Sidney town board & town supervisor candidates participated in a public forum at the Sidney library last night.  Republican Gene Pigford & Democrat Bill Heath are running for town supervisor, Gene Pigford commented about his vision for Sidney in his closing statement:

(Gene Pigford 10-4-13)

Bill Heath said that a more open & transparent town government is more necessary than ever, in his closing statement last night:

(Bill Heath 10-4-13)

The town supervisor & town board debates will be aired on WCDO Monday evening following the news at 6:00 PM, they will also be posted on the WCDO website.

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Former Otsego county Chamber of Commerce president & CEO Rob Robinson & Norman Michaels have been indicted by an Otsego county grand jury on charges of grand larceny, scheming to defraud, & insurance fraud.  The pair is accused of adding downstate residents into the chamber’s health insurance plan.  Robinson resigned from the chamber in 2011 when the allegation came to light.

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State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced that Binghamton Parks and Recreation Department Director John Whalen has been charged with grand larceny, for allegedly using $108,000 in taxpayer funds for his own purposes.  DiNapoli’s audit accuses Whalen of using the money to pay for his son’s student loans, and to pay his home mortgage, cell phone bills, credit cards insurance, gasoline and flowers, between 2007 and 2012. A copy of the audit is available at osc.state.ny.us.

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Governor Cuomo announced that the State DMV is now offering qualified veterans the option of having their veteran’s status indicated on their drivers license, permit or non-driver identification card. The Governor signed legislation last year that directed the DMV to make the veteran’s status available to all honorably discharged veterans of the United States Armed Forces who apply for the designation on a DMV issued photo document.  More information is available at dmv.ny.gov.

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The Fagan Flyers Fly-In Breakfast will be held this Sunday, at the Sidney Municipal Airport from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM.   The breakfast will be followed at the airport by the 18th annual Grand Finale Cruise In & Car Show between 9:00 Am & 4:00 PM.

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The Binghamton Senators open their 12th season tomorrow night when they play the Syracuse Crunch at 7:05 at the Broome County Arena.   Tickets can be purchased through the B-Sens’ executive office, the Arena box office, at 722-SENS, through Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com, more information is available at bsens.com.

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All state income tax returns that were filed before September 1st will be processed by the close of the business day today, according to the state Department of Taxation and Finance. Processing issues tied to a state contractor led to delays in distributing 2012 tax refunds to those who filed their returns by paper this year. More information is available at tax.ny.gov

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