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Former Dover Town Supervisor returns home after week-long disappearance
Nathan Miller
Jul 21, 2026
Ryan Courtien exits Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan on Sunday, July 12, a few hours after his disappearance.
Photo provided
DOVER PLAINS — Wingdale resident and former Dover Town Supervisor Ryan Courtien remained hospitalized Monday, July 20, undergoing medical evaluation after his unexplained disappearance ended with his safe return last week.
Courtien — a 49-year-old father of two, volunteer firefighter, current Dover Planning Board chair, and Wingdale resident of 22 years — was taken to a local hospital after state police reported that local deputies picked him up at the Harlem Valley-Wingdale train station on Wheeler Road Friday evening, July 17. Dover Town Supervisor Rich Yeno said Courtien was still undergoing medical evaluation as of Monday evening, July 20.
His disappearance on Sunday, July 12, shocked the community — triggering a multi-day search and rescue response that drew emergency responders from across New York and western Connecticut.
Authorities have not released details about the circumstances surrounding Courtien’s sudden disappearance and return home. State police Public Information Officer Krystal Paolicelli said Monday, July 20, that the investigation had concluded and the case had been closed.
“Based on the findings of the investigation, no criminal conduct was identified that would warrant an arrest,” Paolicelli said. “The reason for his departure remains unknown.”
Neither Courtien nor his family have released a statement.
Courtien was reported missing Sunday after he left the house at 9:30 a.m. to perform yard work at his home on 32 Waldo Road and never returned. Starting Sunday afternoon, authorities commenced a search of the woods surrounding his home, utilizing heat-seeking drones, K-9 units, helicopters and searchers on foot. The search was called off Wednesday, July 15, after nearly four full days of scouring the area.
Paolicelli said on Wednesday, July 15, as many as 80 personnel per day joined in the search and rescue effort. New York State Police headed up the search, with assistance from Dutchess County Sheriff’s deputies, New York State Fire crews, New York State Forest Rangers and volunteer firefighters from across Dutchess County and western Connecticut.
The search and rescue effort carried on until Wednesday afternoon, when New York State Police announced a sudden end to the search at around 4 p.m.
Answers wouldn’t come until more than a day later. After relative silence about the case throughout the day on Thursday, July 16, state police announced on Friday, July 17, that Courtien had been spotted in Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal exiting a Metro-North train shortly after his disappearance on Sunday.
Then, as suddenly as it had all begun, Courtien was located Friday evening. Authorities received a tip through a 911 call that Courtien was near the Harlem Valley-Wingdale train station just after 5 p.m. on Friday. According to a statement from the New York State Police, Dutchess County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene and confirmed Courtien’s identity.
Courtien was then reportedly taken to a local hospital for evaluation. Authorities did not release the location of the hospital, and calls to area hospitals could not confirm Courtien’s status.
Dover Town Supervisor Rich Yeno led the community response to the disappearance, appearing at the search and rescue command post throughout the week and making public updates through Facebook posts. He expressed gratitude for Courtien’s return home.
“The biggest thing is he’s alive,” Yeno said.
Courtien first moved to Wingdale with his wife, Suzanne Calligan-Courtien, in 2004 when the pair bought their Waldo Road home, according to public documents.
He has spent the past 22 years working in various education roles, mostly teaching math to college and high school students, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Courtien was first elected to Town Supervisor in the Town of Dover in the election of 2007, and took office in January 2008. He held that position for eight years, opting not to run for reelection in 2015, according to Dutchess Board of Elections records. Courtien joined Dover’s planning board in 2018, and was appointed chair in 2021.
Friends and community members said Courtien is an avid hiker and a trail advocate. He is credited with helping establish and build the Dover Stone Church hiking trail that leads to a geologic formation so-called because of its resemblance to a chapel.
Most recently, Courtien took a job as operations manager for the Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association. Dick Hermans, a member of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association’s Board of Directors, said the organization hired Courtien to the position this past spring and that he had taken to his responsibilities with zeal.
Hermans said Courtien’s experience in town government and trail advocacy were strong marks in his favor for the operations manager job.
“He is definitely a trail advocate,” Hermans said.
Courtien’s colleagues on the Dover Planning Board continued public hearings on Monday, July 20, appointing Val Larobardier to serve as interim chair in Courtien’s absence. Courtien was absent from the meeting, and board members did not mention his absence.
After the meeting, Planning Board members, the town’s Planning & Zoning secretary and the town’s engineer expressed concern for Courtien and hope for a speedy recovery. They said that they have decided to quietly carry on in their work and wait for Courtien and his family to reach out to them with more information out of respect for their privacy.
The Board elected to cancel both August meetings, but said that was unrelated to Courtien’s absence. Board secretary Marilyn Van Millon explained that no applications to the Planning Board had come in before deadlines for the August meetings, meaning the board has no business to discuss next month. She said she doesn’t have a clear picture of when Courtien will return to his post as chair.
“We really don’t know anything,” Town Engineer Joseph Berger said. “We’re really concerned, but that’s about all.”
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NECC highlights coming challenges at annual Chef & Farmer Brunch fundraiser
Nathan Miller
Jul 21, 2026
MILLBROOK — The North East Community Center raised $403,500 in about 15 minutes of paddle raising Sunday, July 19, at its annual Chef & Farmer Brunch fundraiser.
The annual fundraiser — a major source of income for the Millerton-based nonprofit held this year at Millbrook School — supports the NECC’s programs throughout the year, including the regular food pantry program, youth programs and the weekly farmers market.
Co-Interim Executive Director and Board Chair Irene Banning praised attendees and donors for contributing to the organization’s work in a year that has seen high-ranking staff departures and the closure of the organization’s childcare program.
“This has been a challenging year for NECC,” Banning said. “But we are standing strong, working on finding an executive director and looking into an exciting future.”
Banning further praised the organization’s staff, saying NECC’s success would be impossible without the employees’ dedication to building community and supporting neighbors.
She championed NECC’s mission and expressed gratitude for the organization as a whole, as well, describing it as a refuge where she can contribute to good in the community.
“It is the place where I get to be a part of doing good, of caring for the members of our communities,” Banning said. “And being a part of making people’s lives feel less unsettled and more balanced.”
Following Banning’s remarks was an address from her counterpart, Julie Fajgenbaum, who is sharing the workload as co-interim executive director, while the organization searches for a replacement for former Executive Director Christine Sergent. Sergent resigned from her position at the organization in March 2026.
Fajgenbaum detailed some of the work NECC does, including giving away 15,000 diapers to 25 area families so far this year.
“That’s lightening the financial load for those new parents and allowing them to spend on other things like formula,” Fajgenbaum said.
But she acknowledged that the year’s successes have also exposed a downside — pointing to 19 additional families that remain on the waitlist for free diapers from the organization.
Other statistics underscore the challenges NECC faces in the coming year. The organization’s food pantry served 1,000 people in April alone, reflecting the growing financial pressures many households face as food and fuel costs continue to rise.
Fajgenbaum once again pointed to the benefactors taking part in the day’s fundraising, praising them for coming together to support the NECC’s mission to serve northeast Dutchess communities.
“Today is most definitely a high,” Fajgenbaum said. “We’re so grateful that you’re here with us. I don’t know what we would do without you.”
Following Fajgenbaum’s remarks, local auctioneer CK Swett led the annual “paddle raise,” a lightning-round fundraiser where donors raise auction paddles to commit to donations ranging in increments from $100 to $50,000.
This year’s paddle raise resulted in at least $403,500 in donations to the charitable organization after just 15 minutes of auctioneering.
“This is a community effort, this is a collective effort,” Swett said. “And we will help the community together.”
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Food pantries, farmers markets adapt after federal aid cuts
Eloise Pickering
Jul 21, 2026
Volunteers at St. Thomas Episcopal Church’s Food of Life pantry distribute vegetables and other food to patrons on Friday, July 17, in South Amenia.
