Editorial

No Kidding, Watch Out For Bears

By: Larissa Ryan 04/08/2021 1:00 pm

EDITORIAL

No Kidding, Watch Out For Bears

No kidding. This black bear took down a fence in a Pierstown yard over the weekend.

After Vince and Lynne Krogh Casale’s sighting (and videographing) of a black bear on Bedbug Hill Road Tuesday, March 23, a reader sent along this photo of a black bear (see photo) rampaging in a yard in the Pierstown area, on the other side of the hill, both in Town of Otsego on the west side.

More bears in Otsego County is a new reality, Josh Choquette, the DEC’s new bear expert, based in its Stamford office, reported in last week’s edition.

Development in the Catskills is pushing bears north and, also, new growth in Otsego County’s abandoned farms is providing newly arriving bears with plenty to eat.

Uncle Sam, Font of Plenty, Thanks To Printing Presses

By: Larissa Ryan 04/08/2021 1:00 pm

EDITORIAL

Uncle Sam, Font of Plenty,
Thanks To Printing Presses

Ain’t Uncle Sam great! At least his ability to print money.

After the year-long COVID pandemic, which cost Otsego County government $10.6 million, the federal government is sending it $11 million.

That’s $400,000 in profit, from the greatest pandemic in 100 years.

The beauty of it is county government, under the guidance of brainy Allen Ruffles, the county treasurer, had already taken steps to stem the bleeding.

The Ruffles Plan, incorporated in the 2021 county budget, borrowed $4 million at historically low interest rates, then fast-tracked road work this spring — the one area where Albany is still providing reimbursement.

When all is said and done, the county reps may be able to consider a wish list, one being an energy-efficiency upgrade at all county buildings.

The only downside is 50 percent of the money is coming this July, 50 percent next July. There’s many a slip…

Nationally, of course, the so-called American Rescue Plan cost $1.9 trillion, with no new revenue stream to pay for it.

Ain’t Uncle Sam great! He can simply print more money.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Abandoning Atlanta? How About Moving All-Star Game To Coop

By: Larissa Ryan 04/08/2021 1:00 pm

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Abandoning Atlanta? How About
Moving All-Star Game To Coop

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the league will move its 2021 All-Star Game and MLB Draft from Atlanta.

…MLB has yet to select an alternate host site, but might I suggest Cooperstown, NY?

Given the short-term logistics of finding a new site, it would have the quaint feeling like Iowa’s Field of Dreams. Plus, it’s the perfect place to honor Aaron and those Hall of Fame players who’ve died in the past year.

Given how there won’t be a big Hall of Fame bash this summer, move up the class of 2020 induction. That way Derek Jeter and his fellow inductees can get the proper spotlight too.

…It would be a cool and unique setting and a splendid way to honor the game’s greats with a Hall of Fame All-Star Game.

MICHAEL GWIZDALA
BronxPinstripes.com
April 4, 2021

‘Reefer Madness’ Goes Mainstream

By: Larissa Ryan 04/01/2021 1:00 pm

EDITORIAL

‘Reefer Madness’

Goes Mainstream

The 1936 movie raised the alarm, and laughs.

Maybe when marijuana vendors appear at Disney World, or when the venerable theme park comes up with a Marijuana Mile theme ride, or maybe Marijuana Maelstrom.

Then, perhaps, the Village of Cooperstown – “the pinnacle” of youth baseball camps, according to Lunetta Swartout, Cooperstown Stays proprietor, (and she ought to know) – should approve pot shops, or a “recreational cannabis dispensary,” or whatever, along Main Street in Baseball’s Mecca.

Maybe then, but now the debate is more than theoretical.

Simmering, simmering for years, marijuana legalization moved to the front burner over the weekend, when Governor Cuomo and the leaders of the state Senate and Assembly agreed on legislation “to legalize adult-use cannabis.” The Assembly and Senate approved the bill Tuesday, and Cuomo was expected to sign it.

Otsego Electric’s Broadband: Entrepreneurism At Its Best

By: Larissa Ryan 04/01/2021 1:00 pm

EDITORIAL

Otsego Electric’s Broadband:

Entrepreneurism At Its Best

Otsego Electric’s Broadband initiative wasn’t mentioned in last week’s editorial on entrepreneurism in arts organizations – it’s an electric cooperative, not a dance troupe.

