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Webutuck High School Diversity Club marks Women’s History Month
Leila Hawken
Mar 25, 2026
Women’s History Month was celebrated by the Diversity Club at Webutuck High School on Friday, March 20. Club members and featured speakers at the event were, left to right, Nicole Charriez, co-advisor of the Diversity Club, Betsy Strauss, Anabel Cordova, Marcus Burton, Emely Cordova, Dawn Marie Klingner, Lyla Kern, Brooklyn Talarico, Danielle Mollica-Whiteley, Jaimielee Confesor, and Raquel Singleton.
Provided
In observance of Women’s History Month, members of the Diversity Club at Webutuck High School presented a program honoring the contributions of women throughout history and those making a difference today.
The 11-member club gathered Friday, March 20, for the program, which featured speakers from the community sharing personal histories and highlighting women prominent in local history. Common themes throughout the presentation were volunteerism, purposeful living and selflessness.
Joining the students were Brooklyn Talarico, a candidate for the 105th Assembly District; Danielle Mollica-Whiteley, executive director of Angels of Light; Amenia Town Clerk and Court Clerk Dawn Marie Klingner; social worker and Webutuck staff member Raquel Singleton; and Amenia Historical Society representative Betsy Strauss.
Each speaker shared stories of women who looked beyond themselves and found purpose in helping others through public service, nonprofit work, volunteerism, government and education.
The Diversity Club was formed in 2023, according to 10th-grade student Lyla Kern, who said its mission is to celebrate diversity and highlight the range of cultural experiences that make up the student body.
“It’s amazing to highlight what modern women have gone through and to demonstrate for younger generations the importance of these women to the human experience,” said Elisa Silverio, co-adviser for the Diversity Club.
Club adviser Nicole Charriez said the Women’s History Month program had been in the works for two months. She added that past Diversity Club events have focused on Native Americans, African Americans and Hispanic Americans.
Women’s History Month began as a local celebration in California in 1978. The idea spread across the country, and in 1980 President Jimmy Carter issued a proclamation establishing the week of March 8 as Women’s History Week. Congress expanded the observance in 1987, designating the entire month of March as Women’s History Month.
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Millerton adopts tree law, awards Veterans Park contract
Aly Morrissey
Mar 25, 2026
The Millerton Village Offices on Route 22.
Aly Morrissey
MILLERTON – The Village of Millerton Board of Trustees adopted a local law establishing a tree commission, a move officials said is intended to protect mature trees and strengthen the village’s eligibility for tree-related grants.
The board approved the law following a continued public hearing and a final round of discussion centered largely on enforcement language, including which officials would have the authority to issue penalties for violations.
During public comment, some attendees expressed approval of the commission and asked if the law would help unlock funding to address the pruning of overgrown trees in the village. Officials responded that the law is intended in part to do just that, noting that establishing a formal committee is a prerequisite for some grant opportunities.
After closing the public hearing, trustees voted to adopt the measure as Local Law No. 2 of 2026.
In other business, village officials voted to schedule a special meeting for April 6, which will include a public hearing on the proposed 2026-2027 budget.
Trustees also finalized a decision on the years-long planning for Veterans Park improvements, voting unanimously to award the contract to Scape Tech Landscape Technology for $240,548. The board agreed to include repairs to the park’s existing stone walls as part of the job, while dropping other add-ons such as a stone veneer planter.
Board members said repairing the walls – which Trustee David Sherman said were built in the 1950s – would help prevent more costly repairs later. With the project supported by a $150,000 Dutchess County Community Development Block Grant, the village will cover the remaining roughly $98,500 from unappropriated fund balance rather than take on additional debt. Mayor Jenn Najdek said the village has more than $400,000 in the fund balance and would still have close to $350,000 remaining after the expenditure.
During the mayor’s report, village officials also discussed a new Dutchess County Municipal Investment Grant program, which they said would offer between $20,000 and $25,000 for infrastructure and public safety projects but requires a full local funding match. Officials said potential uses could include safety projects for Eddie Collins Memorial Park, but agreed to review the opportunity further before deciding whether to apply.
The meeting concluded with public comment largely in support of the tree committee and an executive session regarding a personnel matter.
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Letter to the Editor - March 26, 2026
Millerton News
Mar 25, 2026
Deer bill, trains, twisters, affordable housing
Millerton News
Mar 25, 2026
The following excerpts from The Millerton News were compiled by Kathleen Spahn and Rhiannon Leo-Jameson of the North East-Millerton Library.
March 28, 1935
Dutchess County Deer Bill Becomes Law
Governor Lehman signed the now famous Dutchess County deer bill on Monday, making the bill law. The measure provides that deer may be killed with shotguns within the boundaries of the county at fixed seasons by sportsmen having special licenses. The probable season is the first two weeks in November. The exact date will be set by the Conservation Department. Deer are said to be abundant in the county.
New Crossing Device Approved
ALBANY - The Public Service Commission has approved an interesting device for the protection of the grade crossing of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad situated one-half mile north of Millerton in the Town of North East, Dutchess County.
When the interlocking device is installed New York Central trains will be permitted to proceed over the crossing if the signals indicate they may safely do so, and all New Haven trains will make stops.
Bird House Draws Much Attention
COPAKE FALLS, March 28 - The new bird house at the Hoheline residence on Main Street is attracting a great deal of attention by its size and beauty. It was built by Mr. Hoheline’s son-in-law and weight [sic] 70 pounds. The last word in a modern two-story house, it is divided into four apartments. The house is well lighted on all sides by many glazed windows and it has a spacious porch enclosed by a picket railing. The house is painted yellow with white trim.
March 25, 1976
Miraculously No One Was Hurt: Twister Rips Through Town
A wicked twister ripped through the Town of North East on Sunday, tearing up 100-foot trees, bursting sheds, bombarding houses, and knocking cars clear off the road, miraculously no one was hurt.
The winds picked up around 3 p.m. Florence Scasso was sitting on her porch at her house on a hilltop overlooking Route 22 south of Millerton. Suddenly she saw a “great big cloud just like a funnel” come down out of the sky and whip through a field on the east side of Route 22.
“Dust and stuff was flying through the air,” she said. She saw the tornado (“it was the oddest-looking thing”’) head toward Downey Road at North East Center when torrents of rain hit and “we could see nothing.”
March 29, 2001
County Tells North East About Lack Of Affordable Housing
NORTH EAST — Just by glancing through the classified advertisements in a local newspaper, one can discern that affordable housing is difficult to come by in this area.
That is the concern the North East Town Board addressed at a special meeting March 22.
The board met with Pat Sasserman, executive director of the Rural Preservation Company (RPC) of Dutchess County, and Anne Saylor, housing coordinator for the Dutchess County Department of Planning and Developing (DPD), and discussed the local housing shortage and possible solutions to the problem.
As a result of this discourse, the board decided to invite community members to help in developing a housing survey for residents. The goal of the survey is to pinpoint the specific housing needs of the community. Once known, fund-raising efforts can be focused to fulfill these needs.
Ms. Sasserman said the RPC’s mission is to help communities develop an array of housing.
“There is a need for many kinds of housing here in North East, including senior citizens and family residences,” said Ms. Sasserman.
MTA PromisesTo Stifle Idling Engines
WASSAIC - It may be a small consolation to the noses and ears of those who live near its new station here, but Metro-North said this week within 60 days it intends to reduce the number of trains that idle overnight at its Wassaic yard.
*We have been idling more trains than we expected we would,” Metro-North spokesman Marjorie Anders acknowledged this week.
Residents Peeved
The railroad’s need to idle more trains has irked nearby residents who have complained since last summer of a continuous rumble and a persistent smell of diesel exhaust, especially overnight and on weekends.
“The noise is the worst,” said Wassaic resident Carl Rennia, whose Old Route 22 home sits directly behind the station. “And we get the fumes when the wind blows the wrong way.”
Brad and Jean Rebillard, who live across the street from Mr. Rennia, say they have been frustrated at their inability to get answers from Metro-North.
“In reviewing the EIS [environmental impact statement], it looks to me like Metro-North is misleading the public by not following the plan,” Mr. Rebillard said earlier this week before the railroad told The Millerton News of its new plan.
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North East board blocks Irondale business expansion
Nathan Miller
Mar 25, 2026
The Irondale district, currently known as Highway Business District III, is comprised of just six parcels along Route 22 that are currently occupied by light industrial businesses.
Nathan Miller
MILLERTON — North East Town Board members on Friday voted to reject a proposed expansion of permitted businesses in the Irondale section of town, a small commercial district comprising just seven parcels along Route 22 north of Millerton.
The board voted 3-2 at its March 20 meeting to abandon the proposal that would have allowed restaurants, liquor stores, microbreweries, banks and bakeries in the district, following sharp criticism from the town’s Zoning Review Committee, residents and the Village of Millerton’s Board of Trustees.
The Irondale District — currently known as Highway Business District III — is located along Route 22 near the intersection with Irondale Road. Each of the seven parcels has been developed, with two containing residential homes rather than commercial uses.
The Board of Trustees submitted a letter stating the village’s opposition to the proposed expansion of use. Deputy Mayor Matt Hartzog read the letter, which said the village was against commercial planning that would divert attention away from the Route 44 corridor, and that adoption of the changes would hurt the working relationship between the village and the Town of North East.
“Over many years, the Village of Millerton has devoted substantial time, taxpayer resources, and planning efforts to infrastructure improvements in the Village Center,” the letter said. “Diverting commercial activity away from the Village and Town center risks undermining the economic foundation for these shared infrastructure investments and could complicate further inter-municipal cooperation.”
North East and Millerton residents largely sided with the Village of Millerton during the meeting, with only one North East resident and Town Board members Meg Winkler and Rachele Grieco Cole advocating for retaining the expanded uses.
North East resident Rob Cooper said he thought the Irondale District is the only other suitable place for business development in the town.
“Every storefront in the village, as far as I know, is occupied,” Cooper said. “If you wanted more business to come in, where else would you put it besides in the Irondale District?”
Town Councilwoman Meg Winkler has been one of the strongest supporters of permitting bakeries and other food service businesses in the district since the Town Board began considering the revamped town zoning law earlier this year. She said that just five parcels in the Irondale District are suitable for businesses, saying a few small businesses shouldn’t hurt the village.
“I don’t find those five properties a threat to the village, I think it complements it,” Winkler said. “This is not my own personal point of view. I’ve really gotten so many calls to discuss it, so I’m just bringing that other side to the table. And the comprehensive plan also says to expand uses in HB-III.”
The Town Board also expanded permitted uses in the western Boulevard District — comprising parcels between the Village of Millerton’s eastern border and the western bank of the Webatuck Creek. That expansion came after Cooper asked for business types such as accessory shed sales be permitted to bring his property on Route 44 to end his property’s nonconforming status. Cooper said at a February meeting that he rents a portion of his historic Mobil gas station property on Route 44 to a shed sale business operated by Millerton resident Stone Scasso, one of the few businesses that could use the property due to deed restrictions on the property dating back to its past as a full service gas station.
Board members voted unanimously to allow automotive mechanics not including body shops, and sales of outdoor play equipment and pre-fabricated sheds.
Following those actions, the Town Board voted to approve a negative declaration under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, meaning the board found the changes to the zoning law will have limited immediate impact on the environment and will not draft an Environmental Impact Statement.
The public hearing on the proposed new zoning law will continue at the Thursday, April 20, regular meeting of the Town Board. Board members expect to wrap up deliberation and approve the law following the public hearing.
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