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THERE’S A NEW SCROOGE IN COUNTY THIS YEAR/B1
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Volume 11, No. 10
City of The Hills
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& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, December 14, 2018
County Treasurer Ruffles Due For Service In Horn Of Africa COOPERSTOWN
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lected just a year ago, County Treasurer Allen Ruffles has learned he’s about to take a nine-month leave. A leave from the Treasurer’s Office at 197 Main St.,
but not for leisure: An E5 sergeant in the 403rd Civil Affairs Delta Company, he has received word he is likely to be deployed to the Horn of Africa early in 2019, perhaps for most of the year. A former Cooperstown’s Please See RUFFLES, A2
VILLAGE DISMAYED
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
After much searching, Kiki Perez and brother Frankie finally found the ornament that she decorated for the Christmas tree in Muller Plaza during the tree-lighting ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 6.
Judge Orders Repairs Done By Deadline ONEONTA
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n an order by county Judge John Lambert, owner Melania Pervu must make all repairs to the building at 195 Main St. before the Jan. 11, 2019 deadline or she could be held in contempt of court, according to a decision made Friday, Dec. 7. If the city’s Code Enforcement office finds that the violations have not be sufficiently corrected, Merzig said, the City will take Pervu back to court. FUNDS RAISED: The Staffworks Save-a-Life campaign has already received $22,511.03 in donations for the Susquehanna Animal Shelter.
ON
AllOTSEGO.com
►CONGRESSMAN FASO aims to close “limousine loophole” as term ends. ►ONEONTA THEATER, can it survive? Consultant reports findings Monday, Dec. 17 ►PIONEER ‘NET ZERO’ project planned at SUNY Oneonta’s Ford Hall. ►DEERJACKING case leads to three arrests. ►CONGRESSMAN DELGADO picks district director, point of contact with county. ►SALVATION ARMY’s Kettle Drive running $3,000 behind last year. ►YELICH, CRANKSHAW highest paid local school superintedents. ...AND MUCH MORE
ONEONTA
Phys-Ed Teacher Arrested
Visit www.
AllOTSEGO.com
KIM MULLER LEAVES HELM
Resignation Slows Ethics Push By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN
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ormer Oneonta mayor Kim Muller’s resignation is another unexpected bump in the road to a long-anticipated and
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Muller
FLIGHT of
elusive destination: a functioning Otsego County Ethics Board. “My professional obligations are likely to become an impediment for scheduling committee meetings moving forward,” Muller said in an e-mail to county board Chairman David Bliss, Please See MULLER, A7
ANCY
Homeland Security Brings Child Pornography Counts By LIBBY CUDMORE COOPERSTOWN
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aiting outside Justin Hobbie’s home in Springfield in November, Special Agent James Hamilton, Homeland Security, noticed a light on in the basement, just after 11 p.m. Two weeks later, on Friday, Dec. 7, Hobbie, 41, a CCS coach, health and physical education teacher, was arrested and charged with downloading and distributing child pornography from an Alienware gaming com-
►FOR DETAILS ON • Hobbie’s detention hearing in Federal Court in Syracuse • The U.S. Attorney’s community briefing at CCS, go to
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Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA efying gravity, dancers Chase Vining and Patrick Lennon, top photo, soar through the air as part of the “Russian Dance” during the Decker School of Ballet’s annual performance of “The Nutcracker” Friday, Dec. 7 at SUNY Oneonta’s Goodrich Theater. Left, Fritz and Clara (Oneonta’s Jack Fauth and Allie Vesterfelt) twirl and leap as they enjoy the Christmas party where Clara will soon meet her Nutcracker prince.
AllOTSEGO.com
puter seized from that basement room. Hamilton’s affidavit in support of the criminal complaint against Hobbie detailed the investigation, which started when the agent’s covert computer, which uses a law enforcement version of the eMule software, which allowed Hamilton Please See HOBBIE, A7
4-Story Hampton Offers 101 Rooms Fire Protection, Sewerage, Access To Route 28 To Be Aired At Hearing By PATRICK WAGER HARTWICK SEMINARY
‘H
amptonality” – as Hilton Inc. describes its Hampton Inn & Suites line – is coming, with uncertain impact on the hospitality sector. “The area is oversaturated with chain hotels and private owners renting out to travelers,” said The new Hampton Inn prototype Please See HOTEL, A6 was unveiled last spring.
IT MATTERS: IT’S COMING
Moms Say No To Legalized Marijuana More Than Dads By JENNIFER HILL ONEONTA
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otherhood makes women more liberal than men, researchers find. But not so with mari-
juana, Hartwick College political science professor Laurel Elder concludes in “Gender and the Politics of Marijuana,” which she co-researched, co-authored and published in the November issue of Social Science Quarterly. Please See POT, A7
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD