WCDO Radio News

Sidney Federal Credit Union awarded $10,000 in scholarships to selected graduating members this year, Vice President Sales and Marketing Andrew Smith explains:

(Andrew Smith 6-2-22)

SFCU Scholarship recipients were Kayla Houck of Downsville, Hannah Sulas of Schenevus, Sariah Vesterfelt & Christina Ritter of Walton, Autumn Madugno of Bainbridge-Guilford, Zoe Gifford of Deposit, Anna Dewey of Sidney, Madison Felter of Hancock & Sebastian Quarella and Skyler Nowalk of Greene.

Development Chenango Corporation announced the next phase of the ‘Hotel Norwich’ initiative. Last year, Development Chenango purchased 14 to 16 South Broad Street, Norwich, for the purpose of developing a boutique hotel. Development Chenango sent out a formal “Request for Qualifications” to identify a developer and operator, the DCC Board of Directors awarded the project to Mike and Dan O’Reilly, owners of Principle Design Engineering, they have 1 year to secure the funding necessary to get the project started.

Delaware County Board of Elections reminds county voters to Register to vote for the June 28th Primary Election, tomorrow June 3rd is the last day to register in person or postmark a registration form for the June 28th Primary Election. Republican and Democratic Parties have primaries for Governor this year. Registration forms and applications for absentee ballots may be found online at delcony.us, call 607-832-5321 or stop in at 3 Gallant Avenue in Delhi. Delhi NY.

The 73rd annual Sherburne Pageant of Bands takes place today through Saturday. Over 30 school districts are scheduled to participate in Saturday’s main event on main Street in Sherburne at 1:00 PM.

A.M. NEWS THURSDAY 6-2-22

18-year-old Payton Gendron of Conklin was charged Wednesday by an Erie County Grand Jury with domestic terrorism motivated by hate and 10 counts of 1st-degree murder. Gendron has been in custody since the May 14th shooting at a Buffalo TOPS Supermarket, the 25-count indictment also contains charges of murder and attempted murder as a hate crime and weapons possession.

State Police responded to a report of a head-on collision involving an SUV and a Trailways bus on State Highway 23 in the town of Davenport. The only occupant of the SUV, a 65-year-old woman of Stamford, was pronounced deceased on scene. Her name is being withheld pending notifications to family. 5 people were on the bus, the driver is a 44-year-old woman of Astoria, and passenger who is a 59-year-old female of Hartwick were transported to Bassett Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. 3 other passengers were not injured, The investigation is on-going.

A law introduced after the murder of Utica teen Bianca Devins has passed in the State Senate and Assembly. Bianca’s Law would create criminal and civil penalties for disseminating personal images of crime victims. In 2019, Bianca Devins was murdered by Brandon Clark in Utica, he posted photos of her body on social media, which were spread on various platforms and sent directly to members of her family. The law is headed to Governor Hochul’s desk for approval..

The Sidney Chamber of Commerce will host their Annual Dinner & Awards Ceremony tonight, with 3 awards to be given out, Chamber President Teri Schunk comments:

(Teri Schunk 6-2-22)

This year’s Organization of the Year award goes to the Sidney Alumni Association, Spokesman Brian Innes commented:

(Brian Innes 6-2-22)

Chamber President Teri Schunk was chosen as the Citizen of the Years, the Business of the Years award goes to Gavin’s Pizza. The Annual Dinner will be held at the Sidney Fire Hall on River street starting at 5:00 PM.

The Annual Sherburne Pageant of Bands will be held this
weekend, at the Sherburne High School.
Pageant competitions will be held tonight & tomorrow, the Parade
will begin Saturday at 1:00 PM on Route 12 in downtown Sherburne.

This weekend is the MX Rewind Weekend at the Unadilla Valley
Sports Center on State Route 8, in New Berlin.
MX Rewind is a full weekend of vintage racing and has become the largest
vintage event of its kind in the nation.
Racing begins on Friday with AHRMA cross-country racing and moves into
motocross racing on Saturday and Sunday. More information is available at
965-8450 or unadillamx.com.

Greater Chenango Cares is once again coming to Norwich to
provide services for families in need. Greater Chenango Cares is a Department
of Defense Innovative Readiness Training event. It gives joint training
opportunities to reservists to increase their deployment readiness while also
providing free medical, dental, vision and veterinary services to the
community.  This year's Chenango Cares
will be held at Norwich High School from July 11th through the 20th.   The Chenango United Way is looking for
volunteers for the event; those interested can call 334-8815.