Still, it’s worth a separate nod.

While local governments and the citizenry at large were crying out to Albany and Washington for universal Broadband, CEO Tim Johnson and the Hartwick-based, non-profit rural-electrification entity simply did it.

As reported last week, in the past three years, Otsego Electric has strung 700 miles of wire in the 23 towns it serves, past 5,000 locations; 2,900 subscribed to its high-speed Internet service.

It’s a non-profit, so why bother?

“We could see the handwriting on the wall,” said Johnson. “We could see … the lack of opportunities to work in rural areas. We saw the possibility that this” – Broadband – “would stabilize our customer base.”

And that’s what happened.

During the Pandemic Year, when the world moved onto Zoom, there could have been a mass exodus. There wasn’t, and there won’t be.

Thank you, Otsego Electric.

Much To Be Proud Of In Response To COVID-19

By: Larissa Ryan 03/19/2021 2:53 pm

EDITORIAL

Much To Be Proud Of
In Response To COVID-19

Despite the chilling toll – 3,483 COVID-19 cases and 54 deaths – Otsego County people, our neighbors, friends and family, have a lot to be proud of as we ended The Year of The Pandemic on Monday, March 15, we found in revisiting the last 52 editions of this newspaper.

Throughout, there was worry, dismay and grief in the face of the implacable and mysterious foe, but little panic. In reviewing the newspapers, there was, and is, much determination, focus and purpose among our neighbors and our community leaders.

At the county level, board Chairman David Bliss promptly issued an emergency declaration on Friday, March 15, 2020, that outlined many of the steps that have marked our lives since then. Going forward from there, the county board was tough and visionary in the face of disappearing sales- and bed-tax revenues.

The reps laid off 59 FTEs, no fun for anyone. Then – guided by county Treasurer Allen Ruffles – they assembled a plan based on historically low-interest loans and fast-tracking roadwork, which the state CHIPS program still reimburses, to ensure solvency. When President Biden’s $11 million stimulus allocation was announced in recent days, it was appreciated at 197 Main, but not essential.

On a parallel track, county Health Department rallied under Public Health Director Heidi Bond, doing the COVID testing and contact tracing that – along with masks and social distancing – have been central in controlling the disease to the extent we have.

She was already heralded as this newspaper’s 2020 Citizen of the Year, but not enough appreciation can be expressed to her team’s hard work and accomplishment.

Water Plant Done, Is One Greater Oneonta Inevitable?

By: Larissa Ryan 03/11/2021 1:00 pm

EDITORIAL

Water Plant Done, Is One
Greater Oneonta Inevitable?

Bob Wood was dealt a winning hand when elected Oneonta town supervisor in 2008, and he played the hand well.

He announced his retirement last Friday, March 5 – 299 days to go until Dec. 31, he said – and expressed satisfaction that $12 million in projects – $3-plus million for a new town highway garage and $8-plus million for the long-awaited Southside water project – will be completed by the time he leaves office.

Of course, there are many other successes since 2008 that Bob Wood can point to – the expansion of the Browne Street (Ioxus, Northern Eagle Beverage) and Pony Farm commerce parks, the growth of All Star Village, Brooks BBQ’s bottling plant to be expanded and relocated in an East End shopping plaza.

But keeping the tax rate low – $10 per thousand for town, school, county and other property levies, as compared to $20 in the city – may be his foremost accomplishment. And that, arguably, led to everything else.

Vaccines Are Here. Keep Trying. You’ll Get Your Shots

By: Larissa Ryan 03/04/2021 1:00 pm

EDITORIAL

Vaccines Are Here.
Keep Trying. You’ll Get Your Shots

Elsewhere on this page, Dr. Charles Hyman, Bassett Hospital’s infectious disease specialist, says, “It’s time for hope.”

Yes, indeed, all the signs are good.

Earlier this week, Heidi Bond, Otsego County public health director, said, “I think it will open up pretty quickly with Johnson & Johnson,” a reference to the new one-shot vaccine approved over the weekend.

It’s even encouraging to read the daily reports in the doom-and-gloom national newspapers.

Monday, March 1, the Washington Post told us the seven-day average of “cases reported” dropped from 248,128 to 68,040.

