Taking on the bullies Editorial: March 10, 2022 You have to start somewhere. We will admit to some heavy-duty skepticism when this newspaper received a press release last week announcing three days of anti-bullying assemblies and break-out sessions at Cooperstown Central School. It all sounded rather gimmicky – “a student empowerment and empathy activation team” calling itself “Sweethearts & Heroes” and co-founded by a Cooperstown High alum, Tom Murphy. Students participating in “Circle,” which, said the release, is “based…
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Editorial - Page 13
Masks, randomly Editorial: March 3, 2022 We read your comments on our Facebook and allotsego.com pages, we really do. After we posted the news on February 27 that Governor Kathy Hochul would lift the state’s indoor mask mandate for students and teachers in schools, one reader opined, “That mid-term variant.” Laughs come hard these days, what with masks and Ukraine and the unending number of days in February, but that one got a hearty chuckle. Cynical? You bet; in our…
Editorial: “We’re following the science.” “Your call is very important to us. Please hold.” There’s one that’s hard to believe, particularly after you’ve been on hold for an hour with a faceless conglomerate whose digital operator’s repeated reassurance becomes more grating than helpful. “Thank you for your service.” A thoughtful and once-meaningful sentiment that recognizes our heroes who serve or have served our nation during war and peace. It keeps its intended depth on a one-to-one or small group setting,…
District Attorney right on bail, discovery Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl is in a dangerous spot when it comes to what we understand his position to be on the third-rail issues of bail and discovery reform. He can see both sides of the issue. That’s poison these days – acknowledging, in this case, that those calling for reform to the criminal justice system had reason to do so but that those saying it went too far are equally justified.…
Editorial: The Sideshow “New York will create a bureaucracy out of anything.” So wrote one of this newspaper’s Facebook followers after reading a post about the state’s new “Office of Cannabis Management,” set up as the agency tasked to regulate legal weed and its derivations. The Office was a long time coming; ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo had stalled his appointment of potential agency leadership and then he stepped down. His successor moved (relatively) quickly and, voila, we have a new state…
They’re just words now “Your call is very important to us. Please hold.” There’s one that’s hard to believe, particularly after you’ve been on hold for an hour with a faceless conglomerate whose digital operator’s repeated reassurance becomes more grating than helpful. “Thank you for your service.” A thoughtful and once-meaningful sentiment that recognizes our heroes who serve or have served our nation during war and peace. It keeps its intended depth on a one-to-one or small group setting, and…
Editorial: Hello in there Where have all the people gone? Seems like there’s no one hangin’ on. Look through the windows, The houses are empty. Hey! Everybody’s out of town. Seems like I’m the only one around. Hey! Better send some people down. Everyone on Earth Is out of town. Hal David wrote that apocalyptic lyric back in 1970, Burt Bacharach added some appropriately dyspeptic music with a wobbly trombone, B.J. Thomas sang it with the right tinge of loneliness.…
Editorial: Destination ‘yes’ Oneonta’s new mayor, Mark Drnek, dropped a surprise when the Otsego County Chamber of Commerce held its 2022 virtual ‘State of the State’ on January 11 and he told Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh that he wants to collaborate with her and other regional leaders on a “destination marketing” campaign to attract new residents to an Oneonta-to-Cooperstown corridor. His proposal – one he freely admitted was a surprise to all on the Zoom meeting – came after Mayor…
Editorial: Maybe not Far be it from this page to look a gift horse squarely in the mouth, but open wide, equine friend: Term limits aren’t government reform. We do not blame Governor Kathy Hochul for saying eight is enough when it comes to years in office for a governor. Her predecessor’s bullying monomania for cementing his legacy by winning the fourth term that eluded his father was his undoing. She calls for that same two-term limit on the lieutenant…
Editorial: Omicron’s Paradox A COVID-weary public confronts the conundrum daily: Is this good news? Is it bad news? We have to admit that we’re a little bit confused. The Omicron caseload is frightening on its surface — ridiculously high numbers on a daily basis, top-of-the-fold newspaper coverage, lead-story status. We’re so attuned to scary numbers and frightening graphs that when we hear about record-shattering daily positive tests coming back, the first thing we want to do is retreat to our…
