Bye, Bye! Big Tree Off To Rockefeller Center By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com WEST ONEONTA – It was a reveal four years in the making. “When I was here in 2016, I came around the corner and there was this beautiful tree,” said Erik Pauze, Rockefeller Center’s head gardener. “But it wasn’t quite ready yet. So for four years, I’ve been coming up twice a year to water and feed it.” And finally, the 75-foot Norway Spruce, on…
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LETTER from ADRIAN KUZMINSKI Sanctuaries Recipes For Anarchy To the Editor: In his letter to the editor of Nov. 12-13, county Rep. Rick Brockway, R-West Laurens, points out that the Village of Cooperstown was “made a sanctuary haven for illegal immigrants.” Indeed, the village, in April, 2017, voted unanimously, as reported in this newspaper, “not to participate in the Delegation of Immigration Authority’ under the Immigration & Nationality Act of 1996.” Invoking the same idea from the opposite end of…
Cooperstown Readies For Virtual Christmas By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Cooperstown Community Christmas Committee isn’t going to let COVID-19 be the Grinch who steals the holiday. “It was clear by last summer that Christmas was going to be different,” said the 4C’s Peg Leon. “But we didn’t want to not decorate. It’s important to provide something for the locals and the children.” This Sunday, Nov. 22, at 2 p.m., the village’s Christmas season starts, as families…
Let Grand Old Flag Fly Editor’s Note: This message was dropped off anonymously at The Freeman’s Journal office at 21 Railroad Ave. I respectfully request the Village of Cooperstown return to raising our flag on Pioneer and Main to full staff. We have had the flag lowered for over a half-year to respect the sick and the deceased. That was good, and important to locals and visitors to our blessed town who travel here from around the world. Sadly, there…
Campaign Underway To Keep Ioxus Here, Zakrevsky Tells City By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – Otsego Now President Jody Zakrevsky may save Ioxus. “Ioxus is in the process of being sold to XS Power Batteries,” he said, appearing Tuesday, Nov. 17, at Common Council, via Zoom. Its CEO Scottie Johnson “indicated he was planning on closing Ioxus and moving the company to Knoxville, Tenn., but we worked with him to keep the facility here.” Doing so, he said,…
Plan: Catch Virus Before It Can Spread By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – A draft plan on reopening SUNY Oneonta on Feb. 1 was released Monday, Nov. 16, that – among many points in the single-spaced, 22-page document – addresses a particular community concern. That is, preventing this fall’s outbreak of 700-plus on-campus cases from happening again. In an interview, SUNY Oneonta President Dennis Craig called it “a strong plan” that includes a five-point prevention protocol he…
Oneonta Owl Hitches Ride On Rockefeller-Bound Tree By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – A Saw-whet owl who nested in “Daddy Al” Dick’s 75-foot Norway Spruce was rescued when workers tasked with transporting the tree to Rockefeller Center found the hitchhiker while putting up the tree in New York City. According to a Facebook post, the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in Saugerties received a phone call that the owl had been rescued from the tree after it arrived in…
Copper Fox Patrons Asked To Quarantine As COVID-19 Spikes, Bassett Closes To Visitors COOPERSTOWN – With COVID-19 rates rising locally, Bassett Healthcare is restricting visitors at their hospitals to “only individuals considered essential to the medical care of a patient,” effective Monday, Nov. 23. “The decision to limit the number of non-patients coming to our campuses is in the best interest of our patients, staff and the communities we serve,” explains Bassett Healthcare Network President and CEO Tommy Ibrahim, MD,…
Oneonta School District Goes Remote Until N0v. 30 ‘Highest Number of Cases’ Reported In 1 Day, Warns Bond ONEONTA – With 18 cases of COVID-19 reported today, Otsego County Public Health director Heidi Bond has warned that, with the exception of the college-based outbreaks, today’s total marks the highest number of single-day cases in the community since the pandemic began in March. Bond said that the health department is working to determine if there is a cluster, but that the…
After Student Tests Positive, Greater Plains Goes Remote ONEONTA – Students and staff members at Greater Plains Elementary School have been ordered to quarantine until Friday, Nov. 20 after a student tested positive over the weekend, according to Superintendent Thomas Brindley. The district was notified Sunday afternoon that the student had tested positive, and students immediately went to remote learning on Monday, Nov. 16. The school is working with the county Department of Health to do contact tracing and order…