WCDO Radio News

Hartwick College reported 1 new case of COVID-19 has been detected, there are 27 active cases on campus; the total number of cases detected on campus since August 1st is up to 58.

1 Small Business Saturday event will encompass more than 1 Saturday this year, for holiday shopping convenience locally. Sidney Chamber of Commerce President Teri Schunk explains:

(Teri Schunk 11-5-20)

Schunk said that they are still planning out the schedule for special events leading up to the holidays, and announcements will be made shortly.

Catholic Charities, other charities & the Village of Sidney are teaming up for another mass food distribution at the Sidney Fire Department Friday starting at 11:00 AM. Penny McKnight of Catholic Charities explains:

(Penny McKnight 11-5-20)

McKnight said that the September 17th Mass Food Distribution helped out about 1200 individuals from 500 families, with 12 tons of food given out.

The State Education Department announced the cancellation of the January Regents Examinations due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Education department also plans to submit a proposal at the December Board of Regents meeting to modify requirements for high school diplomas, so the Regents cancellation will not affect students about to graduate. The Education department canceled the June Regents earlier this year because of the pandemic, and modified high school diploma requirements for the Class of 2020.

A.M. NEWS THURSDAY 11-5-20

The State Health Department reported that 133,000 COVID 19 test results were reported Tuesday, yielding 2126 positives. Patient Hospitalization went up again by 26 to 1,253, the number of ICU patients increased to 284, 129 are on ventilators, there were 14 COVID Deaths.

Otsego County Department of Health reported 14 new cases of COVID 19, 2 are in college students, and there is a cluster of 10 cases related to a residential group home in Oneonta. Otsego County reports 1039 total confirmed cases with 47 active cases, 0 hospitalized, 8 deaths, and 754 cases linked to SUNY Oneonta & 56 confirmed cases in Hartwick College students

Delaware County Public Health reported 8 new cases of COVID 19 Wednesday, they have 47 active cases & 181 quarantined, and they are now at 201 total cases since March with 9 deaths and 145 recoveries.

Richelle and Delana Wood of Walton held a lemonade sale at their Walton home in September to benefit the Delaware County Sheriff’s K9 program. The Wood Sisters indicated they wanted to recognize K9 “Ozzie” who passed away due to a medical condition earlier this year, & support the continuation of the program and our agency’s new K9, “Eli”. The girls raised $516.55 for the K9 program; $416.55 through lemonade sales as well as another $100.00 by private donation, Deputy Kyle Karcher and K9 Eli received the donation from the girls at their Walton home last week.

Delaware County Sheriff's Deputies responded to a reported burglary in the Town of Walton, Deputies were informed by the victim that property stolen from a building located on County Highway 21 was found at the Cow Path Lane location. Deputies obtained and executed a search warrant and recovered the stolen property. Deputies arrested 40 year-old Robert Smith and 35 year-old Terriann Connolly, both of Walton, for 3rd degree burglary & Petty larceny. Smith was also charged with criminal possession of stolen property; both were released on appearance tickets directing them to appear in the Town of Walton Court on a later date.

P.M. NEWS TUESDAY 8-25-20

Governor Cuomo announced today that travelers from Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Maryland and Montana will no longer have to self-quarantine for 14 days when arriving in New York.  The U.S. territory of Guam was added to the states quarantine list, the full list can be found at coronavirus.health.ny.gov.

The Federal EPA is planning to complete the clean-up of the GCL Tie & Treating plant in Sidney that closed over 26 years ago, and was included on the Federal Superfund site in 1994.  The plant was contaminated by creosote, which was used to treat railroad ties, the owners abandoned the business & the creosote contaminated groundwater.  The EPA will hold an online public meeting September 3rd at 7 PM at Eventbrite.com.

The Broome County Sheriff's Office arrested 27 year old Ridge McCollum of Whitney point following an investigation into the report of a car in a ditch in Windsor.  Deputies accuse McCollum of trying to ingest cocaine that was discovered by sheriff's deputies during their investigation.  McCollum was charged with tampering with physical evidence, DWI, Criminal Possession of a controlled substance & obstructing governmental administration, he faces court action at a later date.

Attorney General Letitia James today announced an $85 million multistate settlement with American Honda Motor Company over allegations that Honda concealed safety failures in the airbags of certain Honda and Acura vehicles sold in the United States. The settlement was reached between a coalition of 48 attorneys general and Honda & it concludes a multistate investigation into Honda's alleged failure to inform regulators and consumers of issues related to the frontal airbag systems installed in certain model cars, which resulted in at least 14 deaths and over 200 injuries in the United States alone.   Customers can learn about the class action settlement at AutoAirbagSettlement.com or visit Honda's airbag recall website at HondaAirbagInfo.com.

The Otsego County Health Department announced that they will hold another free COVID 19 testing on Thursday from 9:00 AM to 12:00 NOON at the former "Greenies" site on state route 7 in Otego, near the Unatego school campus.  This testing site is for people who are not sick but want to be tested by a nasal swab.  This is a drive up testing site. Individuals will be required to remain in their vehicle and wear a mask when pulling up to the testing tent.  This testing site is for Otsego County residents only who preregister by calling 547-4279.

A.M. NEWS Tuesday 8-25-20

State Police arrested 48 year old Robert Gregory of Oneonta for 3 counts of Forcible Touching, 3 counts of Sexual Abuse and 2 counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.  An investigation was opened when the parents of two victims under the age of 17 contacted State Police, an investigation revealed that Gregory allegedly made inappropriate sexual comments and forcibly touched the intimate parts of 2 under aged victims. Gregory was virtually arraigned and remanded to the Otsego County Jail on $500 cash bail or $1,000 bond.  The judge issued orders of protections to each of the victims.

Governor Cuomo issued an executive order that requires county boards of elections to be ready for the changes in voting in the November elections.  The executive order requires county boards of elections to Send a mailing outlining all deadlines for voters by Tuesday, September 8, Send staffing plans and needs to the State Board of Elections by September 20th so they can assist them in ensuring adequate coverage, make sure that boards are ready to count votes and reconcile affidavit and absentee ballots by 48 hours after elections & Provide an option for New Yorkers to vote absentee in village, town and special district elections.

Delaware County received no new positive test result for COVID-19 since Friday, 1 additional recovery has been reported. The known active cases in the County as of today is 3, all are recovering at home. To date there have been 101 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Delaware County, with 29 people now under mandatory quarantine, 6 people have died and 92 have fully recovered.