LETTER from MICHAEL JEROME Polio Fight Informs COVID Fight Editor’s Note: Michael Jerome of Cooperstown chairs the Polio Plus Committee of the Rotary E-Club of Global Trekkers, a role he played for years at the Cooperstown club. Sixty years ago, every parent in the western world feared their child would be afflicted with the crippling disease of polio. Vaccines developed by Drs. Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin enabled the U.S., Canada and several European countries to become polio free by…
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Opinion - Page 273
LETTER from MARIA NOTO Individualism Won’t Stop COVID Individualism in the United States through the lens of SARS-CoV-2 defines freedom as “freedom to not wear a mask,” as opposed to “freedom from getting sick.” Since I was a young girl whenever I felt remotely ill I was told to “suck it up,” get out of bed, go to school, socialize and learn. This attitude is rooted in the American belief that “sickness is a weakness;” sickness is an attitude. To…
LETTER from GARRETT deBLIECK Governed Also Can ‘Regulate’ To the Editor: It is ironic that those who achieved an impressive education simultaneously lack the very basics of Constitutional study. Upon the current topic of the Second Amendment seems to illustrate this dichotomy quite well. The notion that the word “regulated” applies only to that of the government is both taking words out of context and as completely ignoring the very function of the Bill of Rights in the first place.…
LETTER from CAROLE LaCHANCE Rotary Helps Fight Social Isolation To the Editor: Social isolation among seniors is a reality that has become an even greater concern since the onset of COVID-19. To minimize its effects on our older population, Cooperstown Senior Community Center, CSCC, took full advantage of the sunshine and warm temperatures summer and early autumn provided. Seniors, living in and outside of Cooperstown, have been gathering 1 – 3 p.m. Thursdays since the end of July on the…
LETTER from JIM ATWELL ‘Sometimes A Firm Rap… Remember me? For scores of years, I was a guy who visited with you through columns in local newspapers, most recently The Freeman’s Journal & Hometown Oneonta. I loved doing it – until last summer, when the sky fell on me. Or more precisely, until I fell off our back deck, down four steps, and onto an unforgiving asphalt drive. I was knocked senseless when my forehead hit the driveway. (Later, lots…
LETTER from SENATOR JIM SEWARD More Thank Ever, Shop Locally This Christmas The holiday shopping season is in full swing and we are being hit from all sides with a seemingly endless barrage of commercials and promotions. While there are a number of factors shoppers use to evaluate potential purchases, one that should be kept in mind is where products are made. Shopping our local Main Streets is one of the best ways to get in the holiday spirit and…
EDITORIAL 3 Democrats Prove They Believe In Bipartisanship Let’s Call It: ‘Profiles In Fairness’ It’s a bit of a Christmas story, coming out of the Otsego County Board of Representatives, of all things. It involves at least four of Pope Gregory’s “Seven Virtues” – Charity, Patience, Kindness and Equanimity. (The Seven Deadly Sins, of course, have a higher profile.) Famously, talk is cheap, when it comes to bipartisanship (and generally). But three county representatives – Andrew Marietta, Andrienne Martini and…
HOMETOWN HISTORY December 10, 2020 150 Years Ago Home and Vicinity – Next year will witness the erection of more buildings in Oneonta than in any previous year. It has surpassed the expectations of the most sanguine, but we look for greater improvement next year. Many only await the opening of spring to begin the erection of business houses and residences. Mr. Peter W. Swart, so long and well known in this town and vicinity, died quite suddenly at his…
BOUND VOLUMES December 10, 2020 200 YEARS AGO Village Ordinance: “That the owner of every dwelling-house, office, shop or store, shall provide on or before the first Day of October next, under the penalty of one dollar for neglect or refusal so to do, one Leather Fire Bucket for every two fire places in each and every dwelling house, office, shop, or store; and that each dwelling house, shop or store, that may have but one fire place, shall nevertheless…
LETTER from RICHARD STERNBERG STERNBERG: Doctor In The House (Isolated) Like many of us this Thanksgiving, my family had a very truncated get together and dinner. My daughter visited from Annapolis, Md. She had been self-isolating, had rarely gone out, always took precautions, and was tested the week before she decided to come visit. We decided that the risk of being infected by her was very, very minimal after all of these precautions, and invited her. I myself have been…
