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Setting records

The Big Bang theory has it that about 13.8 billion years ago an explosion marked the beginning of the expansion of the universe. The word we’re fixed on here is “expansion.” The American economy is experiencing an economic expansion, and as long as the expansion continues, investor confidence appears ready to hang on for the ride. Last week we witnessed new milestones as major stock market indexes continue to rise.

The S&P 500, a broad index of of stocks, crosssed over the 5,000 level for the first time ever. The S&P 500 rose for the 14th week out of 15 by last Friday’s close, something that hasn’t happened since Richard Nixon was in the White House in 1972. The Nasdaq Composite, a tech stock barometer, also climbed, continuing a winning streak for the 15th week that it hadn’t seen since 1997. So did the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a basket of 30 stocks. All three indexes ended the week with gains.

Investors have been buoyed by strength in the labor market — a job-growth report showing employers added 353,000 jobs — and by solid corporate earnings.

In Connecticut, the economic picture also remains positive, according to the Connecticut Business and Industry Association. Real GDP grew by 4.7 percent in the state in the third quarter last year, which was slightly below the national average of 4.9 percent but double the rate for all of 2022. In November, Connecticut’s Department of Labor reported job growh for the third month in a row. And in the Hudson Valley, private sector jobs rose to 809,800, an increase of 6,100, over the year that ended in December, according to the New York State Department of Labor. Two of the New York region’s private sectors — health care and social assistance — posted year-over-year growth of at least 5.2 percent, the department reported.

Yet we have another set of data points that don’t relate to any kind of metaphorical Big Bang expansion at all. In an economy hallmarked by steady growth, approximately one in four households in our local region struggles to make ends meet.

According to the Connecticut United Ways, in its 2022 Alice report, an acronym that stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, 25 percent of the households in Northwest Connecticut earn more than the Federal Poverty Level but less than the basic cost of living in the area. The basics include: housing, food, child care, health care, technology and transportation. The United Way in the Dutchess-Orange County Region, reported in 2021 that the same percentage — 25 percent — of households in Dutchess County fell into the Alice category.

There are economic and market reports that set records, reflecting positive growth and aspirations for a continued expansion — with chronic shortcomings in the mix. In 2023 there were 1,111 households on waiting lists for affordable rental housing in the 21 towns that comprise the Northwest Hills Council of Governments. It’s a similar story in Dutchess County, where, according to DATAUSA, 19.5% of the population was living with severe housing problems in 2022. From 2014 to 2022, the percentage expanded by 1.1%.

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Legal Notices - July 9, 2026

Legal Notices - July 9, 2026

Legal Notice

Notice of Formation of Kaits Kleaning LLC. Art. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 05-22-2026. Office Lo-cation: Dutchess county. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 24 Attlebury Hill Road, Standfordville NY 12581.

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Tenmile Distillery is making history the old-fashioned way

Cheers! The Revolutionary Whisky Series at Ten Mile Distillery, each named for a significant battle of the American Revolution, celebrates America at 250.

D.H. Callahan

In December 2024, the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau officially established the Standard of Identity for American Single Malt Whisky. It was the first new classification in more than half a century, creating new possibilities for American distillers. One of the distilleries taking advantage of this new landscape is Wassaic’s Tenmile Distillery. It is well positioned to make history because Tenmile has always honored traditional whiskey-making practices.

Single malts are often associated with Scotch whisky. Perhaps that’s why, years before the new standard was adopted, Tenmile hired Shane Fraser, a Scottish master distiller with 30 years of experience at some of Scotland’s most prestigious distilleries. Fraser began designing the distillery from the ground up. Alongside owner and general manager Joel LeVangia, he emphasized time-honored traditions, favoring hands-on craftsmanship over the increasingly automated methods used by larger producers. When it comes to making the best whisky possible, Tenmile believes in learning from the past. That philosophy extends beyond the distilling process.

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The magic of Belinda Sinclair

The magic of Belinda Sinclair

Belinda Sinclair

Dean Chamberlain
Sinclair’s show explores the ways women have been practicing forms of magic for centuries, and there is plenty of history to tell.

Belinda Sinclair is the kind of magician who impresses people who don’t like magic. Her tricks are mind-boggling. Her stories are captivating. And if she picks you to write your name on a card, get ready to be wowed. Repeat attendees of her shows, of which there are many, take almost as much delight in watching new jaws drop as they do in seeing an illusion reach its astonishing conclusion.

Since the summer of 2025, Sinclair has been baffling local audiences at the Hughes Memorial Library in West Cornwall, but her magical run comes to a close at the end of August.

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“Nixon in China” comes to Tanglewood

“Nixon in China” comes to Tanglewood

Renée Fleming, Andris Nelsons and Thomas Hampson.

Hilary Scott

On Friday, July 17 at 8 p.m. in the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood, two of the greatest American voices of their generation, soprano Renée Fleming and baritone Thomas Hampson, join Music Director Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a performance of excerpts from John Adams’ groundbreaking opera “Nixon in China.” The piece, performed earlier this year in Boston and at Carnegie Hall in New York City, is a highlight of a program that also includes “Meditations on Grace” (2024) by BSO Composer Chair Carlos Simon, and the melodic and technically demanding Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber.

Fleming is internationally celebrated for her vocal and dramatic artistry, as well as for her advocacy for the powerful impact of the creative arts in health. Hampson has long been recognized as one of the most innovative musicians of our time and has received countless international honors for his singular artistry and cultural leadership. Both performed in “Nixon in China” earlier this year at the Paris Opera under the baton of Kent Nagano.

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Local playwright revisits Revolutionary moment in “Rebel Town”

The cast and crew of “Rebeltown: The Musical.”

Jack Sheedy

John Alan Segalla was working in Boston a few years ago, giving historic tours at the site of the Boston Tea Party. Now, as America celebrates 250 years as a nation, the Canaan native is about to debut a new version of his original musical, “Rebel Town,” inspired largely by the Boston Tea Party, the protest that helped launch the American Revolution.

“It wasn’t until I got to Boston and learned the Tea Party story that I fell in love with this moment in history, and I saw the story as wildly compelling and very important, and really a story that was very misunderstood, mistaught in schools,” Segalla said at a recent rehearsal in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, ahead of the show’s July 10 opening.

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An invitation to paint a community mural in Torrington

Community mural design by Macayla Muzzulin will be painted by volunteers on July 11 in Franklin Plaza in Torrington.

Provided

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 11, Five Points Arts in Torrington will host a community mural project celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary. Volunteers of every age and artistic ability are invited to help paint a 20-by-6-foot mural designed by artist Macayla Muzzulin. The mural will be completed in one day, transformed from a numbered outline into a permanent public artwork along the river in downtown Torrington.

“We firmly believe art is for everyone,” said Five Points founder and executive director, Judith McElhone. “It’s so great to be able to do this with such talent, and with Launchpad artists, volunteers and staff there to help.”

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