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Volume 12, No. 28

& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch

Oneonta, N.Y., Thursday, April 16, 2020

City of The Hills

COOPERSTOWN

B

assett Healthcare Network is doing original research into finding a cure for COVID-19.

“This is an opportunity to have residents

John Grigoli, Sal’s Pizzeria and Mike Joubert, WiseGuys Sammy’s, joined forces to bring nurses and hospital staff at the Bassett testing tent a lunch of pizza and wings on Tuesday, April 14/DETAILS ON A3

SEE MULTIPLE REPORTS ON

ON

AllOTSEGO.com

►suny confirms first COVID19 case, an employee of the school. ►in lockdown, Pathfinder Village is striving to keep its residents calm – and inspired. ►bogus officer sought for attempting to enforce a non-existent “travel ban” on Oneonta area drivers. ►gLIMMERGLASS fEST again delays decision on 2020 season. ►suspect caught, freed, re-caught in Unadilla on Easter Sunday, thanks to the state’s bail-reform provisions. ►hand sanitizers handed out by state Senate candidate Pete Oberacker, R-Schenevus. ►DAD HONORS DAUGHTER, nurse Kaitlyn Van Winkler, with a “Thank You Essential Workers” shrine in front of his Milford home. ►porch lights for support program launched by Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh in Cooperstown. ►otesaga turns out “To-Go” Easter dinners for 400 people. ►when phone rang over the weekend, it was probably Otsego County Board chair Dave Bliss. ►mANY Alpacas, sheep found dead at New Lisbon farm.

The owner, Christopher M. D’Amato, 54, was arrested. ►rabid skunk found in Hartwick. One person was in treatment. ►Paid parking in Cooperstown, which has generated $400,000 a year recently, may be delayed until July.

Visit www.

AllOTSEGO.com

AFTER ORDEAL, SEWARD HOME

Bassett Researcher Testing 3 Anti-Coronavirus Drugs

By ELIZABETH COOPER

Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA

ONEONTA S

of this area participate in a really rigorous and sound clinical trial to get these drugs with the most up-to-date and most recommended method,” said Dr. Daniel Freilich, an infectious disease specialist.

The study, dubbed COVID MED, will offer select Bassett and Fox Hospital patients Please See DRUGS, A10

Seward

tate Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, is recuperating at home after a 10-day ordeal with coronavirus at Albany Medical Center.

At one point, the senator was on a ventilator and in a medically induced coma, but rebounded.

“The family is profoundly grateful to God and the medical team for his recovery,” said his chief of staff, Duncan Davie.

Details at

AllOTSEGO.com

www.

COVID Slows Down

By ELIZABETH COOPER

PROFILE FROM THE FRONT LINES: HEIDI BOND

COOPERSTOWN

County Public Health Director Heidi Bond sets a good example by sampling the handsanitizer on the display in front of her office at The Meadows.

A

Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA

General Leads Battle To Quell Coronavirus

By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN

I

n the past 20 years, as reports of H1N1, SARS, MARS and other viruses would surface on the

news, most of us never gave them a second thought.

Not so Heidi Bond, Otsego County’s public health director, and her half-dozen staff members in The Meadows Office Complex in the Town of Middlefield.

“Since 2001 – after 911, the

bombing of the World Trade Center – the state Health Department prepared for all types of diseases, and pandemics were one of them,” said Bond, who had joined the county department in 2000 as a public health nurse.

Please See BOND, A10

Need Grows, Food Banks Welcome Henry Kortekaas and Lord’s Table Director Joyce Miller serve takeout pizza.

By LIBBY CUDMORE

s state and federal officials debate when and how to reopen parts of the country, weekly increases to the number of local cases of COVID19 are slowing down.

COVID But Otsego

BY THE County’s Public NUMBERS Health Director Heidi Bond said it Total Cases is too early to tell 45 when restrictions will be lifted here.

Recovered Governor Cuomo 19 will be the one to Deaths make that deter2 mination, and so As of 4/14/20 far he has not said when or how it will be done.

There continue to be new cases locally, and people are being advised to remain vigilant.

“I do not think Otsego County has reached its peak yet,” Bond said in an email. “We continue to see new cases, although it has been a little lower number of cases being reported in the past couple days.”

Key takeaways from the Health Department as of Tuesday, April 14, when this edition went to press, include: Please See SLOWING, A7

Superintendents Flummoxed: When Will Classes Resume?

By ELIZABETH COOPER

MILFORD

I Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA

n an average shopping trip, Laura Eggleston, Milford Food Pantry director, might buy 1,100 pounds of food to serve their 39 households.

On Monday, April 13, she placed an order for 4,300 Please See FOOD, A2

W

ith schools closed at least until April 29, Otsego County superintendents are planning for the possibility of a longer-term closure.

“Everyone is trying their best under very difficult circumstances,” said ONC

Crankshaw

Brindley

BOCES Superintendent Please See SCHOOLS, A7

HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD

THURSDAY, aPRIL 16, 2020

A-2 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA

At Milford Food Bank, 56 Families Up From 39

The

job scene

FOOD/From A1 pounds. “In these last two weeks, we’ve served 56 families,” she said. “That’s 193 individuals.”

As the COVID-19 crisis deepens, food banks across the county are seeing “a dramatic uptick,” said Maj. Cheryl Compton, Salvation Army. “Everyone just paid rent and many of them haven’t gotten their unemployment this month.”

Many of them are new customers, noted Julia Perdue, Cooperstown Food Pantry director. “We served 29 new households last month,” she said. “In all, we served 219 families. That’s our highest since 2007.”

“We’ve already seen 15 new people this month,” said Joyce Mason, director, St. James Food Pantry.

“And it’s going to get worse the longer this goes on.”

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‘

We’ve already seen 15 new people this month. And it’s going to get worse the longer this goes on.”

Joyce Mason Director, St. James Food Pantry

However, she noted, the evening feeding ministry, The Lord’s Table, has seen a decline in people coming for the take-out hot meals. “It’s a social thing for them,” she said.

“People want to sit down, and not being able to do so is difficult for them, so they don’t come.”

In Richfield Springs, Polly Renckens has seen the same influx of new clients herself, but worries the poor weather – or fears about COVID-19 exposure or that food may have run out – is keeping some former clients away.

“We have plenty of food!” she assured. “If we don’t see some people soon, we’re going to start calling individually to check on them.”

At many of the pantries, visitors are given a “shopping list” where they can

check off what they need and want. “Client choice maintains dignity and alleviates food waste,” said Purdue. “If we give someone something they don’t want, it’s just going to go to waste on a shelf.”

The groceries are packed and bagged by volunteers – in masks and gloves – and then taken curbside for the client to pick up, contact-free. “We make every effort to protect the safety of our volunteers and clients,” said Renckens.

And so that no one goes hungry, Stacie Haynes, executive director, Susquehanna SPCA, started a pet food pantry to help families stretch their budgets in tight times. The pantry has been placed outside of the shelter so that people can maintain social distancing.

But, she noted, if someone can’t get to the pantry, a volunteer will take the food to them.

And although the pantries are seeing a rise in need for the pantries, they’re also seeing a rise in donations.

“We’ve raised $1,000 in the last month,” said Eggleston. “A dollar buys $10 of food from the regional food bank.”

“People are donating anything they can,” said Mason. “And we’re getting a lot of help from organizations.”

Even between pantries, there’s sharing. “If I have an excess of anything, I call around to see who needs it,” said Mason. “That’s just how I do it. We have to help each other out.”

But however long this lasts, Eggleston assures people that the pantry will always be there to help their neighbors.

“As long as we have food, we’ll hand it out,” she said.

With your support, we can continue to bring YOUR local news straight to you!

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JOIN OUR SUBSCRIBERS via AllOtsego.com. Call Larissa at 607-547-6103 for an easy start-up or email her at LarissaR@allotsegocom.

Living with COVID-19

gRIN & BEAR IT

PAGE A-3

THURSDAY, April 16, 2020

Sue Ploutz, 5 Sand St., and son Nicholas Woodcock put a Winnie the Pooh in their front window, part of a citywide “bear hunt” sheltering youngsters in Oneonta are enjoying.

what’s fun

in Otsego County

BEST BETS

In one of The Farmers’ Museum videos, Patrick MacGregor, director of interpretation, shows off a bowl of leeches, once a common medical practice.

AllOTSEGO.life

Ian Austin/

In Time Of Coronavirus, Teddy Hunt Adds A Bit Of Fun front windows, encouraging children to count the number of bears they spot ONEONTA when they go out for a walk.

The Winnie the Pooh in eighbors the window of her 5 Sand throughout St. home belongs to her Oneonta have son, Nicholas Woodcock, found a way to make quara resident of Springbrook antine bear-able for children who is staying at home who are stuck inside. with his parents as part of “I taught the book ‘We’re the COVID-19 isolation.

Going on a Bear Hunt’ when “It’s so fun to see the I taught elementary school,” kids walk by,” she said. said Sue Ploutz. “And I “They get a real kick out Meghan Sheehy and Ryan saw a post on social media Ceresola, Hartwick College of spotting the bear – and professors, with a bear about putting teddy bears the parents do too!” in the window so that when she made at a Build-A-Bear It’s a trend in other kids go on walks with their workshop. neighborhoods as well. families, they can go on a “One of my fellow ‘bear hunt.’” faculty members at Hartwick College takes Neighbors throughout the City of the Hills her kid on bear hunts,” said Meghan Sheehy, have started putting teddy bears in their Please See BEARS, A8

By LIBBY CUDMORE

N

Kathy Jones has a variation on the theme with her Easter Pig.

Saying Thanks

Jeff Vesley, who owns Molly’s Deli, 43 Pioneer St., Cooperstown, is helping people “pay it forward” with meals for deserving “essential workers.”

Brothers-In-Law Making Sure People Who Serve Are Served

By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA

C AllOTSEGO.life

Jim Kevlin/

all it brotherly love for the community.

“When you get a meal, it brightens your day,” said Mike Joubert, who owns Wise Guys Sammy’s with

his wife, Sheryl. “People are nervous, they’re scared, but food gives you a sense of normalcy.”

The popular sandwich shop at Ford & Main has taken to surprising essential workers by showing up with sandwiches and pizza at various locations throughout the city.

Please See THANKS, A8

Attend Earth Fest Online, Make Movie Poster, Much More

K

eep the little ones – and the big ones too! – from growing restless inside with a photo contest, Earth Fest, a family fun run and more.

• Learn to save energy and reduce food waste, and do a scavenger hunt in your own backyard as part of OCCA’s annual Earth Fest, featuring new online LIBBY CUDMORE webinars and activities every day! Saturday, April 18 to Wednesday, April 22. Info, schedule, www.occainfo.org/calendar/ • The Oneonta Teen Center is hosting a weekly online challenge with prizes.

This week, recreate a movie poster using only the objects in your home. Submit via Facebook or Instagram by Thursday, April 23. Info, rules, www.facebook. com/oneonta.teencenter • Start a springtime garden with The Farmers’ Museum as part of this week’s “Virtual April at the Farm.” Via video, you can visit the barn bunny, bake a Harlem cake or learn how doctors used leeches!

Thursday, April 16, www.facebook. com/farmersmuseum/ • Get the whole family out for a jog as part of SADD’s annual “Strides for Safety” 5K. Run your own course – mindful of social distancing – any time between Friday, April 17 and Monday, April 20, and post a picture your run with hashtags #saddstridesfor safety and #clarksports-centerevents.

Entrance fee, $10/person. Register at www. saddstridesforsafety.itsyourrace.com//event. aspx?id=8944 • Learn about water power and simple machines with Hanford Mills education coordinator Luke Murphy at 11 a.m.

Wednesday. www.facebook.com/HanfordMillsMuseum/

THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL • HOMETOWN ONEONTA

AllOTSEGO.com, WHERE OTSEGO COUNTY GOES FOR BREAKING NEWS

VISIT www.

A-4 HOMETOWN ONEONTA

HOMETOWN Views

THURSDAY, april 16, 2020

EDITORIAL

Andrew Cuomo For President

A

ndrew Cuomo for president.

Already, he seems presidential, never more than this past Monday in announcing his collaboration ►INC’S TOP 10 with five other LEADERSHIP QUALITIES Northeast governors in a multi1. Align expectations state council 2. Accept the limelight “to restore the 3. Stay positive 4. Tell the truth economy and 5. Know what you stand for get people back 6. Demonstrate empathy to work.”

7. See the big picture Let’s do it.

8. Slow down, stay calm In the five 9. Have a plan weeks of New 10. Simply lead York State’s fight against the coronavirus invasion, the governor’s shown all the qualities of leadership. He’s told the truth, good and bad. He’s had a plan. He declared a State of Emergency and implemented its most Draconian measures, unstintingly. He’s been decisive.

He’s been human, and at times actually humorous.

He’s got the resumé: a life in politics,

T

a cabinet position (HUD) by age 39, a decade as governor of the nation’s fourth largest state, containing its largest city.

But Andrew Cuomo has been part of New Yorkers’ lives for a long time, at least since managing his father’s first gubernatorial campaign in 1983, when he was still at Fordham (not Yale, thank goodness). There’s a lot to unpack.

• Of course, anyone in public life that long has a mixed record.

He began as a vigorous advocate of Upstate’s renewal, but his Buffalo Billion initiative to bring the Jobs of Tomorrow here floundered amid corruption trials that sent some of his closest aides and top appointees to jail.

He created 10 regional economic development councils, competing against each other for state funding – may the best ideas win! The $10 million special DRI grant to Oneonta is making much possible that wouldn’t have been.

But he failed to allow Otsego County to meet its energy needs, blocking the Constitution The Freeman’s Journal pipeline, allowing NYSEG to not live up to it’s Governor Cuomo at the Baseball Hall of Fame, May 22, 2014. Cuomo responsibilities to maintain the grid we need for Please See PRESIDENT, A5 was late, and missed President Obama

LIFE IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

FROM THE FRONT LINES

A Pearl Harbor Moment, Plus

The Crisis Tells Us: Prepare

wo weeks ago, Surgeon General area law enforcement officers, one officer Jerome Adams made comments that in Pennsylvania, and 55 military personnel last week would be a Pearl Harbor were murdered. moment in the battle against COVID-19.

Those who have died of what has been Others picked up on the statedeemed to be 9/11-induced illnesses ment. I believe the President used is probably greater than 3,000 conthat phrase at one point in a press sidering first responders, clean-up conference. Others are calling this crews and people who lived in the a 9/11 moment. area. Let’s say 6,000 fatalities in This is nothing of the sort and is total. probably an insult to Pearl Harbor, As of April 12, 2020, 20,488 9/11 and the COVID-19 crisis. people, up approximately 2,000 The attack on Pearl Harbor on from the day before, have died of Dec. 7, 1941, was a highly dishondocumented COVID-19 in the U.S., orable way of declaring war against RICHARD which is more than twice the comthe United States by the Imperial bination of Pearl Harbor and 9/11 STERNBERG Japanese Empire; 2,403 people together. died in it, mostly sailors, but also There have been additional deaths soldiers and marines, and some civilians. well above the statistical averages not listed On 9/11, 2,977 people, mostly American as COVID-19 but which highly probably citizens, including 343 members of the New are. Documented new deaths per day from York City Fire Department, 71 metropolitan Plesae See STERNBERG, A6

I

want to thank Richard Sternberg for bringing up the difficult issue of triage.

Fortunately, our area has not had to face this type of excruciating decision-making.

But we may yet.

His “elephant in the room” makes me think of yet another “elephant in the room,” and that is the one of advance directives and healthcare agents.

