By Mark Boshnack
Staff Writer
December 27, 2008 10:10 am Crime and punishment, natural resources and baseball were among the subjects chosen by the editorial staff of The Daily Star for the top stories of 2008. While some of the stories in the news had some closure during the year, others will continue into 2009. 1. Natural-gas drilling boom The year's top story _ natural-gas drilling _ has not had its end. After finding gas on a Springfield farm last year, it was reported in May that landowners in several counties in the Marcellus Shale region were being offered from $25 to $2,400 an acre for the rights to drill for gas, according to a source. More than 1,500 property owners in Otsego, Delaware and Chenango counties had agreed to let firms drill for natural gas on their properties by December, according to county records. The story heated up in July when Cooperstown rejected a proposal to sell water to an Arlington, Va., firm that needed it to help explore in the Maryland, Springfield and Cherry Valley. In October, the Delaware County Board of Supervisors opposed an effort by the city Department of Environmental Protection to get the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which is reviewing its regulations, to adopt more stringent rules. Those restrictions would include a ban on drilling in a one-mile radius of New York City reservoirs or reservoir streams. This would eliminate drilling in a large portion of Delaware County. If such a move is allowed, county officials said, residents should be compensated for lost income opportunities. The DEC held a number of public hearings in the area to develop a new Generic Environmental Impact Statement to address some of the concerns tied to proposed drilling methods. More than 300 people attended the hearing at the State University College at Oneonta in December. Concerns included health impacts, chemical toxicity, traffic and damage to roads. Benefits discussed included creating jobs, invigorating the economy and producing fuel that can reduce the reliance on foreign supplies. The comment period for the DEC document closed Dec. 15. A final document is expected this summer. 2. Peter Wlasiuk convicted of murder in retrial A crime story whose subject was familiar to many took the second spot in this year's list. Peter Wlasiuk was sentenced in November after a jury trial again resulted in a second-degree murder conviction for the death of his wife, Patricia, in 2002, a nurse at the now-defunct Hospital in Sidney. He was convicted that year, accused of smothering her and staging the accident by sending her body into Guilford Lake in the back of a pickup truck. The first verdict was overturned in 2006 by appellate judges who found errors in the original trial and ordered a new one. After a three-week retrial this year, the former Oxford resident was convicted in September. This may not be the last time the case is reported on, as Wlasiuk's attorney said that errors were again made and that the verdict will be appealed. 3. SUNY Delhi student fatally stabbed The April 27 campus stabbing and subsequent death of a SUNY Delhi student was the third most-important story, according to voters. Tyshawn Bierria, 22, of Queens, died at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown on May 1 after being stabbed multiple times April 27. Jose Antonio Lambert, 22 at the time, was arraigned in May on second-degree murder charges, and he could go on trial in April, a Delaware County court official said. At his arraignment, Lambert claimed it was self-defense. Four other men had been charged with first-degree gang assault, a class B felony, and one count of second-degree attempted murder, a class B felony, but they were released after a grand jury issued no bills of evidence. 4. Oneonta Tigers sold The sale of the Oneonta Tigers, which was finalized early this month, was the No. 4 story. New York City attorney E. Miles Prentice III is the centerpiece of the investment group that bought the Oneonta Tigers from their longtime ownership group, including Sam Nader and Sid Levine. The sale, for an undisclosed amount, was officially announced July 1 at the New York-Penn League team's home at Damaschke Field. The franchise was bought by the Oneonta Athletic Corporation in 1966. Nader served as the president of the corporation and Levine was the vice president and treasurer. The two are the only living members of what started as a 10-man corporation that purchased the franchise for $7,500 in 1966. Levine told The Daily Star in 2001 that OAC rejected a $2.5 million offer in 2001. The O-Tigers will remain in Oneonta at least through the 2010 season, though Prentice said he hopes to keep it in Oneonta past then. 5. Gas prices soar, then fall The wild swings in gas prices during the year took the No. 5 spot. Prices were on the way up at the start of 2008 _ about $3.23 a gallon in upstate New York, according to the New York State Research and Energy Development Agency. This was up 29 percent from a year earlier. In January, people looking at the price of gas and oil said buying locally produced food and shopping locally were necessary. By May, with gas at more than $4 a gallon, area tourism officials were encouraging people to enjoy local attractions, and some politicians were asking for a gas tax holiday. With the price peaking in July at $4.28, a Fourth of July weekend preview found that people were looking to stay closer to home for the holiday. Later this summer, prices in this area didn't fall as fast as elsewhere, and by August, motorists