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Volume 207, No. 18
NEW
1808 BY
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Cooperstown’s Newspaper
O M C O PE
RUGGED HILLS TRAIN LOCAL BIKERS TO COMPETE STATEWIDE/B1
For 207 Years
WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM
Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, May 7, 2015
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COOPERSTOWN AND AROUND
The Augur’s Block, at Main and Pioneer, Cooperstown’s crossroads, is arguably the epicenter of local retailing. At right, the sign, “No Food or Drink,” will have to go.
Ian Austin/The Freeman’s Journal
Maya Wasson in the girls’ triple jump shows the style that won the CCS Lady Hawkeyes the Don Howard Invitational Meet Saturday, May 2, on home fields. Results, slide show at WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM
Forum Will Feature CCS Candidates COOPERSTOWN
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he League of Women Voters will host a Candidates Night for the CCS board at 7 p.m. Monday, May 11, in the high school cafeteria. Public welcome. There are five candidates for three seats: Marcy Birch, Mary Bonderoff, Tabetha Rathbone, Anthony Scalici and Laurie Williams. Trevor Fuller withdrew. Candidates will give opening and closing statements, and in between will answer questions.
Augur’s Revived As Beverage Hub Cooperstown Distillery proprietor Gene Marra, right, and investor Steve Harris show off an artist’s rendering of the prospective interior of Local: Cooperstown Beverage Exchange, to be located in the Augur’s Block at the flagpole.
THERE’S MORE ... That same night, a public information session on Phase II of the Main Street Project – including the traffic light at Chestnut, and enhancements for cyclists and pedestrians – is planned at 7 p.m. in the fire hall.
Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’ s Journal
Led By Cooperstown Distillery, Storefront Will Be Entrypoint To Breweries, Wineries By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN
CONFERENCE ROOM: The former village justice offices at 22 Main have been renovated into a conference room, available to the public. To reserve space, call Village Clerk Teri Barown at 547-2411.
T Tom Heitz photo
Richard Carr in Augur’s in the 1980s.
hey hadn’t thought of creating a retail hub for Otsego County’s growing beverage industry, but when Augur’s Books, perhaps Cooperstown’s most desirable storefront, became available for the first time in a quarter-century, the creative juices started flowing. Now, Cooperstown Distillery proprietor Gene Marra and Steve Harris, an investor in the com-
pany, are planning to open Local: Cooperstown Beverage Exchange, on the ground floor of the imposing three-story brick building “at the flagpole” by mid-June. From 10 to 5, the Exchange will sell Cooperstown Distillery products and those of the six other members of the Cooperstown Beverage Trail – Ommegang, Cooperstown and Butternut breweries, Rustic Ridge and Bear Pond wineries, the Fly Creek Cider Mill – plus the new Pail Shop Winery, which is expected to join the Beverage Trail partners Please See HUB, A7
Of 17, Just 2 Boost Hotel ZBA Puts Off Vote A Month By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN
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height variance – termed make-or-break by one of the developers of a proposed downtown hotel – has just gotten more complicated. In opening a hearing on the Milo Stewproject Tuesart: “I say day, May 5, lamb boo!” village Zoning Board of Appeals chair Susan Snell outlined not one, but eight variances the hotel project will require. She distributed a list detailing them. The hotel is designed at 47 feet tall, five feet more than the 42-foot maximum height in the Please See HOTEL, A6
Restaurants Introducing Ethnic Food By LIBBY CUDMORE COOPERSTOWN
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ith menus featuring Naan pizzas, sushi, Vietnamese sandwiches, you might think you were in New York or LA – but no, you’re on Main Street, Cooperstown. And on Tuesday, Cinco de Mayo, Alex Webster opened up the Cooperstown branch of his Cherry Valley restaurant, Cantina de Salsa, at 149 Main. “People aren’t scared of ethnic food anymore,” said restaurateur Please See ETHNIC, A7
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD
Take her to Tokyo this Mother’s Day Japanese Cuisine
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