WINSTED — It’s been quite the rollercoaster ride for the fledgling Winsted Citizen, but Thanksgiving weekend brought news that fans of the independent community newspaper can be thankful for.
After its editor, Andy Thibault, had indicated that the monthly paper would cease publication, an announcement was quickly made that it had actually been bought out by a much larger media company.
Jedd Gould, a board member and spokesperson for Connecticut News Consortium Inc., which created the Winsted Citizen in January, announced Wednesday, Nov. 22, that the Citizen had been acquired by American Business Media (ABM) of Simsbury. The consortium said in a statement issued last Wednesday that it never intended to close the paper permanently, but was seeking to change the current business model.
“We’re delighted to turn this project over to someone who shares our vision, and has the media infrastructure to support and grow it,” Gould said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition was effective immediately.
ABM publishes seven magazines across the country as well as numerous email newsletters, and produces more than two dozen conferences at venues from Mohegan Sun to Los Angeles. Thibault referred inquiries to ABM.
ABM’s publisher and CEO, Vincent Valvo, himself a former business journalist, said in a statement that he believes “in the power and the mission of community journalism,” has been “cheering on the creation of the Winsted Citizen since the first of the year,” and is “delighted to be able to ensure that it will have a strong future.” He also expects the Citizen will sharpen its focus on Litchfield County, while “adding stronger online and social media offerings, community events, and articles that dig deeply into the fabric of the region and its people.”
In response to questions from The Lakeville Journal, Valvo said in an email that ABM “acquired all of the assets of the Citizen — name, trademarks, customer lists, etc. We did not acquire the liabilities of the publication, which remain with the Consortium.” Valvo added that there will be no layoffs and no changes to the Winsted Citizen’s editorial production. Founding publisher and editor Thibault will continue as a contributing editor, though Valvo said he has not yet decided how many other staff members will be retained.
The Citizen operated out of a very small Winsted office whose lease expired more than a month ago. Most employees and contributors worked remotely. Valvo said ABM does not intend to renew the lease but has ample space and resources at its Simsbury headquarters half an hour east of Winsted.
Valvo indicated that he would like to see the Citizen evolve into more of a multimedia platform “providing news and information via multiple channels” with “a new website, more robust social media outreach, email newsletters and print publications.”
“We are working with the people whose efforts made the Citizen real for the past few months, and adding the expertise of our national media company staff to broaden and refine what comes next in this project,” Valvo said.
The Citizen was initially backed by legendary lawyer, consumer advocate and Winsted native Ralph Nader, who has insisted Winsted has been a “news vacuum” since the closing of The Lakeville Journal-owned Winsted Journal in 2017. The rollout event for the Citizen was held in Nader’s National Museum of Tort Law, a shrine to lawsuits that Nader opened in a former Main Street bank building eight years ago.
After Nader’s initial funding expired in February, the paper was placed under the management of the nonprofit News Consortium. The paper has run deficits ever since. The deal to acquire the Citizen came together over the Thanksgiving holiday, Valvo said.
“We beat the Grim Reaper every month for most of the year,” Thibault said earlier in a staff memo leaked to the Hartford Business Journal. Thibault characterized the Citizen’s deficits at that time as “untenable.”
“We haven’t had a chance yet to hear everyone’s voices,” Valvo told The Journal. “But we are experienced, capable and thoughtful enough to move quickly and competently to the next stage of what a great community publication can be.”
Madi Long
Ariel Grald rides Adagio’s Nobility around the showjumping ring at the 41st annual Millbrook Horse Trials on Sunday, July 26. The Millbrook Horse Trials is an annual event that combines dressage, showjumping and cross-country.
Ariel Grald rides Adagio’s Nobility around the showjumping ring at the 41st annual Millbrook Horse Trials on Sunday, July 26. The Millbrook Horse Trials is an annual event that combines dressage, showjumping and cross-country.
Leila Hawken
AMENIA — Months of deliberation over the environmental impacts of a proposed workforce housing subdivision concluded Thursday, July 23, when Planning Board members voted to move the project forward to site plan approval.
The environmental impact analysis phase in connection with the Cascade Creek subdivision application was completed following the Planning Board’s unanimous vote for a “negative declaration” as part of the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process.
The proposal, submitted by the Hudson River Housing of Poughkeepsie, calls for a 28-home workforce housing development on a 24.13-acre parcel between Cascade Road and Route 22. The developers also aim to preserve open space and environmentally sensitive land.
The negative declaration means the Planning Board found the proposed workforce housing development is not expected to have significant adverse environmental impacts, allowing the application to move forward to the site plan review stage without requiring a full Environmental Impact Statement.
That action allows the developer to proceed to the site plan phase of the application process where actual plans for the subdivision are submitted for consideration by the Planning Board. Public hearings will be included in that site plan process.
A significant issue within the SEQR process had been the board’s concern about the volume of water storage that would support firefighting efforts within the planned subdivision.
Attorney Alec Gladd, of Cuddy & Feder LLP out of Fishkill, New York, representing the developer, stated that the fire department is asking for water storage capacity data that could only be answered within the site plan phase. Currently, the developer is offering on-site fire suppression and home sprinklers in each housing unit.
“We have met the requirement for now,” Gladd said, noting that the SEQR analysis is an environmental review.
The issue of firefighting capacity can be raised again later in the process once the site can be tested for water availability, advised Planning Board attorney Cassandra Britton.
“Sprinklers are for evacuation of people from their homes, but you still need water to fight the fires,” said Planning Board Engineer John Andrews. Water storage to support home sprinklers is separate from water storage to fight fires.
Peter Deister, chairman of the local Board of Fire Commissioners, attended the meeting and expressed his concern about the issue of adequate water storage capability. The fire department has scheduled a second meeting with architect Richard Rennia, who designed the project, on Monday, Aug. 10.
Leila Hawken
AMENIA — A Sharon resident has offered to donate a 27-acre parcel valued at more than $1 million to the Town of Amenia, proposing that the land be permanently preserved as conservation property to protect the final unprotected section of Westerly Ridge.
Carol Flaton, owner of the property at 108 Westerly Ridge near the Connecticut border, presented the proposal to the Town Board during its regular meeting Thursday, July 23. She said she purchased the property less than a month ago with the intention of ensuring it would never be developed.
The 27-acre parcel has a value of $1,014,200.
“I don’t live in New York, I just want you people to have it and to protect the ridge line,” Flaton told the board. She said donating the property would be consistent with the town’s Master Plan, which envisions protecting the ridge line from future development.
“The whole ridge line will then be protected,” she said.
Town Supervisor Rosanna Hamm said the proposal would require review and approval from several parties before the town could accept the donation, including the Westerly Ridge Homeowners Association and Dutchess County conservation officials.
Flaton said she hopes the donation process can be completed by the end of the year.
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Leila Hawken
Paula Pelosi
AMENIA — Friends and community members are invited to celebrate the life of local art curator Paula Pelosi at the Smithfield Church.
A significant loss to the contemporary art world, as well as to her many local and area friends, the life of Pelosi will be celebrated at a memorial service set for the Smithfield Church on Saturday, Aug. 1. The service will begin at 2 p.m.
Pelosi died this year in April after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.
The memorial service will be led by the Rev. Douglas Grandgeorge, Pastor of The Smithfield Church.
Pelosi’s career brought her close to luminaries in the art world including years as an executive assistant and curator for artist Frank Stella, an association that led her to divide her time between her home in Amenia and her Brooklyn home. She looked after all details of curating and hanging Stella’s exhibitions world-wide and assisted in the management of his local horse farm. In addition to art-related travel, Pelosi enjoyed traveling for pleasure to experience remote regions.
Community service was an important aspect of Pelosi’s life as she served 10 years as a member of the Amenia Zoning Board of Appeals.
“I knew Paula as a friend and a colleague,” said Judy Westfall on Friday, July 24, remembering Pelosi’s service on the ZBA, when Westfall served as ZBA Secretary. “She loved Amenia and always looked to the future with great pride and enthusiasm.”
“She was a kind and gentle woman with a great heart. She cared greatly about her work and the many friendships she had in Amenia. Her presence is missed,” Westfall said, noting that Pelosi’s smile brightened the mood at every ZBA meeting.
“I always referred to her as the ‘Queen of the ZBA’ because she was the only woman member,” Westfall said.
“She was a wonderful woman,” said Town Supervisor Rosanna Hamm on Friday, July 24, adding that she regretted not having had an opportunity to work with Pelosi longer to know her better. Hamm began her term in office in January 2026.
Tributes offered by Town Hall staff and ZBA members carried effusive praise and genuine appreciation for Pelosi’s service to the town.
“Paula led a very interesting life,” Hamm said.
Jacquelyn Drain
NorthEast-Millerton’s new “tower garden” in the center of the library will grow lettuce and other leafy greens.
MILLERTON — The NorthEast-Millerton library is cultivating a new program to address food access in the community through its new “Tower Garden,” an indoor growing system that allows the library to produce and distribute vegetables, herbs and flowers year-round.
The tower garden, described as an aeroponic vertical growing system, came to the library through a grant issued by The Library of Local. That initiative stems from a partnership between the Mid-Hudson Library System and The Understory, an organization that promotes ecological resilience in the Hudson Valley.
The kit provides the tower, made out of plastic tubing, as well as a starter pack with seeds and instructions. The tubing inside carries water from a tank on the bottom to rain down on the seedlings. There are also four lights attached that mimic sunlight necessary for growth. The librarians have also added googly eyes on the contraption giving it an abstract face. Currently they are growing kale, rainbow chard, basil, dill, lettuces and snapdragons.
Library Director Rhiannon Leo-Jameson is spearheading this project and has strong hopes for the garden despite its unusual look.
“During the downpour the other day it started to water itself and I think the person in the library thought we had sprung a leak and panicked for a second,” Leo-Jameson said. “As they really start growing, people are gonna be noticing it more and more.”
The Library hopes that this addition will produce enough yield to distribute to the community. They have previously put on programs to assist with providing food to community members, such as opening a small food pantry during the COVID-19 pandemic and adding garden beds in the backyard. They are hoping to provide more once the Tower produces significant growth.
“We’ve struggled with food access in our community,” Leo-Jameson said. “We thought ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do something more.’”
Nathan Miller
Erika DaSilva cuts a chocolate and mango puree birthday cake at Ten Mile Table in Wassaic on Saturday, July 25, to celebrate the wine shop’s first anniversary.
WASSAIC — More than two dozen residents and wine aficionados came together Saturday, July 25, to celebrate a local wine shop’s first anniversary.
Ten Mile Table, a wine shop founded by Erika DaSilva that occupies Wassaic’s historic candy store, celebrated its first anniversary on Saturday with a bonafide birthday bash complete with chocolate cake, wine tastings, charcuterie and a DJ.
The shop has been a labor of love for DaSilva, who decided to renovate the dilapidated old candy shop located on Wassaic’s Main Street between The Lantern and the Post Office. She said the past year has been about introducing customers to wines they might not otherwise try.
“There are people who come in that don’t like wine or don’t think they do,” DaSilva said. “They’ve been gracious enough to give me the space to give them something to try or walk them through.”
One of DaSilva’s current passions is showcasing New York wine producers. She said the state’s wine industry has become far more diverse in recent years, and she enjoys introducing customers to in-state producers making distinctive wines.
“Most people have had New York wine and thought that it was only riesling or that it was sweet dessert wine or something you would taste at an orchard,” DaSilva said. “No shade to riesling, but I think people have this idea that New York wine is only this one thing and it’s definitely not.”
DaSilva keeps bottles of her New York favorites uncorked and ready for a taste in the shop for curious buyers. Notable producers include Metal House Cidery in Esopus, New York, Dutchess Hill Wines based in Millerton, Dewey’s Wines from the finger lakes in western New York, and Hudson, New York -based winery Neverstill.
Looking forward, DaSilva said she plans to renovate the second floor in the aging building to serve as a tasting room, space for more wine tasting classes or other events. DaSilva hosts weekly wine tasting classes on Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
DaSilva is also planning an upcoming wine forum at the shop. The talk will center New York producers of ciders and wine to make the case for drinks made instate and explain their processes.
Members of the public are invited to join the talk on Saturday, Aug. 8, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Ten Mile Table, located at Main Street near the Wassaic Project campus.
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