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Volume 215, No. 08
AllOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S DAILY NEWSPAPER/ONLINE
Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, February 23, 2023
Newsstand Price $1
Otsego County EMS Reaches Crossroads
Bank Branches To Close Soon
Part 1: The County Service
Milford, Schenevus on Chopping Block
By TED MEBUST OTSEGO COUNTY n December of 2021, the Otsego County Board of Representatives, at the recommendation of its Public Safety and Legal Affairs Committee, implemented a 24-hour, countybased advanced life support ambulance service, buying two ambulances and staffing 16 full-time and 10 part-time paramedics. Previously, prehospital emergency medical services had been largely carried out by the 17 volunteer-based EMS agencies serving the county, most associated with local fire departments. However, these first responders had reached a breaking point and were the first to sound an alarm. “After COVID-19, I had a number of squad captains calling me, begging us to do something because they couldn’t handle the load anymore. Essentially, you’ve got the same six, seven people who are pulling all the work. They’re spread thin and they just can’t do it anymore,” said Dan Wilber, chair of Otsego County PSLA, District 10 representative, and 47-year EMS volunteer. “EMS was
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INSIDE ► elon musk launching close to 12,000 satellites to help remote areas with affordable broadband, page 4 ► more important news than covid news? Read about a vaccine for bees, page 4 ► Neighbor news, your neighbors from Richmondville, Morris, Oneonta, Cooperstown, Milford, Sidney, Richfield Springs, Maryland, Otego, Worcester, Fly Creek and more are in the news, page 10 ► columnists berkson, deROSA AND SHELBY, from chickens to politics to dogs, page 12 Follow Breaking News On
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receiving calls from people who were dying on the phone when they were calling for help because we could not get them emergency medical care.” Though the pandemic exacerbated many issues within Otsego County’s EMS system, various strains had been building long before. A recent report commissioned by the New York State Emergency Medical Services Council, titled “New York State 2023 Evidence Based EMS Agenda for Future,” opened with the following statement: “The New York State EMS system has markedly deteriorated over the past several years due to declining volunteerism, lack of public funding to cover costs of readiness, inadequate staffing, rising costs, insufficient insurance reimbursement, rising call volumes, a lack of performance standards, poor understanding of the EMS system by elected officials and the public, NYS home rule and lack of transparency and accountability for EMS agencies.” Many of these issues, the report said, stem from EMS Continued on page 7
By TED MEBUST OTSEGO COUNTY he Milford and Schenevus branches of Community Bank NA will permanently close their doors on Friday, April 28, the organization announced. The decision came due to a recognition that “branch business has slowed,” according to Sarah Doud, the bank’s public relations representative. “This is not a decision we make lightly,” said Doud. “We need to continue to serve the people of Schenevus and Milford through nearby locations and through our online and mobile services.” Community Bank has more than 200 branches across Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and the Southern and Northern tiers of New York. Community Bank’s Schenevus branch began operations in 2011, following its purchase of Wilber National Bank. After the closure of the Schenevus and Milford branches in late April, the bank will continue to operate through five remaining locations in Otsego County: Cooperstown, Morris, and three branches in the City of Oneonta. Community Bank will continue to support the community organizations aided by the Milford and Schenevus branches, namely the Worcester Free Library, Milford Fire Department, United Way of Delaware and Otsego Counties, and the Milford Central School Education Foundation Inc. golf tournament. “Community Bank is deeply invested in the communities where we work. And always will be,” said Doud.
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Photo by Peggy Bush
Waiting Patiently MOUNT VISION—Two-year-old Grizzly (left) and his younger brother, Dozer, are staying still as statues as they await a treat from mom. These two big boys, both purebred Newfoundlands, are owned by Peggy Bush and Tim Allen. Grizzly and Dozer are this week’s subjects of a new series highlighting animals and the important role these four-legged, furry and/or feathered friends play in our lives. We invite you to send your pictures to darlay@allotsego. com. Every week, we’ll select at least one photograph to be highlighted in the newspapers and online.
Do Blooms Also Like it Cold?
Scientists Help Communities Better Understand HABs By DARLA M. YOUNGS SUPERIOR, WI iyoko Yokota, certified lake manager and associate professor of biology at SUNY Oneonta, co-authored a report released last week that challenges current understandings of harmful algae blooms and may help communities better prepare for them. The results of studies led by scientist Dr. Kait Reinl, research coordinator at the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve in Superior, Wisconsin, were published on February 17 in the scientific journal, “Limnology and Oceanography Letters.” Cyanobacterial blooms, also known as harmful algal blooms, are an environmental and public health threat around the globe. Blooms can produce unpleasant tastes and odors, deplete oxygen in water, produce toxins that are harmful to people and animals, and impact water treatment systems. Researchers’ current understanding is that blooms occur largely when water temperatures are warm
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Photo by Ted Harris, Kansas Biological Survey
A cold-water bloom on November 1, 2018, on West Campus Pond in Lawrence, Kansas.
or hot, but there is evidence that blooms also occur in cold water, including under ice. “Cyanobacterial blooms are analogous to fever in human health. Cyanobacteria are part of natural lakes, found even in the most pristine waters of the world as well as in polar ice and even air. They have important ecological roles, just like we
need to maintain a certain amount of body heat. Some lakes naturally have more or less cyanobacteria, just as the ‘normal’ body temperature varies among individuals,” explained Yokota. “When humans run fevers, it is a symptom of something going wrong in the body. Cyanobacterial blooms are the same—they are a manifestation of ecosystem changes that are allowing cyanobacteria to thrive abnormally. There are feverreducing medications, but they can only do so much and should not be taken for too long without finding and treating the root cause of the fever instead of just monitoring it. Otherwise, the fever will come back after you stop the medication,” she continued. The study, called “Blooms also like it cold,” was developed with 27 co-authors through the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network. The research documents wide-ranging cold-water cyanobacterial blooms and identifies physical and biological drivers that may promote blooms under Continued on page 7
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