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 The Freeman's Journal News Archive |
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Bassett Healthcare has appointed its first chief academic officer and plans to create its own "regional campus" medical school within three years. The Village Bicentennial Committee plans to issue a commemorative first-day cover on April 3, the 200th anniversary to the day of the Village of Cooperstown's incorporation. It will feature stamps of James Fenimore Cooper and of the Centennial of Baseball, among others. State Rep. Bill Magee, D-Nelson, is introducing legislation to allow Otsego County to refund taxes. The county Board of Representatives approved a 2007 budget it thought included a 2.5 percent tax increase; the tax increase was actually 25 percent. State Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, has introduced a similar bill in the upper house. To brighten up a gray time of year, Richard Jacobson and the late Joe Canzeri founded the Cooperstown Winter Carnival in 1966. On Friday, Feb. 9, a parade launches the 41st annual celebration. The Village of Cherry Valley has obtained a $22,700 state grant to determine if it should be dissolved and its functions taken over by the town. A snowstorm of record proportions dumped as much at 38 inches on parts of Otsego County on Valentine's Day. The 12th annual Polar Bear Dip at Goodyear Lake Saturday, Feb. 17, is expected to attract more than 100 participants. A screenplay, "The Cooperstown Caboose," is complete and it's author is shopping around for a producer. Portabello's is planning a 5,000-square-foot banquet hall on Route 28 two miles north of its Fly Creek restaurant. The village trustees have reduced the assessment on the Key Bank building by two-thirds. A fascinating family is responsible for making the Goodyear Lake Polar Bear Plunge such a big success. Downtown merchants will be able to put up sidewalk displays this summer, but only on their own properties and only from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. They want more. Reuters took a photo of First Lt. Dan Capozza of Cooperstown after last Sunday's bombing of an open-air market in Sadr City, and beamed the image around the world.  A public hearing is scheduled on plans to turn historic Woodside Hall into high-end hotel. A Cherry Valley woman is publicist for the girlfriend of Jack Nicholson's character in "The Departed," the Oscar winningest movie of the year. The Otsego County Democratic Committee will consider a resolution asking the county's two Congress members to introduce a resolution to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Richfield Springs' Patrick Hooker is confirmed as state agriculture commissioner. The end of the beginning: Donald Watson Sr., who at 18 years old in 1938 was the first employee hired by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, has died. The Cooperstown Central school board is working on a $7 million bond issue that would create five "smart classrooms" for science classes, replace the revered but worn-out Kid City playground with equipment up to modern safety codes, and tackle a number of routine but expensive maintenance issues. Reunion Power has offered to pick up the electricity bills of all Cherry Valley residents for the next 20 years in an effort to generate support for the 24 windmills it is proposing on East Hill. The Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce is seeking 1,000 rooms in private homes to accommodate the throng expected for Cal Ripken Jr.'s induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame next summer. Dreams Park, the youth-baseball-tournament in Hartwick Seminary, is in talks with the City of Athens and Limestone County, Alabama, about building a 25-diamond park there. The New York Times chose "Eat the Document," the novel by Dana Spiotta of Cherry Valley, as one of its Notable Books of 2006. The book was also a National Book Award finalist. The bear that has been rampaging through Pierstown the past few weeks has been shot. Retired NYSHA President Daniel R. Porter III, who died Nov. 21, had written his own self-deprecatory obituary, which caused a stir in his hometown in western Massachusetts. Bailey the Basset is the new mascot at Rudy's Liquor Store. Her predecessor, Barclay, died in September after 14 years of greeting passersby and visitors on Main Street, Cooperstown Bassett Healthcare is installing a futuristic electronic-medical-record system that will make all patient information available to doctors with a few keystrokes. Mayor Carol Waller attended a mayoral think-tank at Cambridge, Mass., and brought the news: Cooperstown does NOT have a parking problem. The would-be developer of a fourth hotel in Hartwick Seminary may sue the town for putting obstacles in his way. A Thomas Hicks painting from the 19th century, "Otsego Lake, 1862," has been acquired by the Fenimore Art Museum. Baby bison broke free from a Fly Creek Valley farm in recent days. Four have been recaptured, but two continue to roam the countryside. Reunion Power Vice President David Little says of Cherry Valley's new wind-power ordinance: "The ordinance, as written, would kill the project." Reunion has been proposing 24 windmills for East Hill. Santa Claus gives exclusive interview to The Freeman's Journal, where he reveals he is as much a counselor as a giver of gifts. The Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce has pulled back from plans to expedite the inspections of 1,000 rooms in private homes needed to accommodate attendees at next summer's Hall of Fame Induction Weekend. Cherry Valley Town Supervisor Tom Garretson, who guided a divided town threatened by runaway industrial wind-turbine development to one in control of its future, is The Freeman's Journal "Citizen of the Year" for 2006. It was a rare green Christmas, but people just want to talk about memorable white ones. Sheriff Don Mundy, Otsego County's top law-enforcement officer for the past 13 years, retires as of Dec. 31. Developer Shane Newell outlines his plans for luxury condos on the top floor of the Key Bank building at 103 Main St. The one stumbling block: parking. Cooperstown native Jan Conklin is coordinating producer of TV's longest-running soap opera, "Guiding Light." This year, she is involved in the show's 70th anniversary celebration, partnering with the Hands On Network of volunteers to rebuild Gulf Coast homes damaged by Katrina. Robert H. Boyle, retired Sports Illustrated senior editor and senior reporter, recalls barnstorming with the Negro Leagues in Mexico in the 1950s, and a near-riot in San Luis Potosi where he feared for his life. The Otsego County Board of Representatives thought the 2007 budget it approved would raise taxes 2.5 percent; someone, however, forgot about tax-exempt properties, and tax bills mailed out are 25 percent higher than the year before. It's unclear what, if anything, can now be done. The Village of Cooperstown Bicentennial is under way with the arrival of 2007. The first activity is a slide-show lecture on 200 years of local history by Village Historian Hugh MacDougall, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12 in village hall, 22 Main St. The Baseball Writers Association of America members have submitted 500 ballots, and the 2007 inductees into the National Baseball Hall of Fame will be announced at 2 p.m. Tuesday on www.baseballhalloffame.org, followed by a press conference Wednesday at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. The Friends of Bassett's 13th annual New Year's Eve gala – the theme: "El Morocco: Celebrate Life!" – raised a record $120,000 toward an $800,000 cancer-screening mobile coach. Patrick Hooker, whose family settled on Hooker Mountain near Westville in 1830, is Governor Spitzer's nominee to head the state Department of Agriculture & Markets. Don't spend your county tax refund yet: It could be weeks, or months – on never – before the county can correct tax bills that reflect a 25 percent increase. Snow and icy weather has arrived, just in time to prevent serious damage to plants. Alex & Ika, the celebrated Cherry Valley restaurant, will be bringing attention to detail to Cooperstown when it opens at 149 Main St. in May. This week's bicentennial feature deals with Joe Tom, a former slave who was a fixture around the village in the 19th century. At the kickoff of the Village of Cooperstown's Bicentennial, Mayor Waller announced formation of the 22 Main Street Renovation Committee to restore the Neoclassical community building. A couple in Seattle have named their new son "Cooperstown." John Bullis, who will replace Polly Renckens as Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce executive director on March 1, has a record of accomplishment. The Cooperative Extension board has stirred up a hornets' nest by implementing a five-year strategic plan that required four layoffs, including an extension agent with 33 years' tenure. The Hanson family of Beaver Meadow Road tell how they found the 2007 Winter Carnival medallion only knowing first clue. Due to the outcry by property owners, the Town of Otesgo is backing away from Conservation Subdivision Regulations designed to preserve the town's open space. Developers may be asked to follow the guidelines voluntarily. Cooperstown's Concern Citizens' group had asked the school board to consider closing the second floor of the elementary school to save installing a $200,000 elevator. But parents appearing before the school board called the idea "crazy" A peace march and rally drew 150 people to Templeton Hall, where speakers included Elizabeth Peterson, widow of Chicago Eight defendant David Dellinger, who moved to the Town of Westford from Vermont a year ago to live with her daughter. For 15 years, renovating an old stone mansion on Route 20 near Richfield Springs has been Isidoro Marra's hobby. By Thanksgiving, he plans to open the building as a fine restaurant, Villa Isidoro. The supplement to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the 68-turbine Jordanville Wind Project has been completed, starting a clock that could allow groundbreaking to occur in the spring of 2007. 65 Toddsville neighbors have signed a petitition to prevent demolition of a 19th-century iron bridge which they want to preserve for walkers, bicyclists, fishermen and picnickers, but the county hasn't given them a warm reception. The Susquehanna River still reeks of oil near the Clark Sports Center, but crews have located the leak in a pipe leading from underground tanks to the rec facility. Ted Peters has been honored as 2006 Conservationist of the Year by the Otsego County Conservation Association, which has also begun fundraising for a buffer strip at the bottom of Pioneer Street to clean runoff going into the lake. Reunion Power is offer a $2,000 flat fee to property owners around its proposed Cherry Valley wind farm; in exchange, the company wants the landowners to waive the 2,000-foot setback contained in the town wind ordinance, due to be approved next week. A black bear has been raiding bee hives in the Pierstown neighborhood. The Toddsville neighbors have been given a month to put together a plan to preserve a 19th-century wrought-iron bridge for pedestrians, bicyclists and fishermen. Photographer Richard Duncan's new book, "Cooperstown," is about to be published, just in time for Christmas shopping. A fourth national hotel chain -- Hampton Inn & Suites -- may be represented soon in Hartwick Seminary. A hearing on the project, to be located next to Holiday Inn & Suites and operated by the same franchisee, is planned at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, in Hartwick Town Hall. 150 people showed up at the Fly Creek Fire Hall Wednesday, Oct. 6, to debate proposed Conservation Subdivision Regulations. The Otsego town board has scheduled an informational meeting for 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 16 at the town hall in Fly Creek. The author of "Susquehanna", a 1984 novel about the river in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., visited Cooperstown and the Susquehanna's source for the first time. The general managers' of the Best Western and Howard Johnson in Hartwick Seminary spoke against plans of Holiday Inn franchisee Erfan Khan to build a Hampton Inn at a public hearing in Hartwick town hall. The Village Library installed Wi-Fi in the last few days, the start of $17,500 in repairs and upgrades. Freeman's Journal reporter Tom Heitz, former librarian at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, remembers Buck O'Neil. The two worked together on a Ken Burns' documentary on the Negro Leagues. The Chiba family has been living in a straw-bale house in Cherry Valley and are very cozy, thank you. Polly Renckens, who tripled membership in the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce during her nine years as executive director, has announced her retirement, effective March 1. A sometimes rowdy crowd in Fly Creek argued through the evening with a planning consultant over proposed Conservation Subdivision Regulations. Fabian Bresset III, one of two Cherry Valley town board members originally predisposed in favor of a 24-turbine windmill farm, is stepping down at the end of the year. Barclay, the basset hound who for years greeted visitors and residents alike from his perch in front of Rudy's Liquor Store on Main Street, Cooperstown, has died. With halloween a week away, there's plenty to do in the vicinity of Scaryville. While some people say development is unlikely in the communities around Otsego Lake, rural Springfield, at the lake's north end, is becoming a development hot spot: Eight subdivisions, more than 65 lots in all, are being considered by the Planning Board there. Otsego County is divided into two Congressional districts, and both are in play in the battle for control of Congress. Republican Ray Meier and Democrat Mike Arcuri are competing to the west in the 24th, and Republican John Sweeney and Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand in the 20th to the east. A memorial service is planned this weekend at The Farmers' Museum for Agnes Jones, widow of longtime New York State Historical Association executive director Lou Jones. The owners of the Glimmerglass Queen, the Otsego Lake tour boat, are erecting scaffolding to encase the boat for the winter, and neighbors are concerned the structure will be an eyesore. The Natural Resource Defense Council, concerned about how wind-farm construction is splitting the environmental movement, is gathering representatives of environmental groups across New York State to work on a unified position. County Planning Director Terry Bliss and his son, Scott, made sure to visit Cooperstown, North Dakota, during a vacation in the Wild West in August. With a county-sheriff race among the primaries coming up Tuesday, Sept. 12, Deputy Rich Devlin and former Trooper Skip Beijen are vying to replace retiring Sheriff Donald Mundy. Unearthed papers in Cornell University's archives prove the small covered bridge associated with Hyde Hall is the oldest in the nation. Bob Dylan returns to Cooperstown and plays to a crowd of 3,078 