WCDO Radio News

State DEC announced several changes to deer hunting regulations to increase harvest of female deer and improve DEC’s ability to manage abundant deer populations. Under the new system, all hunters will receive a first Antlered Deer Tag which can be used during any season, except the September antlerless season. Hunters who harvest and report an antlerless deer, will be eligible to receive a second Antlered Deer Tag, More information is available at dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/hunting.

The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s assistance in locating 40 year old Barbara Brooke Walley, who is wanted on a Bench Warrant issued by Delaware County Court. Walley is a 5'2" tall white female with brown hair and green eyes, Anyone with information pertaining to the whereabouts of this person, please contact the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office at (607)832-5555 or “Submit a Tip” via our Sheriff’s APP.

A.M. NEWS WEDNESDAY 6-17-26

SFCU has recently presented a $20,000 donation to the United Way Mid Rural NY, supporting efforts to improve access to dental care for children across Chenango, Delaware, Otsego, and Madison counties. SFCU President & CEO JIm Reynolds comments;

(Jim Reynolds 6-17-26)

Reynolds said that access to dental care remains a significant challenge in many rural communities, where provider shortages and transportation barriers exist, More information about the SFCU 1 Million Reasons initiative is available at sfcuonline.org/1millionreasons.

SFCU announced a $500,000 pledge in Impact Project loans this year, to help that non-profit help people with various repairs to their homes that they may not be able to afford, SFCU President Jim Reynolds told WCDO news about the loans & additional funding for the Impact Project:

(Jim Reynolds 12-10-26)

Reynolds said that SFCU will assist a different non profit each quarter this year to address a variety of issues that area residents & their members may be dealing with. The Impact Project was started by Jim Willard in Greene over 20 years ago to assist people in the Southern Tier make crucial home repairs that they couldn't afford:

(Jim Willard 2-10-26)

The Impact Project was started by Jim Willard, in 2004, Qualifying families in Chenango, Delaware, Otsego or Northern Broome County can also apply for loans through the program. See the Impact Project’s website for more details at theimpactprojectgreene.org.

The Delaware County Chamber's annual Legislative Leadership Forum will be held June 17th, at 9:30 am, in the Okun Theatre on the campus of SUNY Delhi. Confirmed panel speakers include Congressman Marc Molinaro, State Senator Peter Oberacker, and State Assembly representatives Joe Angelino, Brian Maher, and Chris Tague. More information may be found under the Event tab at DelawareCounty.org.

A.M. NEWS THURSDAY 6-6-24

The Sidney Chamber of Commerce will hold their annual Dinner & awards ceremony tonight, the Citizen of the Years goes to Kirk Gardner, owner of Superior Heating and Air Duct Cleaning of Sidney:

(Kirk Gardner 6-6-24)

The Non-Profit of the year is the Tri Town Theater, President & Artistic Director Cameron Kinnear comments:

(Cameron Kinnear 6-6-24)

And SFCU will be honored as the Business of the Years, President & CEO Jim Reynolds comments:

(Jim Reynolds 6-6-24)

The Annual Sidney Chamber of Commerce Dinner and Awards ceremony will be held tonight at Club 55 in Sidney.

About 30 residents from Morris and surrounding towns met at the Morris Firehouse on May 23 for a follow-up to the news that Sidney Federal Credit Union intends to establish banking services in the Village of Morris. The meeting was organized by the Butternut Valley Alliance, whose task force began working to find an alternate bank when Community Bank, N.A. ended 167 years of banking services in Morris on January 19, Maggie Brenner of the Butternut Valley Alliance explains:

(Maggie Brenner 5-28-24)

Present at the meeting were SFCU president and CEO Jim Reynolds and Andrew Smith, SFCU’s vice president of sales and marketing, who gave updates on the status of the SFCU-BVA agreement and answered questions from the public. The meeting was recorded and is available on YouTube.

The Sidney Chamber of Commerce has chosen this years award winners, the Citizen of the Years goes to Kirk Gardner, owner of Superior Heating and Air Duct Cleaning of Sidney, he told WCDO News he was quite surprised:

(Kirk Gardner 4-1-23)

The Non-Profit of the year is the Tri Town Theater, President & Artistic Director Cameron Kinnear comments:

(Cameron Kinnear 4-1-24)

And SFCU will be honored as the Business of the Years, President & CEO Jim Reynolds comments:

(Jim Reynolds 4-1-24)

The Annual Sidney Chamber of Commerce Dinner and Awards ceremony will be held on June 6th at Club 55 in Sidney.

Panic & Fear are leading people to do things during the
COVID-19 Pandemic that are counter-productive, like removing all of their money
from their financial institutions.  SFCU
President & CEO Jim Reynolds explains:

(Jim Reynolds 3-19-20)

Reynolds said that while SFCU has closed their lobbies to
protect staff & Members, The hours have been extended at their Drive
through Windows & Call centers to assist members until further notice.

Firefighters from a dozen area companies responded to a blaze on Porter Hollow Road in Port Crane at about 8:00 PM Sunday. Firefighters were on the scene for about 4 ½ hours, No injuries were reported , and the unidentified family of 4 were left homeless.

Sheriff Cutting reports on December 6th, 2018 the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office arrested an inmate for assaulting a Corrections Officer. Members of the Detectives Division arrested Michael J. Perry, age 42 who was incarcerated on a separate charge. It is alleged that Perry assaulted a Corrections Officer in an attempt to get to another inmate within the facility. Perry was processed for Assault in the Second Degree and arraigned in the Town of Norwich Court. He was remanded back to the Chenango County Correctional Facility.

