{"headlinelight18"/}Richfield Springs gets $5.4M for water plant
RICHFIELD SPRINGS _ The village has been awarded $5.4 million to support the planning, design and refurbishment of its wastewater treatment plant.
The grant is part of $130 million in funding announced Thursday by Gov. David A. Paterson for clean-water projects selected to receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding. Twenty-two communities were awarded funding.
The refurbished Richfield wastewater plant, originally built in 1972, according to the governor's media release, will allow the village to more consistently and efficiently achieve discharge requirements, thereby improving water quality.
Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, said the ``funding will be critical to Richfield Springs in order to protect their clean-water supply and their local infrastructure.''
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Leadership program accepting applications
ONEONTA _ A program at SUNY Oneonta designed to prepare future leaders in Otsego County is accepting applications for the class of 2010.
Offered through the Center for Economic and Community Development at the State University College at Oneonta, Leadership Otsego meets one full day each month from August to May. The curriculum teaches area residents and workers about leadership concepts and skills using discussions with people across the county.
Participants can build personal networks as well as their understanding of local challenges and opportunities by interacting with numerous presenters, organizers said. Since its start in 1997, Leadership Otsego participants have heard from nearly 150 area experts.
Presentation topics include arts and tourism, history and news sources, commerce and trade, health care and human services, government, agriculture and land use, and education.
Leadership Otsego alumni represent a variety of ages, occupations, employers, interests, and hometowns throughout the county, organizers said.
The application deadline is June 19, and selected participants will be notified by June 30. Tuition is $850, and some scholarships may be available for candidates who lack financial resources or institutional sponsors.
For more information, visit www.leadershipotsego-ny.com or call Tim Hayes, director of the SUNY Oneonta Center for Economic and Community Development, at 436-2792.
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SUNY Oneonta gets scholars program grant
ONEONTA _ The National Science Foundation has awarded a grant of $900,000 to the State University College at Oneonta to support the SUNY Oneonta Noyce Scholars Program.
According to a media release, the program will help prepare students for careers as highly qualified high school science teachers in high-need school districts.
Dr. Paul Bischoff of the SUNY Oneonta Secondary Education Department will coordinate the grant with Dr. John Schaumloffel of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, Drs. James Ebert and Todd Ellis of the Earth Sciences Department, and Dr. Paul French of the Physics and Astronomy Department, the release said.
The SUNY Oneonta Noyce Scholars Program will recruit students as incoming freshmen or sophomores who are majoring in the sciences and offer them intensive training beyond the college's adolescence education majors in science. In return, the students will receive scholarships valued at more than $13,000 annually to cover the costs of tuition, fees, and room and board.
The goal, the release said, is to graduate 24 highly qualified new science teachers by the end of the five-year grant period. The participating faculty members have developed an enhanced curriculum that focuses on experiential learning and observation in high-need rural and urban school districts and provides experiences in science education outside the traditional classroom.
The students will graduate with degrees in adolescence education and their chosen science discipline of biology, Earth sciences, chemistry or physics.
The Noyce Scholars will serve in high-need urban and rural districts through summer experiences in New York City schools and academic-year and summer experiences in rural schools in central New York. They will also take specialized coursework, the release said, and gain experience with informal science education at the SUNY Oneonta Science Discovery Center and College Observatory, nationally recognized science museums and other venues.
The college will provide on-campus pre-service and post-graduation in-service support, and faculty members and Noyce Scholars will collaborate with local schools.
For more information, call Bischoff at 436-2613.
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Properties of Merit choosing nominations
ONEONTA _ Volunteers from this year's Properties of Merit Committee are choosing nominations for the annual awards program.
The committee recognizes well-maintained properties in categories ranging from residential and historical to institutional and business, said Carol Mahon, executive manager of the Future for Oneonta Foundation.
She said committee members welcome suggestions for properties to nominate in the city and town of Oneonta. The categories are residential, rental, commercial, most improved, new construction, most-improved business, landscaping, commercial landscaping, historic and institutional.
To recommend a property, call Mahon at the FOF office at 432-6554 or send mail to P.O. Box 134, Oneonta, NY 13820.
Mahon said the panel would decide which properties to list on the ballot, which is put to a public vote.
The FOF and The Daily Star sponsor the Properties of Merit program.
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