fans. A summary of the local Primary races. The Cooperstown Central School District launched "Greatness in Our Sights," a program aimed at getting all students performing above "grade level" by 2010. As expected, Sgt. Richard J. Devlin Jr., endorsed by the Republican County Committee, won the GOP primary. But other primaries brought at least one surprise. The Cherry Valley planning board has prepared the second draft of a wind ordinance containing setback requirements that will block at least some of Reunion Power's turbines from being built. An ecumenical service marked the fifth anniversary of 9-11 in Cooperstown. A proposed wind ordinance in the Town of Cherry Valley goes to public hearing at 6 p.m., Monday in the town barn, but the setbacks it includes may rule out any turbines locating in the town. Also on the topic of wind, organizers are gearing up for the first Cherry Valley International Kite Festival, planned for Sept. 30. Cooperstown village trustees and downtown merchants are at odds over a proposal to ban sidewalk displays. The ordinance has been sent back to committee, to be discussed Oct. 5. Bill Miller, developer of the $1.3 million Arrowhead Pointe condos, has a record of paying attention to detail. A 1907 "Cooperstown March and Two Step" has been rediscovered, just in time for the village's bicentennial next year. Coopertown Community Band director is having it recast for brass. The Friends of Doubleday are selling commemorative granite pavers in front of the legendary birthplace of baseball. The goal: to eventually achieve a $5 million endowment to tend the field in perpetuity. Hank Nicols, the former Cooperstown police chief and father of the current chief Diana Nicols, completes the Appalachian Trail, despite flood, injury and personal loss. Cherry Valley's proposal wind regulations are strongly supported at a bullish public hearing. The set-back requirements may bar Reunion Power from putting turbines on all but 2/10ths of an acre on East Hill. Empire State Carousel creator Gerry Holzman returns to visit his creation, fully recuperated from the heart attack that required him to be brought to the opening ceremonies on Memorial Day in a golf cart. The annual Cooperstown Pumpkin Festival and the first Cherry Valley International Kite Festival are Saturday, Sept. 30 Ninety-six people spoke -- all but a dozen in favor of a moratorium that would have delayed a 24-turbine windmill farm on East Hill -- and many who did praised democracy and thanked the Cherry Valley town board for giving them a chance to speak their minds, though the 2-1 vote at about 9:45 -- the hearing had begun at 6 -- brought cries of outrage from windmill opponents. More than 100 people attended the meeting held on Thursday, July 27, as Otesgo 2000 volleyed back during the final public hearing on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement regarding the 75-turbine Jordanville Wind Project, fielding three consultants who detailed impacts the project will have on sight-lines from Otsego Lake, hydrology and cultural landscapes. While officials at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum may have had their hands full during the annual induction weekend, several shop owners reported a drop in sales and foot traffic despite an estimated influx of 11,000 baseball enthusiasts who ventured to the grounds of the Clark Sports Center for the Hall of Fame inductions ceremonies on Sunday, July 30. A year ahead of the National Baseball Hall of Fame's 2006 Induction Weekend, all room now available in the Cooperstown area have been reserved. The Cherry Valley planning board appeared mystified on how to craft a windmill-control ordinance, but the town board put the proposed law on the fast-track anyhow. The Fly Creek Cider Mill will mark its 150th anniversary Wednesday, Aug. 16, with a fundraiser for an effort to buy a new cancer-detection system for Bassett Hospital and the unveiling of a new product: Sharp cheddar cheese aged in Howe Caverns. Delayed for 155 years by a death-bed wish, the first volume of a two-volume biography of James Fenimore Cooper is now at the printers. Scholars hope it will revive the literary reputation of Cooperstown's native son. Otsego 2000 has challenged the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the 75-turbine Jordanville Wind Project, saying it is incomplete. Meanwhile, Cherry Valley adopted a three-month moratorium that would delay a 25-turbine project on East Hill. The Brookwood School, based on the Montessori method, cut the ribbon on a $4 million building that raises the total number of classrooms to 12 and allows the school to serve hot lunches for the first time. As many as 22,000 people may throng to Cooperstown the weekend of July 28-30 for Induction Weekend at the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum. Bassett Hospital instituted a no-smoking policy on July 1, but smokers have simply been leaving the hospital campus and congregating on sidewalks in the neighborhood. Neighbors are irked. 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