Left to right, Christian Murray, Executive Editor; Nathan Miller, Managing Editor of The Millerton News; Natalia Zukerman, Arts & Lifestyle Editor; Thomas K. Carley, Chief Operating Officer; and James H. Clark, CEO/Publisher receive awards at the New England Newspaper and Press Association spring conference in Portsmouth, NH.
The Lakeville Journal earned several top honors at the New England Newspaper and Press Association’s annual spring conference on March 16 for its work in journalism, community engagement and audience outreach.
Among the awards, the organization received first place in the Community and Audience Engagement category for its high school journalism program. The program, launched in April 2025 with funding support from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, 21st Century Fund and individual donors, teaches professional journalism to students at Housatonic Valley Regional High School and launched the student newspaper HVRHS Today.
The paper also earned first place in the Human Interest category for Natalia Zukerman’s story, “Bearing Witness at Auschwitz,” a personal account examining the legacy of the Holocaust and the importance of remembrance.
Additional honors included second place for Fundraising Strategy, second place for Outstanding Newsletter for the paper’s “What To Do” newsletter, and second place for Newspaper Event for the community Street Fair.
Publisher James H. Clark said the awards reflect the organization’s belief that strong local news is the foundation of a strong community.
“These honors recognize the strength of our local reporting, our commitment to meaningful engagement and the deep connection we have to the communities we serve,” Clark said. “I’m proud of the work our team does every day to serve our readers and keep our communities connected.”
The high school journalism initiative was designed as a bottom-up program that gives students broad latitude to shape the publication’s voice, design and coverage. A team of five to six students plan each issue, pitching story ideas and reporting the articles independently.
Nathan Miller, managing editor of The Millerton News and program lead, said the recognition is shared with the students.
“The program’s success would not be possible without the amazing students who worked for the past year to create HVRHS Today,” Miller said.
Zukerman said she was grateful to see her work recognized. “I’m honored that this piece was recognized,” Zukerman said. “It documents not only a historic commemoration, but a deeply personal reckoning. For me, remembrance is not passive. In this time of rising authoritarianism and multiple ongoing genocides, I feel an unyielding responsibility to remember and to speak.”
The annual NENPA awards recognize excellence and innovation among newspapers and media organizations across New England, honoring work in reporting, audience development and community service.
The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News are published by LJMN Media, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Millerton News
Big Band Sound performs at Millbrook’s Bandshell on July 4, 2026. The show is a part of Millbrook’s free Summer Sunset Series, put on by the Millbrook Arts Group.
Big Band Sound performs at Millbrook’s Bandshell on July 4, 2026. The show is a part of Millbrook’s free Summer Sunset Series, put on by the Millbrook Arts Group.
Millerton News
MILLBROOK — Organizers of the Millbrook Farmers and Makers Market have set their sights on increased engagement, market accessibility and sustainability as it enters its 36th year.
Every Saturday morning until Oct. 1, up to 30 vendors fill the parking lot of 3263 Franklin Ave. selling food, fresh-grown produce and hand-made crafts. New initiatives this year include a composting program and food assistance programs, and organizers are continuing to host children’s activities.
This summer, the market committee has begun a composting partnership with McEnroe Organic Farm Soils & Compost, with a bin placed at the entrance of the market.
Pre-season market manager and vendor Rebecca Klima said the committee is developing a waste collection system to start a composting program as part of a long-term project of starting a municipal composting program in Millbrook.
“We’re really excited about getting the message out there and getting enough compost to make a sizable donation,” Klima said. “We’re trying to inform more people about what the compost takes and why it’s important for our environment.”
The market introduced food assistance programs, such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, FreshConnect and Veterans Benefits in 2025, and will continue to expand throughout 2026.
On-site market manager Anna Benlien said the market also provides activities for kids every week led by the market committee, the Millbrook Library, or groups such as local nonprofit Angels of Light.
“We want to just make sure that kids are also being involved in making it a fun space for them,” Benlien said.
Through a four tiered sponsorship program, the committee is able to support the weekly market and its vendors.
Benlien feels that the Millbrook Farmers and Makers Market is an important part of the community, and one that she’s passionate about.
“It’s really a hallmark to Millbrook,” Benlien said. “It’s just been so much fun.’
Millerton News
MILLERTON — North East Town Board members are preparing to start the search for a new Highway Superintendent nearly three months after longtime Superintendent Bob Stevens’s death in April.
The North East Town Board is set to vote on the job posting at a regular meeting scheduled for July 9 at 7 p.m. Board members are expected to remove a town residency requirement in order to widen the pool of candidates.
Board members raised concerns last week regarding the proximity of prospective hires, citing the emergency contact role of the position in the town’s hazard mitigation plan. The posted job description will highlight the necessity of candidates residing close to the town without specifying an exact allotted mile or time measurement. The acceptable distance will be determined on a case by case basis when sifting through applicants, board members said.
The Town of North East’s Highway Superintendent position is appointed rather than elected, making the town an outlier in Dutchess County.
This proposed change to in-town residency requirements will only affect the superintendent position, not other future town hires. If approved on July 9, the changed local law can be implemented immediately following the meeting’s conclusion, board members said.
Hiring will not be conducted until August following the meeting on Aug. 13.
The board is in the process of finalizing the official job posting. It still must be determined if state law requires that a salary range and benefits package be included in the listing. The town’s 2026 adopted budget recorded an annual salary of $75,000 for the position.
The listing will be posted both in the newspaper and online at the hiring website Indeed.com.
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Millerton News
Steven Bluestone’s passive house in Hillsdale, New York on July 3, 2026. Passive houses are gaining ground in the Hudson Valley.
HILLSDALE, N.Y. —Two Hillsdale residents are using a lightweight form of concrete rarely seen in the United States to build highly energy-efficient passive houses, hoping to demonstrate a different approach to residential construction.
Consultant Dan Levy has been in the passive house industry for over 15 years, and has built two houses that meet passive house certification standards. He has joined forces with Steven Bluestone — a construction company owner who has built five passive houses and three passive apartment buildings over 13 years — over an appreciation for a type of concrete that’s 80% air.
Passive houses are homes designed to use as little energy as possible, reducing the demands for heating and cooling. They aim to be airtight with double or triple-paned windows and built to work with the sun by having wide overhangs that block summer rays but allow a low winter sun to enter the home.
Levy thinks one of the best building materials for the high-efficiency homes is a type of concrete that’s up to 80% air, but is sturdy enough for multi-story buildings. Autoclaved aerated concrete is a lightweight building material originally developed in 1923 in Sweden. Made from sand, lime, cement, and aluminum powder, the concrete is 75% to 80% air and durable for structures, Levy said. It also has a higher fire rating than regular concrete.
While passive houses are not always built using aerated concrete, Levy and Bluestone have used it for their own homes.
Levy and Bluestone met around 10 years ago in Woodstock, New York, when Levy was building one of the first passive houses using aerated concrete in the U.S. in 2014. He felt relieved when he met Bluestone, as Bluestone had the same idea.
“It’s been so nice to have an ally,” Levy said. “It started to reach the point, finally, where people don’t think I’m crazy. Because if Steve Bluestone can do it, then Dan Levy can do it.”
Bluestone and Levy built the first two certified passive houses using AAC in the country, finishing construction just weeks apart.
Levy has since left his passive Woodstock home and lives in Hillsdale, where he’s built himself another passive house using aerated concrete. Construction took two years, but Levy moved in during early 2025 before it was finished.
Proper insulation is vital in a passive house to ensure inside temperatures remain stable and energy usage stays low, Levy said.
In a traditional wood frame house, insulation fills the middle of the wooden studs — which isn’t optimal, Levy said. In a passive house, insulation should be continuous on the outside, rather than interrupted by studs. In Levy’s home, six inches of mineral wool, an environmentally safe material, line the aerated concrete. Stucco covers the outside of his home, as wood can support mold.
“You couldn’t come up with a simpler building,” Levy said.
Since passive houses are airtight, or as close as possible, bugs and mice are almost nonexistent in Levy’s home, he said. Pollen and dust inside the home is also rare.
Bluestone has lived in his home for 12 years, and is currently building an addition. He used a different insulation than Levy, but both homes use aerated concrete for the structure. Bluestone’s house is also airtight and the structure doesn’t support moisture build up or mold.
Using proper building materials and insulation, passive houses are built so the indoor temperature is consistent, otherwise known as mean radiant temperature. Maintaining inside temperature ensures that comfort is maintained throughout the house and energy usage isn’t dedicated towards temperature differences on surfaces or near doors and windows.
“In the middle of the winter, the walls are kept warm by the heating system because the air is warm,” Bluestone said. “Hopefully no one has a telescope, but I can walk around in my birthday suit when it’s 0 degrees outside, and I’m really comfortable everywhere in the house.”
Both Levy and Bluestone said that AAC and the passive house model could be used to support apartment buildings and multi-story homes. Levy’s house is a duplex, and he does short term rentals in his spare rooms.
“People come to experience it and learn about how this is built or just come to have a comfortable place to stay,” Levy said.
AAC remains relatively uncommon in U.S. residential construction, but it is widely used throughout Asia, the Middle East and Europe, according to a January 2026 report by Strategic Market Research.
“The attitude in the United States is, if this was so good, why isn’t everyone else using it? Well, everyone else is using it. They just don’t live in the United States,” Levy said.
China has over 2,000 AAC plants, while the United States has two. According to Levy, using AAC is about comparable in price to using wood framing.
“I’ve been trying for years to show people we actually can build better buildings,” Levy said.
In addition to supporting an energy efficient home, AAC is reusable. After a house is demolished, AAC can be recycled to make more.
Bluestone has 30 solar panels on his house, and Levy will be implementing solar panels in the near future. Once Levy’s solar panels are hooked up, his house will be close to net zero energy usage, he said. Both houses use systems to limit energy usage in water, heating and lighting.
In Bluestone’s house, a button heats the water before it’s dispensed from the faucet. This limits water waste while waiting for the temperature to rise.
“It’s a little bit here and a little bit here,” Bluestone said. “Passive houses actually have a lot of rules, and one is related to that. They want to make sure that the amount of time that you’re running the water, the sink to get the hot water, is minimal.”
According to Bluestone, passive houses are gaining popularity in the Hudson Valley not just for costs, but because the people who live in the region are more environmentally cautious. That’s why Bluestone became interested in building passive houses and using AAC.
“I think it’s the right thing to do. I do believe in global warming and how it’s gonna affect us, how it is affecting us,” Bluestone said.
Leila Hawken
Residents and visitors gather at Millbrook assisted living facility The Fountains to hear “We the People,” a production of the Fountains Radio Workshop, on Friday, July 3. The event was fittingly in celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
MILLBROOK — A local group that regularly performs original radio plays at an assisted living facility celebrated the nation’s 250th anniversary with yet another original staging.
The Fountains Radio Workshop tipped its hat to the nation’s 250th anniversary by presenting “We the People,” on Friday, July 3. There were 22 in the cast and a capacity audience out front.
Project director and Fountains resident Marge Wardrop created a verbal tableau that traced familiar quotes beginning with a reading of the Declaration of Independence punctuated by a chorus of “We the People.”
“Who are we, the people?” asked announcer Jim Wardrop.
The answer began with a quote from George Washington, followed by quotes from American heroes, well-known historic figures and the not so well known, but all contributing to the tested fabric of history as people met the challenges of their times. Those times included the early years of the young country, various periods of war, the Depression, the long civil rights movement and its heroes, all the way up to a modern-day voter, mindful of the responsibility of being one of the nation’s people.
Sound work was by Janet Robinson.
Christine Bates
Sited on 0.17 acres, 5 Center Ave. is a renovated Victorian home built in 1890 which sold last month at its listed price of $449,000.
MILLERTON — The 12-month trailing median price for any residence in the Town of North East was $410,000 at the end of June 2026. This includes all types of residences — from single-family homes and mobile homes to estates on large acreage — in both the Village of Millerton and the Town of North East, but excludes land and commercial sales. The median price for village homes, which are generally on smaller parcels, was $420,000.
The town’s $410,000 median is lower than the $437,000 median recorded for the 12 months ending June 30, 2025, but well above the 2023–24 median of $369,000. In contrast, village home prices have steadily increased over the past three years, rising from $365,000 in 2024 to $392,000 in 2025 and $420,000 in 2026 as more renovated homes came on the market.
The number of residential sales in North East on a rolling 12-month basis has remained within a three-year range of 25 to 40 annually, including the village. A total of 28 residences were sold in the 12 months ending June 30, 2026, compared with 30 sales in the period ending June 30, 2025, and 37 sales in the 12 months ending June 30, 2024. Village sales have fluctuated from year to year, with 12 sales in the 12 months ending June 30, 2024, six in 2025 and 12 in the most recent 12-month period.
Currently, there is roughly a one-year supply of homes on the market. As of July 1, approximately 27 single-family homes were listed for sale. Seven were listed above $1 million, while five were listed below the current median price of $410,000. By comparison, 10 parcels of land were listed on the MLS, with asking prices ranging from $49,000 for a building lot to $3,495,000.
North East and Millerton Sales May and June
5 Central Ave. — 3 bedroom/2 bath home in the Village of Millerton sold on June 25 for $449,000.
20 South Center St. — 2 bedroom/1 bath, 1,000 square foot home in the Village of Millerton sold on June 15, 2026 for $299,000.
5846 S. Elm Ave. — 4 bedroom/2 bath home in the Village of Millerton sold on June 9 for $261,500.
5 Red Cedar Lane — 3 bedroom/2 bath home sold on June 9, 2026, sold for $415,000.
Smithfield Road — 12.09 acre lot sold on June 3, 2026, for $175,000.
147 Lake Lane — 2 bedroom/1 bath seasonal cottage sold on May 14 for $149,000.
24 Dutchess Ave. — 3 bedroom/2 bath home in the Village of Millerton sold on May 7 for $509,000.
151 Lake Lane — 2 bedroom/1 bath cabin sold on May 4 for $190,000.
710 Smithfield Road — 23.89 acres of land sold on May 1 for $190,000.
* Town of North East and Village of Millerton recorded real estate sales and market activity from March 1 to June 30, 2026, derived from First Key MLS and other on-line recent sales information. Private transfers will be added when they become available. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access. Current listings from One Key MLS and other online sites. Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
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