Norwich city officials are monitoring the situation at 33
Mitchell Street, after part of a wall at the building fell to the ground
Wednesday.  All tenants were evacuated
& city officials blocked off the intersection of Mitchell & State Street
while they try to determine of the 1855 building can be safely repaired, or
needs to be razed.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee had to name 8 champions
yesterday, after the 8 winners continued to spell words correctly round after
round after round.  Organizers said that
they ran out of difficult words to give to the last 8, Scripps officials gave
up and declared them all co-champions, each will win the $50,000 grand
prize.  Melodie Loya of Bainbridge made
it to the final day for the 3rd straight year, before being stumped during an
afternoon round Thursday.

Governor Cuomo today announced
the application window is now open for round one of the Grow-NY food and
agriculture competition. The competition is focused on growing an enduring food
and agriculture innovation cluster in New York's Finger Lakes, Central New York
and Southern Tier regions. The competition will run for 3 & will offer a
total of $3 million in funding for each round to innovative high-growth
start-ups that are focused on the food and agriculture industry.   More information is available at grow-ny.com.

Today is World No Tobacco Day, where people are trying to
get the word out about the dangers of Tobacco use & the growing
Concern  of children getting addicted to
Nicotine through fruit flavored E-Cigarettes Like Juul.  Linda Wegner of Advancing Tobacco free
Communities of Delaware, Otsego & Schoharie Counties said that they are
hoping the state & the Federal Government do something soon:

(Linda Wegner 5-31-19)

Currently, the state wide rate of smoking is about 14%, but
Delaware County is much higher at 24%, there has also been a 160% increase in
E-Cigarette usage among teens in the last 2 years, each Juul cartridge contains
the same amount of nicotine as an entire pack of traditional cigarettes.

A.O. Fox Hospital is offering a program this summer for
individuals interested in becoming junior volunteers, to offer a helping hand
to hospitalized patients, nursing home residents, and staff in a multitude of
capacities.  Training for accepted
applicants is scheduled for Monday, July 1st
from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 PM in Fox Hospital’s Education Department.  Applicants must be at least 14 years of age
& applications are available in the guidance offices of area high
schools,  all applications are due by
June 18th . More Information is available at 431-5042.

James Brower and Tobias Rundstrom-Wooding of Norwich will face trial in November in Chenango County Court. The 2 are accused of raping & murdering 11-year-old Jacelyn O'Connor of Morris in July of 2017; Rundstrom-Wooding is facing the most serious charges in the case, for 1st & 2nd degree murder, rape, and possession of a sexual performance of a child among other charges.

13-year-old Melodie Loya from Bainbridge advanced to the Finals to be held this evening, at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Maryland. Part 1 of the finals was completed this morning, where Melodie successfully advanced to the finals along with 40 other children. The finals can be viewed this evening starting at at 8:00 PM on ESPN. Loya competed last year that the Scripps National Spelling Bee, where she finished in the top 20.

State Police arrested 41 year old Joseph Blaylock of Lake Harmony, Pennsylvania, for allegedly possessing unlicensed firearms. Troopers were dispatched to a residence on State Highway 8 in the town of Deposit; a trooper witnessed 2 men around a campfire with a handgun and a shotgun near them. Blaylock was charged with criminal possession of a loaded firearm, criminal possession of an assault rifle and possession of a large capacity ammo-feeding device, he did not have permits for the weapons. 58 year old Robert Catania was issued a ticket for possession of marijuana. Blaylock was arraigned in the town of Deposit and remanded to the Delaware County Jail on $10,000 cash bond pending court action Friday.

Norwich Police arrested 30 year old Rhonda Horton of Norwich for allegedly selling cocaine. Horton was charged with Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance; she was arraigned at the Norwich City Court and sent to the Chenango County Jail on $20,000 cash bail.

The 69th annual Pageant of the Bands will take place Today through Sunday at Sherburne-Earlville High School. The pageant will feature 30 participating schools, and is expected to draw about 20,000 people to Sherburne, the event is free & open to the public.

Governor Cuomo announced nearly $38 million is available through the Farmland Protection Implementation Grant program to help farmers across New York protect valuable and at-risk farmland. Municipalities, counties, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and land trusts are eligible to apply for individual grants of up to $2 million Dollars. The application deadline is August 31st & the Request for Proposals is available at agriculture.ny.gov.

The Delaware County Chamber of Commerce is seeking teams for its 19th Annual Business Links Golf Tournament which will be held at the SUNY Delhi Golf Course on Tuesday, June 12th at 1:00 PM. The entry fee for the Captain and Crew format is $300 per team, to register a team visit delawarecounty.org or call 746-2281.

The Bainbridge-Guilford Central School will hold a Special Board of Education Meeting Today, in the District Conference Room at 6:30 PM for the purpose of accepting bids for the Capital Project and interviewing Candidates for the open Board seat.