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Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, July 23, 2020
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COVID-19 Reawakens 15 New Cases This Month, 4 Hospitalized, 3 On Ventilators By LIBBY CUDMORE & JIM KEVLIN
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fter a quiet May and June, 15 cases since the beginning of July, nine in the past week, may mean we’re heading right back where we started from. “This increase is similar to what we were seeing in the beginning,” county Public Health Director Heidi Bond said Tuesday, July 21. “If we continue to see a rise in cases, it could set us back.” Four of the new cases have been hospitalized, The Freeman’s Journal two at Bassett Hospital, one at Fox and one at A sign of summer, inAlbany Med, she said. Three of the four are on deed. For the third year ventilators. in a row, Donna Gage of Great Reflections Hair Salon, across Route 28 from Springbrook, heated up her hotdog cart Saturday, July 18, purveying Oscar Meyer franks to commuters between Oneonta and Cooperstown.
Bond Herzig Bliss Four are in the City of Oneonta, and one in the Village of Cooperstown. “It’s very concerning,” said Mayor Gary Herzig. “We hope it’s just a blip and not a trend.”
DRAMA ENDS ARSON TRAGEDY
“There’s no explanation for this,” she said, “My only thought is that it’s two weeks past July 4, people were out and about, they were gathering more than usual.” “To some extent, it’s not a big surprise,” said Herzig. “People are becoming more relaxed, visitors from outside the area are coming in.” The good news, she said, is that there’s no trend or common source, and only one of the cases was linked to travel to one of the 22 “hot spots” in the country. Herzig, one of two county representatives on the Mohawk Valley Regional Control Room, said, as of Tuesday’s meeting, the spike is not bePlease See AWAKENS, A8
Cooperstown Plans Mask Crackdown By JIM KEVLIN
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In Springfield, Leaders Feared COVID Attack
illage Attorney Martin Tillapaugh is preparing a law requiring everyone to wear a mask in Cooperstown’s business district. He expects to have a draft ready for the Village Board by its Monday, July 27, meeting, and the law in place by mid-August. Tillapaugh was moving
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or a while earlier this month, the Springfield town supervisor, Planning Board chair, tax collector and tax assessor feared they had been exposed to COVID-19. By presstime, however, the initial official had safely completed a quarantine and the rest were breathing sighs of relief. Details at
Quarantine Scofflaws May Escape Oversight BY LIBBY CUDMORE
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►derek jeter, class of ‘20 featured on Baseball Hall of Fame website ►public to be included in Sheriff’s, DA’s procedures. ►TWO WOMEN. 21, die in onecar Pittsfield crash; charges pending against driver.” ►another 10 states added to New York’s quarantine list, bringing total to 41 ►SUNY JOINS HARTWICK in cancelling fall sports season. ►20 tires punctured in overnight Oneonta spree. ►union demands troopers removed from NYC duties. ►bargain hunters head to Cooperstown, Milford for yardsale weekend.
forward at the request of Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh, who left a special Monday, July 20, meeting of Tillapaugh the village trustees after all concluded the downtown sidewalks, particularly with Please See MASKS, A8
Ian Austin/The Freeman’s Journal
John Heller’s sister-in-law, Erika Heller, seated here, berated Truitt in her victim’s statement. “Go to h---,” he told her as she left the stand.
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f you’re planning a vacation to what Governor Cuomo has increased from 22 to 41 “hot spot” states, cancel it, county Public Health Director Heidi Bond suggests.
“I had a vacation planned to North Carolina,” she said. “But it’s best not to travel right now, and I cancelled it.” With 15 new cases of COVID surfacing since July 1 – four in Oneonta; one in Cooperstown – officials are ramping up messaging about quarantining after travel. Please See SCOFFLAWS, A8
Arson-Murder Case Wins Truitt Most Jail Time In D.A.’s Tenure ‘Oneonta Forward,’ But By LIBBY CUDMORE COOPERSTOWN
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ife without parole: That was a first for District Attorney John Muehl, who’s been county prosecutor for 12 years. That’s what Gabriel Truitt received Friday, July 17, in Otsego County Court, a lifetime of punishment for setting the Dec. 29, 2018, fire
►FOR THE TEXT of the victim statements at Gabriel Truitt’s sentencing for arson and murder, SEE A4
on 5 Walling Ave., Oneonta, that took the life of former fireman John Heller. “I’ve only ever been able to charge someone with first-degree murder twice since I’ve been here,” Muehl said. “But because the murder weapon was arson, it fit
the requirements.” The first, he said, was Kevin Perry, who was charged in the murder of his parents, Timothy A. Perry, 59, and Solveig E. Perry, 52, in December 2017. However, the young Perry pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, reducing the sentence to 25-to-life. County Judge Brian Burns levied the sentence. Please See TRUITT, A9
Coop Starts More Slowly By LIBBY CUDMORE
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ooperstown’s “Main on Main,” accompanied by free parking in the Doubleday Field lot, was off to a slow start Friday, July 17. But the next day in downThe Freeman’s Journal town Oneonta, for the first Jennifer Renwick and time since the start of the Gary Brundage enjoy supPlease See DINING, A9 per at “Oneonta Forward.”
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD