UPDATE: On Friday, September 8, the OHS granted Sharon Hospital an extension to appeal the OHS's Proposed Decision. The hospital, and its parent company Nuvance Health, now has until October 18, 2023 to file a brief and exceptions seeking a Certificate of Need to close the hospital's Labor and Delivery Unit.
SHARON — Sharon Hospital’s application to close its Labor and Delivery Unit was denied by Connecticut’s Office of Health Strategy (OHS) on Tuesday, Aug. 29.
The “proposed final decision” granted Sharon Hospital and its parent company, Nuvance Health, 21 days to appeal the decision. An appeal would continue a five-year battle between Sharon Hospital and members of the local community, led by Save Sharon Hospital, over maintaining the hospital’s labor and delivery services.
Sharon Hospital filed a Certificate of Need to close the maternity unit with OHS in January 2022, citing financial concerns, declining birth rates in Litchfield County, and underutilization of its obstetrics unit.
The hospital, which has cited losses of more than $20 million in a single year, estimated that closing the maternity unit would save $3 million in large part by enabling the hospital to employ some 18 fewer staff members, and cut down on physician fees incurred by after-hours surgery and anesthesia services.
The hospital also described a decline in births at Sharon Hospital, citing fewer than one delivery per day in 2021, and difficulty attracting and retaining trained staff in a rural community.
At an OHS hearing in December 2022, doctors, advocates, and local families rebutted the hospital’s claims that closing the maternity unit would not impact access to adequate care in the region, and raised questions about the hospital’s claim that underutilization of the unit was causing irresolvable financial and safety concerns.
In its Aug. 29 decision, OHS found that Sharon Hospital had not adequately met five of eight applicable criteria to qualify for a Certificate of Need, repeatedly citing testimony from the December hearing, as well as supplementary materials provided by Save Sharon Hospital and others.
Primarily, the decision to reject Sharon Hospital’s application rested on concerns about the closure’s impact on the accessibility of adequate care for pregnant women in the region. OHS emphasized the disproportionate effect this closure would have on people of color, the fastest-growing demographic in the region, and indigent people (more than 48% of Sharon Hospital’s labor and delivery patients paid through Medicaid in 2021).
The decision stated repeatedly that the burden of proof rested with the hospital and that the hospital had not succeeded in providing adequate evidence of either financial or safety concerns, nor adequate plans for alternatives for women in labor seeking care, especially for high-risk and emergent deliveries.
Though the hospital is non-profit, OHS took care to point out that its parent, Nuvance Health, provides financial support to Sharon Hospital, and, having ended 2021with a net increase in assets of $242 million and $1.7 billion in net assets, Nuvance is “by all accounts financially stable,” despite its operating losses at Sharon Hospital.
While there are other five other hospitals within an hour from Sharon, all able to accept women in labor, these options would require patients to make longer drives (the nearest hospital is Charlotte Hungerford in Torrington); OHS also cited concerns about these hospitals’ higher costs and lower safety ratings.
Gregg Pulver (R), Chairman of the Dutchess County Legislature, said that OHS’s decision was responsive to arguments from “representatives on both sides of the state line.” Patients at Sharon Hospital are more often from Dutchess County than from the Northwest Corner.
“Access to rural health care here is in crisis or at risk across the board,” said State Rep. Maria Horn (D-64). Though “it will always be a battle,” she said, “[We need] to keep this thriving hospital alive and vibrant and and helping all of us.”
Andrea Rynn, spokesperson for Nuvance Health, called the decision “concerning and disappointing.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), State Sen. Stephen Harding (R-30), U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-5), Rep. Horn, and State Comptroller Sean Scanlon all spoke in support of OHS’s preliminary decision at a press conference in Sharon Town Hall on Wednesday, Aug. 30.
Blumenthal called on Nuvance not to appeal OHS’s “well-reasoned, fully researched decision.”
“Nuvance has an obligation to listen to its customers, its patients, its community,” said the senator. “I am hopeful that meetings like this one will convince [Nuvance] that it can and should do the right thing.”
Horn drew a contrast between the diverse, fact-based testimonies provided by local healthcare professionals, and Nuvance’s “one single argument, that ‘this is just unsustainable,’ and ‘we can’t afford it.’”
Harding said, “I want to applaud the Office of Health for taking the time, not only with reading the testimony, but the whole process in general. I think they did a great job of listening to all sides of the story.”
