M
ERRY
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HRISTMAS
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HOMETOWN ONEONTA !
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F Volume 7, No. 14
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, December 26, 2014
! e g o o r c S F...
By JIM KEVLIN
COOPERSTOWN
G
ary Koutnik hasn’t just played Scrooge, he and his audience live the story of redemption together. “Everybody knows the play,” said
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Gift Wrapping Is Recyclable, Alert Reminds
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emember, holiday wrapping paper is recyclable and should not be thrown away as trash, the Otsego County Planning Department said in an alert issued two days before Christmas. Wrapping paper can be mixed with regular household recyclables and either left for the local hauler or delivered to the Oneonta transfer station, which will be open again for business on Friday, Dec. 26, the alert said. Same for computers and other electronics, the alert says.
Complimentary
O FOR THE LOVE
City of The Hills
Retired Lt. Col. Gene Pickford leads the Salvation Army Band Tuesday, Dec. 23, outside Southside Mall, as the army’s fundraising season nears its end.
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch Ebenezer Scrooge (Oneonta’s Gary Koutnik) is surrounded by his ghosts – from right, Christmas Past (Caley Sharratt), Christmas Present (Gary Kuch) and Christmas Yet To Come (Art Newell).
the actor, mutton-chopped for the time being. “They know what happens at the end. They’re waiting for it. I feel like I’m being swept along. “The more emotion I’m feeling on stage in the character, the more I can help the audience feel. And the audience helps me do that, too.” Koutnik, retired special-ed director Please See SCROOGE, A3
Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Conversation On Hold
Teenagers THE DANCE OF CHRISTMAS Consultant Waiting For Turn Ideas Town, City Into Profit Water Plans By LIBBY CUDMORE
By LIBBY CUDMORE
I
t’s always been Laine Johnson’s dream to own her own bakery. “I love to bake pastries and macaroons,” she said. And now, even though she’s just 13, she’s on her way to making that dream come true. Johnson is one of eight students countywide participating in the Otsego County Chamber of Commerce’s Young Entrepreneurs Academy – YEA! – a national program which aims to connect students to the business ON CSI: Oneonta heartcommunity. throb Cuyle Carvin appeared “It’s a nice opportunity for on CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene students to use their talents Investigation,” Sunday, Dec. and the business community 21. to turn their big ideas Please See YEA, A6 TANGY SITE: Check out Brooks’ House of Bar-B-Q’s new “sweet and tangy” website at www.brooksbbq.com, developed by Oneonta-based Otsego 2000’s Vibrant Creative. It went live Nicole Dillingin recent days. ham hugs fel-
A
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Snow Queen (Kennedy Brown) and her Cavalier (Michal Wozniak) welcome Clara to the Land of Snowflakes in the Fokine Ballet’s “Nutcracker” Friday-Saturday, Dec. 19-20, at SUNY Oneonta’s GoodrichTheater.
t the GO-DEC meeting on Monday, Dec. 15, Fred Krone invited Town of Oneonta Supervisor Bob Wood and City Hall to talk to him “bright and early” the next morning. And Krone Fred Krone followed through. “I reached out to Bob Wood the next day,” he said. “We’re meeting Jan. 7, and I’m reaching out to City Hall.” Krone, the co-founder of Grant & Essential ManagePlease See PLANS, A7
Jubilant Local Fracking Foes Shift Focus To Renewables, Pipeline
START A BUSINESS: The Small Business Development Center is offering Small Business Startup Training 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. three Tuesdays in January beginning on the 6th, at SUNY Oneonta’s Morris Hall. Information at 4324500, extension 208.
low anti-fracking Bob Eklund, New Lisbon, at a celebration at Cafe Ommegang after Governor Cuomo announced the fracking ban. “This is historic. This is euphoria,” she said.
By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN
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oday, Albany. Tomorrow, Kalangadoo, Australia. While local fracking foes were elated by Governor Cuomo’s Wednesday, Dec. 16, announcement that he Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA plans to ban the controver-
Laura Malloy, Laurens, and Clark Rhodes,Worcester, pur champagne.
sial practice in New York State, they were already looking beyond. The widest-reaching is Lou Allstadt, the retired Mobil executive vice president, whose short-term plans include appearing on a Jan. 12 panel at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club. Fellow panelists will be Angus Gillespie, a Shell vice presiPlease See FRACKING, A7
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD
See the ad on page A3 for complete schedule.