low-slung, unassuming buildings across the road from the former Ames Plaza on the west end is known as Ioxus, an ancient Greek word associated with “power,” coined by Chad Hall, the company’s chief operating officer.
A capacitor is what takes a power source and applies it: For instance, power is stored in a camera flash; you push the shutter button, the capacitor turns that power into the flash, explained NYSERDA spokesman Ray Hull.
By doing so, however, the capacitor draws down the power source. Ioxus’ product – marketed under the brand Redicaps – will use the power without degrading the source, according to Pentaris.
Eureka.
Redicaps – they look like regular batteries with plugs sticking out the top – will be used to extend the life of things like flashlights.
But think down the road: Adapted and enlarged, Ioxus’ double-capacitors, theoretically, could allow electric cars to run, not quite forever, but for an extended time, Pentaris said.
Think about the National Power Grid. Demand and supply spike and plummet over a typical 24-hour cycle. Ioxus’ double-capacitors, huge ones, could conceivably even out those peaks and valleys.
NYSERDA – the New York State Energy Research & Development Agency – is particularly interested in what the Redicaps concept means for evening out wind and solar power, where production fluctuates in the breeze, said Hull.
That’s why NYSERDA gave Ioxus $1.6 million last week, and has funded it with other incentives over the past few years.
“The technology shows great promise,” according to the press release announcing the latest loan, “because it stores much more electrical energy than traditional capacitors, therefore making it attractive for use in combination with batteries, solar cells and other power sources.”
Pentaris said Ioxus expects to have 30-35 employes by the end of this year. “If things go well, we could create a lot of jobs,” he added the other day during an interview at Ioxus’ headquarters.
A building is under construction in back of the current one for Phase 2 – it’s hush-hush, and Pentaris can’t talk about it with any specificity. A third building is rising behind that, for Phase 3.
In addition to Pentaris, who is president & CEO of both Ioxus and Custom Electronics – it is located on 87 Browne St. , but has distributorships all over the world – and COO Hall, the third key player is Thor Eilertsen, chief technical officer. (Thor, coincidentally, is the Norse god of thunder.)
The president & CEO pours praise on both of the key players, both Oneontans and engineers.
Eilertsen, who had worked for Bendix in Sidney and Astrocom in the Town of Oneonta, is “brilliant” in his ability to “think out of the box,” Pentaris said.
His boss acknowledges, “I hired him on instinct. I liked his brain. I liked the way he thought. We were proven right.”
The other was Hall, who “showed a lot of ambition and drive”
Touring the plant is a bit like walking through the Death Star (or, for the benefit of an earlier generation, the Starship Enterprise) – everything is pristine, glass, glowing ivory paint, stainless steel knobs.
Chad Hall explains that activated carbon is used to form an unspecified slurry, which is then treated and injected into the battery casing, but the details are proprietary. There’s a dry room, where humidity is .08 percent, where the treatment extends the product’s longevity.
During the tour, the manufacturing staff was testing the final product to make sure standards were met.
As soon as the testing is complete – any day now – Ioxus’ Redicaps will go forth to meet a brave new world.

