WCDO Radio News

P.M. NEWS FRIDAY 10-23-20

Delaware County Sheriff's Department arrested 19 year old Dakota Hall of Fleischmanns for 2nd degree murder following a domestic dispute in Fleischmanns Thursday night.  Deputies, State Police & EMT's responded at about 10:50 PM Thursday night to a reported stabbing at a residence on Main Street. The stabbing victim, 27-year-old Eric Hall, was taken to Margaretville Memorial Hospital and died for injuries sustained in the attack.  Dakota Hall was taken into custody without incident by Deputies for allegedly stabbing his brother; Hall was arraigned and was remanded to the Delaware County Jail without bail pending future court action.  The investigation is ongoing.

Delaware County Sheriff's Deputies investigated a head-on collision in the Town of Franklin on Wednesday afternoon.  Deputies reported that at about 5:30 PM, they responded with EMT's to the accident on County Highway 21 near Leland Hull Road.  Deputies determined that a vehicle driven by 50 year-old Jeffrey Lewis of Walton crossed over the center line and collided with a vehicle driven by 62 year-old Wayne Knorr of Laurens, causing the Knorr vehicle to overturn several times.  Knorr was taken to Fox Hospital in Oneonta for a head injury; Lewis was taken to Delaware Valley Hospital also for the treatment of a head injury.  Lewis’ driving privileges were revoked as a result of previous alcohol related offense, he was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, operation of a motor vehicle without an ignition interlock device, failure to keep right and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, he was released to appear in Town of Franklin court at a later date.  Alcohol was not a contributing factor in this accident.

The Prospect Hill Cemetery Association Board is looking to receive a grant to help with repairs to the wall near East Main Street, they have decided to apply to Southern Tier Tuesdays.com and see if we could a $2,000 Grant.  Association President Debra Tompkins-Cornett explains how people can help by voting once a day for 5 days, starting this Sunday:

(Debra Tompkins-Cornett 10-23-20)

Prospect Hill Cemetery has been nominated along with 11 others for the Grant; people can go to southerntiertuesdays.com to vote beginning this Sunday.

Governor Cuomo announced $357 million in funding for the renewal of 135 paving projects throughout the State. Locally $42.4 million will go for rehabilitating I-88 from exit 17 Colliersville/Cooperstown Junction to exit 18 Schenevus in Otsego County, $3.2 million will be used to resurface Route 8 from the Village of Sidney Line to south of the intersection of Routes 37 and 51 in Mount Upton & $4.5 million to resurface Route 206 from Route 27 in the Hamlet of Trout Creek to the Village of Walton Line.

The Oneonta City School District have switched middle and high school students to remote learning yesterday & again today after being notified of a teacher testing positive.  NO student or any faculty/staff member is deemed a “close contact” to the affected teacher, according to a district letter; all elementary buildings will open as normal. Middle & High School students are scheduled to return on the previous hybrid schedule Monday.

Governor Cuomo announced that there were 855 new cases of the Coronavirus diagnosed Monday, about 1.3% of all those tested.  724 people are hospitalized, & there were 2 fatalities from the virus, the lowest numbers since early march & 91 patients are currently intubated on a ventilators, There have been 408,181 cases of the virus since the pandemic hit over 4 months ago, there have been 25,058 deaths.

New York Farm Bureau unveiled the results of a member survey found that 65% of the state's farms and agribusinesses have been negatively impacted financially by the COVID-19 pandemic.    43% of farms have lost sales during the pandemic, 37% are experiencing cash flow issues, 47% have reduced spending to local vendors and suppliers & 84% have a plan in place to train and assist their employees to mitigate the spread of the virus, 46% are concerned about their own or someone else's mental health.

Congressman Anthony Brindisi today announced $800,000 in CARES Act Recovery Assistance Grants for New York’s 22nd District.   Mohawk Valley Economic Development District & the Southern Tier East Regional Planning Development Board each get $400,000, the funds will be used to update local economic development plans & strengthen community assistance programs.

The murder & arson fire cover-up case of 16 year old Jeffrey Franklin of the town of Guilford, will be featured on the Investigation Discovery Channel tonight at 10:00 PM on the program "The Murder Tapes” Franklin was the disabled teenager killed by his parents Ernest & Heather Franklin, who then tried to cover up the boy's death by setting the family residence on fire, closely echoing the plot of the movie "Manchester By The Sea", the incident occurred back on February 28th 2017.