Hayes noted that the threatened closure is indicative of national trends in rural and women’s healthcare access. “We have seen women’s reproductive health attacked all over the country,” she said. “So I am excited about today, but also looking forward and committed to […] bringing this 20 year battle [over the future of Sharon Hospital] to an end.”
Nearly all of the speakers thanked the local 501(c)(3) Save Sharon Hospital (SSH) for its instrumental work in preventing the closure of Sharon Hospital’s labor and delivery unit by marshaling skilled testimony from health care workers.
SSH President Lydia Moore, who gave birth to her youngest daughter in Sharon Hospital about two months ago, acknowledged the community for contributing “almost 12,000 pages of public comment,” overwhelmingly in favor of keeping labor and delivery open, as critical to the movement’s success.
Acknowledging that Nuvance can still appeal the OHS decision, Scanlon said, “We’re here today to say that this is good news, but the fight to maintain access to affordable, quality health care, especially when it comes to labor and delivery, is going to continue beyond this morning.”
As of Sept. 4, Nuvance has not yet announced if it will appeal the decision.
“As part of a nonprofit health system, Sharon Hospital faces financial and operational challenges moving forward,” said Rynn in a statement. “We will be considering all options available as we reassess our path forward.”
Nathan Miller
Doug Broughton stands in his basement greenhouse in Wassaic on May 17. Broughton plans to open a dispensary in downtown Millerton at 32 Main St.
MILLERTON — Cannabis grower Douglas Broughton is still waiting on the Office of Cannabis Management to open his dispensary in Millerton.
His retail dispensary location at 32 Main St., in the former home of Demitasse and next door to what will soon be a Thai tea shop, has received site approval from the state’s cannabis regulation authority, but further approvals of the store’s interior and security systems are still pending.
“The next step is a walkthrough,” Broughton said, describing the lengthy process to attain approval for the retail element of his cannabis business from OCM.
Borughton first unveiled plans to open a dispensary in the shop in February of this year, originally aiming to open by mid-March.
Those hopes were soon dashed as March and April came and went, followed by May and June with no word from OCM regarding the status of his retail location.
Then, during a meeting of the state’s Cannabis Control Board in early July, regulators granted his license amendment that would allow him to move forward with the planned shop on Millerton’s Main Street.
Now, cannabis regulators are working through the final approval steps with Broughton. He said OCM officials needed to see certain documentation regarding the building’s legal occupancy status and verify the location’s security systems.
But that process was delayed by technical difficulties, Broughton said, when the OCM told him files he sent couldn’t be opened.
“They’re just nitpicking,” Broughton said. “I wasn’t annoyed until May.”
Among the additional requirements are verifications of his security system, the shop’s certificate of occupancy and connecting his point-of-sale system with his bank.
He said regulators require timestamped pictures from his security system and an additional third-party monitoring system — all of which he has submitted. The certificate of occupancy presents a different challenge, however, because the building his shop is in technically doesn’t have one. Instead, it has what’s known as a certificate of compliance because the building predates codes that require multiple exits for fire safety, he said. Broughton said he’s been advised that the document should satisfy OCM’s requirements, but he hasn’t received official word from the regulator yet.
He voiced frustration with the lengthy delays, acknowledging he expected the process to take between four to six months. As he stretches into the eighth month, however, the aggravation has grown.
“At this point it’s becoming a little insulting,” Broughton said.
Broughton said the interior space of the dispensary is nearing completion, including handcrafted cabinets and other furniture created by local woodworkers. A wooden sign currently hangs above the door at the Main Street location proclaiming it to be the home of Blackrabbit Farms.
Broughton offered an apology to locals over the delays, expressing disappointment that he missed out on opening the store earlier in the summer.
“I feel like I owe an apology to Millerton,” Broughton said. “I told them it was going to take a while, but I didn’t think eight months. This is becoming silly.”
Nathan Miller
The sidewalk extension project along Route 44 to Beekman Park remains incomplete nearly eight months after state transportation officials halted the project.
AMENIA — Town officials are facing a lawsuit alleging nonpayment for contracted services relating to work on the sidewalk extension along Route 44 to Beekman Park.
Amenia’s Town Board appointed town attorney Ian Lindars to handle litigation against the town stemming from a contract with Raja Contractors Inc. that was originally approved in 2023.
According to court documents and public meeting minutes available at ameniany.gov, the Town Board originally contracted Raja to complete construction work on the project in July 2023. The work was stalled, however, as state Department of Transportation officials ordered changes to the plans that meant builders couldn’t start construction.
