Tort Law: More Interesting Than You Might Expect
Learn about America’s most famous lawsuits through comic-book style graphics at the American Museum of Tort Law, which reopens on April 1. Illustration courtesy American Museum of Tort Law
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Ella Emberlin, an eighth grader at Salisbury Central School, meets alum Colby Hickey, owner of Colby’s Tree Service, on Career Day.
Madi Long
In one classroom, students listened intently as two Connecticut State Police troopers provided an overview of their duties. Josh Wedge and Miranda Coretto of Troop B in North Canaan discussed the types of incidents they respond to, including car crashes, crimes and emergency calls. The troopers said they are also asked to cover large events, such as fairs and games. They told students police are dispatched through two radios – one in their vehicles and the other a portable radio they carry.
Wedge talked about specialty units within the State Police department, such as K-9, marine, bomb squad, tactical and traffic units.
Students particularly enjoyed hearing about the K-9 unit, which is composed of German shepherds, Labrador retrievers, bloodhounds and comfort dogs. One youngster shared that he had a bloodhound. Wedge told them Connecticut had the first currency dog, which is used to sniff out large amounts of concealed money in the fight against money laundering, illegal gambling and smuggling.
Troopers, the students learned, are allowed to take their patrol cars home. “Our jurisdiction is the whole state, so we might be needed anywhere,” Wedge said. In addition to the SUVs they drive, there are also motorcycle units and an armored car division. Of interest to the students was the cadet program, open to those 14 to 20 years old. Members get certified in CPR, receive physical training and take part in educational offerings.
State troopers Josh Wedge and Miranda Coretto visit with Sharon Center School students on Career Day April 10. From left: Giuseppe Socci, Galo Suby, Eivin Peterson, Emma Mariano, Kora Begley and Spencer Whitesel.Ruth Epstein
Attorney Veronica Relea of Sharon and New York City works for a large firm in the city, where she specializes in contract energy law.
A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, she said, “I help people agree on things. I help with big projects, like being able to power your house. A lawyer is always putting things together. We try to come up with solutions for clients.”
Relea said she did not enjoy law school. “What I learned most was at my job,” she said.
Outside the school, crews from both the local ambulance service and volunteer fire department gave students a close-up look at their vehicles and explained their duties.
Beth Klippel and Brian Moore, volunteer firefighters in Sharon, pointed out the various equipment that is carried on their trucks.
Anthony Ferrara and Phil Burke of Northeast Fire Rescue supplement the local ambulance squad. As the children sat in the back of the ambulance, Ferrara said the job of emergency medical responders is to transport patients to a higher level of care, stabilizing them as they go. He said this can include checking blood pressure, blood sugar levels and oxygen levels.
Ferrara added, “My aim, when people are obviously having a bad day, is to make them smile.”
The Town of Cornwall is hiring lifeguards: and Water Safety Instructors for the 2026 season at Hammond Beach. For more information or to apply, contact Jane Hall, Beach Director, at Hbeach@cornwallct.gov.
Well established lawn landscape business: seeking a full-time, experienced landscaper. Ability to run landscaping & tree removal equipment; excavator, skid-steer, tractor, brush-chipper, chain saw, as well as snow removal equipment. Valid Driver’s License is necessary. Salary dependent on experience. Call 860-824-0053 to schedule an interview.
Wyantenuck Country Club is seeking staff for the 2026 season: Want to work in a beautiful setting with a great team? Full and Part-Time employment available. Positions Available: Bartenders, Dishwashers, Line Cooks, Waitstaff. Please email: brandon@wyantenuck.org or call 413-528-0350.
Wyantenuck Country Club seeks a Sous Chef: Benefits Available. Work in a beautiful setting with a great team. Please email: brandon@wyantenuck.org or call 413-528-0350.
Services Offered
GARDENING: Spring and Fall Cleanup and Stone W alls. 845-444-4492.
Hector Pacay Landscaping and Construction LLC: Fully insured. Renovation, decking, painting; interior exterior, mowing lawn, garden, stone wall, patio, tree work, clean gutters, mowing fields. 845-636-3212.
Real Estate
PUBLISHER’S NOTICE: Equal Housing Opportunity. :All real estate advertised in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1966 revised March 12, 1989 which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation, or discriminationbased on race, color religion, sex, handicap or familial status or national origin or intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination. All residential property advertised in the State of Connecticut General Statutes 46a-64c which prohibit the making, printing or publishing or causing to be made, printed or published any notice, statement or advertisement with respect to the sale or:rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, marital status, age, lawful source of income, familial status, physical or mental:disability or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination.
Houses For Rent
Millerton, rural, newly renovated house: 2 bedroom, split air heat/a/c system, dishwasher, decks, views, pets considered. $2800 plus utilities. Call 518-567-8277.
Rentals Wanted
Single woman, no pets, non-smoker looking: for a small seasonal rental, June-September. Must be affordable, furnished. 646-334-7645.
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Engineer Zak Hall, left, and architect Kristina Dousharm of Kristina Dousharm Architects present plans to build a new grocery store and renovate an existing building for an ice cream shop at the Planning Board on Wednesday, April 8.
Photo by Nathan Miller
Christopher Gumprecht — who owns the property under the name C.G. 79 Realestate LLC — and business partners Bryan Seiler and Benjamin Abrahams received approval for the cannabis dispensary in December 2025. That business will occupy a historic weigh station building on the property, which is separate from the proposed grocery store and ice cream shop.
Dousharm first introduced the additional concepts during the dispensary approval process, noting at the time that details were still preliminary but sufficient to meet environmental review requirements.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Dousharm argued that the prior environmental approval should still apply, saying the current proposal largely aligns with earlier plans.
Planning Board attorney Warren Replansky, however, pushed back, saying the board had clearly anticipated further environmental review once detailed plans were submitted.
Replansky cited the board’s Dec. 17, 2025, resolution, which stated that plans for the additional uses were not developed enough at the time to allow for “meaningful environmental review.”
The resolution also referenced guidance from Dutchess County Planning & Development that review could be deferred until the plans are "fully developed," and acknowledged that the Planning Board has jurisdiction to "conduct an additional" review.
"I don't know how it can be any more clear than that," Replansky said.
Planning Board members view plans for the proposed new grocery store and ice cream shop to be located at 7723 South Main St. on Wednesday, April 8. Photo by Nathan Miller
The exchange became tense, with back-and-forth between Replansky and Dousharm with occasional interjections from Planning Board Chair Michael Stabile, zoning enforcement officer Ed Casazza and town engineer George Schmidt.
Dousharm asserted that additional review under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act was unnecessary — a claim that Schmidt and Stabile appeared to support — because the described plans largely align with the preliminary details provided last year.
Replansky responded by pointing out that the preliminary details described renovating an existing building for the grocery store. He said the demolition and subsequent construction of a brand new building constituted a significant change.
"The Planning Board has a duty to conduct a SEQR review," Replansky said. "The fact that you don't agree that it's necessary is irrelevant."
Stabile recalled the board telling the applicants to return for "technical review" once plans for the grocery store and ice cream shop were developed. Schmidt said the board can use technical review to determine whether differences from early plan details require further environmental review.
Dousharm said she would compile a list of differences between the current proposal and earlier plans to assist the board in making that determination.
The applicants must now seek a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals to exceed lot area coverage limits before returning to the Planning Board for further review.
The annual Millerton Fire Company Easter egg hunt returned to Eddie Collins Memorial Park on Saturday, April 4.
Nathan Miller
Tyler Dehoff discovers a piece of chocolate in a plastic egg at the zero to two-year-old egg hunt area.Nathan Miller
Families crowd into hay wagons for a parade down Main Street to the park before the egg hunt.Nathan Miller
Bob Stevens, right, enjoys the swinging sounds of country and western music during a trip to Nashville, Tennessee, with his son, Robert Stevens Jr., not pictured.
Photo provided
Stevens’s only son, 39-year-old Robert Stevens Jr., along with employees at the town garage and others in the community, remembered Stevens as a dedicated man with a singular passion for highway maintenance.
“It was an absolutely huge part of his life,” Robert said.
Robert Jr. said Stevens was as supportive as a father as he was dedicated to his work for the town. He recalled a week-long BMX biking trip to Camp Woodward in Pennsylvania that his father drove him to and from, making the round trip twice without a complaint.
“It didn’t matter how little or how far we were going,” Robert said. “If it was to support me, he was on. Always.”
Road crew foreman Shawn Morrison said that supportive nature extended to Stevens’s role as Highway Superintendent, where he prioritized the safety of workers and drivers above all else.
“He always said to me, ‘If you don’t feel safe doing it, then we’re not going to do it,’” Morrison said.
Morrison praised Stevens’s dedication to his post, saying he often worked long hours and weekends out of a love for the job. Winter was a favorite season, as Morrison said he was obsessive about clearing the town’s roads during snowstorms.
“A lot of people had nicknames out there for him — calling him ‘Bare-road Bob,’” Morrison said. “He was anal about his roads in the winter.”
Stevens rarely missed a day of work, for sickness or for pleasure, road crew employees and Town Supervisor Chris Kennan said. Joshua Schultz, a road crew member and Stevens’s godson, said he could remember one notable absence. “He took his son to Nashville,” Schultz said.
Photo providedBob Stevens, right, and his son, Robert Stevens Jr., pose for a photograph together. Robert remembered his father as a caring and supportive man following his death on Monday, March 30.Photo provided
Robert Jr. said he and his father traveled twice to Nashville, Tennessee — among the few trips they took together — but a third visit was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Other travel opportunities often depended on Stevens’s work at the town garage. “If it was wintertime, he’s here,” Robert said. “He’s taking care of the town.”
Sickness didn’t keep Stevens at home either. Morrison said he would work from his well-known orange pickup truck to keep from spreading colds to people.
The orange pick-up truck was a fixture around town, Supervisor Chris Kennan said. Stevens was often spotted inspecting roads across town in the recognizable truck, when it wasn’t parked at the town garage while he worked in his office.
Kennan said the town will begin a search for a new Highway Superintendent, with a committee expected to form at the Thursday, April 9, Town board meeting. He also expects the board to install a plaque at the town garage on Route 22 honoring Stevens’s service.
Kennan proposed the plaque at a special meeting of the Town Board on April 1, saying a modest display would respect Stevens’s private nature.
“I’m excited that we’re going to put a plaque on that building,” Kennan said. “It’s appropriate that there be some reflection of what he put into it.”
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