We’re All In This Together On Arms, Will Enough Ever Be Enough? The 2020 proposed U.S. military budget is $737 billion. When is enough, enough? This is 37 percent of the $1.7 trillion military spending for all the world. It is more than the next 13 nations combined (numbers in billions): China ($224), Saudi Arabia ($70), India ($55), Germany ($49), UK ($49), Japan ($47), Russia ($44), France ($40), South Korea ($38), Brazil ($29), Italy ($29), Australia ($26) and Canada ($21).…
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EDITORIAL On County Manager, Now Hard Work Begins By the time you read this, it’s very likely Otsego County will have created a job of county administrator, joining all but a handful of counties around New York State. Heading into the Wednesday, Dec. 4, monthly meeting of the county Board of Representatives, the momentum to professionalize government was clear. Six of the seven Democrats were firmly in favor, plus two Republican leaders – chairman David Bliss and Schenevus’ Peter Oberacker.…
HOMETOWN HISTORY Dec. 6, 2019 150 YEARS AGO Miscellaneous: There are to be ten executions for murder in the United States during December. The very latest style of boot has the toe turned up like an old-fashioned skate. The gay young people of Henderson, Kentucky eat peanuts in church. “Bugmaster General” is the popular name for the state entomologist in Illinois. Mr. Fiske, of the Galveston Bulletin, has been shot at 23 times in three years. “Ned” a modest young…
EDITORIAL Kennedy, Bliss, Committee Deserve Praise Who gets the praise for professionalizing Otsego County government? Foremost, probably county Rep. Meg Kennedy, C-Hartwick. The idea caught fire with her, evident in her close questioning of SUNY New Paltz Vice President Gerry Benjamin, keynoter at “County Manager v. County Executive,” a forum on the idea Dec. 14, 2017, at Springbrook’s new community center. In the months that followed, she became the first local county representative ever recruited to New York State Association…
Common Council OKs $20 Million Budget By JAMES CUMMINGS • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – It’s unanimous. The $20 million budget for 2020 has passed. The Oneonta Common Council voted tonight on the city’s 2020 budget and approved it unanimously. Two weeks ago, the council met to discuss the initial proposal for the $20 million budget for 2020, which had included two full-time firefighting positions, a 10 percent sewer rate increase, and a 2.5 percent property tax increase. After that…
Santa Arrives At Renovated Pioneer Park By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com When Santa arrived at his Cooperstown cottage on Friday, Nov. 29, he arrived at the brand-new Pioneer Park. “The last design I could find was from 1965,” said Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh Kuch. “There haven’t been a ton of changes since then.” In 2018, the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce kiosk was updated with a touch screen, and a bike rack and bike repair station were built as part…
From Macy’s to 6th Ward Beloved Mechanical Skaters May Return By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – On their first date, Wayne Balnis introduced his girlfriend (and future wife), Carla Palmer, to a family tradition. “He took me to see the skaters on the Catellas’ lawn on Belmont Circle,” she said. “And there’d be a line of cars behind us, waiting to see them.” “My dad took me when I was a kid,” said Wayne. Part of former…
MATHISEN: Memoir Takes Us To 911 Bombing Editor’s Note: Don Mathisen, retired to Oneonta after a career as a reporter for WNYC, New York City’s NPR station and other outlets, published “A Broadcaster’s Life” last month, primarily for his children and grandchildren, but a few copies are available at The Green Toad Bookstore, 198 Main St. I ran for my life as the South Tower fell. I was just a few hundred feet away, standing in a crowd of people,…
Front Porch Perspective On Thanksgiving, Remembering Blue Four years ago on a snowy winter day, Dr. Fran Fassett came to our house and released our good old Blue from his failed body. It was amazingly peaceful, even blessed time. Anne and I had had Blue for about 10 years. He was a rescue dog who’d been picked up along Route 88 near Oneonta. Thank God, he was brought to our own animal shelter. A friend on staff there contacted Anne;…
LETTER from P. JAY FLEISHER Trust Science On Climate Change To the Editor: Science reveals the truth about many things and can be trusted. It explains things we take for granted, such as why the seasons change, why flowers blossom in the spring and leaves fall at the end of summer, and even why water runs downhill. Indeed, science explains much of what we see in our daily surroundings – it can be trusted. We tend to take it for granted…