The town then terminated the contract in February 2025, intending to re-bid the project and seek another contractor to complete the work. Raja Contractors alleges the town did not pay bills totalling $54,757, incurred while the company was under contract and conducting pre-construction work between 2023 and 2025.
After terminating the contract, the town reopened bidding for the project and eventually chose construction firm Southern Industries. That work officially began in September 2025, but dragged into the winter and eventually stalled at an incomplete state.
The lawsuit was filed in Dutchess County Supreme Court on July 7.
The effort to install a new sidewalk along Route 44 connecting Beekman Park to downtown Amenia remains stalled as Lindars continues negotiations to secure funding needed to complete the project. Those negotiations are independent from the current lawsuit.
Town Supervisor Rosanna Hamm said the town is seeking compensation through the project’s performance bond after construction problems forced work to stop earlier this year. The bond is intended to reimburse the town for the additional costs of completing the project when a contractor fails to meet its contractual obligations.
Hamm said Town Attorney Ian Lindars has been negotiating with the bonding company for months, but there is little the town can do until those discussions are complete.
“It’s incredibly frustrating,” Hamm said. “All I can do is nag.”
The sidewalk project has been at a standstill since January, after the New York State Department of Transportation issued a stop-work order citing concerns over stormwater catch basins that didn’t match specifications and other construction-related issues.
The project is half-finished and several sections of concrete need to be replaced.
Southern Industries, the contractor hired for the project, was later terminated. Town officials have said the company was the low bidder selected after engineering firm LaBella Associates reviewed its references.
Hamm said the town’s attorney and the bonding company are currently working out how much compensation the town will receive to complete the remainder of the work. She didn’t have any updates on the status of those talks as of Tuesday, Aug. 11.
Despite the hold-up, Hamm said homeowners on property abutting the sidewalk project have had their mailboxes and driveway access restored. However, the sidewalk remains unfinished, and several sections of concrete will need to be removed and replaced after they were poured during cold weather and failed to cure properly.
Town officials said the contractor’s inconsistent work schedule contributed to repeated delays that ultimately led to the construction deficiencies.
“It’s the bane of my existence,” Hamm said. “This whole thing has been a nightmare.”
Southern Industries and its chief executive, Jonathan Delisa, have been named in multiple pending lawsuits alleging professional misconduct including wage theft, forgery, impersonation and defaulting on a loan for construction equipment.
Delisa denied wrongdoing in May, but otherwise refused to comment on the allegations in the lawsuits. He also said he was not the chief executive of Southern Industries, and merely served as a construction manager and foreman. Public filings with the New York Secretary of State’s office lists Delisa as the company’s chief executive.
Delisa could not be reached for further comment.
Washington Town Supervisor Gary Ciferri said in May that his town had similar issues with Southern Industries when the construction company won a bid to complete renovations at Washington’s Town Park in 2023.
Ciferri said construction crews didn’t keep a consistent schedule and eventually abandoned the project, causing the town to hire another company to finish the work.
Jacquelyn Drain
Apartment buildings at 26-32 S. Center St. currently host four housing units. Owners are seeking to renovate a fifth at the property.
MILLERTON — Owners of a South Center Street apartment building can now move forward with a special permit application after the Zoning Board of Appeals granted a variance for parking at the property.
The Village of Millerton Zoning Board of Appeals granted a parking variance to the owners of 26-32 South Center St. on Tuesday, Aug. 4, allowing the property to be non-compliant with village parking laws.
Following a public hearing on Aug. 4, the board approved the variance sought by owner Alex Magalhaes for an exemption to the village’s minimum onsite parking requirements. Under village zoning code, residences must have space on the property for at least 1.5 cars per housing unit. Magalhaes is seeking to restore a fifth apartment on the property, bringing his total parking burden to 7.5 spaces.
The property has onsite parking for up to four cars, Magalhaes said in a July ZBA meeting, but no additional off-street parking exists on that parcel or neighboring parcels.
Board members said the variance will allow for more housing in the area, a key issue in the community. Because the space has operated as an apartment for many years without issue, the board concluded that parking conditions could continue as previously established.
Jenn Najdek, resident of 33-35 S. Center St. and Mayor of the village, expressed support for the proposed parking solution and parking on the street. Najdek’s grandparents and brother previously owned the property before it was purchased by Magalhaes.
