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Volume 13, No. 26
ONEONTA
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Thursday, April 1, 2021
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SPRINGBROOK TELLS STAFF:
City of The Hills
Get Vaccinated, Get $500 Bonus By JIM KEVLIN MILFORD CENTER
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
The Rev. Mark Montfort, First Presybeterian Church, Oneonta, rings the bells that volunteers tolled 55 times Saturday morning, March 27, to mark the anniversary of the county’s first COVID victim, Brenda Utter, 63, of Morris, and 54 deaths since. Behind him, Chris Gustafson counts the chimes.
Vaccination Age Dips To 30; Next It’s 16-Year-Olds
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ith 35 percent of its employees not yet vaccinated, Springbrook is offering a $500 enticement to encourage them to get the COVID-19 vaccine shot.
“This is important, this is safe,” said Springbrook CEO Patricia Kennedy. “It’s going to get us back to where we want to be, being with the people we want to be with and doing things we want to do. That’s my message for all our employees and the community.” There’s a distinction between new employPlease See SPRINGBROOK, B5
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wo Oneonta Democratic incumbents on the Otsego County Board of Representatives, Andrew Stammel, center, and Danny Lapin, right, have announced they won’t run again. In Stammel’s Town of Oneonta district, that leaves Republican Michelle Catan unopposed, absent an independent challenge. For details on all of this fall’s local races, visit
AllOTSEGO.com
www.
THEY’RE BA-A-CK! HIBERNATION OVER, BEARS ON PROWL ►TO REPORT a bear sighting, call (607) 652-7637 For more information on bears, visit r4info@dec.ny.gov
By JIM KEVLIN FLY CREEK
V
ince Casale knew something was up when he saw an empty, broken bird s of this week, all feeder from the other side of the New Yorkers age 30 house in the middle of his driveor older are eligible way as he drove out, taking wife for vaccinations, Governor Lynne to a birthday dinner. Cuomo announced. “I heard something rustling in As of April 6, all New the dry leaves outside the driveYorkers age 16 or older will way,” he said. “It sounded big. I be eligible, well ahead of the thought it had to be a deer.” May 1 deadline set by the As they were leaving the White House, he said. Bed Bug Road neighborhood Get appointments at on Tuesday, March 23, heading ny.gov/GetVaccinated or by toward Fly Creek, “we saw the calling the NYS COVID-19 bear exiting the road on the left Vaccine Hotline at 1-833side,” he said. NYS-4-VAX (1-833-697Lynne pulled out her camera, 4829). and captured the bear’s movements and it moved back off the Follow Breaking News On left side of the road, then back the road into a field on the OTSEGO.com across right. DEC photo depicts black bear, a type found Get ready, Otsego County, ►city judge Lucy Bernier to ALBANY
2 INCUMBENT DEMOCRATS WILL LEAVE COUNTY BOARD
All
retire; Attorney Bob Goulbin runs to succeed her. ►Suspect pleads not guilty in As mayor murder attempt with car. of a ficti►POT LEGaLizATION may be entious vilnacted any day. lage, CGP ►ROBINSON CASE to begin April Professor 14. Cindy Falk ►SQSPCA THRIFT SHOP stops takleads ing donations pending move. reserv►HONEST BROOK MUSIC FEST to ists in a reopen in July. training ►dEMOCRATIC CHALLENGE takes exercise Sheila Ross off County Board outside Ballot. Coopers►cOMmON cOUNCIL to consider town. police reform, reinvention plan Thurs.
increasingly in Otsego County.
we’re going to see a lot more of these sightings as black bears move north from the Catskills into the woods around here, said Josh Choquette, the wildlife technician in the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Stamford Office who specializes in the bear population. What happened to the Casales – “she’s a bird enthusiast, and had just filled the feeders,” said the husband – will happen more frequently to bird lovers, unless they take precautions, Choquette said. “This is the time of year that black bears emerge from their dormancy,” he said. Bears like skunk cabbage, found in wetlands and low wet areas. But, “the Number One food they are looking to forPlease See BEARS, A3
No Helicopter, But Reservists Back In County For Training COOPERSTOWN
F
or the sixth time in seven years, the Cooperstown Graduate Program has coordinated with the Army Reserves to do field training in the Cooperstown area. According to CGP Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA Professor Cindy Falk,
about 30 soldiers from Fort Drum, six cadets from Syracuse University and six CGP students from her Culture and Collections class worked together on training exercises over a three-day weekend, from Thursday, March 25, to Saturday, March 27. Please See ARMY, A3
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA-
SUNY Oneonta stuents Barbara Lewis and Eddie Lopez designed the 2,000 leaflets being distributed to the public.
SUNY HELPS PUBLIC
2,000 Flyers Distributed By Students ONEONTA
O
ver 50 SUNY Oneonta students have joined forces in an effort to spread the word about the availability of COVID vaccinations to communities across Otsego County. “We organized this within days” said Linda Drake, director of the college’s Center for Social Responsibility & Community, which organized the effort. “Students made schedules in 24 hours and we have every mobile home park and low income housing development from New Berlin to Sidney. It’s been a great service to our community.”
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD