The Freeman's Journal - May 23, 2014

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elcome, Mr. President!

National Baseball Hall of Fame •F

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NEW WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM Newsstand Price $1

Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, May 22, 2014

Volume 206, No. 21

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Cooperstown’s Newspaper

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May 22, 2014, Cooperstown NY

COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

OBAMA’S VISIT HoF HOME RUN First Fan Throws ‘First Pitch’ On 75th Fete

By JIM KEVLIN & LIBBY CUDMORE

Brand USA Giving Lift To Tourism

COOPERSTOWN

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eff Idelson, National Baseball Hall of Fame president, isn’t taking any credit for the First Fan’s planned Thursday, May 22, visit to 25 Main.

“As far as I understand it, with White House events, you get a little bit of notice and you go from there,” said Idelson.

The phone rang the Thursday before.

It was Ken Meifert, the Hall’s VP for development. He had just gotten a call, out of the blue, advising him President Barack Obama would be paying a visit.

“It originated out of the White House,” said Idelson. “It was the White House’s idea. And I can’t think of a better one.”

As for the Hall’s 75th anniversary season – it seems to be just a coincidence, he said, that it starts just two days after the president’s visit with the annual Hall of Fame Classic game.

News that President Obama would be visiting Cooperstown – the first sitting president since Martin Van Buren got lost in Woodside Hall’s garden after a reception in 1839 – was an AP story out of Washington Friday afternoon the 16th.

The next morning in his weekly radio address, about bringing jobs homes from overseas, the president declared, “I’ll be heading to Cooperstown, New York – home of the Baseball Hall of Fame – to talk about tourism.

“Because believe it or not, tourism is an export. And if we make it easier for more foreign visitors to visit and spend money at America’s attractions and unparalleled national parks, that helps local businesses and grows the economy for everyone,” he said, before Please See PRESIDENT, A6

JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN

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ou’ve probably never heard of Brand USA. Or the National Travel & Tourism Strategy. Or the Travel Promotion Act of 2010, which created them both.

Or that the Commerce Department and the U.S. Travel Promotion Association, which lobbies for the tourism industry, aim to attract 100 million tourists a year from other Please See TOURISM, A6

CCS WELCOMES PRESIDENT

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Art by Waylon Cassell

or portraits of President Obama

by Mrs. Righi’s first-graders and all the news first on his Thursday, May 22, to Cooperstown, visit to the National Baseball Hall of Fame GO TO THE RELAUNCHED Official White House photo

Barack Obama, 44th President Of The United States

www.

AllOTSEGO.com

THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD

A-2 COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

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elcome,

Mr. President!

THURSDAY-FRIDAY, MAY 22-23, 2014

BELIEVE IT OR NOT THIS IS

Cooperstown

tourism worKs in otsego County!

• Visitors spent more than $160 million in 2012.

• Otsego County visitors generated more than $20 million in state and local taxes in 2012.

• Tourism contributed about one-third of Otsego County’s sales tax, saving the average household $834 to maintain the same level of government revenue.

• Tourism employs more than 13 percent of Otsego County’s workforce – 3,140 people *Tourism Economics Report 2013 Provided by Empire State Development

thisisCooperstown.Com

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elcome,

THURSDAY-FRIDAY, MAY 22-23, 2014

Mr. President!

COMMEMORATIVE EDITION/A3

In ’08, Obama 1st Democrat To Win Otsego County Since LBJ

By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN

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ith a chance of protests by pro- and anti-frackers perhaps dampening President Obama’s Thursday, May 22, reception here, someone should be sure to remind him that Otsego County has voted for him – twice.

In 2008, the Democratic Obama defeated Republican John Mc-

Cain, 13,57012,026. It was the first time a Democratic presidential candidate had taken the county since LBJ in 1964.

In 2012, he did it again, defeating Republican Newt Gibson Romney, 12,11711,461.

“In 2008, he was a very appealing candidate,” said SUNY Delhi Provost John Nader, who was

mayor of Democratic Oneonta at the time. The expansion of SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College, and of the medical community, over the past Eldridge several decades, have tended to tilt the county more Democratic, he said.

Because the guest list is closely held, it is unclear if Sean Eldridge,

the Democratic candidate in the 19th District against Republican Congressman Chris Gibson, is going to be on the podium. For his part, Gibson said key votes will probably keep him on Capitol Hill Thursday.

But Richard Abbate, the county Democratic chair, hopes Eldridge is. He said the 19th District race is one of the 10 in the nation most likely to switch Democratic, although he didn’t know if that figured into Obama’s decision to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame.

For his part, the Republican county chair, Vince Casale, said he believes the GOP maintains an underlying strength locally. All that’s needed to start turning back the tide is “an effective message and getting that message to the people.”

For her part, Sheila Ross, the GOP county chair in 2008, said Obama’s message appealed to a discouraged constituency back then. “Hope and change,” she said. “They just have to decide if they got it or they didn’t.”

Pro, Con, Both Fracking Sides Plan To Protest

President’s Itinerary Under Wraps Makes It Tough To Deliver Message

By LIBBY CUDMORE

Cooperstown Village Trustee Jim Dean dusted off bumper stickers he had made up during the 2012 presidential campaign. He actually sold quite a few, he reports.

COOPERSTOWN

A WELCOME MR. PRESIDENT Edition

Jim Kevlin/

As Village Awaits President, New, Old Tributes Surfacing

By LIBBY CUDMORE COOPERSTOWN

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n all the “craziness” of the 2008 election, James Dean, saw opportunity.

“Barack Obama was the only sane voice we could find,” he said. “And he’s still the only sane voice.”

Dean, now also a Cooperstown village trustee, printed up a bumper sticker that read “I’m Sticking With the Sane, Intelligent Guy!” and launched them on his website, www. thesaneguy.com.

“I said what I thought, and I thought someone else might like them.”

He was right.

He sold hundreds of the $2 stickers through both the 2008 and 2012 elections, often 10-20 at a time. “I sent some to Massachusetts,” he said. “Ellen Weir and Melinda Hardin bought some and were surprised that they came from Cooperstown!”

He even sent some to the Obama campaign, but didn’t hear back. But when now-President Obama comes to town, he’s hoping to get a chance to hand the president one of his creations as a souvenir of his visit.

He’s not alone.

At Cooperstown Bat Company, owner Tim Haney has made up a cus-

Nicoletta’s proprietor Phil Andrews and his sister Meghan, in left photo, display a bottle of “Obamagang,” developed by Brewery Ommegang for an Obama fundraiser in 2007. At right, Cooperstown Bat proprietor Tim Haney displays a commemorative bat he hopes will be given to the visiting president Thursday, May 22.

tom souvenir for Obama’s visit – one of his red, white and blue bats, this one of a kind, emblazoned with the president’s signature and “44” in silver. “Hopefully he’ll come by the store so we can present it to him,” said Haney. “If he doesn’t come in, though, I’ll mail it to him.”

And while Obama might take home a bumper sticker and a custom baseball bat, Phil Andrews, owner of Nicoletta’s, is hoping the

President will leave something for Cooperstown to remember him by.

“In 2008, the Hoffman Bistro organized a Democratic fundraiser and Ommegang donated a bunch of limited edition bottles of ‘Obamagang’,” he said. “They went for between $40-$60.”

Labeled “A beer you can believe in,” the beer is a cross between a porter and a stout with chocolate notes.

Phil kept one bottle for himself and it’s on display at Nicoletta’s, still unopened. “You don’t drink that kind of beer, you keep it!” he said. “I hope he’ll come in and sign it.”

And whether he comes bearing gifts or leaves empty handed remains to be seen. “I’m thrilled that he’s coming to Cooperstown and supporting tourism,” said Dean. “We’re very protourism around here.”

long with the gawkers and the handshake hopefuls, it seems protesters on both sides of the fracking issue may be lining village streets when President Obama comes to town on Thursday, May 22 to speak on the importance of tourism in the nation’s economy.

Otsego 2000 has organized a rally outside the Baseball Hall of Fame starting at 11:30 a.m. and will include members of Sustainable Otsego, Middlefield Neighbors, Citizen Action and other anti-fracking groups.

“Fracking has no part of sustainability,” said Julie Huntsman, an Otsego Town Board member and co-coordinator of Elected Officials to Protect New York. “It is devastating to our wineries, our breweries, our tourism – everything that makes Upstate New York special.”

“We want to send a strong message, but we want to be respectful,” she said.

The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York will also be mounting a protest to “let president Obama know that New York lacks his leadership on energy matters and the rights and benefits being enjoyed throughout the rest of America are still being denied to NY citizens,” according to a press release sent out by Dan Fitzsimmons, coalition president.

“Everyone is planning a presence,” said Anne Marie

The Freeman’s Journal

Russ Honicker installs no-fracking signs Tuesday, May 21, along Susquehanna Avenue.

Garti, East Meredith, an activist with the Stop the Pipeline group. “We’re just trying to figure out when he’s coming. I don’t know if I’ll be with a group, but I will most definitely be trying to see our president.”

The President’s arrival and plans for his visit are being kept under wraps for now, making a formal protest more difficult to plan.

“It’s going to be somewhat spontaneous,” said Adrian Kuzminski, Fly Creek, moderator of Sustainable Otsego. “People know he’s coming, so it’s safe to anticipate that some number of people will show up to make a point that he should change his policy.”

And both Huntsman and Kuzminski also plan to be out there on the line. “Short of an opportunity to meet with him, I plan on standing with my friends and neighbors,” said Huntsman.

President Warms Up For Cooperstown Trip COOPERSTOWN

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aybe he was warming up for Cooperstown.

USA Today picked up an AP story reporting that President Obama stopped by Friendship Park in Washington D.C. Monday evening, May 19, and played a little catch with Little Leaguers practicing there.

“Shocked parents reached for their smartphones to snap a quick photo, but not all of their kids were as impressed,” according to a USA Today blogger. “Some held back, unsure of who Obama was, as their parents tried to lure them back onto the infield to join the president.”