Firefighters from Franklin, Oneonta, West Oneonta, Otego, Sidney, SIdney Center, Treadwell & Wells Bridge responded early this morning to a fire at 161 HODGE ROAD in the town of Franklin. The fire was called in at about 12:10 AM; The home was destroyed in the blaze, the cause of the fire is under investigation.

SFCU announced that James Reynolds will replace Jim Doig as the President & CEO of SFCU shortly, both talked to WCDO News about the change in leadership:

(Reynolds/ Doig 12-10-18)

Doig announced his retirement recently after serving for 22 years as the President & CEO of SFCU.

Lee Smith and Harold Baines have been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Today’s Game Era Committee, it was announced today on MLB Network. The Today’s Game Era Committee considered a ballot of six former players, 3 former managers and 1 former executive whose contributions to the game were most significant from 1988 through the present. The Today’s Game Era Committee held meetings today in Las Vegas, site of Baseball’s Winter Meetings. Smith and Baines will be joined in the Hall of Fame Class of 2019 by any electees who emerge from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America voting, which will be announced on Tuesday, January 22nd.

Retiring State Senator John Bonacic announced that he will be closing his Delhi Office on Friday December 21st. anyone needing to contact Senator Bonacic can call the Middletown Office at 845-344-3311 until the end of the year. Bonacic decided to retire this year after serving for decades in both the State Assembly & State Senate.

State Police arrested 30 year old Dustin Freeman of Morris after he allegedly threatened a victim with a knife and sexually assaulted the victim in the New Berlin area. Freeman was charged with 1st degree Rape, Criminal Sexual Act and Unlawful Imprisonment, after Troopers located Freeman in the city of Rome, where he fled on foot. He was taken into custody & was transported to Norwich where he was processed and later arraigned in the town of Norwich Court where he was remanded to the Chenango County Jail without bail. An order of protection was also issued by the judge to the victim. The investigation is still on-going.

A Town of Norwich resident was arrested by the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office for Endangering the Welfare of a Child and Harassment. Deputies arrested 61 year old Larry Conant after an incident that occurred on a Norwich Central School bus in the town of Guilford. Conant, was a school bus aid, he allegedly used unnecessary force on a 7 year old child. Conant was released on an appearance ticket for a later date.

A Town of Norwich resident was arrested by the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office for Criminal Contempt. Deputies arrested 20 year old Jeremy Thomas After responding to a complaint at a business in the Town of Norwich it was found that Thomas violated an order of protection. Thomas was processed and released on an appearance ticket. Thomas is to appear in the Town of Norwich Court at a later date.

The American Red Cross is hosting a Blood Drive in Sidney today from 2:30 p.m. - 6:30 pm, at the A.O. Fox Tri-Town Campus. Blood donors of all blood types, especially type O, and platelet donors are urged to make an appointment to donate at RedCrossBlood.org or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS

Luis Rojas will join the New York Mets Major League coaching staff for the 2019 season, filling the new position of Quality Control Coach. Rojas served as the Binghamton Rumble Ponies manager for two seasons, The Mets have yet to name a replacement for Rojas in Binghamton. The Rumble Ponies will start their 2019 home schedule at NYSEG Stadium on April 11, 2019 against the Erie Sea Wolves.

Tomorrow is Election day, with quite a few interesting races in an "Off Year” In the State Senate race in the 52nd district; Republican Fred Akshar & Democrat Barbara Fiala are running to fill the seat left vacated by the conviction of long time Senator Tom Libous.
Delaware County will have a Family Court Judge for the first time; the candidates are Democrat Gary Rosa & Republican Porter Kirkwood. In Chenango County, for District Attorney, incumbent Joseph McBride faces Zachary Wentworth. Several Town Races will be decided by voters Tuesday, in the Town of Sidney; Eric Wilson, Jeannette Hinckley, Loddie Marsh & incumbent Bill Heath are running for 2 seats on town board
In the Town of Franklin, for town Supervisor, incumbent Jeffery Taggart faces Epifanio Bevilacqua & 3 people are running for 2 seats on the town board: Dwight Bruno, Donald Hebbard and Donald Smith. In the Town of Harpersfield for Town Supervisor, incumbent Jim Eisel faces a challenge from Edward Pick Jr. Eisel is chairman of the Delaware County Board of Supervisors; a Pick Victory would mean a change at the top of Delaware County Government. In the race for Town of Guilford Supervisor, George Seneck faces Jeffrey MacCormack & for Town of Oxford Supervisor Frederick Lanfear faces Lawrence Wilcox.

the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office arrested 18 year old Austin Reynolds, of Sherburne, for Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Third Degree and Unlawful Possession of Alcohol; Person Under 21 years of age, after participating in a Stop DWI check point in the Town of Delhi. Reynolds was released with appearance tickets where he will appear in the Town of Delhi Court at a later date.

Reactions were favorable on both sides of the aisle for Governor’s Cuomo’s ambitious agenda that he forwarded in his state of the state address in Albany yesterday.  State senator Jim Seward responds:

(Seward 1-10-13)

Assemblyman Cliff Crouch also responded:

(Crouch 1-10-13)

Assemblyman Pete Lopez also commented:

(Lopez 1-10-13)

Lawmakers get back to work in Albany, they will receive the governors executive budget proposal by the end of the month.

State Troopers arrested 59-year-old Diane Reynolds of Afton for Driving While Intoxicated with a BAC of .20%. The arrest resulted from a vehicle stop in Greene; Reynolds was issued tickets returnable in the Village of Green Court on January 22nd.