“With Millerton not having a lot of housing, I can’t see the renovation of an existing apartment creating any more adverse driving or parking conditions than already exist,” Najdek said. “It wouldn’t affect me at all.”
Catherine Fenn, a Millerton Resident, also expressed support for the project.
“Seems pretty simple, the building has always had that many apartments,” Fenn said. “It sounds like a moot question.”
Following the public hearing, Magalhaes can now go back to the Planning Board for the special use permit he requested in June to renovate the fifth apartment.
“We’re not changing any layout inside, we’re keeping everything the same,” Magahlhaes said. “The building permit is for me to bring life to the unit.”
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Nathan Miller
Dutchess County Legislators approved on Monday, Aug. 10, a ban on concentrated kratom products often sold at gas stations.
The proposal comes just over a week after County Executive Sue Serino issued a statement calling for a ban on all kratom product sales. Democratic members of the county legislature responded with a more focused ban that restricts the sale of concentrated, synthetic substances derived from kratom known as “7-OH,” or 7-hydroxymytraginine.
Kratom is the name for leaves from a southeast asian tree that has been used for millennia for pain relief, energy and spiritual purposes. Traditionally the leaf is smoked, chewed or brewed into a tea. Gas stations and tobacco stores across the U.S. sell bags of powdered kratom leaf alongside 7-OH and other synthetically-derived products.
Legislators contend the concentrated 7-OH products are dangerous and addictive, citing guidance from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and New York health authorities. The proposed county-wide ban will affect those products but allow the sale of “natural” leaf products below a certain potency. One of the resolution’s sponsors — Kristofer Munn, who represents Red Hook, Tivoli and Rhinebeck — said the potency and packaging of 7-OH products distinguished them from kratom leaf powders during a Thursday, Aug. 6, Government Services committee meeting.
“I know at least one resident of our town who overdosed and died as a result,” he said. “It’s just something that really is getting a lot of attention — the DEA is looking to move on it in the next few months.”
Authorities have said that concentrated 7-OH products pose a greater risk to the public because of their strength, likening them to prescription opioids such as morphine. Munn also drew attention to the products’ packaging and prominent location near the cash registers at gas stations, saying they appear attractive to vulnerable children.
Dutchess County legislators drew a distinction between the concentrated 7-OH products and “natural” kratom leaf products, saying in a statement the 7-OH compound occurs naturally in trace amounts in the leaf products. Synthetic derivatives concentrate this compound at much higher potencies, creating an opioid-like effect that legislators say is addictive and dangerous.
New York State lawmakers restricted sale of all kratom products to adults over 21 at the end of 2025. A bill currently being deliberated by lawmakers seeks to ban 7-OH products statewide.
Munn said the county-wide ban follows the logic in those state efforts and in DEA guidance. It breaks with Serino’s call to ban all kratom products outright, and county legislator John Metzger, who represents East Fishkill, pointed out that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued guidance saying no kratom products are safe as dietary supplements.
“If the FDA is saying ‘no, the leaf is no good,’ and we’re saying ‘we’re going to keep it on the shelf because people use it,’ that’s what I don’t understand,” he said. “Is the FDA only speaking about the synthetic and the high doses?”
Munn said FDA approval is not required for dietary supplements, and that kratom leaf users are typically adults using the product for spiritual purposes or as a self-administered medicine. He pointed to DEA efforts to temporarily schedule the synthetic 7-OH products, saying health authorities are recognizing a difference between the pills and leaf products that warrant treating each differently under the law.
The law draws a hard line between kratom leaf products and all other synthetically-derived alternatives. Munn said the bill restricts the sale of 7-OH and all other synthetic derivatives of the kratom leaf, including any that have yet to be developed and distributed to retailers.
The ban is set to go into effect immediately. First offense violations carry a maximum $1,500 fine with all subsequent violations carrying maximum $3,000 fines.
Gas stations in northeast Dutchess County could not be reached for comment on the legislation.
Patrick L. Sullivan
Luiza, 6; Cecilia, 4; Nathan, 4; and Aria, 6, show off their face paint and balloon animals during the fifth annual Lakeville Journal Street Fair on Aug. 8.
SALISBURY, Conn. — Live music, lobster rolls, face painting and a mix of local nonprofit organizations filled Academy Street in downtown Salisbury on Saturday, Aug. 8, for the fifth annual street fair hosted by The Lakeville Journal.
