Originally published at Eagle News Online Nov. 1, 2010. 

Empire Brewing Company owner David Katleski, of Cazenovia, spoke to the Cazenovia village board on Nov. 1 to discuss his plans to build a microbrewery right next to Lorenzo State Historic Site - which would eventually require annexation of the property by the village.

Empire runs a restaurant in downtown Syracuse, where they currently brew their own beer. But Katleski said he wants to expand the operation.

“So, where do we build a microbrewery? There are a number of places we could, but Karen [David’s wife] and I would like to build one here,” he said.

The property would be next to Lorenzo, with rustic architecture modeled after Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown. Katleski said the brewery itself could be anywhere between 10 and 20,000 square feet.

Deputy Mayor Kurt Wheeler said he appreciated Katleski’s current ideas for the site, which would reserve land closer to the road for agricultural use and place the brewery itself farther back.

The ultimate goal, Katleski said, will be to produce a product which can be sold by Empire. But, he said, “the secondary goal is to create jobs.”

Katleski hopes 50 to 70 jobs could be created after about five years.

“They’re cool jobs - because these kids love to work in a brewery,” he said. “This isn’t a Budweiser plant that we’re making. This is a craft brewery.”

Becca Jablonski, with Cornell Cooperative Extension, introduced Katleski and said the brewery would be part of a movement bringing agritourism and agriculture in the area. She said the brewery would be “the first farm brewery, really, in New York state.”

Katleski pointed to Cooperstown, where Ommegang has attracted a lot of tourism dollars.

“This is what these beer geeks do - I don’t get it, but they travel all over the place and go to these breweries,” he said.

The microbrewery would include a tasting room, with tours offered based on demand.

Katleski hopes the property will be annexed by the town, which would bring with it water and sewer hook ups. Trustee Peggy Van Arnam said that a project like the microbrewery could help the village procure grant money.

“It’s possible that this would help us to get a grant for things we’re trying to do anyway,” she said.

Katleski said he has been talking to village and town officials.

“There’s a lot of hurdles and obstacles we have to overcome,” he said, before the brewery can be built.

But he wants it to happen in Cazenovia.

“It will be built somewhere. I’m not sure where, but I’d prefer it be in my backyard,” he said.

When you’re in 11th grade, a cheap victory is still a victory
By Doug Campbell 

This piece originally appeared in the October 10 edition of the Cazenovia Republican. 

When Kurt Wheeler told our class the incentive for getting a perfect score on the regents exam would be free dinner at the Brewster, we were all pretty excited.

But, being conniving high schoolers, one of us suggested a loophole.

“If we guess the people from our class who score perfectly, can we come too?” someone asked.

I don’t know how we convinced him, but Mr. Wheeler must have thought, “there is no way that they could guess the winners,” so he agreed. What were the odds of guessing not only how many people would score perfectly, but which ones?

Read More

This column touched on two things; the (irredeemable) puns that come with a story about chicken legislation, and disappointment in the village of Cazenovia board for dismissing a valuable idea because of a potentially unsubstantiated fear of (fowl) odor.

Something seems a little fowl
By Doug Campbell

As a journalist, the first thing one thinks when reading “William Wester proposes change to code allowing chickens in the village” in the board meeting agenda is, “there are so many puns. So many!”

Read More

This article originally appeared in the June 2, 2010 edition of the Cazenovia Republican.

Keep your cars locked this summer
By Doug Campbell 

Two years ago, I was home from college for the summer before my last semester of classes.

My family lives near the north end of Cazenovia Lake, so we don’t see much in terms of drivers or activity, especially late at night.

That means when Rosie, our then-one-year-old dog, wouldn’t stop barking at 3 a.m., my dad took notice. He looked outside to see some teenagers rummaging through our neighbor’s car. My dad and Rosie scared them off, but not before we gathered enough identifying information for the police to track down the kids, who had stolen change, GPS devices, iPods and more.

The next summer, I was also living at home. I’d graduated from college and was working for Eagle Newspapers.

I left my car unlocked one night (lightning doesn’t strike twice, right?), with the keys in the ignition. The next morning we found my car door open a crack, my keys gently resting on the seat (as to silence the car’s open-door indicator). And my $300 iPod was stolen.

Our entire street was hit, again; unfortunately, Rosie slept soundly through the intruders this time.

The idea of someone rifling through my things, thoughtfully pulling the keys from the ignition, knowing not to slam the door shut — left me unsettled. I felt violated, and for a few hours felt like my faith in humanity had taken a pretty big hit.

I got over it, but that doesn’t make the crime any less disrespectful. My iPod may only have been worth a couple hundred dollars, but my neighbors lost much more; GPS devices, digital cameras with irreplaceable family photos, wallets.

This is my third summer back in Central New York, and I’m much more vigilant now. I lock my car door every time, even when I’m just running into the house or a store for a few minutes in broad daylight.

Unfortunately, the wariness has been backed up.

It’s getting warm again, and already reports of thefts from unlocked cars, especially in rural areas, are beginning to trickle in.

Greg Carroll, of Wellington Drive in Cazenovia, had an iPod and $25 stolen, while his wife lost an iPod, $20; the thieves had taken her purse but a neighbor found it by Number 9 Road, with the iPod and cash missing.

“We just lost track of the cars,” Carroll said. “Typically we do lock them, it was just a busy, chaotic kind of day.”

Carroll reported that his neigh- bors also had property stolen from their car; they also lost an iPod, as well as some gift cards.

The great thing about living in a close, quiet neighborhood or in a fairly remote, rural area is the feeling of safety and security. But it’s important that we not get too comfortable. Lock your cars, bring your MP3 players and valuable electronics inside, and just try to stay cautious.

Recently, New York Times tech-guru David Pogue has been attacking the evil cell phone companies with his “Take Back the Beep” campaign. But it looks Flight of the Conchords comedian Arj Barker may have beaten him to the punch by about three years.

Pogue has been saying, and I think everyone agrees, that voicemail instructions are irrelevant, a waste of time, and a waste of your valuable minutes. This great piece at his NY Times blog sums up his argument.

I’ve seen Pogue everywhere, on every tech site and news program, discussing his campaign and offering advice on skipping past those messages (press * for Verizon, 1 for Sprint, and # for AT&T and T-Mobile. “Remember,” Pogue says, “One Star Pound”).

Now, Pogue’s frustration is hardly new, but I was impressed by the parallels when I saw this clip from a 2006 Arj Barker Comedy Central special.

Arj Barker - Cell Phone Messages

Sound familiar? It looks like Arj Barker (“Dave” from Flight of the Conchords) was way ahead of the curve on this.

“I think it’s absolutely criminal — CRIMINAL — the way the cell phone companies make you sit through all those voice mail options when you just want to leave a message,” Barker says, eliciting populist cheers and applause. “Cause you know what they’re doing, they’re doing that intentionally, to burn up our minutes that we’re paying money out of our pockets for, and it’s a crime.”

He continues with his one and a half minute interpretation of the instructions, ending with a reading from The Brothers Karamazov.

So perhaps Pogue was a little late to the game, but I guess Barker didn’t have the momentum of the entire internet and the NY Times at his disposal. Pogue’s little campaign has become an epic movement, and I’m excited to see where it goes.

Maybe he and Barker will team up? Only in my dreams.