As of that day, WAPO said 50 million Americans had been vaccinated, about the same number of us over 65.

Now, that’s progress.

After the state website kept complaining the whole State of New York had only been receiving 400,000 vaccines a week for its 16 million eligible citizens, Monday, March 1, it posted:

“New York is expected to receive approximately 164,800 doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine this week, pending final FDA authorization.”

That, plus 400,000 a week we’re already getting: It would still take 80 weeks to serve New York’s eligible citizens, but it’s accelerating.

The good news is if New York State gets the vaccine, New York State can administer it.

Probe Of Cuomo Administration Must Run Its Course

By: Larissa Ryan 02/25/2021 1:30 pm

FALL from GLORY

Probe Of Cuomo Administration Must Run Its Course

Editor’s Note: By covering stories other big newspapers have ignored, the New York Post, founded in 1801 by Alexander Hamilton, is regaining some of its luster. In this latest editorial on the Cuomo Administration’s latest crisis, it questions whether campaign contributions played a role in the March 25 order requiring nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients. Also, below, is a sampling of editorials on the issue.

The New York Post’s Saturday, Feb. 20, front page, reporting on a stormy press conference the day before.

Governor Cuomo is trying to rage his way through the horrific nursing-home scandal, vowing to “take on the lies and the unscrupulous actors” even as he repeats his own lies blaming the feds for his fateful March 25 mandate that homes accept COVID-contagious patients. Will the feds let him get away with it?

New Yorkers who lost family members in nursing homes were cheered by news of a federal probe into the matter. But the Biden Justice Department might buy his effort to blame the Trump administration, even though it’s transparently false.

In Time Of Pandemic Hope Blooms

By: Larissa Ryan 02/25/2021 1:30 pm

EDITORIAL

In Time Of Pandemic Hope Blooms

Master Gardeners: Our National Mission

‘Extension Master Gardener programs educate people, engaging them in learning to use unbiased, research-based horticulture and gardening practices through a network of trained volunteers directed and supported by land-grant university faculty and staff.”

This is the latest site plan for the Master Gardeners project at 123 Lake St., Cooperstown.

Underneath the quiet of pandemic strictures and social-distancing, the world hasn’t completely come to a stop. Just as, soon, crocuses (not, croci, we’re told) will begin poking through the snow, so will the Otsego County Master Gardeners’ exciting plan start to become a reality.

“The Grow With Cornell Cooperative Extension” fund drive has reached 70 percent of its $200,000 goal, Extension Director Don Smyers announced this week, and thus, with spring, an innovative redo of the organization’s parking lot at 123 Lake St., Cooperstown, (just before you get to The Farmers’ Museum), will get underway.

The Master Gardeners’ organization – its members instruct would-be gardeners in how-to and best practices, and its Memorial Day plant sale is an annual hit – is a low-key, but beloved entity, as underscored by how $140,000 was raised since October, in time of pandemic.

“Growth” Co-Chair Pati Grady of Cooperstown – the other co-chair is Jason Stone, who runs a Toddsville topiary business – is predicting the construction, overseen by McManus Construction of Fly Creek, will get underway this spring.

Chamber Looks Past COVID And So Should The Rest Of Us

By: Larissa Ryan 02/25/2021 1:00 pm

EDITORIAL

Chamber Looks Past COVID

And So Should The Rest Of Us

With herd immunity headed our way – by mid-summer or earlier – it IS time to look toward what’s next.

So interim Otsego Chamber President Al Rubin’s letter to members, which arrived Monday in e-mail boxes, is ideally timed.

The letter was an appeal to members to volunteer for chamber committees: Marketing/Education, Membership Services/Events and Finance/Audit.

“We want your input, we want your voice,” wrote Rubin, “and we encourage your engagement to step in and involve yourselves in any way you might be able to utilize your skill sets and connections within our community.”

For sure. Intrigued chamber members should jump in.

Likewise, all other organizations and businesses should be preparing for the rebound, be it this spring, mid-summer or sometime this fall.

Thanks, Al, for the reminder.

With Seward, Bassett Reclaims Some Of County’s Ebbing Clout

By: Larissa Ryan 02/18/2021 1:00 pm

EDITORIAL

With Seward, Bassett Reclaims

Some Of County’s Ebbing Clout

Bill Streck (blue tie) and Jim Seward (red tie) learned what levers to push in Albany over three decades.