Audrey Cole of the Western Connecticut Area Agency on Aging (WCAAA) was on site with information on the often-bewildering subject of Medicare.
Cole, who lives in Sharon, said the WCAAA is a nonprofit serving 41 towns in Western Connecticut with Medicare counseling, Alzheimer’s care, caregiver support, meals, transportation, chore assistance and more.
Medicare is always a hot topic, she said, in part because figuring out which program to choose — and when to sign up — can be difficult.
“There are lots of deadlines, lots of programs,” she said.
The advantage in asking WCAAA for help, Cole said, is its independence.
“We work for the taxpayers. We don’t steer anyone in any direction.”
Cole said the two big questions someone new to Medicare needs to answer are “How is your overall health?” and “What is your financial situation?”
Nearby, Danny Tieger was tuning his guitar in anticipation of a crowd of youngsters eager to hear live music. When they appeared, he had them brainstorm about what kind of animal they’d like to hear a song about. As the children pitched ideas, Tieger drew rapidly on a sketchpad propped up on an easel for everyone to see.
The children came up with a combination of a lion, a bird and an alligator.
Some people might find that melange a little daunting, but Tieger immediately launched into a song, made up on the spot.
“What’s our alligator-bird-lion’s name?” he asked.
“Chomps,” said a little boy.
“Chomps it is,” Tieger replied.
In the parking lot of Johnnycake Books, Linda Ciano, director of community engagement for Project SAGE, greeted visitors beneath a large tent.
The Lakeville-based nonprofit domestic violence agency has two fundraisers currently underway.
“The Bling’s the Thing” offers jewelry donated by supporters at bargain prices, while a five-dollar bill gets shoppers an extra sturdy, large blue Project SAGE tote bag.
Project SAGE is also sponsoring a community art project and inviting anyone to participate — no artistic skills required. The results will be displayed at an event at the Scoville Memorial Library on Sunday, Sept. 13.
At the Salisbury Association, Lou Bucceri held forth on a range of local history, from Salisbury’s iron industry and the role of its cannons in the American Revolution to the Holley knife collection and Ethan Allen’s insistence on being inoculated against smallpox by his friend Dr. Thomas Young of Amenia Union.
The idea of deliberately injecting a healthy person with a small amount of a disease was very new and, to many, seemed unwise if not downright evil. So Allen got his smallpox inoculation on the steps on the Congregational Church on a Sunday, for maximum publicity.
“And he was hauled into court on a charge of blasphemy,” Bucceri said.
Allen subsequently beat the charge.
Around 1 p.m. John Keilty of Litchfield took over the live music duties. He set up a Bo Diddley beat on one note, turning it into a repeating motif recorded electronically. He then soloed over it, soaring off in unexpected directions before bringing it back to the riff.
Keilty said his primary job is running a guitar repair business. He plays in a couple of bands, including Shake the Dust out of Litchfield.
“We call ourselves the Farm Band, because we always seem to play events held at farms,” he said.
Lucia Iandolo
Members of the Dover Guitar Club prepare for a performance.
DOVER PLAINS — Members of Dover High School’s Guitar Club are tuning up for another community performance as they prepare to take the stage at Dover Community Day on Sept. 19.
Since 2019, the club has given students a place to learn guitar, perform live and build confidence while giving back to the community. Led by Dover High School social studies teacher Eric Anderson, students meet after school to learn new music, rehearse and perform at school and community events.
What began as a club where students played guitar and watched music documentaries quickly evolved into a regular rehearsal group focused on learning songs and performing for audiences. Their first concert, scheduled for March 13, 2020, was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the students eventually made a name for themselves by performing in the community when many live music events had been canceled.
The club’s mission is rooted in community service, and members have performed at multiple fundraising events for residents and members of the school district
“A lot of our biggest acts and the things that we spend a lot of the year preparing for are these bigger events that support the community,” Anderson said.
Some of the students in Guitar Club have even started their own band and written original music. The band, Due Date, consists of Guitar Club members who now write and produce their own music. Due Date has performed as a group through Guitar Club, but additionally put on performances in the community at quinceañeras and the Dover Legacy Racing Cars & Guitars show.
Aiden Austin is a rising senior at Dover High School and a member of Due Date. He said Guitar Club had an impact on the group’s overall confidence and aided in preparation efforts for shows.
“The ability for me to even play at a show when I was a freshman is insane,” Austin said, “That’s why I am super grateful for Guitar Club.”
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