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founded in 1808
RECOGNIZING THE LONGEVITY OF OUR HERITAGE BUSINESSES, pages 9-11 VISIT www.ALLOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S NEWSPAPER/ONLINE Volume 218, No. 9
Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, February 26, 2026
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Bassett Network Addresses ICE Rumors By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZEL
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COOPERSTOWN fter rumors of Immigration and Customs Enforcement visiting Bassett Healthcare Network in Cooperstown circulated in recent weeks, the organization told AllOtsego that was not true. “Immigration and Customs Enforcement was not at Bassett Medical Center, despite rumors and misinformation spreading through the community,” spokesperson Gabrielle Argo said in a statement. “The Department of Homeland Security visited Bassett Medical Center a couple of weeks ago to meet with our Security Department. This was unrelated to immigration
and customs enforcement. They were doing a routine cybersecurity vulnerability assessment. This is a process that occurs at hospitals every year as part of our routine safety planning,” Argo said. Rumors of ICE presence had circulated after that visit, and were mentioned at a Democratic state legislature candidate forum in Franklin on February 14. “There’s lots of things that we need to be pushing back on the federal government right now,” said Michele Frazier, a candidate for the 51st State Senate District, adding she supported the New York for All legislation which would limit ICE collaborations in the state. At the February 14 candidate forum, Frazier said to Continued on page 11
Divers Take the Ultimate Cold Plunge Under Frozen Otsego Lake By DEBRA MOFFITT
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SPRINGFIELD f you’re going to cut a hole into the middle of Lake Otsego and scuba dive under the ice, you can expect one question from the rest of us: Why? Readying for his first ice dive in Otsego Lake, Christos Galanopoulos sat on the shoreline on Saturday, February 14, maybe asking himself the same question. He dangled his finned feet into the water, heavy tanks of air on his back. By day, he’s district manager of the Otsego County Soil and Water Conservation District. “Oh,” he said, “this is another level of cold.” But he slipped into the water and, after 15 minutes or so, returned to the surface and pumped a fist into the air. Volunteers quickly helped Galanopoulos out, covered him in a blanket and offered the gift of hot water warmed in a turkey fryer. Divers could dunk their frigid hands into a warm tub or ask for a pour over their heads or down their backs. Aquatic biologist Sarah Coney was the first one in the water on Saturday, and equally quick to answer why she ice dives. INSIDE ► blood supply dwindling, page 2 ► oneonta blaze prompts concerns, page 3 ► EDITORIAL ESCAPISM, page 4 ► more on our unsung heroes, page 4 ► business profile: dosha, page 5 ► works of poe examined, page 6 ► king essay contest winners, page 14 ► THINGS TO DO, page 16 Follow Breaking News On
“Right now, it’s admittedly bragging rights,” she said. If ice diving is a flex, it was well-earned by the three divers who took steps toward their certification last weekend. Even in pleasant conditions, learning to scuba dive (scuba, an accepted word in its own right, is an acronym for “self-contained underwater breathing apparatus”) takes a degree of physical courage. Ice diving turns it up a notch. Spending too much time under seven inches of lake ice in 34-degree water could be deadly. Regulators, a critical piece of scuba equipment that makes it possible to breathe underwater, sometimes fail in cold temperatures. Panic is to be expected as the body absorbs the shock of cold that even a dry suit can’t fully block. Divers feel it in their face and hands. A profound “ice cream headache” hits in the middle of the forehead. For a bit, divers can forget the chill while they complete their underwater tasks. But when you sense the cold starting to dull your Photo by Debra Moffitt response times, that’s your cue to get out— Troye Howell, a senior at SUNY Oneonta, helps Christos Galanopoulos get ready while you still have plenty of breathing gas, for his first ice dive. She is cutting away the plastic covering designed to keep his said Paul Lord, a SUNY Oneonta professor, regulator from freezing. Continued on page 13
Survivor of 1963 Bombing Speaks at SUNY Oneonta By MONICA CALZOLARI ONEONTA n 1963, Sarah Collins Rudolph was 12 years old. She and her sister, along with three other girls, were in the basement of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama when 19 sticks of dynamite exploded, killing four of the children. Sarah survived. Her sister, Addie Mae Collins, age 14, died. Rudolph shared this traumatic experience with nearly 150 guests in the Hunt Ballroom at SUNY Oneonta on February 19. She was the keynote speaker at the college’s event commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King
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Photo by Monica Calzolari
Sarah Collins Rudolph lost her sight in one eye and lost her sister and three young friends in 1963. She has been sharing her story with audiences ever since. Her husband appeared on stage with her on February 19.
Jr. The gathering, originally scheduled in January, had been postponed due to inclement
weather. The Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging
at Hartwick College co-sponsored this community breakfast along with five entities from SUNY Oneonta. Bernadette Tiapo, PhD, vice president for equity and inclusion and equal opportunity and compliance, opened and ended the program. Rudolph has spent decades sharing her story with audiences to honor the lives of the sister and friends she lost, she said. She shared her path to forgiving the bombers and her belief that “love can overcome hate.” According to Rudolph, the group of “white supremacists” who planted the dynamite were well-known in that community. It took nine years before one Continued on page 14
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S AWARD-WINNING WEEKLIES 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD