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VISIT www.
Volume 215, No. 27
AllOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S DAILY NEWSPAPER/ONLINE
Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, July 6, 2023
Newsstand Price $1
SW Barn Project Moving Forward
Special Counsel in Trump Case is SUNY O Grad
By DARLA M. YOUNGS ONEONTA t its meeting on Thursday, June 29, the City of Oneonta’s Common Council Finance and Human Resources Committee expressed support for the proposed Swart-Wilcox Barn Project. David and Penny Wightman of Wightman’s Lumber had donated a barn on the family’s Crumhorn Mountain property to Oneonta’s Swart-Wilcox House Museum in response to a call for assistance last October. There had been a barn on the museum complex grounds from the 1790s until 1968, when the structure was burned down by the city as a firefighting exercise. “It is now felt that a barn would help tell the story of the early settlers, who were mainly farmers,” wrote Helen K.B. Rees, president of the Friends of Swart-Wilcox in the museum’s October 2022 newsletter in an article titled “To Barn or Not to Barn…That is the Question,” which was reprinted that month in Iron String Press publications. Swart-Wilcox has been a chartered house museum with the New York State Education Department since 2004. “The next step is to obtain our IRS nonprofit status for the Swart-Wilcox House Museum. This 501c3 nonprofit status will allow us to solicit funds through grants and other private sources,” Rees explained. The barn project itself will be done in two phases, according to Rees. Phase I involves preparing the site, laying the foundation and erecting the barn shell. Phase II will complete the interior of the barn and utilities, as well as install the climate controlled storage area for the collection. Each phase will be done as Continued on page 9
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INSIDE ► FILM COOP IS NOW FILM OTSEGO, page 2 ► another ola boat parade in the books, page 3 ► dr. tommy ibrahim provides monthly update, page 4 ► anglers, boat stewards come together for A Common cause, page 4 ► Five freedoms help protect animals under care, page 5 ► student work featured in regional contest, page 6 ► golf tourney raises funds for helios care, page 6 ► News Briefs, page 8 Follow Breaking News On
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By WRILEY NELSON ONEONTA ustice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith, selected in November to prosecute the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, graduated from SUNY Oneonta in 1991. Smith grew up in Clay, outside of Syracuse, and earned his Doctor of Law degree at Harvard Law. He started his career as a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office before moving to the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn. Smith eventually rose to lead the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Unit and oversaw cases against Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and former Representative Rick Renzi (R-AZ). Before returning to the Justice Department, Smith spent several years prosecuting war criminals at the Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor’s Office in The Hague, Netherlands. Smith has kept a low profile throughout his career, often preferring to work in the background and out of the spotlight. He has given few public statements and has proved so elusive that—according to an article in “The New York Times”—an appearance in a Subway restaurant for lunch became news in the Justice Department headquarters across town. It appears that he will use his mysterious reputation to keep opposing counsel guessing. No current SUNY Oneonta political science professor taught Smith. “The men and women of the United States intelligence community and our armed forces dedicate their lives to protecting our nation and its people,” Smith said in his most recent Continued on page 9
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Fourth of July Memories
Photo by Kathleen Peters
COOPERSTOWN—Fireworks lit up the night on Saturday, July 1 as the Cooperstown Fire Department presented its colorful annual display celebrating adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
Public Participation in NY Forward Process Now Possible Department of State Project Manager Stefan Lutter introduced the state team and discussed their roles and responsibilities. The presentation that followed outlined roles and responsibilities, program goals, Cooperstown’s NY Forward application, and an overview of the planning process— including public engagement and an open call for projects. Next steps can be viewed at h t t p s : / / w w w. c o o p e r s t o w n n y. org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/ Cooperstown-NYF_LPC-1.pdf. Adriana Beltrani led a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) exercise, during which LPC members had an opportunity to offer their perspectives. Strengths included new sidewalks, street lights, rain gardens, and other Main Street improvements, as Continued on page 9
By Darla M. Youngs COOPERSTOWN he Village of Cooperstown held its first Local Planning Committee meeting on May 24 in conjunction with the $4.5 million NY Forward grant it was awarded on March 2. Building on the momentum of New York State’s successful Downtown Revitalization Initiative, the $100 million NY Forward program adopts the same “Plan-then-Act” strategy as the DRI to support a more equitable downtown recovery for New York’s smaller and rural communities. Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh welcomed those gathered and members of the LPC introduced themselves. Nicole Allen of the Laberge Group reviewed the meeting agenda and introduced the consultant team, and New York State
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Graphic courtesy of the Village of Cooperstown
According to project materials, the NYF area includes the Village Hall with the Village Library and the Cooperstown Art Association, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, numerous businesses as well as several vacant or underutilized buildings, two municipal parks, Doubleday Field, the Otsego County courthouse and office complex, and parts of Railroad Avenue and Grove Street with room for greater commercial and residential growth.
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD
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