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FR Volume 7, No. 11
City of The Hills
&
THINK LOCAL FIRST
rs Ot e b seg o County Cham
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, December 5, 2014
Complimentary
Hartwick To Honor Brooks
Even though he’s been retired for eight years, John Brooks can’t stay away from the business – he still goes in every day for lunch, and has been known to throw on an apron and get in the pit.
Retired From House Of BBQ, He Focuses On Community By LIBBY CUDMORE
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hen John Brooks got home one night earlier this fall, there was a note from his wife, Joan, next to the phone. “It said ‘Hartwick wants you’ with a little smiley face,” he said.
Brooks, the retired second-generation owner of Brooks’ House of BBQ, had been named the 2014 Hartwick Citizen of the Year by the college’s Citizen Board. The award will be presented by President Margaret Drugovich Friday, Dec. 5, at a reception at her home, Thornwood. Please See BROOKS, A7
Ian Austin/HOMEOWN ONEONTA
Broadband Plan Set Ian Austin/HOMEOWN ONEONTA
Invited by the group to sing with them Oneonta’s Elna George sings “Gloria” with the rest of the audience at the Catskill Symphony Orchestra’s concert, featuring Cherish the Ladies, on Sunday, Nov. 30.
CHRISTMAS SPIRIT ROLLS INTO CITY
By JIM KEVLIN
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Fight Looms On Bed-Tax Distribution
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ounty Rep. Ed Lentz, D-New Lisbon, was expected to force a vote for bed-tax revenues to be shared with Oneonta, Cooperstown and Hartwick when the county Board of Representatives voted Wednesday, Dec. 3, on its $103 million budget for 2015. Follow up at: WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM
TWO SAY NO: City Manager Martin Murphy’s first budget passed Tuesday, Dec. 2, but Council members Mike Lynch and Bob Brzozowski voted no. See WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM
IN MEMORIAM: A memorial ceremony in honor of the late Dr. Carey Brush, retired SUNY Oneonta administrator and author of “In Honor and Good Faith” (1965), is at 3 p.m. Friday, Dec. 12, in the Craven Lounge at in the Morris Conference Center. He passed away last Dec. 29 at age 93. All are welcome. CHECK IT OUT: To mark World AIDS Day, Family Planning of South Central New York is offering free, confidential and rapid AIDS testing and counseling daily, 9 a.m-4 p.m., through Friday, at 37 Dietz St.
IDA May Let Contract With Telecom Firm
A decades-long holiday tradition, Canadian Pacific’s Holiday Train rolled into Oneonta Friday, Nov. 29, pausing at the Neahwa Park crossing so Canadian country music artist Tracey Brown, above, could perform for the waiting crowd. It included Abigal Sandec, East Meredith, inset, who amused herself while waiting by catching snowflakes on her tongue. But the wait was worth it, you can tell by the looks on the faces of Elizabeth Youngs and her daughter Molly, right, who came from Otego to see the show.
Southside Mall Takes Stand To Save Thanksgiving Holiday For Families By LIBBY CUDMORE
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outhside Mall manager Luisa Montanti was already thinking ahead of this season’s hottest trend.
he future in Otsego County is not now. But it could be now in the next 2-3 years. The IDA-commissioned Broadband Feasibility Study has found a $30 million public-private highspeed system can happen in he “BroadOtsego County, band Feasbility Study” – and the agency and the outcome is prepared to of Thursday’s IDA contract with meeting – may a “telecom” to be viewed at implement it ALLOTSEGO.COM as soon at the IDA’s Thursday, Dec. 4, monthly meeting in Oneonta. The feasibility study’s findings were outlined Tuesday, Dec. 2, by Peter Rasmusson, CEO/Partner of FARR Techologies, based in Sioux City, Iowa, who said the company has conducted similar studies that resulted in successful projects in the upper Midwest, as well as projects in New York State and the West Coast. Later that afternoon, state Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, announced he has obtained a $250,000 grant as “seed money” to get the initiative through its first steps. He called high-speed broadband “required Please See BROADBAND, A7
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Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Avanzatos’ Stella Luna Not Setting Yet
No, it wasn’t a new toy or the latest fashion – it was taking a stance against opening the Southside Mall on Thanksgiving Day. “We weren’t seeing a bump in additional traffic; it Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA Please See MALL, A6 Vinne Avanzato at work.
By LIBBY CUDMORE
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f you leafed through the real estate listings recently, you may have noticed that Oneonta landmark Stella Luna is for sale. But don’t worry. Vinne and Tony Avanzato aren’t closing their doors yet. “If the sale takes six months, a year, 10 years, we won’t close,” said Vinne. “We’ll still Please See STELLA, A6
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD