Delaware County Newscast

August 21, 2026: Big lawsuit against Hancock, Delhi’s park problem, Sidney Center’s “safe” bridges, and more!

Andrew Kantor Season 1 Episode 19

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This week we’ve got Hancock and its police looking at a multi-million–dollar lawsuit, while Delhi’s park plans hit a speed bump. There’s also a new Senior of the Year, and Sidney considers a tax break for seniors. And more! 

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Written and produced in Sidney, NY, by Andrew Kantor.

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This is the Delaware County Newscast. I'm Andrew Cantor. They are all lawyering up over in Hancock. It's fallout from the Family Foundation School, which was closed after allegations surfaced from a bunch of former students, that staff there was abusing them. One of those former students is suing for more than $200 million. Actually, it could be as much as $600 million, even more. She's saying that, despite being told of the uh issues at the school, the village and the police didn't do anything to stop it or to protect the kids. In fact, when some of those kids were able to escape the school, police just returned them there for more alleged abuse. It's not just the village named in the suit, it's also the Hancock Police Department, the Delaware County Sheriff's Office, the Delaware County Board of Supervisors, and several companies connected to the owners of the school, including the Little Hancock Herald newspaper. Yeah, it is a big suit, and it's now moving forward in federal court. Deli officials have been looking at Sheldon Park as a possible site for a new joint town village municipal building. Well, they run into a little roadblock. Turns out that Sheldon Park is, in fact, a park. That means they might need to get state permission if they want to convert part of it to office space. Now, village officials, they're looking into what they would need to do, and you know when the state is involved, it can get complicated. Congratulations to Edie Campbell of Delhi, who was just named Delaware County's 2026 Senior of the Year for her work making sure people in the county have enough to eat, especially by volunteering at the United Ministry Food Pantry in Delhi for years. So if you see Edie on the street, give her a high five, unless she's carrying groceries. The town of Sydney is considering expanding the property tax break it gives to seniors. The idea is to exempt more of a property's value from what's used to calculate the seniors' taxes. It would also raise the qualifying income level a bit so more people would be eligible for those tax breaks and Sydney would be in line with nearby towns and villages. The town's budget can handle it, according to Supervisor Eric Wilson, and the savings would be a pretty big deal to the seniors whose taxes would drop. If you're in Sydney Center, you might be wondering about the condition of the bridges on Baker Street, J Street, and County Route 35. Well, according to County Commissioner of Public Works Jim Thomas, all three of those bridges are safe for public use despite residents' concerns. So that's that. Nothing can go wrong now. And there you have it some of the most interesting news to come out of Delaware County this week. You can always find us at Delconewscast.com. I'm Andrew Cantor. See you next week.