INSIDE:
AllOTSEGO.life
2015 otsego county yearbook
HOMETOWN ONEONTA !
E RE
F Volume 8, No. 13
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, January 1, 2016
City of The Hills
Complimentary
HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Fighting The Scourge & The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
2015 citizens of the year
THEY OPENED
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
The Rev. Mel Farmer, retired River Street Baptist Church pastor, shows off one of 150 hams distributed this year through his “Angel of Love” holiday program. That was a record, as were the 110 turkeys.
four FRONTS against HEROIN TIDE
County Board To Welcome 7 New Members COOPERSTOWN
T
he Otsego County Board of Representatives will welcome seven new members, including Republican Len Carson and Democrat Andrew Stammel, at its first 2016 meeting at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6. At the organizational meeting, the representatives will vote on whether to continue County Rep. Kathy Clark, R-Otego, as chair, and on other officers and committees. SWEARINGS-IN: Mayor Gary Herzig, City Judge Lucy Bernier, and Common Council, including six new members, will be sworn in at noon Friday, Jan. 1, at Foothills. A reception will follow. The public is welcome. PARADE VIPS: Hometown Oneonta reporter Libby Cudmore and photographer Ian Austin will be grand marshalls at the city’s First Night Parade, which heads down Main Street at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 1. Entertainment follows at 7; fireworks at 10:30. STATE OF STATE: The Otsego Chamber of Commerce’s annual State of the State breakfast is 8 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5, at The Otesaga.
THE ORACLE: The Hon. BRIAN D. BURNS
THE SAMARITAN: Police Chief MICHAEL COVERT
THE GENERAL: LEAF Executive Director JULIE DOSTAL
THE ENFORCER: District Attorney JOHN MUEHL
On The Front Lines, They See Inch-By-Inch Progress BY LIBBY CUDMORE & JIM KEVLIN
‘I
t’s going to be the biggest problem in the next 10 years,” Otsego County Judge Brian D. Burns declared after being sworn in for a second 10-year term on Jan. 1, 2011, in solemn Courtroom #1 of the venerable County Courthouse in Cooperstown. He was talking about heroin. And he was right. But he – and our three other Citizens of 2015 – stayed the course, fighting a grueling day-to-day battle
against a foe that has invaded not only our county, but rural America, each in very specific ways: • As judge of the Drug Treatment Court in Otsego and Delaware counties, Burns, in collaboration with a dozen county agencies, is getting non-violent drug offenders – under tight supervision – to face their problem and try to reform. • After saving a young addict from near death, Cooperstown Police Chief Michael Covert embraced a rehabilitation program pioneered by Gloucester, Mass., police, and is directing drug abusers into
rehab at a rate of more than 150 a year. • When there’s heroin-related trouble, LEAF Executive Director Julie Dostal is there to fix it, be it the fatal “DEISEL” brand that showed up in January, or arranging NARCAN training to stop overdoses short. • District Attorney John M. Muehl has been vigorously enforcing the law, obtaining guilty verdicts and pleas in 119 of 120 cases. Along the way, he’s learned tough enforcement can’t solve everything. READ THEIR STORIES, PAGES A4-5
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD
2 0 o 1 t 5 s e c u e D Ring in the New Year with Bocca!! Filet of Lobster Tail
only $34.99 per person!
call now for reservations 5438 State Highway 28 • Cooperstown, NY• 607.282.4031• www.boccaosteria.com