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School budgets face May 20 vote
May 07, 2025
Voters will decide on a $28 million budget in the Webutuck School District on Tuesday, May 20.
Archive photo
Voters across three school districts will decide on higher spending plans for the coming school year on Tuesday, May 20.
Webutuck Central School District, Millbrook Central School District and Pine Plains Central School District all propose higher K-12 budgets for the 2025-2026 school year.
Voters will cast votes on the proposed budgets on May 20 from noon to 9 p.m.
The proposed budget for Webutuck, with an enrollment of 637 students from K-12, shows a 5.96% increase from the previous year to $28,665,850. Voters also will be asked to approve a $249,190 expense for a new school bus and two transportation vans.
In Millbrook, which enrolled 750 students in the 2023-24 school year, according to the state Education Department, a draft budget posted on the school district’s website calls for a 3.11% increase to $35,649,651.
Pine Plains proposes spending $38,712,336, an increase of 2.71%.
Proposed tax levies to support the budget also all show increases: Webutuck, up 5.27%; Millbrook, up 2.61%; and Pine Plains, up 3.2%.
On May 20, voters also will decide on candidates for Board vacancies.
At Webutuck, Nichole Reyes and Anthony Robustelli, both incumbents, will be on the ballot for new terms.
In Millbrook, Perry Hartswick, current Board of Education president, is running for another term. Jennifer Carnecchia and Dena Ghobashy also are running as incumbents.
In Pine Plains, two incumbents are running for new three-year terms: Board President Amie Fredericks and Fred “Chip” Couse.
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Aayan Munir, Evan Pagett, Joe Natalizio and Manav Patel remove the black plastic from the new historical marker commemorating the Millerton Inn as the birthplace of famous baseball player Eddie Collins. The Arlington High School seniors acquired a grant for the marker from the Pomeroy Foundation as part of a history project.
Photo by Nathan Miller
MILLERTON — Students from Arlington High School unveiled a historical marker commemorating the Millerton Inn as the site of an early home of baseball Hall of Famer Eddie Collins.
Aayan Munir, Evan Pagett, Joe Natalizio and Manav Patel researched Eddie Collins as part of a history project where they had to secure a Pomeroy Foundation grant for a historical marker.
“A lot of historical figures are chosen, but not a lot of sports figures,” Patel said.
The Millerton Inn is reported to be the birthplace of Eddie Collins. His grandparents owned and operated the property, known as the Simmons House at the time. On May 2, 1887, while his mother, Mary, was visiting the Simmons House, she gave birth to Eddie, according to a biography by Rick Huhn.
Collins began his professional baseball career at the age of 19 while still attending Columbia University. He spent his first season playing only in the minors, but by his third season in 1909 he was a full time player and the starting second basemen. Collins finished the 1909 season with a .349 batting average and 67 stolen bases.
Collins became known for excellent playing offensively and defensively. He became the sixth player ever to achieve 3,000 hits in 1925 and is to date the 12th highest ranked player by total hits with 3,315. Collins is one of four players to have stolen more than 500 bases — he stole 745.
Collins played with the Philadelphia Athletics until 1914, including all five seasons the Athletics won the World Series while stationed in Philadelphia. In 1915 he joined the Chicago White Sox where he was a part of the infamous “Black Sox” team that threw the 1919 World Series, although Collins was not implicated in the scandal and arrived on the other side unmarked by the controversy. In 1924 he was named player-manager of the team, a position he held for two seasons.
Collins retired from play in 1930 and went on to coach and manage the Boston Red Sox. Under his leadership, the Red Sox played winning seasons in seven out of 12 years and won their first pennant in 28 years in 1946. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. He retired in 1947 at the age of 60.
Collins died after years of struggles with heart problems in a hospital in Boston in 1951 at the age of 63.
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Millerton Street Fair set June 28
May 07, 2025
MILLERTON — Bringing together local nonprofits and businesses with families and neighbors, the Millerton Street Fair will be Saturday, June 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the village center.
“The Millerton Street Fair will celebrate everything we love about this community — its spirit, its dedication to service and its creative energy,” said James Clark, publisher and CEO of The Millerton News.
The event, hosted by The Millerton News with the support of North East Community Center (NECC) and the Millerton Business Alliance (MBA), will feature live music from John Stey from 10:15 a.m. to noon and the Resilience Brass Band from 12:15 to 2 p.m.
Bee Bee the Clown will perform and make balloon animals while students from Webutuck High School will offer face painting.
Area nonprofits will have a spotlight on the lawn in front of the Millerton Inn and local retail and dining establishments will be open with special promotions. NECC’s Farmer’s Market will run during the event.
All are invited to enjoy a lively day on Main Street. For full event details, visit millertonnews.com/street-fair.
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A volunteer crew from NBT Bank went right to work grading fresh topsoil for the future front lawn at the Habitat for Humanity home on Rudd Pond Road.
Photo by John Coston
MILLERTON — Volunteers arrived on a sunny Tuesday morning on May 29 to pitch in to landscape the new Habitat for Humanity home on Rudd Pond Road.
The home, now occupied by the family that purchased the home last year, was transformed by gangs of help from NBT Bank and members of The Garden Club of Orange & Dutchess Counties.
North East Town Board member Meg Winkler stopped by to lend a hand and check in with Jessica Muccio, chief development officer of Hab itat for Humanity of Dutchess County.
Native Landscapes in Pawling provided and delivered perennial plants and shrubs for foundation planting, as well as mulch. McEnroe Organic Farm in Millerton donated and delivered premium garden soil for the planting beds.
Members of The Garden Club of Orange & Dutchess Counties, from left, Marcy Wagman, Sarah Peacock, Dorian Winslow, Linda Rohleder, Linda Tawse, Carrie O’Leary and Elinor Hart. Photo by John Coston
The Town of North East donated the land for the affordable housing project. The house is approximately 1,400 square feet with three bedrooms and 2 bathrooms on a half-acre plot of land.
Under an affordable housing initiative, the program allowed families to apply for this ranch-style house at 30% of their household income. of that club.
Besides its homebuying program, Habitat for Humanity of Dutchess County also provides a home repair programs that assists in installation and building of access ramps, porch and screen repair and landscaping.
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