WCDO Radio News

According to the latest Sienna Research Institute poll, Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul leads the Republican nominee, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman by a 47 to 34% margin among eligible New York Voters, the previous poll had Hochul leading by a 51 to 31% margin.

Another American Red Cross Blood Drive will be held in Oneonta today from 12 pm. - 5 pm., at the SUNY Oneonta Hunt College Union. Appointments can be made at RedCrossBlood.org, downloading the Red Cross Blood Donor App, or calling 1-800-RED CROSS.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has accepted the Republican party nomination for Governor of New York. Blakeman’s nomination comes a day after Antonio Delgado dropped out of the race where he was hoping to upset his former boss and force a primary, Polling showed that Delgado was behind among Democrats by a 6 to 1 margin, in the recent Sienna Poll Hochul has about a 3 to 1 margin over Blakeman.

An American Red Cross Blood Drive will be held today in Oneonta at 12 pm. - 5 pm., at the SUNY Oneonta Hunt College Union, book an appointment to give blood or platelets now by using the Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS

A.M. NEWS Monday 12-22-25

North Country Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has bowed out of the race for New York Governor, after a recent Sienna College Poll showed her way behind GOvernor Kathy Hochul in the race for the Governor's Position. Stefanik additionally announced that she will not seek re-election to Congress next year.

A new Sienna College Poll show Governor Kathy Hochul with a 49% to 30% lead over Congresswoman Elise Stefanik’s in the 2026 gubernatorial race, with 20% remaining undecided. Stefanik has a 3-to-1 lead over her Republican primary rival, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who has the support of President Trump. Hochul leads her own primary opponent, Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, 56%-13% among Democratic respondents.

Hartwick College is offering over 50 online summer classes across three sessions between May 26 and Aug. 15. The session will be open to current Hartwick students, students from other colleges, recent high school graduates, high school seniors (with permission), and adult learners, registration for Hartwick's summer online classes opened on March 3rd, more information, including course offerings and session dates, are available at hartwick.edu/summeronline.

A.M. NEWS Tuesday 3-11-25

The latest Sienna College Poll shows that Governor Kathy Hochul has the support of 46% of Democrats, with a commanding lead over Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado, 11%, and Rep. Ritchie Torres, 10%. Hochul’s favorability has 40% approval while 50% disapprove, with an even split on job approval (46-48%). President Trump’s favorability rating, 39% approve, while 57% disapprove, is little changed from last month, but his overall job approval rating was 42% favor & 55% disapprove, is down by 3% from February.

Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado will deliver the 2025 Leslie G. Rude Memorial Lecture on Tuesday, Mar. 11, at 5 p.m. in the Anderson Center for the Arts on the Hartwick College campus. His presentation, "Public Service in New York," is free and open to the public.

P.M. NEWS TUESDAY 2-4-25

State Police are currently recruiting to add to their ranks, State Trooper Lauren Warner is the recruitment Officer at Troop C in Sidney, she told WCDO News about the application process:

(Trooper Lauren Warner 2-4-25)

Trooper Warner said that applicants must be a US Citizen, ages 20 to 35, they must be a High School Graduate, and have at least 60 College Credits, more information is available at 607-561-7487.

The latest Sienna College poll shows that 39% of New Yorkers view Governor Kathy Hochul favorably, while 47% do not. New Yorkers did supported 10 proposals from Hochul’s State of the State and her by a 42 to 26% margin, especially the budget plans, free breakfast and lunch for public school students, boosting the child tax credit, and limiting cellphone use at school.

The latest Sienna College poll shows that New York Voters approve of the job Kathy Hochul is doing as Governor 56-36%, her best marks since taking over as Governor. 6 of Hochul’s State of the State proposals have overwhelming support, but her proposal to allow SUNY to increase tuition is strongly opposed. In the same Poll, Voters Say that Long Island Republican Congressman George Santos should Resign from Congress, following a string of lies told on the campaign trail. About 2/3rd of Democrats, 59% of independents and a about half of Republicans polled said that Santos should resign, only 17% said he shouldn’t resign.

A.M. NEWS MONDAY 1-23-23

State Attorney General Letitia James has requested records relating to a New Year's incident where a Binghamton Police Officer was taped kneeling on the neck of Hamail Waddell, who filed a complaint against the officer. Binghamton Police said that the officer is on desk duty, following protests outside the Police station, anyone with video of the incident is asked to turn it over to Binghamton Police investigators by calling 607-772-7089.

P.M. NEWS MONDAY 3-28-22

A new Sienna College Poll shows that 2/3 of New Yorkers and more than 50% of Democrats think that former Governor Andrew Cuomo shouldn’t run for Governor again this year. If Cuomo enters the race against Kathy Hochul, he trails her 38-30%, Hochul was Cuomo’s lieutenant governor before he resigned in August. Hochul still has a commanding lead in the upcoming primary, over announced candidates New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Long Island Congressman Tom Suozzi.

The Oneonta West Street construction project between Chestnut and Center streets began today, and will continue weekdays from 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM through Mid August. The project calls for the replacement of water mains, sewer mains, manholes, catch basins, fire hydrants sidewalks & related infrastructure. Detours will be posted, Construction work will be done between 7 am. and 3:30 pm. on week days and is expected to be completed in August prior to the return of students to SUNY Oneonta & Hartwick College.

A.M. NEWS MONDAY 3-28-22

State Police responded Saturday to a report of a fire at home on Johnson Road in the town of Kirkwood. Troopers arrived on the scene and found that 87 year old Nancy Wellman had been removed from the home, a 2nd woman was still inside the residence, Members from the State Police utilized fire extinguishers in an attempt to locate 94 year old Eve Roys, who was ultimately located by members of the Five Mile Point Fire Department. Both women were transported to Wilson Memorial Hospital, Roys died at the hospital, the investigation is on-going.

A New Sienna College Poll reports that 58% of New Yorkers Polled believe that the state should wait until early March before deciding whether to lift the school mask mandate, compared to 30% who say the school mask mandate should have ended already, and 10% who want to see it end after this week’s school break. On New York’s indoor public mask mandate 45% say that the mandate should still be in place, compared to 31% who say it should have ended already and 20% who say it ended at the right time. Also in the New Poll, 60% say crime is a very serious problem, 31% said it’s somewhat serious. By a 65-27% margin, voters say ‘the bail reform law should be amended to give judges more discretion regarding bail.

A new Siena Poll released on New Yorkers opinion of Governor Cuomo, shows that 23% said he should resign immediately, 39% say he should serve out his term but not seek re-election, and 33% say he should continue to serve and run for re-election.  35% said they would vote to re-elect Cuomo for another term, 56% would prefer someone else.  Voters approve of Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic, 51-32%, on managing vaccines 66-20%, keeping New Yorkers informed (60-27%), and reopening the state 54 to 33%.

The Fireman's Association of New York will have their annual Recruit New York Weekend events this Saturday & Sunday.  Many firehouses across New York State will hold virtual or in-person recruitment efforts, locally, fire Departments in Coventry, West Oneonta, Laurens, & West Laurens are participating in the recruiting effort.

A.M. NEWS Wednesday 4-21-21

A New Sienna College Poll reported that Voters by a 50-35% margin that Governor Cuomo should not immediately resign & by a 48-34% margin, they say he can continue to effectively do his job as governor.   Voters were satisfied with the way Cuomo has addressed the sexual assault allegations, by a 57-32% margin &  Voters still approve of Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic, 60-33 percent,

A new Sienna Poll showed that Voters believe by a 50 to 35% margin that Governor Cuomo should not immediately resign, a similar margin believes that he can continue to effectively do his job as governor.    Voters are satisfied with the way Cuomo has addressed the allegations, by a 57% to 32% margin, they approve of Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic, 60-33%, and voters gave Cuomo a negative grade, 27-66% regarding the reporting of Nursing home deaths during the pandemic.

Governor Cuomo’s favorability rating got a slight boost,
while his job performance got an even bigger boost in the latest Siena poll
released this morning before the budget presentation.  New Yorkers are still 49% favorable rating
with a 45% unfavorable, which improves the rating of 44% in favor & 49%
unfavorable back in November.  41%
approve of the job the Governor is doing, as compared to 35% in November.

A new
Sienna College poll released today shows that former Vice President Joe Biden
leads Democratic presidential candidates by 10% among New York Democrats.  Biden polled at 24%, U.S. Senators Elizabeth
Warren 14% and Bernie Sanders 13%, the rest of the field were in single
digits.  35% of those polled believe that
Biden has the best chance of unseating President Trump in the 2020 elections.

Hartwick
College’s Center for Student Success will present a screening on Thursday of
the film “This Business of Autism,” followed by a Q&A with Director Stephen
Mackey.  The documentary demonstrates
about the economic and societal benefits of employing young adults with autism
centers on Spectrum Designs, a custom screen-printing and embroidery business
in Port Washington, NY; 75% of the company’s employees are on the autism
spectrum.  The screening, which will be
held at Shineman Chapel House on Thursday, November 21 at 4 p.m., is free and
open to the public.

The latest Sienna Poll has Governor Cuomo ahead of Republican challenger Marcus Molinaro by a 50 to 28% margin, with Working Families Party candidate Cynthia Nixon at 10% and 3 other candidates with a combined support of 4% & 8% were still undecided. The latest Siena College poll also has incumbent US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand ahead of Republican challenger Chele Farley by a 61 to 29% margin. In the race for Attorney General, Democrat Letitia James leads Republican Keith Wofford 50 to 36%.

This Friday, Hartwick College will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the College's Nursing Program, which has graduated over 1,500 graduates into the profession. On Friday, Hartwick College will host an all-day symposium, after a welcome at Yager Hall, 4 seminars will be offered throughout the morning, at 3:00 PM, the College will unveil a new 11-bed nursing simulation unit housed in Smith Hall and funded by grants from the Clark Foundation and an additional private foundation. Registration information and the full event schedule is available at Hartwick.edu.

The Latest Siena College Poll released Today shows that Governor Cuomo still holds a commanding lead over actress Cynthia Nixon among registered Democratic voters by a 58 to 27% margin. The poll also has Cuomo with commanding leads over Republican candidates State Senator John DeFrancisco and Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro.

A new Sienna College Poll found voters like major elements of Governor Cuomo's 2018 State of the State address that was unveiled last week. The most popular proposal with 76% approval is the plan to pass the Child Victims Act, which would eliminate the statute of limitations for sex crimes, committed against minors and increase the statute of limitations for civil cases. Over 65% supported the plan to prevent taxpayer funds from being used to settle sexual harassment claims involving state officials. 65% favor early voting, The Dream Act was supported by 60%, Making Roe vs. Wade into a permanent State law was backed by 59%. 58% approve of filing a lawsuit challenging the new federal tax law.

The latest Siena College poll has President Trump's favorability rating was at 28%, which is 1% lower than last month. Trumps’ job performance rating is even lower, at only 23%. In the same poll, Governor Cuomo had a 57% favorable rating, with 48% giving him a positive job performance rating.

Governor Cuomo's approval ratings fell this month, after reaching 61% approval in May. The latest Sienna College Poll has Cuomo with a 52% approval rating, only 43% think he is doing a Good or excellent job, while people were evenly split on Cuomo seeking re-election in 2018. Cuomo's New York City rating dropped sharply, as issues continues with the MTA downstate.

A new Sienna College poll finds Governor Cuomo is at his highest approval rating in 3 years. 61% of voters now say they view him favorably overall, and just over half 51% like the job he’s doing in office. Sienna officials said that Cuomo's rise in popularity has steadily increased since President Trump’s inauguration on January 20th. The governor rated positively for higher education and human rights, but Cuomo needs to work on taxes, infrastructure and the economy.

People all over the world are weighing in on naming the baby boy Giraffe, born at Animal Adventure in the town of Colesville recently, where millions watched the birth live on their web-stream. Jordan Patch of Animal Adventure told WCDO News that the first round of voting ended last night where the names were paired down to a "Top 10":

(Jordan Patch 4-26-17)

People can vote on the Top ten names at nameaprilscalf.com, the name choices are Alyssa’s Choice, Apollo, Geoffrey, Gio, Harpur, Noah, Ollie, Patch, Patches, & Unity. WCDO will air the complete interview with Jordan Patch about Animal Adventure & April the Giraffe in the 8:00 hour on Friday morning.

A new Sienna research Institute poll shows that 37% of those polled feel that the new state budget is fair, 23% viewed the budget poorly & 25% viewed it positively. Specific items in the budget polled more favorably, including free college tuition for families with an income up to $125,000, increased aid to school districts, ride sharing & a 2.5 billion dollar clean water infrastructure fund. 51% of those polled said that they would vote for Governor Cuomo for a 3rd term, up slightly from last month.

A new Siena College poll has Governor Cuomo at his highest favorability ratings in 2 years. Today's Poll has 60% of respondents viewing Cuomo favorably, compared to 34% who have an unfavorable view. Today's poll also has President Donald Trump with 68% unfavorable and only 29% favorable.

SUNY Delhi has been ranked among the country’s “Most Affordable Colleges for Incoming Freshman with Financial Need” by Student Loan Report. The ranking, based on Peterson’s college data, examined need-based scholarships and grants to incoming freshmen at more than 1,000 colleges. SUNY Delhi ranked at #158, with financial aid awarded to 87% of freshmen with financial need. The average financial aid award is $8,026.

