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

Pulver enters race for District 19 legislative seat

Pulver enters race for District 19 legislative seat
Lifelong Pine Plains resident Tonya Pulver is testing the political waters by announcing her candidacy for Dutchess County District 19 legislator. She is seeking the seat her husband, Gregg Pulver, lost in 2023 to current incumbent Chris Drago.
Photo provided

PINE PLAINS — Inspired by her husband’s decade-long stint in the Dutchess County legislature, Republican Tonya Pulver has declared her candidacy for his former seat in District 19, which serves North East, Millerton, and Pine Plains — among other areas.

“I guess politics is all I have ever known,” said Pulver, who cited the civic accomplishments of her mother, a former longtime Pine Plains town board member, and her husband, Gregg, now the assistant county executive of Dutchess, as her impetus for entering the political arena. “I am all about helping wherever I can,” Pulver said. “I have decided to run for District 19 legislature because I have a lot to offer and I feel the constituents of this district deserve to have a choice.”

Pulver, a lifelong Pine Plains resident, is a graduate of Dutchess Community College and Marist College, where she earned a master’s degree in school psychology. She has been employed by the Millbrook Central School District since 1999, and is currently the school psychologist at Alden Place Elementary School.

While she is a first-time candidate for public office, her résumé includes community-based activities such as serving on the board of the Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse, volunteering with a Siberian Husky rescue organization, acting as the director of the Free to be Me camp — a sleep-away camp for children affected by Tourette’s Syndrome — and current membership in the Pine Plains Lions Club.

Pulver’s opponent is Democratic incumbent Chris Drago, who defeated Gregg Pulver in the District 19 race in 2023. Drago is currently running for reelection and has expressed concerns on divided loyalties, should Tonya Pulver succeed in being elected. “The county legislature is meant to provide oversight of the county executive’s office,” said Drago in a March 12 email to supporters. “We need independent voices, not conflicts of interest waiting to happen.”

Krista A. Briggs
government

Latest News

The Millerton News - September 3, 2026

The Millerton News - September 3, 2026

Download directly

At Peggy Mercury, prep meets punk in ‘Imaginary Concerts’

At Peggy Mercury, prep meets punk in ‘Imaginary Concerts’
Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
Provided

Last month, James Boehmer and Greg Fricke of Peggy Mercury launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” wearable art sold exclusively at their store in the Kent Barns section of Kent, Connecticut.

The two fashion industry veterans opened Peggy Mercury more than two years ago, and a quick visit will tell you that people are finding what they’re looking for at the beauty and lifestyle store. But what they’re looking for is never standard.

Keep ReadingShow less
fashion

“Girlbomb” at 20

“Girlbomb” at 20
Photo by Jessica YurkoMillerton author Janice Erlbaum will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her memoir “Girlbomb” at Black Rabbit Dispensary on Sept. 5.
Photo by Jessica YurkoMillerton author Janice Erlbaum will celebrate the 20th anniversary of her memoir “Girlbomb” at Black Rabbit Dispensary on Sept. 5.
With memoir...the character only knows what the character knows.
—Janice Erlbaum

In “Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir,” published in 2006, author Janice Erlbaum wrote about the years after she left her family’s Brooklyn apartment at 15, moving through shelters, group homes, squats, clubs and the streets of 1980s New York while somehow continuing to attend high school. The book has sold more than 75,000 copies, stayed in print for two decades and continues to find new readers.

Now Erlbaum, 57, lives in Millerton and on Saturday, Sept. 5, at 7:30 p.m., she will celebrate the 20th anniversary of “Girlbomb” with a reading at Black Rabbit Dispensary. The event is open to the public and will be livestreamed on Instagram.

Keep ReadingShow less
our community
google preferred source

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

Spencertown’s 21st Festival Of Books

Spencertown’s 21st Festival Of Books
Joshua Jelly-Schapiro, author of “Daylight Come: Harry Belafonte and the World He Made” is one of thefeatured authors at the Spencertown Academy Festival of Books on Saturday, Sept. 5.
Mirissa Neff

On Saturday, Sept. 5, the Spencertown Academy Arts Center in Spencertown, New York, will host its 21st annual Book Festival.

With over 20,000 gently used books, CDs, DVDs and vinyl donated by the community, it took volunteers 45 days — and an estimated 750 hours —to set the whole thing up. Most of that time was spent sorting through the vast troves of donations and organizing them by category.

Keep ReadingShow less
community

Paul Newman racing doc to screen in North Canaan on Sunday

Paul Newman racing doc to screen in North Canaan on Sunday
“Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman,”will be screened Sunday, Sept. 6, at the Colonial Theatre in North Canaan.
Provided

On Sunday, Sept. 6, Lime Rock Park will host a screening of the documentary “Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman” at the Colonial Theatre in North Canaan at 7 p.m.

Newman was one of the most celebrated actors of the 20th century, known for films including “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Hud” and “Cool Hand Luke.” His 1969 film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” also began a decades-long friendship with co-star Robert Redford.

Keep ReadingShow less
film

Community to take center stage at Dive Barn

Community to take center stage at Dive Barn

A scene from last year’s Dance Barn.

Steven Tayler

On Sunday, Sept. 6, PS21 in Chatham, New York, will host a celebration of community through dance at its second annual Dive Barn performance at the organization’s Dance Barn.

Dive Barn is the brainchild of dancer, teacher and choreographer Sayer Mansfield, who has dedicated her life to contemporary and experimental dance. She studied in the Department of Dance at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance. She’s performed with companies including Pilobolus, Compagnie Marie Chouinardand Mark Morris Dance Group. Her work has been featured in films including “Little Women,” “Maestro” and “Sproutland.” She has served on the faculties of Jacob’s Pillow, Phillips Academy Andover, as well as Harvard and Yale Universities.

Keep ReadingShow less
dance
google preferred source

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