Someone was remarking the other day that, over almost four decades, Otsego County had two key players that could be called upon in any crisis.

One, Bill Streck, Bassett Healthcare Network president/CEO since 1984, who spent years developing contacts in Albany. A Democrat, he was a go-to guy around here, someone who could call the Governor’s Office and expect an answer.

Two, state Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, who served in Albany from 1986 until this past Dec. 31, rising to leadership and maintaining it until the Senate shifted to the Democrats. Even then, he – like Streck – knew where the levers of power were and how to push them.

In the past year Streck, 74, and Seward, 69, both retired. In tackling the largest crisis in a century, which arguably the COVID-19 pandemic is, their departures left a void.

America IS Great

By: Larissa Ryan 02/18/2021 1:00 pm

Editorial

America IS Great

Over Three Generations, Oneonta’s Naders Prove It

Jaunty Sam Nader, seen here in his heyday, was a great American.

With the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the summer-long riots following George Floyd’s death and debates over race relations, we can forget: We live in a great country, where ambition and hard work are almost assuredly rewarded.

A case in point – a life in point – is Sam Nader, the respected and beloved former mayor of Oneonta, who passed away Tuesday, Feb. 9, at age 101.

When Sam Nader was born in 1919 in Oneonta’s Sixth Ward, you might have thought his prospects were limited.

His parents, Elias and Rose, had married in the old country in 1907, and had come to America in hopes of a better life. He joined the Delaware & Hudson in 1911 as a stationary fireman, tending the fire that heated the boiler and created the steam to power the steam engine – hot, dirty work.

But young Sam’s boyhood in “the Beehive,” a six-apartment house on West Broadway, next to the busy, noisy D&H yards, didn’t weigh him down. Quite the opposite.

It launched a life of joys and accomplishment (and, of course, some tragedy, too), as he related in an anecdote-filled interview on his 100th birthday in his living room at 96 River St., when he spoke:

Local Governments Should Tend Our Roads, Not Our Minds

By: Larissa Ryan 02/11/2021 1:00 pm

Local Governments Should

Tend Our Roads, Not Our Minds

Do we really expect our local elected officials to tell us what to think? Quite the opposite, probably.

And yet instead of focusing on paving streets, keeping tax at a reasonable level, and providing whatever might be considered essential services, they seem increasingly determined to do just that.

Three examples popped up in the past few days that suggest this may be spinning out of control, including at the February meeting of the county Board of Representatives, where discussion of two proposed resolutions on the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol ate up an hour of rancorous debate.

A few days earlier, it surfaced that two unspecified Milford Town Planning Board members had threatened to fine the Village of Milford if it failed to remove the “Trump 2024” on Route 28 across from Wood Bull Antiques. (The billboard is in the town, but on property owned by the village.)

“Trump 2024,” the billboard on Route 28 north of the
Village of Milford, may be coming down in April. Not due to protests: The contract is running out and Rome Sign Co. has a new customer.

Let’s get back to basics. State law that created counties describes such as “formed for the purpose of exercising such powers and discharging such duties of local government and administration of public affairs as may be imposed or conferred upon it by law.” Pretty work-a-day, as it should be.

We’ll Miss Roars For That Great American

By: Larissa Ryan 01/28/2021 1:00 pm

EDITORIAL

We’ll Miss Roars For

That Great American

The great Hank Aaron, and wife Billye, about to round the corner at Mel’s in the 2019 Parade of Legends. (The Freeman’s Journal)

The passing of the great Hank Aaron last Friday, Jan. 22, at age 86, emphasized the death threats the future Hall of Famer received as he neared breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record on April 8, 1974.

Death threats? Contemptible. But there’s a better perspective on Aaron’s 715th home run that broke Babe’s mark at a Braves’ home game in Atlanta.

“A black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol,” Vin Scully, Los Angeles Dodgers’ announcer, declared that night.

“What a marvelous moment for baseball. What a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the State of Georgia. What a marvelous moment for the country and the world.”

And it was, and it is.

Even better, today, 46 years later, two generations have grown up since 1974, and there’s nothing exceptional today about a black athlete breaking a record – it’s more than routine.

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