Photo by Eloise Pickering
A year after federal funding cuts to supplemental food programs, local farmers markets and food pantries continue adapting to ensure community members have access to food.
Farmers markets throughout the region accept a variety of food assistance benefits, and food pantries are switching to new choice models, allowing their guests and neighbors to choose their food rather than be sent home with a pre-packaged box.
Food assistance programs include Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits, SNAP, Double Up Food Bucks, and Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program checks.
Double Up Tokens and FreshConnect Checks are both matching programs, where coupons and tokens handed out by local food pantries or the market are then matched through federal programs or farmers markets themselves.
Previously, local food pantries have made boxes with different foods to supply households for a set amount of meals. For example, St. Thomas Episcopal Church gives each household enough food for nine meals. Community members would show up and grab a box. Now, people can choose what foods they need for their family. For example, they can choose between pasta and rice, or between various types of vegetables.
“The hope is that people can really choose the food that meets the needs of their particular household,” said Jordan Schmidt, the food programs director at the North East Community Center.
Katie Cariello, one of the food programs coordinators at NECC, said it’s important that people feel heard, both through choice models and through conversations during delivery programs.
“There’s humanity behind this,” Cariello said. “We are here helping and supporting, and that feels very impactful.”
NECC helps between 200 and 250 households each week, and last year the organization saw around 4,400 households. St. Thomas’ pantry serves around 600 households weekly.
Paulo Rossi, the pantry manager at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Amenia said that the choice model also helps with inventory and shipping.
The North East Community Center and St. Thomas Church work together to provide food assistance programs to the community.
“One of the things that I found most valuable and exciting is it’s really not about each individual organization. It’s about how we support each other across the region,” Schmidt said.
Following the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law July 2025, funding was cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. This has affected food banks that supply local pantries, limiting options and raising costs.
Interim Executive Director of the Missions at St. Thomas, Jim Wright, said that the regional food bank has “dramatically less food to offer either for sale and definitely for free. Forget for free.”
Wright said that the regional food bank is trying to expand its food options as much as possible, but federal funding cuts make it challenging.
At NECC, the pantry had to limit how often people could visit for food. Although they’re open weekly, they had to limit visits to twice monthly due to food limitations.
“We were having a really hard time with getting enough food on site to support everyone,” Schmidt said.
Both pantries partner with local farms for produce, and St. Thomas has onsite gardens. One is a teaching garden, and one is a giving garden. The giving garden has items like edible flowers, onions, and tomatoes.
“In addition to the vegetables we grow exclusively for our neighbors in the giving garden, we also have spectacular produce from local farms,” said Wright.
One of the more prominent issues that local food pantries face is access to protein, although it’s been slowly improving.
“It’s particularly impactful in terms of proteins,” Wright said. “It’s been getting a teeny bit better the last 2 weeks. There’s been at least some protein that our neighbors want to eat as opposed to canned chicken.”
Following federal cuts to SNAP, Schmidt has noticed some recipients are having a harder time receiving their benefits due to higher restrictions and an increase in required volunteer hours.
“These shifts seem like a disincentive to seeking or maintaining SNAP enrollment,” Schmidt said.
At food pantries, employees and volunteers make an effort to connect with their neighbors who come for food and toiletries. The teams also work to limit stigma around needing food assistance, and that the focus is keeping households fed.
“It’s about making people feel welcome and not ashamed when they’re accessing community food resources,” Schmidt said. “It’s about making sure the food is as nourishing as possible and also meets a wide range of cultural needs.”
NECC accepts a wide range of programs, including WIC benefits, SNAP, and offers Double Up Food Bucks and Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program checks.
Double Up Food Bucks and FMNP checks can be used at local farmers markets, including the Millbrook and Copake Hillsdale markets.
Millbrook Farmers Market introduced SNAP, FreshConnect and Veterans Benefits in 2025, and is continuing to expand throughout this summer.
The Copake Hillsdale Farmers Market started accepting SNAP in 2004, and has since introduced Double Up Tokens and Fresh Connect Checks.
The Copake Hillsdale market is a nonprofit, so it receives grant funding to match dollar for dollar. The market is also working towards funding for a van, which would provide transportation to the market for community members that need it.
“These programs help people,” said Copake Hillsdale Farmers Market Offsite Manager Nicole Friedrich. “There’s a lot of need.”
The Hillsdale Farmers Market sees between 10 and 12 customers each week who use some method of food assistance.
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Millerton nonprofit faces closure over tax exemption denial
Eloise Pickering
Jul 21, 2026
A sign along Kaye Road in the Town of North East marks the location of Taconic Plateau Foundation’s land along the Connecticut border.
Photo by Eloise Pickering
MILLERTON — The Taconic Plateau Foundation, an environmental nonprofit, plans to appeal to the Dutchess County Supreme Court for a property tax exemption after a third denial by the Town of North East. The foundation said it may be forced to close.
Established in 2022, the foundation is a nonprofit organization that oversees 175 acres of land along the New York/Connecticut border for conservation, research and educational work.
“Our charge is to maintain it as a pristine natural resource for posterity,” said Jed Marcus, a director of the foundation. He said the goal is to protect the species that call the property home.
In addition to maintaining the land, the foundation hosts public activities and scientific research. Marcus said nonprofit volunteers do not just passively maintain the land, but rather actively engage and educate the community through their work.
As a nonprofit, the Taconic Plateau Foundation has been deemed tax exempt by the IRS and the State of New York, but is seeking to be exempt from local property taxes. Currently, the foundation pays $6,643 in property and county taxes each year, Marcus said.
In 2025, the foundation recorded $8,800 in revenue from grant money.
Marcus said that the 2026 request for property tax exemption under New York State’s Real Property Tax Law was denied, as it was found by the Town of North East that the property is not used exclusively for nonprofit purposes.
“That statement is so troubling because it’s just emphatically not true,” Marcus said.
Marcus said the town did not elaborate as to why it concluded the property failed to qualify. He argues the land meets the statutory requirements and pointed to prior court decisions recognizing environmental conservation as a charitable purpose eligible for a property tax exemption.
The 1982 case of New York Botanical Garden v. Assessors of the Town of Washington established environmental conservation as a charitable activity that qualifies for real property tax exemption, he noted.
After the request was denied, the foundation appealed to the town’s Board of Assessment Review. Organization representatives received a determination letter on July 18 denying the appeal. Marcus said he was baffled by the denial.
“They just checked the box saying you’re not eligible for the request,” Marcus said.
Town of North East Assessor Katherine Johnson would not comment, citing an expectation of “continuing litigation,” but did not provide further details.
The Taconic Plateau Foundation plans to file an appeal by the end of July with the Dutchess County Supreme Court for a Real Property Law Article 7 hearing, which allows property owners to challenge property tax assessments in court. The court will review submitted documents, then decide whether to hold a hearing.
If the foundation is denied again, Marcus said it will likely go bankrupt.
“We have no assets, no money other than the land, and that will work well if we don’t have to pay taxes,” Marcus said. “If we have to pay taxes, basically, we’re going to go out of business. We just can’t raise that money.”
The foundation receives some donations that go directly toward taxes, and others that pay for conservation, charitable, or educational activities. Marcus said that there are less who contribute money for taxes than for other purposes, but the foundation can’t access the latter until the tax bill is paid.
The Taconic Plateau Foundation has set aside a $20,000 donation for litigation. If it didn’t go to court, that money would have gone towards programming and research.
The organization gets its funding through grants and donations, and the staff is made up of volunteers. Recently, the organization has had a challenging time receiving funding.
“We’ve gotten our money through grants, but we’ve kind of come to the end of the line because nobody wants to give a grant that’s simply going to go to the town to pay taxes,” Marcus said.
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Washington officials begin pool renovation talks
Graham Corrigan
Jul 21, 2026
MILLBROOK — Washington’s town board will begin workshopping plans for renovations to the town pool next week.
At a regular meeting on Thursday, July 9, the board discussed a preliminary feasibility study on the pool and surrounding park. A monthly workshop, hosted at Town Hall, will begin to address concerns and solidify plans on how to improve the park. The first session will take place on Thursday, July 23, at 6 p.m.
Members of the public are encouraged to attend, but only as observers to the proceedings.
The feasibility study was originally presented in May. It was prepared by Mike Murphy, the Chairman of the Reimagine the Town Park Committee, and found that residents are interested in a variety of recreational improvements. The proposals include pickleball courts, extended park hours, splash pads, a third pavilion, a new pool, and updated playground facilities. Murphy estimates the cost at between $2.5 and $3.7 million.
In other business, discussions over the town’s mass appraisal grew heated.
Assessor Lisa Evangelista detailed her findings, and emphasized the incompleteness of past data collection and site surveys. She claimed at least 100 properties are still missing from their collected data. Washington’s last home valuation took place in 2006.
The town debated the merits of passing off the task to an outside mass appraisal company, and pushed to determine a timeline for completion of the town-wide property assessment.
Part of the board’s concern stemmed from the shifting nature of property values: if data collection takes too long, the information collected at the beginning could be out of date by the end of the process.
Washington and Millbrook’s wide array of properties, from single-family homes to large farms, present unique challenges. The board agreed to begin discussions with mass appraisal firms in an attempt to expedite the process.
An application for high-density housing at the former site of Green Briar Nursing Home was also discussed. The proposal would include a number of townhouses and standalone homes, for a total of 12 units. The board highlighted the complications of the application — either a use variance or rezone would be required to facilitate the build.
The town board also approved several motions. The first will allow Washington to sell surplus highway vehicles at public auction. Another motion concerned town employees’ unused sick days: under the new resolution, town employees will be able to convert unused sick days to retirement funds at the time of an employee’s retirement, with a maximum allowance of 120 days.
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On-Duty Pine Plains police officer resigns after Route 199 crash
Graham Corrigan
Jul 21, 2026
PINE PLAINS — An on-duty Pine Plains police officer who was involved in a July 6 crash has resigned from the department, Town Board members were told during their July 15 meeting.
Officer Brian Johnson's resignation comes after he struck a 2003 Lincoln while he was traveling on Route 199 on July 6. According to State Police, Johnson failed to stop in time, totaling the vehicle.
The two occupants of the Lincoln sustained minor injuries. Johnson and Officer Aaron L. Fantroy, who was riding in the passenger seat of the patrol vehicle, were transported to Northern Dutchess Hospital. Fantroy was later transferred to Albany Medical Center for additional treatment.
State Police determined the crash was non-criminal. Investigators cited driver inattention or distraction as the cause, though they found Johnson was not using a cell phone or the patrol car's in-car computer immediately before the collision.
During the meeting, Officer John L. Hughes confirmed Johnson's resignation from the Pine Plains Police Department. Johnson was a recent graduate of the New York State Police Academy. It is unclear whether his resignation was related to the crash.
EMS response data questioned
The board’s agenda also included an EMS update from Pine Plains Rescue Squad 2nd Lt. Nelson Zayas. Zayas noted that Dutchess County has yet to release any reports or analysis on EMS calls in 2026. The county had previously released quarterly reports in 2025 that detailed EMS response times and responding agencies. Zayas’ own statistics were pulled from raw data he has collected over the course of the past year.
As he did in April, Zayas said county data on response times and non-response rates does not account for situations in which volunteer EMTs respond directly to a scene without utilizing an ambulance.
Of the second quarter’s 65 emergency calls received by Pine Plains Rescue Squad, 12 categorized EMS as late — meaning the response took more than nine minutes — or unresponsive. Zayas argues that number is actually three, and gave an accounting of each specific call. In some cases, ambulances were beaten to the scene by EMS volunteers. In others, a vehicle was out of service for repairs.
“I’m trying to give the public a view of what’s going on behind the scenes,” Zayas said, “and that things are not actually as bad as they look on paper.”
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