Police review leaves behind serious debates By KEVIN LIMITI • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com Oneonta’s Common Council will likely meet its self-imposed June 1, deadline to review, and change or adopt, the city’s Community Advisory Board’s recommendations for the Oneonta Police Department, Mayor Gary Herzig said Tuesday, May 17. Among the topics being discussed are the status of no-knock raids in Oneonta, making statistics of crime and arrests available to the public and a review board to examine the high number…
Online home of The Freeman's Journal and Hometown Oneonta
Advertisement
George Floyd
Public Must Be Included In Commission To Review Sheriff, D.A.’s Procedures George Floyd Death, Protests Prompted Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 203 By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – County board Chairman David Bliss will be appointing a committee of about a dozen people, including members of the public, to review “policies and procedures” at the Otsego County Sheriff’s Department and those governing the district attorney’s investigators. Bliss and County Attorney Ellen Coccoma yesterday briefed the county board’s Administration…
EDITORIAL Extremism Threatens George Floyd’s Legacy In our nation and county, we have a moment of opportunity. George Floyd’s death – and, in particular, the graphic video, 8 minutes and 46 seconds of it – caused every American of good will, black, white, Hispanic, even, yes, Indians, to say, enough is enough. The mechanisms of reform are starting to turn on the question of the moment: How do we retool our police departments so it, finally, once and for all,…
Unadilla Hosts Rally To Protest Floyd Death Otsego County’s third “Rally for Justice,” in memory of George Floyd, drew 125 people to the Unadilla Village Park Saturday, June 13. Featured speakers included Rev. LaDana Clark and Human Rights Commission Chair Shannon McHugh, both of Oneonta, but also serious Taury Seward, Binghamton, a comedian by trade, Meer Singh, 13, an Oneonta student who listed five steps people can take to fight racism, and Dwight Mott, a Unadilla businessman, who adopted Rwandan…
Richfield Rally For Justice Rescheduled For Friday RICHFIELD SPRINGS – The “Rally for Justice” in memory of George Floyd has been rescheduled for 4-6 p.m. Friday, June 19, in Springs Park at the corner of Main and Lake streets. The rally had been scheduled for yesterday, but was delayed, according to Claire Collins, one of the organizers.…
EDITORIAL Testaments Tell Us: We CAN Do Better At first, the “Defund the Police” initiatives surfacing nationwide seem like a truly awful idea: a blunt instrument to dissect a complex challenge dramatized again by George Floyd’s May 25 death while being taken into custody in Minneapolis. But drilling down, benefits surface. It’s only a slight exaggeration to say that all organizations in Otsego County – local governments, non-profits, churches, businesses large and small, even newspapers – are rethinking operations in…
VICTIM, KINFOLKS, RAISED IN HOUSTON Families Like Floyd’s ‘Great Role Models’ By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Chip Northrup knows a few things about protesting. “There was a big billboard outside of Dallas that proclaimed ‘Welcome to the Home of the John Birch Society’,” he said. “So I got a gang together and we paint-bombed the billboard. I was Antifa before Antifa was cool!” And when he heard about the death of Houston native George Floyd, Northrup recognized…
VIEW PRESIDENT DRUGOVICH’S VIDEO Hartwick United In Seeking Justice Editor’s Note: Hartwick College President Margaret L. Drugovich issued this letter to the college community to address concerns in the wake of George Floyd’s death. By MARGARET DRUGOVICH • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com Simply occupying the office of the college presidency does not give me the right to presume that I know how every member of our community thinks or feels. We do not all agree on politics, culture or even the…
ADDRESS TO CAMPUS COMMUNITY Hartwick College’s President: Education Helps Ensure Justice On May 31, six days after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, Hartwick College President Margaret L. Drugovich told students about how, through education, they are preparing to ensure justice in the world. She also shared Hartwick’s reopening plans for the fall and asserts, “When given permission, we will be ready.” And she again thanks those who are keeping us safe during this COVID-19 crisis.…
Herzig, Rissberger Initiating Review Of OPD Practices Chief Brenner Denounces ‘Practices That Hurt, Demean, Destroy Trust’ By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – The mayor and a senior Council member have already opened conversations with Police Chief Doug Brenner on how to review departmental operations in the wake of nationwide unrest following the May 25 death of George Floyd while being taking into custody in Minneapolis. “First of all, I have confidence in our police chief and police…