Flooding, fracking dominate 2011 [The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.]

Dec. 31--Tragedy, turmoil and strife characterized the leading local stories of 2011. Some issues, such as the challenges faced by the Oneonta police department, the legal fate of Anthony Pacherille Sr. and the continued battles over natural gas drilling, were expected. Others were largely unforeseen. The arrest of Otsego County Chamber President and CEO Rob Robinson came as a shock, even to those who worked with him closely. An argument in Walton that turned into a fatal stabbing shocked the community, and a fire that destroyed a historic church in the same village left a congregation searching for a new home and a man remorseful for his actions.

But above all these things, 2011 will be remembered most by two names: Irene and Lee. The storms brought devastating flooding to our region in late summer, the effects of which are being felt to this day -- and no doubt for many months, even years, to come.

Here are the local stories considered by The Daily Star's editorial staff to be the most significant of 2011:

1. Flooding from Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee strikes area

Sometimes knowing that disaster might strike is not enough to prevent it.

The local area had ample warning that Hurricane Irene could strike the region in late August. The storm had been gathering strength during the week, and several forecasts suggested its path would cut through central and eastern New York, bringing high winds, driving rain and the possibility of flooding and power outages.

When the storm did sweep through the Northeast on Aug. 27, some news outlets in the New York City metropolitan area and elsewhere deemed the storm a "bust," noting that damage in those regions had failed to live up to expectations.

But in much of upstate New York, and particularly in the local communities of Schoharie, Middleburgh, Fleischmanns, Margaretville and Prattsville, Irene was anything but.

More than 50 people in the United States lost their lives in the storm, including an 82-year-old Russian-born Holocaust survivor named Rozalia "Leah" Stern-Gluck, who was trapped in a cottage at the Valkyrian Motel in Fleischmanns.

The community of Prattsville, in Greene County, was virtually destroyed by flooding. Many other communities along the Schoharie Valley did not fare much better.

Before the storm, area residents were advised to be prepared to be without electricity for at least three days. That advice turned out to be woefully inadequate for thousands who were without power for a week or more, as utility crews struggled to reach downed power lines in areas where roads were still washed out or blocked by fallen debris.

Days after Irene struck, Tropical Storm Lee swept through the area, raising flood waters once again and further complicating recovery efforts.

Despite heroic efforts by local emergency services offices and others working around the clock to keep information flowing, chaos reigned. With the situation on the ground changing almost by the hour, travelers struggled to find safe routes, often encountering unexpected road closures or hazards.

The close of 2011 sees many still grappling with the aftermath of the two storms. Scores of damaged local homes, businesses, government offices and farmlands still await a recovery that may never come. The initial difficulties area residents had in navigating the physical landscape of the storm has been replaced by difficulties navigating the bureaucracy of aid in its myriad forms. It remains to be seen if a year of recovery will follow the Year of the Flood.

2. Municipalities battle over natural gas drilling

The latest front in the battle over natural gas drilling has been over home rule. 2011 saw numerous municipalities pass laws banning drilling, or approving moratoria. And while much was said about drilling, how the process will be governed and regulated remains unknown going into 2012.

Amont the first towns in New York state to ban drilling and fracking was the town of Middlefield, in northern Otsego County. The town borders the eastern shore of Otsego Lake and contains the eastern part of the village of Cooperstown. The town of Otsego, which includes the western portion of the village of Cooperstown, passed a ban in May.

Before it even passed the local law, Middlefield was threatened with a legal battle. At a March hearing over the proposed law, attorney Scott Kurkowski of the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York State warned town officials that he did not believe they had the necessary authority to enact such a ban, and that, if passed, the law would be challenged in court.

Middlefield passed its local law in July, just one day after the town of Springfield, also in Otsego County, passed its own ban on fracking. The promised lawsuit came just a few months later.

The suit argues that the town's zoning law pertaining to oil and gas drilling violates state law, which forbids municipalities from regulating the oil and gas industries. A similar lawsuit was filed against the town of Dryden, in Tompkins County, just one day after Middlefield got served.

But Cooperstown lawyer Michelle Kennedy, who has been advising local town boards, said previously she did not believe this argument would stand up in court.

"Saying you don't want a certain activity is not the same as regulating it," she said. "The towns are not trying to regulate the industry."

The outcome of both lawsuits will be closely watched throughout the state and is likely to set a legal precedent that would determine whether the numerous other fracking bans in the state -- including those in the city of Oneonta and the towns of New Lisbon, Springfield and Cherry Valley -- will stand.

Also being watched is a resolution authored by state Sen. James Seward, R-Milford, which would support the authority of municipalities to pass zoning or planning ordinances excluding hydrofracking. Seward's bill is expected to be re-introduced in 2012, and the Otsego County Board of Representatives is expected to take up the issue when a slate of new board members are sworn in in January.

3. Change, challenges for Oneonta Police Department

The Oneonta Police Department rang in 2011 with a cloud over its proverbial head. The resignation of three officers in connection with allegations of misconduct had not been thoroughly explained or accounted for by city officials, and calls for an outside investigation of the department had gone unanswered.

Then in February, Bradford Shanks of Oneonta filed a police brutality complaint against the department, alleging that officer Michael Breen had mistreated him during a police stop.

Shanks' complaint set off a chain reaction of events that included the appointment of Joseph F. Loszynski, a retired deputy superintendent of the New York State Police, to investigate the department; the resignation of Chief Joseph Redmond from the department; an out-of-court settlement awarding Shanks $135,000; the promotion of Lt. Dennis Nayor to chief of police, effective in April 2012; and the termination of Breen's employment by the Oneonta Common Council.

4. Anthony Pacherille Jr. accepts plea agreement

The fate of Anthony Pacherille Jr. of Cooperstown, accused of three hate crimes, including second-degree attempted murder, in connection with the April 2010 shooting of Wesley Lippitt, remained unknown at the start of 2011.

Just weeks before a trial had been scheduled to begin, word came that Pacherille had agreed to plead guilty to second-degree attempted murder and to serve 11 years in prison, with five years of post-release supervision. The agreement set the stage for two emotional courtroom proceedings.

On April 29, Pacherille appeared in court before Judge Brian Burns to formally enter his plea before a courtroom audience of more than 100 people. Pacherille was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser, non-hate-crime charge, but Otsego County District John Muehl insisted that Pacherille admit he targeted Lippitt because of his race. Pacherille is white; Lippitt is black.

In response to a question from Burns, Pacherille said, "I chose Wesley Lippitt because he was African American." A man sitting behind the defense table called out, "It's a lie." Others in the courtroom cried.

Following the sentencing, the young man's father, Anthony Pacherille Sr., was charged with second-degree harassment based on a complaint made by Burns.

In response, Pacherille Jr.'s defense attorney, Frank Policelli of Utica, filed a motion in October requesting that Burns recuse himself from the case, and that a new judge be appointed to consider a resentencing request for the teen. Burns subsequently recused himself, and the case was transferred to Broome County Judge Martin E. Smith, the supervising criminal court judge for the 6th Judicial District.

5. Stabbing death of Tyler Warner

A disagreement between two men turned fatal in Walton in August, leaving Tyler Warner of Walton dead and Lejuan Wainwright, formerly of St. Petersburg, Fla., behind bars.

A witnesses to the altercation said Warner visited an apartment on Mead Street on the night of Aug. 20 and became argumentative, quarreling with people in the apartment for no apparent reason, including Wainwright. The disagreement turned into a fight, which spilled out onto the front lawn, and ended with a knife in Warner's chest and Wainwright fleeing the scene.

Initially charged with second-degree murder, Wainwright now faces a first-degree felony manslaughter charge, based on the findings of a grand jury. Wainwright is expected to go to trial during the court term beginning in January.

6. Local elections draw strong turnout

Local voters turned out in force in November, despite the lack of any statewide or national political campaigns to lure them to the polls. The reason, in large part, was gas drilling.

Half of the candidates endorsed by Sustainable Otsego, a regional anti-drilling network, won seats in town and county office, but failed in some pivotal areas. In what was the biggest defeat for the anti-fracking side, Teresa Winchester failed to oust incumbent and noted drilling supporter James Powers in the 2nd District for the Otsego County Board of Representatives. Thus the first local election since drilling has become such a prominent issue in the region failed to produce any clear picture of where local voters stand on the divisive topic.

Another emotional campaign was waged in the town of Sidney, where despite not being up for re-election, Town Supervisor Bob McCarthy managed to draw many voters to the polls, albeit indirectly.

Incumbent town clerk Lisa French and town council members-elect Gabrielle Pysnik and Walter Goodrich rode a wave of anti-McCarthy sentiment into office.

7. Closure of St. Mary's School

Early in 2011, word came that St. Mary's School in Oneonta might be entering its final months offering private Catholic education to area students.

Facing declining enrollment, the school board moved in late January to recommend closing the facility at the end of the 2010-11 school year.

Board member William Moon said the school would have to virtually double its enrollment to remain sustainable.

The Rev. Joseph Benintende, pastor of St. Mary's Church, said the school hasn't been able to recruit and retain new students.

"We've tried and tried and tried," he told The Daily Star after the board's meeting.

Despite valiant efforts by an ad-hoc group, Parents and Friends of St. Mary's, to drum up enrollment, the final word came in April that the school would be shutting its doors permanently in June, leaving behind a 52,000-square-foot building constructed just a decade earlier.

8. Arrest and firing of Otsego County Chamber President and CEO Rob Robinson

After heading up the Otsego County Chamber for more than a decade, President and CEO Rob Robinson's tenure came to a sudden end in November as he faced felony fraud charges connected with the Chamber's sale of insurance to member businesses.

George Allen, vice president of Northern Eagle Beverages Inc. in Oneonta, said: "This came as a big surprise to all of us."

The Chamber responded by voting unanimously to remove Robinson as president and chief executive officer, and shortly thereafter began a search for a new interim president.

Robinson's legal fate is yet to be determined; a conference scheduled for Dec. 29 in Oneonta Town Court was subsequently adjourned to Jan. 26.

9. Arson destroys Walton church

A historic church in the village of Walton was destroyed in January in an early morning blaze that lit up the darkened sky and burned so hot that paint blistered on nearby buildings. By the time the sun came up on the smoking remains of the First Baptist Church, Walton police had arrested Michael Allen, 31, of Walton on a charges of third-degree arson.

In court in June, as he plead guilty to six counts of arson, Allen apologized for his crime, calling it "one of the worst things that has ever happened in my life."

Allen was sentenced by county Judge Carl Becker to 3 1/2 to 10 1/2 years in state prison plus restitution of more than $1.1 million, and orders of protection for the victims, who suffered property damage as a result of the fire.

10. Death of Norma Hutman

Another 2010 fire resulted in no criminal charges, but tragically claimed the life of a well-known Oneonta woman.

A home at the corner of Reynolds Avenue and Main Street in Oneonta was destroyed by fire in late February, claiming the life of former Hartwick College professor Norma Hutman.

Hutman made strong impressions on many of those who met her, according to many who spoke in her memory.

"If you knew Norma, you had a story," The Rev. Kenneth Hunter, rector of St. James' Episcopal Church in Oneonta, said at her service. "Some of them verge on the epic."

Hartwick remembers Hutman with the Florence and George Hutman Scholarship for International Study, which Norma established to honor her parents.

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(c)2011 The Daily Star (Oneonta, N.Y.)

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