WCDO Radio News

President Barack Obama will travel through New York and Pennsylvania today and tomorrow on a two-day bus tour to talk about affordable higher education for the middle class. Today the President will deliver remarks at the University at Buffalo, and Henninger High School in Syracuse. Tomorrow on Friday, the President will participate in a town hall event at Binghamton University, and will deliver remarks at an event at Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that $71 million is now available through New York State Homes & Community Renewal for shovel-ready projects to build affordable housing units across the state. Of the new $5 million allocated for Community Investment Fund awards, 60% percent will be allocated to projects in urban areas of New York State, and the remaining 40% will be allocated to projects in rural areas of the State. Governor Cuomo also announced that FEMA has approved New York’s request for an extension for ongoing Public Assistance outreach in counties affected by the late June/early July flooding this summer. FEMA initially granted the Governor’s request for Public Assistance eligibility for Allegany, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Franklin, Herkimer, Madison, Montgomery, Niagara, Oneida, Otsego, and Warren counties on July 12th and later amended the list by adding Broome, Chautauqua, Clinton and Essex counties on July 26th. Public Assistance is for emergency work and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged facilities.

The race has been set for the Office of Otsego County Treasurer this November. Representatives for Republican Edward Keator Jr., the Treasurer for the Village of Cooperstown, and acting County Treasurer Henry “Russ” Bachman, an independent running with support from the Democratic Party, said the two hopefuls have collected the needed number of signatures to be placed on the November ballot. County Treasurer Dan Crowell will also be on the ballot because he did not announce his plans to leave office at the end of the current year until after it was too late to have his name scrubbed from the ballot. Crowell is currently on active duty with the U.S. Army. Bachman will be listed as the candidate for the Otsego First party, while Keator, who stepped into the race after Crowell signaled he would not seek re-election, is running as the candidate for Common Cents. Meanwhile, three candidates will be seeking two Oneonta town justice seats. Dawn Oliver will run on the independent Citizens for Oneonta line and on the Democratic Party line. Also running will be Sean Farrell, a Republican who previously announced his candidacy, and incumbent Bruce Smith, a Republican who has served four terms. Two Oneonta town justices will be elected in November.

A new hiking trail along the Pepacton Reservoir is set to open next week just outside the village of Andes. The Shavertown trail is 5.2 miles long, with the trailhead located near the kayak/canoe storage area off of County Route 1, six miles south of Andes. The trail will officially open next Friday, August 30th.

State police will be out in full force this Memorial Day weekend across the state, Troop C Commanding officer Major Kevin Molinari explains:

(Molinari memorial patrols 2013)

One person is killed every half hour on average nationwide due to drunk driving, state police are also looking to get 100% compliance on seat belt usage, research indicates that the chance of serious injuries or fatalities climb extremely high if seat belts are not used by occupants in a crash.

Chenango county sheriff’s deputies & the Greene Police Department arrested 23-year-old Corey Nelson of Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania.  Nelson was a Fugitive from Justice out of the State of Pennsylvania, with an arrest warrant issued by the Muhlenberg Township Police Department for Theft by Deception-False Impression.  Nelson was arraigned in Chenango County Court and remanded to the Chenango County Correctional facility pending extradition back to Pennsylvania.

Delaware County Deputies investigated a 2-car accident on County Route 10 in East Meredith. 32-year-old Michael Tarzia of Delhi was traveling east when he was struck by a vehicle driven by 24 year old Kayla Constable of Delhi.  Constable was charged with DWI & leaving the scene of a property damage auto accident, she was released and is ordered to appear at a later date in the Town of Meredith Court

The Chenango County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant in the Town of New Berlin leading to the arrest of 47-year-old Valeria Goude for Cruelty to animals.  A search warrant was executed with the assistance of Compassionate Care Veterinarians; they located dead and malnourished animals on the property.  Valeria Goude was arrested and released, the investigation is ongoing.

Delaware County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 43-year-old Frederick Black of Jefferson for 2 counts of 2nd degree Aggravated Harassment.    The charges stem from a domestic dispute between Black and two female victims, Black allegedly called 1 victim approximately 100 times and the other victim approximately 50 times in a span of about 12 hours.  He was arraigned in Harpersfield Town Court and released to reappear at a later date.   A temporary order of protection was issued for the victims.

This Saturday the 6th Annual Dan Elwood Memorial 5k Run/ 1Mile Walk to benefit Hospice of Chenango County will be held in Bainbridge.  The event will start in General Clinton Park at 9:00 am, Registration forms can be downloaded on two sites, www.canoeregatta.org/events.htm (http://www.canoeregatta.org/events.htm) or the Hospice website at www.hospicechenango.org (http://www.hospicechenango.org/).

Chenango county sheriff’s deputies arrested Trinity Hafner of Norwich for Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance &  Criminal Possession of a Hypodermic Needle during a traffic stop on State Highway 12 in North Norwich.   Deputies found  a hypodermic needle on the floor of the vehicle and a syringe was found within the vehicle containing heroin. Hafner was released on an appearance ticket & will appear in the Town of North Norwich Court on a later date.

The fifth annual bicycle ride for benefit of Catskill Area Hospice & Palliative Care will be held on Sunday in Margaretville.  The Catskill Mountain Cycling Club and the MARK Project sponsor the Tour de Pepacton; the race features two choices of distance, 25 miles around the reservoir, or 60 miles of tough local terrain.  Registration is available at USACycling.org, and click on “clubs.” scroll down to “Tour de Pepacton.” More information is available at 607 326-4734.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Amphenol site in Sidney was held this afternoon.  Congressman Chris Gibson was one of the dignitaries that spoke to the crowd; he said that this project was especially important to him as a military veteran:

(Congressman Gibson 5-13-13)

Group General Manager of Aerospace and Industrial Operations division and Senior Vice President of Amphenol Gary Anderson thanked the assembled dignities and the employees at Amphenol for their drive to get this project underway:

(Gary Anderson 5-13-13)

Delaware county economic development executive director Glen Nealis was sited in several speeches today, he told WCDO News where they go from here:

(Glen Nealis 5-13-13)

Construction for the new site on Delaware avenue in Sidney next to K-Mart will begin shortly.

State Police arrested 50-year-old Martin Nowalk of Greene, for one count of 1st degree Rape, 1 count of Criminal Sexual Act, and 1 count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.  The arrest followed an investigation into alleged inappropriate sexual contact with a female child under the age of 13, Nowalk was arraigned in the Town of Greene Court and remanded to the Chenango County Jail without bail pending future court proceedings.

Governor Cuomo today announced that New York State would use available funds from the recently approved HUD Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program to cover the 25 percent non-federal match requirement of property buyout costs associated with Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.  Approximately 1,143 properties in 17 affected counties have been processed for buyouts under FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Included in the 17 counties are Broome, Chenango, Delaware, & Otsego Counties.

State University Police in Albany reported that an Oneonta native was found deceased on the campus Saturday morning.   18-year-old Jared Trotti was found dead in a visitor parking lot on the campus, he was just finishing up his freshman year at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania following his 2012 graduation from Oneonta High School.  The cause of death will be announced pending the results of an autopsy.

The 23rd Ed Wessels canoe regatta was held Saturday on the Susquehanna river from Otego to Sidney, and featured top pros that are expected to compete in the upcoming General Clinton Canoe Regatta.  This years Wessels regatta winners were Steve Rankinen of Pennsylvania & Matt Strybe of Indiana, beating out 7 time General Clinton winner Andy Treibold and & 5 time winner Steve Lajoie  (Lajwa) of Quebec by only 9 seconds.  Treibold & Lajoie struggled early in Saturday’s race with a hole in their canoe; they are expected to return to the area to defend their Clinton title on memorial day.

The fifth annual bicycle ride for benefit of Catskill Area Hospice & Palliative Care will be held on Sunday May 26th starting in Margaretville.  The Tour de Pepacton is sponsored by the Catskill Mountain Cycling Club and the MARK Project; the race features two choices of distance, 25 around the reservoir, or 60 miles of challenging terrain.  Registration is available at USACycling.org, and click on “clubs.” scroll down until you see “Tour de Pepacton.” More information is available at 607 326-4734.