Mothers Out Front, a national movement advocating action on climate change, rallied in front of Dutchess County Legislature offices on Tuesday, Oct. 15 in Poughkeepsie.
POUGHKEEPSIE — On Tuesday, Oct. 15, Mother’s Out Front hosted a rally in front of the Dutchess County legislature offices.
Mothers Out Front is a movement across New York advocating for a healthy and thriving climate for families and children. The group of mothers and community members aims to gain climate justice for future children by shutting down polluter sites, promoting sustainability, electrifying buses and expanding wilderness preservation.
“The first surprise is that most people don’t know that the garbage is taken from their curb and driven to be burned,” Sandra Stratton-Gonzalez, a member of Mothers Out Front for Dutchess County, said. “The second thing that people don’t know are all the detrimental health effects of all the pollutants that come out of that city.”
Their current campaign is “Trash the Incinerator — Clean Air for Dutchess County,” which aims to educate people about the hazards that could come from the county’s incinerator, which is located in the Town of Poughkeepsie.
The American Lung Association 2023 State of the Air Report indicates that in Dutchess County, 4,456 children and more than 25,000 adults suffer from asthma. 61% of residents are susceptible to air pollution, including 53,776 people under the age of 18.
The Dutchess County Incinerator is the number one industrial emitter of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, volatile organic compounds, mercury and other substances that trigger asthma. Mothers Out Front encourages a zero-waste management plan, which can reduce waste without incineration and even create jobs that would boost the regional economy.
“We have spent a lot of time over the past year or so, sort of talking to our neighbors about their top priorities, and they tell us that climate, health and housing are their top priorities,” Beacon Time and Action Now co-founder Erin Ashoka said. “ I think that the incinerator is an important intersection for these priorities.”
Poughkeepsie is currently an Asthma Capital and in 2023 was ranked number six in the United States as one of the most challenging places to live with asthma by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
So far the movement has received nearly 900 county residents and was brought to the Dutchess County Legislature. Nine people made public comments during the Legislative meeting after the rally on Tuesday, Oct. 15. Afterwards, Will Truitt, Chair of the Dutchess County legislature, invited Mothers Out Front to meet with him.
“We look forward to this meeting,” Stratton-Gonzalez said, “And to the anticipated November release of the 2025 County Budget.”
Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.
STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.
At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.
July transfers
79 Ernest Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 6.87 acres in 2 parcels sold to Matthew C. Marinetti for $1,225,000.
29 Drake Road — 3 bedroom/3.5 bath home on 2 acres sold to Harper Montgomery for $850,000.
6042 Route 82 — 4 bedroom/2 bath home on 1.09 acres sold to Spencer Thompson for $795,000.
125 Tick Tock Way — 3 bedroom/2.5 bath ranch on 1.9 acres sold to Fleur Touchard for $475,000.
August transfers
102 Prospect Hill Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 6.35 acres sold to Karl Creighton Pfister for $565,000.
252 Ernest Road — 2 bedroom/1 bath cottage on .85 acres sold to Meg Bumie for $465,000.
1196 Bangall Amenia Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 2.16 acres sold to Roderick Alleyne for $875,000.
Hunns Lake Road (#759929) — 59.1 acres of residential land sold to Argos Farm LLC for $3,325,000.
* Town of Stanford recorded real estate transfers from July 1 to August 31 provided by Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly transfer reports. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access - properties with an # indicate location on Dutchess Parcel Access. Market data from One Key MLS and Infosparks .Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Harlem Valley area activity reportSept. 18 to Sept. 30.
Sept. 23 — Deputies responded to 1542 State Route 292 in the Town of Pawling for the report of a suspicious vehicle at that location. Investigation resulted in the arrest of Sebastian Quiroga, age 26, for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree. Quiroga to appear in the Town of Pawling court at a later date.
Sept. 30 — Deputies responded to Woodside Street in the Town of Pine Plains for a past-occurred verbal domestic dispute between a stepfather and stepson.Matter resolved without further police intervention.
PLEASE NOTE:All subjects arrested and charged are alleged to have committed the crime and are presumed innocent until proven guilty and are to appear in local courts later.
If you have any information relative to the aforementioned criminal cases, or any other suspected criminal activity please contact the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 845-605-CLUE (2583) or Emaildcsotips@gmail.com.All information will be kept confidential.
Hunt club members and friends gathered near Pugsley Hill at the historic Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia for the opening meet of the 2025-2026 Millbrook Hunt Club season on Saturday, Oct. 4. Foxhunters took off from Wethersfield’s hilltop gardens just after 8 a.m. for a hunting jaunt around Amenia’s countryside.
Joining in the fun at the dedication of the new pollinator pathway garden at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4, local expert gardener Maryanne Snow Pitts provides information about a planting to Lorraine Mirabella of Poughkeepsie.
MILLBROOK — Participating in a patchwork of libraries that have planted pollinator pathway gardens to attract insects and birds to their native plantings was one of the accomplishments being celebrated at the dedication of a new pollinator garden at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“A lot of work went into it,” said Emma Sweeney, past President of the Millbrook Garden Club, who started the local library’s initiative two years ago.
The Pollinator Pathway program is a national effort to plant native plants that native insects depend upon for sustenance and preferred plants for their own seasonal reproduction.
Jana Hogan of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Executive Director of the Pollinator Pathway program, was on hand to present a plaque to the library for its successful participation.
“A garden is not just a garden,” said garden designer Andy Durbridge of Wassaic, designer of the library’s garden. “It may serve as a model for other gardens along the line.”
Speaking to the 50 visitors at the dedication, Durbridge said that the library’s garden has a mission, that it is a working garden, planned to serve insects and birds over their seasons. The earliest plants support pollinators, while the full range of plants continues to serve the needs of those they attract, offering habitat, shelter and food.
A pollinator garden is akin to a prairie, rather than a formalized European garden, Durbridge noted.
The garden project was supported by the library’s Friends group using funds raised during the Holiday Silent Auction and ongoing book sale. A grant from the Millbrook Garden Club also provided support.
