Back to school

Back to school
Photo by Leila Hawken

AMENIA — The first day of school on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Webutuck Elementary School went smoothly, with teachers enthusiastically greeting the eager young students disembarking from buses. Excitement was measurable, with only a few tears from parents, but school began anyway.


Ready for her first day of school on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Webutuck Elementary School, Liliana Cawley, 7, would soon join her second grade class, but first she posed for a photo to mark the occasion.Photo by Leila Hawken

Latest News

Washington’s median home price reaches $700,000

Built in 1999 and updated in 2017 59 Bangall Road is a 5,086 square foot house with panoramic views which sold for $1.9 million on July 30.

Photo by Christine Bates

MILLBROOK — Transfers of real estate recorded in July and August in the Town of Washington continued a pace with the median price of a single-family home rising to $700,000 at the end of August 2025, up from $492,500 last year.

At the end of September there were 24 single family homes listed for sale in the Village of Millbrook including the most expensive 45 Hitchcock Lane for $65 million and the least expensive at $629,000.

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Salisbury Forum’s two decades of success

Almost 20 years ago in a packed chapel at The Salisbury School a television journalist famous for his coverage of national politics led a discussion on the question: “Can Democracy Survive the Media?” His name was Sander Vanocur, a prominent reporter whose contemporaries were other big names at political conventions in the 1960s:John Chancellor, Frank McGee and Edwin Newman. Vanocur was one of the questioners at the first of the Kennedy-Nixon debates in 1960.

The Salisbury event back then in 2005 was brought to the Northwest Corner by a unique regional organization known as The Salisbury Forum, which now is celebrating 20 years sponsoring open discourse for a community hungry for thoughtful dialogue.

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Buckley family’s ‘Great Elm’ in Sharon lists at $4M

Great Elm, the childhood home of William F. Buckley, Jr., is on the market for $3.9 million. The atrium is the highlight and heart of the home, having hosted many elegant dinners and weddings.

William Raveis Lifestyles Realty

SHARON — For more than a century, the Buckley family’s sprawling estate, known as “Great Elm,” has stood at the heart of Sharon life, a gathering place for neighbors, world leaders and artists alike. Now, the circa 1812 Georgian Colonial with its rare glass atrium is on the market for $3,999,000, drawing both serious buyers and viral attention on Zillow Gone Wild.

The sale, led by Cameron Smith, grandson of family patriarch and oil spectator William F. Buckley, Sr., and nephew to conservative icon William F. Buckley, Jr., marks the end of the family’s stewardship of one of northwest Connecticut’s most storied homes.

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Forum examines changes in national news landscape​

Brian Ross, left, interviewed Judy Woodruff at the Salisbury Forum Saturday, Sept. 27.

Patrick L. Sullivan

SALISBURY — Judy Woodruff, former anchor and managing editor of the PBS Newshour, said that her fellow journalists do tend to “live in a bubble” and need to get out into the country more, but pushed back on suggestions that national journalists are biased.

Woodruff appeared at the 20th anniversary Salisbury Forum at Salisbury School Saturday, Sept. 27. She was interviewed by Brian Ross, a veteran of television news with ABC News and NBC News (and a member of The Lakeville Journal board).

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