PINE PLAINS — After celebrating victory after victory on the ball field these past few weeks, the Pine Plains softball 10 and under (10-u) Allstars softball team is now headed to the state championship tournament with their bats at the ready and the Pine Plains community cheering them on.
With Coach Andy Belanger guiding them, the 10-u team is currently comprised of 12 local players. It was only last year that the majority of the team held a softball for the first time, according to Pine Plains Little League Baseball and Softball Program President Rich Tamburrino — today, he said they’re performing at the top level.
“They have shown great skills and pure talent from the top of the line up to the bottom,” Tamburrino said in praise of the young athletes.
As for the coach, on top of all his hard work maintaining the town’s playing fields and helping the Little League Baseball and Softball Committee, Tamburrino spoke highly of Belanger’s excellence and dedication as a coach, saying the team is an extension of Belanger.
Tamburrino reported the team started its playoff run with an undefeated season, taking down teams from LaGrange, Poughkeepsie and Pawling in the process and finishing its regular softball season with a 17-0 record.
Moving into the Allstars games, the team beat Pawling/Dover on Monday, July 5, winning the District 17 Championship. The team then advanced to sectionals where they defeated Indian Valley, 23-3, and then Chatham with a score of 11-4.
As of today, Tamburrino said the team is “the number one seed in Section 2 South.”
It headed to Rochester for the week-long state finals, scheduled for Tuesday, July 20, through Sunday, July 25, with the first few days set aside for a round robin to determine seeding, followed by semifinal/final elimination rounds.
Praising each and every player on the team for their athleticism, talents and teamwork, Tamburrino said, “All of these girls are hard workers and you can see that at practice. They come early and, to the parents’ dismay, stay late. They are hungry for competition and look forward to playing good teams at the State Championship Tournament. They look at how hard it will be to win states and smile right back.”
The girls themselves said they were very excited about their success this season and the prospect of going to states.
Proud of their softball team for their feats on the field, the Pine Plains community rallied behind the girls to help them get to the states on a high note. Realizing the team was short of funds to get to Rochester to compete at the state level, The Stissing Center performing arts center launched a fundraiser to help raise the $10,000 needed to cover lodging costs during the tournament. The players’ parents and coaches paid to cover the costs of food and travel.
Any funds raised in excess of the lodging costs will go to the Pine Plains Recreation Department to help fund the construction of new softball dugouts.
As a credit to the community spirit of Pine Plains — not to mention the town’s love of all things softball and baseball — in two days, The Stissing Center announced it had reached its fundraising goal with local businesses collecting money in cash jars.
As posted in her recent town newsletter, Pine Plains town Supervisor and fervent cheerleader Darrah Cloud remarked it was the cash jar at the Platter that helped them reach the goal.
Thanking the town of its terrific support, Cloud wrote, “You continue to be the small town where people take care of each other. Play ball, Pine Plains!”
Snow covered Route 44/22 near the Maplebrook School campus in Amenia at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 25.
Dutchess County officials issued a travel ban on all public roads from 5 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 25, to 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26.
The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning for much of upstate New York on Friday. Forecasts call for between 10 and 20 inches of snow across northeast Dutchess County.
Road crews across the region told The News that they are feeling prepared.
Visits to North East, Amenia, Washington, Stanford and Pine Plains revealed the salt is in good supply and the equipment is in good working order ahead of the storm.
Stanford Highway Superintendent Jim Myers and his crew were strapping plows to a truck in the town garage on Friday morning, Jan. 23. He said the Stanford road crew was as prepared as it can be, echoing a common sentiment among crews in the region.
"You just got to stay on top of it," Myers said. "Keep going."
County Executive Sue Serino said in a post on FaceBook that all non-emergency and non-essential travel is forbidden until 5 p.m. Monday. Only emergency personnel, road crew members, employees deemed essential for facility operation and news media covering the storm are permitted to travel during the ban.
All others are required to stay home. Pine Plains Highway Superintendent Carl Baden said that's the safest course of action during the storm.
"Just stay home," he said. "We can make it a lot safer for you if you wait."
Mark Dedaj, 34, pleaded guilty in Dutchess County Court to first-degree manslaughter in connection with the 2021 death of his sister at a Millbrook residence.
MILLBROOK — A Millbrook man has pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in connection with the 2021 killing of his teenage sister inside their family home, Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi announced Thursday.
Mark Dedaj, 34, pleaded guilty in Dutchess County Court to a Class B felony, admitting that he caused the death of his 17-year-old sister, Maureen Nelson-Lanzi, by holding her face down into a pillow on a bed until she suffocated.
The incident occurred on Sept. 4, 2021, at their residence on Harts Village Road.
“This was a brutal and heartbreaking act of violence within a family,” Parisi said in a statement. “Our office made the deliberate decision to take action, because the loss of this victim’s life demanded accountability. This plea holds the defendant responsible for his actions, ensures a measure of justice, and spares the victim’s loved ones the pain of reliving this tragedy through a trial.”
Dedaj is scheduled to be sentenced on March 26, 2026. Under the terms of the plea agreement, he will receive 25 years in state prison followed by five years of post-release supervision.
Members of the North East Town Board discuss proposed zoning code revisions during a meeting at North East Town Hall in Millerton on Monday, Jan. 19.
MILLERTON — The North East Town Board on Monday, Jan. 19, adopted a series of detailed revisions to its proposed zoning code overhaul, incorporating feedback from county and local agencies as well as public comments.
Zoning Review Commission Chair Edie Greenwood and the town’s zoning consultant, Will Agresta, participated in the meeting as board members reviewed comments submitted by Dutchess County Planning, the North East Planning Board, the town’s Conservation Advisory Council, and residents who spoke or submitted written remarks during the initial public hearing on Jan. 8.
Board members addressed the comments line by line, approving changes that Greenwood described as largely technical in nature, including revisions to definitions that did not align with state regulations and clarifications intended to improve readability and consistency.
Greenwood said a red-line draft showing the approved changes alongside the original text will be prepared.
Among the more substantive revisions was the decision to impose an overall size cap on accessory dwelling units. The board voted to limit ADUs to a maximum of 1,200 square feet and specified that they must be accessed from an existing driveway on the property. Board members also discussed adding language to clarify how ownership through an LLC or trust would comply with the requirement that the property owner reside in the principal dwelling.
The board also approved allowing retail businesses and restaurants in the so-called Irondale District, a small commercial area encompassing seven parcels along Route 22 near Winchell Mountain Road and Irondale Road.
Other changes included:
– Replacing the term “farm” with “farm operation” for consistency with state law.
— Revising drive-through regulations to allow additional lanes for banks.
— Tying requirements for landscaped islands in parking lots to the size of the lot.
— Adding expiration dates for site plan approvals.
— Removing references to “cage-type poultry farms.”
— Requiring 10% of parking spaces in lots with 30 or more spaces to be “EV-ready,” meaning the necessary infrastructure must be installed, but not necessarily a charger itself.
— Standardizing safety and maintenance requirements across all parking regulations.
— Clarifying that parking structures may be built above or below grade.
— Allowing farm machinery sales and rentals.
Greenwood told The News she expects the red-line draft to be completed and submitted before the end of next week. The Town Board is set to continue the public hearing on the proposed zoning changes on Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m. at North East Town Hall.
