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What’s happening

This week’s newspaper is filled with information that is vital for anyone who calls eastern Dutchess County home. Our reporters have been out on the scene writing up accounts of meetings, reporting on projects that are planned in coming days and those that are farther out. They also have been attending events that the residents have enjoyed in these last few weeks of summer, and writing about them. Our reporters tell the stories in words and pictures that fill our pages every week. It is the living history of our villages and towns.

We also realize, too, that we live in a world in which the average person checks their phone every 12 minutes. The result of all of our personalized searches can be that we become interested in a certain set of things. Getting a reader’s attention has to be worth their time. We strive to make the newspaper worth your time and we’re committed to the belief that it’s vital for residents of the village, the town of North East and the surrounding towns to know about the happenings in their backyards.

Last Thursday, the Eddie Collins Memorial Park Revitalization Committee presented plans for phase two of Millerton’s community park. (See story here.) Phase one was completed in 2022. The next phase, which includes plans for a swimming pool that was favored by residents in a 2016 survey, has a scheduled completion date of 2025. The timing of the project depends on the work on a planned sewer system that will extend to the park.

Both these projects — phase two of the park and the village wastewater project — are on the front burner of civic interest. They will determine much about the quality of life in the community. This summer the Webutuck Little League returned to play on the field at the park. At last Thursday’s meeting, the attendees listened as the speakers discussed the pool plans, and the air was filled with the attending sounds of basketball players on the new Eddie Collins courts and children in the refurbished playground.

Plans are afoot to bring a Dollar General store to Millerton that would include a produce section and parking for 40 cars. It would be located just east of the Talk of the Town Deli on Route 44. That would be big news for a town without a grocery store.

News can come in small bites, too. A stretch of sidewalk on Maple Avenue is slated for construction. A summer concert series wraps up in Amenia.  Pine Plains volunteers build a new trail on Stissing Mountain from Thompson Pond to the fire tower.  These are just a few of the stories in this week’s edition. Our reporters are on the lookout for what’s happening, what’s coming and writing about it for our readers.

Latest News

Millerton gets ready for 175th anniversary celebration

The Millerton 175th Anniversary Committee's logo.

Illustration Courtesy Village of Millerton

MILLERTON — Months of planning will culminate this weekend as Millerton kicks off nine days of events celebrating the village’s 175th anniversary, with festivities running from July 11 through July 19.

Lisa Hermann, a veteran festival organizer who has been leading the planning effort for Millerton 175, said the process intensified this year as the July start date crept closer.

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Dover Stone Church reopened to the public

The public entrance to the Dover Stone Church hiking trail sits on Thomas Whalen’s property along Route 22 in Dover Plains.

Photo by Lucia Iandolo

DOVER PLAINS — Dover Plains resident Thomas Whalen has reached a final settlement with the town to permanently restore public access to the Dover Stone Church hiking trail.

Whalen, who owns the property containing the only entrance to the trail, barred hikers from his land in March 2026 amid a dispute with the town over maintenance costs and safety. The closure came after the town’s license to use the trailhead — granted under a September 2024 settlement agreement, which also included a financial settlement — lapsed in October 2025 without being renewed.

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Solar farm project ordered to obtain Copake flood plain construction permit
Farmland vista where the proposed 42 megawatt Shepherd’s Run Solar Farm is planned along Route 23 at the entryway to the rural hamlet of Copake.
Photo by John Coston

COPAKE — New York State has ruled that a proposed commercial solar farm in Copake cannot move forward until its developer obtains a permit from the town to build in a flood zone.

The ruling affects Hecate Energy LLC’s proposed Shepherd’s Run Solar Farm, a 42-megawatt project that would occupy about 215 acres of a 723-acre site near the intersection of Routes 7 and 23 in Craryville. The Chicago-based company has spent years seeking state approval to build the facility, which has faced sustained opposition from the Town of Copake and local residents.

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Recovery continues after strongest storm to hit Northwest Corner in years

Recovery continues after strongest storm to hit Northwest Corner in years

An aerial view of the damage in downtown Salisbury, where a tree was uprooted in front of the Scoville Library.

Photo by Nathan Miller

Days after an extreme storm caught the Northwest Corner by surprise after an otherwise sunny Fourth of July, communities are still picking up the pieces as clean-up efforts persist. Blocked roads, downed trees and power lines, and widespread power and water outages continued to affect the region as of Monday, July 6. While more than 1,000 people in Salisbury remained without power Tuesday morning, businesses started to reopen.

Continued rain made clean-up efforts difficult as the week began, and some major roads remained partially blocked.

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One injured in motorcycle crash on Delavergne Hill

First responders on the scene of a motorcycle crash block the eastbound lane of Route 44 on top of Delavergne Hill in Amenia as deputies investigate the incident. One person was injured, according to a Millerton News reporter on the scene, but authorities would not confirm any details citing an ongoing investigation.

Photo by Nathan Miller

AMENIA — At least one person was injured and taken to Sharon Hospital on Saturday after a crash involving two motorcyclists on Route 44.

The crash occurred at the hairpin turn on Route 44 at the peak of Delavergne Hill, near the scenic overlook around 1:15 p.m. The road was closed to traffic between 1:30 p.m. and 2:30.

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Millbrook sidewalk improvement’s final phase awaits additional funding

A traffic cone draws attention to a sidewalk hazard along Franklin Avenue in Millbrook on July 4, 2026. The final phase of a sidewalk-improvement project for the north sidewalk on Franklin Avenue is expected to begin by the end of the summer.

Photo by Eloise Pickering

MILLBROOK — The final phase of a three year long sidewalk-improvement project on Franklin Avenue is slated to begin later this summer with funding almost in place.

The fourth and final stage covers the north side of Franklin Avenue from Friendly Lane to Front Street. According to Millbrook Mayor Peter Doro, the focal point of the project is to improve safety and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. As of Tuesday morning, July 7, a detailed funding plan for the construction has yet to be announced.

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