The U.S. war against terror in Iraq took the life of a soldier from Burlington Flats. Two Oneonta police officers resigned and a third was suspended after an investigation into alleged misconduct. Debates about proposed drilling for natural gas heated up. Businesses and residents coped with a recession.
These stories and others were Page 1 headliners during 2009, making the list of top 10 stories for the region anchored by Otsego and Delaware counties. The Daily Star editorial staff identified the top stories, many of which will have further chapters in the new year.
1. Proposed drilling
for natural gas
in Marcellus Shale
Today is the deadline for public comments on the state's draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) for natural-gas drilling projects in the Marcellus Shale region in New York.
Drilling firms and residents throughout the area have reached land-lease agreements that would allow drilling.
Opponents working in grass-roots efforts have raised issues about the impact of the drilling process and its effects on the environment, including water resources, truck traffic and risks of toxic spills.
Supporters and opponents to the proposed drilling have spoken at public hearings during the past year. The state Department of Environmental Conservation prepared the draft, which was released Sept. 30, to establish guidelines that would govern natural-gas drilling.
DEC spokesman Yancey Roy said Wednesday that the DEC has received 9,600 comments on the draft SGEIS. The next step will be to review the comments, prepare a ``responsiveness survey'' and determine if changes are needed before making the statement final, he said. No timetable has been set for the process.
A final SGEIS will set additional parameters for the State Environmental Quality Review Act.
The Marcellus Shale is an underground formation extending underground from Ohio and West Virginia northeast into Pennsylvania and New York. The gas would be extracted through a horizontal drilling process that involves hydrofracking, a method of using water and other materials to reach gas deposits.
Geologists estimate that the entire Marcellus Shale formation contains between 168 trillion to 516 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the DEC said, but it is not yet known how much gas would be commercially recoverable in the New York region.
Local governments and organizations have mixed positions on the proposals and draft statement.
On Dec. 9, the Delaware County Board of Supervisors voted to support drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale on the condition that the state's SGEIS addresses environmental concerns with sound science and regulatory safeguards.
On Tuesday at a joint media conference, the Butternut Valley Alliance, Otsego 2000, Otsego County Conservation Association and Trout Unlimited called for the DEC to withdraw its draft SGEIS.
The towns of Cherry Valley and Springfield issued positions this months urging the DEC to amend its proposed rules for extracting gas from the Marcellus Shale region.
2. Oneonta police scandal
Two Oneonta police officers resigned and a third was suspended after the department faced incidents allegedly involving on-duty officers, sex and alcohol.
City officials described the events as conduct "unbecoming an officer" and involving misuse of city property. Other sources and documents associated with the investigation indicate the allegations involved sex with women, alcohol consumption and allowing intoxicated women to drive patrol cars, all while on-duty.
Sgt. Andrew Barber and Joseph Stockdale resigned Oct. 5.
With Daniel Fetterman, the suspended officer, fighting the allegations and a hearing planned for Feb. 23, developments will continue in 2010.
3. Withdrawal of NYRI's application to build power line
In April, New York Regional Interconnect Inc. withdrew its application to the state's Public Service Commission to build a $2.1 billion power line.
NYRI planned to build a 1,200-megawatt line from the Utica area south through seven upstate counties to deliver power to the New York City area. The project prompted intense opposition from environmentalists and local governments.
The PSC dismissed the firm's application to build the 190-mile power line 18 days after NYRI announced it was suspending plans. NYRI said its decision was in response to a federal agency's March 31 decision to deny one of its requests.
More than 2,000 people attended 13 public hearings, and more than 300 public statements were made. In addition, more than 2,600 letters and e-mails from the public were received.
PSC officials said NYRI must file a new application with the agency if it wants to pursue the project.
4. Local economy
The national recession caused layoffs, unemployment and other challenges for area businesses and residents.
Some retailers and managers said they have held their own by reducing costs, refocusing and meeting consumer demand and adapting to market changes, including competition from the Internet. In a few cases, entrepreneurs have started or expanded businesses.
Among startups is Ioxus Inc., formerly Renewable Energy Development Inc., which manufactures ultracapacitors at a plant in Oneonta and marked its first sale in July. The firm, an offshoot of Custom Electronics in Oneonta, plans to have 30 to 35 employees by the middle of next year to meet national and global demand, managers said.
But because of fiscal hurdles, Penn Traffic _ the parent company of P&C, which has stores in Hartwick Seminary and Norwich _ filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November, and jobs are in jeopardy.
The recession started in December 2007, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. In recent months, some economic experts have pointed to signs the recession may be ending. Others said depressed spending could persist for several years amid stubbornly high levels of unemployment.
Meanwhile, New York state is wrestling with a budget crisis, and cash-strapped counties have increased property taxes.
5. Murder cases in Chenango and Delaware counties
A New Jersey man was found guilty of murdering his son's baby sitter at a Feb. 19 bench trial in Chenango County Court.
Broome County Judge Joseph Cawley ruled that George Ford Jr. was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of 12-year-old Shyanne Somers.
Ford deliberately ran over Shyanne with his pickup truck on Will Warner Road near South Otselic at 3:03 a.m. July 8, 2007.
The night before, Shyanne had gone to Ford's seasonal home in South Otselic to baby-sit, and Ford was supposed to drive her home.
The fate of Ford, a former butcher and contractor, was largely determined by evidence from a GPS tracking device his wife had hidden under his truck seat.
On June 11, Ford was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison _ the maximum penalty _ for murdering Shyanne.
A murder case also is pending in Delaware County Court.
The sentencing of the man charged in the death of State University College of Technology at Delhi student Tyshawn Bierria was adjourned until Jan. 8 after Cawley questioned the length of the prison term.
Jose Antonio Lambert's murder trial ended with a plea agreement Oct. 14 when he pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter.
Lambert, 23, was to be sentenced to eight years in prison with five years of post-release supervision.
Bierria, 22, of Queens, died after a brawl involving 50 to 60 people moved outside a dormitory in the early morning of April 27, 2008. Bierria had been stabbed 10 times and died at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown on May 1, 2008.
Delaware County District Attorney Richard Northrup said there was a disagreement on the length of the prison sentence based on Lambert's prior felony conviction. The change in the length of the prison term could jeopardize the plea agreement, Northrup said.
6. Cpl. Mayne's homecoming
Army Cpl. Michael Mayne, a 2006 graduate of Edmeston Central School, was the first service member from Otsego County to die in Iraq during the nearly seven-year-old war.
Mayne, 21, of Burlington Flats, was killed during combat northeast of Baghdad on Feb. 23. Before his Iraq deployment, Mayne was stationed at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, the home base of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division. The brigade deployed to Iraq in autumn 2008 for a yearlong tour of duty.
Mayne grew up across from the Burlington Flats Baptist Church in a house overlooking Burlington Flats Veterans Memorial Park on state Route 51.
Near the park's center is an American flag. When Mayne was an Eagle Scout in Troop 9, he decided that six more flags, one for each of the five branches of the U.S. military and another for the Merchant Marine, should flank the stars and stripes. On Memorial Day 2003, he unveiled his Eagle Scout project.
In March, area residents lined Route 51 there in Mayne's honor as his casket arrived in the area for a funeral. His ultimate sacrifice was recognized with flags flown at half-staff and other remembrances on Memorial Day.
Mayne was popular, outgoing and fun-loving, with friends saying they remember him for his quick wit and off-key ditties he composed. At ECS during farewell ceremonies March 3, Staff Sgt. Matthew Burns, Mayne's section leader, called him ``a true hero and a great friend.''
7. Some local elections close
A three-way race for Oneonta mayor, a hotly contested campaign for Otsego County treasurer and close results in Delaware County were highlights in this year's elections.
In Oneonta, former Hartwick College President Richard Miller, 66, an independent running on the Democratic line, took 50.2 percent of the vote, while Third Ward Alderman Erik Miller, a 35-year-old Republican, won 41.6 percent. State University College at Oneonta student Jason Corrigan, 21, took 8.2 percent on his independent party line.
Richard Miller succeeds Mayor John Nader, a Democrat, who served one term that ends today.
In the Otsego County treasurer race, Democrat Daniel Crowell defeated Republican Edward Keator Jr. by 140 votes, 6,302 to 6,162.
Keator, endorsed by the Republican Committee, had defeated incumbent Treasurer Myrna Thayne, 1,585 to 606, in a primary. Thayne's tenure was marked by controversy after the Otsego Board of Representatives adopted a 2007 budget that mistakenly raised the tax levy by 22 percent.
In another close contest, incumbent Republican Betty Anne Schwerd of Burlington defeated Democrat Keith Carpenter of Edmeston by 25 votes, 478 to 453, to retain the District 10 seat on the Otsego County Board of Representatives.
In Delaware County, small margins also decided races in Middletown, Sidney and Bovina. Recounts determined Republican Jacob Rosa defeated Democrat John Bernhardt by 407 to 401 for a seat on the Middletown Town Board. In Sidney, after a recount that included absentee votes, Republican Eric Wilson had 498 and Democrat C. Peter Cordes had 487, and they won town board seats, edging out Joseph Ermeti, who had 483.
8. A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital becomes a Bassett affiliate
After decades of competition, A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital in Oneonta and Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown agreed to affiliate.
The agreement, effective Friday, is the result of economic pressures and changes in the health care industry, including difficulties recruiting physicians to rural areas, reduced payments for services and an emphasis on providing outpatient treatments and decreasing hospital stays, administrators said.
Dr. William Streck, president and chief executive officer at Bassett Healthcare, said in a recent Daily Star column that the affiliation provides the opportunity to coordinate the delivery of health care services within the region and to support the missions of both organizations.
Fox has a 100-bed hospital, a nursing home and the FoxCare Center.
Bassett Healthcare and affiliates are a system of physicians, providers, hospitals and community health centers in eight counties, covering 5,000 square miles. Bassett Hospital is a 180-bed, acute-care, inpatient teaching facility in Cooperstown.
The agreement, which was reached in October, came after yearlong negotiations that began with considering how the two organizations could share services in the areas of orthopedic, cardiac and cancer care.
For Fox, the affiliation means serving as a community hospital for the Oneonta region with the support of specialty services from Bassett, Streck said in his column. For Bassett, it means serving as the source of specialty care for the region and continuing initiatives in research and education, he said.
Members of governing boards at Bassett Healthcare and Fox signed documents completing the affiliation, administrators said this month, and there will be few visible changes from the perspective of patients.
9. Arsons in Delaware County
A series of conflagrations destroyed or damaged properties, including a church, and arson fires destroyed a barn at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in Walton.
Donald J. Aitken, 22, of East Meredith, and Cody D. Fancher, 17, of Stamford, were arrested Oct. 7 for their alleged involvement in the fire that destroyed the Sidney Center United Methodist Church on Oct. 1 and other blazes that occurred between April and October.
Aitken and Fancher pleaded innocent to two indictments that included seven counts of third-degree arson and multiple other felonies.
Timothy L. Haner, 24, was charged with third-degree arson and third-degree burglary in connection with a fire at an unoccupied farmhouse in Hamden.
The defendants, who were arrested by Delaware deputies after an investigation by an arson task force, were arraigned in county court Nov. 23, and their trials will be during the April 26 trial term.
The 4-H horse barn at the Delaware County Fairgrounds was destroyed by fire Nov. 29. Two teenagers who reportedly admitted setting the blaze were arraigned in county court Dec. 18.
Curtis Constable, 17, of Trout Creek, and Joseph Boycott, 16, of Walton, pleaded innocent to felony arson and criminal mischief charges. The teens were taken into custody by an off-duty police officer as they tried to wade through the West Branch of the Delaware River across from the fairgrounds, authorities said.
For decades, the barn had provided stalls for horse shows throughout the summer, as well as during fair week.
10. The National Soccer Hall of Fame closes
The National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta closed to the public after Labor Day because of financial difficulties. But the tournaments continued as scheduled this autumn, with the museum open those days.
At the time of closing, sources said the Soccer Hall had eight employees. This month, Jack Huckel, director of museum and archives for the Soccer Hall for almost 10 years, left the organization. President and Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Ullman said the Soccer Hall now has two employees. No decisions have been made about the future of the Soccer Hall in Oneonta, Ullman said earlier this month, and he gave no date for when a review by the board of directors would be complete.
The U.S. Soccer Federation, which recognized the Hall in 1983, has been supportive of efforts to turn things around, Ullman has said.
Museum attendance was about 17,000 a year, Ullman said, with admission of $12.50 for adults and $9.50 for students. About 55,000 people were expected to come to the campus this year, including at the four playing fields, he said. About 80 percent of the people come during spring through the fall.
The organization, with an operating budget of about $1 million annually, has had a structural operating deficit that Ullman estimated to be in the six figures. State support and cash from various sources had helped make ends meet, he said.
At the media conference in September announcing the changes, an alternative mentioned was having a central location with more attention to traveling exhibits and events in other locations and online.
Player and other ballots for 2010 have been announced, and an induction in 2010 is planned.
