Officials in Oneonta announced that the New Year’s Parade & Fireworks has been postponed, but the rest of the 1st Night celebrations will continue this evening.   The Foothills Performing Arts Center Atrium will open at 5:00 PM, with entertainment beginning at 6:30 PM.  More information is available at http://firstnightoneonta.com.

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Governor Cuomo will deliver his 3rd inaugural address on Ellis Island tomorrow.  Cuomo easily won re-election to a 3rd term in November. Locally, State Senator Jim Seward will be sworn into office on January 1st at the Foothills Performing Arts Center in Oneonta. Seward will be sworn into office for his 17th senate term. Otsego County Judge John Lambert and Otsego County Sheriff Richard Devlin will also be sworn in for new terms. Otsego County Board of Representative’s Chairman David Bliss will serve as master of ceremonies. Otsego county judge Brian Burns will administer the oath of office.

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Delaware County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested and charged 41 year old Wade Johnson of Davenport, Wednesday for making an unsafe lane change, leaving the scene of a property damage motor vehicle, and driving while intoxicated, following a report of a vehicle into a utility pole on Charlotte Creek Road in the Town of Davenport. Deputies say Johnson fled the scene of the accident after the collision and was later apprehended at an address in the Town of Davenport. Johnson was arraigned & was released on his own recognizance to reappear at a later date.

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Governor Cuomo vetoed a bill Friday that would have allowed workers to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave after the death of a family member.  The bill was opposed by the various business organizations; employers typically provide an average of 4 days of bereavement leave for the death of a spouse or child.  In All, Governor Cuomo signed more than 60 bills & vetoed 51 from the 2018 session.

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Oneonta City Hall will be closed on Tuesday, New Year’s Day.  The Common Council meeting has been moved to Wednesday night at 7:00 PM in the Chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall.

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Delaware County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 31-year-old Joseph Clark of Franklin, New York on a bench warrant issued by the Town of Franklin Court for failure to pay fines on a previous charge of Disorderly Conduct, stemming from an incident in the Town of Franklin earlier in 2018.  Clark was arraigned in the Town of Delhi Court and released on his own recognizance.  Clark is scheduled to return to the Town of Franklin Court at a later date. 

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Governor Cuomo announced a 6-month extension for the Interim Mortgage Assistance Program’s most vulnerable participants, made possible by an additional $3.9 million in state funding. More than 200 eligible applicants are expected to benefit from this additional, final extension as they continue to complete recovery and resiliency projects after Superstorm Sandy’s landfall six years ago.   The program has disbursed $54.2 million to support approximately 1,900 storm-impacted New Yorkers who have incurred both mortgage and rental expenses.

Former Oneonta firefighter John Hellers was killed in a fire Saturday at 5 Walling Avenue.  The fire was reported at about 4:00 AM Saturday, 4 children escaped without injury. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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State Police reported that a 41 year old Unadilla man was airlifted Thursday to Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse after attempting suicide by setting himself on fire.  Residents at Meadow Valley Trailer Park on state Route 7 in Unadilla spotted the man and called 911, Troopers responded to the scene and discovered the man, on the ground, with a gas can nearby, Residents threw snow on the man to try to extinguish the flames. 

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State police & local Law Enforcement Agencies are participating in the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign today & tomorrow for the New Year’s holiday. Checkpoints are established all over the state, last year, police issued over 40,000 tickets from DWI, speeding, distracted driving & failing to obey the “move over law”, among other infractions

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Governor Cuomo announced that temporary lane closures for road and bridge construction projects on new York state highways will be suspended until 6:00 am Wednesday, to ease travel during the peak new year’s travel days.  The New York State Thruway authority will also continue its 48-year tradition of offering free coffee and hot tea to travelers at all 27 travel plazas along the thruway from 11:00 pm new year’s eve through 7:00 am new year’s morning to promote safe and alert driving.

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