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F Volume 11, No. 13
City of The Hills
ONEONTA
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, January 4, 2019
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The Fenimore ROCKS! Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President Greg Harris, right, visited The Fenimore’s Clark Gallery over the weekend to see where Ritts’ photos will hand. With him is Todd Kenyon, Fenimore director of marketing.
Museum’s Largest Exhibit Features Photos Of Madonna, Cher, All Of Rock’s Greatest “There are more than 100 pieces to this collection,” said curator Chris COOPERSTOWN Rossi. “It’s the largest show we’ve ever put on.” adonna is Ritts’ “Rock Portraits” coming to debuted at the Rock & Cooperstown. Roll Hall of Fame in So is David Bowie. Cleveland, Ohio, in 2015. Bob Dylan, Bruce “There’s a whole difSpringsteen and Tina ferent element to his rock Ritts took iconic Turner will be here too, portraiture. It’s not just the photos of Cher – and part of “Herb Ritts: The many other rock stars. visual connection, there’s Rock Portraits,” due to a sonic connection as open April 2 at The Fenimore well,” said Greg Harris, Rock & Art Museum. Please See PHOTOS, B5 By LIBBY CUDMORE
M Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Oneontans Paul Jenkins, on sax, and John Davey, Oneonta, on bass, perform with Doreen & The Soul Survivors in Foothills’ Atrium Monday, Dec. 31, during the annual First Night celebration/
John Heller, Oneonta • 1980-2018
MORE PHOTOS ON A3
Both Mayors, Seward Weigh State Of State
FIREMAN DIES A HERO
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►THE OTSEGO LAND TRUST announced the donation of a conservation easement on 133 acres of forests, hills, farmland and wetlands in the Town of Oneonta on Friday, Dec. 28.. ►A FIRE DESTROYED the Fred A. Roos Jr. house at 264 Geywits Road, Town of Springfield on Friday, Dec. 28, according to Assistant Chief Dale Schulz of the Springfield Center Fire Department. No injuries were reported, but the fire remains under investigation. ►OUTGOING CONGRESSMAN John Faso wouldn’t rule out running for Congress again in 2020 – but wouldn’t rule it in either, he told WAMC President Alan Chartock. ►310 AIRBNB HOSTS in Otsego County each earned about $5,900 in supplementary income in 2018, the company announced at year’s end.
Convenient Care Opens At Bassett’s Mother Ship By PATRICK WAGER
tate Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, and two mayors, Cooperstown’s Ellen Tillapaugh Kuch and Oneonta’s Gary Herzig, were due to address the Otsego Chamber’s annual State of the State Breakfast at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 2, at SUNY Oneonta’s Morris Conference Center. For details, check
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Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
John Heller, engaged to marry next Oct. 12, helped his fiancée, Amber Roe, and his four nephews to safety before being trapped inside 5 Walling Ave., Oneonta, last Saturday evening, Dec. 19
By LIBBY CUDMORE
here’s been one in Herkimer for 18 years and in Oneonta for 10. And Thursday, Jan. 3, Bassett Hospital will open an “after-hours” Convenient Care Center at the main hospital here. Dr. Winther The new unit will have seven patient-care rooms and will be staffed at first with “an advanced practice clinician” – a physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner – one registered nurse, one medical office assistant and one registration staff. Over time it is expected that the unit Please See BASSETT, B4
Local Women Plan Bus To D.C. March By LIBBY CUDMORE
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ohn Heller died a hero. The former Oneonta firefighter made sure his four nephews, Donovan, 9, Maddox, 7, Macall, 5 and Rawley, 2, as well as his fiancée, Amber Roe, were safe when an early-morning fire broke out in his 5 Walling Ave. home on Saturday, Dec. 29. “He and Amber are my heroes,” his sister-inlaw, Erika Heller, wrote in an emotional Facebook tribute. “They saved my babies and he made the ultimate sacrifice for our family.” Please See FATAL FIRE, B5
ONEONTA
T Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Heller was trapped in the top floor of 5 Walling Ave., where he may have tried to escape through the broken window.
his year, Butternuts Valley Indivisible won’t just be marching in the third annual Women’s March for Women Jan. 19 in Washington, D.C. They’ll be marching for everyone, said Amy Pondolfino, who is organizing the local contingent. Please See MARCH, B4
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD