The Freeman&#39;s Journal 12-02-21

COOPERSTOWN AND AROUND

The Lions Club of Cooperstown announced this week that it must cancel the carnival originally planned for February 2022. “We truly regret this but feel it is better to be transparent,” Lions Club President Peter Deysenroth said. “The Cooperstown Winter Carnival is a long-standing communitytradition,onewhich The Lions Club of Cooperstown has proudly supported and sponsored throughout the event’s history,” he said. “Unfortunately, it has been increasingly difficult to find volunteers within our community who are able to find the time and spirit to pull together this event through the work of the committee..” “We are truly appreciative of those who have chaired and served on the committee in years past,” he said. “This year, we were unable to find anyone willing to take on the role.” The Club will meet in April 2022 to discuss next steps for the 2023 event.

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President Joe Biden this week called the COVID19 Omicron variant “a cause for concern, not a cause for panic” as New York State Governor Kathy Hochul redoubled her call for residents across the state to get vaccinated and receive booster shots as a defense against variants existing and potentially yet to come. In a briefing, though, the Governor said she wants to avoid drastic steps such as those taken at the first outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, citing concern over New Yorkers’ fatigue over anti-COVID policies. “We’re not talking about shutdowns,” she said. We’re not talking about reinstituting the harsh measures that were needed in a time we didn’t have any defenses. Just get vaccinated. Wear your mask and you won’t have to worry.” The Governor nonetheless declared a state of emergency upon news of Omicron’s discovery, allowing her Department of Health to limit nonessential, non-urgent procedures in health care

O M C O PE

facilities that may have limited capacity to protect access to critical-care health services. Bassett Healthcare System officials say they’re approaching the new situation with case-by-case care, urging patients to keep appointments for screenings, procedures, and regular visits. “This is not the wholescale shut-off-all-thelights closing that we had to do in 2020,” said Garrielle Argo, Interim Manager of Marketing and Communications for Bassett. “We don’t want anyone to put off their screenings or procedures. We’re taking everything on a day-by-day, caseby-case basis.” “I feel like we can’t say this enough, but we want everyone to get vaccinated,” she said. Bassett Healthcare continues to offer various vaccination and booster clinics throughout their service region. Governor Hochul’s emergency declaration would require hospitals to postpone non-emergency services were bed availability numbers to fall to a certain level. “Even without the Executive Order, we’re working every day on contingency and surge planning,” Ms. Argo said. “It’s bed management and patient capacity across our entire system. We’re collaborating every day with the state and with hospitals all around us to make sure that we’re always prepared.” “We’re being thoughtful and collaborative

Fore or Fowl?

about this situation every single day,” she said. “Patients should stay in touch with their healthcare providers if they have questions.” Ms. Argo noted that many of the smaller hospitals across the Bassett system generally provide outpatient services, meaning the emergency declaration as it currently stands would have little impact on such procedures. “We have teams of people going over the details of those Executive Orders and the Department of Health guidance memos every time they come out,” she said. “In the meantime,” she said, echoing Governor Hochul, “just get vaccinated and wear your mask.” In her November 29 briefing, Governor Hochul said the Omicron variant was inevitable in New York, but that the state remains on high alert. “Omicron is just across the bridge in Ontario,” she said late Monday. “It’s not a question of if it comes to New York, but when.” At press time, the Governor had not issued a statewide mask mandate beyond her recommendation that New Yorkers return to mask vigilance. Officials in the state’s more populous counties reportedly are considering reinstatement of mask mandates or enhanced recommendations; New York City took the step to “strongly recommend” masks in all public indoor spaces, regardless of a person’s vaccination status.

Otsego Sheriff wants more County support By Kevin Limiti

►SKATERS TWIRL BACK TO LIFE. Oneonta family revives decades-old tradition with help from SUNY Delhi. PAGE A10. Follow Breaking News On

►VAX CLINIC: Bassett offering vaccine clinic in Cooperstown on Saturday, December 4

Newsstand Price $1

Bassett urges vaccinations as Omicron variant looms

►REMEMBERING Jean smullens; She worked at Clara Welch Thanksgiving Home and Otsego BOCES. PAGE A8

►Small business, every day: The importance of shopping at small businesses

Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, December 2, 2021

►ELEMENTARY GYM VOTE: Cooperstown Central looks to update a 65-year-old facility. PAGE A2

►New York State of Emergency: Omicron variant requires daily updates.

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By Ted Potrikus

Lions Club cancels 2022 Winter Carnival

Volume 213, No. 48

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If you’ve driven along Lake Street in Cooperstown alongside Leatherstocking Golf Course, you’ve noticed the Canada geese have made their annual invasion. “It’s a real problem,” said golf pro Tim Quirk. “The geese like to feed off of short grass, so they come here. There’s no effective way to get rid of them. The droppings from the geese are pretty bad. It’s not only dangerous for our golfers but for the geese as well.” These birds are Canada geese, so this is as far south as they will go. “They are here for the winter,” Mr. Quirk said. “When the goslings are born, their parents lose their flight wings, so they are forced to stay here with the birds until they mature. They all leave at the end of the summer but always migrate back to where they were born”.

The Otsego County Sheriff’s office is having difficulty staffing and retaining deputies and corrections officers, a problem Sheriff Richard Devlin blames on low pay, excessive overtime, and what he calls “a lack of support” from the county. Currently, there are 11 open positions for corrections officers at the Otsego County Jail in Cooperstown, which Sheriff Devlin says causes health issues for its officers required to work longer shifts, and problems with the upkeep at the facility itself. “If you have a person working a 16-hour shift they’re not as fresh as someone working an eight-hour shift,” Sheriff Devlin told The Freeman’s Journal/Hometown Oneonta. “There needs to be interest from the County Board to see these problems.” During an Otsego County Board of Representatives budget workshop on November 29, Sheriff Devlin said that overtime pay would “drop dramatically” if he were able to fill the nowopen positions. The Sheriff posted to social media a graphic outlining his concerns about deputy sheriff pay, corrections officer overtime, and survey results asserting some 99 percent of sheriff’s office employees believe they get no support from the Otsego County Board of Representatives. “I’m up to a point where the county is not listening to me, they’re not listening to their other employees, maybe they’ll listen to their constituents,” Sheriff Devlin said on the Facebook post. Sheriff Devlin said some representatives have visited the Otsego County Jail but that it didn’t “seem to get any action.” At the Monday budget session, Sheriff Devlin told Board Representative Clark Oliver (D-Oneonta) that staffing shortages require his office to operate in violation of regulations established by the New York State Commission on Corrections. According to the Sheriff, the rules require him to fill 22 posts each day. See Sheriff, Page 2

THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD