Editorial 15 Years Of ‘Citizens’ Prove: WE Can Overcome “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” William Shakespeare Can it be 15 years since The Freeman’s Journal and Hometown Oneonta, (after its founding in 2008), have recognized a Citizen (or Citizens) of the Year in the final edition of the 12th month? In 2006, Cherry Valley Town Supervisor Tom Garretson, digesting information brought before him on industrial-scale wind turbines, changed his mind and…
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Editorial - Page 19
This Christmas, Hope Should Be Foremost As We Count Our Blessings, Let’s Stay The Course Last Sunday, www.AllOTSEGO was able to trumpet the news: “VACCINE HERE! 350 Bassett Tier 1 Workers Getting Shots Over Weekend.” Within hours, thousands had clicked throughto read the good news. It – the COVID-19 pandemic – is not over, but it’s on the way to being over. This happy news comes at a time when, as the Gospel of Luke had it, humanity wishes for…
AllOTSEGO.com MINI-EDITORIAL ‘OneBassett’ Is Promising Idea; Let’s Get Behind It This mini-editorial is prompted by our next two editions’ editorials: This coming week, the topic is, of course, Christmas. The following week, Citizen of the Year. That means we would be unable to comment on “OneBassett,” an exciting innovation at the 5,200-employee Bassett Healthcare System, until the New Year. We all depend on Bassett, particularly in Otsego County on the mother ship, Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, and Fox Hospital in…
Editorial Heegan, Casale Engergy, Brains, A Credit To County To begin, no one can rival state Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, in contributions to our Otsego County. He’s a giant. THE giant, who is retiring at year’s end after 34 years representing us in the state Legislature. He’s primus inter pares – or simply primus. The gold standard. (More accolades coming.) But he’s at the top of a pretty tall pyramid of people with energy and brainpower in Otsego County public…
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…
Editorial If You Want Public Office, You Ought To Say Why Publicly The county board’s Administration Committee set a poor precedent in deciding to interview candidates for state Sen.-elect Peter Oberacker’s District 6 seat in “executive session” – that is, in secret, out of the public view. The county attorney, Ellen Coccoma, last week advised the Admin Committee when it interviewed the Republican candidate, Jennifer Mickle, that whether to do so in public or not was optional, up to the reps.…
Editorial End of Coronavirus Is Near, Multiple Vaccines Tell Us For Now, Wear Masks, Social Distance, Avoid Crowds You hear talk about a “second wave” of COVID-19, and it’s here. But take heart. In context, we’re not seeing the end of the beginning, but the beginning of the end. USA Today’s lead headline Monday was “Moderna seeks emergency FDA approval for COVID-19 vaccine,” and it was echoed in all the national newspapers – the New York Times, the Wall Street…
EDITORIAL Pilgrims’ Energy, Ambition Lives On Today ‘Tribute to the Entrepreneurial Spirit.” That’s what the Otsego Chamber of Commerce called its annual awards program on Nov. 12, conducted this year largely via Zoom. That rallying call couldn’t have come at a better time, given this year’s challenges – a pandemic, a particularly divisive Presidential election, and riots in cities and challenges to the very idea of policing. The stories the Otsego Chamber’s honorees were a tonic. Liberty lives, and a…
EDITORIAL Unite In Making Plan Work Doesn’t it remind you of what happened to Hartwick College President Margaret L. Drugovich? No sooner had she arrived in 2008 on Oyaron Hill, when the Great Recession hit. Within a few months, the fledgling president, with no chance to build a reputation or support among staff and faculty, had to begin laying people off. The faculty balked. Criticism abounded. Drugovich did what she had to do. Things settled down. The economy eventually rebounded,…
EDITORIAL Fight Isn’t Partisan; It’s Upstate, Downstate If you’ve lived a while, how often have you heard predictions about the extinction of one party by the other? After Richard Nixon’s rout of George McGovern in 1972 and Ronald Reagan’s two terms, the Democrats. After LBJ overwhelming Goldwater in 1964, Bill Clinton’s 1996 reelection and Barack Obama in 2008, Republicans. Only one Democrat was elected president between the end of the Civil War and Woodrow Wilson, 47 years later. Only one…