HOMETOWN PROFILE: ‘Horatio Alger’ Pentaris

By JIM KEVLIN

When Mikhail Pentaris was a boy on Cyprus, his family was so poor he didn’t know that some families actually sat down to dinner.
“My mother would make me a slice of toast, put butter on it and say, ‘Here you go’,” said Pentaris, who was raised in the port city of Larnaca in a tiny house with his parents, two sisters, a brother and an uncle.
His mother’s kitchen was in a shipping crate in the back yard.
That’s a long time ago, 40-plus years, and a long way from where Michael Pentaris, 50, is today, as president & CEO of Custom Electronics Inc., and its subsidiary, Ioxus.
In recent days, Ioxus received a $1.6 million NYSERDA loan that will finance production of the company’s futuristic electric double-layer capacitors which, if they live up to their promise, could revolutionize power generation and transmission as we know it.
Poor, yes, but young Mikhail and his siblings were bright kids and their mother, Joanna, recognized it, and was able to obtain scholarships to Larnaca’s American Academy through high school. (“I found it fascinating that I could speak a foreign language,” he said.)
After a stint in the Cyrus national guard – he was astonished that he, “a poor kid,” was chosen to attend officers’ training, Mike, afraid of heights, nonetheless was washing windows on multi-story buildings for a living when he received word he had been accepted at Brescia College in Owensboro, Kent.
Things just accelerated from there.
He fell in love with his future wife, Therese, a student from Elmira, and when she moved back to SUNY Binghamton a couple of years in, Mike followed.
When he was awarded his bachelor’s in accounting, she went back to school for her master’s. When she was done, Mikhail Pentaris, raised in poverty on a faraway island, received a SUNY Binghamtom MBA.
Horatio Alger lives.
Things continued to break his way, even when they didn’t seem to. For instance, he didn’t pass his CPA.
“That was the best thing that DIDN’T happen to me,” he says today. “I’m just not a behind-the-scenes kind of guy.”
He went to Boston looking for an accounting job, where he met “a lot of declines and disappointments,” when he was offered a job back in central New York and found himself at D.M. Graham Laboratories in Hobart.
Graham happend to be going through a trouble spot, and Pentaris discovered he thrives in challenging times.
The young man was assigned to lay off 25 percent of the workforce and position the company for the next stage of growth. That eventually led to Graham’s sale to Mallinckrodt Inc. of Chicago: Graham made capsules; Mallinckrodt made the Acetaminophen that went into the capsule.
The combined company was eventually sold to Tyco International, and Pentaris stayed on a couple of years. But it was too big for the hands-on manager, who was recruited away six years ago by Custom Electronics Inc. President, CEO and founder, Peter Duchovitz.
“The first thing he told me: ‘There’s no money to cover payroll’,” recalled Pentaris. He was back in his element. He succeeded – he credits Wilber Bank Senior VP Jeff Lord with getting the company over the hurdle.
And, a year later, Duchovitz, who remained and remains chairman of the board, elevated his protege to president & CEO.
Meanwhile, he and Therese – she is a teacher at Oneonta Middle School – were raising five children, Joanna (after her dad’s mother), now 26 and working for Fidelity in Boston; Alexia, 23, in pharmacy school; Mikhail, 21, who’s at Hartwick College, and Dimitros, 14, and Antonio, 11, both in Oneonta schools.
The fortunate son maintained his ties to his homeland, where his brother and sisters have retired from banking and retail. He bought a penthouse apartment in Larnaca, where he can see his boyhood haunts from a different perspective, and visits a couple of times a year.
Things had clicked.
“What I like about Pete,” said Pentaris of his mentor at Custom, “is that he trusted me a lot. That means a lot to me.”
That trust turned out to be well-placed.
“I tried to move expenses out without hurting the ‘infrastructure,’ the knowledge and skills we would need to grow,” said Pentaris. “We replaced 2-3 people, setting up for the future ... We tried to accommodate everything we did to prepare for the future.”
And so, with Ioxus planning to start up its manufacturing line May 1, the future has arrived.
“I was poor. I didn’t have anything. It was a dream,” said Mike Pentaris. “I was a dreamer.”
And so the dream came true.

Labels: 04-24-09, Front Page

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 9:36 PM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Blues & BBQ

EVAN JAGELS

NIGHT LIFE

In front of the right lungs and under the right fingers, the tenor saxophone can have the fattest sound – dark and deep as the baritone yet agile as the alto.
Take it out of the context of jazz, strip it down and turn it up, and you’re left with a sound both lyrical and guttural – warm yet with a slight bite of bourbon growling through the brass bell. 
You’re left with the sound of an icon like Eddie Shaw.
In a long overdue act of spontaneous support of live professional music, the Redneck BBQ on Route 28, Hartwick Seminary, welcomed the Chicago bluesman and his Wolf Gang Friday, April 17, to a sold out house of fans, jumping and dancing into the night.
“The blues is the foundation,” Shaw said.
There could be a great old mansion on a hill, but holding up that mansion is a foundation that isn’t easily seen or necessarily appreciated, he said.
The blues is this foundation, and ought to be kept alive in its true form.
Shaw, whose main instrument is the tenor (though he also plays alto saxophone, harmonica, and sings) was a prominent member of the urban blues movement of the 1960s and ’70s. 
As the blues moved out of rural regions and into urban centers, of which Chicago is most notable, it became more of an electric art form. 
Shaw (b. 1937), who grew up in the heart of the Mississippi Delta before moving to Chicago, has had a career which was very much an important part of the development of the blues after the late 1950s.  
Though the Wolf Gang is best known as the back up band for legendary bluesman Howlin’ Wolf until his death in 1975, Shaw began playing with Muddy Waters’ band in 1957. 
After two years, though, he left Muddy for Howlin’ Wolf.  He also played with Otis Rush, Magic Sam, Hound Dog Taylor, and many others. 
Furthermore, his music has been recorded by John Hammond, Howlin’ Wolf and Willie Dixon, to name a While the list of legends with which Eddie Shaw is associated goes on, his music and playing stand alone and are perhaps best exemplified by a quote in 1992 in the Chicago Tribune.
“I think playing the horn like I do is something like the old Baptist preacher,” he said.  “When a Baptist preacher preaches in church, everybody listens.  He shouts out what he wants you to hear, and he brings it to you in such a way that you’re gonna listen.”
He certainly had the command of an eager and responsive congregation at the Redneck, where he was also joined by his son, Eddie “Vaan” Shaw Jr. – a breath-taking musician with near waist-length dred locks and a virtuosic command of the blues guitar. 
Raised around blues masters, “Vaan” pretty much grew up with a guitar in his hand and learned the basics from Magic Sam and Hubert Sumlin – some impressive early mentors.
After such a large explosion of blues music in decades past, such an intimate yet hard-hitting performance from some authentic members of the blues community showed what “house rocking” is all about. 
This was no concert at some hall of preservation tribute to important American music.  Ironically, the music was very much in its original context here in Otsego County – a loud, foot-stomping, yet intimate community gathering and celebration. 
Maybe not at a bar in the south side of Chicago or a slow grind in the Mississippi Delta of a half century past, but there was much of the same feeling. 
A special thanks to Josh Cassell and Jimmy Dangl of the Redneck BBQ for hosting a great event.  It was the first of what they hope to turn into a local tradition.

The Night Life column appears weekly. Contact Evan at evanjagels@yahoo.com

Labels: 04-24-09, Columns, Evan Jagels, Glimmerglass, Night Life

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 9:35 PM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Settlers Came To Wild West, Then Murder

OLD TIME OTSEGO

HUGH MacDOUGALL

In Eighteen Hundred Twenty Seven Poor Kelley broke the law of Heaven He murdered his poor tenant there Who took his farm to work on share.

At 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 3, 1827, Levi Kelley, a nephew of Cooperstown’s founder William Cooper, brutally murdered Abraham Spafard. Most accounts have focused on Kelley’s public hanging some four months later. But there is more to the story.
Abraham Spafard was born in Lebanon, Connecticut. In 1806, he married Sally Williams (c.1795-1854), and they had eight children. They were poor, and in 1823 the family moved west to Otsego County.
There, in April 1827, they rented a farm in Pierstown owned by Levi Kelley, sharing the crops with him as rent. They also shared his double farmhouse, occupying the newer part while Levi and his wife lived in the older part.
In the words of a contemporary account, Spafard was “of a remarkably mild, conciliatory, and forbearing temper.”
Levi Kelley was a son of Ann Cooper (1759-1818), a sister of William Cooper, the founder of Cooperstown. Her first husband, Daniel Kelley (1757-1787) had been a Revolutionary veteran, but when he died his widow (and her three sons) were left penniless in Philadelphia.
Ann’s brother William Cooper took pity on them (as he did on a number of poor relations) and brought them to Cooperstown about 1796, where she married Jabez Hubbell (1758-1836) of Fly Creek.
Levi prospered.
In 1805 he opened a store on Cooperstown’s main street where he offered “A neat and General Assortment of Dry Goods, Groceries of a Superior Quality, Ironmongery, Crockery, and Glass Ware.”
He became a millwright, building many of the water-powered mills along Oaks Creek, and was noted for his skill. In June 1812, now living in Pierstown, he advertised in the Cooperstown Federalist a full set of saw-mill Irons, plus a 6 1/2 foot saw blade, on credit.
He was, however, “a perfect torpedo, exploding with the least and most delicate touch,” and his fits of uncontrolled anger were legendary.
On May 22, 1817, Levi Kelley married Lucy Carr (1778-1855), in the Cooperstown Presbyterian Church where his wife was a member. She contributed half the cost of a new farm in Pierstown, but Levi had the papers drawn up in his name only, and when she complained he shook his fist in her face, shouting “That is your deed.” He slept with a loaded shotgun at the head of his bed.
From the moment Abraham Spafard and his family moved into the Kelley farmhouse in April 1827, their relations went badly.
In June, Kelley snarled to a bystander about the way Spafard was mowing a field, saying: “Look at that damned Spafard; he is going to eat up all my meadow... If he don’t behave better than he has done, I’ll put a ball through him before summer is over. There’s no mistake in that!”
On Aug. 24, 1827, Kelley drove his fine matched team of horses to Albany to attend the public hanging of convicted murderer Jesse Strang, a popular event that brought over 15,000 people into the city.
Little more than a week later, on the afternoon of Sept. 3, Levi Kelley found Spafard harvesting oats, and repeatedly accused him of wrongfully unloading them.
A little later, Kelley – apparently still furious – called into his room John Clark, a young farm laborer (some say he was lame) who was working for Spafard. There followed a prolonged and angry scene.
Kelley grabbed Clark by the throat and tried to choke him. Spafard, alerted by one of his daughters, intervened. Kelley then turned on Spafard, and there was a further struggle before Spafard freed himself and, with Clark, returned to his side of the house.
Levi Kelley then ran to his bedroom, grabbed his loaded shotgun, rushed into Spafard’s room and immediately shot him in the chest in front of his family, not to mention his own wife Lucy Kelley.
Abraham Spafard exclaimed, “O Lord! I am dead,” and expired in the arms of his wife Sally. A coroner’s jury indicted Kelley for murder, and he was arrested and charged.

