Equal rights, voting and charter schools

The following excerpts from The Millerton News were compiled by Kathleen Spahn and Rhiannon Leo-Jameson of the North East-Millerton Library.

November 1, 1934

Post Office In New Building

The Millerton post office was moved Tuesday night into permanent quarters in the new one-story brick building on Center Street. The post office has been situated in the erstwhile saloon of Charles A. Corey for the past five months, having been transferred there the first of April from the Shufelt building on Main Street. It was understood when the office was moved last spring that the new quarters, also situated on Center Street, were to house it only temporarily pending construction of the new building which was to have been ready for occupancy July 1.

Voting Machine To Be Demonstrated

Supervisor Frank L. Minor of the town of North East has announced that a voting machine will be demonstrated at the town room in the Brick Block Friday and Saturday from 10 a. m. to 9 p.m.

November 8, 1934

New Evidence Is Rumored In Germond Case

Important new developments are expected in the Germond murder case, according to prevalent rumors, although authorities have denied that any new angles have entered the picture and state that no definite information has been presented. Private agencies, however, have been attempting solution of the crime and are seeking to obtain evidence of sufficient strength to warrant official action, it is said.

Dobbin Honored On Birthday

MT. WASHINGTON-Saturday was dobbin’s birthday party day.

“Chubby,” a twenty-five-year-old Western broncho owned by Betty Melius, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. N. L. Melius, was the guest of honor at a unique birthday party held on the lawn of the Melius place here Saturday afternoon. Invitations were sent to four other saddle horses, and upon arriving at the scene of festivity with their child riders each of the equine celebrants was fastened to a tree on which a place card was tacked.

November 6, 1975

Residents Ignore Planning Hearings

No member of the public showed up at the Comprehensive Plan hearings held last week in the Village of Millerton and the Town of North East.

ERA Loses In New York

The controversial Equal Rights Amendment was handed a defeat by New York State voters on Tuesday, 1,724,189 voting no and 1,329,545 yes. (At press time, 92 per cent of all the State election districts had reported).

In Dutchess County, the ERA, Amendment 1 on the ballot, lost 35,566 to 20,784.

November 2, 2000

Proposed Charter School Board Answers Public School Critics

WEBUTUCK — If approved, will a proposed charter school in the Harlem Valley result in significant tax increases? Do charter schools and conventional public schools compete on a level playing field?

These are some of the questions being asked in the wake of the revelation last month that a Dover group has proposed to start a charter school at the campus of the now-defunct Immaculate Conception School in Amenia.

At a joint meeting of the Webutuck and Dover school boards last month, Webutuck Superintendent Justine Winters said if the proposed Harlem Valley Charter School (HVCS) draws evenly between the Dover and Webutuck districts, Webutuck residents could see a 9.1-percent increase in taxes to make up for the loss of state aid per student. Dover Superintendent Craig Onofry projected a 7.6-percent increase.

According to Mr. Herald, if the HVCS draws about 80 students from Webutuck, the district may have to consider closing one of its community elementary schools in Millerton or Amenia. Such a move is particularly vexing in light of a recently passed 120-million capital project that includes extensive renovations to both schools.

“We’d be smarter to keep those students in one school and revisit the central campus concept,” said Mr. Herald, adding that the district “would still have to stay within the money that was approved.”

[Mr. Slater] cited reported vandalism to charter school board members’ property in Hempsted, Long Island.

“There’s been threats made and they’ve had their tires slashed,” he added.