Bob’s biggest battle

Protect conservation land

To the editor:

I began to mourn the loss of a place, an entirely new sense of emotion for me.

Random Thoughts Phil blackwell

Just about every minute since I started this job in another millennium all those seasons ago, he’s been there, an essential character in area high school sports.

Most of those winters, he would arrive at the bench, surrounded by assistant coaches, calmly checking his notes as his teams warmed up, always in a shirt and tie and those trademark suspenders.

Then the game tipped off, and the transformation was instant. Four quarters (or more) of instructing, pleading, cajoling, and plenty of words for officials whenever whistles didn’t go his team’s way.

Far more often than not, his teams won. Whether at Jamesville-DeWitt or later at Bishop Grimes, Bob McKenney would coach basketball teams that, come late February and early March, would pick up a steady stream of banners and plaques.

All of these are noteworthy now because McKenney is battling not against Westhill or CBA or Bishop Ludden, but something that cares not for championship resumes.

Late last year, Bob found out that he had breast cancer, which happens far more often among men than we’d like to admit. After some early treatments, he is now amid chemotherapy sessions.

Yet except for the absence of his curly hair and the more casual outfits most coaches wear these days at games, you’d never know this is a 64-year-old man battling for his life.

Not for more than a day has McKenney gone away from his tasks as both coach and athletic director at Bishop Grimes, taking in all kinds of school activities and even taking part in a benefit last weekend at the school.

It’s funny. Sometimes we bristle at the competitive nature of our most successful coaches, or successful people in any profession, questioning their singleminded determination and focus.

And when we’re at the game, seeing McKenney or someone else express themselves, it’s understandable to tell them to cool down, or of course ask for the technical foul, usually at a high volume.

Yet it’s that very intensity, focus and

Managing Editor: Jennifer Wing, ext. 340, jwing@eaglenewsonline.com

News Editor: Jason Gabak, ext. 319, jgabak@eaglenewsonline.com

Reporter: Kate Hill , ext. 325, khill@eaglenewsonline.com

Reporter: Jason Klaiber, jklaiber@eaglenewsonline.com

Sports Editor: Phil blackwell, ext. 348, pblackwell@eaglenewsonline.com

Display Ads EB: linda Jabbour, ext. 304, ljabbour@eaglenewsonline.com

Display Ads CR: lori lewis, ext. 316, llewis@eaglenewsonline.com

On Jan. 9, 2023 Twin Ponds Housing, LLC presented to the Manlius planning board a plan for proposed construction of 276 units east of N. Burdick Street, Manlius. The map shows the access road traverses a narrow strip of land adjacent to two bodies of water (ponds), and the plan already excludes 55 acres because of a combination of ponds and severe slopes. eaglenewsonline.com/new/ government/2023/01/12/housing-plancalls-for-276-units-on-n-burdick-st/

The Environmental Protection Agency Climate Change Environmental Justice screen (ejscreen.epa.gov/ mapper) shows a 100 year flood plain east of the two ponds extending to route 257, meaning that the proposed units might experience a flood right to their back door. The Department of Environmental Conservation wetlands map (dec.ny.gov/animals/38801.html) shows that site contains an existing freshwater forested/shrub wetland with Bishop and Limestone Creeks (with a joining riverine tributary) adjacent to or within its borders.

The 100-year floodplain follows Limestone Creek which becomes Chittenango Creek which enters Oneida Lake. Decisions made by the Manlius Planning Board to alter the natural water pathways of Bishop and Limestone creeks will impact not only Manlius, but communities downstream all the way to Oneida Lake.

Based on this information, Manlius might consider protecting this land for conservation, rather than approving a building site which already has serious risk of flooding. The local decisions that we make affect our neighbors, adjacent communities, and the public at large. Let’s all look at a goal of 50% conservation of lands and waters by 2050 one acre at a time, and do our part to lessen devastating impacts to our community from climate change.

SONiA y kRAGH, MD member, Climate Change aWareneSS and aCtion member, deWitt adviSory ConServation CommiSSion

My goodbye to Cazenovia College

To the editor:

This winter, Cazenovia College announced it will be closing after the spring 2023 semester. I fell apart at the news. At first, I was angry and I found it difficult to believe that there was no way the college could be saved. The more I learned, the more my anger turned to sorrow and

Classified Advertising: Patti Puzzo, ext. 321, ppuzzo@eaglenewsonline.com

Billing questions: Alyssa dearborn, ext. 305, adearborn@eaglenewsonline.com legal Advertising: luba demkiv, ext. 303, ldemkiv@eaglenewsonline.com

Publisher: david Tyler, ext. 302, dtyler@eaglenewsonline.com

Creative Director: Gordon bigelow, ext. 331, art@eaglenewsonline.com

I wondered why I was affected in such a deep way. This is life right? People come and go. Places come and go. Why couldn’t I stop crying and mourning this loss? I realized after some time that Cazenovia College is my safe haven. Losing it means that I am losing a sense of hope, of my hope and all of the hope of the lives this institution has touched.

In the fall or 2008, I began my college search journey as a student with little aspirations and sense of direction. Thankfully, I was close to my guidance counselor who saw something in me that I hadn’t. One day she handed me a catalog for Cazenovia College, a small college nestled in a western New York town. She specifically wanted me to look at their liberal arts approach to education, which she thought would benefit me, and I would also have the opportunity to explore my creative side.

My first year at Cazenovia was confusing and felt like a whirlwind, but after some time my intuition was telling me to stay. I was taking my first photography class and fell in love with the process, which inspired me to eventually change my major from English to Photography. I finally found my place.

It’s not hard to fall in love with Cazenovia College and the intimacy of it all. However, what truly makes it a special place is the people. As cliche as it may sound, the people are the beating heart of the college.

To my favorite professors, Neil Chowdhury, Jen Pepper, Kim Waale, Anita Welych, and Warren Olin-Ammentorp, thank you for whole-heartedly leading your programs and setting us up for creative and professional success. To everyone who is essential to the fabric of Cazenovia College, you mean everything to the community. From the folks who cooked us meals in the cafeteria to the librarians who kindly supported us through our capstones, thank you for everything you do.

Cazenovia College is one of my favorite places in the world. I keep going back to the comfort and familiarity of it all. It has truly been my anchor and the recent news has ripped it away from me and so many others. This May, it will be 10 years since I’ve graduated and every time I visit, it’s the same; being on campus grounds me, it validates me, I became an artist there, and I met some of my best friends there. Cazenovia College matters. It will always matter and I will miss it terribly.

JENNA

PEtRONE, ClASS OF 2013 CatSKill, ny