Hometown Oneonta 05-18-18

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BIKE into

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ATURE

VOLUNTEERS STEP UP TO KEEP ONEONTA TRAILS OPEN/B1

HOMETOWN ONEONTA

& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, May 18, 2018 Visit www.AllOTSEGO.com E!

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Volume 10, No. 32

City of The Hills

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AREWELL

Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA

Ann Schulz tallies up the numbers on the Oneonta School Board Elections at Foothills on Tuesday, May 15.

Voters Pass School Tally, Reelect Pair ONEONTA

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ith 351 votes for and 101 against, the $38.6 million Oneonta City School budget passed. The budget, an increase of $674,309 from last year, includes providing Chromebooks for all students in Grades 3-12 and purchase two 66-passenger buses Both running uncontested, School Board member Jamie Reynolds received 403 votes, while Susan Kurkowski received 401 votes. EMILY’S BLESSING: Emily’s List, which describes itself as nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has endorsed Cooperstown’s Erin Collier for the Democratic nomination in the June 26 primary. The winner will run against U.S. Rep. John Faso,R-19, in November. AGENCY REVAMPED: The Southern Tier Central Regional Planning & Development Board has been rechristened Southern Tier 8, and will announce its new name, brand and economic development strategy Wednesday, May 16, at Otsego Now’s office at 189 Main St., Oneonta. For details, check

AllOTSEGO.com

www.

Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA

SUNY Oneonta’s 129th graduation Saturday, May 12, was seventh president Nancy Kleniewski’s 10th and last. Appointed in 2008, Kleniewski presided over hundreds of millions of dollars in improvements to the hilltop campus, reorganized the departments under five deans, and mounted a 125th anniversary fund drive that raised the college’s endowment to $55 million, the largest among the SUNY system’s full-service campuses. She may be best remembered for her management style and her focus on getting undergrads to graduation in four years with a minimum of debt. As one fan put it at a recent reception, the well-liked president had the ability to be “a leader and a friend.” She will continue on the job until June 22, and will be succeeded July 1 by Barbara Jean Morris, provost at Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colo./MORE GRADUATION PHOTOS, A3

SUNY Leads Artspace Initiative By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA

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rtspace could be conducting a “feasibility study” on a home and studios for artists here as soon as this October.

Common Council Tuesday, May 15, unanimously approved a motion to award a $25,000 technical assistance grant, through the DRI

Zhexembayeva, ’01, At Hartwick

Russian ‘Ambassador’ Speaker At Graduation By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA

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r. Nadya Zhexembayeva says her career as “the Queen of Reinvention” started at Hartwick College. “I barely spoke English when I arrived,” she said. “But I was surrounded by people who helped me make sense of it all. These profes-

Nadya Zhexembayeva

sors saw something in me that I didn’t comprehend, and that is a debt I will Please See SPEAKER, B5

funding, to SUNY Oneonta to take the lead in attracting an Artspace here. The study will determine whether or not the city wants and could support the project. “The purpose of this study is to see if Oneonta could create a successful, self-sustaining arts de-

Bobcat Cubs Rescued, To Be Released In Fall

OFO CONFERENCE ATTACKS POVERTY

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ore than a dozen financially struggling families were linked with community “navigators” Saturday, May 12, as part of the Oneonta Opportunity Conference at the Holiday Inn Southside. The daylong session was part of Opporunities for Otsego’s effort to combat poverty, funded by the Cuomo Administration after it discovered Oneonta was one of the poorest small Upstate cities. ►Photos, full story on B4

velopment project,” said Colleen Brannan, SUNY Oneonta President Nancy Kleniewski’s executive assistant, who is leading the college’s effort. “We’re partners with the city, and the more we collaborate, the more successful we’ll all be.” Please See ARTSPACE, B8

By PARKER FISH

HARTWICK SEMINARY

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all them the Barnyard Swing bobcats. On Friday, May 11, Marcy Birch, owner of Parker Fish/The Freeman’s Journal Barnyard Swing Mini The four bobcat kittens at Golf, found four bobcat Barnyard Swing kittens in a nest in one of said. “Thank God they had the course’s outbuildings. the common sense to not “The kids came running pick them up.” up to me saying that we had Please See BOBCATS, B5 kittens in the barn,” Birch

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


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