100 YEARS OF
HEROISM TROOP C INVITES PUBLIC TO BIRTHDAY PARTY/B1
HOMETOWN ONEONTA E!
E FR Volume 9, No. 52
City of The Hills
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch Complimentary
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, October 6, 2017
T
HEY’RE THE TOPS!
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Mayor Gary Herzig lowers his glasses and casts an icy stare at the town fire commissioners as he chides them for telling tales out of school.
Mayor Chides Commissioners On Loose Lips ONEONTA
M
ayor Gary Herzig chastised the Oneonta town fire commissioners during the Tuesday, Oct. 3, Common Council meeting for breaking the agreement to keep negotiations confidential. That followed a report that they briefed Supervisor Bob Wood and his town board on the status of the talks over a town-city fire contract. “There are a number of statements made in the report to the Town Board that are false and should be corrected,” he said. Among the claims he countered were that the contracts were “unfair, deceitful and illegal.” For all the details, visit
AllOTSEGO.com
www.
MEET CANDIDATES: The League of Women Voters is planning two forums for Nov. 7 candidates: Monday, Oct. 23, for the city’s county board candidates, in SUNY’s Morris Hall; and Wednesday, Oct. 25, for town board candidates, at Oneonta Town Hall. Both start at 7 p.m. ABOUT XNG: A public
information meeting on trucks carrying natural gas on Route 205, Town of Oneonta, and across Otsego County is planned at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, at the Richfield Community Center, Ann Street, sponsored by the Canadarago Lake Improvement Association and the Richfield Springs Area Chamber of Commerce.
Parker Fish/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Oneonta High School honorees, from left, Eric Spaziani, Dr. Michael D. Zagata, Kim Kurkowski Huffman, William Elwood IV, Thomas Duffy, Stephen Downey, Troy Bielert, Alan Hecox and Joe Hughes are recognized during the halftime ceremony of the Oneonta Homecoming game/PHOTOS, MORE, A3
OHS ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR
Joe Hughes Learned Life Lessons By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA
O
ne of the memories that most shaped Joe Hughes wasn’t one of his proudest moments. “I didn’t normally get in trouble, but in 10th grade, Mrs. Edison wanted us to read ‘The Iliad’ and I didn’t want to,” he said. “She left the room for a Parker Fish/HOMETOWN ONEONTA few minutes, and when she came back, she asked why I didn’t read it. I told Oneonta sophomore Anthony Escalera looks for her it was boring and she sent me to the first down as he is tackled by Dryden linemen during the homecoming game. Oneonta won 36-12. the principal’s office.”
Brenners – Father, Son – On Honor Flight By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA
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ormer mayor David Brenner, a Korean War veteran, was surprised at the emotions he felt arriving at Albany International Airport early Saturday, Sept. 30. “It was like coming home,” he said. “It Chief Brenner teaches Mayor brought back all those Brenner art of the selfie.
memories of what that felt like to come back from the war.” Brenner was one of five local veterans invited on the annual Leatherstocking Honor Flight, which flies veterans to Washington D.C. and escorts them around the war memorials and monuments there. “I hadn’t been to the Korean War Veterans Please See FLIGHT, A7
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Hughes wins alumni accolades.
But for Hughes, it was a learning moment. “The principal gave me a lecture about respect and listening,” he said. Please See HUGHES, A3
2 Fights Break Out Among Undergrads Knife, Truncheon Brought Into Dust-Ups By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA
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ne undergrad hit another with a truncheon. A third stabbed a fourth in the back. Within a single hour early
Saturday morning, Sept. 30, Oneonta Police had responded to two fights between college students, both resulting in hospitalization of the victims. “These are the first two assaults of the semester,” said OPD Lt. Chris WitzenPlease See FIGHTS, A6
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD