MacGuire Benton Energized By Politics By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Laurie Pestar’s dilemma forged MacGuire Benton’s commitment to politics. Through political action, “you can change people lives,” the Democratic trustee said in an interview. He is seeking his first full term on the Village Board in the March 18 elections. In November 2016, Benton and friend Bobby Walker – Mac then headed the county’s Young Democrats; Bobby, the Young Republicans – circulated a petition supporting Laurie…
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Author: LibbyC - Page 62
The View From Albany Repeal Flawed ‘Green Light’ Law One of the more controversial pieces of legislation signed into law last year was the “Green Light” Law, allowing illegal immigrants to obtain drivers’ licenses. Presented by its supporters as the “same law” adopted in other states, New York’s version contained a provision that prevents the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other border-protection agencies from accessing records contained in the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) – something no other…
Mary Margaret Robbins Sohns Inspired By Controversy, Love By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Cooperstown was Margaret Margaret Robbins Sohns’ second home before, living on Pioneer Street, it is now her first one. Raised in Delhi, her family had a boat docked locally. “We’d come and stay,” she remembers. The Robbinses were New York Yankee fans – Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly, in particular. “I went to the Hall of Fame whenever I could.” On the way…
LETTER from LYNNE MEBUST Democratic Village Chair Backs Democratic Slate To the Editor: Village elections for trustee and mayor will be held Wednesday, March 18, from noon to 9 p.m. at the Village Hall. The Village Democrats are proud to have nominated three outstanding incumbents to continue the good work of the Village Board in recent years. These candidates – Ellen Tillapaugh for mayor, and Joe Membrino and MacGuire Benton for trustee – combine years of public service and experience…
Petitions Vie Over Firearms By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN Opponents of turning Otsego County into a “Second Amendment Sanctuary” are faster on the draw than proponents, at least when it comes to petitions. On their behalf, Mary Anne Whelan, the retired Bassett physician, was planning to turn in petitions with “many hundred” signatures to the county Board of Representatives when it met Wednesday, March 4. “We … respectfully ask the county Board of Representatives to declare support…
Developer Shows Off Artist’s Loft Successes By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com BEACON – Developer Ken Kearney, founder of Kearney Group, got a call one day from a friend. “He said, ‘Have you heard of Oneonta?’” he recounted. “I sent my son Sean up to take a look and he said, ‘Get up here, I think you’ll like it.’” Kearney, who has built artist lofts in Peekskill, Beacon and Poughkeepsie, has received approvals to put one of his affordable…
Joe Membrino Impressed By Village ‘Stewardship’ By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – In Washington D.C., getting appointed to a municipal board takes connections and a lot of lobbying. So when Joe Membrino, who is running for a three-year term on the Village Board March 18, and wife Martha retired to Cooperstown in 2013 and he considered ways of getting involved in the community, public office didn’t come to mind. That is, until his sister, Milford Town Board…
Editorial Inspired By 5 Heroes At Fire Scene, Consider Joining Good Samaritans What’s happened in the past week is another opportunity to be impressed about the brave men and women who respond, in dark of night and bright of day, any hour, any day, when fires and accidents happen in Otsego County. Training and experience have made mishaps so rare, we forget – certainly the public, but volunteers and ambulance squad members, too – that every fire call and crash…
LETTER TO THE EDITOR from LISA R. BASSETT Make Lettis Safer: Run Buses Until 9 p.m. To the Editor: Regarding the headline in your Jan. 2 edition, “NYDOT Said ‘No’ To Grant At Lettis,” I am really sorry that the transportation grant, applied for by the Town and City of Oneonta, was turned down. But, come to think of it, all of that requested money is not necessary. The lady, April Johnson, crossed the highway 100 yards from a legal pedestrian…
‘Ball of White Fire’ Engulfs Volunteers By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com MIDDLEFIELD – By the time the explosions began – “a ball of white fire,” according to one witness – that came from inside the burning garage in this hamlet on Wednesday, Feb. 26, it was too late. “It started as this small white ball, and then it became this massive white flame that shot 100 feet out of the building,” said Cooperstown Fire Chief Jim Tallman. “The…
