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What’s happening with Greenland?
Mac Gordon
Jun 03, 2026
At the end of 2025, President Trump told the world that he was interested in acquiring Greenland and would take it by force if necessary, stating that it was a matter of national security.
His Cabinet officials and others began echoing his remarks regarding the national security need to better control the region, especially with climate change opening up the arctic area to shipping and possible submarine warfare for the first time. But in truth, the President’s interest in Greenland arose more from his life-long obsession with size; Greenland was by far the world’s largest island. As a child he he was in love with the Great Wall of China and it became the inspiration for his proposed wall between the US and Mexico. His giant ballroom for the White House continues his strange obsession.
In addition to his concern for national security and his obsession with bigness, Trump had been studying the history of American imperialism and was favorably impressed by our military capture and control of foreign territory. He was prepared to try his own foreign adventures.
During World War 2 the U.S. had several small military bases on Greenland and the relations with the Greenlanders and Denmark (whose colony it was then) were good. Over the postwar years the U.S. eventually closed all the bases save one but Denmark (who still controls Greenland’s foreign affairs) had been accommodating to any new American military proposals.
So what’s so different now? Global warming has melted much of the northern ice thus opening the area to at least limited navigation and both Russia and China have been interested. Without much elaboration, the U.S. Defense and State departments have told us that this poses a formidable security threat requiring U.S. control of Greenland to counter. But most security analysts consider this a shortsighted point of view. An even more vulnerable area to foreign intruders would be from northern Alaska to the Arctic Circle. As former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin was supposed to have said,“I can see Russia from my back porch!”However the U.S. has done little or nothing to fortify this area militarily. On the face of it, it would seem more appropriate for the U.S. to shift its defensive attention to the western side of the continent. At the same time it would make sense for NATO rather than the U.S. to oversee Greenland’s only partly frozen, more navigable waterway. The U.S. is still a most prominent member of NATO thus permitting us to have some say in what happens there but the considerable animosity between Trump and Greenland and Denmark would be largely avoided. And as a bonus, perhaps Canada (a NATO member) might be drawn into being a more active member of the Western military alliance.
During the past four months, closed door trilateral meetings have been held in Washington, at the behest of the US State Department with officials from both Denmark and Greenland to discuss the future of the island.
Over the past year Trump’s verbal tirades have scared and angered people and their governments all over the world. A variety of recent pollsweighing popular feelings in eight western European countries toward the U.S. government have all shown major disfavor regarding American foreign policy, particularly because of threats against Greenland. Especially in Denmark and in Greenland where several hundred protesters gathered in the capital, Nuuk last week to protest continued US involvement in their affairs and specifically the opening of a much larger new USconsulate In Nuuk to “commemorate” its opening. Protesters carried signs with messages such as “Greenland is not for sale” and “Dump Trump”. The U.S. sent over an uninvitedSpecial Envoy, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, a notoriously impolitic individual who, shortly after arriving told everyone that could hear him “it’s time for Washington to put its foot back on this Arctic territory” and other insulting remarks.
Meanwhile back in Washington talks continue. The American demands are sosteep; Greenlandic officials fear that they amount to a major imposition on their sovereignty, such as a possible veto over what businesses might be permitted to operate in the territory. Meanwhile, the former Danish Prime minister Mette Frederiksen, a strong supporter of Greenland,is about to be replaced and is no longer in the discussions.
The parties are discussing cooperation on the development of natural resources. The island is loaded with oil, natural gas, uranium, rare earths and other critical minerals. However, much of it is buried deep beneath Greenland’s glacial ice. The Trump administration is especially interested in the island’s buried wealth and wants to make sure that other nations, particularly China and Russia, are kept away from it.Although he likes to denythe significance of global warming, Trump knows that Greenland’s underground riches are becoming more accessible year by year.
Trump’s war in Iran is going badly with no real end in sight and he is looking to get out. He wants a new, more promising theater for his international adventures and is hoping to capture Cuba next (although he has already nearly done so by an economic siege).Then many think he may indulge his continuing obsession and make another attempt to take Greenland.
Can you believe it?
Architect G. Mackenzie Gordon, A.I.A., lives in Lakeville.
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Millerton village board elections set for June 16
Nathan Miller
Jun 03, 2026
The Millerton Village Offices on Route 22.
Aly Morrissey
MILLERTON — Two sitting members of the village Board of Trustees are up for reelection on Tuesday, June 16.
Deputy Mayor Matt Hartzog and Trustee Matt Soleau are each seeking additional two year terms to the Board of Trustees. Both incumbents are running unopposed for their respective seats.
Elections are scheduled for Tuesday, June 16, at the Millerton Village Hall on Route 22 north of the intersection with Route 44. Voting booths will be open from noon to 9 p.m.
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Music salon
Leila Hawken
Jun 03, 2026
Photo by Leila Hawken
Area music lovers turned out for a free concert at the Lyall Community Church on Friday, May 29, presented by the Millbrook Music Salon. The concert featured the award-winning Balourdet Quartet joined by acclaimed clarinetist Graeme Steele Johnson. Titled “Compass: Musical Distance,” the varied program included works by Mozart, Milhaud, Viet Cuong and Brahms. Left to right are Justin DeFilippis, violin; Angela Bae, violin; Johnson, clarinet; Russell Houston, cello; and Benjamin Zannoni, viola.
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Pine Plains school board cuts three staff positions to trim budget
Graham Corrigan
Jun 03, 2026
Stissing Mountain High School in Pine Plains.
Photo by Graham Corrigan
PINE PLAINS — Pine Plains Central School District administrators detailed $291,000 in budget cuts Tuesday, May 26, after voters rejected a proposed budget last week.
The original 2026-2027 budget, which totalled $40,500,000, failed to pass on May 19, despite winning a 52% approval from voters. The proposed budget needed 60% of voters backing it, a supermajority necessary due to a school tax levy that exceeded the state’s allowed cap.
New York generally limits municipalities and school districts to a tax levy increase of 2%, but the allowable cap can be higher in some cases. Pine Plains administrators said the district was limited to a tax levy increase of just under 3.4% this year. The initial proposed budget raised taxes by 4.43%.
To fall within the tax cap — which could then pass with a simple 50% majority at the ballot box — administrators had to find about $291,000 in cuts. Residents will re-vote on the amended budget on June 16.
Following the initial budget failure, district officials deliberated and decided to propose three staffing cuts. The new budget would eliminate a head bus driver position, a typist position and one nurse. Those three reductions would save about $290,569, bringing the year-over-year school tax increase to 3.39% and the total budget down to $40,488,222.
A public hearing on the new proposed budget will take place on June 9. If the budget is defeated a second time, the district will be forced to adopt a contingency budget.
That means the tax levy would stay at 2025-2026 levels, requiring a further $945,000 in reductions. Deep cuts to athletics, Pre-K programs, and extra curricular activities would become likely — as well as staffing cuts to custodial, counselor, librarian, and social services, administrators said.
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Mid-Hudson Valley communities gear up for a month of pride events
Graham Corrigan
Jun 03, 2026
Former Stanford Town Supervisor Wendy Burton dragged a few Stanford Pride crew members onto the "Pink Pony Club" dance floor, being careful not to slip in the rain at Stanford Pride 2025 last June.
Photo by Nathan Miller
It’s officially Pride Month, and Dutchess County is showing up to the party with a panoply of exciting events to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.
On June 6, Stanford Pride is hosting their annual event from 1 to 4 p.m. There will be food, music, and community at coworking space Bangallworks at 57 Hunns Lake Road. It’s the group’s fifth annual celebration, and they’re back at the site of the first Stanford Pride.
June 10 is Pride Night at Heritage Financial Park in Wappingers Falls, where the High-A Yankees affiliate Hudson Valley Renegades will host the Jersey Shore BlueClaws
On June 13, the Dutchess County Pride Center heads to Poughkeepsie for the eighth annual Poughkeepsie Pride March & Festival. They’ll gather in Waryas Park from noon to 4 p.m., where local artists, food vendors, and community resources will coalesce.
The Beacon is honoring Pride with a month-long programming slate of LGBTQ+ films: “But I’m A Cheerleader,” “The Crying Game,” “Wedding Banquet,” and “Brokeback Mountain” will run in consecutive weeks during June.
The festivities end with a 5K Fun Run Fundraiser in Poughkeepsie — Dutchess Pride has partnered with Fleet Feet Poughkeepsie for the race, which will kick off June 28 at 9 A.M. All ages and running abilities are welcome.
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Longtime boarding school seeks formal permits
Nathan Miller
Jun 03, 2026
North East Town Hall on Maple Avenue in Millerton.
Photo by John Coston
MILLERTON — Representatives of a historic boarding school are seeking formal permits from the North East Planning Board in an effort to comply with state requirements.
Ray Nelson — a Millerton-based engineer who spoke on behalf of boarding school Olivet Academy — described the school’s need for an official special use permit at a rescheduled regular meeting of the Planning Board on Wednesday, May 27.
Nelson said the property’s change of ownership six years ago triggered a New York State Department of Education requirement that all paperwork, including certificates of occupancy and permits, be held under Olivet’s name.
Olivet Academy is a Christian boarding school that primarily serves students from South Korea. The academy is part of a larger family of boarding schools with locations in Missouri, California and South Korea.
The school currently operates out of a campus in the Town of North East near the intersection of Morse Hill Road, Perrys Corners Road and Haight Road. Boarding schools have operated on the campus since the 1940s, Nelson said. The campus’s long history predates building and zoning codes, meaning many of the structures did not require formal permits in the past because they haven’t been altered since their construction.
It’s unclear why the school is now required to receive this documentation.
A special use permit is required for schools located in a residential agricultural district in the Town of North East. No special use permit has been issued for the property in the past because many of the facilities predate zoning.
Deliberation on the special use permit had to be delayed as the school had yet to receive proper approvals from the town’s building inspector. Planning Board chair Dale Culver explained the board cannot grant permits before the building inspector has issued certificates of occupancy.
The property will also have to receive approval from the Dutchess County Department of Health for septic systems that lack formal documentation.
Given those missing details, board members declined to move forward with the application, opting to wait until their next meeting to see if the necessary documents are complete before scheduling a public hearing.
Culver said he wants this application to serve as a precedent under the town’s new zoning code. North East adopted changes to its zoning codes in March after a years-long process of revisions and updates aimed at modernizing language, improving information organization and encouraging further commercial and mixed-use development along Route 44 east of the Village of Millerton.
Olivet’s plans don’t include any changes to the property, just a formal documentation of the site’s structures and uses in an effort to comply with state regulations. Because there are no proposed changes, Culver said he thought it would be inappropriate to require the school to update things like outdoor lighting as that would impose work at the school that the applicants were not already planning to do.
“We could point out that in the future — if you’re going to make changes — these may be some of the areas of concern,” Culver said. “I don’t think we should attach onerous costs to something as simple as ‘we need to document what already is there.’”By Nathan Miller
nathanm@millertonnews.com
MILLERTON — Representatives of a historic boarding school are seeking formal permits from the North East Planning Board in an effort to comply with state requirements.
Ray Nelson — a Millerton-based engineer who spoke on behalf of boarding school Olivet Academy — described the school’s need for an official special use permit at a rescheduled regular meeting of the Planning Board on Wednesday, May 27.
Nelson said the property’s change of ownership six years ago triggered a New York State Department of Education requirement that all paperwork, including certificates of occupancy and permits, be held under Olivet’s name.
Olivet Academy is a Christian boarding school that primarily serves students from South Korea. The academy is part of a larger family of boarding schools with locations in Missouri, California and South Korea.
The school currently operates out of a campus in the Town of North East near the intersection of Morse Hill Road, Perrys Corners Road and Haight Road. Boarding schools have operated on the campus since the 1940s, Nelson said. The campus’s long history predates building and zoning codes, meaning many of the structures did not require formal permits in the past because they haven’t been altered since their construction.
It’s unclear why the school is now required to receive this documentation.
A special use permit is required for schools located in a residential agricultural district in the Town of North East. No special use permit has been issued for the property in the past because many of the facilities predate zoning.
Deliberation on the special use permit had to be delayed as the school had yet to receive proper approvals from the town’s building inspector. Planning Board chair Dale Culver explained the board cannot grant permits before the building inspector has issued certificates of occupancy.
The property will also have to receive approval from the Dutchess County Department of Health for septic systems that lack formal documentation.
Given those missing details, board members declined to move forward with the application, opting to wait until their next meeting to see if the necessary documents are complete before scheduling a public hearing.
Culver said he wants this application to serve as a precedent under the town’s new zoning code. North East adopted changes to its zoning codes in March after a years-long process of revisions and updates aimed at modernizing language, improving information organization and encouraging further commercial and mixed-use development along Route 44 east of the Village of Millerton.
Olivet’s plans don’t include any changes to the property, just a formal documentation of the site’s structures and uses in an effort to comply with state regulations. Because there are no proposed changes, Culver said he thought it would be inappropriate to require the school to update things like outdoor lighting as that would impose work at the school that the applicants were not already planning to do.
“We could point out that in the future — if you’re going to make changes — these may be some of the areas of concern,” Culver said. “I don’t think we should attach onerous costs to something as simple as ‘we need to document what already is there.’”
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