
County executive Sue Serino is prioritizing safety, community well-being and collaboration in Dutchess County government.
Photo by Krista A. Briggs
County executive Sue Serino is prioritizing safety, community well-being and collaboration in Dutchess County government.
POUGHKEEPSIE — Last December, the Dutchess County legislature passed its 2025 budget by a vote of 23-2.
While it wasn’t a unanimous decision, the bipartisan support of the $629 million-plus spending package reflected the collaborative inroads County Executive Sue Serino, R-Dutchess, has been striving toward over the past year.
While Serino didn’t win over lawmakers Chris Drago, whose district includes North East, Millerton and Pine Plains, and Brennan Kearney, D-11, she was not discouraged, saying, “I’ll just have to try harder next time around.”
Serino’s budgetary package includes a record $2 million in funding for EMS service.
The lack of EMS access was a concern Serino weighed in on last November prior to the budget’s passing.
“Emergency medical services are a vital lifeline for our residents,” Serino said. “This funding will not only improve EMS response times but [will] also reduce pressure on mutual aid services, ensuring each community has the coverage it needs.”
As part of Serino’s strategy to address emergency service deficiencies, a temporary supplemental ambulance coverage plan was launched at the beginning of 2025 to fill coverage gaps after the county entered into an agreement with Empress Ambulance Services.
A potential secondary provider, Ambulnz by DocGo, may eventually be added into the mix, contingent on contract negotiations.
DocGo, the proposed secondary supplemental ambulance transport provider, is probably best known as the organization which controversially partnered in 2023 with New York City mayor Eric Adams in a highly lucrative no-bid contract to fill immigrant needs such as housing and meal delivery to recent arrivals in the city despite its lack of expertise in these service areas.
While improved ambulance service rolls out, Serino has continued work on additional EMS-related goals including workforce development initiatives aimed at bumping up recruitment numbers for emergency responders and a social media campaign designed to raise awareness of EMS service in the county. Additionally, her budget is focused on community and public-safety programming.
Serino’s Real Time Crime Center, an initiative with a $200,000 price tag attached to its launch from the Community Benefit Fund, debuted at the end of 2024. It enables law enforcement to monitor events as they occur via video feeds and other technology. It also provides a rapid response to incidents in progress.
Real Time Crime Centers, which can be found throughout the United States, enable collaboration between law enforcement entities in the sharing of information through audio, video, cameras, license plate readers, and other methods.
The data collected is funneled into a cloud-based view to provide mutual access and awareness by law enforcement. While some may find its surveillance-heavy approach unsettling, Serino maintained Real Time Crime Centers are a valuable and effective tool in preventing and combating crime.
“[It’s] additional security and safety,” Serino said. “I’m all for it.”
Youth-based initiatives are also a target. As part of her youth advocacy, Serino has set up in the budget a new $250,000 grant for the establishment of YOU — Youth Opportunity Union — Drop-In Centers, which provide gathering spaces for young people to make connections and positive choices by engaging with peers and mentors.
Additionally, $75,000 is being provided for YOU mini-grants to establish recreation programs for Dutchess youth. An additional $400,000 has been allocated to an anti-vaping initiative and another $250,000 will go toward the preservation of children’s mental health, a program in partnership with Family Services, Inc.
Also included in the budget were community-based items supporting seniors, veterans, and individuals with challenges as well as food insecurity initiatives.
Serino remains committed to her current responsibilities, and was quick to shoot down rumors of a gubernatorial run. She confirmed she’s been asked to run on the Federal level, but higher office is not an ambition.
She was even quicker to quell any whispers of retirement and plans to remain active, one way or another. “I always keep busy,” she said, maintaining that her priorities outside the county executive’s office are her family and her dog.
She was also quick to dispense chatter about discord in local government, pointing out how much she enjoyed coming together recently with her fellow lawmakers at county comptroller Dan Aymar-Blair’s swearing-in ceremony in January. She maintains cooperation in politics tends to yield positive results which, in turn, benefits Dutchess residents. Said Serino, “That’s what it’s all about.”
Webutuck's Olivia Lopane-Wickwire, no. 2, eyeing a pitch as she steps off first base.
FALLS VILLAGE, Conn. — Webutuck High School softball defeated Housatonic Valley Regional High School 14-9 on Thursday, May 15.
The non-league game was played in Falls Village, Connecticut, in what is a becoming an interstate rivalry. When these teams met last year, Housatonic won 16-3.
The match was paused in the second inning due to a lightning delay. At the time of the delay, Webutuck led 5-4.
Housatonic’s Madison Dewitt tied the game with a homer to center field once play resumed.
Webutuck pulled ahead as the game went on. Bella Milano led the team offensively. She drove in six runs for the Wildcats and hit 3 for 4 at the plate with a triple.
Pitcher Madison Krueger earned the win for Webutuck with 10 strikeouts in five and two-thirds innings. Her performance put the team total for strikeouts this season at 103.
For Housatonic, Kylie Leonard hit 3 for 5 with two RBI. Freshman Payton Wagner pitched six innings for the Mountaineers.
The annual Columbia County event draws hundreds of bargain hunters to Hillsdale’s Hamlet Park.
HILLSDALE —The town of Hillsdale’s flea market returns Saturday, May 24.
Dozens of vendors will be selling things at Hillsdale Hamlet Park, southwest of the intersection of routes 22 and 23 in Columbia County.
Items expected to be on sale range from the practical — kitchenware, furniture, toys, garden tools and clothing — to unique hand-made items, antiques and collectibles.
Vendor spaces are available. Spaces cost $50 for a 15-by-15 foot space or $30 for 10 feet by 10 feet. Vendors must bring their own tables.
“The Hillsdale Flea is a great excuse to gather up all those treasures you have laying around your house and give them a new home,” said Tim Stookesberry, a co-organizer of the event. “I’ve had a blast selling at the market the last couple of years — and have made some decent money, too.”
The market will open at 9 a.m. for early-bird shoppers during the first hour, with a suggested donation of $10 for the Hillsdale Fire Company no. 1. The market will continue from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Fire Company will also be raising funds by serving breakfast sandwiches and coffee at the event. Other food vendors also are expected to be on hand.
As this is an outdoor event, a rain date for severe weather is set for Sunday, May 25, with the same times. Notice of a rain delay will be posted on Hillsdale’s various Facebook pages as well as the town website, hillsdaleny.com, and other social media outlets.
For more information on the event, contact the organizers at hillsdalenyparks@gmail.com.
Producing a blizzard of bubbles, the Bubble Bus delighted visitors to the annual Webutuck Community Day at the high school on Saturday, May 17.
AMENIA — Outdoor and indoor fun activities awaited area families who attended the Webutuck Community Day at the high school on Saturday, May 17. The popular annual event was co-sponsored by the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation and the Webutuck PTA.
In addition to outdoor displays including a car show, large trucks, a helicopter, a state police water rescue vehicle and a bubble bus producing blizzards of bubbles, the indoor displays numbered more than 60 local and area organizations, vendors, demonstrations and volunteer opportunities, nearly all giving things away for free.
Last-minute coaching was in order before the start of an old-fashioned sack race. Millerton Village Board member Matt Hartzog was ably coordinating each race and cheering all contestants onward at Webutuck Community Day on Saturday, May 17.Photo by Leila Hawken
Old-fashioned sack races for kids were a popular outdoor feature organized and managed by Millerton Village Board members Matt Hartzog and Lisa Hermann. They provided information about the upcoming 175th anniversary Millerton’s 1851 founding. A significant celebration is being planned for next year between July 11 and 19, 2026. Volunteers are being sought now.
“We’re looking for people and organizations interested in helping out,” Hartzog said, adding that organizations might contribute an event to be scheduled within that celebration week.
“We want to fill the week,” Hartzog said. “It’s a work in progress,” Hermann added.
For information about the celebration, go to www.villageofmillerton-ny.gov/175th.
Little Kinsley Kelly from Dover, who recently celebrated her first birthday, attended her first Webutuck Community Day on Saturday, May 17. Eager to try the sandwiches being prepared in the high school cafeteria, she found the burger held by her dad to be to her liking.Photo by Leila Hawken
The Millerton Fire Company was represented by members volunteering to hand out fire safety kits, plastic helmets and baked goods, while providing fire safety information.
Second Grade teacher Sydney Cipriano was looking after the PTA Book Fair display. The Book Fair is an ongoing PTA activity. Community Day organizer and PTA President, Anna Kall, busily came and went from the Book Fair display ensuring that the event ran smoothly.
Faith Bible Chapel offered information about their Vacation Bible School, scheduled for June 23 to 27. Pastor Bill Mayhew said that the free-of-charge program for kids 2 to 18 has steadily grown in numbers over the years.
Bee Bee the Clown of Milan, an area favorite, made balloon animals.
Delighting youngsters with balloon creations, Bee Bee the Clown paused for a photo with Third Grade teacher Sydney Cipriano in the PTA book booth.Photo by Leila Hawken
Local libraries were there. The Amenia Library’s program assistant Megan Marshall had been kept so busy, she said, she had given away all of her cookies, but still had a few handcrafted bookmarks made of recycled materials to give away. NorthEast-Millerton Library children’s librarian Naomi Schmidt was distributing stickers to children who shared a poem.
Outdoors, not far from the bubbles, the New York State Troopers had brought along an air boat used in underwater rescue or recovery emergencies.
“We get to give back to our communities,” said Recovery SCUBA team member Michael Polishuk, adding that they were there to talk to children about water safety.
Funding for repairs to the NorthEast-Millerton Library were secured Assemblymember Didi Barrett (D-106).
MILLERTON — The NorthEast-Millerton Library is set to receive a facelift thanks to a $125,000 grant to support overdue repairs and necessary upgrades to the library’s Annex.
NorthEast-Millerton Library Director Rhiannon Leo-Jameson said the repairs are scheduled to begin around mid-June and conclude in early August. The grant will be used to repair structural and cosmetic damage, including rotting wood, chipping paint and damaged siding. Leo-Jameson said if there is any budget remaining, the library will replace an exterior door and window.
But it’s not just about paint and repairs. As outlined in the library’s strategic plan, which runs through the end of this year, a primary goal of the library is to “bridge the divide in our community” using the Annex to host events, meetups and offer the space to organizations looking for a place to gather.
“The Annex has become a community hub,” Leo-Jameson said. “The community deserves to have a place that is well-maintained and attractive.” The Annex is utilized by the library, community members and local organizations six days a week. It has also served as the polling location for the Town of North East.
This funding — secured by Assemblymember Didi Barrett (D-106) — comes at a critical moment, as libraries across New York face uncertainty amid significant cuts to federal support. Barrett, a longtime supporter of public libraries, said the threats to funding streams from the federal government “will, without question, impact the libraries in our district.” She said libraries like the NorthEast-Millerton Library, which generally operate on shoestring budgets, will feel these funding cuts deeply.
“It’s a critical dynamic in our country right now,” Barrett said, adding that the public has a role to play in the sustainability of libraries. “I think now is the time for the community to step up and become members, look at ways to be supportive, teach kids about programs at the libraries and get involved.”
Barrett has visited the library over the years for meetings, political events and talks. “I love that the NorthEast-Millerton Library Annex is a hub with energy and a sense of community and when it’s a newly refreshed building I know it will be super exciting for the community.”