A Time Warner Cable/ Siena College poll released Tuesday shows Republican John Faso holding a 1% lead over Democrat Zephyr Teachout in the race for the 19th Congressional District. Faso had 43% and Teachout was at 42% for the congressional seat currently held by Republican Chris Gibson, who declined to seek re-election for another 2-year term.   The poll surveyed 678 likely voters; it has a margin of error of 3.8%.

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli released a report on student loan debt which found the average New Yorker with college loans owed $32,200 in 2015, higher than the national average of $29,700. Student loan debt more than doubled during the last decade in the state, growing to $82 billion from $39 billion, an increase of 112%. The number of students taking out loans rose sharply in New York over the past 10 years by 41% to 2.8 million. Student loans represented 11.4% of the $722 billion outstanding consumer (or household) debt in New York in 2015. The full report is available at osc.state.ny.us.

A new poll of registered New Yorkers suggests that Hillary Clinton has a big lead over Republican candidate Donald Trump. A Sienna Poll released today shows Clinton with 51% compared to only 30% for Trump. 19% were undecided or favored other candidates.

Another Red Cross Blood drive will be held today in Oneonta, from 12:00 Noon until 5:00 PM, at Hartwick College. Download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS to make an appointment, All blood types are needed.

A new Sienna College poll released today showed that New York Voters were not as likely to vote to re-elect their State Senator and Assembly member this year. 48% of the 803 registered voters polled said they would vote to re-elect their senator. 37% said they'd prefer someone else and 14% were undecided. Voters said they are prepared to re-elect Assembly members by a 42 to 38% margin with 20% undecided. All 63 State Senators and 150 Assembly members are up for election November 8th.

According to a new Siena College poll, 67% of New Yorkers predict that Donald Trump will not be elected President. Only 7% thought it was "very likely" that the Republican presidential hopeful would win the White House. Among the Republicans questioned, 51% predicted that Trump's would fail to get to the White House.

90% of New Yorkers say they are somewhat concerned, 60 % say they are very concerned, that another terrorist attack will happen in New York in the near future, according to a new Sienna College poll released today. 63% said they have not changed their lifestyle out of fear of a terrorist attack. By a 52-39 percent margin, voters oppose allowing Syrian refugees to come to the United States at this time. 90% also believe that corruption in Albany is still a serious problem, and by a 3-to-1 margin, voters say new laws are needed to prevent further corruption in state government. 2/3rds also agree with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman that daily fantasy sports games are gambling and illegal in New York.

P.m. news Friday 12-19
New Yorkers oppose giving the state Legislature its first raise since 1999, and they remained split over whether the state should have moved forward with hydraulic fracturing, according to a Siena College poll. Voters oppose a legislative pay raise, 63 to 28%. Despite voters being evenly split upstate, the state's tough gun-control law called the SAFE Act was supported, 58 to 33% statewide. Voters were also evenly divided on the Dream Act that would provide tuition assistance to illegal immigrants, with 44% supporting it and 48% opposing it. Governor Cuomo had a 58% to 37% favorability rating, up slightly from October.

Governor Cuomo signed legislation opening the door for growing and researching industrial hemp in New York. The bill, introduced by Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, creates an agriculture pilot program to study ways to cultivate and manufacture products with the multi-use crop. It passed both houses of the State Legislature in the spring. Colleges and universities, including Cornell, Binghamton University, may take part in New York's research program.

The latest Siena College poll asked New Yorkers about the most important issues for the fall election. 28% said jobs, 21% said taxes, and 20% said education and 17% corruption. Only 2% of those polled said hydraulic fracturing natural gas reserves was their top issue, 1% involved guns and the state’s gun-control law.

The proposed “Dream Act”, that would have allowed the children of illegal aliens to access financial aid to college, doesn’t have enough support to make it to the Governors desk. Assemblyman Cliff Crouch explains:

(Crouch 6-16-14)

This year’s legislative session is scheduled to end this Thursday.

A new Sienna research institute poll regarding how the state is doing compared to 4 years ago, shows that voters are divided. 32% believe that New York is better off now, 26% believe the state is worse off, and 40% believe the state's condition is unchanged. Regarding the voters personal situation, 28% believe they are better off, with 23% feel their situation is worse, and nearly believe their situation is the same. 39% to 50% of New Yorkers say the state is headed in the right direction, Upstate New Yorkers; however, say the state is going in the wrong direction by a 5-point margin.