TO HONOR LUTZ FEED, FOX HOSPITAL UPGRADE/B1
HOMETOWN ONEONTA !
E RE
F Volume 7, No. 3
City of The Hills
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch Complimentary
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, October 10, 2014
Chickens Don’t Fly By LIBBY CUDMORE
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neonta residents will have to wait a little longer before they start their mornings with eggs fresh from their own chickens.
Council Tables Action On Hen Law
In the half hour of public comment at the Common Council’s meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 7, Council members heard passionate arguments from both sides of the
chicken debate. “This is a particularly foul idea,” said Frank O’Mara, Ford Avenue. “It’s guaranteed to pit neighbor against neighbor. You approve
A (YELLOWJACKET) STAR IS BORN Lauren Olmo, 5, looks admiringly Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA at her new Lillianne Rowe, 8, of sister Alexis, Oneonta, bounds the 4 days old, last few strides towards during OHS the finish line of the Athletic Hall 21st PIT Run, in memof Fame Inory of felled Trooper duction cerRicky Parisian, Sunday, emonies SatOct. 5, at Neahwa Park. urday, Oct. 4, in Belden Auditorium. Their mom, Stacy Knapp, still recovering, had hile they have her brother not been asked to Jason deliver her accepdebate, Oneonta Town Board candidates Trish tance speech while she sat Riddell Kent and David in the audiRowley will read “short poence with sition statements” at 7 p.m., husband MarMonday, Oct. 20, at SUNY cus Olmo and Oneonta’s Morris Confertheir girls/
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STEPPING DOWN: Fourth Ward Common Council member Mike Lynch told a ward meeting he hosted Thursday, Oct. 2, at Center Street School that he doesn’t intend to run for another term next year. SUN POWER: The county Board of Representatives is considering an offer by SolarCity, Cranbury, N.J., to built it a solar-power farm near Laurens, to provide 20 percent of power it uses. MANOR GOING: Otsego Manor, the county nursing home, was to be sold Wednesday, Oct. 8, to a private operator.
MORE PHOTOS, C1
Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
At 15 Years, Artisans’ Guild Still Flourishing Downtown By LIBBY CUDMORE
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ifteen years ago, Deb Blake and Ellie Stromberg took a chance on an empty storefront and turned it into a mainstay of Main Street. “We wanted the Artisans’ Guild to be a place where local people could get beautiful handmade things,” said Blake.
Ventriloquism Helps Deliver Word Of God By LIBBY CUDMORE
Riddell Kent, Rowley Will State Views
ence Center. A debate between the 121st Assembly candidates, Democratic incumbent Bill Magee and his Republican challenger, John Salka, will follow. The evening is sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Oneonta Chapter.
chicken, what’s next? Can I have four pigs in my barn?” “If we turn this down, we are making a statement that local food isn’t important to us,” said Tracy Allen, Church Street. “There are people who can’t afford to go to the Please See CHICKENS, A7
After UCCCA closed its gallery shop (where Razzle Dazzle is now located) Blake and Stromberg strongly urged the art association to open a store elsewhere. “They told us, ‘Why don’t you do it’?” said Blake. Ellie, a potter, and Blake, an author and jewelry maker, both had booths at the Farmer’s Market, and began discussing Please See GUILD, A7
ven if his lips aren’t moving, Rev. Frank Westcott is still speaking the word of God. “I tell Bible stories with my ventriloquist dummy, Bucky,” said Westcott. “I can have a whole audience of adults, and they just love it.” Westcott, who has succeeded Pastor Mel Farmer at River Street Baptist Church, first brought Bucky up to the pulpit to tell the story of Daniel HOMETOWN ONEONTA in early SepThe Rev. Frank Westtember, and he cott has some help at was such a hit his new ministry at River Street Baptist that Westcott will bring him Church. back up on Sunday, Oct. 12. Westcott first discovered ventriloquism at the Otsego County Fair, where his grandparents took him to see a show. “The man Please See PASTOR, A7
Reporter Libby Cudmore’s Novel Accepted By Top NYC Publisher By JIM KEVLIN
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t had been a bad week, and suddenly Libby Cudmore was crying. But they were tears of joy. At the other end of the telephone Tuesday, Sept. 30, was Jim McCarthy, a vice president HOMETOWN ONEONTA at Dystel & Goderich Literary An elated Libby Cudmore advises Management, the agency that, colleagues of her novel’s accepPlease See NOVEL, A3 tance by publisher William Morrow.
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD