(Andy Matviak 7-15-14)
Sidney economic development director John Redente also commented:
(John Redente 7-15-14)
The project is located in the former Sherwood Height section; it’s the first phase of many projects reshaping the village of Sidney following the floods of 2006 & 2011.
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A state judge dismissed 2 lawsuits that sought to force Governor Cuomo to authorize shale-gas drilling in New York. Supreme Court Justice Roger McDonough tossed the lawsuits, ruling that the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York and Mark Wallach, the trustee for Norse Energy, lack the authority to bring the legal challenge & because they did not suffer environmental harm. The state’s review of fracking is guided by the State Environmental Quality Review Act, which requires an extensive analysis when a government action could have an impact on the environment.
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68-year-old Duane Merrill of Hamden died in a farming accident on Friday afternoon, according to the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies reported to 2152 Chambers Hollow Road, where Merrill was baling hay when the tractor’s seat detached causing him to fall backward onto the ground between the tractor and baler, He became entangled in the machine and was killed.
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The Chenango County Sheriff’s Office arrested 22-year-old Michele Huedepohl of Triangle for 3 counts of Endangering the Welfare of a child. Huedepohl was charged for allegedly forcing a 9 year old to smoke marijuana, and for allowing a 15-year-old female to smoke marihuana in her presence and in the presence of a 6-year-old child in the Village of Greene. Huedepohl was charged with 3 counts of Endangering the Welfare of a child & was issued appearance tickets for the Village of Greene Court and will appear at a later date.
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Chenango county sheriff’s deputies arrested 45-year-old Jeffry Reynolds, following traffic stop in the Village of New Berlin. The deputy observed the Reynolds of almost causing a head on accident, deputies accused Reynolds was driving while intoxicated. Reynolds was taken into custody, processed & was released to a sober 3rd party. Reynolds was charged with DWI, Driving with a BAC of .08 or more, unsafe tires, no distinctive plate, and failure to yield right of way, he will appear in the Town of New Berlin Court at a later date.
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New York will disclose the routes and schedules of freight trains hauling tanker cars filled with crude oil as they pass through New York on their way to coastal refineries. The State denied a request by CSX Transportation & Canadian Pacific Railway to sign a non-disclosure agreement; they began providing the information to the State Emergency Response Commission on June 7th. Safety concerns about the shipment of oil by rail has grown as the frequency of the shipments has grown. Senator Chuck Schumer is co-sponsoring legislation requiring the FEMA to form a panel to address derailments involving hazardous materials and crude oil tankers.
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Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino challenged Governor Cuomo to 8 debates between now and Election Day. Cuomo may first face a Democratic primary, as Democratic candidate Zephyr Teachout will submit 3 times the number of petition signatures necessary to force a primary.
Binghamton & Johnson City Police Chief Joseph Zikuski confirmed this morning at about 7:05 AM; an officer with the Johnson City Police Department was shot and killed near Wilson Hospital in Johnson City. The shooting suspect was in surgery & was confirmed dead moments ago. The suspect’s car was located on Hudson Street, Bomb-detecting dogs and bomb squads were called to the scene, and Harrison Street was blocked off to the public, and Hospital staff have evacuated from 30 and 22 Harrison Street. WCDO will have further details as they become available.
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State lawmakers are voting on the rest of the budget bills today, making this the 4th straight year that New York will have an on-time budget. Area state senator Jim Seward comments on the tax cutting aspect of the budget;
(Seward budget 3-31-14)
State senator Tom Libous also commented that tax cuts, education aid and the slowing down of common core implementation is in this budget:
(Libous Budget 3-31-14)
The budget also contains 10 million dollars in start up money for the new Binghamton University school of Pharmacy building, to be built in Johnson City near Wilson Hospital.
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New York State of Health reported that 1,130,600 New Yorkers have completed their applications and 782,472 have enrolled for coverage since the launch of the Marketplace on October 1st. The deadline for individuals and families to enroll in coverage through is today, more than 70% of those who have enrolled were uninsured at the time of application.
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22-year-old Brad Goodrich of Greene was released from Wilson Medical Center after being treated for internal injuries and faces vehicular homicide charges for allegedly driving drunk and causing a crash that killed his passenger. Goodrich had a blood alcohol content of 0.25% when his vehicle crashed into a utility pole on March 7th on Hogsback Road in Greene, 23 year old Brandon Archer, was pronounced dead at the scene. Goodrich was indicted by a grand jury on March 20th & faces arraignment today in Chenango County Court, for aggravated vehicular homicide, 2nd degree manslaughter, 2nd degree vehicular manslaughter, DWI, and reckless driving.
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Chenango County sheriffs department arrested 62-year-old Maxie James Godfrey of Oneonta, who is accused of paying an undercover DEA agent, to murder 1 person & requesting the agent murder a 2nd individual. Godfrey had asked other inmates at the Otsego county jail about murder for hire, the DEA supplied an agent to pose as a hit man; they met at the Jail, where Godfrey was arrested and is being held at the Otsego County jail on $10,000 bail.
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The state Attorney General’s office is trying to dismiss 2 lawsuits that seek to force a decision on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in New York. The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York, and the bankruptcy trustee for Norse Energy, filed separate legal challenges recently, arguing that the Cuomo administration is unnecessarily delaying a review of hydrofracking. Hydrofracking has been under a moratorium in New York since 2008, when then-Governor David Paterson began the environmental review process. A hearing on the lawsuits is currently scheduled for April 25th in state Supreme Court in Albany.
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The state Gaming Commission’s Facility Location Board will put out requests for applications today for 4 privately owned casinos in 3 regions of the state: the Albany area, Catskills and Southern Tier. 9 bidders have already come forward with their plans, working out to 3 bidders in each region. The application process will end on June 30th.
