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Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, March 1, 2018
It Looks Like Sheriff’s Son Ros Will Be Key Issue Of Campaign
Cuomo’s $500K To Pay For New Animal Shelter By LIBBY CUDMORE HARTWICK SEMINARY
W
hen the news came that the Susquehanna Animal Shelter had received the $500,000 to rebuild the
Newsstand Price $1
shelter, Executive Director By JIM KEVLIN Stacie Haynes let everyone around her know how happy she was. t has the makings of a “I saw the email and to-be-hard-fought screamed in the middle of campaign. Office Depot,” she said. “I In announcing he is was so excited!” running for Otsego County On Tuesday, Feb. 27, sheriff this year, retired state Please See SHELTER, B5 trooper Bob Fernandez of
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Fernandez
Devlin
Otego said he was spurred to do so by the mass shooting of students and teachers at the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. Reacting to that news, Sheriff Richard J. Devlin Jr. said this is another example Please See SHERIFF, A3
LOCAL INVESTOR TOM LAGAN CHARGED The Freeman’s Journal
During his orientation Tuesday, Feb. 27, incoming Hall of Famer Jim Thome stops at Babe Ruth’s plaque. Thome, coming in as a Cleveland Indian, hit 612 home runs, eighth most of all time. He will be inducted Sunday, July 29.
Village Board Set To Debate At LWV Forum
Cooperstown Figures In $4M Fraud Indictment By LIBBY CUDMORE COOPERSTOWN
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COOPERSTOWN
mpire Capital Trust, part of a $4 million fraud scandal that led to the arrest of Cooperstown investor Thomas Lagan and an associate, was used to purchase at least two Otsego County properties. According to county Tom Lagan at Village Real Property Tax Board meeting. records, Empire ►To read Attorney GenCapital owns: eral Schneiderman’s full • The former Paterno complaint, type “lagan” Brothers baseball store, in the search line at 83 Main St., purchased www. OTSEGO.com on Nov. 28, 2017. The sales price was listed at $500. • The Elm Inn, 84 East Main St., Milford, acquired July 10, 2017. The sales price was listed as $1. The Empire Capital Trust was part of an indictment Attorney General Eric Schneiderman brought Friday, Feb. 23, against Lagan, 59, and Richard Sherwood, 57, an Albany lawyer and Guilderland Please See FRAUD, A3
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hree candidates for two vacancies on the Village Board and mayor-apparent Ellen Tillapaugh will participate in a Candidates’ Debate 7 - 9 p.m. Monday, March 5, at 22 Main. Two incumbent Democrats, Cindy Falk and Jim Dean, are being challenged by Republican newcomer Fred Schneider. The evening is sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Cooperstown Chapter.
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STAR TO SPEAK: “Law & Order SVU” star and Congressional candidate Diane Neal has confirmed she will appear at a forum at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 4, at Cooperstown Village Hall, 22 Main. DRONE LAW READY: At its February meeting, the Village Board set a public hearing on a proposed law governing drones within village limits for 7 p.m. Monday, March 26, at Village Hall. SIGNS OF SPRING: Skunks are out and hens are laying, signs winter is waning.
AG’S FOCUS
Parker Fish/The Freeman’s Journal
The Empire Capital Trust, cited in Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s $4 million fraud indictment against Cooperstown’s Tom Lagan and another lawyer, were used to buy Paterno’s in downtown Cooperstown, above, and The Elm Inn (inset), Milford, in 2017.
SUPERS, SEWARD, SHERIFF OF A MIND
Consensus Forming Over Officer In Schools To Forestall Shootings By PARKER FISH COOPERSTOWN
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t was a meeting made in Parkland, Fla. Six Otsego County
superintendents of school, including Oneonta’s Joe Yelich, met Monday afternoon, Feb. 26, in their CCS colleague Bill Crankshaw’s office. The agenda, in part: Whether, after 17 students
and teachers killed by a shooter Feb. 14 in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, it now makes sense to support stationing a “school resource officer” in every school. Please See SUPERS, A3
County Manager Or Executive? First Question Reps Discussing By PARKER FISH COOPERSTOWN
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o charter or not to charter? That is the question weighing heavy on the minds of county board Intergovernmental Affairs
Committee members meeting Tuesday, Feb. 27, to discuss creating a county administrative position. But what is a charter, and why is it significant to the governmental structure of Otsego County? “A charter is an organization of all county laws,” Please See IGA, A3
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD