The Nightingale & The Firefly
Boyhood, Interrupted •F
IA L
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After Dusting, Trustees Toss 26 Uncleared-Sidewalk Fines COOPERSTOWN
‘C
learly there’s something amiss,” Mayor Jeff Katz told the Village Board at the February meeting on the 22nd, after five
The Freeman’s Journal
For 208 Years
Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, February 25, 2016
By JIM KEVLIN
Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson underscored the importance of the Internet and social media in getting the word out to a national audience when he spoke Feb. 20, at the Friends of the Village Library Sunday Series. Contrary to “Field of Dreams,” today “you have to build it and take it to people.”
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COOPERSTOWN AND AROUND
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Volume 208, No. 8
NEW
1808 BY
VISIT THE
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Cooperstown’s Newspaper
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3-PART SERIES ON TRAGEDY, RESURGENCE BEGINS/SEE B1
letters of complaint from homeowners fined $108 each after a dusting of snow Jan. 18-19 wasn’t promptly cleared. His colleagues agreed, and within minutes Katz and the five trustees – Lou Allstadt was absent – agreed to “cancel” the five complainants’ fines and give “amnesty” to the other 21 Mayor Katz
FOR TEXTS of the snow-removal fine complaints, follow the link at WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM
who were likewise fined but paid without complaining. Katz also referred the question to the trustees’ Streets Committee, asking Trustee
Cindy Falk, committee chair, to return in a month with recommendations for a “less random” approach that would avoid future outcries. Snow-shoveling requirements have been much debated, implemented and revised for years. When he was mayor, Joe Please See FINES, B7
POLAR BEAR ... FLIGHT! J
amie Waters, organizer of the Goodyear Lake Polar Bear Jump for the past 21 years, appears to be taking flight off the diving platform at the Saturday, Feb. 20, event. (Truth in reporting: It ended in a belly flop.) As usual, the event was a success, raising a reported $125,000 for ailing youngsters and worthy institutions, including $11,000 donated to Springbrook for the first time this year/SEE SLIDE
2nd Jane Clark Talk Is Set For Those Left Out COOPERSTOWN
A
s she promised after a rare public talk in January quickly filled to capacity, Jane Forbes Clark has scheduled a reprise for 3 p.m. Sunday, March 6, at The Otesaga. Those turned away from the Hall of Fame appearance can sign up for priority seating at the front desk of the Village Library during regular house. AT THE HELM: Former New Lisbon Town Supervisor Bob Taylor will be installed May 1 as president of the state Association of Towns/DETAILS, A2
SHOW AT WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM
Ian Austin/The Freeman’s Journal
It’s Rare: CCS Boys, Girls In Section Finals Both At Onondaga CC This Weekend
AWARD TIME: Otsego 2000 is accepting nominations for its 2016 Historic Preservation Awards. The deadline is March 30. Check www.otsego2000.org for details.
By JIM KEVLIN
By BRIAN C. HOREY & LIBBY CUDMORE
COOPERSTOWN
COOPERSTOWN
T
here is no “I” in team … or Hawkeyes, Cooperstown Central’s basketball teams. NO ICE: Due to warm With sophomore Tyler Bertram leadweather, the Badger Park ice ing the boys and all area scorers, averaging has only been skateable 10 over 30 points a game, and senior Liz Millea days this year. doing nearly the same for the girls, opposing coaches might be tempted to think that both Brian Horey photos teams are one-trick ponies. Lady Hawkeyes’ Please See FINALS, B7 CCS Boys’ Tyler Liz Millea.
Businesspeople Voice Concern About Looming $15 Minimum
Bertram.
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oads, bridges. More school funding. Adjusting the propertytax cap. State Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, brought the latest intelligence from Albany on all of that and more to a gathering of 75 Cooperstown Chamber of
Commerce members Monday morning, Feb. 22, at the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Grandstand Seward Theater. But when the Q&A began, it was clear the single issue on businesspeople’s minds was the $15 miniPlease See WAGE, A7
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