expressed their anger with high prices. By November, the average price was $2.41 and dropping, and those filling up said they were glad to be spending less. They didn't believe that the drop was here to stay. By the end of the year, with the economy continuing to slow, the average price had dropped to $1.91, a 41.3 percent drop from the year before 6. Corbin Douglas Sr. sentenced to 30 years The case behind the No. 6 story might been familiar to some. In January, Corbin Douglas Sr. of Morris was sentenced to 30 years in prison on nine federal drug charges, including distribution of morphine and hydromorphone. The charges were related to the death of his 14-month-old son, Corbin Douglas Jr., in February 2005, according to a federal jury that found him guilty in 2007. In December 2005, Douglas was found innocent of murder and manslaughter in Otsego County Court, but he admitted to stealing and distributing drugs in his testimony, which formed the basis of the federal case against him. 7. Hall of Fame Game ends The end of a nearly 70-year tradition for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, and the possible start of a new one, came in at No. 7. Scheduling problems for Major League Baseball and the players association were cited in January as reasons to end the annual Hall of Fame Game played at Doubleday Field. The final game between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres was canceled in June because of thunderstorms. But in November, the Hall announced it had teamed with the Major League Players Alumni Association to bring a legends game to Cooperstown on June 21. The first Hall of Fame Classic will feature at least four Hall of Famers among 30 former players who will comprise the American League and National League teams. "This game will have plenty of star power," said Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson. "It's about drawing people," 8. SUNY Oneonta student raped The violent, nearly fatal, rape of a SUNY Oneonta student in May was the No. 8 story. The man accused of the act, Justin Gillingham, who was 23 at the time, was arrested May 16. He was charged with first-degree rape for allegedly attacking the 23-year-old student on the edge of the State University College at Oneonta campus. It is the policy of The Daily Star to not print names of victims of sexual crimes. Gillingham was also charged with second-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault. According to the victim's statement, Gillingham tried to snap her neck three times and told her he would bury her. Police and prosecutors said she fought off the vicious attack that left her with a bloodied and swollen face, but she left scratches on his face that lead to his arrest. Gillingham pleaded innocent to the charges, and the trial is scheduled for April, said Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl. 9. Major Sidney employers announce layoffs Layoffs and staff reductions that hit two of Delaware County's largest employers, in Sidney, were voted the No. 9 story. This month, MeadWestvaco Office Products Group announced the elimination of 50 positions at the end of the month. This was in addition to 221 seasonal layoffs among hourly employees, some announced earlier in the season. The plant manufacturers planning products and calendars, and it employs about 1,050 people between hourly and salaried employees. The other large Sidney employer, Amphenol Corp., which makes electronic and electrical interconnect devices, laid off 202 employees between August 2007 and November 2008. The Daily Star reported in May that the Sidney plant employed 1,600. Efforts to get more information from Amphenol was unsuccessful at several times during the year. 10. New leadership at Oneonta colleges Both Oneonta colleges replaced their retiring presidents in 2008 in what was the No. 10 story. Following the Sept. 9, 2007, announcement by then-SUNY Oneonta President Alan Donovan that he would be retiring in June after 20 years at the college, four candidates were named in April 10 as possible replacements. The appointment of Nancy Kleniewski, a provost and vice president at Bridgewater State College in Mass., was recommended in May. She has devoted her professional life to public higher education and has earned promotions of increasing responsibility at three different institutions, State University of New York Interim Chancellor Dr. John B. Clark said in recommending her. She started her term as the college's seventh president in July at a salary of $205,000 and was formally inducted in September. "I am delighted to be entrusted with the institution's success and am committed to guide it into the future," she said at the ceremony. At Hartwick College, Margaret Drugovich, a native of Geneva, Ohio, was named as the school's 10th president by its board of trustees in February. She succeeded Richard P. Miller Jr., who announced his retirement in the summer of 2007, effective June 30 of this year. She was vice president for strategic communications and university enrollment at Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. "To be invited to lead a college of the quality of Hartwick is truly a privilege," she said after the announcement in February. At her inauguration in October, she asked for the support of the campus community. "Work with me to strengthen our long-standing, core commitment to melding liberal education and experiential learning. We can be the best at bringing education to life."
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