Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.
elections

Local and County candidates to hold forum Oct. 24

MILLERTON — Ten candidates for office in the Nov. 4 election will answer questions from Dutchess County voters at a candidate forum on Friday, Oct. 24, at the Annex at the NorthEast-Millerton Library located at 28 Century Blvd.

The forum, which is sponsored by the library, will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Candidates for local and county offices will answer questions from residents in attendance or from residents who have submitted questions in advance.

“We’re excited to keep the tradition of the candidate forum going,” said Rhiannon Leo-Jameson, director of the library. “Some years we can’t always get candidates together.”

This year’s forum will include:

Rachele Grieco Cole, a Democrat, and Chris Mayville, a Republican, who both are running uncontested for the North East Town Council;

Casey McCabe, a Democrat, also running uncontested for North East Justice.

Among Dutchess County races:

Tracy MacKenzie, who is endorsed by Republicans and Democrats, is running uncontested for Dutchess County Family Court Judge;

Kara Gerry, a Democrat, and Ned McLoughlin, a Republican, are in a contest for a Dutchess County Court judgeship currently held by McLoughlin.

Chris Drago, D-19, and Tonya Pulver, a Republican, are competing to represent Dutchess County’s19th District seat currently held by Drago.

Democratic incumbent Dan Aymar-Blair and Will Truitt, the Republican chair of the county legislature, are competing for the Dutchess County Comptroller position currently held by Aymar-Blair.

Leo-Jameson is encouraging questions for the candidates to be submitted in advance, which will not be revealed to candidates beforehand. Dutchess County residents may pose questions during the forum. To submit a question on the library’s website, go to the calendar at nemillertonlibrary.org and find the link in the Oct. 24calendar entries.

The format calls for opening statements from the candidates, followed by questions from residents, and candidates will be able to stay after the forum to answer questions personally.

John Coston
elections

Latest News

The Millerton News - September 10, 2026

The Millerton News - September 10, 2026

Download directly

Wassaic Project co-founder Eve Biddle presents her “Field Notes”

Wassaic Project co-founder Eve Biddle presents her “Field Notes”

Artist Eve Biddle and Tremaine Gallery Director Terri Moore.

D.H. Callahan

On Wednesday, Sept. 2, the Tremaine Gallery at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville opened its new show, “Field Notes,” with works by multidisciplinary artist Eve Biddle.

Biddle is best known in the area as one of the founders of the iconic Wassaic Project in the hamlet of Wassaic, New York. The project, which is part art incubator, part gallery, part studio and a whole lot of community, is housed in an old converted grain elevator right next to the Metro North train tracks. It’s credited by many as the spark that revitalized the hamlet, which now boasts a craft bakery, a curated wine and liquor store, a pizza hot spot, the Lantern.

Keep ReadingShow less
exhibit

Victor Cella is painting his own path

Victor Cella is painting his own path

Artist Victor Cella with his recent painting “White Dog” in his studio and shop, Little Store Antiques in Great Barrington.

L. Tomaino
If I taught art, I’d teach it in a different way. I could teach it as an awareness — how to free yourself up.
— Victor Cella

Paintings by Victor Cella of a blue dog, a flower still life and a colorful abstract greet visitors as they mount the steps to The Little Store, an antique shop he runs with his husband, John Ortisi, at 88 Main St. in Great Barrington, Mass.

The shop is filled not only with antiques but also with Cella’s paintings. People stop by to see what Cella is currently painting and to talk with him. He is known for his amiability as well as his paintings.

Keep ReadingShow less
our community
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Fear and Loathing in the Woodland

Fear and Loathing in the Woodland

Fear and Loathing in the Woodland Japanese barberry, an invasive shrub with thorny branches, provides shelter for mice and can contribute to conditions that allow tick populations to thrive.

Provided

I am tempting tick-bite fate by writing this, even from the safety of my office.

Eight people emailed me with a link to the New York Times article on ticks that ran in the Aug. 20 magazine section.My Instagram algorithm made sure that I saw the same story several times over.The article, “The Summer the Ticks Took Over,” by Benjamin Wallace reads like a horror story, engendering a kind of paranoia that sidewalk-hugging New Yorkers can easily fall prey to.The reader comments enhance the author’s terror and fall into key categories: readers who are living proof of the sometimes harrowing, life-altering consequences of a tick bite; readers’ instructive life hacks against ticks (“permethrin is your friend”); readers’ collective chant to kill the deer; and, finally, readers who question why anyone would ever go in the woods again.

Keep ReadingShow less
the ungardener

Glass artists at Cornwall Open Studios

Glass artists at Cornwall Open Studios

Jessica Landau creates jewelry from glass. She welcomed visitors to her studio during the Cornwall Open Studio tour on Sept. 5.

Ruth Epstein

David Willis and Jessica Landau were brought together by glass.

They each focus on using the medium for different types of art; he paints and sculpts, while she primarily creates jewelry and glassware.

Keep ReadingShow less
community

Oldtone brings roots music, dancing and community to Cool Whisper Farm

Oldtone brings roots music, dancing and community to Cool Whisper Farm

The Allum Ridge Boys & Ashlee at Oldtone Music Festival in 2025

Jim Wright

The Oldtone Music Festival returns Sept. 10 through 13, bringing musicians and audiences together for a four-day celebration of roots music at Cool Whisper Farm in Hillsdale.

Founded in 2015 as a one-day show in Wassaic, Oldtone moved the following year to the Schober family’s Cool Whisper Farm, where it grew into a three-stage camping festival. The festival ran annually until the COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation in 2020. After limited attempts to bring it back in 2021 and 2022, organizers announced in early 2023 that the festival would end.

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.