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Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, April 11, 2013
Volume 205, No. 15
COOPERSTOWN AND AROUND
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Cooperstown’s Newspaper
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AT VILLAGE CLERK VENDING, INC.
Get Yer Parking Permit By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN
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The Freeman’s Journal
Toddsville’s John Finch was among hundreds of bidders drawn to Otego Thursday, April 4, when Hesse Galleries auctioned off artifacts from Stevens’ Hardware, Oneonta’s oldest downtown store/DETAILS, B1
Village Budget With Hike, Fees Due At Hearing COOPERSTOWN
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he village’s 201213 budget, which includes a range of new revenues from parkingrelated fees, goes to public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11, in 22 Main. The budget includes firsttime revenues from on-street paid parking, parking permits and a hand-held computer parking-fine system. It also includes a 2 percent tax increase, and a public law is being considered that would allow that to go higher. View budget at WWW.ALLOTESGO.COM THINK RINK: A “Think Rink” forum for skating enthusiasts to assess their experiences at the Badger Park rink is at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 14, in the upstairs room at 22 Main. Questions, call Debbie LeCates at 547-7151. ...AND HOW! Cooperstown’s Got Talent, featuring K-12 singers, dancers, piano players and acrobats, is 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 12, at the high school, sponsored by the Cooperstown Foundation for Excellence in Education. Questions, call Jan Kerr at 547-9365.
Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s Journal
The regulars are back at the former TJ’s in downtown Cooperstown, which reopened Thursday, April 4, as Batter’s Up. Jim Dow, left, provided proprietor Barbara Melnichenko with the first dollar. At right are Mike Welch and Jimmy Tongue.
18-Year Waitress Reopens Restaurant As Batter’s Up By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN
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o Barbara Melnichenko, who has opened Batter’s Up in the former TJ’s Place, a restaurant is like home. “You know all the people,” she said the other day, sitting next to her father and business partner, contractor Vladimir Melnichenko of Fly Creek. “They come into see you
every day.” Case in point: A group of regulars – Jim Dow, Jim Tongue, Bill Murdock, Keith Addison (and recent arrival Mike Welch) among them – had just finished their morning cup of coffee, picking up a ritual that lapsed when Ted Hargrove, who ran TJ’s for 22 years, closed it last fall. “It’s like ‘Cheers.’ This is what it is,” she said. Barb is partnering with her dad, Barb worked for Ted for Vladimir Melnichenko. Son Nickolas Please See BARB, A7 is waiting tables.
Planners Scout Broad-Band Towers By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN
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he system that will deliver broadband Internet service to Otsego County’s every
nook and cranny will piggyback on 10-15 existing towers. But CompDirect USA’s signal will also be using some 70-80 church steeples – or perhaps even the tallest building in town, from Decatur to Laurens to Roseboom – to connect localities to the world.
Mike Stagnola, CompDirect’s president, county IT Director Brian Pokorny and county Highway Superintendent Ron Tiderencel began the reconnoiter Wednesday, April 3, examining two towers near Cherry Valley and one each Please See BROADBAND, A3
ou can foil paid parking in the Village of Cooperstown. But it will cost you $25. Per car, that
The $25 permits are now on sale, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays, at the Village Clerk’s Office in the basement of 22 Main. Bring your car’s registration. Village Trustee Cindy Falk bought the first one on the first day, April 1. The Freeman’s Journal Today, if Assistant Village you can find a Clerk Jennifer Truax shows off space downtown, you can the new parking permits. park for two hours. With a permit, you can continue to do so from Memorial Day to Columbus Day weekend, just as you can now. (Paid parking lapses over the winter.) Paid parking downtown will be in force on Main Street between Pine Boulevard and River Street, and Pioneer from Church Street to the vicinPlease See PERMITS, A7
Local Chapter Breaks Planned Parenthood Tie By LIBBY CUDMORE
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he local chapter of Planned Parenthood has disaffiliated from the national organization and is now Family Planning of South Central New York. But its Title X fundMarcus ing is assured for at least the next 2½ years – and well past that, Family Planning CEO Debra Marcus anticipates. And it will continue to offer the same services – STD testing, birth control, cancer screenings, HIV testing, as well as pregnancy tests and counseling – that its 10,000 patients a year, many uninsured, in four counties Please See MARCUS, B4
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD
TASTE BUBBLY CHAMPAGNES & SPARKLING WINES! Friday, April 26th • 5:30PM • The Fenimore Room Enjoy Domaine Mumm “Brut Prestige”, NV (Napa Valley, California), Mionetto “Gold Label” Prosecco Brut, NV (Valdobbiadene, Italy), Moët & Chandon “Imperial” Brut, NV (Epernay, France), and Veuve Clicquot “Ponsardin” Brut Rosé, NV (Reims, France). $35.00 includes the one-hour tasting with paired small plate samplings.
Only $35.00 (including tax & service charge) Reservations are required!
Please… stay for dinner!
For Champagne Tasting or Hawkeye Grill reservations, please call (607) 544-2524. You must be at least 21 years old to participate. THE OTESAGA RESORT HOTEL, 60 LAKE STREET, COOPERSTOWN •
WWW.OTESAGA.COM