The Children’s Home announces intent to purchase former Boys & Girls Club building in Endicott
“The Union-Endicott and Maine-Endwell central school districts are pleased to welcome the Children’s Home of the Wyoming Conference to the former Boys and Girls Club location in Endicott. We also look forward to the addition of their school-based child care program, which will be available to families at Charles F. Johnson, Jr., George F. Johnson, Homer Brink, and Maine Memorial in the near future.” Union-Endicott and Maine-Endwell Superintendents Nicole Wolfe and Jason VanFossen When the club closed, the United Way helped support the after school programs. In August, the Boys & Girls Club on Clubhouse Road closed after 56 years of serving the community. ENDICOTT (WBNG) — The Children’s Home of Wyoming Conference announced Thursday that it intends to purchase the former Boys & Girls Club of Western Broome building in Endicott. “In a very short amount of time, a couple hours, several individuals from each of the school districts as well as our board, came together to talk about how can we be part of a solution and we’re fortunate that we do have great support from our community,” said LoriAnne Welch, the executive director of the United Way of Broome County. The Children’s Home is looking for ideas on what services to put in the center. You can send your ideas to stcc@chowc.org
Broome County executive Jason Garnar said it was important to act fast after the club initially closed its doors. “Losing the Boys and Girls Club in this part of the building, this part of the community was a huge loss, but knowing we have a great partner like the Children’s Home that’s gonna step up and as we heard today provide a lot of that same programming and additionally more programming is great news for Broome County and especially Endicott,” Garnar said Thursday. The Children’s Home says its “initial focus” will be to continue the Maine-Endwell and Union-Endicott school districts’ after school programs. In a joint statement, Union-Endicott Superintendent Nicole Wolfe and Maine-Endwell Superintendent Jason VanFossen said:
According to the Oneonta Fire Department the fire broke out around 2:20 a.m. on Cedar Street in Oneonta. Multiple crews assisted in the fire including the West Oneonta Fire Department, the Otego Fire Department, Lauren’s EMS. ONEONTA (WBNG)- A family of four is displaced after a fire broke out early Wednesday morning. There were no injuries involved.
The Oneonta Fire Department is currently investigating the cause. This is a developing story stay with us for further updates.
The Heeter’s were originally set to be married on March 28, and were one of the early couple’s who had to make the difficult decision to postpone. For Endicott couple J.R. and Julie Heeter, they realized marriage is more important than the wedding itself. J.R. and Julie put together their backyard wedding within a few hours, saying “I Do” in front of their immediate family. “It definitely wasn’t the big day we thought it was going to be, it ended up, it worked, it was awesome,” said J.R. The couple went through countless plans, ultimately deciding to get married in their backyard. Referring to it as “an Amazon wedding,” Julie said they were ordering whatever they needed as quickly as possible. J.R. and Julie pushed their wedding back to March of 2021, but knew they still wanted to be married on their original “save the date.” On March 26, the stress of planning nearly changed the Heeter’s plans. At the end of the day, Julie said “the biggest thing was knowing no matter where we got married, he was at the end of the aisle for me and we were going to be together.” “We sat down and talked about it and were very much like, we’re getting married on the 28th, even if it’s in our living room,” said Julie. ENDICOTT (WBNG) — Couples with wedding plans for this year had to get creative amid the coronavirus pandemic cancelling large gatherings. The state of New York began to shut down the second week of March. “If you had asked me Monday of that week if it (postponing) was even a possibility, I would’ve been like no way,” said J.R. “Thursday happened, we’re not going to do it, we changed our minds. We cancelled, it totally cancelled it,” said J.R. and Julie. “The next day it was the perfect day. We got a hold of our parents, and I was like we’re going to do this.” Now, the Heeter’s have a memorable marriage story to tell, and will have two special wedding days to look back on. “Like” Nicole Menner on Facebook and “Follow” her on Twitter.
“We’re busy enough that we’re able to donate our time instead of keep working,” Kaczynski said. “We work thru this COVID pandemic, so we wanted to still try to give back in some sort of way.” Kaczynski says he feels very fortunate that his company was able to help. “It went out for big and we won the bid on it,” Kacynski said. “We are donating 100 percent of the bid that we got, which is $3500, back to the Handicapped Children’s Association.” BINGHAMTON (WBNG) — After a fire destroyed the Our Space Playground, CNY Tree Services went to work Thursday morning cutting what’s left of the burnt trees at Recreation Park. Tom Kacynski, owner of CNY Tree Services, says he reached out to the City of Binghamton Parks Department to see if his company could donate their time to help cut the trees, but he was told insurance was able to cover it. 
Kaczynski says he hopes his company’s actions will help inspire the community to do the same. CNY cut down one tree and trimmed the branches from two others surrounding the park. “Do good where you can,” Kaczynski said. “We want to try to inspire people.”
(WBNG) — On Friday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced bowling alleys will be able to open at 50 percent capacity Monday. The governor also announced museums and cultural institutions can reopen in New York City on Aug. 24 at 25 percent capacity. The New York State Fitness Alliance says the industry is “ready to reopen safely, with proper protocols in place to protect [its] employees and members.” The governor says safety protocols will need to be in place, including mandatory face coverings and social distacing.
Visitors will need to wear masks and traffic flow will need to controlled. In addition to this, Cuomo says the state will release reopening safety protocols for gyms on Monday, as well.
FASNY Officials recommend always remaining in the kitchen while cooking. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the addition of 21 names of fallen firefighters to the state memorial wall. Created in 1998, the wall honors all of those who lost their lives in the line of duty. “We certainly feel for the families of the fire fighters that gave the ultimate sacrifice; they’ll forever be in our hearts and in our prayers,” D’Alessandro said. “We are happy that the state is recognizing them; unfortunately this year because of COVID-19, we’re going to have more of a virtual ceremony as opposed to the in-person honors.” The firefighters 12 News spoke with said the best way to honor their memories is by practicing safe techniques and avoiding fires. Firefighters said they can’t honor their fallen brothers and sisters as they normally would. “More people are working from home,” said John D’Alessandro, the association secretary for the Fireman’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY). “They’re spending more time with their families, they’re spending more time cooking and being at the dinner table, which is a good thing, but part of that is fire departments across the state have seen an increase in kitchen mishaps and structure fires.” (WBNG) — New York is honoring firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice this week.
Otsego County Health Director Heidi Bond issued a cease and desist order on Thursday, Oct. 8, directing Knarich to cancel the event, but Knarich ignored the order. Officials say 55-year-old George A. Knarich violated Governor Andrew Cuomo’s executive orders banning mass gatherings and has charges for trespassing, criminal nuisance in the 2nd degree. Knarich was taken into custody Monday morning and was transported to the Sheriff’s Office for processing and is being held at the Otsego County Correctional Facility pending the next centralized arraignment court. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the event was held on property owned by the county. Due to tax foreclosure, the county treasurer issued a signed complaint to District Attorney John Muehl, leading to an arrest warrant for Knarich for trespassing. NEW LISBON, N.Y. (WBNG) — The Otsego County Sheriffs Office says it arrested an individual for disobeying a cease and desist order and hosting a mass gathering. The Sheriff’s office says, Knarich organized the New York Harvest Festival and Freedom Fair, and advertised the event for Saturday, Oct. 10, expecting 700 to 1,500 people. The investigation is on-going, and at least one additional arrest is pending.