News Briefs: February 5, 2026

Pelcer Wins Wrestling Title

COOPERSTOWN—Cooperstown/Milford wrestling dropped a pair of dual meets on Wednesday, January 28, falling 44-27 to Adirondack and 45-29 to Unatego/Franklin/Unadilla Valley. Connor Van Buren, Thomas Geertgens and Andrew Spaulding each got two wins.

C/M placed seventh in the Center State Conference Wrestling Tournament at Sherburne-Earlville on Saturday, January 31. Max Pelcer won the title at 132 pounds with a pin and two majority decisions. Geertgens placed second at 157 pounds with two pins and an 8-4 loss in the finals. The team will compete in the Class D finals at South Lewis on Saturday, February 7.

Film Festival Set To Return

ONEONTA—Film Otsego’s Made by New York Women Film Festival will return to Foothills Performing Arts and Civic Center at 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, March 6 and 7. Comedies will be presented on Friday, followed by dramas on Saturday. Each night starts with an hour-long meet and greet with the filmmakers, featuring free food and a cash bar. Screenings begin with short film submissions at 7 p.m. For more information, visit filmotsego.org.

BHM Programming Scheduled

COOPERSTOWN—The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has scheduled a series of events and special exhibits in observance of Black History Month. Jackie Robinson’s original Hall of Fame plaque will return from loan to the Jackie Robinson Museum for display in the hall’s “The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball” exhibit, alongside his 1947 International League batting champion trophy. There will be an in-depth guided tour of the Souls of the Game exhibit at 1 p.m. on Friday, February 20. A virtual field trip program on the history of American race relations and baseball will be held at 1 p.m. on Thursday, February 26. For more information or to register, visit baseballhall.org/events/.

State Launches New Program

ALBANY—The New York State Office of Mental Health launched a survey as the first phase of a major new effort to develop the mental health workforce. The brief survey will gather information from service providers to help design a website and resource portal that will highlight career paths and connect prospective workers to training programs and employers. Mental health professionals are encouraged to fill out the 10-minute survey to help the program gauge what resources they will find most helpful. It is available at www.surveymonkey.com/r/omhmhwi?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery. OMH will also host a webinar from 1-2 p.m. on Thursday, February 12 to outline the website project and answer questions. The effort is part of a $2.5-million, multi-year initiative to develop New York’s mental health workforce. OMH has provided up to $5 million to help repay student debt for mental health practitioners.