WCDO Radio News

The TOPS Club, Inc. which stands for "Take Off Pounds Sensibly", picked Barbara Rifenburgh of West Davenport, who lost 117.25 pounds, she was the 2023 New York Queen or TOPS, & was honored at a ceremony last year, WCDO Spoke with Barbara Rifenburgh about her journey with the TOPS program

(Barb Rifenburg 8-21-24)

Today there are about 65,000 TOPS members, spread out over all 50 states and Canada, The Oneonta Chapter that Barb attends meets Mondays at 5:00 PM at the Elm Park Methodist Church on Chestnut Street. More information about the TOPS program & locations can be found at tops.org, the full interview with Barbara Rifenburg will be aired Thursday Morning at 8:40AM.

A.M. NEWS MONDAY 8-26-24

State Police responded to Otsego County Road 23 and Wing Hill Road in the town of Exeter Friday Afternoon for a two vehicle crash. A 4 door sedan was making a left turn on a sharp curve onto Wing Hill Road when the driver did not see an SUV from the opposite direction, The vehicles collided and both caught fire, A passerby with a fire extinguisher assisted in getting a family out of the sedan and another person assisted the driver of the SUV out of their vehicle. 3 LifeNet helicopters responded to the area. 3 children & the driver of the sedan; Nicole Rinaldo of Ilion were transported to various hospitals, The driver of the SUV, 52 year old Michael Salon of Herkimer, was transported by helicopter to Albany Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

Otsego County Sheriff's office arrested 41 year old Justin Ingalls of Milford for Reckless Endangerment of Property, Criminal Possession of Controlled Substance, Trespassing & Aggravated Unlicensed Operation, following an investigation following an incident at Apple Foods Store in Milford. Ingalls was held at the Otsego County Correctional Facility.

The Otsego County Solid Waste Department's Earth Festival will be held from 10 am. to 3 pm. Saturday, at Milford Central School, Spokesman Kyle King comments:

(Kyle King 4-19-24)

King said that more information is available at occainfo.org/calendar/save-the-date-earth-fest.

An American Red Cross Blood Drive is being held today in Oneonta from 12 pm. - 6 pm., at the Elm Park Methodist Church, 401 Chestnut St., appointments can be made at RedCrossBlood.org, 1-800-RED CROSS or by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App.

P.M. NEWS FRIDAY 9-10-21

Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Locally, 4 churches in Unadilla & Sidney  will be hosting a free event Saturday afternoon for those who wish to commemorate the event, Rick Fisher of the Unadilla United Methodist Church explains:

(Rick Fisher 9-10-21)

The event runs from 4:00 to 7:00 PM Saturday in Unadilla, More information is available at 267-9933.

Otsego County Relay for Life & the village of Milford are teaming up for "Celebrating Our Heroes" on Saturday September 11th.  Festivities begin at 4:30 PM with a parade from the Milford central School to Wilber Park, where there will be activities for children and guest speakers Jim Seward, State Senator Peter Oberacker & Assemblyman John Salka.

The Next American Red Cross Blood Drive will be held today in Oneonta from 12 p.m. - 6 p.m., at the Elm Park Methodist Church, 401 Chestnut St.  Donation appointments can be made by downloading the free Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device.

Graduations ceremonies will be held at some area schools today & tomorrow.  The Hancock seniors will have their ceremony this morning at 10:00 AM @ the football field, Afton seniors will have a graduation car parade at 4:30 this afternoon, Gilbertsville-Mount Upton will celebrate at 5:30 PM on the school grounds.  Milford seniors will celebrate at 6:00 PM, Sidney at 6:30 on the Athletic Field, Deposit at 7:00 PM on their football field, Franklin 7:00 PM at Franklin Stage Company & Morris at 7:00 PM.  Saturday celebrations include Oneonta Seniors in 3 ceremonies beginning at 10:00 AM, the Delaware Academy at 10:00 AM, Norwich at 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM at High School field, South Kortright at 1:00, Unadilla Valley Central School District at 2:00 PM in the Gym & Bainbridge Guilford at 7:00 PM on the lawn.

Gerald Althiser pleaded guilty in Otsego County Court to attempted arson, for the fire that destroyed the Milford United Methodist Church last March. Althiser was sentenced to 5 years probation, to be served at the Homer Folks Facility in Oneonta, where he will receive counseling. A judgment of $1 million was also placed against him.

State Police arrested 20-year-old Gerald Althiser Jr. of Springfield Center for intentionally starting fires in two campers. During the investigation, Althiser admitted to setting numerous fires, including the March 12th fire that destroyed the Milford United Methodist Church. Althiser was arrested for 3rd & 5th degree Arson; he was arraigned in the Town of Hartwick Court and remanded to the Otsego County Jail. The investigation is continuing with the assistance of the Otsego County Fire Investigators.