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The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York announced today that the Mountain States Legal Foundation has agreed to assist with their lawsuit against the New York State. The coalition lawsuit demands that the DEC identify a date when the Environmental Impact Statement on hydrofracking will be completed and permit applications will be processed. Coalition president Dan Fitzsimmons told WCDO News that activists have slowed down this process with unsubstantiated claims:
(Dan Fitzsimmons 1-31-14)
Fitzsimmons said that if the state fails to comply on or before February 13th the Mountain State Legal Foundation would file an Article 78 Petition asking a court to compel DEC to complete the statement pursuant to the requirements of the State Environmental Quality Review Act.
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Delaware County Sheriff Deputies arrested 38 year old William Caputo of Walton for Promoting Prison Contraband. Caputo is accused of attempting to introduce suboxone into the Delaware County Jail, he will answer to the charge in the Town of Delhi Court at a later date.
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Sidney residents in the flood prone areas are urged to meet with village economic development director John Redente in the next 2 weeks, to figure out which of several options that they can chose regarding their property. Redente told WCDO that their options are much better than before:
(John Redente 1-31-14)
State officials met with about 200 village residents Wednesday night, those interested in setting up an appointment can call 561-2320.
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U.S. Senator Charles Schumer said federal authorities are releasing $50.6 million more to provide home heating aid to New Yorkers. Families whose incomes are 150% of the federal poverty level or lower are eligible for assistance. For more information on the program go to otda.ny.gov.
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The state Legislature is wrapping up its first week of budget hearings. The Senate and Assembly fiscal committees held their fourth hearing yesterday on Governor Cuomo’s proposed $137.2 billion budget for the fiscal year starting in April. The hearing yesterday addressed transportation issues. Previous hearings this week looked at local government, the environment and education. The budget is due April 1st.
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The Chenango county sheriff’s department arrested 27-year-old Amy Dwyer of German on charges of 2nd degree Harassment, 3rd degree Assault, as well as 4th degree Criminal Mischief & Resisting Arrest. Dwyer is arrested following an investigation of a Domestic Dispute, where she is accused of striking & biting the victim & smashing a cell phone that was being used to call police. Dwyer was arraigned & was remanded to the Chenango County Jail on $500 cash bail; she will reappear in the Town of German Court at a later date.
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New York State Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Darrell Aubertine will deliver the Executive Budget presentation on behalf of Governor Andrew Cuomo today in Norwich. The presentation will be given at the Northeast Classic Car Museum at 24 Rexford Street at 11:00 AM.
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Students in the Harpursville school district will be off again today, as work continues on a defective water pump in the school’s well. Students are expected to return to classes on Tuesday.
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The Broadway musical “ROCK OF AGES” comes to the Broome County Forum in Binghamton this evening. The show is set in 1987 on the Sunset Strip, & features 28 hits from the 80’s. Tickets are still available through ticketmaster.com, 1-800-745-3000 or at the Arena Box office.
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The 77,000 member Joint Landowners Coalition issued a statement regarding the potential for the DEC to miss the February 27th Deadline for the release of the regulations for Hydraulic Fracturing for natural gas. Coalition CEO Dan Fitzsimmons told WCDO News that the idea of waiting for health studies before Hydrofracking starts is ill timed:
(Dan Fitzsimmons 2-5-13)
DEC Commissioner Joe Martens also was greeted by busloads of New Yorkers against Hydro-fracking, following his meeting with lawmakers in Albany Monday. Martens said that he was not worried about missing the February 27th deadline, as he was waiting for a Health Department study on the possible effects from Gas Drilling by Hydrofracking.
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Delaware County Sheriff Tom Mills announced that new defibrillators are needed for emergency responders throughout the County. The last fund-raising drive to purchase them was conducted in 2000, in 2011; Public Health donated 4 new defibrillators to replace the most outdated models. It is estimated that each new defibrillator will cost approximately $2,000. Donations can be made payable to the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office at 280 Phoebe Lane, Suite One, Delhi, 13753 and designate “Defibrillator Fund” on the reference line.
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Organizers with the annual Chenango Lake Perch Derby announced that the event originally scheduled for this Saturday, has been rescheduled for February 23rd. Registration for the derby is from 6:00 AM to 1:00 PM on February 23rd. More information is available at oxfordlions.org or at 334-2001.
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O’Connor Hospital in Delhi and Tri-Town Regional Hospital in Sidney are now using electronic medical records instead of paper patient charts. The hospitals are now connected electronically with Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown; the end result will demonstrate improvements in care coordination, efficiency in health care delivery, medication safety. All information for each patient is securely contained in one consolidated electronic record, making that information available no matter where the patient is seen for follow-up care within the Bassett Healthcare Network.
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New York Farm Bureau officials testified at a budget hearing in Albany yesterday, regarding the Governor’s proposed agricultural portion of the Executive budget. Farm bureau supports funding for animal health programs, programs to assist farm families directly, & the Governor’s plans to follow up on the Wine, Beer and Spirits Summit from last fall. Farm Bureau is asking for the Legislature to consider increasing funding up to $1,000,000 for promotion and marketing activities for New York’s apple growers after last years crop losses from a spring frost, and for the restoration of marketing funding for maple producers & Christmas tree growers.
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The Cooperstown Art Association will be hosting “An Artistic Discovery,” High School Art Competition for Otsego County High School Students. The competition runs from March 8th through March 29th, 6 students will be awarded ribbons and a digital image of their artwork will then be submitted to Congressman Chris Gibson’s office for final selection in the next phase of competition, 1 student’s work will go on to be displayed in the US Capitol along with 49 other high-school artists’ work from across the country. More information is available at 547-9777.
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