NEXT WEEK: The Trial of Levi Kelley

Labels: 04-24-09, Glimmerglass, Hugh MacDougall, Old Time Otsego

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 9:33 PM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Locals

FOOD FILLS ST. MARY’S ALTAR

Father John P. Rosson, pastor of St. Mary’s “Our Lady of the Lake” Roman Catholic Church, Elm Street, tallies up donations of food that piled up on the altar during Lent. After Easter, the provisions were donated to the Cooperstown Food Bank. Father Rosson said, despite the economy downturn, donations came in at a record rate.

Trever Wins Fulbright To Study Abroad

Lisa Trever, daughter of Joseph and Donna Senchyshyn of Cooperstown, has been awarded a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad grant to support seven months of research in Peru for her Ph.D. dissertation.
Trever, a 1996 graduate of Cooperstown High School, is a doctoral candidate in History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University. Her dissertation examines the social and religious uses of images on monumental architecture on the north coast of Peru during the first millennium A.D.

GUZIK SHINES: There were six tables for Senior Citizen’s bridge on Tuesday, April 21, at the Clark Sports Center. No slams were bid or made. First place was won by Judy Guzik, scoring 6,230, second place was won by Marion Maxson, scoring 5,560, and third place was won by Ruth Livermore with a score of 5,440. Esther Brooks won the Special Prize. The group meets at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesdays; all are welcome. Bring a bag lunch and coffee and tea will be provided. If you have any questions, please call Marge Ludecker at 547-2471 or Janet Gorman at 547-4423.

DELONG RUNS: Doug Delong, of Cherry Valley, finished 16,695 overall in the Boston Marathon with a time of 4:05:26 on Monday, April 20. There were about 28,000 runners. He placed 10,628 among men and 756 in the 50-55 age group.

NEW EDITION: Frederick Allen Hensley Jr., Bassett Healthcare’s chief of anesthesiology and of perioperative services has published a fourth edition of “A Practical Approach to Cardiac Anesthesia.” This is the best-selling subspecialty text in the field of cardiac anesthesiology used across the United States and Canada. 15,000 copies were sold last year.

NEW ROTARIANS: John Mason and Ryan Miosek were inducted into the Cooperstown Rotary Club Tuesday, April 21, sponsored by the Rev. Sam Abbott and Tom Heitz respectively.

Labels: 04-24-09, Locals

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 9:30 PM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

OBITUARIES

Leslie M. D. Stocking, 75, Springfield Area Dairy Farmer

EAST SPRINGFIELD – Leslie M. D. “Jiggs” Stocking, 75, passed away unexpectedly April 19, 2009.
He was born July 28, 1933, in Cooperstown, the son of Leslie and Ida May (Barrett) Stocking. He married Marion J. Rice on January 14, 1962 in Newville Union Church.
A lifelong Springfield area resident, he was a dairy farmer. He was a 50 year member of the Eastern Milk Producers and a member of the Dairy Farmers of America. He enjoyed baseball, basketball, dancing and farming.
Survivors include his wife of 47 years, Marion Stocking, sons; Bill and his wife Cheryl, Mike and his wife Michelle, Gene and his wife Kim, Randy and his wife Brenda, daughters; Kay Carson and her husbandKen, Tammy Stocking, 12 grandchildren, 1 great grandson, a sister Dorothy Smith, several nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by a sister Jennie Rathbun.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, April 24, at 11 a.m. at the Ottman Funeral Home, with Rev. Alan Miller officiating. Burial will be in the Springfield Center Cemetery.
Friends may call from 6-9 p.m. on Thursday, April 23, at the funeral home, family will be in attendance.
Contributions in Mr. Stocking’s memory may be made to the Springfield First Responders or the Cherry Valley Emergency Squad. Arrangements were entrusted to the Ottman Funeral Home, Cherry Valley.

