About the Editorial

Today, The Millerton News continues the tradition of The Editorial. In our recent history, before becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2021, we engaged in political endorsement — no longer, because of our new status. We were saved from the struggle to survive in a declining newspaper climate by our readers, who wanted their independent community newspaper.

The industry as a whole has been sending The Editorial down the gangplank for a number of reasons. Gannett Co., the largest U.S. newspaper publisher by circulation, learned from its own editors a couple of years ago that readers don’t want to be told what to think. Gannett also heard that The Editorial is one of the least-read features, and worse, that readers have cited it as a reason to cancel their subscriptions.

In the 2016 presidential race, 57 of the biggest newspapers in the land endorsed Hilary Clinton while two picked Donald Trump, according to the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Gone are the days when an endorsement from a prominent newspaper would mean something, or when voters would clip The Editorial out of the paper and carry it along with them on the way to the poll. According to the American Presidency Project, in 2008, more than nine out of 10 of the country’s 100 biggest newspapers endorsed a presidential candidate. By 2020, only 54 issued an endorsement.

The Arizona Republic, a Gannett paper, decided to refocus its Editorial offering by publishing an opinion section in its print edition only three days a week. The disappearance of opinion content across many newspapers also has meant that the editorial cartoonist, a mainstay of newspapers for decades, has been marginalized. Last summer, in a single day, three Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonists were laid off, victims of the readers’ rejection of opinion.

As an independent community newspaper supported by readers, advertisers and our generous community, we are not guided by the kind of metrics that drive decisions at national media organizations. However, like many news organizations these days, we have fewer people doing the work compared to years past. Since 2005, the journalist corps at American newspapers has experienced massive — 60% — job losses.

Our goal is to remain relevant and interesting to our readers — and we work hard at it with our own modest stable of reporters and editors. Your letters and our viewpoint columns provide a rich lode of thoughtful content for our readers week in and week out, expressing opinions and putting a spotlight on the big issues of the day. Our Editorials will aim to be relevant and interesting, and to keep them that way, we will deliver them to you on a more periodic basis.

So, if you scan our Opinion page one day and don’t see The Editorial, it means only that we are busily occupied in other ways, reporting and editing the news, a tradition that is almost a century in the making and not going anywhere.

Latest News

Millerton Police Dept. rebuilds after fire; new cruisers on the way

The borrowed Pine Plains cruiser parked on Main Street in front of the Millerton Inn during the Millerton Street Fair on Saturday, June 28.

Photo by Aly Morrissy

MILLERTON — After receiving substantial state grant funding in July 2024 and beginning to roll out new equipment that fall, the Millerton Police Department suffered a setback when the February fire at the Village Water and Highway Department building destroyed much of its newly acquired gear — including patrol vehicles outfitted with cutting-edge technology.

Thanks to full-value insurance coverage and swift support from the Town of Pine Plains — which loaned the department a vehicle — Millerton officers were able to remain active in the community. Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik said two custom-built, four-wheel-drive Ford Interceptor cruisers are now in production and are expected to arrive by the end of the summer.

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Uncertainty looms over Millerton community pool timeline

Groundbreaking of the new pool planned for Eddie Collins Park has been delayed after the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation intervened to determine the status of wetlands in the proposed building site.

Archive photo

MILLERTON — The long-awaited groundbreaking for a new community pool at Eddie Collins Memorial Park — once expected this past April — now faces significant delays with no definitive timeline in sight, Mayor Jenn Najdek said.

The primary setback stems from a still-pending permitting process, as the village awaits final approvals from the Dutchess County Board of Health and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation regarding septic placement and wetland buffers. A patch of wetlands on the site — roughly five feet by five feet, Najdek said — requires a protective buffer, which could range anywhere from 5 to 100 feet. That determination will dictate whether the current pool design needs to be altered or moved altogether.

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North East town records brought into the digital age

Chris Virtuoso reorganized parcel records in the North East Town Hall basement by parcel number during the process of scanning and digitizing the documents.

Photo by Grace DeMarco

MILLERTON — Within the walls of the two-story Victorian housing the North East Town Hall lies a room-full of town records dating back to the late 19th century. Stored in labeled cardboard boxes and protected by dehumidifiers, the records are in the process of being dated, organized, and scanned into categorized online programs.

As the Town Hall works to relocate to 5603 Route 22 at the former Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witness, the consolidation and digitalization of records, as well as the disposal of those unneeded, is a time-sensitive project. Marcy Wheatley, the Deputy Town Clerk, emphasized their current heavy focus on organizing and scanning. “Now, when we move, we can get rid of a lot,” Wheatley stated.

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Fun, food and facts bring crowds to downtown Millerton

Nora Garcia, 6, of Millerton, bottom right, gets a face painting treatment from Maddy Rowe, a Webutuck High School senior. Nora’s sister, Juliana, 8, top right, is decorated by Giana Kall, a Webutuck senior. The program was sponsored by the Webutuck PTA.

Photo by John Coston

Locals and visitors packed into downtown Millerton Saturday, June 28, for the first ever Millerton Street Fair hosted by the Millerton News, the Millerton Business Alliance and Townscape. Representatives from local nonprofits, businesses along Main Street, Bee Bee the Clown and face painters from Webutuck High School drew in crowds all afternoon.

Festivities officially opened at 10 a.m., and a steady stream of visitors soon followed. Volunteer firefighters hosted a bouncy castle, a duck pool, a “put out the fire” ring toss game, and the “touch a truck” event at the fire department’s garage.

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