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& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, January 25, 2013
Volume 5, No. 18
City of The Hills
Complimentary
LOSS DOESN’T CALM POLITICAL WATERS
I-88 Pipeline Route Out By JIM KEVLIN
A
fter studying “Alternate M,” the Constitution Pipeline Co. has decided not to pursue the route that would parallel I-88, meaning Otsego County
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
SUNY Oneonta Provost Maria Thompson, President Nancy Kleniewski and Colleen Brannan, assistant to the president, join in a hymn at the Sunday, Jan. 20, tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. at Elm Park Methodist Church/MORE PHOTOS, A3
Public Asked To Meeting On Theater’s Fate
F
riends of the Oneonta Theatre and its owner, Tom Cormier, have invited members of the public interested in its continuation to a discussion at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27, at the theatre. Cormier and FOTOT President Patrice Macaluso will discuss plans to continue the theater, which was due to close Dec. 31, in collaboration with the community. A Q-and-A and brainstorming period will follow. Tours will also be conducted 3-4 p.m. The public is welcome. DOWNTOWN IDEAS: Preservation architect Randy Crawford of Syracuse will speak on the topic, “Main Street Revitalization,” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29, at the Elks Club during Main Street Oneonta’s annual meeting. Public welcome. LOVE STORIES: For Valentine’s Day, The Green Toad Bookstore is polling people on their favorite romantic novel. E-mail anne@ greentoadbookstore.com DONATE FOOD: Drop off non-perishable food for the Family Resource Network’s Teen Scene drive at 46 Oneida St., the network’s office.
loses a potential $3 million a year in property-tax revenues. The decision, though, will not quell political controversy: The county Democratic Party’s executive committee was to meet Thursday, Jan. 24, in West Oneonta, and an anti-fracking bloc considered
fighting endorsements of Oneonta Mayor Dick Miller and county Reps. Linda Rowinski and Kay Stuligross, who opposed fracking but supported the pipeline. County Rep. John Kosmer, Fly Creek, an executive committee member, likened the pipeline sup-
Standard & Poor’s Gives City A-Plus
AFTER THE
FIRE
In Midst Of Recession Bond Rating Is Upped Flames pour from Matteson Hall’s third floor on Wednesday, Jan. 16, in one of many images circulated by Instagram.
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
SUNY Oneonta refugees Devon Klemmer, Claire Semenza and Shannon Coleman settle into their interim dorm room at the Holiday Inn/Southside after the Matteson Hall fire. At right, Billy Leduca’s sweatshirt says it all – for now, anyhow.
For Displaced, Luxury No Picnic By LIBBY CUDMORE
‘W
e’re the homeless ones,” SUNY Oneonta junior Billy Laduca, only half joking,
port to “blood diamonds,” precious stones sought after despite the damage to African countries where they are mined. “Just because they aren’t fracking here,” said Kosmer, “it’s OK to put people at risk in Pennsylvania and Ohio.” Please See PIPELINE, A6
as he showed off his homemade “#HOMELESS” sweatshirt in his new digs at Holiday Inn/ Southside. “But we’re making the best of it.” Laduca is homeless to the Please See FIRE, A6
By JIM KEVLIN
D
espite what it termed “a tepid economy,” and despite the crises most other small Upstate cities face, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service has raised the rating on the City of Oneonta’s Miller latest bonds. It was “A+/Negative.” It is now “A+/Stable.” “I think it’s kind of interesting,” said Mayor Miller, “because we’ve been running deficits every year.” Still, S&P concluded, “Oneonta’s financial position remains very strong, in our opinion.” Please See S&P, A6
Pastor At All Inaugurations Since Nixon’s By LIBBY CUDMORE
D
espite temperatures around 25 degrees, the Rev. Paul Messner said President Obama’s inauguration Monday, Jan. 21, was one of the “warmer” inaugurations of the 10 he’s attended since Richard M. Nixon took the oath in 1973. “The wind chill was minus-60 at Reagan’s 1985 inauguration,” said Messner, who is Hartwick College chaplain Please See OBAMA, A3
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, THE LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER IN OTSEGO COUNTY, 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD 3! r 201uNaS o f Sa New rednce our on a r INf experie juvenati e ded runge n a p x e lo
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