Bruno S. Egnaczyk, 90

SPRINGFIELD CENTER – Bruno S. Egnaczyk, 90, passed away Thursday, April 16, 2009, in Little Falls Hospital.
He was born January 7, 1919, in Sublet, Wyo., the son of Kasper and Stephine (Wisniewski) Egnaczyk. He married Mary Skvarek on Nov. 25, 1965. She predeceased him in 1985.
Survivors include four sisters; Mary Kaminski of Springfield Center, Sophie Misiolek of Springfield Center, Anna Grycan of Parma Hts., Oh., Theresa Napierkowski of Boonville, a brother Edward Egnaczyk of Sharon Springs, a sister-in-law Dorothy Egnaczyk, a sister-in-law Ruth Egnaczyk and several nieces and nephews.
Besides his wife he was predeceased by brothers; Thaddeus Egnaczyk, Joseph Egnaczyk, Anthony Egnaczyk, and brother-in-law Zigmont Napierkowski.
Funeral services were held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 21, at St. Thomas Church, Cherry Valley with Father John Roos officiating.
Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, Ohio.
Arrangements were entrusted to the Ottman Funeral Home, Cherry Valley.

Labels: 04-24-09, Obituaries

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 9:09 PM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Pre-Ride Bicycle Inspection: The ABC Quick Check

DENNIS SAVOIE

RE: CYCLING

This brief pre-ride bicycle safety check ensures a pleasant ride by preventing mechanical problems that could result in a crash. With practice this inspection takes less than one minute.
• “A” is for AIR: a) Check the air pressure in your tires with a gauge. Air slowly diffuses out of normal inner tubes and needs to be replenished at least once weekly. Underinflated tires increase rolling resistance making you work harder than necessary to move your bike forward. In addition, underinflated tires set the scene for “snakebite” flats which occur when the rim of your wheel pinches holes in the poorly inflated tube. Overinflated tires result in a less comfortable ride, reduce bike control, and may cause a flat from an exploded tube. b) While checking the air pressure also check the general condition of the tires. Is there damage to the sidewall? Are there bulges? Is fabric showing through a worn spot in the rubber?
• “B” is for BRAKES: When you squeeze your front brake lever, you should not be able to push your bike forward. The bottom of the lever should not touch the handlebar. When you release the lever it should snap back into position. Inspect the brake cables/housings for kinks or cracks. Make sure the brake pads are not worn and they are positioned on the center of the rim when the brake lever is squeezed. Finally, lift the wheel off the ground and spin it to see if the wheel rubs on a brake pad (if it does, either the brake is not centered, or the wheel is wobbling “out of true” because the spokes need adjustment. Do the same inspection for the rear brake.
• “C” is for CHAIN, CRANKS/CHAINRING, CASSETTE (rear cogs or gears): When you rotate the bicycle’s cranks the attached chainring(s) move the chain which rotates the rear cassette driving the rear wheel forward in a certain gear. This entire assembly is called the drivetrain. Grab the crankarms and try to wiggle them from side to side away from the bike. If there is lateral movement the crank bolts or the bottom bracket bearings may be loose. Inspect the drivetrain by rotating the crank backward: the chain should move over the teeth in the chainrings and cogs smoothly; if the chain hops up, a tooth may be bent/worn, or a chainlink may be twisted. Make sure the chain is properly lubricated.
• “Quick” is for QUICK RELEASE: The wheels are clamped to the bicycle with a convenient and effective quick release mechanism. The quick release has a thumb nut on one side to adjust tightness and a curved lever on the other side to securely close the clamp. When the quick release lever is in the closed position, its curve bends toward the bike. With the wheel properly seated in its dropout, close the quick release lever partially until you feel mild resistance. Then adjust the thumb nut so that when the quick release lever is completely closed it exerts enough pressure on your palm to momentarily leave an impression.
• “Check” is for CHECK IT OVER: Put on your helmet and take a brief, slow ride before you depart. Can you shift into all gears smoothly? Do your brakes work? Do they squeal as you stop? Are there any unusual noises? If not, enjoy your ride!
Don’t know how to change a flat or adjust your brakes/shifters? Call to sign up for a free Basic Bicycle Maintenance and Repair Course at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 30, at Sport Tech in Oneonta (432-1731) or 7 p.m. Thursday, May 21, at Cooperstown Bicycle Works, (547-9355).
Next week: Bicycle Commuting

To join ORCA or to obtain more information about Bike to Work Day, May 13, call Martha Clarvoe, OCCA President, at 607-547-4020

Labels: 04-24-09, Columns

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 9:00 PM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

BOUND VOLUMES

175 YEARS AGO

The political meeting held at the Presbyterian Meeting House in this Village on Tuesday last, was an exceedingly gratifying exhibition of the Democracy of Otsego. Although the day was unfavorable to a large assemblage, the weather being wet and uncomfortable, still the numbers present have been variously estimated from 800 to 1,000, embracing many of the patriarchs of the Republican party, together with a large number of the hard-knuckled yeomanry of the County; men who – “Eat their own hams, their chickens and lambs, and shear their own fleeces and wear them.”
April 28, 1834

150 YEARS AGO

Advertisements – Clirehugh’s Patent Tricophorous for the Hair. This preparation will prevent baldness and gray hair, restore it to its original color, entirely remove dandruff, &c. Price 25 cents. Female syringes – four ounce glass female syringes for sale. Marshall’s Uterine Catholicon for female complaints, dropsical swellings, diseases of the kidneys, &c. Trusses – Marsh’s double and single trusses; Bartlett’s & Thompson’s; also youths’ and infants’ trusses, supporters, shoulder braces, suspensary bandages, &c., all for sale by P. Roof.
April 22, 1859

125 YEARS AGO

American Girls – The London World in a leading article is very severe on American girls. It says they are showy, restless, and totally devoid of all repose and personal dignity; that they have no idea of the carriage of a lady; that their only idea is to be ‘smart’ and ‘piquant;’ and that they lack the real graces of womanhood. American civilization, the writer says, “is destined to evolve an inferior type of woman, whose influence on the future will tend toward the development of inferiority in future generations both mental and physical.” Wonder if the editor of the World is a bachelor who has recently been refused by an American girl!

Summer visitors will soon commence to put in an appearance at Cooperstown. Eight or ten furnished houses have been rented for the season and applications are being made for board at the several hotels. The Cooper House will be put in first rate condition for guests by about the middle of June. The Hotel Fenimore is already open and will be kept so in future the year round. The Ballard House, Carr’s Hotel, the Central Hotel, will all probably be taxed to their full capacity. The three proprietors of sail and row boats are putting the same in condition for use.
April 26, 1884

100 YEARS AGO

Briefs – Principal Multer, manager of the high school baseball team, has arranged for two games with each of the following high schools – Cobleskill, Oneonta and Mohawk; and one game with Hobart. The Board of Trade, at a meeting Friday evening, took up the advertising proposition, and a committee was appointed to look into the matter of raising the money required to place some advertising in New York City newspapers. Dr. James Burton has purchased the Maxwell automobile formerly owned by W.J. Ashton.
April 22. 1909

75 YEARS AGO

As a special feature in observance of Youth Week, the Cooperstown Rotary Club will entertain the championship Cooperstown High School basketball team at dinner at the Fenimore Hotel, Wednesday evening of next week at 6:30 o’clock. Members of the varsity team, their coach, manager and three girl cheer leaders will be special guests of the club. Rotarians are privileged to bring the Rotaryanns and other guests. All residents of the community who desire to pay honor to the boys who won three championships are cordially invited. Dinner tickets are 75 cents each.
April 25, 1934

50 YEARS AGO

Lee Allen of Cincinnati, one of the nation’s top baseball historians, took over officially on Monday as historian of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, succeeding Ernest L. Lanigan who retired from the post last November. The 44-year-old Allen and his bride of less than a year, moved to Cooperstown last week from Cincinnati where Allen had been a member of the staff of the Enquirer newspaper. They have purchased the residence at 3 Eagle Street where they plan to reside until they acquire a country home outside the village.
April 22, 1959