The 13th Annual Earth Festival will be held Saturday at Milford Central School from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Items that can be collected at the event include Styrofoam, empty inkjet cartridges, cell phones and other small electronics, tennis balls, wood pellet bags, and used monofilament fishing line, and natural cork from wine bottles.

The Unadilla Chamber of Commerce will hold their Chamber Dinner this Sunday, honoring the Unadilla Drive In as the Business of the Year and Dave Welch for the Commitment to Community Award. The dinner will be held at Unadilla Methodist Church starting at 4:30 PM.

The Unadilla Chamber of Commerce will have its next regular meeting today at Green's Long River Inn, State Route 357, in Unadilla beginning at 8:15 am. Nominations for Business of the Years and Good Neighbor/Commitment to Community are to be turned in at this meeting for selection with honorees to be honored at the Annual Dinner meeting on Sunday, April 23 at the Unadilla Methodist Church, Main Street, Unadilla. All members and directors are urged to attend.

Many area villages will hold elections for local positions today. many of the races have candidates running unoopposed, In Sidney Andrew Skrobanski is running unopposed for Village court justice, in Milford Taylor Brose, Michael Strong & William Tallman are running for 2 seats on the village board.

Fire Fighters from many area companies responded Sunday night to a Fire at the Milford Methodist Church. The fire was called in at about 7:00 PM, the church was heavily damaged & 2 nearby buildings had minor damage. No injuries were reported, the cause of the fire is under investigation, the building is expected to be ruled as a total loss.

The Tri-Town Youth Club is moving from the Civic Center to the Sidney United Methodist Church starting Monday afternoon. Spokesperson Roni Haag explains:

(RONI HAAG 1-20-17)

Haag said that the hours for the club would be from 2:00 to 5:30 weekdays, starting Monday.

Laurens Firefighters responded yesterday to a fire at a Main Street structure right across the street from their station Thursday afternoon at about 5:30. Firefighters from Laurens, West Laurens, Oneonta, West Oneonta, Mount Vision, Hartwick, Milford and Otego Fire Departments responded, the building contained 4 apartments and room for 2 businesses on the first floor, which were vacant. The building was considered destroyed. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

NYSERDA’s NY-Sun PV Trainers Network and the Otsego County Planning Department invite all local public officials to attend the Land Use Planning and Zoning for Solar Workshop tonight. The workshop will cover information on current solar topics, including relevant property tax topics related to solar development and agricultural assessments. The presentation will take place at the ETC Room, at the Milford BOCES at 1914 County Route 35, tonight from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM

2 more blood donation opportunities will be held in Otsego County today. A blood drive will be held in Franklin from 1:30 to 6:30 PM at the Franklin Methodist Church, 101 Main Street, and another will be in Oneonta from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Fox Hospital Levine Center, at 1 Norton Avenue. Appointments can be made by downloading the Red Cross Blood donor App, online at redcrossblood.org or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS.

The City of Oneonta will be paving the utility trenches at the intersection of Chestnut street & West Street today & tomorrow between the hours of 7:00 AM and 4:00 PM, 2 way traffic will be maintained but traffic delays can be expected, West Street will require closing to through traffic between chestnut & Center during the work hours & detours will be set up along Church Street. More information is available at 432-6465.

The Mohawk Valley Regional Development Council, which includes Otsego County, won over 100 million dollars Thursday for assorted projects. Locally, the Oneonta Rail Yards will be completely rebuilt, and developed, plus the Upper Susquehanna Agriculture Center will be built in Oneonta. Other projects include a State Route 205 Corridor Study, an Oneonta Airport Logistics Development Project, The villages of Cooperstown and Milford will identify the feasibility of a rail service connection & the ARC Otsego Community Residential Facilities will use Funds to make improvements to 10 group homes.

Area Resident Gene Schmidt is coordinating the 3rd Christmas Community Dinner on Christmas Day, which has now been moved back to the Sidney Fire Department's Training Center on River Street. Schmidt said that they still are looking for volunteers & donations:

(Gene Schmidt 12-11-15)

Schmidt can be reached at 610-4030, Donations can be sent by check to the Sidney United Methodist Church, with Community Christmas Dinner on the memo line. Schmidt said that last year they served about 250 dinners on Christmas day.

Guilford Historical Society Social Presents “Chenango County Railroading” with John Taibi, tomorrow at 12:00 noon, at the Guilford Methodist Church   Taibi is the author of 10 books dealing with railroading subjects in Central New York, as well as over 110 short stories of similar subjects.   The event was rescheduled from last month due to inclement weather.

The 8th Annual Earth Festival will be held tomorrow at the Milford Central School, from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM in the gymnasium. More information is available at 286-3349.