Q y! r any da o y a d ame wn Join us g , Coopersto 8 2 y a w h Hig sbar.com 4874 State townsport rs e p o o c • pm 03 607-322-40 t Oct. 12, 1 s a o R ig P ials • Daily Spec
Volume 12, No. 01
City of The Hills
UILTING CAPTIVATED SIDNEY MAN BRYDEN FEATURED ARTIST AT GILBERTSVILLE SILVER JUBILEE/B1
HOMETOWN E!
E FR
ONEONTA
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Thursday, October 3, 2019
Visit www.
AllOTSEGO.com
SUNY Oneonta’s 8th President To Be Installed ►PRESIDENT MORRIS will be inaugurated in a public ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 5, at the SUNY Oneonta Alumni Field House.
By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA
W
hat a year it has been for Barbara Jean Morris. SUNY Oneonta president, who will be officially inaugurated Saturday, Oct. 5, reenvisioned the school’s Mission Statement to 13 words. (“We nurture a community where students grow intellectually, thrive socially and live purposefully”. She created an Office of Institutional Research to begin collecting
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
President Morris describes an elegant invitation that reflects her Native American heritage.
campus data, working to reduce barriers to graduation, and strengthening adviser/student relationships. She’s taught students some of her favorite recipes and instituted a campus-wide cookie bake-off. Earlier this summer, she scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, using skills she attributed to her new life in the City of the Hills. “I had a loop that included this campus and the
Hartwick College stairs,” she said. “It’s quite a workout!” Of her inauguration as the college’s eighth president – she took office July 1, 2018 – she says, “This is a chance for the campus to come together and make sure that students, alumni and the community are welcomed to celebrate with us. “It’s not about me. It’s about us.” Morris had a hand in designing the elaborate invitation, a fold-out card with a feather – with eight divisions for the eighth president – inside a circle, an homage to her Native American heritage. Please See PRESIDENT, A7
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Bernie Zeh, ABM Fire Equipment, Hartwick, reads a letter asking the Common Council to review an ordinance on which inspectors can look at fire sprinklers in the city.
JILL’S ASSAILANT ATTACKED HER TOO, SHE TELLS RALLY
FINALLY, Her Story Told
“I am a victim who has a voice, and I have to share my story.” ONEONTA She told her story at the “Justice for Gillian” rally illian Gibbons’ Saturday, Sept. 28 in MullONEONTA voice was silenced er Plaza, standing at the when David Dart podium besides Gillian’s he Legislative Comsister, Jennifer mittee of Oneonta’s Kirkpatrick, to enCommon Council will courage everyone review an ordinance that to write to the state requires NICET Level II Parole Board and certifications for fire sprinask them to deny kler inspections in the city Dart’s parole this after complaints from a local November. company. “If he gets out, Bernie Zeh, AMB Fire he will rape, he will Equipment, Hartwick, read kill again,” said Senator Seward addresses a letter during public comKirkpatrick, who rally he sponsored with Jill’s ment where he once again organized the rally sister Jennifer Kirkpatrick. asked the city to review with state Sen. Jim the requirements. He had Seward, R-Milford. brought a similar complaint stabbed her 42 times in “Help us keep him in October 2018. the Oneonta Municipal behind bars,” said Miller Currently, only Jeff Back, Parking Garage on Sept. Dutcher. “Please help us be Fyr-Fyter and a member of 12, 1984. that voice for Gillian.” the city’s Plumbing Board, But Jennifer Miller One evening in 1984, has the required certification. Dutcher intends to use hers Dart came to Miller Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA to keep Dart in prison. Dutcher’s parents’ house in Jennifer Miller Dutcher says Jill Gibbons’ “I am a survivor of Portlandville and asked ON OTSEGO.com assailant attacked her as a teenager. David Dart,” she said. Please see JILL, A7
Request Spurs A 2nd Look At Fire Sprinklers
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By LIBBY CUDMORE
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All
►GABRIEL TRUIIT’s TRIAL for the murder of former firefighter John Heller has been scheduled for Jan. 20, 2020. ►GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO announced a $1 billion agreement with Cree Inc. to create 600 jobs paying $75,000 in Marcy, within commuting distance of Otsego County, in the next six years. ►PLAYWRITE AYAD AKHTAR gave the annual Mills Distinguished Lecture at SUNY Oneonta on Monday, Sept. 24. His PulitzerPrize winning play “Disgrace” was this year’s Common Read. ►Ccs is creating a new administrative position, director of pupil services, as the special ed population has risen from 10 to 14 percent in a few years.
Candidate Eager For Election Day Palevsky Hopes New Majority Will Revisit Restrictive Zoning Regimen By JIM KEVLIN RICHFIELD SPRINGS
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he action now moved to Nov. 5, Election Day. Monday, Sept. 30, after two somewhat acrimonious hours of discussion, the Richfield Town Board, 3-2, approved a new zoning code that bans wind turbines and Please See RICHFIELD, A7
Mom Fears CCS Might Bar Twins By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN
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he mother of two 7-year-olds was fearful as this edition went to MOTHER press Tuesday CONCERNED evening, Oct. 1, that one of her sons would be barred from Cooperstown Elementary School the following morning, even though she believed both Perrault boys are vac►UPDATES on cinated in acsituation will cordance with a appear on ALLOTSEGO.COM new state law. That morning, she had received an email from CCS Superintendent of Schools Bill Crankshaw directing her to remove her children Please See VACCINES, A7
Retiring, Child Advocate May Have Assisted 3,000 Children By LIBBY CUDMORE COOPERSTOWN
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or 23 years, Carmela Mone, founder of the Children’s Law Office of Otsego County, has been the advocate for youngsters who may not Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA have anyone else in their Richfield supervisor candidate corner. Nick Palevsky looks forward to “I had a 4-year-old old Election Day.
boy whose mom had filed petitions to stop visits with the father, but I couldn’t get her to bring the kid in,” she said. “I sent our social worker, Karen Geasey, to see the kid at school, and she told me he was in dire straits – non-verbal, neglected.” She contacted the county Department of Social Services, which declined to Please See 3,000, A7
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD