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Volume 10, No. 48
City of The Hills
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, September 7, 2018 Visit www.AllOTSEGO.com E!
E FR
Plate-Glass Windows Smashed In Oneonta’s Business District By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA
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lywood windows are becoming a too-familiar sight in downtown Oneonta. “To have this many incidents of people breaking windows in
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Town Fire Commisioner Al Rubin addresses Common Council on Tuesday, Sept. 4.
Town Offers Olive Branch On Fire Pact
The broken window at Simply Thai in downtown Oneonta.
this short amount of time isn’t good,” said Police Chief Doug Brenner. “Aside from the inconvenience and cost to the owner, someone could get really hurt.” Two brothers, Matthew and James Sparks, 28 and 33, respectively, were arrested late Saturday, Sept. 1, for Please See BROKEN, B7
VOLUNTEERS AVERT CRISIS
With United Way’s Help, Cooptoberfest’s On Tap By PARKER FISH COOPERSTOWN
I
f you’re planning on going to the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce’s annual Cooptoberfest,
Quit Race For Sheriff, GOP Urges Fernandez
ONEONTA
A
fter a two-year standoff, the Town of Oneonta is asking Common Council to reopen talks concerning a contract with the Oneonta Town Fire District. Appearing before council Tuesday, Sept. 4, Town Supervisor Bob Wood asked city leaders to use town Fire Commissioner Al Rubin as a contact to get talks going again. Rubin and Wood hope to present a proposal to fire commissioners when they meet Tuesday, Sept. 18. More details at
AllOTSEGO.com
www.
ICON DEPARTS: The Rev. Ken Baldwin, a beloved community leader during a 25-year retirement in Oneonta, has passed away after moving to the Rochester area with wife Nancy to be near a daughter/FULL OBITUARY, A6
PERRY PLEADS: Kevin Perry pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting deaths of his parents, Timothy and Solveig, at their home in Laurens last December. SUNY GRANT: SUNY Oneonta has received a three-year federal USDA grant to facilitate the National Partnership to Recruit, Prepare and Support Family and Consumer Science Educators locally.
be prepared to see a new group of volunteers staffing the event. “United Way of Delaware and Otsego Counties will be the volunteer group for Cooptoberfest this year,” said Chamber President Matt Hazzard. Please See OK, A7
EXCITED ABOUT AGZEIT Otego School May Produce 170 Acres Of Farm Produce By PARKER FISH ENDICOTT
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magine visiting your local farmers’ market in midwinter and walking out with just-picked strawberries and tomatoes, or a fresh bunch of cilantro. With a novel indoorag company, AgZeit – pronounced like “excite” – about to buy the former Otego Elementary School building, soon you may. “The Amazon of Agriculture,” is what AgZeit CEO James Dutcher likes to call his company. Dutcher, formerly SUNY Cobleskill’s chief information officer, began his company last year in a wing of Union-Endicott High School in the district’s business-venture incubator. AgZeit quickly converted the 600-square-foot space into a state-of-the-art indoor Please See AGZIET, B7
By PARKER FISH
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week before the Sept. 13 primary, the Otsego County GOP issued a broadside calling for candidate Bob Fernandez to drop out of the race. The candidate challenging county Sheriff Richard J. Devlin Jr. violated department’s code of conduct by visiting an inmate in the ►EDITORIAL: Delaware County Sheriff Devlin is the jail, according to a one candidate in GOP press release the race who stands dated Tuesday, Sept. for due process/A4 4. “The rules clearly state in Section 2: No member or employee of the OCSO shall knowingly associate with persons of Please See SHERIFF, A3
Sentinel Stands Guard Against ‘Bomb Trucks’ He Tracks ‘Virtual Pipeline’ By PARKER FISH DIMMOCK, Pa.
W Parker Fish/The Freeman’s Journal
AgZeit’s Jim Dutcher believes his 20,000-square-feet of plantings in Union-Endicott High School can produce the equivalent of 170 acres of standard crop lands.
hen it comes to risks involved with natural gas trucking, he is considered Bill Huston by many to be the foremost local watchdog. At every public meeting, at every crash scene, at every mention of the word “XNG,” Bill Huston is there, providing Please See HUSTON, A7
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD
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