Young ANSEL ADAMS
HIT IN ’07, VIRTUOSO IMAGES RETURN TO FENIMORE/B1
HOMETOWN ONEONTA !
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F Volume 8, No. 20
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, February 19, 2016
City of The Hills
Complimentary
NO POWER = NO DEVELOPMENT?
Natural-Gas Shortfalls Energize Pipeline Push By JIM KEVLIN
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Carleigh Bettiol was among the elated “Hamilton� performers on the Grammy stage Monday, Feb. 15, after the news of their Grammy was announced.
Carleigh One Of Honorees At Grammys
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neonta’s Carleigh Bettiol, in the Broadway cast of the hit “Hamilton,� was on stage at the Grammys Monday, Feb. 15, in Los Angeles, performing the opening song, “Alexander Hamilton.� A few minutes later she was back with the exhulting cast as Lin-Manuel Miranda, writer and star, accepted the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Recording. G-RATED OH-FEST? Common Council member Russ Southard advised his colleagues Tuesday, Feb. 16, that, with hip-hop artist Kid Ink due to perform at OHFest in April, he is pushing to ensure a “non-X-rated concert� will be staged in Neahwa Park.
2016 ANNUAL DINNER & CELEBRATION OF BUSINESS
5:45 p.m., Thursday, March 3, SUNY Oneonta’s Hunt Union Ballroom
NYCM, Pillar Of Economy By JIM KEVLIN
NYCM
EDMESTON
NBT BANK DISTINGUISHED BUSINESS
n these days of voice mail all the time, everywhere, ask Dan Robinson, NYCM Insurance president/ CEO, about customer service. “It’s a lost art,� he’s likely to remark with some emphasis. That may be the case generally, but – as he quickly explains – certainly not on the vast campus on the north side of Route 80 that you pass
entering Edmeston from the east, the home of recently rebranded NYCM Insurance. For one thing, if you call the 800-employee company, a human being will answer. No voice mail, (except for specific, non-customer purposes). If you’re put on hold, the Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA consistently met goal is that it Dan Robinson is the fourth generation to will be for no longer than 45 Please See NYCM, A3 lead NYCM Insurance.
I
In Y’s Reinvention, Walls Disappeared By LIBBY CUDMORE
NO RECORD: Temperatures dropped to minus-23 in Oneonta Saturday, Feb. 13; but the record, minus28, was set in the 1930s, says Weather Watcher Dave Mattice.
ONEONTA
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FREE RIDE TO LUNCH:
Pupils can ride the OPT free through Friday, Feb. 19, to Winter Lunch Party, which is offering free lunches at the First United Presbyterian “Red Door� Church. IT’S THE WORD: Orpheus Theatre is holding auditions for all roles in “Grease� at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, and Saturday, Feb. 27, at First UM Church.
t started a couple of weeks ago when SUNY Oneonta Energy Manager Patrick T. Ryan called a meeting of big energy users and energy suppliers in the Otsego-Chenango area to discuss what might be done about “interruptible power.� Under that policy, NYSEG – New York State Electric & Gas, the natural-gas supplier serving the region – can direct big users, institutions like SUNY Oneonta and Fox Hospital, to shift to another heat source within 24 hours. NYSEG issued such a directive as recently as Friday, Feb. 12, anticipating the minus-23 reported in Oneonta the following night and the minus-28 outside of Cooperstown. Attendees at the SUNY Oneonta meeting included Fox Hospital’s Don Libby, Mirabito’s Russ Southard, the Oneonta Common Council member, Chobani’s Tony Russo, NBT Bank’s Jamie Please See GAS, B7
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Y Executive Director Frank Russo implemented the “Y Without Walls� strategy.
his is not your grandfather’s YMCA. “We did a market survey, and a lot of people responded that they knew the Y as, ‘Where Grandpa learned to swim.’ Or the place they had gone when they were kids, 20 years ago,� said Oneonta Family Y Executive director Frank Russo. “But we’re so much more than that.�
2-Physician Team Tended Oneonta Well
ONEONTA FAMILY YMCA
By LIBBY CUDMORE
QUALITY OF LIFE AWARD
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Five years ago, the Y put together a strategic plan, with a focus on outreach, new equipment and programming and collaboration to assure continued relevancy in the community. “And five years later, I’m proud to say we’ve completed 90 percent of it,� said Russo, whose Y will receive the Otsego County Chamber’s Quality of Life Please See WALLS, A6
hile at SUNY Buffalo, young Deanna Palumbo got sick and had to go to the hospital. “I knew it was pneumonia, but the doctor who put me there wasn’t giving me the right antibiotics and I just kept getting sicker and sicker,� she said. But over the weekend, two women physicians were doing their rounds, and recognized her symptoms. “They sent me for X-rays and got me the right medicine, and I got better.� she Please See DOCTORS, B7
Reservations, call Kellly Zack-Decker, Otsego County Chamber, (607) 432-4500 ext. 207 or e-mail kelly@otsegocountychamber.com • $80 per person • $750 for table of 10
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD
Congratulates NYCM
Distinguished Business of the Year
&
JohN ReMillaRd
Eugene Bettiol, Jr. Distinguished Citizen of the Year
country club motors and imports
&
POFJEB TUSFFU POFPOUB t XXX DPVOUSZDMVCBVUPHSPVQ DPN join us on:
YMCa
Quality of Life