The Freemans Journal - Cooperstowns Newspaper Since 1808

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Year Into Job, Cooperstown Jurist Appointed To Job With Statewide Administrative Duties

By JIM KEVLIN

COOPERSTOWN

You wouldn’t suspect this seeing him out for a run on Route 33 or riding with the Cooperstown Ambulance Squad.
But, arguably, Michael V. Coccoma has become the highest ranked jurist in Otsego County in more than 150 years, since U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Nelson of Cooperstown.
Not even a year into his new job – state Supreme Court judge in the Sixth Judicial District – Coccoma has been appointed deputy chief administrative judge for courts outside New York City, responsible for 664 judges from Long Island to Buffalo, 57 counties in all.
On the administrative side of the state’s justice system, he is ranked behind only Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau and her boss, Jonathan Lippman, the chief judge of the State of New York.
In an interview Monday, June 15, in his Cooperstown chambers – he was due at his Albany office the next morning, and the previous Wednesday had been in Buffalo and Thursday in Rochester – Coccoma called his new job “a challenging opportunity.”
In addition to continuing to serve on the bench – he had presided over a matrimonial case earlier that day – he will now be involved in personnel, facilities, security and policy decisions, and more, for half of 120,000 people in the state court system.
His goal, he said, is “to manage the courts so the public has access to courts and the redress of grievances.”
The opportunity arose when state Supreme Court Judge Jan Plumadore of Franklin County retired.
Pfau and Lippman initiated an interview process. Coccoma heard about it. It sounded interesting. He applied, was interviewed, and was selected May 27.
In announcing the appointment, Pfau said the judge is “widely recognized as an outstanding and extremely hard-working jurist who has made important contributions to the administration of justice in the Sixth Judicial District.”
While he has been an elected Supreme Court judge only since last November, Coccoma pointed out that he had been an acting Supreme Court judge since 2001, while he continued to serve as county and family court judge for Otsego County.

Labels: 06-19-09, Front Page

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:36 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Browdy Mountain Subdivision OK’d ; Fire Chief Changes Opinion

FLY CREEK

In the end, it wasn’t even close.
After 17 months of review and deliberations, the Town of Otsego Planning Board approved Ned Walker’s Browdy Mountain-side four-lot subdivision by a 5-2 vote.
Only chairman Paul Lord and vice chair Donna Borgstrom voted nay.
At the meeting’s start, Lord read a letter from Cooperstown Fire Chief Paul Bedworth saying he had changed his mind and now finds the road to Walker’s property adequate for fire and EMS access.
The chief said he’s suggested to Walker that a turnaround be added at the road’s end, but said many roads in town are less safe than Walker’s access road.
The Planning Board members then went in order from junior member Steve Purcell to senior member Lord, each stated their own stance on the application anyd asked any questions of Walker they needed answered.
Each of the members commended Walker for his attention to detail. Board member Joe Galati called the application “a poster child” for how this ought to be done.
Member Wes Ciampo stated that this application would set an example for people approaching the board in the future and would demonstrate how one could “not just throw something up.”
Vice Chair Borgstrom, also applauded Walker , but stated that she was “concerned about steep slope development,” and her biggest concern was the “precedence it would set.”
Member John Phillips, reinforced to the group that they had to judge the application not based on future applications that may arise, but on the law, since that is what they have now. He also said he thought Walker had made it clear in his past actions that he is a “good steward of the land.”
Chairman Lord identified many of the concerns he has had with the application from the outset, mainly the conjunction of lot size and steep slope, but also road and silt basin maintinence, alternative septic system maintenance and the failure of homeowners associations to enforce their rules.

Labels: 06-19-09, Area Briefs

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:35 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

$400,000 Question Still Lacks Answer

Trustees Ask For End-Of-Year Data

By JIM KEVLIN

COOPERSTOWN

So far, the promised $400,000 answer to the $400,000 question has yet to surface.
Village Treasurer Mary Ann Henderson gave her explanation of how that amount of money – about a third of the tax levy – showed up in the 11th hour of 2009-10 budget deliberations.
But for at least four of the trustees – the village board was meeting for the first time as a Long-Term Planning Committee Thursday, June 10 – the explanation only raised new questions.
Trustee Eric Hage said he and others thought the $400,000 was revenues that hadn’t been counted in, but now it seems that money came from savings, but no one’s sure where.
While it looks like $120,000 in revenues hadn’t been accounted for, Hage said, actually “the expense side is the big number – $330,000. Where are those savings coming from?”
At the village board’s monthly meeting Monday, June 15, he asked Deputy Mayor Jeff Katz,
chair of the Finance Committee, to provide a year-end budget reconciliation by next month’s meeting.
Those numbers, as of the end of the fiscal year, May 31, would show the final surplus, and allow trustees to go through the budget line by line to determine where money was and wasn’t spent.
Trustee Joe Booan – he and Trustees Hage, Willis Monie and Neil Weiller form an emerging majority – said he plans to meet with Henderson in the next few weeks to get a fuller understanding of how the budget is put together and tracked.
Principal of the Milford BOCES, Booan said he can show her the program the school uses, which spits out a satisfactory one-page budget snapshot.
“Should we be looking at software that gives us something easier to understand?” he asked.
In her briefing, Henderson said the final surplus for the year was $727,806, or $488,000 more than the $239,000 trustees thought they were working with in budget deliberations.
The treasurer usually updates budget figures at the beginning of each month, she said, and did so March 1, but then failed to do so until near the end of April, when the discrepancy surfaced.
Mayor Carol B. Waller and Katz have said they were not surprised when that happened.
“Carol and Jeff felt they had heard the numbers,” Booan said in an interview. “But I didn’t hear it, I don’t think Eric did. I don’t think the others (Monie and Weiller) did.”
For her part, the mayor, in response to a press query, said she was “busy with paperwork” and unable to discuss the matter.
“That information is there,”” Katz said of the current system, but added: “I think, moving forward, there might be – and probably will be – ways for the surplus number to be more highlighted in the monthly report.”
For now, he said the year-end reconciliation Hage reported should allow the trustees to determine where village finances stand.
In an interview, Hage said at first it was thought that uncounted money – a $100,000 county allocation, $56,000 in 2008 parking revenues, $100,000 in state CHIPS money for highway repair – had created the $400,000.
That money had come in in 2008-09, but had not been expected or budgeted.
However, he said, it turns out that only $120,000 of the $400,000 was such uncounted revenues – just the county money and the parking fees.
The latest surprise is that $330,000 was allocated and unspent, and what happened there will now have to be determined.

Labels: 06-19-09, Front Page

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:33 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Swine Flu Confirmed In 8 At CCS

Plus 7 At Morris, 2 At OHS

By LAURA COX

COOPERSTOWN

At press time, it had been confirmed that eight Cooperstown Central School students had been stricken by the Swine Flu virus, and a ninth may be on the list by the time you read this.
That news followed CCS nurse Jane Hanson’s decision Monday, June 15, the last day of classes for the high and middle school, to send home a “couple of dozen” students with flu-like symptoms.
The Cooperstown outbreak followed the confirmation of seven cases at Morris Central School and two at Oneonta High School. Countywide, 18 cases had been reported; all but one were children and adolescents.
A letter sent home with students that day alerted families to the increase in absences and instructed parents to keep home any child with a fever of 100 or above and other flu symptoms – chills, headaches, sore throat, coughs – for seven days or 24 hours after symptoms subside, whichever is longer.
So many middle school students had been taken out of classes – about half, said Superintendent of Schools Mary Jo McPhail on Wednesday, June 17 – that middle school graduation was delayed from that evening until next Wednesday, the 24th.
High school graduation, set for 1:30 p.m. Sunday, June 21, will go on as scheduled. Any seniors exhibited symptoms being asked to refrain from attending and inviting those students to a small alternate ceremony at the July Board of Education meeting.
“Well, as you can expect, “ McPhail said, “something like this is not welcome at anytime – for children to be ill – but if it had to happen this was probably a better time in that it is the end of the school year.”
Significantly fewer children were absent from the high school than the middle school and the students who have been confirmed to have H1N1 influenza – the official designation of the Swine Flu virus – are at home and not attending school.
At the direction of the county Department of Health, another letter was to be sent home with students on Thursday, June 18, informing families about the confirmed cases and listing precautions.
While this strain of flu is new and has been deemed a pandemic, Cynthia Moore, the county’s public health emergency preparedness coordinator, said the term pandemic refers to geography not severity.
“The illness to date has been mild and typical of what we see for influenza,” she said.
If sick, stay home from work or school, Moore said, to help contain the disease. Sick individuals can spread the disease for seven days and, since no one is immune to this new strain, she repeated the quarantine of seven days minimum 24 hours after symptoms subside, whichever is longer.
Any addition information will be posted at www.coopertowncs.org and www.otsegocounty.com or by calling (607) 547-4230.

Labels: 06-19-09, Front Page, Swine Flu

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

Bookmark this post with:

Old McDonald Had A ... FARMERS’ MARKET

By LAURA COX

An energy buzzes about the market.
Eager customers rummage through bins of fresh produce piled high, looking for just the right thing.
Others come just to munch on fresh baked goods and catch up with friends.
There is life at a farmers’ market, whether it’s in Morris or Oneonta or Delhi.
As you walk into the market in Cooperstown, held in Pioneer Alley behind Key Bank, you are greeted by the sound of music: the other Saturday it was Chris de Ville on his electric mandolin singing everything from classics to “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.”
The smells of fresh produce, flowers and cheese waft through the crisp morning air.
As quickly as vendors – 26 that day – restock their tables, just as quickly the brisk pace of sales make them look bare again.
Amid the brightly colored fruits and vegetables are vendors of knitted clothing, folk artist Jim Parker’s hand-painted canvases, Fran Forster’s fresh baked pies of a dozen flavors, potted plants from ARK Floral in Mount Vision, alpaca wool, Painted Goat’s goat cheese, farm fresh eggs, Hare & Feather’s rabbit and duck meat and much more.
•
Oneonta’s market, Tuesdays and Saturdays at Kim Mueller Plaza on Main Street, though smaller, has a personality of its own.
Isn’t there a sense of comfort in knowing where your food comes from?
At farmers’ markets, you can ask the man or woman who toiled in the sun and soil about the methods used to grow the vegetables or raise the livestock that you will put on your table.
This, and the freshness of the produce, are among the main reasons people shop at the farmers’ markets.
“A lot of our vendors grow everything naturally,” said Dana LaCroix, the Oneonta market’s manager. “Though they may not be certified organic, you can talk to the farmer and you may find out they are even more organic and sustainable than those certified.”
Shopping for produce only at a farmers’ market does have limits if, say, you are craving tropical fruit – bananas or pineapples, for instance.
But LaCroix said that is more than balanced by the freshness and flavor of fruit and vegetables in season.
Right now the market is filled with greens, lots of different kinds of lettuce, spinach, garlic scapes, asparagus, radishes and rhubarb. The Middlefield Orchard adds all kinds of fresh sprouts to the mix.
That other Saturday, bright red strawberries were the new arrival.
Potatoes, blueberries, raspberries, summer squash, peas and beans will arrive with July. By August, apples and sweet corn will be ready to eat.
•
Every farmers’ market shopper has a different agenda.
Pat Grillo in Cooperstown was “shopping for a feast,” she said. “We bought fresh herbs, dill to go with potatoes and fresh cilantro for guacamole, strawberries too.”
Jack Jepson of Greenwich, Conn., who summers in Worcester, drives up weekly to the Oneonta market for his week’s worth of produce.
“We come to Oneonta to socialize with the people, get flowers and we eat better when we are here, we wouldn’t miss a week when we’re up,” he said.
Others – Jim Wolff, for instance, the Otsego town justice – likes to support local growers, guided by his wife’s shopping list.
That day, it included strawberries, lettuce, garlic and beets.
•
Both markets have special promotional or themed days throughout the season.
Saturday, June 20, is Dairy Day in Oneonta, with free fudge tastings from the Hare & Feather Farm.
You can make your own ice-cream station, pet a kid (goat), get a free balloon and experience the Stone & Thistle Farm’s Udder Challenge.

Otsego County

Cooperstown: 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturdays, Pioneer Alley, just off Main Street (next to Key Bank)

Morris: 3-6:30 p.m. Thursdays, Morris Firehouse, West Main Street

Oneonta: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesdays, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, Kim K. Muller Plaza, Main Street at Dietz, in front of the Clarion.

Delaware County

Delhi: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesdays, Court House Square, Main Street.

Franklin: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays, at Franklin Stage Company Theater, Institute Street.

Hancock: 1-5 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, Great American Store lot, across from 11 East Main St.

Pakatakan’s: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, Round Barn, 46696 Route 30, five miles north of Margaretville

Sidney: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesdays, Sidney Civic Center, 21 Liberty St.

Stamford: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, Herring Park, 112 Main St.

Walton: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Fridays, Robinson Bros. Auction Building, Delaware & West.

Labels: 06-19-09, Glimmerglass

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 6:49 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

HoF Classic Brings 5 Hall Of Famers To Town For Weekend

COOPERSTOWN

Five Hall of Famers will be in Cooperstown over the weekend for the Baseball Hall of Fame’s inaugural Hall of Fame Classic.
Bob Feller, Fergie Jenkins, Phil Niekro, Paul Molitor and Brooks Robinson will participate in the 12 p.m. parade on Sunday, June 21, where they will ride the trolley down Main Street to historic Doubleday Field and play a 2 p.m. Father’s Day game.
The game will be preceded by a hitting contest featuring several former Major Leaguers at 1 p.m.
The game was planned cooperatively by the Hall of Fame and the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association, which secured 21 other former major leaguers to play the game.
Because of the parade, Cooperstown village streets will be closed from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 21. The affected streets will be parts of Main, Chestnut, Susquehanna, Pioneer and Fair.
Additionally, Fair Street between Church and Lake and Main Street between Fair and Estli Avenue will be closed in the morning for parade setup.
At 10 a.m. Sunday the Museum will feature a special reunion of Steve Wulf of ESPN The Magazine and Pat O’Donnell, whose story of leaving behind an image of his dad in the Museum became the basis for a Sports Illustrated piece in 1994 on fathers and sons. Both of these events are first-come, first-served admittance and are included with Museum admission.
Game day, tickets will be available from 8 a.m. on outside Doubleday Field.
Meanwhile, they may be purchased via telephone and at the Museum Store. Call 1-888-Hall-of-Fame between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdayss. Tickets are $12.50 for first and third base seats, and $11 for outfield.

Labels: 06-19-09, Area Briefs

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 6:48 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Bound Volumes

175 YEARS AGO
Hands Wanted – Wanted Throstle Spinners, Card Drawing and Speeder Tenders. Also, Power Loom Weavers & Dresser hands. Either families or single hands will find constant employment and liberal wages, by applying soon at the Cotton Factory of Messrs. John Cockett & Co., about two miles south of Hartwick Seminary. Some learners will also be employed.
June 23, 1834

150 YEARS AGO
The Cooper Monument, proposed to be erected on the grounds of Lakewood Cemetery will cost about $3,000, and $700 remains to be subscribed. The monument is to be of Italian marble, 25 feet in height, with a granite base, surmounted by a statuette of Leatherstocking, and appropriate devices upon its sides. The design is very neat and appropriate.
All persons therefore desirous and willing to aid in the erection of this memorial, will please leave their names and subscriptions with any one of the Banks in this village.
June 17, 1859

125 YEARS AGO
Dennison Crandall of Edmeston died last week, aged about 80 years. Some of our readers will remember the fact that several years ago, Mr. Crandall’s house was entered at night by burglars, his wife was shot and killed, and he was badly wounded. He made a gallant defence, and the robbers got nothing. It was supposed that they belonged to the noted Loomis gang.
Trains now leave here (Cooperstown) as follows: 5:20 and 10 a.m., and 2:55 p.m. and arrive here at 8:15 a.m., 12:20 p.m. and 7:25 p.m. The early morning train is for freight. The Monday and Saturday extra trains are discontinued. A third passenger train will be put on next week, when a change will be made on the Albany & Susquehanna line.
June 21, 1884

100 YEARS AGO
A Cooperstown man who was rowing upon the lake Friday evening had the unpleasant experience of having several large caliber rifle shots strike in the lake around his boat. Although he kept changing his location the bullets continued to come within a few feet of the boat and it is therefore evident that some person either thoughtlessly or fiendishly was shooting at him.
The shooting took place from the hillside back of the Fenimore farm. Lyman Ball was arrested and will have a hearing Saturday.
June 21, 1909

75 YEARS AGO
Five persons – two of them women – were held Tuesday in the Otsego County jail in connection with the investigation of the death of Harry Wright, aged 49, of Cooperstown Junction, believed murdered last Thursday night.
Among those questioned by state police and District Attorney Donald H. Grant was Miss Eva Coo, proprietor of a roadhouse where Mr. Wright lived. District Attorney Grant refused to discuss the case. Mr. Wright’s body was found alongside the highway near Miss Coo’s roadhouse.
Troopers W.E. Caldwell and K.B. Knapp discovered the body in a ditch after being informed that Mr. Wright was missing. A statement signed early Wednesday morning by Mrs. Martha Clift of Oneonta charges Miss Coo with the deed.
June 20, 1934

50 YEARS AGO
The Cooperstown Redskin Boosters Club will sponsor a baseball Little League this summer in conjunction with the summer playground program. Plans call for four to six teams with upwards of 70 boys, ages 8 to 12, participating. Lester G. “Red” Bursey is chair of the committee and also is the playground director.
Coaches and managers selected so far include Bill Adsit, Carroll Lehman, Ed Stevens, Chuck Coleman, Ed Costello, Jack Nevil, John Kosoc, Ed Christman, Dutch LaDuke, Earl Wolf, Bob Wilber, Jack Mitchell, Gred Lippitt, Dr. Ted Peters, and Dr. Olaf Severud.
CCS students Carol Schibowski and Jill Bratton were present at a press conference for high school editors held at the Sheraton Inn shortly before WNBF-TV station in Binghamton originated the Dick Clark Show from their studios. The two girls are pictured with Dick Clark and station manager H. George Carroll.
June 17, 1959

25 YEARS AGO
For the last eight months a group of students and parents have organized Project Prom, a non-alcoholic after-the-prom party. The idea took shape last year. Sheriff Martin Ralph set up a meeting with parents and other interested people to talk about how to prevent things like the fatal accident which happened after last year’s prom. The project is designed to offer an alternative to the usual after-prom activities such as all-night, unsupervised alcoholic parties.
Cooperstown students Christine McBrearty, Liz Zayat, Tom Miller, Pam Morgan, Marcie Wallace and others as well as concerned adults such as Sue Fink headed the project. Wallace said she supports the idea because of the accident last year, the change of the drinking age, and the protection of her friends. Last week about 50 parents of seniors attended a meeting to tell them about Project Prom.
June 20, 1984

10 YEARS AGO
Cindy Barton’s free balloon ride turned cold and wet when she landed in Otsego Lake this past Saturday. As a benefit of sponsoring a balloon, Barton and her family were entitled to a free ride. So Barton and her 17-year-old daughter Jill set off from the Cooperstown Fun Park for their one and a half hour ride.
Barton’s flight took her over Cooperstown and was scheduled to land in an open field outside the village. Instead, the balloon began to drift over Otsego Lake where it eventually touched down. Boaters on the lake came to their aid with life preservers and assisted Barton and her daughter out of the balloon’s basket and into their boats.
June 18, 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: 06-19-09, Bound Volumes, Columns

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 6:47 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Letters to the Editor

No Decimal Point Ever Misplaced

To the Editor:
I just read an article you wrote in The Freeman’s Journal dated Saturday, June 6.
In an apparent reference to the Otsego County’s 2007 budget you wrote, “Republican Myrna Thayne has been embattled as Otsego County Treasurer since a decimal-point slipup turned an anticipated 2.5 percent tax increase into 25 percent one.”
Two and a half years after the 2007 budget was approved, I am still not aware of any decimal point error that you are referring to. Nor have any auditors, who have regularly audited the Otsego County Treasurer’s office records pointed out any decimal point slipup.
In the website I have set up as part of my reelection campaign, www.thaynefortreasurer.com, I have suggested to the readers that when someone tells them there is a relevant mistake in any of the county budgets I have prepared, they should ask for specifics as to exactly where the mistake lies.
Please be specific and point out where this alleged decimal point slipup is located, which continues to be reported as fact, two and a half years after the 2007 county budget was approved, filed with the state Comptroller’s Office and audited.
I look forward to your response.
MYRNA THAYNE
Otsego County Treasurer

Relay For Life Raised $65,000 To Fight Cancer

To the Editor:
On behalf of the American Cancer Society and the Planning Committee, I would like to thank area businesses and the general public for showing us their hope and for their generosity and support of the 11th Annual Cooperstown Relay For Life May 29-30 at Westville Airport.
Almost 500 participants spent that Friday night walking the track, raising more than $65,000 for the American Cancer Society.
More than 70 cancer survivors, along with their caregivers, opened the event by walking the first ceremonial lap. At nightfall, thousands of luminaries were lit around the track, each one representing a loved one who lost their battle with cancer or won the fight.
Lastly, my gratitude goes to the committee of 50+ volunteers, the team captains and their team members, the 10 event sponsors and over 50 Friends of the Cooperstown Relay For Life for their endless dedication to the cause.
CARLA ECKLER
2009 Chairperson

Killing Not Condoned

To the Editor:
...To say those who are vocally against abortion are responsible for the murder of Dr. Tiller is to say those who beat the drum against the Iraq war are responsible for inspiring the killing of a military recruiter.
In the WSJ, James Kirchick writes “...If ‘Christianists’ were anything like actual religious fascists, they would applaud Tiller’s murder as a ‘heroic martyrdom operation’ and suborn further mayhem. (In contrast), radical Islamists revel in death.” 
As to his assertion that it is the result of  people who can’t win battles legislatively or  judicially, I must say these institutions have failed the American people, since about 80 percent oppose late-term abortion.
ADRIAN D. VanESSENDELFT
Oneonta

Labels: 06-19-09, Letters to the Editor, Opinion, Perspectives

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 6:46 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Editorials

Power’s Action Agenda Will Edge Him Toward Professional Managers

Some folks who have been in county government circles for a while may have run across Jim Merritt in the ’80s and ’90s.
Merritt was budget officer for Jefferson County. Yes, budget officer, not county manager or county executive.
In truth, however, he held more sway than many of those managers and executives in other counties across New York State.
That was because he was efficient and effective. As the most visible and accessible county staffer, responsibilities evolved his way.
Since, without complaint, he shouldered added duties with efficiency and diplomacy, he grew into a de-facto county manager over the years.
The drawback was fuzzy lines of authority. The department heads, according to the organizational chart, didn’t report to him, but to the relevant committees of the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors.
In reality, the department heads, over time, learned not to mess with Jim.
•
Jim Merritt’s success was brought to mind by remarks delivered by Jim Powers, chairman of the Otsego County Board of Representatives, at the Otsego County Chamber’s first “State of the County” breakfast the other day at Holiday Inn Southside, attended by 60 people from as far away as Richfield Springs, (Alex Shields and his wife, Barbara.)
Powers, as has been his consistent stand, said flatly about creating a county-manager position locally: “It’s not going to happen while I’m here.”
However, he said, he has come to the conclusion – through painful experience – that the county board needs a budget officer.
The treasurer’s office, he said, should pay the bills and process receipts. But the budget officer would help the representatives strategically, to avoid budgetting pitfalls and seek revenue opportunities.
In effect, this is a low-risk way to begin garnering the benefits that some sort of county executive might accrue – a county manager on training wheels, if you will.
If the individual who fills the role is a Jim Merritt, good things will start to happen, whether the title is Grand Poo-Bah of the Budget or director of bubble-gum removal from sidewalks.
•
That is particularly the case, since so many of the things Powers spoke about – shifting from MOSA to a county-run solid-waste system, completing negotiations with the CSEA, implementing TQM (total quality management) – would be helped by a high-powered executive nudging things ahead.
Echoing President Obama, Powers set the stage for his remarks – spare but content-packed, as you might expect if you know him – by saying “change” best characterizes what’s happening in the county right now.
And effective county department heads are part of that.
For instance, Brian Pokorny, director of the county’s IT department, has bird-dogged an initiative that will create a county-owned fiber-optic loop between The Meadows, Otsego Manor, the county’s facilities in downtown Cooperstown and past Bassett Healthcare.
Ron Tiderencel’s county Highway Department is laying the cable, a savings. And Powers anticipates $60,000 can be saved annually on telephone bills. If entities like Bassett can or the National Baseball Hall of Fame can be enticed to plug into the loop, it will only be moreso.
These are the kinds of things Powers can’t do himself. He needs effective staff – the county’s economic developer, Carolyn Lewis, he said, proposed the fibre-optic concept – to move things forward with day-to-day consistency.
•
Powers, philosophically, is a small-government guy, and the mandate he received two years ago, when Republicans swept out the Democrats after the budget fiasco, earned him the right to act on his beliefs.
(Remember? An anticipated 2.5 percent tax increase turned out to be 25 percent. Oops. In fairness, Republican county Treasurer Myrna Thayne was as responsible as the Democratic ways and means chair, Ron Feldstein.)
That sweep, said Powers, combats a tendency for people to say, “I can’t effect my state. I can’t effect my county.” Adding a county manager would simply feed the tendency by adding a layer between county government and voters.
“You need to have it that people can effect their own lives,” said the chairman.
That said, at heart Powers is an activist – he cited a children’s center in the courthouse, where children can play and be tended while waiting for family proceedings, as a proud accomplishment. He wants to get things done. He sees getting control of the budget one way to do this.
As Powers moves forward, he will see the logic of more professional administration and will move in that direction, though perhaps not – probably not – ever seeking a county-manager position.
He wants the government the people need, and that will move him, incrementally but inexorably, case by case, half-step by half-step, in the direction of efficiency, effectiveness and professionalism.

Answer $400,000 Question

It’s been a month since Cooperstown village trustees were surprised to learn, in the 11th hour of budget deliberations, that the surplus was $400,000 bigger than they had been told it would be.
Village Treasurer Mary Ann Henderson forthrightly acknowledged she made a mistake in not updating the trial balance from the beginning of April until almost the end of May.
However, Mayor Carol B. Waller and Deputy Mayor Jeff Katz continue to insist they weren’t surprised by the extra money and that, since the trial balance changes from day to day as money comes in and goes out, it’s irrelevant anyhow.
The first explanation was that the treasurer had failed to include unanticipated and thus unbudgeted revenues – a $100,000 windfall from the county, for instance.
Now, it’s discovered that it wasn’t extra revenues, but unspent budget lines, that led to the surplus surprise.
This is not as it should be. The village treasurer should know where the money is, and should provide it to the trustees in an accessible and helpful way.
Private accountants do this with their clients all the time, every day – and any day the client requests.
Trustee Joe Booan plans to explore if BOCES’ software would be helpful to the village, as it’s been helpful to him as principal of the Milford center.
This is good.
There are also some pretty good CPAs in town – Ray Holohan, who took over Wayne Clinton’s practice, comes to mind. Why not reach out to someone like him to counsel the village.
“Residents want answers,” Trustee Neil Weiller said the other day. So, certainly, should the village board and the treasurer. It’s time.

Labels: 06-19-09, Editorial, Opinion, Perspectives

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 6:43 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

1st Gas Well To Be Drilled On Crumhorn

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Word was received this week that Gastem, the Montreal-based drilling company, has received a permit to drive a vertical natural-gas shaft on Crumhorn Mountin in the Town of Maryland.
Drilling opponents said they are fearful that, once the state revises its Environmental Impact Statement governing horizontal drilling – hydrofracing – such vertical wells can be easily converted.

Labels: 06-19-09, Front Page, Natural Gas Drilling

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:35 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

CCS SPORTS BANQUET HONORS MANY

Outstanding Athlete Awards went to the following students: from left, Johanna Hasak, winter cheerleading, Jake Chase, boys soccer, Laura Rowley, girls soccer and girls basketball, Katie Horrigan, field hockey, volleyball, Kim Armstrong, volleyball, Ashley Rowley, girls basketball, Patrick Horrigan, golf, Brian Kent, tennis, Will Reis, track, Alec Silvera, track, Anna Weber, track, Stephanie Hascup, softball, Sawyer Graham, softball, Caitlin Kelly, fall cheerleading, Jackie Broten, winter cheerleading, Cassidy Grigor, swimming, Sean Levandowski, swimming, Todd Mayton, swimming, Mackenzie Curran, baseball, Kyle Liner, baseball, Nicole Wischoff, cross country, Jasimn Feldner, field hockey Ryan Davin, basketball, Chris Michaels, wrestling, George Landon, wrestling, Bradley Ashford, basketball and football, Andrew Auriemma, football. Other athletes not pictured, Ben Resnick, cross country, Brandon Lane, soccer and Anna Sams, softball.

HARTWICK INDUCTS ENGSTROM-HEG INTO ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME

Martin Engstrom-Heg ‘96, foreground, was inducted into the Hartwick College Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, June 13. Martin is one of the most decorated swimmers in the history of the Hartwick swimming and diving programs, an 11-time All-American – one as an individual and 10 as part of relay teams. He still holds the Moyer Pool record in the 100-yard butterfly, and is part of both the 200-yard medley relay team that holds the pool record and the 200-yard medley relay team that holds the College record. From left are his wife Megan Donnelly-Heg, their 9-month-old daughter Coralee, his mother Verna Engstrom-Heg of Franklin; college President Margaret Drugovich, and Pat and Paul Donnelly of Coopertown, Martin’s parents-in-law. He is an attorney in Albany with the state Workers’ Compensation Board.

Baby Born On Parents’ Busy Week

Dylan Elisabeth McIlhinney, 7 pounds, 12 ounces, was born Friday, June 12, in Randolph, Vt., to Kristina and Brian McIlhinney.
The mother is the daughter of Pati Drumm Grady and Kevin Grady of Springfield.
The following day, the new parents had to forego their graduation from New England School of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, Maine. They took the Hypocratic Oath the following Monday.
The family was were moving to Cooperstown Thursday, June 18; he is due to begin a year’s residency at Bassett Healthcare the following Monday.
Kristina will stay home with the baby, but both parents are due to start a four-year residency at Penn next year.

Bassett Welcomes Pearce, Feldman

Bassett Healthcare welcomes Doctors Aimee Pearce, M.D., and Sharon Feldman, O.D.
Dr. Pearce is a family practice provider, who will see patients of all ages. She will regularly be seeing patients in West Winfield, Richfield Springs and Edmeston and will be the collaborating physician for nurse practitioners Lynda Brown, Jessica Miller and Marianne Bigger, and physician assistant Diane Greenblatt.
Feldman joined Bassett’s Department of Surgery, Division of Ophthalmology, as an optometrist and will see patients in Cooperstown and O’Connor Hospital in Delhi. Before joining Bassett, Dr. Feldman worked as staff optometrist in several downstate locations, and was an assistant clinical professor at State University of New York State College of Optometry.

Barron’s Again Puts McReynolds On Top 100 List

For the second year in a row, Barron’s magazine has chosen Erna Morgan McReynolds, a financial adviser with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Oneonta, for its prestigious list of “Top 100 Women Financial Advisers.”
The ranking shows the top 100 women financial advisers at brokerages, big banks and some other firms, as compiled by industry consultant R.J. Shook of The Winner’s Circle Organization, based in Boca Raton, Fla.

ONE YEAR: Doctors Jill and Matt Craig celebrate their first year anniversary this week of Cooperstown Family Chiropractic located in Cooperstown on Rt. 28. For the past year, Jill and Matt have treated patients using a “whole person approach.” Congratulations on your one-year anniversary!

NEW DOC: Aren Giske of Cooperstown, has earned a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Vermont. Giske was among 100 M.D. degree recipients taking the oath of Hippocrates following the awarding of their degrees from the University of Vermont College of Medicine during May 17th commencement ceremonies.

NEW RANK: Michael Cornell of Cooperstown, member of the New York Army National Guard, currently serving with 206th Military Police Company, has been promoted to the rank of Specialist, in recognition of his capabilities for additional responsibility and leadership.

DEANS LIST: Max P. Gialanella was placed on the dean’s list for the spring semester at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. He is the son of Phyllis Orlowski and Donald Gialanella and will attend the University of Massachusetts-Amherst this fall, continuing his studies in computer science.

NEW GRAD: Ethan W. Ayres graduated with distinction on May 24 from St. George’s College in Newport, R.I. He is the son of John and Ruthe Ayres of Cooperstown and will attend Hamilton College this fall.

HIGHEST HONORS: Dana Leonard, Class of 2010 at Skidmore College, earned highest honors for the spring semester. She is the daughter of Brent and Mary Leonard of Cooperstown. Highest honors are awarded for a quality point ratio of 3.670 or more from a possible 4.0.

FOMA AWARDS: On Monday, June 1 at the CCS Spring Concert, between an appreciative farewell to retiring music teacher Judy Green and a rollicking performance by the concert band, the artwork of six students was honored. On behalf of Eleanor MacDougall, Kristin Karasek presented Shyah Miller with the Ellsworth Award, named in honor of MacDougall’s father, Waldo Ellsworth. For two-dimensional art, Catherine Hetu was awarded first prize and Emilie Rigby and Megan Haggerty received honorable mention awards. In the category of three-dimensional art, honorable mention and first prize awards went to Ann Cannon and Sawyer Graham, respectively.

NEW PYSCHOLOGIST: David C. Thompson, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist, has established a practice in Cooperstown.
Dr. Thompson received his Ph.D. from Penn State in 1963. He has worked as a therapist, counselor and clinic director in different settings. Most recently he has focused on private practice work, helping clients from age 8 to 80.
Dr. Thompson can provide problem solving and therapy for individuals, families or agencies. His specialties include anger management and depression.
His office is located at 29 Pioneer St. or call 547-2200.

MASTERS: Thomas J. Fralick of Roseboom , received a post-baccalaureate degree at The University of Scranton graduate degree commencement in Scranton’s Byron Recreation Complex on campus on May 30, 2009. Fralick received a Master of Science in Curriculum & Instruction at a ceremony.

Labels: 06-19-09, Locals

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:12 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Obituaries

Arthur J. “Ozzie” Bunt, 53; Lifelong Hartwick Resident

HARTWICK – Arthur J. “Ozzie” Bunt, 53, a life-long resident of Hartwick, passed away Thursday morning, June 11, 2009, at the home of his sister, Sue Hascup, surrounded by his family.
Ozzie was born June 3, 1956 at A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital in Oneonta with Dr. Steffie Baker in attendance. Raised in Hartwick, he was a son of Bernard C. Bunt, Jr. and Elizabeth Schweitzer Bunt.
A member of the Cooperstown Central School Class of 1975, Ozzie enlisted in the United State Navy shortly after graduating from high school. He served aboard the USS Independence (CV-62), an air craft carrier based out of Norfolk, Va., and was trained in electrical repair. Upon receiving his honorable discharge from the Navy, Ozzie returned to his native Hartwick and throughout the years was employed by Bresee’s Department Store in Oneonta, the New York State Historical Association, Otsego Optical and in the mailroom at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital. For the past 10 years, Ozzie was employed during the winter by Sodexo in the food service department at SUNY Oneonta, and in the summer by Cooperstown Dreams Park, where he did maintenance work in the village’s sleeping units.
Ozzie truly loved the game of golf, and taught himself the game at which he became quite proficient. He also loved bowling (“a family thing”), as well as hunting and fishing. A former member of Hartwick Fire Department Co. No. 1, Ozzie will fondly be remembered for his great sense of humor and his ability to get along with everyone.
Ozzie is survived by his wife of 18 years, the former Janet M. Sprague, whom he married July 27, 1991 in a ceremony at the gazebo in the center of Hartwick. He is also survived by Janet’s children, Brenda Caruso of Walton, and Brian Michaels of Roanoke, VA; three granddaughters; one sister, Sue Hascup and her husband, Chuck, of Hartwick; two brothers, Buddie Bunt and his wife, Lynn, of Hartwick and Michael P. Bunt and his wife, Cindy, of West Winfield; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Ozzie was predeceased by his mother, Elizabeth S. Bunt, who died September 12, 1992, and his father, Bernard C. Bunt, Sr., who died December 12, 1996.
Friends called at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown on Tuesday evening June 16, from 6-8 p.m. when Ozzie’s family was in attendance.
A graveside funeral service was offered at 11 a.m.on Wednesday, June 17, at Hartwick Cemetery with Rev. Laverne H. Saxer, pastor of the Hartwick Christian Church, officiating. Military Honors were accorded by representatives from the United States Navy Funeral Honor Guard.
As a way to memorialize Ozzie, his family suggests memorial contributions be made to Catskill Area Hospice and Palliative Care, 1 Birchwood Drive, Oneonta, NY 13820.
Funeral arrangements were under the care and direction of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.

Labels: 06-19-09, Obituaries

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:00 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Big ‘Little Eva’

SAM GOODYEAR

ART BEAT

National focus on our region is not unusual.
Mention Cooperstown and the next word out of the mouth of just about every citizen of the United States will be “baseball.”
There are those who will also evoke the Father of American Literature, James Fenimore Cooper.
A growing number of opera lovers will think “Glimmerglass!”
But these associations are benign, friendly.
When did you last rub your hands and follow the tabloids about anything remotely prurient to do with our idyllic little corner of the world?
Time was – some 75 years ago – when booze, prostitution and murder right here riveted the attention of upstanding people like you and me.
One Eva Coo, run out of railroad boomtown Oneonta for bootlegging and brothelkeeping (she moved as far as Colliersville) in 1934, masterminded the murder of a hapless, drunken and handicapped hired hand for insurance money.
She was caught, arrested and tried in Cooperstown with all of America hanging on every gruesome detail.
The story continues to fascinate and you can witness the entire saga from start to finish by seeing “Little Eva,” a brand new play by New York City (by way of Milford) playwright and director Isaac Rathbone, now in a powerful world-premiere run at the Upper Susquehanna Cultural Center in Milford (this weekend) and the County Courthouse in Cooperstown (next weekend).
Rathbone and his wife Jennifer have co-directed a taut and commanding production marked by especially strong performances by the entire ensemble.
Fast-paced, crisp, gripping and unsettling, the play cuts back and forth from the trial to the sequence of events leading up to it.
The Rathbones have made excellent use of a basically rudimentary performing space.
Particularly striking are the costumes and props, all rich and earthy variants of black, white, gray and brown, blending harmoniously with the solid gleaming interior of what was once Milford’s Presbyterian church.
The setting in the courthouse will no doubt echo this period feel even more. How, one wonders, authentic can one get?
It would be nice to give deserved individual praise to each actor, but space does not allow for it.
Special mention must be made, however, of Sarah Lynn Hazard’s phenomenal tour de force in the title role. She is bold, brassy, sexy and very, very bad. Scary and heartbreaking at the same time.
 But go see for yourself. And when you run into the representatives of the Oracle Theatre, Inc. (Brooklyn) and the Greater Milford Historical Society, who produced this excellent play, thank them warmly for bringing such an important event to town.

Sam Goodyear’s column on the arts in Otsego and Delaware counties appears weekly

Labels: 06-19-09, Art Beat, Columns, Glimmerglass, Sam Goodyear

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 6:57 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

WEEKEND’S BEST BETS

Take Dad Out To Ball Game At Doubleday

On dad’s special day, take him to the first National Baseball Hall of Fame Classic – featuring legends of the National Pastime – at 2 p.m. at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown.
The game, designed as a replacement to the Hall of Fame Game, will include such heroes of the sport at Bob Feller, Brooks Robinson, Paul Molitor and Fergie Jenkins.
In addition to those Hall of Famers, 22 other former MLB players will participate.

GET IN FREE: On Father’s Day, all dads and grandads will receive free admission to the Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown. Exhibits include “America’s Rome: Artists in the Eternal City, 1800-1900,” at The Fenimore, and “Wild Times,” a look at Upstate animals, at The Farmers’. Dad and junior may also enjoy a ride on the Empire State Carousel.

FISH WITH DAD: The state Department of Environmental Conservation will co-sponsor a family fishing day noon-2 p.m. Sunday, June 21 in Oneonta’s Neahwa Park. Everyone’s invited, and no fishing license is required. The Otsego County Sportsmen’s Federation and City of Oneonta are co-sponsoring the event.

PLAY BALL! Spend Father’s Day evening at an Oneonta Tigers home game. It starts at 6 p.m. against the Tri-City Valley Cats in Damaschke Field.

GET AN AUTOGRAPH: Bob Feller, at 90 the oldest living Hall of Famer, will be signing copies of “The Deal Is On Strike Three” 1-2 p.m. Saturday, June 20, at Willis Monie Books, Cooperstown. Feller wrote the introduction.

DAD’S DAY FEAST: The Otesaga’s Father’s Day Family Sunday Brunch will cater to dad this weekend. In addition to breakfast specials, it includes slow-roasted prime rib, salmon, scallops, shrimp. 11:30-2. $39 a person.

DID YOU KNOW? The mother of Father’s Day is Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Wash., whose father, William Smart, a Civil War vet, raised her and five siblings alone after their mother died.

Labels: 06-19-09, Glimmerglass, Weekend's Best Bets

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 6:56 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with:

Cooperstown and Around

Otsego County Folks Invited To 2 Museums

COOPERSTOWN

With local kids out of school and the big summer crowds a week or two away, The Farmers’ and Fenimore museums have declared Monday-Sunday, June 22-28, “Otsego County Appreciation Week.”
Those days, people who live or work in the country will be admitted to the museums at half-price, and special programming is planned. (Full details, Page 3)

SUBDIVISION OK’D: The Town of Otsego Planning Board, 5-2, has approve a four-lot subdivision half-way up Browdy Mountain at Five Mile Point. (Details, Page 7)

FIGARO, FIGARO: Puccini’s “Tosca,” Copland’s “The Tender Land,” Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” and the American professionally staged premiere of Handel’s “Tolomeo” will be performed at Glimmerglass Opera in the summer of 2010, it was announced this week.

THEY’RE BACK: Novelist Dana Spiotta, husband Clem Coleman and their daughter Agnes are back in Cherry Valley after a year at the American Academy in Rome. Their Rose & Kettle restaurant reopens Saturday, June 20.

FRUGAL GOOGLE: Jillian Bos, who opened the Frugal Fashionista May 9, is opening a second store, the Frugal Google, an “upscale retail department store” for “gently used products,” at 59 Pioneer St., possible by July 20.

Labels: 06-19-09, Cooperstown and Around

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 1:52 AM 0 comments

Bookmark this post with: