LETTER from JIM HOWARTH Accelerating Brain Drain Cuomo’s Greatest Failing To the Editor: Speculation and opinions on Andrew Cuomo’s need to resign have been frequent topics in this newspaper. While the allegations of the Governor’s sexual abuses, as well as his COVID-19 policies, have been horrible, they are just that – allegations. Guilt and culpability need substantive proof. I believe the facts will come to light in the Attorney General’s investigation and provide direction for the Governor’s future. One facet…
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COVID-19 - Page 11
Springbrook Tells Staff: Get Vaccinated, Get $500 Bonus By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com With 35 percent of its employees not yet vaccinated, Springbrook is offering a $500 enticement to encourage them to get the COVID-19 vaccine shot. “This is important, this is safe,” said Springbrook CEO Patricia Kennedy. “It’s going to get us back to where we want to be, being with the people we want to be with and doing things we want to do. That’s my…
For Whom The Bell Tolls Chris Gustafson, top, counts the chimes as Rev. Mark Montfort rings the church bell at First Presbyterian Church in Oneonta this morning. Today marks the one-year anniversary of the passing of Brenda L. Utter, Morris, who was the first COVID related death in Otsego County. In the year since Utter’s passing, 55 residents have died from COVID-19, and this morning members of the congregation took turns ringing the bell in memory of those lost. “This…
Presbyterians Plan Tribute Saturday Bells Will Be Tolled, Once For Each Local C-19 Victim ONEONTA – Members of Oneonta’s First Presbyterian Church, 296 Main St., will ring the church bell at 11 a.m. Saturday (tomorrow) to mark the anniversary of the Otsego County’s first COVID-19 death. The bell will be rung one time for each local COVID victim; several church members, and some children, will participate in the bell-ringing, according to the Rev. Mark Montfort, pastor. As of this afternoon,…
LETTER from RICHARD STERNBERG Rotary Edges Toward In Person Meetings There comes a time in the history of an epidemic when the risk of discomfort, disability and death begins to be outweighed by the risks of continued isolation and continued restrictions on normal societal behavior. If we can stay the course on the rate of vaccinations that we’ve seen lately since the mega-sites opened, we can soon reach that point. The CDC has indicated that if all the individuals in…
The Pandemic Year • First Death On March 23, 2020 All Fall To Egalitarian COVID-19 By MICHAEL FORSTER ROTHBART • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com On Monday morning, March 23, 2020, Otsego County confirmed its first case of coronavirus at a Fox clinic in Oneonta. Just three days later, the county recorded the first COVID-19 death. Now, one year later, there have been over 3,500 positive cases here; 54 county residents have died from COVID-19 and related complications. At least eight former…
A Year With COVID In 2020-21, Traditions Fell Away, New Ones Emerged Editor’s Note: For the past year, Melissa Marietta, Fly Creek, SUNY Oneonta director of career development, has chronicled her family’s year with COVID-19. This was posted on Facebook March 15, the anniversary of Otsego County’s state of emergency. The sun shines! The temp rises above freezing! I’m here to check in. It’s the anniversary of The Last Friday. We knew something weird and possibly dangerous was coming. With…
EXECUTIVE ORDER 202 Declaring a Disaster Emergency in the State of New York Editor’s Note: Here’s the beginning of the executive order Governor Cuomo issued on March 7, 2020, putting New York in a state of emergency while it combatted COVID. WHEREAS, on January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization designated the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern; WHEREAS, on January 31, 2020, United States Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II…
EDITORIAL Much To Be Proud Of In Response To COVID-19 Despite the chilling toll – 3,483 COVID-19 cases and 54 deaths – Otsego County people, our neighbors, friends and family, have a lot to be proud of as we ended The Year of The Pandemic on Monday, March 15, we found in revisiting the last 52 editions of this newspaper. Throughout, there was worry, dismay and grief in the face of the implacable and mysterious foe, but little panic. In…
Bassett Hits Home Run Goal Is 120,000 Shots In One Hundred Days State Approves ‘Massive Vaccination Site’ In SUNY Oneonta, To Begin On Thursday By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com In a “vaccine desert,” suddenly there’s an oasis. After weeks of lobbying and some heightened expectation, it’s here: Bassett Healthcare Network announced Tuesday afternoon, March 16, that a COVID-19 “massive vaccination site” would be opening two days later, the 18th, in SUNY Oneonta’s Dewar Field House. The clinic, staffed…