Cortland Standard

Cortland Standard The Cortland Standard has been serving news to Cortland County communities since 1867. Kinney. In 1872, Wesley Ho**er purchased the paper. His son, Edward H.

The Cortland Standard is the only daily newspaper published in Cortland County. Although the Cortland Standard is one of the community’s oldest institutions, the newspaper, in a sense, remains as new as today’s edition. Known as the “Cortland County Standard,” the newspaper was established in June of 1867 as a weekly by Francis G. The original publisher of the newspaper apparently encountered vari

ous difficulties in getting the paper started. In the first issue, he pointed out that the press had not arrived in time for the printing of the first edition. The first issue of the paper, therefore, was printed in the offices of the Homer Republican. At the same time, he also purchased the Cortland Journal and combined the two papers under the name, “The Standard and Journal.” The name was changed to the Cortland Standard in 1879. On April 1, 1876, William H. Clark purchased the paper and served as its editor and publisher for nearly 52 years. Clark, became president and editor of the newspaper in 1928 and continued to serve in that capacity until his death on August 28, 1973. The Cortland Standard was relocated to the corner of Main and Tompkins streets on March 1, 1883. The building was at first shared with the Post Office, and the YMCA occupied space for a time on the upper floors of the Standard building. In March 2025, the Cortland Standard abruptly ceased publication. The Cortland Standard's marketing & advertising manager, Mindy Lawrence, was hired by Sample News Group immediately following the closure and was appointed as Publisher of the Oswego County News Group. On May 7, 2025, Sample News Group purchased the Cortland Standard and appointed Lawrence as group publisher of both the Oswego County News Group and the Cortland Standard. The Cortland Standard resumed publication on May 17, 2025.

Homer lacrosse will celebrate its 50th anniversary this weekend with events today and Saturday night to honor the progra...
07/11/2025

Homer lacrosse will celebrate its 50th anniversary this weekend with events today and Saturday night to honor the program’s legacy. The weekend events begin with a golf tournament and live music on Friday night and on Saturday, Homer will hold an alumni game and tailgate.

The McGraw Central School District Board of Education met for its reorganizational meeting and approved the cell phone a...
07/11/2025

The McGraw Central School District Board of Education met for its reorganizational meeting and approved the cell phone and devices policy that was written in compliance with the statewide ban.

The board waived the second read of the policy and moved to adopt it after the first read had been completed. Superintendent Troy Bilodeau made sure the policy committee and district heard from all impacted parties before drafting and proposing the policy that was adopted at Wednesday night’s meeting.

“We had our stakeholder meeting for some parents and some students,” Bilodeau said. “There were some staff and union representatives, and we went through and determined what our plan was in the areas where we have control. Most of what we’re able to do and required to do was established in the legislation proposed by the governor, but we were able to define storage options for phones and define opportunities for parents to call in and leave messages for their students.”

The policy gives students the option to keep their phones in their lockers or in their “personal storage” like their backpacks, but devices have to be off and away for the entire school day. The district is not planning on requiring phone storage in each classroom because the board feels it disrupts the intention of having phones away for the entire day if students are taking them in and out of storage for each class period.

Phones will also be allowed for educational purposes at the teacher’s discretion, but the policy allows that on a case-by-case basis.

The board also held elections for the 2025-26 officers, including president and vice president. New President Cheryl Kenyon and Vice President Darrin Osborne took their oaths of office at the reorganization meeting.

MCGRAW — The McGraw Central School District Board of Education met for its reorganizational meeting and approved the cell phone and devices policy that was written in compliance with the …

We'd like to welcome Eagle News to the Sample family!Sample News Group, publisher of over 75 titles in four states, has ...
07/10/2025

We'd like to welcome Eagle News to the Sample family!

Sample News Group, publisher of over 75 titles in four states, has acquired the assets of Eagle News from Community Media Group, LLC.

The sale includes The Eagle Bulletin, The Baldwinsville Messenger, The Star-Review and The Press-Observer in Onondaga County, The Cazenovia Republican in Madison County, Syracuse Woman Magazine and several digital properties including eaglenewsonline.com.

SYRACUSE -- Sample News Group, publisher of over 75 titles in four states, has acquired the assets of Eagle News from Community Media Group, LLC. The sale includes The Eagle Bulletin, The …

People set up a balloon memorial at the site of the fatal crash on Route 90 in Summerhill Monday. John R. Stanford, 51, ...
07/10/2025

People set up a balloon memorial at the site of the fatal crash on Route 90 in Summerhill Monday. John R. Stanford, 51, of Groton, was partially ejected from the vehicle and died after losing control. He was not wearing a seatbelt and was pronounced dead on the scene. Our thoughts are with the family.

MARATHON — North Central Small Business Development Center (SBDC) named The 1812 Shoppe its Small Business of the Year for Cortland County, highlighting the work and entrepreneurship of owner …

North Central Small Business Development Center (SBDC) named The 1812 Shoppe its Small Business of the Year for Cortland...
07/10/2025

North Central Small Business Development Center (SBDC) named The 1812 Shoppe its Small Business of the Year for Cortland County, highlighting the work and entrepreneurship of owner Craig Vollmer.

MARATHON — North Central Small Business Development Center (SBDC) named The 1812 Shoppe its Small Business of the Year for Cortland County, highlighting the work and entrepreneurship of owner …

G-BAR-T Rodeo held the 25th annual Cincinnatus Rodeo at the G-BAR-T Rodeo Grounds on July 5 and 6. Two hot days were fil...
07/09/2025

G-BAR-T Rodeo held the 25th annual Cincinnatus Rodeo at the G-BAR-T Rodeo Grounds on July 5 and 6. Two hot days were filled with events such as ba****ck riding, saddle bronc riding, roping, barrel racing and bull riding. Rodeo clown Scotty Parker entertained the packed crowd for the duration of the event.

CINCINNATUS — G-BAR-T Rodeo held the 25th annual Cincinnatus Rodeo at the G-BAR-T Rodeo Grounds on July 5 and 6. Two hot days were filled with events such as ba****ck riding, saddle bronc …

Calvin J. Verny-Rasmussen, 26, of Cortland, was arrested on July 3 and charged with sexual abuse in the first degree and...
07/09/2025

Calvin J. Verny-Rasmussen, 26, of Cortland, was arrested on July 3 and charged with sexual abuse in the first degree and promoting sexual performance of a child, both Class D felonies, possessing a sexual performance by a child, a Class E felony, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, according to a report from the New York State Police at Homer Tuesday.

Calvin J. Verny-Rasmussen, 26, of Cortland, was arrested on July 3 and charged with sexual abuse in the first degree and promoting sexual performance of a child, both Class D felonies, possessing a …

Construction is finishing up on Main Street in Cortland as part of the state’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initi...
07/08/2025

Construction is finishing up on Main Street in Cortland as part of the state’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) grant it received in 2017. When construction ends Friday, the road will be a two-way street.

CORTLAND — Construction is finishing up on Main Street in Cortland as part of the state’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) grant it received in 2017. When construction …

There were 2 fatal crashes in the Cortland area Monday night, with one on Route 90 in Summerhill and another on Sears Ro...
07/08/2025

There were 2 fatal crashes in the Cortland area Monday night, with one on Route 90 in Summerhill and another on Sears Road in Cortlandville.

SUMMERHILL — One person was declared dead on the scene and another was transported to the hospital after a crash on Route 90 in Homer Monday night. State police stated the driver, a …

Peter A. Grimm, originally from Troy, was the guest of honor at the Brockway Truck Preservation Association program and ...
07/08/2025

Peter A. Grimm, originally from Troy, was the guest of honor at the Brockway Truck Preservation Association program and dinner June 21 at the CNY Living History Center.

Grimm was thanked for all the financial support he has given over the past 25 years. The guest speakers for the evening were Tom Kile, president of Brockway Truck Preservation Association, Bob Haight, executive director of the Cortland County Chamber of Commerce and Tom Gallagher, president of the Cortland Community Foundation.

Peter A. Grimm, originally from Troy, was the guest of honor at the Brockway Truck Preservation Association program and dinner June 21 at the CNY Living History Center. Grimm was thanked for all …

Fireworks light up Little York Lake in Preble Saturday night as the community celebrates Independence Day. There were ce...
07/08/2025

Fireworks light up Little York Lake in Preble Saturday night as the community celebrates Independence Day. There were celebrations all over the county, including the traditional reading of the Declaration of Independence in Homer.

Peter A. Grimm, originally from Troy, was the guest of honor at the Brockway Truck Preservation Association program and dinner June 21 at the CNY Living History Center. Grimm was thanked for all …

Four athletes from Groton have announced college commitments to continue their athletic careers.Leontine Evans has commi...
07/07/2025

Four athletes from Groton have announced college commitments to continue their athletic careers.

Leontine Evans has committed to Alvernia University for girls wrestling, Abigail Haughwout has committed to Tompkins Cortland Community College for basketball, Carmelo Riley-Israel has committed to Hilbert College to play football and David Shea has committed to Alfred State for track & field.

GROTON — Four athletes from Groton have announced college commitments to continue their athletic careers. Leontine Evans has committed to Alvernia University for girls wrestling, Abigail …

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The Cortland Standard, the only daily newspaper published in Cortland County, is observing its 152nd anniversary this year. Although the Cortland Standard is one of the community’s oldest institutions, the newspaper, in a sense, remains as new as today’s edition. Known as the “Cortland County Standard,” the newspaper was established in June of 1867 as a weekly by Francis G. Kinney. The original publisher of the newspaper apparently encountered various difficulties in getting the paper started. In the first issue, he pointed out that the press had not arrived in time for the printing of the first edition. The first issue of the paper, therefore, was printed in the offices of the Homer Republican. In 1872, Wesley Ho**er purchased the paper. At the same time, he also purchased the Cortland Journal and combined the two papers under the name, “The Standard and Journal.” The name was changed to the Cortland Standard in 1879. On April 1, 1876, William H. Clark purchased the paper and served as its editor and publisher for nearly 52 years. His son, Edward H. Clark, became president and editor of the newspaper in 1928 and continued to serve in that capacity until his death on August 28, 1973. The Cortland Standard, which is one of the few remaining family-owned newspapers in New York state, continues to be published under the ownership of members of the Clark family. The Cortland Standard was relocated to its present site on the corner of Main and Tompkins streets on March 1, 1883. The building was at first shared with the Post Office, and the YMCA occupied space for a time on the upper floors of the Standard building. In marked contrast to the appearance of today’s newspaper, the first issue of the daily Cortland Standard was a four-page paper published on March 8, 1892. The paper was printed on an eight-page flatbed press that was capable of producing up to 3,500 copies per hour. The Cortland Standard has grown steadily with the population of Cortland County and with the rapid technological changes which have occurred over the years in the gathering and printing of news.