WCDO Radio News

P.M. NEWS TUESDAY 9-14-21

Chenango County Sheriff's Office responded to a fatal 2-car motor vehicle accident on County Road 36 in the Town of Guilford Monday.  Investigators reported that 22-year-old Dominique Brissett of Walkill was traveling north bound on County Road 36 and collided with an SUV operated by 23-year-old Rachel Feyh of Sidney.  Brissett was pronounced dead on the scene, Feyh was air lifted by Life Net to SUNY Upstate Medical in Syracuse, where she was listed in critical but stable condition. The investigation into the cause of the motor vehicle accident is still ongoing.

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced significant progress with the Emergency Rental Assistance Program and the Excluded Workers Program. The amount of pandemic-related emergency rental assistance paid out has nearly doubled in the past 3 weeks, up to $399 million, enabling tenants at risk for eviction to stay in their homes and helping struggling landlords to receive unpaid rent. Starting tomorrow, middle-income renters previously ineligible for assistance can begin applying for funding through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, also Governor Hochul announced that over $1 billion in Excluded Workers Program funds have been approved for distribution to date.   More information is available at otda.ny.gov.

Catholic Charities in Sidney is looking for volunteers to assist them in their next community mass food distribution on September 28th, spokesperson Penny McKnight explains:

(Penny McKnight 9-14-21)

McKnight said that they need about 40 to 50 volunteers to help set & then distribute the food to those who show up on the 28th; McKnight said that they have averaged between 9 & 12 tons of food at the previous distributions.

A.M. NEWS Tuesday 9-14-21

Delaware County Public Health reported 101 new cases of COVID 19 in the last week, bringing their total of active cases to 184, with 4 hospitalized & 266 quarantined.  49.6% of the total population is vaccinated, 80% of the positive cases are unvaccinated, and Delaware County residents can find vaccine clinic sites at covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov or vaccines.gov

The State Department of Health today announced that New York State's youth smoking rate has reached an all-time low. As of 2020, less than 3% of high school students smoke cigarettes, down from 27.1% in 2000.  The Youth Tobacco Survey found that youth tobacco use was down across all tobacco product categories, including a drop in e-cigarette use for the first time.  New Yorkers of all ages can contact the New York State Smokers’ Quitline at 1-866-NYQUITS or visit nysmokefree.com.

After a year and a half hiatus, due to the Covid-19 Virus, the Mid York Concert Band is looking forward to beginning rehearsals today for the 40 plus piece ensemble made up of professionals, educators, students and dedicated amateurs from Chenango and surrounding counties.   Spokesman Mark Sands told WCDO News about the musicians they are recruiting:

(Mark Sands 9-14-21)

Sands said that the rehearsals are every other Tuesday evening, with the 1st rehearsal tonight from 7:00 to 9:30 in the Norwich Middle School band room. There are 2 scheduled concerts, December 14, 2021 and May 22, 2022.More information is available at 334-4307 or by email: midyorkcb@gmail.com

The “Share The Bounty” program will return in Sidney, after the program was forced to shut down due to the COVID 19 pandemic last year, Spokesperson Kate Porter explains:

(Kate Porter 8-27-21)

The first "Share The Bounty" Dinner will be on Thursday September 23rd, at the Sacred Heart Church Parish Center on Liberty Street in Sidney.

Chenango Arts Council is seeking memorabilia, yearbooks and other items from the years its 27 West Main Street location served as the Norwich City Middle and High Schools. Submitted items will be displayed in the gallery exhibit “Back to School”, and items will be returned once the show closes. Those interested in sharing their memorabilia will be please deliver it to the Council at 27 West Main Street, Norwich by September 10th, the exhibit will open with a public reception on Friday, September 17th at 5:30pm. The exhibit will run until October 1st. More information is available at 336-2787 or info@chenangoarts.org.

A.M. NEWS FRIDAY 8-27-21

The Chenango River Theater will be back with live performances today at the facility in Greene, Spokesman Bill Lelbach commented about the controversial topic of "Ben Butler":

(Bill Lelbach 8-27-21)

"Ben Butler" starts tonight & runs through September 19th at their facility in Greene, tickets for “Ben Butler” or the following show: “The Craftsman” are available at chenangorivertheatre.org.

An American Red Cross Blood drive will be held at the Sidney Fire department Training center on River Street today from 11:00 to 4:00 PM. A Blood drive is also being held today at the Elm Park Methodist Church on Chestnut Street in Oneonta from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM, and a blood drive is also being held in Norwich today at the Broad Street Methodist Church from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Registration is available at redcrossblood.org.

The Barstool Fund has been set up by Barstool Sports.com, to raise money for small businesses struggling to survive due to the pandemic.  Locally, Interskate 88 in Oneonta received substantial funding, owner Eric Nelson comments:

(Eric Nelson 1-25-21)

More information about contributing to the fund to help small businesses or what other small businesses received funds, go to barstoolsports.com.

A.M. NEWS MONDAY 1-25-21

The total week 6 federal allocation of vaccine delivery to providers was completed over the weekend.  New York's health care distribution sites have received 1,304,050 first doses and administered 88% or 1,144,000 first dose vaccinations.  Delivery of the week 7 allocation from the federal government does not begin until the middle of this week.

The Sidney central School district was notified that 2 6th grade students have tested positive for COVID-19. The last time the students were on campus was Tuesday, January 19th.  The Delaware County Health Department has conducted an investigation and the contact tracing has been completed. There will be no change to the instructional model.

SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras joined SUNY Oneonta Acting President Dennis Craig Sunday to reopen campus for the spring semester.   On Sunday, students moved back to campus housing for pre-semester COVID testing and quarantining before the Spring Semester start date of in-person classes of February 1st.  The SUNY system has announced it will be increasing the frequency of mandatory COVID-19 testing at schools.  All students, staff, and faculty who frequent the campuses will be tested weekly for the start of the semester, prior to the start of in-person classes, there will be mandatory mask-wearing & there will be no Spring Break this semester.

Bainbridge Guilford School Superintendent Tim Ryan is holding a Zoom Meeting with parents today, regarding how the school district is dealing with the uptick in Chenango County COVID cases, he told WCDO News that their hybrid model seems to be working well:

(Tim Ryan 1-8-21)

Ryan said that they have had 4 students recently test positive, 2 of those were remote only students & they did not expose anyone in the school itself.

The Sidney Central School District reported 2 new COVID 19 cases, they report 2 middle school students are presumed positive, they have not been on campus since Monday, January 4th. The Delaware County Health officials have conducted an investigation and the contact tracing has been completed. There will be no change to the instructional model at this time.