Thanks to 1,518 advertisers and 30,000 loyal readers Hometown oneonta marks its 6th Birthday DETAILS, SEE PAGES A6 - 7
HOMETOWN ONEONTA !
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F Volume 7, No. 1
City of The Hills
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch Complimentary
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, September 26, 2014
OPD Stats: Trouble Up By LIBBY CUDMORE
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he number of Hartwick College and SUNY Oneonta students who have been taken to Fox Hospital more than tripled this fall from the same four-week period in 2013, according to Assistant
Transports To Fox More Than Triple
Fire Chief Jim Maloney. “There’s been a huge spike in calls this year,” he said. Between Aug. 18 and Sept. 21 of this year, Oneonta EMS transported 50 college students to Fox
Hospital, compared to 16 during the same period the year before, according to data obtained by Hometown Oneonta through the state Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). “Those calls could be for
injury, illness or from being intoxicated,” said Maloney. Fire calls are also up, from six in 2013 to 15 in 2014, Maloney said, but he attributes that spike to sensitive fire alarms. “Anything can set them off,” he said.
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or OPD charts presenting the SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College data, see WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM
“Hairspray, perfume, even steam from the shower. Please See DATA, B7
THE AGONY OF HAVING FUN
HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Lou Hager II, chairman, Northern Eagle Beverages, discusses his hops-to-tap plan at the Thursday, Sept. 18, groundbreaking for an 82,000-square-foot brewery and warehouse in West Oneonta. With him is President George Allen/DETAILS, A4
Tax Breaks OK’d To Create Homes From Apartments
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overnor Cuomo has signed a law authorizing Common Council to provide tax exemptions to people converting multiple-unit dwellings into single-family homes, state Sen. Jim Seward, RMilford, announced Tuesday, Sept. 23. Assemblyman Bill Magee, D-Nelson, had sponsored companion legislation in the house. The state law takes effect immediately, although the city will need to pass its own local law granting the exemption. NEW LOGO: The Greater Oneonta Historical Society’s new logo will be unveiled at its annual meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1, at the Unitarian Universalist Society, 12 Ford Ave. Vibrant Creative donated design assistance. Doors open at 6:30 NO PUBLIC INPUT: Contrary to last week’s report, there will not be an opportunity for public input when Mayor Miller convenes a special Common Council meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14, to begin discussing Charter Revision Commission recommendations. AUTUMN HERE: Fall arrived at 10:29 p.m., Monday, Sept. 22.
Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Oneonta’s Mike Hiscox, left, leads the pack up the Route 28 hill out of Cooperstown toward Fly Creek during Bike Otsego’s 75-mile “Hall of Fame Ride,” the most strenuous event associated with the countywide cycling celebration organized by county Rep./bicyclist Linda Rowinski, D-Oneonta. The “Hall Ride” departed from Neahwa Park at 8:10 a.m., heading east on Route 7, then cutting across the center of the county, before dashing down Route 51, arriving back at Damaschke Field at 12:10 p.m. A mountain-bike event and shorter loop were also run. “We got some very positive feedback,” Rowinski said.
New Broadband Plan For County Takes Shape FARR Team Spends 3 Days On Ground Locally
By JIM KEVLIN
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three-person team from FARR Technologies of Sioux Falls, S.D., spent three days in Otsego County last
week, tightening a schematic for achieving broadband Internet service countywide within five years. FARR’s mandate is to provide, by mid-October, “information we
need to aggressively apply for state and federal funding,” said Sandy Mathes, Otsego County IDA president. He plans to ask the IDA board to approve funding applications
Springbrook Keynoter: ‘Weaknesses Can Be Made Positives’ By LIBBY CUDMORE MILFORD CENTER
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othing, not the lack of coordinates on Mapquest or a GPS mishap was going to delay Jesse Saperstein from speaking at Springbrook. “A comedy
Springbrook photo
Jesse uses puppet to tell story.
of things happened,” he said. “But it was important for me to get here and speak, especially to my new friend Michael.” That new friend was a visibly overjoyed Michael Travisano, who was in the audience with his father, Hartwick professor Thomas and mother, Elsa. “For a lot of kids,
there’s no role models they can directly connect to,” said Rick Turner, a Springbrook teacher who grew up with Saperstein. “But to look up and see someone on the autism spectrum wearing nice clothes and speaking to a roomful of people, it’s good for their self-esteem.” Please See JESSE, B7
when it meets Oct. 2. The team – FARR CEO Peter Rassmusson, Vice President/Network Design Jerry Weber, and Steve Angerhofer, a partner in the company – arrived Tuesday the Please See FARR, B6
OTSEGO CHAMBER GALA HONORS LUTZ FEED, FOX HOSPITAL
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utz Feed Co. and Fox Hospital will be honored at the Otsego County Chamber’s annual Small Business Banquet Thursday, Oct. 16, at The Otesaga. Details at
WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD
ANNUAL COOPERSTOWN AMERICANA SYMPOSIUM
Folk Art and American Modernism
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 • 9:00AM - 5:OOPM Based on the new exhibition Folk Art and American Modernism. Presentations by Paul D’Ambrosio, Robin Jaffee Frank, Stacy Hollander, Wendy Jeffers, Cynthia Nadelman, and by co-curators Elizabeth Stillinger and Ruth Wolfe. REGISTRATION: $65 for NYSHA members, $75 for non-members. For a complete schedule and to register online visit FenimoreArtMuseum.org/americana or call (607) 547-1461.
5798 Route 80 • Cooperstown • FenimoreArtMuseum.org