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SPRINGFIELD GIRL TURNS BRAILLE SKILLS INTO ART/B1
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City of The Hills
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Oneonta’s Madison Driggs at St. Mary’s Food Bank fundraiser, Pumpkins in the Park, at Neahwa Park Saturday, Oct. 10, as Elsa, the Snow Queen from Disney’s “Frozen.”
Local Efforts Will Replace Holiday Train
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o replace money raised by the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train, funds will be solicited Saturday, Oct. 31, at Oneonta’s 2015 Halloween Parade for the community’s needy. All food and money collected will be given to Opportunities for Otsego and the Salvation Army Food Pantry. The United Way and the Lions’ Club are organizing the drive, with Hannaford’s providing the shopping carts to collect donations. The Holiday Train was cancelled after CP sold its track through Oneonta to Norfolk Southern. JUST A DRILL: OPD’s Special Response Team will conduct a lockdown trill Thursday, Oct. 15, at Greater Plains Elementary in full SRT gear, to train officers and familiarize teachers and students with evacuation procedures. VIP VISITS: State Ag & Markets Commissioner Richard Ball of Schoharie will meet Friday, Oct. 16, with Hartwick College’s Entrepreneurship class. ROBOTS GO PUBLIC: RoboKronos, the 4-H FIRST Robotics Team 4203, was officially turned over from Cooperative Extension to the Oneonta City School District Wednesday, Oct. 8.
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, October 16, 2015
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Artist Janet Wentworth Erickson hugs one of her “heroes,” Grace Smith of Oneonta, founder of the city’s clinic for low-income patients and a subject of “Community Heroes in Portraiture,” which opened Friday, Oct. 9, at The Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown.
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Complimentary FIGHTING PLAGUE
EROES Police Offer A Way Out For Addicts Those Who Want Help Will Get It – Speedily By LIBBY CUDMORE
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Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Artist Erickson’s 2-Year Journey Ends In High Spirits, Portraits At Fenimore
ith arrests almost weekly and a slew of overdoses, including two deaths from Fentanyllaced heroin in January, Oneonta Police Lt. Douglas Brenner has had enough. “We can’t arrest our Lieutenant way out of this,” he said. Brenner “Arrests don’t help an addict get clean, and we’re now in an excess of one overdose a month. It’s only a matter of time before those overdoses turn into fatalities.” In August, he attended a presentation about the PAARI program, Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative, in Broome County. “I was really inspired,” he said. “And the funny thing was, when I got back, Chief Please See HELP, A6
By LIBBY CUDMORE COOPERSTOWN
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rom the mouth of babes. “I asked my granddaughter, Lucia Ellwanger, 5, ‘Was great-grandpa Frank Russo a hero’?” said Russo’s daughter, Renee House. “She said ‘Yes,’ so I asked her ‘What made him a hero?’ and IF YOU GO: she responded, The “Commu‘Because he was nity Heroes In Portraiture” kind’.” exhibit may be Russo, the forviewed 10 a.m.mer Oneonta fire 4 p.m. Tuesdays chief, was one through Sundays of 10 “heroes” at The Fenimore from Otsego Art Museum. and Delaware counties depicted in classic oil portraits at the opening of artist Janet Wentworth Erickson’s “Community Heroes in Portraiture” exhibit that opened Friday, Oct. 9, at The Fenimore Art Museum. Erickson conceived of the Community Heroes project in summer 2014 and received a “Creative Activity” grant from SUNY Oneonta, where she teaches art classes. “I got the grant, but I didn’t have any heroes!” Please See HEROES, A7
Benedict Cumberbatch is live in Oneonta, via Foothills HD screen.
Foothills Brings ‘Live’ Stars Here Nominator Chris Deemer, Oneonta, praises the Rev. Norman Moran of Oneonta, who was unable to attend. The audience later learned Moran’s wife Nancy had passed away that day. Kathy Hardison, Oneonta, comes forward to praise Mike Knowlton, Unadilla, and Ian Austin, Oneonta, who she nominated.
By LIBBY CUDMORE
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aybe you can’t make it to London to see “Sherlock” star Benedict Cumberbatch tred the boards in William Shakespeare’s immortal “Hamlet.” But no need to feel like you’re missing out - it’s playing live right here at Foothills Performing Arts Center at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, no plane ticket needed. “It’s an awesome thing that we have here,” said Bill Youngs, Foothills managing director. “Hamlet” is the last screening in Please See LIVE, A3
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