WIN $500! WINTER CARNIVAL MEDALLION’S OUT THERE, FOR FIRST CLUE TO LOCATE IT, SEE PAGE A3
HOMETOWN ONEONTA !
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F Volume 8, No. 16
City of The Hills
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
‘City Of Hills’ May Reclaim Primacy Over ‘Life Enjoyed’ By JIM KEVLIN
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uring one of marketer Sean Magee’s research visits to the city, a professor called Oneonta “Ithaca’s funkier cousin.” That suggestion of off-beat variety, plus his initial impression of a commu-
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Lynn Bailey, Oneonta, claps along to “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” by Thomas Dorsey, sung by soprano Yolanda Sharpe during the county’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemoration Sunday, Jan. 17, at the Unitarian Universalist Church/MORE PHOTOS, A3
Complimentary
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, January 22, 2016
nity set in a bowl of scenic hills, contributed to the development of the proposed branding strategy unveiled at the Destination Oneonta annual meeting Wednesday, Jan. 13, at Foothills. “These are initial drafts,” Magee, whose title is principal, brand management, for Trampoline Design, Glens Please See BRAND, A7
Microbrew Mecca Idea Grows By JIM KEVLIN
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e had expected this to be his last term, but veteran Assemblyman Bill Magee, D-Nelson, who has represented Oneonta since 1990, has decided to seek a 13th term, according to Democratic county chair Richard Abbate. Michael Hennessy, a Sherrill city councilman, who was endorsed by the Oneida and Madison county committees last time, is expected to run again, Abbate said. However, the chair expects Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA the Otsego committee will Scott Fickbohm, Burlington Flats, speaking at Hartwick College’s Winter again endorse Magee when it Farm Brewer Weekend, is proposing a 13-employee Generations Malting meets Feb. 10.
INTRODUCTION: Sean P. Jordan, the Mohawk Valley Economic Development District’s new director, will speak to business leaders at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26, at the Hampton Inn. 12TH FORUM: The Catskill Regional Teacher Center invites teachers, administrators and education students to its 12th annual Legislative Forum with state legislators at 4:30-5:30 p.m. Feb. 4, at the Hunt Union.
HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Malting Piece May Make Otsego Brewing Supreme
Assemblyman Magee Plans Another Run
STAR PASSES: Bill Ronovech, 72, co-captain of Coach Drago’s famed undefeated 1959-60 OHS basketball team, has passed away in Nevada/DETAILS, B6
A consultant’s report outlines four ways to use “City of the Hills” brand.
Abbate, Stammel Split Over Zephyr’s Return to light up the district,” Abbate said micable unity is not last Wednesto be. day, Jan. The county’s 13, after the Democratic chairman, Fordham Richard Abbate, was University excited about former law profesTeachout gubernatorial candidate sor met with at Foothills the party’s Zephyr Teachout’s interest in 2014. in succeeding U.S. Rep. executive Chris Gibson, R-19. committee ”She’s an incredible can- at Abbate’s Cooperstown didate – full of energy, great home. ideas; she’s really going Please See SPLIT/B7 By JIM KEVLIN
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he debate at the fourth annual Winter Farm Brewery Weekend, hosted on Saturday-Sunday, Jan. 16-17, by Hartwick College, focused on what the general public might consider an arcane topic: Malted barley and its possible shortage. By the weekend’s end, however, it turns out Otsego County may solve that prospective problem, filling yet another gap in the supply and production chain that is turning Oneonta and the Glimmerglass Region into “the Finger Lakes of Beer.” Governor Cuomo’s economic-development grants for 2016, announced Thursday, Dec. 10, included $250,000 for the Genera-
Brewmaster Phil Leinhart discusses Ommegang’s initiatives with attendees from as far away as South Africa.
tions Malting Co., led by Scott Fickbohm, longtime Otsego County Soil & Water Please See MALT, A6
Money Magazine’s Elite Includes SUNY Oneonta As She Again Teaches Undergrads, Kleniewski Says: 1st Semester Key By JIM KEVLIN
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t’s no accident that, as Money magazine recognized SUNY Oneonta as one of 14 schools in the U.S. that have raised graduation rates most, Nancy Kleniewski was preparing to teach an introductory sociology class to underclassmen. “The first semester is the critical time that’s Please See ELITE/ B7
Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
SUNY Oneonta President Kleniewski reviews Money report.
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD