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HOMETOWN ONEONTA !
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Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, November 23, 2012
Volume 5, No. 10
City of The Hills
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Redistricting WITH HONOR Plan Bridges Oyaron Hill Except For Sliver In Ward 4, Student Majority Evaporates
HOMETOWN ONEONTA
By JIM KEVLIN
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PHOTOS, A2
Otsego Manor Home To Most From Oneonta
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OPEN ON HOLIDAY: Seven other national retailers join Wal-Mart this year in staying open on Thanksgiving Day, but none of them have Otsego County outlets. HELPING HANDS: Luisa Montanti and the Southside Mall joined in the Hurricane Sandy relief drive organized by the Oneonta High School, donating cash, food, blankets and more. HOLIDAY TRAIN: The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train of Lights, featuring Tracey Brown & The Claytones, chugs into Oneonta at 1:15 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, stopping at the James Georgeson crossing.
COURT RULINGS SATISFIED
Lady Yellowjackets Come Home...
Dressed in the Derailing Darlings black and purple, Peyton Sisson, 3, of Oneonta, appeared to be prepping for a future career at the Friday, Nov. 16, rollerderby contest. With her is mom Kelly/MORE
tsego Manor advocate Maureen Culbert released figures a few days ago showing that more Manor residents – 36 – are from Oneonta than any other community. That was followed by Cooperstown (33), Milford (10), Cherry Valley (9), Otego (7), Hartwick and Unadilla (6), Worcester (5), Edmeston and Schenevus (4), Maryland and Morris (3) and Mount Vision, New Berlin and Portlandville (2). One each came from , Burlington Flats, Fly Creek, Franklin, Laurens, New Lisbon, Roseboom, Schuyler Lake and Springfield Center. From out of county, 23.
Complimentary
Brian Horey/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Nicole Harmer leaps for joy when the Lady Yellowjackets score the first goal in the final against Greece at the 10:53 mark of the first half Sunday, Nov. 18, at SUNY Cortland.
Soccer Team In First State Final Since ’04 “It’s an honor,” said By LIBBY CUDMORE Dani Nicosia, reflecting a few days later on ine minutes. the girls’ soccer team’s They’d gone first state finals showall the way to ing since 2004. the state finals, but “Our goal at the nine minutes was all start of the season it took for the OHS was to get to that last Lady Yellowjackets’ game, to be one of hearts to break when the last two teams in the Greece Odyssey Coach Jerry Mackey consoles the state,” said Dani. overtook Oneonta’s 1-0 his tearful team. “And we were.” lead Sunday, Nov. 18, at The Yellowjackets SUNY Cortland. Greece edged a 3-1 win took home a 1-0 win against Cold Spring in overtime. Harbor at Saturday’s semi-final after Dani “The girls played their hearts out,” said scored what fan (and county Judge) Brian Athletic Director Joe Hughes. “They were Burns termed an “unbelievable” goal. “It nine minutes away from being champs.” was a textbook example of teamwork and Broken-hearted, but philosophical. Please See SOCCER, A3
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Crowell Budget Saves Manor For Year But Treasurer Urges Caution: As Is, Nursing Home Not Sustainable By JIM KEVLIN
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espite his worries about Otsego Manor’s financial viability, county Treasurer Dan Crowell’s proposed 2013 county budget keeps the tax rate
hike to 1.97 percent, under the state-mandated 2 percent cap. Nonetheless, Crowell said, his budget – it eliminates eight vacant county positions, about $500,000, and delays maintenance and vehicle replacements Please See CROWELL, A7
ow fleeting is glory? If Hartwick College students were planning to seize control of Ward 5 – an unlikely scenario, granted – they’re out of luck. Just a few days ago, the proposed City of Oneonta Redistricting Plan gave Hartwick students 64.9 percent of the Ward 5 votes. Then a last-minute “Option F” surfaced, slashing that student body’s representation to a mere 35.4 percent. “The bottom line is that it maintains the integrity of the old Fifth Ward and recognizes the common interest they have in the Hartwick Hill,” Mayor Miller said of the
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Common Council didn’t act on redistricting when it met Tuesday, Nov. 20, but members and Police Chief Dennis Nayor, above, engaged in a lively debate on leaving two police positions vacant in 2013/DETAILS, A9
option that now seems likely to win Common Council’s approval. Ward 4, which includes Please See MAPPING, A9
Matt Hill looks ruefully around his Murdock Avenue home. A vagrant cigarette sparked the blaze. Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
If You Smoke, Be Cautious, Says Burned Home’s Owner By LIBBY CUDMORE Matt Hill has a warning to all smokers out there. “You have to be careful,” he said. “I never thought it would happen to me.” Oneonta Fire Department investigator determined the fire at Hill’s 10 Murdock Ave. home Tuesday, Nov. 13, was likely caused by a cigarette left in an ashtray next to the couch.
“I went over to Daddy Al’s to get a sub,” Hill said, pointing to a half-melted plastic bag on the lawn, still containing the sub, some mustard and a few other groceries. When he came back, the house was in flames. “I threw off my jacket. I just started running around the lawn like a crazy person.” Dave Macintire, who lives across the street, called 911 Please See FIRE, A8
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, THE LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER IN OTSEGO COUNTY, 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD