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Volume 12, No. 17
N
HOMETOWN E!
E FR
ONEONTA
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Thursday, January 30, 2020
Republican May Dent Democratic Blue Wall Village Hall Solidly One-Party Since 2012 By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN
M
ary Margaret Robbins Sohns, whose years-long
battle against Lyme Disease, culminating in a heart transplant last summer, inspired the community, is contending to be the first Republican elected to the Village Board since 2010. Please See CAUCUS, A7
Visit www.
AllOTSEGO.com
TO SUCCEED SEWARD, A LOCAL MAN
It’s Oberacker For NY Senate Tague Drops Bid, Opening Up Field For Schenevus Rep
Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Congressman Antonio Delgado, D-19, told those gathered for the annual State of the State Luncheon that he was the only member of Congress to have two bills passed and signed by the President. The luncheon was held Friday, Jan. 24 at SUNY Oneonta.
By JIM KEVLIN SCHENEVUS
P
E-Pioneer To Address Graduation ONEONTA
B
eth LeTendre ’90, chief executive Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA officer of GroupM Honoree Fred Lemister received a lot of hugs, including this one from Hartwick EMT Performance U.S., has been Sue Hascup, as well as handshakes and accolades at the Saturday, Jan. 25, testimonial in chosen as the speaker for his honor at Bassett Hall. At right is Sue’s husband Chuck. Hartwick College’s 2020 commencement at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, May 16, at Elmore Field. In 1998, LeTendre and EMT Pioneer, Lemister Trained Hundreds; her Hartwick friend Heather They Packed Reception To Wish Him Well Frahm ’90 launched Catalyst, a specialty search, soOtsego County gathered to cial, and ecommerce marketBy JIM KEVLIN celebrate Fred Lemister and ing agency that now serves to thank him for his training Fortune 1000 clients. COOPERSTOWN prowess and for 48 years of Eight years later, the pair service to the Cooperstown negotiated the acquisition of or decades, they had Emergency Squad, where he Catalyst by WPP, the world’s learned from him. responded to a record 9,400 largest communications They had emulated emergency calls. service company. him. They had admired him. “No one’s going to surpass After he hailed colleagues as “Good SamarAnd Saturday, Jan. 25, hun- those numbers,” said John the audience rose as one in a standON OTSEGO.com dreds of EMTs from around Please See LEMISTER, A7 itans,” ing ovation. Frank Capozza is at center.
For Fred, Outpouring Of Praise, Thanks
F
All
►BASSETT HOSPITAL’S proposed 143-car employee parking lot was met with generally favorable reviews at a public hearing during the Cooperstown Village Board on Monday, Jan. 27. ►OF monsters and men were announced as the second band in the newly revived Brewery Ommegang concert series on Friday, June 5. ►CAROL LEE WHEELER, who was mentored as a Mary Kay consultant by the founder herself, died Saturday, Jan. 18.
Arson Trial Testimony Sorts Tangled Tale By LIBBY CUDMORE COOPERSTOWN
T
he morning of Dec. 29, 2018, fire in front of Heather Engler’s apartment door at 5 Walling Ave., Oneonta. Her stepmother, Rochelle Engler, Libby Cudmore/HOMETOWN ONEONTA told District Attorney John Muehl Gabriel Truitt and his legal team. that accused arsonist Gabriel
►FOR UPDATES of the Truitt arson-murder trial, check at noon and late afternoon at
AllOTSEGO.com
www.
Truitt had contacted her. “He messaged me on Facebook to say that Heather’s house was on fire,” she said. “I didn’t understand, so he called me. He Please See TRUITT, B2
artner in his father’s market, executive with a multinational food corporation, entrepreneur in his own marketresearch firm, town supervisor, county representative and, now, candidate for state Senate from the Otsego-County-centric 51st District. Grounded in Main Street Peter Oberacker and Wall Street, Peter Oberacker confirmed Tuesday, Jan. 28, that he will seek to carry forward the 34-year legacy of Please See OBERACKER, A7
OYA Seeks Acreage For Solar Farm Canadian Firm Sends Letters To Town Of Otego Residents By LIZZIE COOPER
F
or the second time in a month, word is out that a solar energy company is hoping to site a project in Otsego County, although much smaller than Storke LLC’s 3,000- acre project that’s surfaced in West Laurens. In the new project, New York and Toronto-based OYA Solar has sent letters of inquiry to landowners in the Town of Otego whose land appears to fit the requirements. Please See SOLAR, B5
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD