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Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, September 1, 2016
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Village v. Chamber Tensions Boil Over By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN
The Freeman’s Journal
Investigators examine a second-floor room in the Cooperstown Motel “elbow” on Aug. 9, the day of the fire. A probe found the fire originated there.
Motel Blaze Called Arson After Probe COOPERSTOWN
T
he fire that ravaged the Cooperstown Motel in the early-morning hours of Aug. 8 was an arson, fire investigators reported Friday, Aug. 26. Fire Chief Jim Tallman made the announcement. The D.A.’s office and state Office of Fire Control & Safety assisted in the investigation. In a related development, CVS Health, which was scheduled to buy the property Monday, Aug. 22, delayed the closing until Wednesday, Sept. 21 JUSTICE IN COUNTY: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told a Glimmerglass Festival crowd Friday, Aug. 26, that, after 220 years, the Constitution is ever more “perfect.” See story at
AllOTSEGO.com
www.
ALMOST AN IDOL: While she wasn’t chosen Oneonta Idol in competion at Foothills Performing Arts Center Tuesday, Aug. 30, Cooperstown’s Kamryn Koffer made it to the finals. NEW BRIDE: Congressional candidate Zephyr Teachout married Nick Juliusburger Saturday, Aug. 27, in Dover Plains.
O
ne word, “rejected,” was the match, and it blew up a powder keg of Village Board resentment at the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce. “I didn’t see the need for drinking at a celebration for an Olympian,” Trustee RichSternberg ard Sternberg told Chamber Executive Director Matt Hazzard at a special meeting Tuesday, Aug. 30, called to smooth out differences over Cooptoberfest. “Why is the Chamber of Commerce upset that we are trying to maintain order in the community?” Under dispute was the Village Board not “rejectJim Kevlin/The Freeman’s Journal ing,” but sending back, Cooperstown Chamber Executive Director Matt Hazzard reacts as Trustee Jim Dean, wagging a finPlease See BLOWUP, A7 ger, expresses umbrage after trustees and chamber board members were likened as “volunteers.”
Renovations For Motel Due To Start Oct. 1 Perry Ferrara at 55 Railroad Ave., which he plans to reopen as The Railroad Inn next May.
Next, Key Bank Condos, Luxury Apartments At TJs, Ferraro Says COOPERSTOWN
W
ith all village authorizations in hand, entrepreneur Perry Ferrara plans to begin renovations by Oct. 1 of the former hop barn at 55 Railroad Ave. into a 22-room hotel, he said in an interview after meeting on site with contractors Saturday morning Aug. 27. The prospective name– “If it’s available,”
Ferrara said – is The Railroad Inn, located as it is on alongside the former right-of-way of the historical Cooperstown & Susquehanna Valley Railroad. He plans to open for business by May 1, 2017. “There’s a need for high-end rooms within walking distance of Main Street,” he said. The inn is Ferrara’s project, but on parallel Please See HOTEL, A7
Brush With Death Told UM Minister: It’s Time By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN
H
e was a police officer. A substanceabuse counselor.
Then a nurse. As the Rev. Tom LeBeau tells it, he resisted the distant call of the ministry for years. “Finally, the good Lord said, ‘I can wait you out, Please See PASTOR, A3
Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s Journal
Worrying Algae Blooms In 2 Lakes Gilbert Shut, Canadarago Hit; DEC Expert To Give Local Briefing By LIBBY CUDMORE
A
cool swim in the dog days of August? Not at Gilbert Lake. The beach has been Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA closed since last week after HABS in Gilbert Lake
HABs – harmful algal blooms – were spotted on the water, prompting closure of the beach to swimmers, including the 60 expected racers for the YMCA’s annual Gilbert Lake Swim. Please See ALGAE, 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