“Daddy, let’s just play,” said one young boy, pulling his father by the hand.

Mr. President, bring your mitt.

Van Buren Visited, Village Historian Says, But Never Got Lost After Reception COOPERSTOWN

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he local lore around here is that Martin Van Buren, the only sitting president to visit Cooperstown – other than, now, Barack Obama – got lost in the garden after a party at Woodside Hall in September 1939.

Village Historian Hugh MacDougall is having none of it. “It has been mostly used to illustrate a popular story – which I believe to be false,” said MacDougall, who recently gave a talk on the episode at Woodside Hall, now a senior citizen residence.

Van Buren did visit in September 1839,

but detailed accounts in The Freeman’s Journal and contemporary journals never mentioned Woodside Hall.

They relate that Eben Morehouse, who had been forced to sell Woodside, gave a long speech in Van Buren’s honor at the Eagle Tavern, and the president then had supper at John Bowers’ Lakeland – now

owned by Bob and Peggy Poulson – then returned home to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Nelson’s home.

“Van Buren’s busy schedule in Cooperstown would simply not have left any time for a major event at Woodside Hall,” said MacDougall.

Perspectives

THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2014

A-4 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL

EDITORIAL

Welcome, President Obama! Tourism Key Part Of Varied Future

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elcome, President vidual lives. The jobs are seasonal Obama. and often minimum wage; poverty Add your visit to is apparent within a five-minute Cooperstown to your list of unique drive of our Brigadoon. And in accomplishments: You are the the Milford Central School Disfirst and only modern sitting trict, just south of Cooperstown, president to visit the Home of the so many homes have been snapped National Pastime. (In the horseup by the lucrative summer-rental and-buggy days of 1839, Martin business that families can’t find Van Buren lost his way downtown affordable year-around housing, after a reception at Woodside Hall, putting the future of the school at that Greek Revival mansion at the risk. top of Main Street.)

• Of all the descriptions of So, happily, in New York State tourism’s benefits and locally, not all heard around here, eggs are in the touryour redefinition ism basket. of it as a boon to The nanotechnolCooperstown and Otsego County welcome President Obama’s support for tourism, part of exports is fresh ogy boom, 25 years a future being planned here that includes nanotechnology, exemplified by the state’s $1 and exciting: Inin the making, is billion investment in Nano Utica, 45 miles up the road, and other cutting-edge initiatives. stead of goods sent moving west from Central School District is expand- workforce and a can-do, will-do credited with a 160 percent yearabroad, tourism the Hudson Valley ing its computer lab specifically attitude. over-year increase in visitors to is visions of the – where you visited so local students will qualify for If Seward gets it, another Rethe Hall in the week before Easter.

United States sent the SUNY Nanotechthose well-paying jobs that will publican, Rob Astorino, who is Add in the Glimmerglass abroad, bringing White Sox fan-in-chief nology College in be available just up the road.

Our running for governor – you met Festival (say hi to fan Ruth Bader revenues home in May 2012 in Albany two major communities are lucky him in Westchester County last Ginsberg for us), The Fenimore the form of visitor – along the Thruway to have pretty good mayors right week – doesn’t. He’s traveling and Farmers’ museums and the spending. to Utica and Buffalo. North of up and down the state – including Hyde Hall Mansion National HisIt immediately makes sense to Utica at SUNY/IT (for Institute of now, Cooperstown’s Jeff Katz (a Cubs fan; sorry) and Oneonta’s at The Otesaga the evening of his toric Landmark, and The Obama those of us who have witnessed Technology), a $1 billion nanoDick Miller, who pursue opportudownstate nomination – decrying Tourism Message – export visions, busloads of Japanese tourists technology complex is rising that nities.

New York’s alleged prohibitively import revenues – is thriving here! disembarking at the end of Pioexpects to generate 20,000 jobs in • high taxes.

We get it, and appreciate that you neer Street to snap photos of the the next decade.

After a year and a half of study But that’s yesterday’s news. do, too.

Sleeping Lion, odd-shaped Mount The beauty of the undertaking, During your visit Thursday, Wellington, made internationas explained recently by SUNY/IT and reflection on a half-century of Our local colleges, public SUNY stagnation in our local economy Oneonta and private Hartwick, May 22, 2014 – from here on out a ally famous by James Fenimore Interim President Robert E. Geer, – punctuated by two “economic are embracing Governor Cuomo’s historic date locally – you will no Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales. is that those jobs are part of an development summits” hosted by Start-Up NY program that will doubt get a sense of why the word • “eco-system” that includes sciour diplomatic but determined give new companies a decade of “Cooperstown” – evoking a simTourism, of course, is a boon to entists, entrepreneurs, financing, state senator, Jim Seward, R-Milno taxes – property, income, franpler time, the virtues of hard work, Cooperstown and around, despite infrastructure – and a workforce ford – county government has chise, sales, you name it – on sites self-discipline, family and comthe handful of vacant storefronts being educated one floor down, followed the best advice of one of being identified (seven locally munity, and a more pristine nature you may notice downtown, a reand working hands-on while the nation’s top industrial recruitso far) adjacent to the state’s 64 – is such an enduring national cent phenomenon in the lingering they’re at it. Impressive statistic: ers, Dick Sheehy of CH2M HILL public and 70 private institutions magnet, even as the gentlemen of national economic malaise. Still, Each Ph.D. – and there will be Consultants, and created a “single of higher learning. baseball give way to the gladiators Otsego County government has many – requires 14 support posipoint of contact” for economic • of football and basketball, even been proactive, privatizing tourtions, ranging from administrators development.

Andrew Cuomo further recoghockey in some markets. ism promotion – you will probto lab technicians to the guy or gal The newly hired individual nizes that the struggling Empire You may also see a commuably meet Jim Miles, The Otesaga pushing a mop. filling that role, Sandy Mathes of Upstate – New York City is doing nity that has held to your original general manager, who is chairing The Pacific Rim can’t steal Coxsackie, is energetically reinjust fine, thank you – needs special mantra of Hope and Change, hope the effort – with the mandate of away these jobs by dangling venting the county’s Industrial attention, and he allocated $60 of returning to a more prosperous putting “heads in beds” to increase 25-cent-an-hour workers. The Development Agency and bringmillion especially for Upstate nation and determination to think local sales- and bed-tax revenues. “eco-system” is New-York-built, ing together the pieces necessary tourism promotion. The recent through the challenges and pursue But tourism, of course, has its New-York-rooted and, thus, not for success – “shovel ready” sites, I♥NY ad, featuring Hall of Fame opportunities with the good of the downsides, not in a macro sense, transferable. sufficient investment, a trained soon-to-be inductee Joe Torre, is whole in mind. but in how it plays out in indiLocally, our Cooperstown LETTERS TO THE PRESIDENT

Opinions Range From Economic Development, To Education, To Fracking

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James C. Kevlin Editor & Publisher

Mary Joan Kevlin Associate Publisher

Tara Barnwell Advertising Director

Thom Rhodes • Susan Straub Area Advertising Consultants Libby Cudmore Reporter Kathleen Peters Graphics

Ian Austin Photographer

Stephenie Walker Production Coordinator

in the age of Obama.

Respectfully yours in all that is America, SAM GOODYEAR Binghamton • WELCOME! Enjoy our beautiful home, with its wide open spaces, clean water and air to breathe.

Someone asked me why I moved back here after traveling the world and living in other places. My dad was standing nearby and said, “because she likes it here.”

A man of a few words.

I came back here to have a family and a quiet life

and, no matter where I traveled, when I returned to the Cooperstown area I was shocked by its natural beauty.

I voted for you, President Obama. But I fear Big Oil and Gas has won over reason.

I believe you are very smart, and think things over carefully. Please look at the science carefully regarding the hydraulic fracturing method of getting natural gas. Most scientists believe it has a negative impact on environment and people who live nearby.

Look around you and

please, make an educated decision. Enjoy.

ELLEN WHITE WEIR Cooperstown • Dear Mr. Obama, Thanks for visiting the tiny Village of Cooperstown! But for the prescience of people who believed in the value of a sport new to the U.S., this would still be a backwater in spite of its situation as the Headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay. But we stand today for people who dare to dream and build our dreams into reality.

And but for the vigilance

of a majority of our citizens, this might be home to some of the horror stories that accompany an “all of the above” energy strategy which embraces petroleum development. As stewards of this precious land, we have done due diligence with respect to viable energy sources, and as a community have decided that the time for moving on to renewable energy is now, not later. If emerging storms, fires and rising seas have not convinced you of this imperative, then you might benefit from our Please See LETTERS, A7

For 206 Years

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Cooperstown’s Newspaper

tion of Independence. We have finally made good on our promise.”

It was gratifying to be thus quoted in a front-page article in the Washington Post the next day. It is equally gratifying to reiterate my words in these pages five years later. I stand firmly by my sentiments: The biggest step since the Declaration of Independence. We have finally made good on our promise.

It is a privilege to be alive

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Mr. President: On the morning of Jan. 20, 2009, I dressed as John Adams, whom I have portrayed on stage, screen, and television for close to 20 years, to attend your Inauguration along with millions of fellow citizens on the Mall.

A reporter spotted me in my unusual attire and asked for a brief interview. I stated that your accession to the presidency was the “… biggest step since the Declara-

Tom Heitz Consultant

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER FOR Otsego County • Town of Cherry Valley • Town of Middlefield Cooperstown Central School District Subscriptions Rates: Otsego County, $48 a year. All other areas, $65 a year.

First Class Subscription, $130 a year.

Published Thursdays by Iron String Press, Inc. 21 Railroad Ave., Cooperstown NY 13326 Telephone: (607) 547-6103. Fax: (607) 547-6080.

E-mail: info@allotsego.com • www.allotsego.com Contents © Iron String Press, Inc. Periodicals postage paid at USPS Cooperstown 40 Main St., Cooperstown NY 13326-9598 USPS Permit Number 018-449 Postmaster Send Address Changes To: Box 890, Cooperstown NY 13326 _____________ Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of Judge Cooper is in The Fenimore Art Museum

Proclamations Welcome President To Otsego County

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HEREAS, Barack Obama, President of the United States, is the first sitting President to visit Cooperstown, New York since Martin Van Buren in 1839, and, WHEREAS, the President has stated that the purpose of his visit is to talk about the importance of tourism, of which Cooperstown is an iconic destination as home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Fenimore Art Museum, The Farmers’ Museum and beautiful Otsego Lake, and, WHEREAS, residents of Cooperstown have been buzzing with excitement since the visit was announced during the President’s Saturday radio address, THEREFORE, it is with great pleasure that I, on behalf of the Board of Trustees and the citizens of Cooperstown, warmly welcome President Obama to the Village of Cooperstown.

JEFF KATZ, Mayor Village of Cooperstown

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HEREAS, Otsego County is located in the heart of central New York State, nestled in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains and at the headwaters of the Susquehanna River; and WHEREAS, Otsego County was the childhood home of novelist James Fenimore Cooper, creator of a uniquely American form of literature, and whose novel “The Deerslayer” depicts frontier life along the shores of Otsego Lake; and WHEREAS, Otsego County is home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, where each year thousands of baseball enthusiasts make the pilgrimage to explore the hallowed halls where the stars of America’s favorite pastime are enshrined; and WHEREAS, Otsego County is home to other such notable cultural attractions as the world class Glimmerglass Opera,

the Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum; and WHEREAS, in recognition of the 75th anniversary of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the President of the United States will be visiting Cooperstown to promote the tourism industry as an engine for economic growth and as a wellspring of additional job opportunities for the Leatherstocking Region; and WHEREAS, President Barack Obama is the first sitting President to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, it is with great honor that the Otsego County Board of Representatives welcomes President Barack H. Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America, to Otsego County on this 22nd day of May, 2014.

KATHLEEN CLARK, Chair

Otsego County Board of Representatives

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elcome,

THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2014

Mr. President!

COMMEMORATIVE EDITION/A5

BOUND VOLUMES Compiled by Tom Heitz with resources courtesy of The New York State Historical Association Library

175 YEARS AGO

The action brought by Mr. Fenimore Cooper against Andrew M. Barber, Editor of the Otsego Republican was decided on Wednesday last at Fonda, Montgomery County, by a verdict of $400 damages in favor of the plaintiff.

The complaint was for a libel copied, with some editorial remarks, from the Chenango Telegraph, in connection with a controversy for the possession of the Three-Mile Point, on the west shore of Otsego Lake. There was no justification made, but the defense set up at the trial, was a pretense that Mr. Barber had intended to defend Mr. Cooper from the imputations of the Editor of The Telegraph, and not to adopt them. Judge Willard, we learn, presided with great dignity and impartiality. He laid down a doctrine that all should understand, viz: that no resolution of any body of men can justify a libel. The truth of injurious allegations must be shown, and not the fact that other persons have advanced them. Mr. Cooper appeared in his own case, supported by his relative, Richard Cooper, Esq. A suit is pending against Mr. Pellett, the Editor of the Chenango Telegraph, for the same libel.

May 20, 1839

150 YEARS AGO

Important War News – It will be seen after seven days hard fighting, Gen Grant gained a decided – but by no means decisive – victory over Gen. Lee on May 12th. From that date, Lee took up a strong position near the scene of his recent defeat, and there he awaits Grant’s expected assault.

Gen. Grant has been delayed by bad roads and the worn out condition of his army, which has been largely reinforced.

Lee, it is reported, is also receiving reinforcements. Whatever has been won by our forces during this campaign in Virginia is due to the indomitable courage and hard fighting of our brave soldiers. The losses on each side are probably about equal and the aggregate cannot be much short of 100,000.

May 20, 1864

125 YEARS AGO

Excursion –The D. & H. Company is to run an excursion train from Sidney to Albany on Thursday, May 30, which is a holiday, and on that day Barnum’s great circus exhibits at Albany. Leave Sidney at 6:30 a.m.; arrive at Albany at 11 a.m., and leave there on return at 6 p.m. Fare for the round trip at all points as far east as Schenevus, $1.75; Worcester and points east to Schoharie Junction $1.50. A special train will leave Cooperstown at 7 o’clock a.m. to connect with the above at a reduced rate for the round trip.

Pensions – After years of effort by different attorneys,

200 YEARS AGO

50 YEARS AGO

The Wilson E. McGown House was moved from 25 Chestnut Street to its new site back of the First Presbyterian Church on Church Street where it will become an integral part of the church’s new education center. With nearly 1,000 people looking on from curbside along the route, the house was transported in two sections on big rubber-tired dollies to Church Street in a little over one hour by L.D. May 25, 1814 Dexheimer and Son, Inc. of Guilford.

Capt. A. Davidson has finally succeeded in obtaining for May 27, 1964 Mrs. Eliza Eggleston of this village a widow’s pension of $12 a month with arrearages amounting to $2,000. She is now an invalid, and it is feared will not long live to enjoy Otsego County representatives voted in favor of a resoluher good fortune. Tabor Card of Hartwick has received a tion to purchase more than six acres of land at $9,000 or pension of nearly $1,300, with eight dollars per month durless per acre near the Meadows where a new Otsego County ing life. jail will be constructed. Otsego County has been under May 24, 1889 pressure to build a new jail to relieve overcrowding in a structure built in the 1840s in the village.

May 24, 1989 In Our Town – At a meeting of the members of the Sunset League held at the office of C.B. Johnson on Wednesday evening it was voted to levy a tax of 25 cents on each Local historian Tom Heitz recently stumbled across member of the various teams and each member should pay previously unnoticed references and articles describing 10 cents each week toward the support of the organization. suffrage activist Susan B. Anthony’s visit to Cooperstown The money collected will be used to repair the bleachers, in early February, 1855. Heitz, who was researching entries grandstand, players’ benches, scorers’ stand, club house for his history column Bound Volumes in The Freeman’s and to defray the expense of a man to keep up the grounds Journal at the NYSHA Library said Anthony scholars at and mow the grass. The city water will be turned on and the Rutgers University confirmed that the information was preclubhouse will be open to the members who wish to make viously undocumented. (Ed. note: The Freeman’s Journal use of it. (Ed. Note: The ball field was located on the site of incorrectly listed the year of Anthony’s visit in their 2004 the present Cooperstown Elementary School.) story as 1885 rather than 1855) May 20, 1914 May 21, 2004

25 YEARS AGO

100 YEARS AGO

75 YEARS AGO

A photo reproduction of a letter from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dated April 19, 1939, appeared on the front page of The Freeman’s Journal. The text reads: “It is most fitting that the history of our perennially popular sport should be immortalized in the National Baseball Museum at Cooperstown where the game originated and where the first diamond was devised a hundred years ago. Baseball has become, through the years, not only a great national sport, but also the symbol of America as the melting pot. The play-

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   

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ers embrace all nations and national origins and the fans, equally cosmopolitan, make only one demand of them: Can they play the game?” (Ed. Note: In 1939, there were no African-Americans playing in the white-only professional major leagues; integration finally came in 1947 when Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers) May 24, 1939

10 YEARS AGO

TODAY!

President Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, made history in Cooperstown Thursday, May 22, by becoming the first sitting president in modern history to visit the Birthplace of Baseball. He delivered an message on the economic importance of tourism as the 75th anniversary season of the National Baseball Hall of Fame was due to begin Saturday, May 24, with the annual Hall of Fame Classic.

May 22, 2014

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elcome,

A-6 COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

Mr. President!

THURSDAY-FRIDAY, MAY 22-23, 2014

FDR’s Letter On First Induction Foreshadowed Jackie Robinson

By TOM HEITZ COOPERSTOWN

C

ooperstown promoters of the 1939 Centennial of Baseball got a further boost when a letter signed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt arrived in Cooperstown in late April.

Roosevelt’s letter endorsed the baseball museum and characterized baseball’s place in American life and culture as “not only a great national sport, but also the symbol of America as the melting pot.” Referring to baseball’s emerging international scope, the President noted that baseball “players embrace all nations and national origins, and the fans, equally cosmopolitan, make only one demand of them: Can they play the game?”

That question, however, was not being asked of professional African-American athletes in 1939, at least not by the owners of major league teams. The segregation of African-American athletes was then universal at the major league and professional level, and nearly

so throughout the amateur ranks. The breaking of baseball’s “color barrier” was yet nearly a decade in the future, when, after WWII, Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The question of racial segregation in America had been highlighted in 1936 when Jesse Owens singlehandedly repudiated Adolf Hitler’s Aryan master race and racial purity doctrines by outrunning and outjumping his competitors.

For the first time, baseball had played a pivotal part in the 1936 Olympics, as the closing event in a stadium packed with more than a 100,000 spectators, including the Fuhrer himself. But, there was no Jesse Owens of baseball in 1936 and Jackie Robinson was then a young boy. In 1939, the so-called American melting pot was more like a stew than a soup. White versus black team baseball was but another form of segregation.

In the decades of racial segregation following the Civil War the intersection of white-only with AfricanAmerican baseball was a commonly accepted and

profitable racial accommodation in Cooperstown and elsewhere in Central New York as well as other northeastern states. Allwhite teams played all-black teams. Such athletic confrontations between the races drew record crowds here in Cooperstown in the 1890s at the Old Fairgrounds ball park sited where the Bassett Health Center now stands.

In the 1930s, all-white amateur teams representing Cooperstown played teams in the Mohawk Valley that were all-black or integrated with one or two players of color. However, in 1939, President Roosevelt and the baseball museum were seemingly oblivious to the segregation of AfricanAmerican ballplayers and they played no role in the Centennial celebration.

What transpired in baseball in the decades President Roosevelt’s letter of congratulations, at left, to the organizers of the first induction, 75 years ago this year, was greeted with enthusiasm locally.

Announcement Of Obama Visit Surprise To All, Even President’s Willing Hosts At Hall Of Fame PRESIDENT/From A1 on to “first-class infrastructure.”

What followed was a lesson in how the post-9/11 world works at the highest level.

No one is authorized to say anything. Information is shared on a need-to-know basis, and people who get it are asked to keep it to themselves.

Best source: Chatter around the cash register at Price Chopper, where folks were talking over the weekend about running into short-haired, suited men with dark glasses who just must have been secret service.

Jeff Idelson Governor Cuomo’s office wouldn’t say if he was coming, nor would the offices of U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. Local invitations began arriving Monday evening, to top local officials like Mayor Jeff Katz and county Rep. Kathy Clark, county board chair.

White House liaisons were reportedly meeting with key executives at the village’s main institutions, Bassett Hospital in particular. The Clark Sports Center announced it would be

of tourism will also include a tour of Main Street. “Whether you like him or not, it’s still cool to meet the most important person in the world,” said Brian Paterno of Paterno Bros.

Sports. “He’s a baseball fan, so what’s better than the stores on Main Street. He could come in here, we could talk about baseball. He seems really down to earth.”

Over at Crazy Cupz, JenThe Freeman’s Journal nifer Stalzer was trying to figure The Hall of Fame is preparing to host a out a patriotic frozen yogurt sitting president. blend – she’s thinking vanilla closed. with strawberries and blueberries “We don’t even know what it is – just in case the Commander-in-Chief yet,” said Jim Donley, walking down gets hungry. “I feel like I’m a hundred Main Street Tuesday afternoon. “All feet from the President,” she said. “I we know is that the Hall of Fame is wouldn’t complain if he wanted some closed. It’s almost like it’s nothing.” fro-yo!”

“I heard he isn’t going to be walkBack at the Hall of Fame, everyone ing around, which is unfortunate,” said was seeking to be helpful in any way Rick Turner at Seventh Inning Stretch. requested. “Our job as a host is to “I’d like to meet him, but I doubt it’ll make is as successful as they’d like it happen.” to be,” said Idelson.

What was heard was an echo of And everyone’s savoring what may President Obama’s 2008 message be a short-term connection to the – hope. “I hope I get to shake his nation’s corridors of power, he added. hand,” said Steve Schroder. “I plan on “I certainly have enjoyed the experibeing near the Hall of Fame.” ence so far, as has our staff. It’s a once But excitement remains high and in a lifetime experience to work with shop owners are hopeful that his talk the White House.”

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since 1939 with regard to baseball’s inclusion of nonwhite athletes is a remarkable transformation. Since Jackie Robinson, numerous African-Americans and athletes of other ethnic backgrounds have played on baseball’s professional and amateur teams with their white brothers and sisters.

In the major leagues, many African-Americans have followed Jackie Robinson into the Hall of Fame gallery. Hank Aaron has recently written: “Jackie Robinson was the one who made it possible – for me, and for countless African American ballplayers ever since. And, in doing so, he literally changed the face of American sports and American society.”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a president for his day, on the eve of WW II, expressing his best wishes for Cooperstown and its celebration of the National Pastime. How ironic, but how fitting is it, that our current President, Barack Obama, has come to Cooperstown 75 years later?

Brand USA’s Campaign May Have Inspired Visit TOURISM/From A1 lands by 2020.

Each tourist spends an average of $4,500 in the U.S., meaning that goal could bring almost a half-billion a year into this country from overseas, priming the U.S. economy and helping the balance of trade.

Deb Taylor, tourism director at Cooperstown/Otsego County Tourism, the privatized county tourism-promotion effort, heard much talk about these strategies at a summit the state’s I♥NY program hosted at the Museum of Natural History in New York City.

“A lot of the break-outs focused on international marketing,” she said. “Unlike other countries, we’ve never had a national tourism promotion program.”

But she had no inkling that within a few days President Obama would be down the street from her office at Main and Chestnut promoting those very ideas. “It’s awesome,” said

Taylor. “It’s so exciting for Cooperstown.”

President Obama announced the national strategy two years ago at another tourism powerhouse: Disney World in Orlando, Fla., said Cathy Keefe, Travel Promotion Association media relations manager. “He’s continued to recognize that travel tourism is really an economic powerhouse,” she said.

And tourism has performed: It’s the third-fastest-growing industry in the nation, she said.

The Promotion Association, as part of the strategy, also advocates reducing hurdles to tourism; for instance, the average waits for visas from Chile and Brazil have been reduced from 100 days to a handful.

“It’s so cool that a standing president is taking an interest in Cooperstown,” said Deb Taylor, “but also the tourism industry. We’ve been under-appreciated.”

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elcome,

THURSDAY-FRIDAY, MAY 22-23, 2014

Mr. President!

COMMEMORATIVE EDITION/A7

Keep Fracking From New York State’s ‘Walden Pond’ Dear President Obama, I thought I would tell you about James Fenimore Cooper (a forebear of mine) and his connection with our village and Otsego Lake.

Because of him, this area would be a terrible place to allow hydrofracking.

It was in this region, with its woods and lake shore, where as a child he developed his devotion to nature, which he later wrote about. Before his novels began appearing, in 1823, most Americans thought of nature as an obstacle,

even a dangerous one, to be overcome by hard work and courage.

Largely as a result of his writings, Americans began perceiving nature as we do today: as a thing to be conserved and cherished.

Because his novels were so widely published, they brought to people in Europe (and even some in the United States) their first view in literature of the American wilderness. He was a major source of American attitudes toward conservation and the environment. Though environmental-

James Fenimore Cooper

ism is a relatively modern concept, he grasped its basic concept: to destroy nature is to destroy that which sustains us.

One of the best-known scenes in “The Pioneers” (1823) is the massacre by the villagers of thousands of passenger pigeons flying overhead. Natty Bumppo, the frontiersman who is the hero of the book, deplored this invasion of nature; he just shot one bird — enough to supply his needs. Through his writings (decades before Thoreau), Cooper broadcast these ideas to

the rest of the world. Otsego Lake, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, can be regarded as the Walden Pond of New York State.

It would be ironic indeed if this Lake and surrounding landscape — so central to our ideas about nature — were put at risk by hydrofracking and the pollution that very likely accompanies it. Please do not let this happen!

Sincerely yours, HENRY S.F. COOPER, JR. Cooperstown

LETTERS TO THE PRESIDENT

‘Build Energy Infrastructure For Your Grandchildren And Ours’ LETTERS/From A4 research.

For natural gas to be considered a “bridge fuel”, infrastructure has to be built on both sides of the chasm to be crossed. Federal subsidies for petroleum development have not resulted in new infrastructure for renewable resources such as solar, wind, tidal or other hydroenergy. Fossil fuel subsidies constitute a “bridge to nowhere”.

Therefore, as a scientist and engaged citizen, I encourage you to hear from us in the heartland: Build energy infrastructure for your grandchildren and ours, and turn down support for fossil fuels.

Thank you.

RONALD E. BISHOP, Ph.D. Cooperstown • President Obama, My main question is will you please do everything in your power to carry out your original campaign promises?

So many people voted you into office trusting on your promises of change. I took note that you also said you couldn’t do it alone, and I know you have had a very tough time getting bi-partisan support, and the public absolutely needs to be more active.

I am concerned about the treatment of peaceful protesters around the country, the militarization of the police, (the end of posse comitatus), wholesale surveillance of citizens, collateral deaths from drone bombs, corporate subsidies, bank bailouts – but no people bailouts (and by the way, corporations are NOT people).

We need campaign finance reform (equalization), alternative energy, increased diplomatic efforts to solve differences rather than ongoing wars. And please stop the XL Pipeline and fracking!

Thank you, SANDY PEEVERS Cooperstown • Dear Mr. President, Thank you for visiting our wonderful region to help promote tourism. I moved to Upstate New York four years ago after visiting Cooperstown. After living here, I am more in love than ever with this special place. The only reason I would ever leave would be if hydraulic fracking came.

The headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay start in Otsego Lake and provide clean water to millions of Americans from New York to Maryland. Due to the Halliburton loophole, companies do not have to disclose the toxic chemicals involved in fracking and are exempt from the Clean Air and Clean Water acts.

Fracking has devastated once beautiful rural Pennsylvania a short drive from here. Water must still be delivered every day to the residents of Dimock because their own well water is unsafe. No one deserves to live that way.

If fracking comes to New York, tourists will flee and businesses that depend on tourism, clean air, and clean water will leave.

Ommegang Brewery, which strongly opposes fracking, has created 100 local jobs and relies on clean water to make world class beer.

For Ommegang, opposing fracking is just good business.

For me, it means protecting my family’s health and quality of life.

SHIRLEY SCHUE Cherry Valley

• Dear Mr. President, Do you fully understand that you are riding a dying horse?

Western Civilization is in a death spiral. We have inherited a 10,000-year-old cultural model that has repeatedly failed: Rome, Babylon, etc. We cannot see that history is repeating itself, over and over on an increasingly grander scale.

The philosophies that direct our lives are inadequate and misguided. We must live within the Natural Laws of this World.

We cannot keep using our super intelligence to funnel the limited resources of this planet into shortterm pleasure for humans.

Consider the following quote from Dr. Einstein: “A problem can not be solved by the consciousness that created it”. In the same way that apple trees make apples, certain kinds of consciousness inherently create certain kinds of problems. The problems we face can only be solved by a radical change in consciousness.

In conclusion Mr. President, as your elder, I must give you a task of epic proportions. You must now take your life’s journey to the next level, leading the entire world to a new consciousness. I can not exactly define what this means, but when you make this commitment you will find assistance and support flowing to you from many remarkable sources.

Peace and Blessings, BILL RECORD Cultural Engineer aka “Medicine Bear” • Dear Mr. President: Thank you for visiting our beautiful Cooperstown area. The Hall of Fame is just one of the many tourist attractions this community has to offer.

One mile south of Cooperstown is Beaver Meadow Road. This road is three miles long with approximately 40 residences. This road is also the primary site for well pads and hydraulic fracturing.

The fracturing will occur 250 feet from many of our homes.

The truck traffic, noise and light pollution will be horribly detrimental to our lives. The water pollution, we all have well water, will destroy all that the families on this road have worked to achieve.

I would like to invite you to visit my home and tour Beaver Meadow Road. I truly believe if you see for yourself what the gas companies plan for residential communities, such as this one, you will understand that hydraulic fracturing in NOT appropriate in

residential neighborhoods.

Thanking you in advance for any consideration you may give my letter.

Sincerely yours, STELLA DeCESARE-KENNY Cooperstown • Dear President Obama, You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.

You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred.

You cannot help the poor by discouraging the rich.

You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.

You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.

You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man’s initiative and independence.

You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.

Respectfully, WILLIAM W. DORNBURGH Greenville, R.I. (formerly of Cooperstown) • Dear President Obama and family, Hi! My name is Lindsey Trosset and I am 10 years old. I heard you where coming to Cooperstown this week, so I have a few questions for you.

I was wondering if you like baseball? In my opinion I like baseball and love the Boston Red Sox because my family is from there. What baseball team do you like? Another question is, are you left handed? If so, we have something in common, I am a leftie too.

It would be nice if you could come to the Cooperstown Elementary School and tell us how much education you need and how important being president is, also, what you do every day.

President Obama, I hope you enjoy Cooperstown and enjoy the Baseball Hall of Fame on Main Street.

Sincerely, LINDSEY TROSSET Cooperstown (Lindsey is in Mrs. Craig’s fifthgrade class.)

• Mr. President, I have proudly taken my daughters with me to cast a vote in your favor on the two occasions you ran for the highest office in the land. As a proud father of daughters yourself, I would imagine you want the best future possible for them. I would ask that you cast a

LEADERSHIP PERSPECTIVES

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resident Obama’s visit to Cooperstown is a symbolic statement of his recognition of the wide range of priority issues that our nation’s leader must balance.

In the midst of the international and domestic challenges the American people confront, the President has found time to address a “core issue,” our economy, and the fact that its stagnancy contributes to our inability to take on broader issues.

Locally, that means that his visit to Cooperstown and the Hall of Fame is recognition of our regional tourism economy as a critical component of our future. This is an important reminder that just not Cooperstown benefits, but so do we all from its centrality in the tourism sector of our economy.

Thank you Mr. President, and thank you Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame.

RICHARD P. MILLER JR Mayor City of Oneonta

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or the next two years, the growth of the economy is the number one issue. There’s lots to that – green jobs, research and development, high tech, infrastructure repair, increase in minimum wage – but they all are part of leading the country to a better economic future.

JEFF KATZ Mayor Village of Cooperstown vote for their future as well as all future generations. There is a long list of environmental ills facing us due to our continued reliance on fossil fuels.

Additionally, the ongoing need to protect fossil fuel energy sources is a drain on our country.

Are we to go from the nation that was long a beacon of hope, to the nation that extracts the last bit of fossil fuel to keep a light on? Fossil fuel extraction does and will continue to destroy the fabric of small towns and villages across America – many of those villages just as beautiful as the one you visit today, with citizens every bit as proud and involved as the ones you see here.

Locally, hydrofracking is an issue that has divided our communities, taken up months of our time and caused many of us to question the sanity of risking our beautiful area’s water, air and land.

Although you may be told by many industry insiders that the process is safe, you only have to look at their long history of despoiling every area they touch.

From the acid rains and acid runoff of coal mines, to the Exxon Valdez, to the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, fossil-fuel energy has continuously contaminated our water, air and land. The time has come to stop this. We can no longer wait, nor can our children.

Many of those with vested interests in the fossil fuel industry will say we can’t move to renewable energy. Many of us know we can.

Yes we can, Mr. President. It is time for our leaders to take us on a path to renewable energy.

Mr. President, your legacy is already assured. Please add to that legacy by being the leader with the courage and foresight to lead our country on that path.

Thank you, BOB EKLUND Oneonta • Dear Mr. President, Thank you for your visit to Cooperstown. Once you have been here, it is easy to understand why so many of us who call this place home, and the tourists who visit, hold a deep love for its grandeur and majesty.

The sparkling waters Otsego Lake and the constant flow of the Susquehanna River, along with the rolling green hills and forests both inspire and humble us.

We feel a deep responsibility to be good stewards to this part of creation and also to hold in trust the important history of our area through support of our museums and landmarks.

Our area is presently in the courts trying to uphold our constitutional right to Home Rule. These

hills, forests, rivers and lakes are not just pictures in our minds, but they shape our souls and have shaped those who have embraced them for centuries. We believe they are a gift to be passed on to the generations that will follow.

We have had to make difficult choices as to if we allow industries into our area that have the potential to harm our way of life, our health, and the health of this land we have the duty to protect.

We believe in a healthy sustainable way of life and whenever possible will follow that path even in the face of other paths that seem to seek easy short-term answers to very difficult problems.

We are honored by your visit.

We hope that our community’s children will be able to see you and be inspired by your visit.

They will all long remember this special day that they saw President Obama.

Best wishes for a wonderful visit here in our beautiful Cooperstown New York area.

Respectfully yours, HOLLY, ZACHARY, NICHOLAS, SAMANTHA FANION Middlefield • President Obama.

Thinking people in New York State want renewable energy NOW. A future based on hydrocarbons is “So Yesterday”! Let’s forget the “transition” talk and move NOW to support renewable energy.

We don’t support fracking in New York and we don’t want tar from Alberta to flow into the country. Both are only money makers for oil companies - and a dead end for the climate and humanity.

We do want to support you to lead the way for more renewable energy. The future is NOW. DAVID HUTCHISON Professor Emeritus in Geology Hartwick College Oneonta • Dear President Obama, We represent Middlefield Neighbors, a group formed to educate and inform our town (which includes part of Cooperstown) about fracking and gas leases. The survey we conducted found that 84 percent of our residents are opposed to drilling, and only 6 percent for it.

The overwhelming opposition here to fracking is because, despite the rosy picture the gas industry paints, we know that families like ours – like yours – just over the border in Pennsylvania are being poisoned through air and water contamination from fracking. We, the people you represent, are battling the industry and their infinitely wealthy PR machine while you and Governor Cuomo play politics with the health of your constituents.

We challenge you to bring your family to one of the many gaslands across the nation. See for yourself what fracking and drilling are really like to “live” with.

President Obama, would you allow drilling next to your children’s school? Or a drilling operation next to your home?

Is it OK for Malia and Sasha to breathe VOCs, benzene and other toxic emissions? Silica dust when they’re out on the playground?

Would you worry about the radon and radioactive material that Please See LETTERS, A8

A-8 COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

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elcome,

Mr. President!

THURSDAY-FRIDAY, MAY 22-23, 2014

Preserve Our Constitutional Freedoms, Civil Liberties Mr. President, We cannot be too thankful for the guarantees of freedom we have here in America that are written in stone, rules that even Presidents and Generals have to abide by: namely, the provisions of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Unfortunately, Barack Obama is undermining this great guarantee of liberty, and removing the distinction that once existed between our own form of government and the forms of government

that have tyrannized their citizens in different places all over the world, countries where freedom has been sacrificed for security, and where too much power and too much trust was given to people who abused it.

As an attorney practicing in Cooperstown, I am keenly aware of the devastating blow that has been dealt to our civil liberties under the Obama Administration.

Here is one huge and disturbing example: Congress included

legislation in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 which gives the executive branch the power to detain American citizens indefinitely, without evidence, without giving the accused a lawyer, and without charges. In other words, this law gives the President the power to take any one of us, lock us away forever and deny us legal counsel, without even having to prove we did anything wrong.

Barack Obama swore to uphold the Constitution at his historic

inauguration, and was obligated thereby not to sign this draconian, unconstitutional legislation into law, yet he did. This law is a direct attack on our rights under the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments of the Constitution, which guarantee us the right to face our accusers, to have legal representation when accused of a crime, to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, to be guaranteed a speedy trial, a jury of our peers, and proof of our guilt beyond a

reasonable doubt.

This law’s defenders carry the usual banner- fear of terrorism- the same excuse that has been used to justify the erosion of so many of our freedoms which have been curtailed since September 2001.

The question remains- if we give up our freedoms in order to protect them, haven’t we handed the terrorists everything they could ask for?

CHRISTOPHER HAMMOND Cooperstown

LETTERS TO THE PRESIDENT

‘Strengthen The Partnership Between Nonprofits, Government’ LETTERS/From A8 comes out of the shale? Can you imagine you and Michelle living with water buffaloes and methane monitors when your well goes bad from fracking? Would you worry when your family gets severe nosebleeds and mysterious rashes?

What about Sunny or Bo licking their paws after walking through the toxic flowback being spread on roads for “dust control”?

Mr. President, the bottom line is this: if it isn’t OK for your family, it isn’t OK for ours.

Sincerely, KELLY BRANIGAN, KIM JASTREMSKI and the Middlefield Neighbors • Dear President Obama, Two years ago, the first Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown wrote to you expressing our concern regarding the possibility of a preemptive attack on Iran to destroy its nuclear weapons program.

We urged you to pursue, instead, increased diplomatic pressure on Iran to participate in direct, unconditional negotiations leading to a peaceful and equitable resolution of the crisis. In addition, we called for efforts to promote social engagement to bridge the divide of suspicion and fear that existed between Iran and its neighbors.

Since then, the threat of imminent war has receded due to strong international efforts under your leadership to negotiate a temporary halt in Iran’s production of weapons grade uranium. For this, we thank you, Mr. President, and we urge you to stay the course.

We hope that with a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue, the Iranian and American people will be able to put the past behind us and once again benefit from friendly relations based on mutual respect and understanding.

Sincerely, THE SESSION First Presbyterian Church Cooperstown • Mr. President, Welcome to Cooperstown!

We’re delighted you’ve chosen to visit us!

We hope that you’ve come here to hear from us about our views on important issues. The most serious challenge facing all of us today is the replacement of

LEADERSHIP PERSPECTIVES

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he most important issue of our time is increasing economic and social inequality. I would urge the president to stimulate the economy so that we have an abundance of jobs at good wages.

NANCY KLENIEWSKI President SUNY Oneonta fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy. Although your energy policy advocates natural gas as a transition fuel, our communities, among hundreds in Upstate New York, have concluded otherwise.

We have voted, after extensive research and discussion, to ban further natural gas development.

And here’s why: Overwhelming evidence shows that continued reliance on fossil fuels, including natural gas, threatens our climate, the environment, public health, the economy, political accountability and national security. Fossil fuel emissions are driving global warming and climate change to catastrophic levels.

Toxins from fossil fuel production threaten air, water and public health. A dead-end fossil fuels industry stifles a future renewable energy economy. That same industry has corrupted the political process through campaign funding and powerful lobbying. As a result, successive administrations, including yours, have pursued an aggressive and risky foreign policy aimed at securing fossil fuel resources and markets at home and abroad, whatever the cost, endangering our national security.

Your role is critical. We hope you will soon announce a new national energy policy in the United States, similar to that pioneered

by Germany, one committed to the immediate replacement of fossil fuels by renewable resources.

Nothing less is required.

Respectfully, ADRIAN KUZMINSKI Moderator Sustainable Otsego • Thank you for coming to

Cooperstown, Mr. President! All of us want you to know that we LOVE this part of the country and NOW, you can see why! Historic landscapes, rural character and characters, headwaters of the mighty Susquehanna and views, views, VIEWS that are as big as the sky! And, how about the clean air and our waters!

And the TREES and HILLS and BIRDS. We are so very fortunate to live and work and have visitors, like you, here! Remember us all as you help to decide our future and why we are unwilling to silently allow heavy industry and the corporate people’s plans to sacrifice US for their benefits.

Whenever I write to you and many politicians about issues that impact this wonderful neighborhood, I remind you to come see for yourselves our place in the scheme of things. You did and I hope you listened and saw and learned in your brief visit that this place is very special and we choose to be here and will do what we can to keep it special and welcoming for your next visit.

We have a sense of place here that many communities envy and admire. Not everything is perfect, but pretty close. Come to watch the annual Halloween Parade!

GREAT! See you next time.

LYNN MARSH from the thriving Historic Hamlet of Roseboom • Dear President Obama, We are glad that you are visiting Cooperstown to promote tourism in Upstate New York. While you are doing this admirable deed, we hope that you will be able to appreciate the pristine beauty of the hills and unspoiled lakes. Furthermore, you will be thankful to drink the uncontaminated water from the tap as well as breathe the fresh air.

However, a number of selfish and self-centered people who under the pretense of helping to create jobs and the economy are intending to make a quick buck by forfeiting nature’s free gift of clean air and uncontaminated water. Nature is there to meet human need but not human greed.

Keep in mind the story of King Midas, who wanted to turn everything into gold and was successful in turning drinking water, food and

Tourism Keeps Small-Business Dream Alive Thank you, Mr. President, for taking the time to visit Cooperstown to discuss the economics of tourism and to bring recognition to one of our nation’s treasures and our local treasure, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, as it celebrates its 75th Anniversary.

Cooperstown is a great representation of the backbone of America – a community and region made up of small businesses leaders and an infectious entrepreneurial spirit. Many of these small businesses are a part of and necessary to the tourism economy of our region and state.

Most small businesses in our area provide the services and products to support our residents as well. As you know, they have experienced the changes, closings, the struggles, still as a result of a lagging economy.

The Cooperstown region in a way takes a double hit, first the community suffers through

its own job loss and reduction in spending by its own local residents; and secondly, by the loss in visitor numbers it heavily depends on as the economic downturn reduced the number of Americans able to afford to travel over the last six years.

So, as we celebrate our state’s tourism economy and the Hall of Fame’s 75th anniversary together this week, please keep working, Mr. President, to keep the dream alive for our small business owners that make up the majority of our region’s economy. They are our friends and neighbors, and they are raising the next generations of Americans to live, work and run our communities. Please continue to revitalize and grow the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that you have initiated and make sure the smallest of the small businesses can benefit from these small loan and credit initiatives.

Please continue to work with your administration to support lending by small banks and community development institutions to improve access to credit.

The more our businesses can grow, they can begin to hire, ultimately growing jobs throughout our region, our state and our nation. The tourism industry, that you are here to recognize and celebrate today, will grow healthy and strong from your small business support efforts.

Our nation’s iconic places like the National Baseball Hall of Fame, will only benefit as small businesses grow and flourish.

On behalf of the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce, thank you again, Mr. President, for visiting Cooperstown and our National Baseball Hall of Fame.

PATRICIA SZARPA Executive Director Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce

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would hope that the President would put in a much stronger effort to hold Wall Street CEOs to the same accountability as anyone else.

DAN MASKIN Chief Executive Office Opportunities for Otsego Oneonta even his own daughter into that precious metal.

When he realized his mistake that he could not drink or eat gold, gods felt pity and took his power away so that he could drink the fresh water and eat the food as well as give a hug to his beautiful daughter.

Let’s learn from this instructive story and wait till a number of thorough scientific studies have been done on the devastating effects of fracking on the health of the present and future generations of human beings and other life forms. The gas deposits in Upstate New York had been there for millions of years and could wait for another few years as the scientific studies are being completed. Please do not let the selfish people with narrow vision to persuade you to quicken up the fracking process because it would be a good political move.

You, along with Governor Cuomo and Senator Schumer, do not want to go into the history books that point a finger at you by saying: “These powerful people made the planet inhabitable due to ignorance and politics.”

ASHOK MALHOTRA Oneonta • Dear President Obama, Thank you for your attention and highlight of Cooperstown, especially regarding the national treasure of the Baseball Hall of Fame. We live in an amazing community bestowed with tremendous cultural assets that drive the economy and employ our residents.

Ironically, these economic engines, like the Baseball Hall of Fame, are nonprofit organizations, and as nonprofits, they have to work significantly harder to generate the resources and support needed to achieve their missions.

More importantly, these nonprofit organizations face numerous regulations, compliance and negative perception and scrutiny, all the while they employ people and serve as a catalyst for revenue generation for other businesses and taxes for our region and New York State. In fact, nonprofits are the largest employer in Otsego County and in the surrounding regions, yet often are neglected and ignored for their true impact.

As you look to highlight tourism and how to capitalize on its success, I ask you to be more supportive of the nonprofit community that is the vehicle for making this happen. Nonprofits drive impact and need dedicated resources, support and assistance to continue to build and strengthen our communities, businesses and economy.

Now is the time to strengthen the partnership between the nonprofit community and our government, bringing our visions together for success in America.

Sincerely, ANDREW MARIETTA Fly Creek

• Dear President Obama, Welcome to Cooperstown and Otsego County in this time of the year when hillsides and roadways show off their incredible green of spring, the skies are magnificently blue and a breathe of air is sweet with the fragrance of flowering plants and trees. Please help us keep it this way!!

We are aware that your National Energy Policy places strong emphasis on the use of natural gas as a source of energy. Scholars and scientists from colleges and universities, Anthony Ingraffea, Ph.D., professor of engineering, and Robert Howarth Ph.D., professor of ecology and environmental biology at Cornell University, and Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D. at Ithaca College, among many others, have studied extensively and warned repeatedly about the long-term dangers of hydrofracking, a relatively new technique for extracting natural gas.

This letter is too short to describe all the potential consequences of this action, but since your visit to us is to promote tourism in this area, I can safely say that tourists will not come anywhere to see the industrialization of a landscape caused by gas drilling. Clean air and water, uncluttered roadways, and freedom from noise will be a thing of the past.

The Village Board of Cooperstown said it better than I: “We believe that hydrofracking is incompatible with a bright, new, clean water, high quality of life, tourist friendly, high tech, agricultural and renewable energy future for New York State.”

Therefore I strongly request that your administration rethink its present National Energy Policy that places an emphasis on the use of natural gas. Using natural gas as a fuel may be less polluting to the atmosphere than coal, but its extraction process using hydrofracking methods, places it in the category of adding even more green house gases to the atmosphere than coal. It is not a bridge to a clean energy future, it is a gang plank to disastrous climate change!!

I hope you enjoy your visit!

MARION J. KARL Cooperstown • Dear President Obama, don’t be on the wrong side of history.

There is a lot of history and many legacies to protect in Cooperstown, and it isn’t all about baseball. Our region is fabled and its environmental and cultural resources have been protected for centuries. There have been immense public and private investments and huge sacrifices made to safeguard its historic sites, view sheds and culture. This is one region where your “all of the above” energy policy will fail.

Extreme extraction techniques cannot co-exist with our existing economy based on organic farms and agriculture, tourism, historic preservation, museums, recreational land uses, breweries, universities; all based on clean water and fresh air for their survival.

While you celebrate our beauty and ingenuity, you must recognize that our government and your policies would put a gas extraction well-pad every square mile of our region, with 12 wells per pad, which would be fracked and re-fracked over the next 60 years.

These plans will inundate our Please See LETTERS, A9

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elcome,

THURSDAY-FRIDAY, MAY 22-23, 2014

Mr. President!

COMMEMORATIVE EDITION/A9

Rural Poverty Biggest Challenge To Counties Like Ours Dear President Obama: As a Kenyan transplant living in rural Upstate New York, I am struck by the similarities in poverty with rural Kenya.

While your visit focuses on the benefits of tourism to the overall economy (Kenya also touts tourism), I want to turn your focus to its negative impact. Especially on the public health of the rural area residents.

While tourism may bring jobs, the jobs are parttime, low wage and temporary. These

are not sustainable jobs: Kenyans in rural regions can attest to that.

According to the recently released Otsego County Community Health Assessment (CHA), 20 percent of our county’s children live below the federal poverty line.

Research shows us that early childhood poverty has a deleterious effect on adult behavior and health. We see these effects firsthand with the dramatically changing drug behavior in our county.

Drug incidences are on the rise - the CHA chronicles a vivid rise in drug-related hospitalizations. Rural upstate is fast becoming the new inner city. While there are pockets of affluence, such as Cooperstown, there is still much work to be done to improve public health in rural communities.

Your strategy for energy development may just be the lifeline that rural communities need.

Well-regulated oil and gas operations can

change the local economy, and break the poverty and negative public health cycles.

Thank you for supporting natural gas development. New York should follow your lead, Mr. President, and embrace the development of our resources.

Sincerely, UNI BLAKE Public Health Advocate Schenevus

LETTERS TO THE PRESIDENT

‘Opportunity To Pivot Away From Fossil Fuels ... In Our Grasp’ LETTERS/From A8 roads with heavy trucks, leak enormous quantities of methane, inject thousands of tons of toxic chemicals into our soil, generate billions of gallons of contaminated wastes without treatment facilities and potentially contaminate the headwaters of the mighty Susquehanna as it flows to Chesapeake Bay. Such industrialization of this historic landscape will ruin all that has been achieved and all that is yet to come.

The time has come in the debate about climate change when we must turn to a new strategy. We as a nation have shown time and time again that fundamental change is sometimes needed. Examples include the battles within ourselves to end segregation, gender discrimination, and industrial pollution among many more. To make real progress, we needed courage, clarity, and conviction; these are needed still. The opportunity to pivot away from fossil fuels and ever more hazardous and dangerous extraction methods is within our grasp. We need leaders to match our vision. Can we find them? Yes, we can.

NICOLE A. DILLINGHAM Board President Otsego 2000, Inc. • Mr. President, Enjoy your visit to Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame. I wish I could invite you to the other small local towns and villages not quite so connected to fame and fortune. Communities where family farms are an endangered species. Where small businesses no longer operate because if they get successful, some corporation buys them and the soul travels to another area.

We are not allowed to compete for some business because a strident few want to keep the current “quaint Appalachia” as their playground. Local school population drains are not a problem for them.

Our young, best and brightest flee the tyranny of those who expound Environmentalism yet practice Nimbyism.

Family farms cannot make a decision on the exploration of natural gas on their own lands because the state’s governor, scared of his New York City political base, has allowed a stall on rules for several years now and dedicated vocal minorities lie their way into control of local town and village boards to push their biased and unscientific agendas to ban the rights of property owners to leverage their own land.

Enjoy your visit, but don’t look behind the curtain. Even a seasoned politician might find the “Wizard” a bit hard to take. The humbug here has a nasty sting if one is a rational property owner.

ALAN SPRINGETT Morris • Dear Mr. President, Supporting high-volume horizontal hydrofracking for gas as a “bridge” fuel to sustainable energy is having one foot stuck in the Stone Age with the other in the Space Age. Until you choose to move that stuck foot forward, you’ll continue to have a split in the nation. “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Respectfully, DOROTHY TANG Middlefield •

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ith a national debt of 17.5 TRILLION dollars ($55,000 for every man, woman and child), our country is on its way to insolvency. Servicing debt and printing money affects our ability to prosper at home, to lift all economies, and to protect liberty throughout the world. We can’t “budget” our way out of this hole, although a little tightening would help.

Growth is our only way through this mess. Growth means jobs. A pivotal component of growth is cheap, domestic energy. Shale gas fits the bill. It’s the feedstock for everything from the grocery bag to the IPhone. It heats half the homes in the USA. Substituted for coal in electric generation, it’s brought CO2 emissions to a 20-year low.

As a strategic tool against a pugnacious Putin, our friends in Europe need tankers, not tanks.

For his next two years in office, President Obama should expedite the 20 LNG terminals in planning and expand transmission to move the hydrocarbon molecule to wherever it’s needed.

Cheap oil and gas will grow our economy, protect our dollar, and shield Europe from Russia’s chokehold. It means lots of trade at home and abroad which is a nice start in bringing down our debt.

DICK DOWNEY Otego Steering Committee Unatego Area Landowners Association Dear President Obama, I voted for you in both elections, although much more reluctantly the second time due to your energy policy and its reliance on natural gas as a “bridge to the future.”

Your continued support of shale gas development, which is, of course, tantamount to support of fracking, is in direct conflict with your concerns for global warming/ climate change. Shale gas development is a bridge to nowhere, with the possible exception of climate collapse.

Please refer to studies by Professor Mark Jacobson of Stanford University, who has outlined a path for New York State to be completely reliant on water, wind, and solar energy by 2030.

Surely his model could be applied nationwide. Please also seek advice from Professors Anthony Ingraffea and Robert Howarth of Cornell. Prof.

Ingraffea is a Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering, Weiss Presidential Teaching Fellow at Cornell University and president of Physicians, Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy, Inc. As a former gas industry insider (including working for Halliburton), he speaks with authority on shale formations and what corporations do when they disrupt them.

He believes that fracking should be banned wherever it is not yet taking place. Prof. Howarth’s study documents that the globalwarming impact of fracking will be greater (dirtier) than that of mountaintop removal for coal.

Finally, please look at a study conducted by Robert Jackson, a biogeochemist at Duke University.

He and his colleagues measured the methane concentrations in 60 drinking-water wells in areas of Pennsylvania and New York State near fracking operations. Dissolved methane concentrations in water from the 34 wells located more than 1 kilometer from fracking operations averaged about 1.1 milligrams of dissolved methane per liter. But in water taken from 26 wells within 1 km of one or more fracking operations, methane concentrations averaged 19.2 mg per liter. Isotopic analyses of the carbon in that methane shows that the gas has the same signature as that being recovered from deep underground by fracking operations.

We are concerned about chemical weapons being used in Syria yet we give corporate gas free rein to poison our own people compli-

ments of hydrofracking.

In August, I was on the Binghamton University Campus demonstrating for renewable energy and against shale gas development. I find it highly ironic that those showing support of fracking on that occasion most likely did NOT vote for you while the throng of us asking you to ban fracking most likely DID vote for you. As someone who got his start in political life through community organizing, I’m sure you can resonate to the frustrations of the “little people” who feel that they are not being heard because their leaders’ ears have been deafened by corporate power. To date, over 170 New York municipalities have banned fracking – each feat accomplished due to the passion of individual community members to protect their communities when the state and federal governments would not.

President Obama, do the right thing! Ban fracking nationwide and initiate a bold and forwardthinking energy policy based exclusively on development of wind, solar, tidal, and geothermal energy.

Sincerely, TERESA WINCHESTER Town of Butternuts • Dear Mr. President, Once an election is over, the majority of Americans, regardless of their political views, support the president in his efforts to preserve and protect our national security, in the initiation of policies and legislation to promote education, economic and social opportunities for all citizens, and to elevate the level of respect and admiration of the USA throughout the world.

With all due respect Mr. President, after five years in office, your administration has an abysmal record of failure: • Promotion of racial, social, cultural and economic divisiveness for political gain e.g., “war on women”, “rich vs. poor”, labor vs. management”, “pro-life vs. freedom of choice”, “redistribution of income”, etc.

• Failure to secure our borders, thus jeopardizing our national security.

• Roadblocks to off-shore drilling, opening up portions of national lands to drilling, and failure to approve the Keystone pipeline, all of which would move us toward energy independence, all done to cater to the environmentalists who are major contributors to

the Democrat party.

• A foreign policy that is a source of ridicule and satire throughout the world. Its fecklessness has encouraged Russia to take over Crimea, and threaten the Ukraine; to encourage North Korea and Iran to pursue nuclear weapons development; to encourage China to infringe on the territorial waters of other nations that border the China Sea; to risk the very survival of Israel; etc.

• Rampant corruption and incompetence in the IRS scandal, the Health & Human Services debacle with its launch of Obamacare, and the human tragedy of Benghazi.

There is much more Mr. President, but the examples above are only a “smidgen” of the disaster that your “leadership from behind” has produced.

Sincerely, CHARLES T. MILLER Town of Richfield • Dear President Obama and Our First Lady, Michelle, One in five children have some degree of dyslexia throughout the world and even here in Cooperstown. These very intelligent people struggle with reading. Although most with dyslexia desire to learn to read and do learn to read, often this comes after years of struggle and strife on the child and family.

This brain and learning difference is barely discussed for the most part in colleges and universities, so teachers are not educated to recognize it nor trained to provide proper early intervention. New York State Education will not label dyslexia as a specific learning disability, but instead calls it the broader term of a “Language Based Learning Disability,” or more commonly “Learning Disabled in Reading and Written Expression.” And with that broader label, schools can legally provide weaker means of intervention, which are sadly often completely ineffective.

Nationally, in the USA, all children should be protected under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), where dyslexia is stated as being a Specific Learning Disability, IDEA 2004: I/A/602/30, all children are entitled to a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and Response to Intervention (RtI).

What is the point of having national laws that are not recognized on a state level? Shouldn’t our children and their education be a #1 priority?

In the U.S.A., 19 percent of high school graduates can’t read, 14 percent (32 million) of adults can’t read and 63 percent of prison inmates can’t read, according to 2013 statistics of the U.S. Department of Education, National Institute of Literacy.

Unidentified students with dyslexia who do not receive proper reading instruction and early intervention is a big part of this problem. It is fixable through proper education.

I encourage you to make this a national priority and watch two outstanding documentaries on the subject for starters, “The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia,” directed by James Redford, and “Dislecksia: The Movie,” by Harvey Hubbell V. Also, I encourage you to read the books “Dislecksia: The Book,” by Harvey Hubbell V and “Overcoming Dyslexia,” by

Sally Shawitz, MD. Sincerely, PHYLLIS C. ORLOWSKI Cooperstown • Dear President Obama, Welcome to Cooperstown and Otsego County! I’ve been staring at this screen assembling my thoughts and asking myself if I could have your ear for a few minutes, what I would say.

I think I would ask you to look around at our little village and the surrounding area and then I would ask you to note our inherent beauty – the rolling hills, the clean air, and the abundant fresh water-the very things that draw visitors to this place we call home. We might share a glass of Ommegang ale and talk about the success of this local brewery and we might swing by the farmer’s market and indulge in our local foods and note the passion and drive of these hard working farmers.

And then I would ask you to envision this place burdened by hydrofracking – the methane-infused air, the poisoned water, the rumbling of fracking convoys, the hundreds of miles of pipeline and infrastructure – and then I would ask you how the two could co-exist. I think you would agree with me that they could not.

Once we agreed on that, I would draw you into a conversation about America’s future energy needs and how we might meet those needs using renewable energy – noting that at this time we can’t meet all of those needs with renewables – but we could make a road map on how to get there and work towards that goal. I think I could convince you that natural gas is really a bridge to nowhere – and fracking for this gas has caused harm and hardship for many Americans across the country. I know that we agree that climate change is happening – the evidence is all around us – and I think I could convince you that unless we curb our greenhouse gas emissions, we are as they say, “toast.” And then we could talk about how the greenhouse gas emissions released in the acquisition of our domestic natural gas through hydrofracking is far greater than those released through the burning of coal.

And if I could have just a few more minutes of your time, we could then talk about our local need for high speed internet; our efforts to grow a stable, local economy and to keep our college graduates here rather than watching them move away for better employment somewhere else. By this time I am certain you are turning away to speak with the next person waiting for your ear but I hope you will think about our conversation and carry it with you.

I know I will.

BETH ROSENTHAL Roseboom Otsego County Representative District 7 • Dear Mr. President, Welcome to Cooperstown and thank you for taking up the cause of growing tourism in the U.S. and in our area. With Cooperstown and baseball combining one of America’s most widely recognized names with our national sport pastime, we believe the best way to further expand the brand and impact period is by further exploiting sport travel.

Please See LETTERS, A10

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elcome,

THURSDAY-FRIDAY, MAY 22-23, 2014

Mr. President!

COMMEMORATIVE EDITION/A10

Our Students Need Clearly Defined Paths To Success Dear President Obama, I am pleased to note that you have decided to visit the Village of Cooperstown during the 75th anniversary year of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

As I am sure you know, Cooperstown is more than the sum of its collective parts. While we are proud of The Fenimore Art Museum, The Farmers’ Museum, the Glimmerglass Festival and The Otesaga, these historic attractions don’t tell the entire story of the region.

As the superintendent of the Cooperstown Central School District, I see a broader cross section of the population that comprises many of the rural areas in Upstate

New York. Sitting next to each other in class are the son of a wealthy business owner and the son of a single mother who relies on public assistance for survival.

What they have in common is the need for a quality educational experience that prepares them for the challenges of the 21st Century.

To be college and career ready, however, is not enough. Students need to leave school with a desire to make a real difference in the world that they are inheriting. To effectively foster this desire for civic responsibility, schools must provide opportunities for authentic engagement.

In an era of nearly universal connectivity and the proliferation

of high-quality digital educational content, the idea that diplomas must be tied to Carnegie Units is archaic. In your 2014 State of the Union Address, you stated that change in the education community required “better support for teachers and new ways to measure how well our kids think, not how well they can fill in a bubble on a test.”

Rather than racing to the top for an unfunded mandate that unnecessarily complicates the teaching/ learning dynamic, schools need a comprehensive, national education plan with clearly defined pathways to college and careers.

No two students are exactly alike. Each has strengths and ar-

eas of deficit. An assessment system tied directly to advancement along the educational continuum would go a long way toward providing students the freedom necessary to become self-actualized citizens without jumping through artificial hoops.

As you navigate the turbulent political waters of your second term, I would ask that you refocus national attention on the aforementioned issue. There is nothing more important to our nation’s collective future than reestablishing a robust educational system that accommodates the needs of all students.

Assessing students to gauge growth toward a goal makes sense.

Testing students to satisfy a political agenda does not.

I can assure you that you will find dedicated teachers and principals who are willing to engage in a meaningful dialog if you give them the chance.

Please feel free to stop by the district when you are in town. We would be happy to show you students who are diligently working to become the leaders of tomorrow.

Sincerely, C.J. HEBERT Superintendent Cooperstown Central School District

LETTERS TO THE PRESIDENT

Introduce Legislation To ‘Help The Cubs Win The World Series’ LETTERS/From A9 As you know, it’s the sportstravel segment within the tourism industry that continues to grow throughout the country, and we think that Cooperstown, partnering with nearby Oneonta, can extend the travel season virtually year ‘round; bringing regional travelers to Central New York to not only play baseball, but also soccer, tennis, golf, running, bicycling, football, lacrosse, basketball, volleyball, boxing, wrestling, gymnastics and any number of other participatory sports.

These are the kinds of programs that can both immediately increase travel to the area and quickly ratchet-up much needed disposable income throughout the greater Central New York area.

Why are we telling you this?

We just wanted you to know!

AL COLONE and BILL SHUE for GO-EDC, The Greater Oneonta Economic Development Council P.S.: Should you be interested, we’d be glad to share our research on sports’ tourism with specific persons within your administration and at Department of Commerce.

Please let us know!

• Dear President Obama, You are fated to be the president who acted to save the planet from the chaos of a world ablaze and drowning shores – or the one who added fracked fuel to the fire.

What will your legacy be?

ROBERT H. BOYLE East Springfield (Founder of Riverkeeper and the Hudson River Foundation for Science and Environmental Research) •

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et the ABLE Act passed.

PAUL LANDERS President/CEO Pathfinder Village Edmeston (The Achieving a Better Life Experience Act creates taxfree saving accounts to help support the disabled.)

Dear President Obama, Thank you for coming to historic, flourishing Cooperstown. To preserve our health and well-being we have voted to keep methane underground. Please support us by banning fracking and championing renewable energy so we can continue to thrive for generations to come.

Respectfully, FRANCESCA VANASCO Middlefield This letter is very heart-felt in so many ways because it will be addressing our great nation’s president. There are so many things I would love to discuss with Mr. Obama, everything from adoption tax credits to costs of infertility treatments. But this letter will not be about either of those because I have overcome both of those hurdles on my own in the past two years and now have two gorgeous adopted boys and one biological baby boy.

Mr. President, I am thankful for your pro stance on natural gas development. But I don’t understand how you can let Governor Cuomo take our constitutional rights and make us New Yorkers suffer in

poverty?

Personally, I have been forced to close two businesses in the past five years. This is a shame and by no means am I ashamed. The State of New York should carry this blame due to high taxes and insurance costs.

I am tired of sending my husband off to work two hours away just so we can keep our heads above water financially. We need a break from poverty and our saving grace should be natural gas! I beg you to urge Governor Cuomo to put an end to New York’s suffering and economic crisis by allowing the landowners to develop our natural resources, which are rightfully ours!

I want nothing more than to stay here and raise my kids here with an appreciation for nature and the values of country living. Which will not happen if I lose my land for failure to pay our land taxes.

Please don’t let this continue!

Sincerely, SANDRA DAVIS Deposit • Dear Mr. Obama : We would appreciate your help to get gas drilling in NYS. There is nothing here to keep our children in this area !!!!

The Keystone Pipeline would also help the rest of this country !!

We need jobs !!! Too many people depend on the government. Our pride is disappearing.

MARY BORDINGER Oneonta • Dear President Obama, I am writing to let you know that I have been terminated (without cause) as a participating provider in the AO Fox Hospital Employee Benefit Plan, Excellus

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ake action with states re Obamacare so that more state exchanges don’t collapse, or we may see the whole system implode. Tax burden from his law is already too high and it could increase dramatically if this happens.

MARK McGOUGH President/CEO Ioxus Oneonta Health Plan, Inc. I am an associate staff member of this hospital. I am a 23-year resident of Oneonta. I am a board-certified family physician who has practiced continuously in this community.

I hope to continue to be able to provide primary care for my patients, earn a living, and provide for my family. I do not think the Affordable Care Act was intended to create this problem but, unfortunately, this is just one of the repercussions from this legislation.

I would be happy to meet with you and your Health Education and Welfare department members to discuss my concerns.

STANLEY FOX, DO UHS Primary Care Oneonta • President Obama, If I am not mistaken, you’re a White Sox fan? Could you please introduce some type of legislation that could help the Cubs win the World Series. It would be great for the country.

Regards, PAUL A. CLARK Cooperstown

• Dear President Obama, Likely your visit will be sanitized to miss the symptoms of our poor economy on your visit.

You’ll miss the run-down homes, trailers, and “for sale” signs.

You’ll miss the numbers of kids on food stamps, and families who visit food pantries. You’ll be told that “fracking for natural gas and pipelines will save the day” and “create jobs.”

Fracking problems will damage our water and environment, permanently. Without water we are nothing.

Don’t allow the powerful gas and oil, and food industries to shape your decisions.

Our area is rich in farmland and beautiful scenery, making it perfect for the tourism and farming industries. Yet, we must face losing our farms to import cheaper and unhealthier produce from other countries, and the loss of jobs to other countries. Our roads and bridges badly need repair to encourage tourism.

We need to have you take charge and encourage alternatives to fossil fuels now. The science is screaming at us to do something and the polar ice is melting; this cannot be denied any longer.

Please work now to find alternatives to fossil fuels.

Work to put farmers on track to produce non-genetically engineered foods which are safe to be eaten by our citizens, and not doused with harmful chemicals which kill bees and have already affected the brown bat population.

Stand up for Central New York.

MAUREEN CULBERT East Springfield

WELCOME,

PRESIDENT OBAMA! From The FOLKS AT

IAN AUSTIN • TARA BARNWELL • LIBBY CUDMORE • TOM HEITZ MARY JOAN & JIM KEVLIN • KATHLEEN PETERS THOM RHODES • SUSAN STRAUB • STEPHENIE WALKER

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elcome,

THURSDAY-FRIDAY, MAY 22-23, 2014

Mr. President!

COMMEMORATIVE EDITION/A11

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Patricia Szarpa, Executive Director 31 Chestnut St., Cooperstown 607-547-9983 www.cooperstownchamber.org

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HOMETOWN ONEONTA & The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch

A-12 COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

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Mr. President!

THURSDAY-FRIDAY, MAY 22-23, 2014