Latest Oneonta Podcast Episodes
52 - NYS Gubernatorial Race, Hall of Fame Induction, Alcohol to-go, Syracuse Airport
Upstate Regular - June 18, 2021 12:00 - 21 minutesThis week, Shane discusses the 2022 Gubernatorial election, including the current Republicans seeking the nomination to defeat Gov. Cuomo. Shane also discusses the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame induction, alcohol to-go in New York, new flights out of the Syracuse Airport, and more. If you ...
51 - Svante Myrick (Ithaca NY Mayor)
Upstate Regular - May 21, 2021 12:00 - 21 minutesSvante Myrick is the Mayor of Ithaca, NY, a city of roughly 30,000 in the finger lakes region of New York. Myrick was elected to Mayor in 2012 at the age of 24. Previously, he served on the Ithaca Common Council. He is known for creating the country's first supervised heroin injection site. Myr...
50 - Vaccines, economic recovery, Census, and more
Upstate Regular - May 07, 2021 13:00 - 18 minutesThis week, Shane and Ben discuss a variety of topics affecting upstate New York including vaccine eligibility, economic recovery, unemployment, the Census resulting in a loss of a NY Congressional seat, etc. You can find New York's vaccination tracker here: https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/...
Episode 49 - Vanessa Reiser
Upstate Regular - April 09, 2021 15:00 - 17 minutesVanessa Reiser is a licensed Clinical Social Worker based in New York City. She is running a 285-mile journey across New York State, from Oswego to Manhatten, in only 12 days while wearing a wedding dress to raise awareness for "narcissistic domestic abuse". Reiser aims to raise $200,000 which s...
Episode 48 - Danny Lapin (Otsego County Board Representative and more)
Upstate Regular - April 02, 2021 13:00 - 35 minutesDanny Lapin wears many hats. He is currently representing District 13 on the Otsego County Board of Representatives, serves as the City of Oneonta Planning Commission Chairman, works as a Planner with the Otsego County Conservation Association, among many other things. Lapin is a graduate of U...
Episode 47 - Len Carson (City of Oneonta Mayoral Candidate)
Upstate Regular - March 12, 2021 17:00 - 35 minutesLen Carson, a City-Councilman in Oneonta, NY has announced that he will be running for Mayor. This follows the news that current Mayor Gary Herzig will not be seeking re-election. Carson is running as a Republican. Carson is a Laurens Central school graduate, Air Force Veteran, and worked for ...
Episode 46 - Erin Insinga, Delaware Valley Humane Society
Upstate Regular - March 06, 2021 14:00 - 18 minutesErin Insinga is the Shelter Manager of the Delaware Valley Humane Society (DVHS) in Sidney, NY, and has been since 2015. The DVHS was founded in 1965 and provides animals with emergency services such as temporary housing, food, and medical treatment. They can house up to 35 dogs and 75 cats and ...
Episode 45 - Governor Cuomo's Nursing Home Problem
Upstate Regular - February 19, 2021 13:00 - 27 minutesThis week, Shane and Clark discuss recent developments surrounding deaths at nursing homes from COVID-19 in New York State. The Cuomo administration underreported nursing home deaths resulting from COVID-19, a report from Attorney General Letitia James shows. Additionally, the administration is ...
Episode 44 - Dr. Casey Jakubowski (Author, teacher, consultant)
Upstate Regular - February 05, 2021 13:00 - 33 minutesThis week, Shane interviews author, consultant, and professor Casey Jakubowski. Jakubowski has earned his PhD from the University at Albany with research into rural school consolidation. Jakubowski is the author of "Thinking About Teaching: A Rural Social Studies Teacher's Path to Strive for Exc...
Episode 43 - Cuomo's proposed budget, Taxes, Marijuana legalization, and more.
Upstate Regular - January 29, 2021 14:00 - 25 minutesThis week, Shane and Clark discuss Governor Cuomo's proposed budget scenarios, the future of taxes on the wealthy in New York, marijuana legalization, and other budget-related items. You can find out more about the proposed budget here: https://www.governor.ny.gov/programs/fy-2021-new-york-stat...
Episode 42 - Steve Noble (Kingston NY Mayor)
Upstate Regular - January 15, 2021 13:00 - 22 minutesThis week, Shane interviews Kingston NY, Mayor Steve Noble. Noble has served as Mayor since January 2016. Kingston is a city 90 miles north of New York City and the seat of Ulster County, with a population of roughly 22,950. Before serving as Mayor, Noble had a ten-year career at the City of K...
Episode 41 - Kamal Johnson (Hudson NY Mayor)
Upstate Regular - January 08, 2021 13:00 - 34 minutesThis week, Shane interviews the City of Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson. Johnson won his election in November 2019 as the first African American mayor of the upstate city. Hudson, NY is the seat of Columbia County, with a population of roughly 6,700. Before serving as Mayor, Johnson served on the Hu...
Episode 40 - NYS Senate Supermajority, Census, NY22 update, NYS Vaccination plan
Upstate Regular - December 18, 2020 13:00 - 25 minutesThis week, Shane and Ben discuss the new New York State Senate veto-proof supermajority, the 2020 Census, NY22 Congressional election results, and the New York COVID vaccination plan. You can find information on the NYS vaccination plan here: https://forward.ny.gov/covid-19-vaccine-distributio...
Episode 39 - Chris Rosenquest (Plattsburgh NY Mayor-elect)
Upstate Regular - December 04, 2020 13:00 - 28 minutesThis week, Shane interviews the City of Plattsburgh Mayor-elect Chris Rosenquest. Rosenquest has recently won the election as a Democrat, beating Republican Scott Beebie. Plattsburgh, NY is in New York's North Country, is the seat of Clinton County, and has a population of almost 20,000. Rosenq...
Episode 38 - James Skoufis (New York State Senator)
Upstate Regular - November 27, 2020 13:00 - 27 minutesThis week, Shane interviews Democratic State Senator James Skoufis. Skoufis has recently won reelection to his second term as Senator for New York's 39th district which includes much of Orange County and smaller parts of Rockland and Ulster Counties, including the City of Newburgh. Skoufis beste...
Episode 37 - Election 2020
Upstate Regular - November 06, 2020 13:00 - 22 minutesThis week, Shane and Ben discuss the election! Ben and Shane discuss voting trends in upstate New York, local congressional and state-level results, Ben's own election, and the Presidential election. This election has already had several surprises and may have more to come. Make sure you subscr...
Episode 36 - Barbara Ann Heegan (Otsego County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO)
Upstate Regular - October 30, 2020 12:00 - 21 minutesThis week, Shane interviews Otsego County, NY Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, Barbara Ann Heegan. Heegan has served in this role since 2012 and formerly worked as the Marketing Director for The Plains at Parish Homestead in Oneonta. Heegan has an MBA from the University of Phoenix and a ...
Episode 35 - Tracy Mitrano (NY23 Congressional Candidate)
Upstate Regular - October 23, 2020 12:00 - 29 minutesThis week, Shane interviews Democratic Congressional Candidate Tracy Mitrano. Mitrano is running in New York's 23rd Congressional district, which includes eleven counties spanning New York's Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions. The district is currently represented by Republican Tom Reed, who...
Episode 34 - Gary Herzig (City of Oneonta Mayor)
Upstate Regular - October 16, 2020 12:00 - 24 minutesThis week, Shane interviews City of Oneonta Mayor Gary Herzig. Herzig has been serving as Mayor since 2015. Prior, Herzig worked as the Chief Operations Officer for Opportunities for Otsego and as Director of the Oneonta Job Corps Center. Herzig has also served on the Oneonta Planning Commissio...
Episode 33 - Allen Ruffles (Otsego County, NY Treasurer)
Upstate Regular - October 09, 2020 12:00 - 22 minutesThis week, Shane interviews Otsego County Treasurer Allen Ruffles. Ruffles has been serving as Treasurer since 2018. This interview covers how the COVID pandemic has affected the Otsego County budget, Ruffles' plan for 2021 including budget cuts and borrowing, types and differences in County re...
Episode 32 - MacGuire Benton (Cooperstown Village Trustee)
Upstate Regular - October 02, 2020 14:00 - 16 minutesThis week, Ben interviews Cooperstown Village Trustee MacGuire Benton. Benton was recently re-elected to a second term in a runoff election after an earlier tie with Republican Mary Margaret. The interview focuses on how this race was different from the last, Benton's plans for Cooperstown as f...
Episode 31 - Greg Klein (Film COOP Board President)
Upstate Regular - September 25, 2020 11:00 - 29 minutesThis week, Shane interviews Greg Klein. Klein is a reporter with the Daily Star Newspaper in Oneonta, NY. Klein is also the Board President of a new organization in Otsego County, the Cooperstown, Oneonta, Otsego County Film Partnership Inc., known as Film COOP. This new commission is dedicated...
Episode 30 - Oneonta COVID Outbreak & Endicott Battery Recycling Plant
Upstate Regular - September 11, 2020 11:00 - 19 minutesShane and Ben discuss the recent COVID19 outbreak at SUNY Oneonta as well as the controversial Endicott battery recycling plant. After months of keeping COVID numbers low, the start of the SUNY Oneonta semester has lead to an outbreak. Can officials keep it under control? What happened? What wi...
Episode 29 - Kyle Van De Water (NY19 Congressional Candidate)
Upstate Regular - August 28, 2020 13:00 - 33 minutesThis week, Don Mathisen interviews Republican Congressional Candiate Kyle Van De Water. Van De Water is running in New York's 19th Congressional district which includes all or part of 11 counties in upstate New York between NYC and Albany. The district is currently represented by Democrat Antoni...
Episode 28 - NY19 Updates
Upstate Regular - August 21, 2020 12:00 - 14 minutesShane and Ben discuss the current election in New York's 19th Congressional District. Kyle Van de Water is now the Republican nominee to challenge Antonio Delgado. How are the candidates fundraising, doing outreach, and talking to voters? Ben and Shane discuss these questions and more as we head...
Episode 27 - Clark Oliver (Otsego County Board Representative)
Upstate Regular - July 24, 2020 11:00 - 24 minutesThis week, Shane talks with Democratic Otsego County District 11 Board Representative Clark Oliver. Oliver is a freshman member of the Board where he sits on the Human Services and Performance Review & Goal Setting committees. Oliver works full time at the Otsego County SPCA as an Adoption Couns...
Episode 26 - We're back! - COVID19, Recent Elections, and More
Upstate Regular - July 10, 2020 11:00 - 20 minutesAfter a long pause, we have returned. Our technical issues have been resolved and we are ready to start making shows again. This week, Shane and Ben talk about the current state of COVID19 and reopening in upstate NY, recent and upcoming elections, and more. If you are interested in being a gu...
Episode 25 - Nate McMurray (NY27 Congressional Candidate)
Upstate Regular - May 29, 2020 11:00 - 27 minutesThis week, Ben interviews Democratic Congressional Candidate Nate McMurray. McMurray is running in New York's 27th Congressional district which includes Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, and Livingston Counties, as well as parts of Erie, Monroe, Niagara, and Ontario Counties. McMurray is a native of N...
Episode 24 - COVID19 and the Future of Upstate New York
Upstate Regular - May 22, 2020 11:00 - 25 minutesThis week, Shane and Ben talk about the weight of the Coronavirus pandemic on upstate NY and how the region can bounce back. What are some opportunities that might be presented as a result of this pandemic? How will our daily interactions change? Can we attract more residents utilizing remote/vi...
Episode 23 - William Barclay (NYS Assembly Minority Leader)
Upstate Regular - May 15, 2020 11:00 - 25 minutesThis week, Don Mathisen interviews New York State Assembly Republican Minority Leader William Barclay. Barclay represents the 120th Assembly District which includes much of Oswego and parts of Onondaga and Jefferson County. Barclay is a partner at Barclay Damon LLP. where he specializes in busin...