Editorial of April 9, 2026

National Issues Hitting Home

Several weeks ago, AllOtsego.com and its affiliates—“The Freeman’s Journal” and “Hometown Oneonta”—were criticized for running opinion pieces that focused on national news. The argument against? “You can get opinion on everything national and international online at social media and elsewhere.” Our response? The editorial of March 5, titled “It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone Publishes a Conservative Opinion.”

“Our goal here at AllOtsego is to cover local news first and foremost,” we wrote. “That is what we do—what we will continue to do. And for the record, more than a few people think we are doing it well—circulation is on the rise, website activity is increasing steadily, and we hear daily from folks who appreciate our unbiased, even-handed reporting as well as the occasional opinion piece about state or national topics that ultimately impact everyone. We do not, after all, live in a vacuum.”

And so it was interesting to see how clearly the front pages of our small, locally owned, independent newspapers last week bore out the fact that, indeed, we do not live in a vacuum in Otsego County. Issues with which the entire nation is struggling have impact here in our rural communities and continue to shape our lives locally, whether we like it or not.

While our lawmakers continue to disagree about illegal immigration, deportation of “the worst of the worst,” the actions of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials resulting in the deaths of two U.S. citizens, the danger to the lives of ICE agents and their families by those who dox them, voter identification, and also now the war in Iran, we are not untouched by these issues.

Last week, a 20-year-old man who entered the country illegally from El Salvador was arrested in Oneonta on seven counts of Possessing an Obscene Sexual Performance by a Child and 32 counts of Promoting a Sexual Performance by a child. And while some have objected to our use of the word “undocumented” to describe this individual in the page one headline, the man in question is here illegally, is undocumented, and that distinction is, indeed, important. U.S. border politics coming home to roost in Otsego County.

Also on page one last week, an article about a former deputy running against his old boss for the role of Otsego County sheriff. Both candidates are Republican, but one of the main campaign platforms for the former is his opposition to the 287(g) agreement with ICE signed by the latter. Again, national politics playing out on the local stage.

Next to that on page one, and especially timely because of the U.S./Israeli war against Iran, a photo of people protesting the U.S. Israeli/Palestinian policy at the third and most recent iteration of the “No Kings” rally in Oneonta, held in opposition to the Trump administration. National and international issues, each prompting action by area citizens.

Our local news coverage has consistently overlapped with what’s happening on the national scale. Artificial intelligence data centers, solar farms, a Cooperstown asylum seeker deported to Ecuador by ICE, the “No Kings” movement, a new book by a local author and AllOtsego contributor about journalists assassinated for doing their jobs, rising energy costs. The list goes on.

Coverage of national and international issues is nothing new for “The Freeman’s Journal,” which has been Cooperstown’s newspaper since 1808. In fact, a large portion the TFJ issue of July 8, 1822 is devoted to such topics as international sheep markets and foreign intelligence. Page one of the issue of October 16, 1847 gives a detailed account of the Democratic State Convention in Syracuse. Among topics discussed in the TFJ issue of March 9, 1921 are the election of President Warren G. Harding, resignation of U.S. Treasurer John Burke and the wish to create a federal department of education. And so on.

So let’s hear no more about how opinion pieces on national news are not relevant. The front-page news in this week’s papers disproves that notion, as does the fact that columns written by our most provocative op-ed contributors—Misters Nelson and Sempa—are consistently among our most read posts online, whether you agree with them or not.

Bottom line? We do not all hold the same world views, and we don’t live in a vacuum. Let’s not pretend that we do.