25 YEARS AGO

Bob Conroy of Ilion, New York, landed a 36-inch-long, 15 pound brown trout fishing in Lake Otsego last week. However, Conroy cleaned his catch before it was officially and weighed in, making it ineligible for record purposes. Walt Keller of the NYSDEC in Stamford said the record for brown trout in New York is 23 pounds, 12 ounces. Conroy’s fish would have been easily a 20-pounder before cleaning.
April 25, 1984

10 YEARS AGO

Letter to the Editor: “We are writing in support of the proposed Glimmerglass Historic District. In the increasing malling and suburbanization of America, it will certainly be regions like Glimmerglass that will retain their identity long after the vast majority of America has become indistinguishable from any other place. It seems to us that the Glimmerglass Historic District is a necessary and valued mechanism by which the continued identity of our region can be maintained. When we moved to Cooperstown six years ago, we were attracted to the region principally by the opportunity to live and work in a non-commercial environment.” Kurt Ofer and Teresa Drerup, Altonview Architects
April 23, 1999

Bound Volumes is compiled from resources provided courtesy of the New York State Historical Association Library. Tom Heitz is the Town of Otsego historian.

Labels: 04-24-09, Bound Volumes, Columns

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 8:59 PM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Letters to the Editor

How Can Covenants Be Enforced?

To the Editor:
Re: Proposed Walker Subdivision TM 84-12-1-1.01
I would like to offer a word of caution to the Town of Otsego Planning Board.
Mr. Walker has proposed several exotic design structures for wastewater disposal and storm water run-off. These are intended for protection against well contamination and erosion of steep slopes.
We are told there will be deed covenants that will obligate buyers to maintain the structures.
Even if there is rigorous supervision of mitigating structures during construction, there is no guarantee of regular maintenance by each buyer. This maintenance is essential for continual efficient functioning of the structures.
Unless a performance bond is levied on the buyer for the duration of ownership, it is unlikely that compliance will be a concern to the buyer as time passes. These facts must be taken into consideration.
LEON KALMUS
Cooperstown

Permissive Society Cause Of Violence

To the Editor:
The Otego writer who compared “Common Sense” with the position of the NRA has, like so many others, sought a simple solution to the complex problem of guns and gun violence. Contrary to popular opinion and CNN, the NRA does not advocate a “howitzer in every home.”
In acknowledging “the spike of gun violence” referred to, some thought has to focus on the term “violence” alone. What is it about our society that prompts certain types of people to settle an insult, rejection or just to satisfy some inner psychotic rage or condition by killing family, friends or strangers?
The enemy is not the NRA and its more than four million members, but rather a liberal, permissive society that invents an excuse and/or rationale for every kind of deviant and anti-social behavior, the type of behavior that is not only enabled and condoned by society at large, but glorified in the media and entertainment industry.
Bob O’Con
Cooperstown

Labels: 04-24-09, Letters to the Editor, Opinion, Perspectives

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 8:57 PM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

New Bloc Looks to Data, Benchmarks, Prioritizing For Guidance

EDITORIAL

Carol B. Waller’s tenure as mayor of the Village of Cooperstown ended Wednesday, April 22.
From here on out, she’s a lame duck, how lame is up to her.
You might have called what happened a coup, except that this was a legal transfer of power based on popular sovereignity.
A new bloc of trustees – newly elected Trustees Joe Booan and Willis Monie, joining incumbents Eric Hage and Neil Weiller – exercised majority rule and refused to be brow-beaten or intimidated.
The new bloc argued – Monie was mostly silent, but voted with the other three – that with personnel costs making up 57 percent of the village budget, it doesn’t make sense that not a single salary, benefit, overtime line – nothing related to people – was touched in the just-prepared 2009-10 budget they were expected to rubber-stamp.
Booan, principal at Milford BOCES, questioned the 4.47 percent tax-rate increase, given that, in the current slump, school districts are coming in under 3 percent and CCS is at 1.9 percent.
Hage – along with Booan – said the biggest and constant complaint heard from taxpayers is the poor shape of village streets – the ruts and potholes – and yet “nothing” is being spent on any street between Irish Hill and Brooklyn Avenue. (“Nothing” is actually $15,000 to fill potholes and fix a small fraction of the 23 miles of sidewalks.)
It was quite an astonishing morning.
First, the room was filled with 20 village employees and family members. At an average rate of $17 per employee, that adds up to $1,190 of lost time. Asked about it, Mayor Waller said she would make sure everyone uses vacation or comp time to make up the difference. She wouldn’t say who had rallied the employees to be there.
This was simply an attempt to cow trustees who weren’t inclined to fall into line. The same thing happened a few months back, when Katz recommended keeping a zero deductible in the village employees’ health plan. That night, too, village employees showed up en masse.
It’s a reprehensible tactic – if the mayor or deputy mayor are a party to it, they oughtn’t be – and particularly if village staff is on the clock while it’s going on.
•
But more astonishing was the sense that the chickens were coming home to roost.
Before the March 18 elections, the mayor had a dependable – not wholly, but mostly – majority, with now-retired Trustees Grace Kull and Milo V. Stewart Jr. joining Katz and Mebust, and Hage and Weiller cast into the outer darkness.
Even though Weiller had led the ballot in the March 2008 elections, he was given no significant committee assignments. When he and Hage, assigned to the Planning Committee, tried to actually do long-range planning, they were told the committee was simply meant to plan social events and receptions.
When Hage invited former Oneonta Mayor Kim Muller to brief the committee on how to approach getting stimulus money, Katz showed up and undercut the effort.
In recent months before the election, whenever Hage has proposed an economy – as he did frequently – he was brushed aside. Whenever Weiller attempted to propose a program, he was close to ignored.
Sure, through parliamentary procedure, the mayor can do this, but Hage and Weiller were elected by a vote of the citizens of Cooperstown, just like all the other trustees. Do some citizens’ ballots count more than others?
At several times in the meeting the other day, the mayor, Katz and Mebust said this issue or that had been raised during budget meetings in February and March and resolved – “We didn’t take straw votes,” offered Katz, “but my gut is that if we took the straw votes it would have come out the same.”
Frequenters to village meetings might have another take. Their guts would say differences have not been resolved, but brushed aside by what was then the Waller Majority.
Wednesday, the new bloc had sufficient clout – four votes out of six, with the mayor acting only to break ties – not to have to buckle under.
•
The most aggregious Waller overreaching of the past few months has been her insistence, flying in the face of election results – Katz’s candidates, Rich Abbate and Stewart, ran far behind in the balloting – to name Katz deputy mayor and to push him forward as her replacement.
Mostly, it doesn’t matter that Waller is a Republican and Katz a Democrat – there are no Republican potholes or Democratic streetlights. But one of the benefits of party structure is to develop talent – it looks like Booan will be exceptional – to fill anticipated vacancies. Waller championing Katz undercuts that process in both parties.
That the mayor’s husband, Bill, is village Republican chairman, further erodes what should be a vigorous and inclusive process. Bill Waller should step aside as GOP chairman in the months running up to next March’s mayor election, or the committee should replace him.
The problem with the governing claque is that governance by personality, rather than policy, becomes convoluted. A complicated dance has replaced forthright dealings.
A current case in point is the purported effort to regulate private paid parking lots, which is actually an effort to have Vinny Russo landscape his lot next to the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce.
The local law now under consideration came out of a meeting between Katz – appearing as “a private citizen,” he says – and the village Planning Board. The resulting regulations – the first question is whether this particular law is needed at all – require a 5-foot setback for parking from any lot line.
Sounds fine, but a quick review the other morning suggests First Baptist Church would lose 16 spaces, that parking lot on Hoffman Lane, all 20, a handful in the Baseball Hall of Fame Lot, in addition to Russo’s dozen or so.
If the setback were applied to the village, half of the lot at Lake and Hoffman would go. Two dozen spaces would be lost from Doubleday. If appled to the state, half of the Fish Street parking would disappear. All this in a parking-starved village.
It isn’t that this is just a bad idea, it’s that a convoluted process was devised in response to a simple problem. If Russo’s lot is the problem, why not just ask him to landscape? It turns out he had approached the village with a plan to split the costs a year ago and gotten no response.
•
Mayor Waller is feisty and hardworking. Who doesn’t like her? Katz is a brainy guy.
Still, it was refreshing the other day to hear issues actually confronted and openly discussed – the next step is to decide them – rather than glossed over and left to fester.
If the new bloc can maintain equanimity and evenhandedness, and work on across-the-board collegialilty, then perhaps things will move in less combative direction.
In particular, Booan and Hage’s emphasis on data, benchmarks, best practices – that’s what the Village of Cooperstown needs to begin moving forward again.
If Mayor Waller helps expedite that approach over the next 10 months, that would end her 15-year tenure on a worthy note.

Labels: 04-24-09, Editorial, Opinion, Perspectives

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:32 PM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with: