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

Be sure to vote in Special Election

For those readers who are unaware, The Millerton News is a local, independent community weekly newspaper, a rare thing these days. It is owned by The Lakeville Journal Foundation based in northwest Connecticut, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization formed in 2021 that also owns The Lakeville Journal, its sister newspaper in Connecticut. We believe that these newspapers are the primary source of local information for thousands of residents throughout northeastern Dutchess County and northwestern Connecticut. Before they achieved nonprofit status, The Millerton News and Lakeville Journal have served their communities side-by-side since The Lakeville Journal purchased The Millerton News in 1972. And The Lakeville Journal has been serving its coverage area in Connecticut for 125 years.

A June 29 study from the Northwestern University  Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications, confirmed how difficult it is for newspapers to survive. It announced — and The Millerton News editorialized about this serious situation in its July 7 issue — that newspapers are closing at a rate of two per week across the U.S. Another dire statistic: More than 2,200 newspapers have stopped publishing since 2005.

To continue our mission of delivering fair, balanced and accurate reporting of vital local and breaking news important to our readers’ lives and our communities’ wellbeing, we need to be fluid in how we approach our future. That’s why The Lakeville Journal Company made the leap and was among the first weekly newspapers in the country to become nonprofit.

Readers and supporters can help buttress our efforts by becoming donors, and by subscribing, which is easy to do by going to our website, www.tricornernews.com. Look toward the top right corner for a tab that says, “Donate and Support Local Journalism,” or to subscribe enter the tab that says, “Subscriptions.”

To learn more about The Journal’s rich century-and-a-quarter history, be sure to check out a month-long series of events just across the border. “Life of a Community: The Lakeville Journal Celebrates 125 Years” is an exhibit on display at the Academy Building at 24 Main St., Salisbury, Conn., until Saturday, Oct. 1.

Since The Journal’s first issue, Volume I, Issue I, dated Aug. 14, 1897, this company has written news covering just about everything. That issue included snippets about a grain elevator that blew up in Chicago; a death at a wedding frolic in Ohio; a short piece entitled, “‘Unwritten Law’ and Women,” about female rivals in Kentucky; plus other fascinating reports from around the country and world, including stories of war in Armenia; a prime minister slain in Spain; and President William McKinley visiting Vermont with his wife.

However, the move to becoming a nonprofit also means we may not endorse political candidates. We stopped endorsing local candidates many years ago as we found it interfered with our dealings with some local governments. We continued, however, to run state and national endorsements; now, as a 501(c)(3), we agreed to end that practice as well.

So we are staying out of picking a favorite in the Special Election on Tuesday, Aug. 23, to replace former U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado (D-19) following his move to Albany to become lieutenant governor. Delgado replaced disgraced former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin when he resigned following his arrest and indictment for fraud and bribery this spring. (For full details on the Special Election, see front page.)

What we can do, though, is encourage absolutely every single registered voter — Democrat, Republican, Green Party, Conservative, NOP — it doesn’t matter under which political persuasion one falls — to make sure they vote.

Yes, it’s August, not the traditional time to head to the polls. One typically thinks of fall and autumn leaves when casting their ballot during the November election cycle. This, however, is an exception, and an important one.

The 2020 Presidential Election between former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden saw “the highest voter turnout of the 21st century,” according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Still, only a little more than two-thirds of voters cast a ballot, with 66.8% of citizens 18 years and older having voted in that election.

That’s not good enough. And that was in the one election that garners the most attention, most interest and most return across the country. Special Elections, especially those scheduled on odd dates, are far less likely to draw even a fraction of those numbers.

Let’s do better. If you are a registered voter, please make it a priority to vote Aug. 23. Primary Elections are also being held that day, so beware of candidates who may be running in multiple races.

Latest News

Legal Notices - July 9, 2026

Legal Notices - July 9, 2026

Legal Notice

Notice of Formation of Kaits Kleaning LLC. Art. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 05-22-2026. Office Lo-cation: Dutchess county. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 24 Attlebury Hill Road, Standfordville NY 12581.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tenmile Distillery is making history the old-fashioned way

Cheers! The Revolutionary Whisky Series at Ten Mile Distillery, each named for a significant battle of the American Revolution, celebrates America at 250.

D.H. Callahan

In December 2024, the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau officially established the Standard of Identity for American Single Malt Whisky. It was the first new classification in more than half a century, creating new possibilities for American distillers. One of the distilleries taking advantage of this new landscape is Wassaic’s Tenmile Distillery. It is well positioned to make history because Tenmile has always honored traditional whiskey-making practices.

Single malts are often associated with Scotch whisky. Perhaps that’s why, years before the new standard was adopted, Tenmile hired Shane Fraser, a Scottish master distiller with 30 years of experience at some of Scotland’s most prestigious distilleries. Fraser began designing the distillery from the ground up. Alongside owner and general manager Joel LeVangia, he emphasized time-honored traditions, favoring hands-on craftsmanship over the increasingly automated methods used by larger producers. When it comes to making the best whisky possible, Tenmile believes in learning from the past. That philosophy extends beyond the distilling process.

Keep ReadingShow less

The magic of Belinda Sinclair

The magic of Belinda Sinclair

Belinda Sinclair

Dean Chamberlain
Sinclair’s show explores the ways women have been practicing forms of magic for centuries, and there is plenty of history to tell.

Belinda Sinclair is the kind of magician who impresses people who don’t like magic. Her tricks are mind-boggling. Her stories are captivating. And if she picks you to write your name on a card, get ready to be wowed. Repeat attendees of her shows, of which there are many, take almost as much delight in watching new jaws drop as they do in seeing an illusion reach its astonishing conclusion.

Since the summer of 2025, Sinclair has been baffling local audiences at the Hughes Memorial Library in West Cornwall, but her magical run comes to a close at the end of August.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

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

“Nixon in China” comes to Tanglewood

“Nixon in China” comes to Tanglewood

Renée Fleming, Andris Nelsons and Thomas Hampson.

Hilary Scott

On Friday, July 17 at 8 p.m. in the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood, two of the greatest American voices of their generation, soprano Renée Fleming and baritone Thomas Hampson, join Music Director Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a performance of excerpts from John Adams’ groundbreaking opera “Nixon in China.” The piece, performed earlier this year in Boston and at Carnegie Hall in New York City, is a highlight of a program that also includes “Meditations on Grace” (2024) by BSO Composer Chair Carlos Simon, and the melodic and technically demanding Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber.

Fleming is internationally celebrated for her vocal and dramatic artistry, as well as for her advocacy for the powerful impact of the creative arts in health. Hampson has long been recognized as one of the most innovative musicians of our time and has received countless international honors for his singular artistry and cultural leadership. Both performed in “Nixon in China” earlier this year at the Paris Opera under the baton of Kent Nagano.

Keep ReadingShow less
Local playwright revisits Revolutionary moment in “Rebel Town”

The cast and crew of “Rebeltown: The Musical.”

Jack Sheedy

John Alan Segalla was working in Boston a few years ago, giving historic tours at the site of the Boston Tea Party. Now, as America celebrates 250 years as a nation, the Canaan native is about to debut a new version of his original musical, “Rebel Town,” inspired largely by the Boston Tea Party, the protest that helped launch the American Revolution.

“It wasn’t until I got to Boston and learned the Tea Party story that I fell in love with this moment in history, and I saw the story as wildly compelling and very important, and really a story that was very misunderstood, mistaught in schools,” Segalla said at a recent rehearsal in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, ahead of the show’s July 10 opening.

Keep ReadingShow less
An invitation to paint a community mural in Torrington

Community mural design by Macayla Muzzulin will be painted by volunteers on July 11 in Franklin Plaza in Torrington.

Provided

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 11, Five Points Arts in Torrington will host a community mural project celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary. Volunteers of every age and artistic ability are invited to help paint a 20-by-6-foot mural designed by artist Macayla Muzzulin. The mural will be completed in one day, transformed from a numbered outline into a permanent public artwork along the river in downtown Torrington.

“We firmly believe art is for everyone,” said Five Points founder and executive director, Judith McElhone. “It’s so great to be able to do this with such talent, and with Launchpad artists, volunteers and staff there to help.”

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

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

google preferred source

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