Hartwick College hosted U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for a press conference earlier this afternoon. Gillibrand discussed her proposal to increase access to rural broadband by creating a new grant component to the current Broadband Loan Program, for private sector providers and state and local government,s to acquire funding and resources to deliver high-speed Internet to businesses and families to 1.1 million rural New Yorkers who do not have broadband internet access.
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The Chenango County Sheriff’s Office arrested 31 year old Kyle Angle of Sherburne Following an investigation of a Domestic Dispute. Angle was charged with for Criminal Obstruction of Breathing and Blood Circulation, Three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child and Criminal Possession of a weapon. Angle was found to be choking a female victim while three young children were nearby. Angle was also found to be in Possession of a hand gun without holding a pistol permit. Angle was arraigned in Town of Sherburne Court and will re-appear at later court date.
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Oneonta police arrested 23 year old Gable Bugel of Oneonta on a charge of third-degree arson. Bugel is accused of setting fire to a car that was parked in a lot off Roundhouse Road on May 13. The vehicle was destroyed. Last year, Bugel was charged with attempted arson in connection with an incident behind Community Bank on Main Street. In a separate case, 28 year old Therese Sandborn of Oneonta was charged with second-degree attempted arson for allegedly attempting to set her apartment on Luther Street on fire. Sandborn was arraigned in city court and set to Otsego County jail.
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State and local government pension rates will drop slightly beginning in April, according to state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. Public employers at the state and local level will pay an average of 20.1 percent of their payroll into the pension fund during the 2014-15 fiscal year, a drop of 0.8 points from the current year. The drop in rates came as a surprise, as local governments had been bracing for another increase as contribution rates continued to recover from the economic recession. But DiNapoli’s office is changing the way it separates and values its equities and non-equities based on a recommendation from an actuary, allowing for the slight decrease.
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Congressman Richard Hanna announced that Tri-Cities Airport in Binghamton was selected to receive $137,000 in grant funding through the U.S. Department of Transportation to make upgrades. The grant will refurbish the runway to maintain structural integrity of the pavement and to minimize foreign object debris. This grant will provide funding for the design phase of the project. Hanna is a member of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.
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Thirty schools will be eligible for up to $500,000 in state grants through a new community-schools program launched by Gov. Cuomo. The governor outlined the plan in his State of the State address in January as a way to help struggling communities with additional services. Schools have until Sept. 18 to apply for the money. The $500,000 would be paid out over three years. The state Education Department has the application and program details. Go to NYSED.GOV.
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Otsego County has a new emergency notification system in place. The county partnered with Hyper Reach to deliver mass notifications to residents and visitors to the county. It sends thousands of calls or messages simultaneously. It’s automatically linked to all landline telephones.If you want to get messages delivered to your cell phone, you have to go to the county’s web site at OtsegoCounty.com and sign up.
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A total of 11,121 housing sales closed in New York in July, a 16.4 percent jump from the same month the previous year. From January through July, 56,522 sales have been reported across the state, a 9.2 percent increase from the same period in 2012, according t the New York State Association of Realtors. The report noted the highest number of July closed sales since 2007 and the highest number of July pending sales since 2005.
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A repaving project on State Highway 12 from Oxford to Norwich will begin tomorrow. Contractors will pave nine miles of State Highway 12 from Millbrook Road (south of Oxford) to Norwich. The work will be done from 6 am to 6 pm through September 13th. There will be alternating lane closures so expect delays. Travelers are encouraged to use County Road 32 as an alternate route.