WHERE’S THE MEDALLION? $500 PRIZE AWAITS WHOEVER FINDS PRIZE/CLUE ON A2
HOMETOWN !
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F Volume 11, No. 17
City of The Hills
ONEONTA
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, February 1, 2019
Visit www.
AllOTSEGO.com
Oneonta Hotel Twice Leaks Carbon Monoxide, Forcing Its Office-Building Neighbors To Flee
NOW WHAT?
Private Life Beckons To Lou Allstadt He Leaves Cooperstown Village Board, But Stays Involved In Public Affairs By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN
‘I
t’s been my longest job – at the lowest pay,” former Mobil Oil executive vice president Lou Allstadt told his colleagues Monday, Jan. 28, in resigning from the Village Allstadt Board. Resigning, but it doesn’t mean he’s exactly retiring. He’s remaining on the Village Board’s Economic Development Please See ALLSTADT, A7
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Jackson Jones, Oneonta, and mother Kristen head out on cross-country skis to go around Gilbert Lake during the annual Winter Fest on Saturday, Jan. 26. More photos on A3,
AllOTSEGO.com
www.
150-Plus Head To Debates At Energy Summit
AT WSKG, TALK
COOPERSTOWN
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t’s exploded like, well, a gusher. The Otsego County Chamber of Commerce Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA “Energy Summit” Thursday, Oneonta Assistant Fire Chief Jim Maloney (dark classes) enters 189 Main after it was evacJan. 31, at The Otesaga has uated Monday, Jan. 28, for a second time, by fumes from the former Oneonta Hotel next expanded from six to nine door. At left, city Code Enforcement Inspector John Hester and Stephen Yearly follow. hours, and will include 19 we delay action any further,” speakers in an attempt to By LIBBY CUDMORE Herzig said. “Not bringing that give everybody a chance to building up to code is a risk we be heard. ONEONTA should not be taking.” As this edition went to On Monday, Jan. 28, a woman press, Chamber Executive ayor Gary Herzig did not was taken by ambulance to Fox Barbara Ann Heegan said mince words after carHospital with blue lips and blue 155 people had registered. bon-monoxide leaks from fingernails, signs of carbonFollow real-time reports the former Oneonta Hotel cause the monoxide poisoning, after a hot throughout the day at adjacent 189 Main professional ofwater heater in the basement of www. OTSEGO.com fices next door to be evacuated twice 195 Main malfunctioned, pumpThe prestigious 189 Main in four days. ing C-O gas into the ventilation office building is at left, the “People’s well-being is at risk if Please See HOTEL, A7 ON OTSEGO.com Oneonta Hotel, at right.
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►A STATE TROOPER was wounded after exchanging gunfire with suspect after a car chase early yesterday evening on Route 17 in the Town of Kirkwood, south of Binghamton. ►A DOG PARK is the focus of a subcommittee of the city’s Operations, Planning and Evaluation committee, who will explore whether one should be added to the Neahwa Park Master Plan ►CONGRESSMAN DELGADO D19th, announced he will serve as a member of the Small Business Committee. ►SCHENEVUS CENTRAL SCHOOL is one of only five school districts in New York State that are under “significant fiscal stress,” state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli reported.
Knell Sounds On Classical Music Locally By LIBBY CUDMORE
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t’s could be the day the music died – classical music, that is – in Otsego County. On Sunday, Feb. 3, Binghamton-based WSKG, which broadcast on 91.7 across much of the county – will convert from classical music and news programming to all-talk, including “Fresh Air” and “Morning Edition”. Please See RADIO, A7
County’s 2nd Solar Farm About To Power On Scott Nyquist, project manager at Laurens’ Solstice solar farm, shows off the extent of the panels in a 13-acre field north of the village.
Panels Will Start Generating In February By JENNIFER HILL LAURENS
P
oised to open a solar farm in Laurens – Otsego County’s second – Solstice executives say the company wants to make sure that everyone around here can afford solar energy. That includes “people who need the savings the most,”
said Andrew Alayza, marketing director for the international solar-farm developer. Four-hundred local families have already signed up for all the capacity the farm will produce, but Solstice is encouraging people to get on a waiting list for future projects. Solstice, with offices in Chicago, New York and Argentina, partnered with MIT and Please See SOLAR, A7
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD