Dan Egan joined Cary Institute researcher Jane Lucas for a discussion on his bestselling book “The Devil’s Element,” at the Cary Institute in Millbrook Thursday, Jan. 16. Egan’s book is a comprehensive look at the ecological problems posed by phosphorous.
MILLBROOK — Bestselling author and veteran journalist Dan Egan joined Jane Lucas at the Cary Institute in Millbrook for an interview and discussion on his latest book, “The Devil’s Element,” Thursday, Jan. 16.
Fluffy white snowflakes were falling on the dark Cary Institute campus as eager visitors streamed inside to escape the cold and hear about phosphorous, the element Dan Egan said is too-often overlooked for its monumental importance to life on Earth.
Egan’s fascination with the fertilizing element started while he was working as a journalist covering the ecological devastation of Lake Erie. That lake, he said, was one of many victims of phosphorous.
Phosphorous is an important element to modern human life. Egan described the botanical concept of the “limiting element,” or the observation that the least abundant ingredient for life will be the limiting factor. In the early days of botanical chemistry, this was a huge discovery. Once scientists could isolate elements like phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium, and they understood the role they played in plant growth, food production sky rocketed.
Egan credits the fertilizer revolution as the sole reason why the planet can support a human population of seven billion and counting, but he said our dependence and misuse of chemical fertilizers has huge consequences for our communities.
Egan’s research points to a growing body of evidence suggesting phosphorous contamination can turn rivers and freshwater lakes lethal with toxic algal blooms.
What’s more, toxic algal blooms caused by phosphorous contamination can even be swept out to sea, which occurred in Mississippi in 2019. That year, massive flooding upstream in the Mississippi river basin forced the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to open the Bonnet Carré spillway on the Mississippi river in Louisiana on two separate occasions for an annual total of 122 days. The deluge of fresh water diluted the Gulf of Mexico enough that it could support the freshwater toxic algae that plague Lake Erie and other waters across the country. That summer, the state of Mississippi had to close its beaches all year long because of a huge bloom just off its shores.
In the question and answer portion, one concerned audience member asked what could be done to fix the problem. Egan said the issue isn’t one individuals can change on their own. The root of the problem, he said, is industrial agriculture. Fertilizer pollution is historically under regulated, and he said many businesses haven’t realized the utility of reclaiming phosphorous until recently.
Copies of Egan’s book are available for sale at Merritt Bookstore in Millbrook. The Cary Institute hosts regular science seminars and ecology lectures. A full list of planned events can be found online at www.caryinstitute.org.
Leila Hawken
Celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the 14-member Smithfield Chamber Orchestra presented “Our American Composers,”a Spring Pops Concert at the Smithfield Church on Saturday, May 30. Part of the Bang Family Concert Series, the sixth annual pops concert played to a full house under the direction of Michelle Demko, serving her first year as Music Director.
Leila Hawken
AMENIA — The Planning Board moved closer to completing the environmental review of the proposed Cascade Creek subdivision during its regular meeting on Wednesday, May 27, agreeing to consider a formal environmental determination at its June meeting.
The discussion centered on completion of the Environmental Assessment Form, a key component of the project’s review under New York’s State Environmental Quality Review Act.
“First you have to decide the impact,” board engineer John Andrews said, explaining the process.
While no decision was made, board members agreed to review a draft negative declaration, a finding that would certify the project is not expected to have a significant adverse impact on the environment. If adopted, the declaration would satisfy SEQRA requirements and allow the project to move forward to the site-plan review stage.
The Cascade Creek proposal, first submitted in 2024 by the nonprofit Hudson River Housing of Poughkeepsie, calls for a 28-lot affordable housing subdivision on 24.13 acres. According to project plans, approximately 59% of the property would remain conserved open space.
Since the application was filed, engineers and planners have worked through the conservation review process while the Planning Board has conducted public hearings and meetings to gather community input. Project plans have been revised in response to concerns raised by residents and board members.
Addressing a previous request from the board for updated traffic information and guidance from the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT), Senior Planner Peter Sander reported that the project’s access plan has been revised to include a single entrance and exit on Route 22 directly across from the Old North Road intersection.
Andrews added that the DOT determined neither a traffic signal nor a dedicated left-turn lane would be necessary at the intersection. The agency suggested a marked crosswalk could be beneficial and noted that existing pull-off lanes provide adequate space for pedestrians along the highway.
Board member John Stefanopoulos asked about reducing the speed limit in the area.
Questions about groundwater and well capacity generated significant discussion.
Andrews said that once the environmental review is completed and the project enters the design phase, developers will be required to conduct detailed analyses of well construction and groundwater availability.
“Those results have to be acceptable to the Department of Health,” Andrews said, noting that until that approval is received, the water issue remains open.
Planning Board member James Walsh observed that some residents along Cascade Road have needed to drill their wells deeper over the years.
Board member Ken Topolsky referenced a letter from residents who argued that groundwater testing conducted to date had been inadequate. Topolsky added his continuing concern about stormwater drainage plans and the potential for flooding downstream in an area with a history of flooding.
Topolsky also expressed concern that the development’s housing designs could appear too uniform and may not reflect the town’s character.
But Sander disagreed.
“We’ve added variety, landscaping and buffers,” Sander said, adding that the actual design drawings will illustrate diverse design decisions. He reminded the board that the development will bring people to the town.
“It’s people and families,” Sander said.
Asked about next steps in the process, Andrews explained that if the board adopts a “negative declaration,” the SEQRA review would be complete and the application could advance to site-plan review. A “positive declaration” would require additional environmental analysis before the project could proceed.
Millerton News
SHARON — Yerger Johnstone, former managing director in the mergers and acquisitions department at Morgan Stanley and a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, died on April 19, 2026, in Chelmsford, England. He was 86.
Born in Mobile, Alabama, on March 7, 1940, Mr. Johnstone was the son of architect Henry Inge Johnstone, architect, and Kathleen Yerger Johnstone, the noted nature writer and civic leader after whom Alabama’s state seashell, Johnstone’s Junonia, is named. He graduated from Murphy High School in Mobile in 1958, received his bachelor’s degree from the University of the South at Sewanee in 1962, and earned his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 1964.
Following his M.B.A., he was commissioned through Officer Candidate School before serving in the United States Marine Corps from 1966 to 1968, rising from First Lieutenant to Captain. Stationed principally at Da Nang, Vietnam, he served as an intelligence officer and was awarded the Bronze Star with combat “V” for meritorious service.
Yerger married Eve Chamberlain, also of Mobile, Alabama in 1963 and they resided in North Carolina during this USMC training. Later moving to Brooklyn, New York, where his first child, Bartley, was born in 1968.
After his discharge, Mr. Johnstone joined Morgan Stanley, working in both Paris and New York City, where he became one of the firm’s first forty partners and served as deputy director of the Mergers and Acquisitions department under Robert Greenhill, at the very dawn of the M&A boom. He later worked in M&A at Blackstone and UBS Warburg Dillon Read. He also served on the boards of Hampshire College and Indian Mountain School at different times in his life.
Yerger was an accomplished sailor, having grown up on boating excursions for shell hunting with his parents in areas of Alabama and Florida, later on receiving certifications in sailing trips around Corsica while working in Paris. While working in banking in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s he spent evenings and weekends reading sailing training manuals, autobiographies of sailors and geographies of various archipelagos, further advancing his skills with a month of yacht chartering each summer in Greece.
Yerger first became enchanted with Litchfield County, when he and his second wife, Marguerite, found their dream weekend escape in Ellsworth in Sharon, Connecticut in the mid 1970’s. A one time builder of hot rod cars in his teens, he enjoyed spirited late night drives from NYC in a friends loaned Ferrari. In Ellsworth the newly weds and then young family (when his second daughter Katherine was born) enjoyed many weekends, hiking, bird watching, star gazing, cross country skiing, growing fresh herbs and gardening and barbecuing Yerger’s famous steaks for guests. Yerger enjoyed exploring the back roads of the area on his BMW motorcycle and the Housatonic River as an avid fly fisherman.
Upon leaving Morgan Stanley, he and his wife Marguerite whom he married in 1975, built the 67-foot ketch Asteroid in Aalsmeer, Holland. They conducted sea trials in Norway, Scotland, Ireland, & England before sailing her around the world, a near 6 year circumnavigation, passing via Suez and Panama canals, spending majority of the time in Pacific Ocean isles from Marquesas to Fiji, New Zealand (where his son Rule was born in 1986) and Micronesia. Encounters with storms, pirates, technical difficulties in remote islands and simply the rigors of daily yachting life were all met with courage, confidence and enthusiasm by Yerger. It became one of the defining adventures of his life.
Returning to America at the end of the sailing trip in 1990, the family settled in Falls Village, Connecticut, where they lived and built a house until Yerger was transferred to London, England
Yerger lived between Salisbury, Connecticut, and the UK for several years before permanently relocating to live between the Cotswolds in the UK and Tuscany in Italy with his third wife, Pamela. They enjoyed an active retirement with regular travels in Asia, New Zealand and Greece. In his final years, he was mainly in his homes in Italy and UK, with short trips in France, with his second daughter. In Trequanda, Italy he enjoyed cycling, feasting at home and throughout Tuscan villages with his and Pamela’s many friends, and soaking up the Tuscan sun. In his home village of Stebbing, UK, he headed the local pond fishing club and took short trips to London to hear his daughter Katherine sing in her many choirs.
Mr. Johnstone is survived by his wife, Pamela Johnstone; his daughters, Bartley Inge and Katherine Inge; his granddaughter, Evie Inge Scofield; his son, Rule; his former wife, Marguerite; his brother, Justice Douglas Inge Johnstone. He is predeceased by his first wife, Eve Chamberlain Purdy.
Cremation took place May 18, 2026, at Dunmow Crematorium, Blatches Farm, Stebbing CM 6 3AL England.
There will be a Requiem Mass said on June 7th, at St George’s Aubrey Walk, W8 7JG England.
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Millerton News
WEST CORNWALL — Richard R. Stover, 82, of West Cornwall, died peacefully at Noble Horizons on May 26, 2026.
Son of the late Robert and Leona (Heinbockel) Stover, Rick was born Feb. 6, 1944 in Edina, Minnesota. He attended the University of Pennsylvania where he majored in Economics and was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
After graduation, Rick began a long career as a financial and pharmaceutical analyst working at Mitchell Hutchins, Smith Barney, Alex Brown & Sons, Pfizer, and Arnold and S. Bleichroeder. He was then President and CEO of PeriCor Therapeutics, a bio tech company he founded in Manhattan.
Rick was an avid golfer and skier, and he liked nothing better than wrestling with the wilderness. After he and Marnell bought their home in West Cornwall, he enjoyed clearing brush, felling trees, and splitting logs. He was the proud owner of every tool and machine necessary for landscape maintenance.Rick was a parishioner at St. Bridget Church where he worked on the building and grounds committee and served as Chairman of the Finance Council.
Rick is survived by his wife Marnell (Bukovac) and his four daughters and their families; Shaw (Christofer) Ruder and Beckett, Elliot, and Hattie; Sara Stover (Chris Sherwin); Christian Stover (Jeffrey Knutsen); Anne (Andrew) Ruder and William, Charlie, and Sadie. He is also survived by his stepchildren and their families: Mary Brunelli (Christopher Edgar) and Alexander and Catherine; and Michael (Ellen) Brunelli.
Rick was preceded in death by his sister Barbara McCurdy.
A Mass of Christian burial was held at St. Bridget Church (St. Kateri Parish) 7 River Road, Cornwall Bridge, on Saturday, May 30, 2026 at 11:00. Burial followed at St. Bridget Cemetery.
Contributions in Rick’s name may be made to St. Kateri Parish (St. Bridget Church), PO Box 186, 90 Cobble Road, Kent, CT 06757.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
Millerton News
SHARON — Floyd Irving Isham Jr., 87, a longtime area resident, died Tuesday, May 26, 2026, at Sharon Health Care Center in Sharon. Mr. Isham worked for the Tri-Wall Container Corp. in Wassaic, New York, for fifteen years and also worked as a self-employed private caretaker for over twenty-five years, caring for local estates in Shekomeko, Pine Plains and Ancramdale, New York, prior to his retirement.
Born Aug. 25, 1938, in St. George, Vermont, he was the son of the late Floyd Irving and Hazel (Thompson) Isham, Sr. Following his high school years, he enlisted in the United States Navy and served from 1958 until his honorable discharge in 1961. Mr. Isham also served in the Vermont National Guard. On Aug. 11, 1990, in Dover Plains, New York, he married Nancy L. Cross. Mrs. Isham died on July 8, 2005.
Mr. Isham was a life member of the Millerton American Legion Post # 178 in Millerton, and was a former member of the Amenia Fish & Game Club in Amenia. He served for eight years as president of the Dutchess County Federation of Fish & Game Clubs and also served on their legislative committee for a number of years. He was an avid hunter and fisherman and enjoyed gardening, watching the New York Mets and the Boston Red Sox on television and spent a great deal of time following the horses at OTB. Floyd will be deeply missed by his loving family and his many dear friends. Floyd’s family wishes to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the nurses, nursing assistants and staff at Sharon Health Care Center for the kind and respectful attention provided to Floyd while in their care.
Mr. Isham is survived by two children, Mary Kunda and Theodore Isham; three stepchildren, Candy Strong and her husband Bill, Brian Marshall and his wife Kathy and Tanya Mayhew; two grandchildren, Samantha Harrison and her husband Raymond and Cody Mayhew; one great grandchild, Harper Lee Harrison; several siblings and many nieces and nephews and friends. In addition to his wife and parents, he was also predeceased by three sisters, Lucille, Leonna and Roselyn.
Graveside services and burial will take place on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at 11 a.m. at Ellsworth Cemetery, 25 Cemetery Road, Sharon with Standard Naval Honors. Pastor William Mayhew will officiate. Memorial contributions may be made to the Millerton American Legion Post # 178, 155 Route 44, Millerton, NY 12546. To send an online condolence to the family, flowers to the service or to plant a tree in Floyd’s honor, please visit www.conklinfuneralhome.com
Millerton News
EAST CANAAN — Pauline K. (King) Garfield, 94 of 77 South Canaan Rd. formerly of East Canaan, died Sunday May 24, 2026, at Geer Village. She was the wife of the late Duane Garfield who passed August 14, 2017. Pauline was born April 3, 1932 in North Canaan,in the former Geer Hospital. She was the daughter of the late Charles and Rose (Van Vlack) King.
Pauline spent her career at Becton Dickinson in Canaan, after being a stay-at-home mother for many years.She was employed at Becton Dickinson for 23 years. She enjoyed bus trips with her late husband Duane to the Casinos, spending time with her family watching the grandchildren grow up. Recently she made a comment to care givers that was “wait until I see that husband of mine for leaving me here, I am going to read him the riot act.” Over the years she enjoyed many crafts, but her favorite was crocheting gifts for everyone.
Pauline is survived by her daughter, Paula Ducharme and husband Tom of York, Pennsylvania, her son Michael Garfield and wife Joann of Winchester Center, Connecticut, her granddaughter Koren Garfield and her great grandchildren, Alyssa Jade, Addison Jacob and Brennden Leo of Colebrook, Connecticut.
Pauline is also survived by her sister, Althea Marshall and her husband Corky of North Canaan, Connecticut. She was predeceased by her brothers, Everett and Alan King.
A Celebration of Pauline’s life was held on Monday June 1, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. in the North Canaan Congregational Church 172 Lower Road East Canaan, CT 06024.Burial followed at Hillside Cemetery in East Canaan, CT. Memorial Donation can be sent to the North Canaan Volunteer Ambulance Corps P.O. Box 178 North Canaan, CT 06018. Arrangements are under the care of the Newkirk-Palmer Funeral Home 118 Main St. Canaan, CT 06018.
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