Letter from Chip Northrup Keep the Glimmer, Lose the Slime Dr Willard Harman of the Biological Field Station understands the biodynamics of toxic slime (“blue green algae”) and he knows what can be done to mitigate their blooms — which may become chronic if left unaddressed — in which case lake water would become non-potable, fish would die, and people would get sick. The Biological Field Station is going to come up with plans to attempt to address the problem…
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Opinion - Page 92
Letter from Andrew Hamill We the People Must Unite “A House divided cannot stand”. This was not only quoted in the gospel of Mark, but also by Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Jackson on two separate occasions. Our beautiful and majestic country is becoming more divided than it ever has been. The only solution to help end this division is to have unity, to help defend our rights, and to get along. In the Constitution under the Preamble, it states…
Letter from Gerry Welch Politicians Are Beating the Drum Again the drumming of politicians promising the moon. Lowering taxes, attacking crime, public work projects, offering handouts! What is needed: Refine existing programs, reduce waste and stop making promises that can’t be kept. They should offer to shore up our Social Security system. Gerry WelchCooperstown…
Column by Dr. Richard Sternberg New COVID Vaccine Offers Broader Protection On Wednesday August 31 the FDA authorized, for emergency use, two new, bivalent, COVID vaccines. Bivalent means that each shot contains two variants of the vaccine. The following day the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommended the use of those vaccines and the same day, CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., endorsed the committee’s recommendations for use of updated COVID-19 boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech for people ages…
News from the Noteworthy Algae Bloom Affects Lake Activities The summer of 2022 will be remembered as the year our beloved Lake Otsego first suffered a Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB). The conditions which allow a HAB to occur are known. This column reviews Village of Cooperstown public beaches, boat launch sites and most importantly, Village drinking water. The SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station (BFS) has monitored lake conditions for decades. This summer, when Glimmerglass State Park first noted an algae…
We’re All in This Together Grand plans and strategies. From the moment I rise ‘til I trundle off to bed, I’m generating notes, workflows, and timelines. There are people to call. Committees to fill. Problems to solve. Plans and strategies… they’re so important. Until they’re not. Last week, the tick-tock of my work-clock stopped. On Friday, I opted for a day away from City Hall. I wasn’t feeling well. But rest didn’t have its desired result and I grew increasingly…
Column by Dr. Richard Sternberg West Nile Virus To add to all the other viruses that we have had to think about, COVID, monkeypox, polio, we can add West Nile Virus (WNV) which is now endemic in the New York City area. This is not yet affecting us in Otsego County and surrounding areas and probably won’t. While it is transmitted to humans by mosquitos, the reservoir, the source and reproduction site for the virus is various bird species. There…
Editorial Looking an Aqua Pandemic in the Eye Recently, we at The Freeman’s Journal have become aware that some of our readers, and others who may not be our readers, still have questions about the toxic algae blooms that of late have been creeping up on us from the depths and edges of our beloved Otsego Lake. So here goes an effort to get it right. According to NOAA, whose satellites, along with those of the EPA, NASA and the…
News from the Noteworthy Much Ado About Methane Our column, The Life of the Land, is an exploration of local agricultural practices. Several of our pieces will focus on farms which raise grass-fed animals; here we address the environmental implications of locally raised livestock. It is indisputable that industrial livestock management is an ecological disaster. This has led to pronouncements from numerous authoritative agencies to eat “less meat” or even “no meat”. Yet grass-fed production of livestock is an important…
Letter to the Editor Correction Last week we published a letter to the editor about the algae bloom in Lake Otsego. Please direct any questions to Holly Waterfield at the Biological Field Station or visit http://suny.oneonta.edu/biological-field-station.…
