Hometown Oneonta 03-23-18

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CHEOALUTH & EFL. DCEORULTALÉE, ESQ.

AVE E L ’T ILY DON R FAM , YOU RDEN U AB HEM T VE N! A E L A A PL

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HOMETOWN ONEONTA

& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, March 23, 2018 Visit www.AllOTSEGO.com

Volume 10, No. 24

City of The Hills

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Fire Punctuates Mayor’s State Of City Message ►FOR AN EXCERPT of Mayor Herzig’s 2018 State of the City speech, see A4

By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA

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ith just over a month to go before the April 30 deadline to bring the former Oneonta Hotel up to code, city firefighters were once again called to the building by a furnace malfunction. “At 10:24 a.m., we were called to the scene by

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Parker Fish/HOMETOWN ONEONTA

Jackson Hildebrandt, Oneonta, picked his best girl – Mom Donni – as his dance partner at the annual Shamrock Swing on Friday, March 16 at Foothills/SEE PHOTO

Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA

Mayor Herzig prior to his speech.

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someone who saw smoke coming out of the chimney,” said Jim Maloney, assistant fire chief. “We shut down the furnace, but there were high levels of carbon monoxide in the basement.” The fire was contained to the chimney and the furnace, and the fire department evacuated the carbon Please See SAFETY, A7

ADIES

Former CEO Streck To Fill In For Brown As Successor Sought

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Fining Hosts? Idea Stirs Up Students’ Ire

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ONEONTA

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espite Hartwick College and SUNY Oneonta students protesting a “Social Hosting” law could have “unintended consequences,” Common Council voted unanimously to pass a law which would create a fine of up to $1,000 for any person holding a party or social gathering where minors were found to be consuming alcohol or using other illicit drugs. A public hearing on the law will be held at the next Council meeting Tuesday, April 3. For full story, see

AllOTSEGO.com

Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA

Rachel Lutz Jessup, Caroline Bagby and Jocelyn Plows are surrounded by wellwishers at the Trailblazers reception in City Hall’s lobby Tuesday, March 20.

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MUSEUM TRIP: The Greater Oneonta Historical Society (GOHS) is sponsoring a full-day trip to The Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport and the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning on Tuesday May 15, The cost of the trip is $90 and the registration deadline is April 24. For more information, call Bill or Marge Pietraface at 607-432-1385. TRAINING DAYS: Opportunities for Otsego will train Navigators to help community members who are struggling with poverty to access resources. The training is scheduled for Tuesday, April 10, with sessions at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. For information Autumn Torres at 607-433-8005 or atorres@ ofoinc.org.

Bassett Leader Leaving

Jessup, Plows, Bagby City Trailblazers By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA

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or the last two years, Rachel Lutz Jessup has nominated women to receive the City

Hall’s annual Trailblazer Award. “I nominated Carla Balnis last year and Luisa Montanti the year before,” she said. “It was really cool to see the women I nominated getting recognized.” And this year, Balnis returned the favor, submitting 14 letters of rec-

ommendations along with the form. “She’s an amazing lady and a great friend,” Balnis said. Jessup is one of three women named as the 2018 Women Trailblazer Award winners by the city’s Commission on Community RelaPlease See BLAZERS, A3

Departing, Pastor Sivers Honored, Too After 10 Years, Methodist Minister Is Transferred To Ithaca Pulpit By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA

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n February, Rev. Teressa Sivers, First United Methodist Church pastor, got what she called “the fateful call.”

“Pastor John McNeill at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Ithaca is retiring,” she said, “The conference looks at whose gifts and graces are a good fit, and send a pastor there. And they decided to send me.” Sivers, assigned here since 2008, was honored at Common Council on Tuesday, Please See SIVERS, A3

Pastor Sivers

ance M. Brown, president/CEO of the Bassett Healthcare Network for almost four years, has decided to step down, effective April 20, it was announced Monday, Dr. Brown March 19. Former president/CEO Bill Streck, chief medical and health systems innovation officer Please See BROWN, A7

Pupils Told, Don’t Make Any Threats By PARKER FISH

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ith 10 threats against made against high schools in Otsego and Delaware counties since the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., the message from the Otsego County Sheriff’s Office is: Think before you speak. “We’ve begun having deputies come in to schools to talk with students about freedom of speech,” said Otsego County Sheriff Richard J. Devlin, Jr. “They Please See THREATS, B5

HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD


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