April 16 is National Healthcare Decisions Day. This day is to bring to everyone’s attention the importance of advance-care planning Ask yourself, “If I am incapaci- CHARLES tated and unable to make health- HYMAN related decisions for myself, is there someone I trust who can, and will make the right decisions based on what I would have wanted?”

If the answer to this is “No” or “Not

sure,” like most of us, then please read on.

One of the most important decisions a person can make is having a healthcare agent. A healthcare agent is a person who we have designated to speak for us and make healthcare decisions for us if we are unable to do so.

We hope never to face situations like this, but they happen, and planning for them helps ensure that what happens is based on what we would want for ourselves, and not what others who may not know us decide.

I am speaking of decisions like: Would I really want certain treatments if they are not curative?

Would I want people to try to restart my heart with electric shocks if it stopped? Would I want to be put on a respirator if chances were slim that I would Please See HYMAN, A6

LETTERS

While New York City Dithered, San Antonio Saw Threat, Reacted To the Editor: In Texas, a city or county can issue and enforce stay-at-home health orders without the state’s permission. Some West Texas counties have prohibited out-of-county residents from staying in the county overnight, the landlords are fined $1,000 a day.

In New York, only the

state can issue such sweeping health directives, no such balkanization is allowed. This centralization of authority proved to be fatal in New York, since the state was too slow to act fast enough on major metropolitan areas - namely New York City.

The first coronavirus case was reported in San

HOMETOWN

ONEONTA

& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch

James C. Kevlin Editor & Publisher

Tara Barnwell

Advertising Director & General Manager

Libby Cudmore

Managing Editor

Larissa Ryan Business Manager

Thom Rhodes Advertising Consultant

Elizabeth Cooper Correspondent

Ian Austin Photographer

Ivan Potocnik Web Architect

Kathleen Peters Graphics & Production Tom Heitz Consultant

IN MEMORIAM: Mary Joan Kevlin, Co-Publisher, 2006-17 MEMBER OF New York Press Association • The Otsego County Chamber Published weekly by Iron String Press, Inc. 21 Railroad Ave., Cooperstown NY 13326 Telephone: (607) 547-6103. Fax: (607) 547-6080.

E-mail: info@allotsego.com • www.allotsego.com

Antonio, Texas, on March 1, the same day the first case was recorded in New York.

Acting without waiting on the state, the mayor of San Antonio prohibited large gatherings the next day and canceled the annual municipal fiesta.

In New York City, Mayor DiBlasio did not prohibit anything; legally, he couldn’t. Instead, he rode the subway on March 5 to “show it was safe.”

San Antonio recorded its first COVID-19 death on March 20. Two days later, the city and county issued stay-at home orders for all non-essential workers.

New York recorded its first first death. In those precious COVID-19 death on March weeks, the virus had already 14. Had New York City acted spread all over New York as quickly as San Antonio, City – infecting thousands.

Austin, El Paso To its shame, or Dallas, the Texas did not city would have issue a statebeen locked wide shelter-indown by the place order until 16th. But New April 2. To their York could credit, all major not act without cities and counthe state’s ties in Texas permission. had issued such CDC photo of the New York orders on their corinavirus State ordered a own by then. statewide shutNew York City, down that went into at the cost of thousands of effect on the 21st, almost lives, was slower to react to three weeks after the first the plague than sleepy old case and a week after the San Antonio.

As of April 11, there have been 24 COVID-19 deaths in San Antonio, a city of 2 million. At 8.4 million,

To the Editor: I read your April 2-3 print edition cover to cover and I learned a lot of valuable information I have not seen reported anywhere else. The service you provide to our community is vital!

I know that the newspaper industry has been struggling financially for over a decade.

I am so impressed that you were proactive and built a following on www.AllOTSEGO.com that attracts 8,000-9,000 views per day.

I hope your advertisers realize the incredible reach of your multiple media channels and support your

small business by “buying local’ from you.

Restaurants are not the only small businesses that need our support before, during and after the COVID19 pandemic. Hometown Oneonta and The Freeman’s Journal are helping many small businesses weather this storm with fantastic coverage of individuals paying it forward and organizations being creative and innovative.

Let us know what we can do to make sure you stay in business too.

MONICA CALZOLARI Oneonta

In Crisis, Your Newspapers Are Rising To The Challenge

New York City is 4.2 times the size of San Antonio, so that should equate to about 100 deaths, which is about what the death rate has been in cities of comparable size, such as Tokyo, which has had 98 deaths.

Unfortunately, as of April 11, New York City has had 6,898 COVID-19 deaths.

This tends to indicate that you don’t have to be Korean, Japanese or Norwegian to figure out this plague business. You can even be a Texan. In San Antonio, Austin or El Paso. No tests, no contract tracing, no vaccine, just stay in your house and read a book. A lot of books.

CHIP NORTHRUP Cooperstown

With Crisis,We See World, And Dump, With Fresh Eyes To the Editor: Given our current situation, I find even a trip to the Northern Transfer Station – aka The Dump – an exciting occasion. I have looked at it with fresh eyes. And it’s not a pretty sight.

OK, I know it’s a dump, but there are dumps and then there are dumps. This one is really awful.

Fetid piles of trash, papers blowing everywhere, the pathetic plastic fence that is

supposed to keep trash from blowing away is broken down and plastic blows over it anyway, into the field and trees below.

Mr. Casale, who has got his customers doing the sorting for him as far as possible, should be ashamed of himself.

Might we have a response?

And, perhaps, a clean-up?

M.A. WHELAN, M.D. Cooperstown

AllOTSEGO.com • MORE LETTERS, A6

LETTERS TO EDITOR WELCOME • EMAIL THEM TO info@

THURSDAY, april 16, 2020

HOMETOWN

HOMETOWN ONEONTA A-5

History

Compiled by Tom Heitz and SHARON STUART, with resources courtesy of The Fenimore Art Museum Research Library

150 Years Ago

News Items – Ohio has 25 different female suffrage associations. Boston uses 7,646,020 gallons of milk annually. Nearly 700 Philadelphia girls were married to foreigners last year. Boston expects to pay $1,400,000 for its public schools the coming year. A farmer in Schuyler County lately lost a colt from bleeding at the nose.

The new five-cent pieces will be ready in a few days. Ole Bull’s famous violin is said to be over 400 years old. A worm, three feet long and half an inch in diameter, recently ate the stomach of an Iowa dog to pieces.

A horticultural school for young ladies has been opened at Springfield Massachusetts.

Tennessee has a Negro secret society known as “The United States Roses of Old John Brown.” Iowa has been compelled to discharge a “lady” teacher in one of its public schools for drunkenness.

April 1870

125 Years Ago

For Sale: Fine recorded Percheron stallions at bargain cash or credit. Chas. P. Bassett, Walton. A good two-year-old bull, R.J. Blair, Delhi. One span of grey work horses and new double harnesses. Horses weigh 2,100 pounds. Will sell cheap. Frank Welton, Unadilla. Five choice yearling heifers; also one dry cow. G.B. Harkness, Kortright Centre. One thoroughbred Jersey bull, two years old, solid color with good points from good stock. H.C. Munn, Mundale. One two-horse lumber wagon, nearly new; also one hand mill Mrs. M. Hitchcock, Franklin.

One span of half-Clyde colts, 3 years old; one young horse, 7 years old, sound and true, A. Barnes, Meridale.

April 1895

100 Years Ago

The New York Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church today adopted a resolution endorsing a proposal to amend church discipline by striking out specific prohibition of playing cards, dancing and

theatre-going. This action was taken after a spirited debate, and after the Conference had reconsidered its previous decision to take no action at this time. “If I were a devil, I would slap myself on the back over the action of the Conference,” declared the Rev. J.J. Dean, one of the oldest members who led the opposition forces. A proposed amendment to prohibit only “voluptuous dancing” was drowned in laughter. Resolutions were also adopted protesting against further increases in overhead church organization and multiplication of officials, urging greater freedom for pastors and demanding that trained laymen do the work of church business organization instead of clergymen.

April 1920

takers in the Oneonta area have started calling on people who have had trouble completing their census forms. The whole process should take about six weeks, Daniels said. “About 20 percent of the population did not return the forms. Each census taker has 550 households to check,” Daniels said. “Since wages are generally higher in large cities, the census department offers more pay to attract workers there,” he explained. At least two Oneonta-area census workers have said privately that they should be paid the same wage for the same work.

“The forms are just as long here as they are anywhere else. I think this is regional discrimination,” one census taker said.

April 1980

Despite protests from pet-lovers, a Senate-House Committee has approved an experimental bombing of 70 goats to ascertain the killing power of the secret “super explosive” which Lester P. Barlow, Baltimore inventor, says he has perfected.

The test will be conducted at the Army’s Aberdeen, Maryland proving grounds unless it is blocked by court action. A Maryland law forbids experiments on animals except “when justified by the public interest.” Senator Morris Sheppard (D-Tex), a committee member, said he thought the test was justified “in the interest of national defense.” Barlow’s explosive is made from liquid oxygen and carbon.

Barlow told members of Congress that his explosive is capable of killing every living thing within a thousand-foot radius.

April 1940

Oneonta Police Reports – Investigations continue into two burglaries committed earlier in April. More than $500 in merchandise was stolen from an apartment on Myrtle Avenue in the early morning of April 4. A burglary on Cliff Street on April 6 involved the taking of a Hewlett-Packard computer, monitor, printer and keyboard valued at $1,000. On April 9, someone entered a vehicle parked in the Dietz Street municipal lot and stole $450 in clothing, a $40 gym bag, a Panasonic compact disc player and two Nokia cellular phones. On April 12, the Planned Parenthood of Delaware and Otsego counties received two threatening crank calls stating “You’re going to burn” between 1:40 and 1:45 p.m.

On Thursday, April 20, as part of its celebration of National Poetry Month, “Word Thursdays” will feature Thomas Travisano, an Oneonta writer. Travisano and several young poets will read after the open reading which begins at 7 p.m. “Word Thursdays” takes place at the Delaware County Historical Society, three miles north of Delhi on State Route 10. Travisano, a professor of English at Hartwick College is co-founder and first president of the Elizabeth Bishop Society.

April 2000

80 Years Ago

40 Years Ago

Local U.S. census takers are paid almost a dollar less per completed form than their big city counterparts, Dan Daniels, Director of the Utica Census Office, said Wednesday.

The 13 Oneonta area census takers are paid 70 cents less per census form than employees in New York City, he said. The census takers are also paid for mileage. Census

20 Years Ago

MONEY MATTERS

L

April 1960

10 Years Ago

The Kansas City soccer community hopes that its new Major League Soccer stadium, scheduled to open next year, will be the next home for at least some of the National Soccer Hall of Fame’s exhibits that were once displayed in the Oneonta facility.

The Soccer Hall closed its museum in Oneonta in September as it sought to overcome financial difficulties. The museum’s collections were last available to the public during a final, free admission weekend in March. On February 1, Soccer Hall officials signed a management contract with the Otsego County Development Corporation, a private non-profit group, to transition the 62-acre Oneonta site to new ownership.

April 2010

WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER

Bad Numbers, Good News

et us call it The Finger-Pointers’ Dilemma.

The toll of the virus has been less than what we were promised. The WuFlu medical experts assured us the sky was definitely falling this time. Maybe 2 million of us would croak.

These experts convinced themselves of this. They convinced our public health officials. They convinced Big Media. All of them teamed up to convince our leaders.

And so, our leaders shut down our economy. They turfed over TOM 17 million Americans from their MORGAN jobs. And we are still counting.

Upward. They cut the legs from under hundreds of thousands of small businesses. They sentenced many of them to bankruptcy. They pushed us into, likely, a

60 Years Ago

recession. And, perhaps, into a depression.

They saddled the country with trillions in new debt, to try to buffer the damage to workers and businesses.

Our leaders did this because experts demanded they do so. There was no alternative, they and the experts insisted. The prospect of 2 million deaths makes it imperative, they said.

After a few weeks the experts lowered their estimates. They now proclaimed that only 1 million or so Americans would die from WuFlu. Still a pretty daunting figure.

Then the experts lowered their estimates again. Only 240,000 of us would die from the virus. They were really serious about this number, they said.

Pay attention to this number.

Please See MORGAN, A6

T

It Isn’t All Gloom and Doom

he title of this column is, “We are all in this together.” It’s a statement of a simple reality, but it’s also a dream about working together that I wish to be true for everyone – from our town, to our state, to our nation, to our world.

Now that the world is all in this together with the COVID-19 nightmare, it’s useful to look at how we are responding to the crisis.

Different nations are taking different paths, some more successful than others.

LARRY • BENNETT Early on China exercised its authoritarianism to suppress the bad news, until the bad news became insuppressible. Then it used that same authority to impose a lockdown that seems to have worked to slow the spread.

In Europe the spread was treated somewhat predictably. In Italy, never a nation known for its governmental stability and consistency, the virus raged out of control for weeks until the political became less important than the practical.

In Germany, a nation where discipline and high regard for democratic authority is combined with governmental compassion for all its people, the outbreak has been minimized as much as seems possible. The German government explained its reasoning and rules fully and enabled its citizens to comply.

Sweden, a bit of an odd outlier, chose to not impose a strict response, believing in its ability to weather the storm differently.

Please See BENNETT, A6

EDITORIAL: Cuomo Ready For White House; Americans Ready For Him PRESIDENT/From A4 a wind and solar future. West Laurens’ solar-mega farm? All the power will be spirited downstate via Marcy South.

Still, the Cuomo Administration has recognized Cooperstown as the regional economic engine, and generously funded the Baseball Hall of Fame’s futuristic initiatives, and The Fenimore and Farmers’ museums promotional efforts.

Sure, these concerns may be parochial, but are the other 61 counties’ assessments any less mixed? Plus, he hasn’t been in Otsego County for a public event since 2014 – and he was late, missing President Obama’s visit to the Hall.

• Fuss as we might, Cuomo’s playing on a bigger field.

It’s instructive to revisit Jeffrey Toobin’s 2015 profile in the New Yorker, tellingly titled, “How Andrew Cuomo Gets His Way.” (To read it, Google “cuomo”, “toobin” and “new yorker”.)

Toobin quotes an aide: “He is fixated on accomplishments and results. He’d always walk around the office saying he wanted to hear ‘-ed’ words from his staff – ‘completed,’ ‘filed,’ ‘accomplished’ – not ‘-ing’ words – ‘trying,’

TRADING ON UP? From the Governor’s Mansion to the White House

‘working,’ ‘hoping.’ ” That’s the Andrew Cuomo of the past month; gotta love it.

Cuomo’s a tough guy; always was, as the Toobin profile makes clear. As governor, enabled by authority granted in a 1927 Constitutional Convention that had atrophied, he re-seized control of the state-budget mechanism and bent the Senate and Assembly to his will.

Since, as we saw last year, the idea of rolling controversial measures into the single budget vote – take it or leave it – has become something of a scandal, pushing through such unpopular measures as the “Green Light” law and bail reform that prevents dangerous people from being held in custody,

and crimping prosecutions.

And, if Cuomo were to run, the birth and death of the Moreland Commission, created to clean up Albany’s ethics, and then disappearing as completely as Jimmy Hoffa, would certainly be resurrected.

This seems like a lot of negatives but – as did discredited backbencher Winston Churchill as The Blitz began – Cuomo has emerged as the Man of the Hour. Besides, our best presidents – Jefferson, Jackson, FDR, LBJ – were no angels. Politics is not the seminary.

• Under the administration of Donald John Trump, Americans have gotten used to decisiveness – in putting China on the defen-

sive, renegotiating NAFTA, tightening the borders, pushing back on social issues.

Given Mark Andrew Cuomo’s steady leadership as COVID-19 savaged New York City and Westchester and Nassau counties, it’s convincing: He can provide the decisiveness of the Trump Era, without the fits and starts and provocations.

It’s hard to imagine Trump pushing Cuomo around on the campaign trail, the way he’s already mopping the floor with “Sleepy Joe” Biden.

If we agree that Trump can be improved upon, is Biden really what the nation needs? Reading his plan to retreat from sheltering in place and revive the economy

published in the New York Times the other day – convene a panel of scientists and experts, etc., etc. – it just wasn’t up to the challenge.

Is there a path to nomination for Cuomo? If some primaries aren’t held, perhaps Biden will go to the Milwaukee convention without a majority. Perhaps Biden would agree to step aside. Perhaps – not wishing this, but being realistic – he will have to. Let the Democrats figure it out – it’s their party.

• Adding to Cuomo’s electability: The state’s Progressives have always rejected him, running primary challengers in 2014 and 2018, and sinking the Amazon deal – 25,000 high-end jobs in New York City, which would have been the jewel in his administration’s crown.

A Progressive ticket this fall?

Joe Biden/Kamala Harris? That has disaster written all over it, particularly if it won. Let your imagination flow.

Andrew Cuomo, through an often successful, always innovative, energetic career in politics and public life, is ready to be president. He’s proved it since the March 13 State of Emergency.

And, given the nation’s response to his leadership in the crisis, Americans are ready for him.

THURSDAY, aPRIL 16, 2020

A-6 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA

BENNETT: We Can Play Part In Easing Hurt Credit Due. Let’s Give It

BENNETT/From A5 Their decision now seems foolhardy, as cases there grow.

• In the U.S. we know what happened.

The president, never one to consider the facts when his instincts tell him differently, decided the economy -- and his election prospects – were more important than anything else.

Used to blustering and bluffing his way out of tight spots, he gambled that he could do the same here. But no one can bluff biology and he failed miserably.

The U.S., with 1/20th of the world’s population, now has over one quarter of the world’s cases (555,000 cases out of 1.8 million) and almost 20 percent of the deaths (22,000 out of 113,000).

Still, even as the president continues to misrepresent the truth and as he tries to present himself as our war leader, I think we, the nation and the entire world, have come together. We have a newfound appreciation for our medical

professionals who have proved to be amazingly courageous and dedicated, literally the heroes of this disaster.

• When the pandemic comes under control, I think we will all be more willing to offer stronger support for them, to fund more medical research, and to try to implement a more equitable health care system.

Another way we have come together is in reconsidering and adjusting our relationships with other people.

Millions are hurting, are running low on food and other essentials, and are out of financial resources. Americans are responding by building up food banks, by donating to helping causes, by doing tasks for others who can’t do them.

Many companies, even as they are being battered economically, are doing more to assist their communities.

State governments, often derided as ineffective and bureaucratic, have stepped up to support, protect, and

lead their citizens.

Many national governments, notably excluding ours, along with international institutions and corporations, are beginning to work together more effectively to share assistance and information.

• To be sure, there are exceptions to the above, and we are far from winning this battle, but there is reason for hope.

There is mounting daily evidence that people can rise above their own selfinterest and work for the greater good.

There is more proof we are all in this together, and for the better.

Finally, I’d like to remind us all that we can play a part. We can find a way to help today. Needs are everywhere.

Contact your church, your food bank, your local government, and local charities.

Larry Bennett, recently retired Brewery Ommegang creative director who is active in local causes, lives in East Merideth.

STERNBERG: No Doubt Coronavirus Is Major Disaster

STERNBERG/From A4 COVID-19 are fast approaching the total at Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor and 9/11 are singular moments in the history of the United States and of the heroism of its military and municipal services. They were moments of national resolve but they were moments.

The rate of the increase of deaths in New York State has leveled off but the rate of increase elsewhere in the U.S continues to rise.

COVID-19 is a relentless killer that will continue worldwide unless a way

to either cure it or prevent it is found.

It wears us down.

The worldwide death toll could easily exceed millions unless vigilance is maintained. While it is an infectious disease on an individual basis, on a global level it is like a cancer, metastasizing everywhere and overwhelming the host, that is the population of the entire world.

Trivializing it as a moment, however monumental that moment is, does not prepare people for the continued fight ahead and gives them the false sense that if only we make it past one

specific day everything will be well.

As terrible as Pearl Harbor and 9/11 were, the surgeon general using that analogy does disservice to those events and actually gives a false sense of security that the pandemic is less devastating than it is and it is abating.

Richard Sternberg, a retired Bassett Hospital orthopedic surgeon, has agreed to provide his professional perspective while the coronavirus threat continues. Dr. Sternberg, who is also a village trustee, resides in Cooperstown.

HYMAN: Time Of Trial Shows Importance Of Planning HYMAN/From A4 survive to return to my previous life?

It is difficult and scary to think about these things. I know it is for me.

But, it is important to identify someone we trust to make these types of decisions for us if we are unable. Once we have identified this person, and they have agreed to take this responsibility on, we need to talk to them. We need to talk to them a lot and often. We need to talk to them about what is important in our lives, what we value, what brings us joy and happiness, and, what would bring us sadness that we would never want.

The answers to these questions don’t

always stay the same, and may change over time. So we need to talk to this person, our trusted healthcare agent, often. It is OK to change our mind, just talk to them and let them know what we are thinking So how can we do this? There are many, many resources. One of the best in my opinion is the Five Wishes. This document can be accessed on line for free from many sites, such as at the Helios Care web site at http://helioscare.org/.

Another useful site to go to New York State website, https://www.health. ny.gov/publications/1430.pdf where we can download the form and fill it out with our trusted healthcare agent.

Make sure to keep a copy, have our healthcare agent keep a copy, and give a copy to our primary provider. It is also very important to make sure we have a conversation with our providers to make sure she/he knows what is important to us and who our Health Care Agent is.

Talking about these issues with a healthcare agent and our provider can help greatly in reducing the presence of all the “elephants in the room.”

Charles Hyman, M.D., who served for a decade as Bassett Hospital’s chief of medicine, is an expert in infectious diseases serving on the team that prepared for coronavirus’ arrival.

MORGAN/From A5 Then the experts lowered their estimates to 100,000 or so. Then 80,000. Then 60,000. And they admitted that lots of people who were tagged as virus deaths were actually victims of such diseases as pneumonia.

They concluded this because far fewer folks were dying this year from pneumonia than die normally. Given that, maybe the WuFlu deaths would be in the 50,000 range.

Well now, this presents a lot of critics with a predicament.

This is because the President will probably claim that he and his crisis team must be miracle workers. After all, the experts told us 2 million would die. But after his crisis team went to work on the problem only 50,000 died. If that. He will suggest we toast his success. With a cocktail of that drug he touted. You know, the one the experts said nobody should take.

All hail to the conquering Trump. He and his team saved way over a million and a half lives.

WAIT! We can’t have that. No, no. We absolutely cannot give these guys such credit. Remember, half the country hates Trump. Thinks him an idiot.

Big Media cannot possibly give him or them credit.

Not after declaring Trump’s every move was wrong.

His every utterance a lie.

His optimism unfounded.

They claimed he had blood on his hands. They wailed that thousands of people were dying because of his decisions.

Trump was wrong on allocating supplies. On suggesting medicos look at that hydry-cholor, whatever, drug. He closed down travel from China too soon. No, he was too late. He was too late shutting down European travel. No, he was absolutely wrong to do it at all.

Given that mountain of vitriol and criticism Big Media cannot now give the sod credit. His political opponents, who called him racist and xenophobic and idiotic – for starters – they cannot afford to give him any credit. No. Absolutely not. Trump successful?

Impossible!

So the question begs: If he and his team did everything wrong…if their efforts were not successful… how do we account for the much lower numbers? Oh dear.

• It must be the experts.

Let’s attack those experts!

Yes, yes, good plan. But, but, but…those experts who were wrong include Dr. Fauci, who is now sainted.

Canonized. Headed for a Nobel. They include the venerable World Health Organization. These experts told us, and advised the President, that the virus was no big deal. Travel bans were not necessary.

A dilemma. That is what the critics face. They assure us Trump & Co. screwed up everything. Trump was wrong about everything, everything! Until, that is, the unthinkable happened: We got a good result. Compared with the predictions of the experts, we got a miraculous result. To go from 2 million deaths to 50,000 is like a reverse Loaves and Fishes.

In the musical “The King And I”, the king declares he is confounded. “There are times I almost think nobody sure of what he absolutely know,” he sings. “Everybody find confusion in conclusion he concluded long ago. And it puzzle me to learn that tho’ a man may be in doubt of what he know. Very quickly he will fight. He’ll fight to prove that what he does not know is so!

Is a puzzlement.”

Indeed.

Tom Morgan, the retired Oneonta investment counselor who writes a nationally syndicated column, lives in Franklin.

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THURSDAY, aPRIL 16, 2020

THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA A-7

Scourge Appears To Be Slowing SLOWING/From A1 • The number of those under mandatory quarantine is now 30, down from 113 a week ago • Hospitalizations are holding steady. Five people are in the hospital now and that number has never risen above 6.

• Of 46 people found to have the virus as of Tuesday, 19 have recovered and been deemed free of the virus.

Two people have died in Otsego County, the second one on April 8. One is 63-year-old Brenda Utter of Morris and the name of the other is not known.

Tracking the contacts of known positive coronavirus cases continues, Bond said.

Most patients for whom it is possible to know where they got the disease, got it from someone in their household, she said.

A workplace, Bond said, had been identified as having several infections but has not seen any new cases.

Bond, following county policy, has declined to identify the workplace or say how many people associated with it have the virus.

Bond said she would alert the public if a person who worked in a business many people visited, such as a supermarket or drug store, became positive for the disease. She does not know of any such cases here.

Bassett Healthcare Network is experiencing a similar trend to Otsego County’s in its eight-

county network.

“We have been seeing some numbers trend down,” Network spokesowman Karen HuxtableHooker said.

Just 6 percent of people tested at Network facilities are positive for the virus. That’s down from 10 percent a week ago, she said. In New York City, those numbers have been over 50 percent in some areas.

“Hopefully these trends continue,” Huxtable-Hooker said.

Calls to Bassett’s 607-5475555 hotline are less than half what they were at their peak, she said. When Bassett announced the line as many as 500 people called some days.

So far, no downstate patients have been sent to Bassett and no equipment has been requisitioned for harder hit areas, she said. Governor Cuomo had instructed hospitals statewide to prepare for that possibility last week.

The low number of COVID patients has led to a loosening of restrictions on those accompanying patients of all kinds.

At the beginning of the outbreak, Bassett implemented stiff rules eliminating visitors and tightening restrictions on those acting as support for sick people.

The low numbers are good for the community, and they mean Network practitioners have not been slammed the way hospitals downstate have.

But as it geared up to fight COVID-19, Bassett suspended all elective surgical procedures.

That was meant to open up inpatient beds that would have been used for those recovering from surgeries for COVID-19 patients and free up those doctors.

Though many other hospital functions continued, patients have been choosing not to come into hospital facilities in an effort to avoid contagion themselves. That has translated to a decline in revenue.

The Network has begun reassigning some personnel to COVID-related duties.

Employees who cannot be transferred because of their skill sets or for other reasons may need to switch to a part-time schedule. Unused leave pay can be used to offset the lost hours, a statement from the Network said. Workers who must work fewer hours than usual will continue to receive benefits, the statement said.

“Initially, this plan will be implemented for one month and will be re-evaluated on a regular basis thereafter,” the statement said.

“Bassett believes these actions will allow us to continue providing the highest quality care to communities throughout our region while also protecting the jobs and incomes of our employees under these extraordinary circumstances.”

Superintendents Struggle With Figuring Out Future

SCHOOLS/From A1 Nicholas Savin. “You have that tension of planning and doing the best for the students, with the thought of, ‘When are you planning to…?’”

Upstate, coronavirus cases have started to level off, but the virus is still active here. So far, there have been 45 cases in Otsego County, two of those ending in death.

Though children typically are not at risk for severe complications from the virus, they can have mild cases that spread to others in their orbit.

Savin’s role is to lead discussions among ONC BOCES superintendents as they determine what is best for their districts. Each superintendent must chart their own district’s course.

The uncertainty over the timing of students’ return has slowed plans for distance learning, but that is about to change.

In Cooperstown, Superintendent William Crankshaw and staff are meeting to craft a plan for more in-depth teaching for the remainder of the school year.

“We are already in the stages of planning what instruction might look like if we continue to be closed,” he said.

So far, students have been working off packets that have been sent home at different times. Each grade, and in some cases each teacher, has decided the degree to which they have contact with their students.

Some parents have been critical of the level of guidance and involvement from teachers, while others have offered praise, Crankshaw said.

“It’s hard to call the learning packets instruction at this point,” he

said. District staff is in the process of reaching out to every family to determine their level of internet connectivity, while trying to find ways of making distance learning “as meaningful as possible,” he said.

He expects to be able to give more details next week.

So far, Savin said, teaching plans vary district by district, often depending on the level of internet connectivity of students and teachers.

Oneonta Schools Superintendent Thomas Brindley said his teachers will continue to follow the approach they have been using all along.

“What we are doing now is working as well as we can under these circumstances,” he said. “We are always trying to do things better, but for now we are sticking with the instructional approach we have in place.”

His teachers have been using digital formats to connect with students. Like Cooperstown’s teachers, Oneonta’s are all following the same basic plans and covering the same content with grade levels, though their approaches and use of internet connectivity may vary, he said.

To Savin, the work and planning for distance learning will still be useful even if school reopens soon.

“We are going to learn a lot about the manner in which we can use the digital platform for learning and how distance instruction could take place,” he said. “There will be a lot of growth from this as people see that we have the capacity for distancetype learning. It will mean growth and professional development for the staff.”

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A-8 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA

In Oneonta, Rainbows and Piggies And Bears – Oh My! BEARS/From A3 assistant professor of Music Education, 21 Miller St. “Every True Blue weekend, we get to make our own teddy bears, so I made this one.”

“This guy’s been in a box for a couple of years,” added her husband, Ryan Ceresola, Sociology assistant professor. “It’s good for him to get out in the sunshine.”

And each bear tells a story. “I got this teddy bear for my wife on our first trip Upstate, when we still lived in New York City,” said

Bill Kozlowski, 1 Walling Ave. “I think I got him at a diner – and now he lives here!”

It’s also a way for neighbors who are unable to go outside to continue to interact with their community.

“I knew this was one thing I could do to help,” said Regina Haren, 64 Spruce St. “It relieves fear, and it gives the kids some hope. And it feels good for me to do it.”

And it’s not just domestic teddy bears either – there’s plenty of

wildlife to be seen.

“My daughter’s favorite stuffed animal growing up was a panda,” said Annemarie Hosnedl, 125 Oneida St. “I saw in Denmark that kids are doing a safari, people would put stuffed giraffes and other wild animals in their window, and I wanted to participate.”

“I always put out Percival ‘The Easter Pig’ ever year,” said Kathy Jones, 7 Ceperly Ave. “I know other families are also putting Easter eggs in their window so the kids can look for those too.”

Brothers-in-Law Aim To Keep Community Fed

THANKS/From A3 “Those healthcare workers are putting themselves out there so we can be safe,” said Mike. “We wanted to say ‘thank you.’”

He and his brother-inlaw, Jeff Vesley, who owns Molly’s Deli, 43 Pioneer St., Cooperstown, first got the idea when they collaborated to send pizzas to Fox Hospital.

“We were thinking about how bad it is that these people are dealing with this horrible disease on the front lines and we wanted to buy them lunch,” he said.

“Mike got it started, and then we decided that I should do something up here,” said Jeff. “He knows who needs to be taken care of, and then we do it.”

But things really got started, Mike said, when someone brought him a tip.

“A couple of weeks ago, one of my regulars handed me a big check and told me, ‘That’s a tip – I know you’ll use it well,’” he said.

Dubbing it the “Pay It Forward” fund, he got Jeff to join in and send sandwiches to Bassett Hospital.

“We made 30 sandwiches and salads for 27 workers in the ER and the security team,” he said. “Everyone at Bassett is working so hard, but they’re really doing the heavy lifting for all this Corona nonsense.”

Since, the tips have really started coming in.

Mike partnered with County Club Nissan to buy lunch for the residents at Nader Towers, and with the Underground Attic to send sandwiches to the Bassett staff working the COVID19 screening tent on River Street.

A former New York City firefighter paid for a stack of sandwiches to be sent to the Oneonta Fire Department, and the SUNY Oneonta

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where,” said Ceresola. “If you’re looking for teddy bears, you’ll see them.”

And sometimes, those bears can be a little sneaky. “Every few days, someone will move the bear, or put a ribbon on it to switch it up,” said Haren. “So it’s something different for the kids to look for.”

But even teddy bears need their rest at the end of a long day. “Pooh is out here every day,” said Sue. “But at night, he goes to bed with Nicholas.”

AllOTSEGO.

dining&entertainment Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA & Freeman’s Journal

The Wise Guys crew take a break from making sandwiches for the city’s essential workers.

From left, Corey Dowden, owners Sheryl and Mike Joubert, Josaiah Johnson, Michael Pope, Julia Braginski and Jasmine Martinez.

Athletic Department raised $500 to help purchase meals.

“The more we can bring in, the more we can give away,” said Mike. “And we’re only able to do it because other people help out.”

Though it was originally intended to be anonymous, Mike has revealed himself in a Facebook post last week in order to help raise awareness and donations.

“It’s been even cooler than we could imagine,” he said. “It’s become a fullscale community effort.”

For Jeff, it’s about giving back to the people who supported him when he first opened. “I did a fair amount of business with Bassett over the winter,” he said.

“They’ve been a big help to me when I was first getting

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In addition to bears, some neighbors are putting rainbows on their doors to entertain families and strengthen community spirit.

“I have a couple of toddlers, so we colored rainbows,” said Abby Astor, 108 River St. “It’s a way to support the healthcare workers, to thank them for everything they’re doing.”

Once you see one bear – or rainbow, or Easter egg – you can’t help but look for more. “It’s like when you buy a new car, suddenly, you keep seeing that car every-

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The office of the LLC is to be located in Otsego County.

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started.”

Sharing also helps reduce food waste. “You could throw away a lot of food when something like this happens,” he said. “I’m happier to give something away than waste it, and if you can make someone happy for a day, even better.”

Jeff hopes to do another delivery to Bassett later this week, and Mike receives emails daily on suggestions of who might best benefit from a sandwich platter or a pizza.

Donations to the Pay It Forward fund may be made in person at Wise Guys Sammys or by calling the restaurant with a credit card.

“I love making food and I love people,” said Mike.

“And this is my way of living my dream.”

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Notice of Formation of Shove Enterprises LLC. Arts of Org filed with Sec of State of NY (SSNY) on March 5, 2020.

Office Location: Otsego County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall may process to Robert A. Gouldin, Esq., 93 Main Street, Oneonta, NY 13820.

Purpose: any lawful purpose.

Legal

6LegalApr.23 Legal nOtice

Notice of Formation of Emerald Glen Morris Ny LLC Arts of Org. filed SSNY 12/26/19.

Office: Otsego Co. SSNY design agent of LLC upon whom process may be served & mail to 1967 Wehrle Dr #1-086 Buffalo, NY 14221 General Purpose 6LegalApr.16

Legal

Oneonta, NY 13820.

The Secretary of State is designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The Secretary of State shall mail process to 47 Chestnut Street, Oneonta, NY 13820.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

6LegalApr.16 Legal nOtice

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF A NY LIMITED LIABILTIY COMPANY

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Richfield Grange, LLC

Notice of Formation of

Articles of Organization was filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on February 25, 2020.

Office Location: Otsego County SSNY is designated as agent of the LLC

47 Chestnut LLC. Arts of Org. filed with the Secretary of State on 03/05/2020.

Principal Business and Office Location: 47 Chestnut Street,

Legal

upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of the process to 1019 County Highway 25, Richfield Springs, NY 13439.

The purpose of the LLC is to engage in any lawful act or activity.

6LegalApr.16 Legal nOtice

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF DC Estates LLC Art. of Org. filed with Sec. of State of NY (SSNY) on 2/11/2020.

Office in Otsego Co. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to: 297 Main St, Suite M6, Oneonta, NY, 13820.

Purpose: Any lawful

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purpose.

6LegalApr.16 Legal nOtice

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY (LLC) Name: JCN Cranes, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on February 14, 2020.

Office location: Otsego County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to The LLC, 6 Railroad Avenue, Oneonta, New York 13820.

Purpose: Any lawful business purpose.

6LegalApr.16

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THURSDAY, april 16, 2020

HOMETOWN ONEONTA A-9

IN MEMORIAM Adam Pierce, 45, Oneonta Native; Retired Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant ONEONTA – Adam L. Pierce, 45, a retired lieutenant in the Otsego County Sheriff’s Department, passed away on April 4, 2020, while a patient at University of Rochester Strong Memorial Hospital.

He fiercely battled his newly diagnosed liver damage, caused by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, for three months.

Adam was born in Oneonta on July 18, 1974, and lived in Oneonta all of his life. Adam attended Valleyview Elementary School, Oneonta Junior High School and graduated as a member of the Class of 1992 from Oneonta High School. He fondly recalled being a member of the football team, the wrestling team and throwing shotput and discus for the Track and Field team.

Adam earned a Bachelor

of Arts degree in Sociology from Hartwick College in 1999. He married Carol Adam Pierce Mattice, also from Oneonta, on June 17, 2000.

After college, Adam joined the Otsego County Sheriff’s Department as a corrections officer. During his 15 years of service, Adam rose through the ranks from correctional officer to corrections sergeant and later was promoted to corrections lieutenant/jail administrator.

While at the sheriff’s office, Adam, a Certified General Topics instructor and state firearms instructor, had an active role in training

Grandma loved her farm, her family, and playing her old guitar.

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and teaching at several Basic Corrections Academies and in-service trainings.

Adam took great pride in being a member of the Otsego County law enforcement community and truly thought of his Otsego County Sheriff’s Office colleagues as family members.

After venturing out professionally and changing careers, Adam found a home as a real estate agent at Keller Williams Upstate New York Properties in Oneonta. There, he was a member of the Associate Leadership Council and served as a leader among his peers by teaching and conducting training sessions.

Being outdoors was Adam’s third love in life.

Whether it was hunting, fishing or camping at Raquette Lake, Adam was smiling when he was outdoors.

As a friend of the First United Presbyterian Church in Oneonta, he served on the Budget and Finance committee for several years. In August 2019, Adam organized a Breakfast with Heroes event at the American Legion in Oneonta, which gave children in the community a chance to meet and greet local law enforcement heroes.

Adam is survived by his wife Carol, daughter Makenzie, son Andrew, mother Claudette hamplin of Oneonta, and brother Aaron Pierce of Youngsville, La. He loved his nieces, Kara Mattice and Elena Pierce, and his nephew, Eric Mattice, as if they were his own children. He was blessed to have a large extended family of aunts, uncles and cousins that he loved with all of his heart.

A celebration of life will be planned for a later date.

It was Adam’s wish that everyone who can please sign up to be an organ donor and donate blood.

Arrangements are entrusted to the Bookhout Funeral Home.

Sonny Amatucci, 82; D&H Worker For 18 Years

ONEONTA – Amilio “Sonny” Amatucci, 82, rose to engineer in an 18-year career on the D&H, passed away on Friday, April 3, 2020, at Chestnut Park Rehab & Nursing Center.

Sonny was born on Nov. 4, 1937, in Brooklyn, the son of Joseph and Tesi (Angelotti) Amatucci. He married the love of his life, Kathleen “Kay” Coakley on Nov. 12, 1960, in Brooklyn.

She predeceased him on Feb. 17, 2017.

In 1964, he moved his family to Oneonta, where he was employed by D&H Railroad as a trackman, trainman, fireman and finally as an engineer. He retired

in 1963.

He is survived by his daughter, Gina Amatucci and her husband, Bernard Mater V; daughter Kathleen Bentley and her husband, Brett; four granddaughters; brothers and sisters-in-law Thomas and Patricia Burriesci, Dennis and Maureen Tobin, Harry and Florence Nespoli, Pete Menghi and

William Coakley; and many nieces, nephews and their families.

Sonny was predeceased by his parents; wife; sister Carmela “Millie” Baldo, and her husbands, George Baldo and Donald Cetta; brother James Amatucci and wife, Lena; brother Emilio; mother- and fatherin-law, Florence and Thomas Coakley; brotherin-law Thomas and Elvera Coakley; and sister-in-law Susan Menghi.

A private graveside ceremony will be held at a later date.

Arrangements are by Lester R. Grummons Funeral Home.

Maureen Glueckert, 83; Native Of Scotland ONEONTA – Maureen Glueckert, 83, a native of Scotland who moved to Oneonta in 1999 and worked at Fox Hospital, passed away on April 11, 2020, following a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

She was born on Sept.

28, 1936, in Clydebank, Scotland. She moved to the United States in January

1960, where she met and married Fred Glueckert a year later.

After moving to Oneonta 20 years ago, Maureen worked in the cafeteria of Fox Hospital and performed volunteer work at Catholic Charities of Delaware, Otsego & Schoharie Counties.

Maureen is survived by her three sons, Kevin (Lisa)

Glueckert of Columbus, N.J., Michael (Dianna) Glueckert of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Scott (Lynn) Glueckert of Oneonta, and six grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.

Arrangements are entrusted to Lester R. Grummons Funeral Home.

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THURSDAY, aPRIL 16, 2020

A-10 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA

Bonds Staff Tracks, Tends The Sick

Bassett Leading Trial Of 3 COVID-19 Drugs placebo.

DRUGS/From A1 Having the study based at with laboratory confirmed Bassett gives local patients COVID-19 access to three unlucky enough to contract drugs – hydroxychlothe disease a chance to get roquine, lopinavir and access to potentially lifeLosartan. saving treatments “There are they might not be currently no able to get in other approved treatments places, Frelich for COVID-19,” said.

Freilich said.

“Most rural “Potential therapies localities don’t get have been identithat opportunity. fied, but there is no This is allowing evidence of clinical Bassett to provide benefit with any of state-of-the-art these therapies.”

Freilich COVID-19 treatThe drugs are ment equivalent to FDA-approved for any large institution in a big treating other illnesses, city,” he said. including lupus, malaria, Bassett researchers HIV and high blood are hoping to work with pressure. Previously, between 10 and 20 other Governor Cuomo issued institutions on the study, an executive order prohibsome in harder hit areas, so iting pharmacists from that they can get the number dispensing hydroxychloroof subjects needed to make quine outside its approved, the study meaningful. labeled indications or Though the drugs are outside the context of a state-approved clinical trial. being tested elsewhere, putting them together in Patients must be in the one study will enable more early stages of the disease effective comparisons of to participate. If any of the their efficacy, Freilich said. drugs proves obviously The trial was designed by effective or ineffective early the hospital’s Department on, Freilich said adjustments would be made to the of Medicine and the Bassett Research Institute, and is study so patients would get access to the treatment they funded by the E. Donnall Thomas Resident Research need, he said.

Program.

Patients in the study will not be able to choose which drug they try. As is typical with such research, subjects will not know which drug they get, or whether they are getting a placebo.

But because three drugs are being tested simultaneously, subjects have a greater chance of getting one of them instead of a

BOND/From A1 “After 2011,” said Bond, who was promoted to public health director in 2008, “we were mandated to prepare for emergencies. We did a lot of training, drills exercises.”

Among outcomes: The Health Department staff, supplemented by volunteers and nursing students, can vaccinate the whole county population – all 59,493 of us – in three to five days.

Regrettably, there’s no COVID-19 vaccine yet.

Meanwhile, Bond’s staff is the point of contact with people who test positive, making sure they stick to their quarantine, have food and medicine, can contact their doctors at Bassett, Fox or UHS, even arranging paid leave if they have to stay off the job.

That professional staff is 10 people: Assistant Director Kim Schlosser, an emergency preparedness coordinator, five nurses and three support staff.

Bond has also been thrust into the public eye: It’s she who compiles the daily report of positive cases, hospitalizations and discharges, and – in two instances in Otsego County – deaths.

“I’ve worked in public health for the past 20 years, H1N1, SARS, MERS,” Bond said. “This is definitely the biggest, most all-encompassing work we’ve ever done.”

It began in January with a “commissioner’s call,” where state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker briefed Bond and the state’s other county health directors on the challenges ahead, but “mostly focusing on people coming back from China and how to

‘I

as a public health nurse.

She and her husband, Stephen, have two daughters. The eldest, Katelynn Worobey, is married and in graduate school. The younger, Emily Bond, is in her first year at SUNY Poly.

“What’s most different,” she said of the coronavirus threat, “is having to put people in quarantine and isolation, and having to monitor them through that. That’s something that wasn’t in our wheelhouse.”

At first, Bond’s staff was making home visits, “but it just became overwhelming,” so they shifted to a daily phone call; if someone’s “not compliant, we could make in-person visits. But there have been very, very few. Most people are very responsible.”

Food banks drop off meals, if people in isolation have no one to do it for them. Otherwise, “we try to encourage a neighbor or family member to drop off thermometers, food, medication.”

When a test comes back positive, “many times we find there are other people who are showing signs. Then we try to coordinate to get them tested, and put them in quarantine, too.”

In some cases, one person has had as many as 40 contacts.

Through her professional training and experience, Bond is confident sheltering, social distancing and other measures will bring the crisis to an end.

“As long as people continue to do what they’ve been doing,” she said, “hopefully we’ll get this over sooner rather than later – and get back to a new normal, I guess.”

’ve worked in public health for the past 20 years, H1N1, SARS, MERS. This is definitely the biggest, most all-encompassing work we’ve ever done.”

HEIDI BOND Public Safety Director Otsego County government

monitor them.”

The momentum began to pick up in February, with the infestations in Washington State; the first New York case also surfaced. “We knew it was coming, and we were trying to be prepared,” she said.

Since the first week in March, “we’ve been working seven days a week – it hasn’t slowed down.”

Born and raised in Richfield Springs, “my mom” – Cindy Brophy, now of Scarborough, Maine – “was a nurse. It was something I really wanted to do.” .

As a teenager, she was already pursuing her vocation, volunteering at Bassett Hospital and working as a nurse’s aide while still in high school.

Her dad, Greg Goodale, now lives in Mohawk.

“I just enjoy helping people,” she said.

Graduating from Richfield Springs Central School, she went to Utica College’s nursing school, then joined Bassett in the pediatric inpatient unit, moving to the county five years later

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THANK YOU TO OUr SUPErHErOES iN mASKS ANd gOwNS! Thank you to all the nurses, doctors, EMTs and medical workers for being there during these most difficult times.

Don’t turn a 3-month crisis into a 9-month crisis

Keep MarKeting!

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