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

To our readers

This year showed, once again, how essential The Lakeville Journal and The Millerton News are to our communities. Throughout 2025, we heard from readers who told us our reporting helped them better understand the issues facing their towns. Local organizations shared that attendance at their events increased following coverage in our papers or features in our newsletter. Advertisers reported an increase in business after readers saw an ad or a story about them.

Our core mission remains unchanged – to deliver trusted local news. National policy shifts created significant uncertainty this year, and we focused on explaining their local consequences: from immigration enforcement and school funding to the loss of federal support for healthcare, the arts, and food access in our rural communities. But even amid heavier topics, there was much to celebrate – Sharon Playhouse’s launch of a program for emerging theater artists; community fundraisers for Project SAGE, the Hotchkiss Library of Sharon, and the North East Community Center; and countless examples of neighbors stepping up to meet needs.

Transitions

This year was also one of important transitions in our newsroom. With John Coston’s retirement, we welcomed Christian Murray as Executive Editor. At The Millerton News, Nathan Miller became Managing Editor, and Aly Morrissey joined as a reporter. Along with a team of correspondents, they are reinvigorating coverage across eastern Dutchess County. With strong editorial teams in place across both papers, we are positioned for an ambitious reporting agenda in 2026.

Education initiatives

We remain committed to building the next generation of editors, reporters, and readers. This year, we launched a journalism curriculum and student newspaper – HVRHS Today – at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, giving students professional guidance and a platform for their voices. Our competitive summer intern program continued to draw talented young journalists, and we established a new partnership with Marist University to broaden future opportunities. None of this would have been possible without the support of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, the 21st Century Fund, the William and Mary Greve Foundation, along with generous private donors.

We look forward to the continued growth of our education program.

Sustainability

Like many community newspapers, we continue to navigate financial and operational challenges. With the help of national, local, and regional foundations — including the Foundation for Community Health, the MacArthur, Tow, and Barr foundations, and new grants from the DJ McManus and Anne and Rollin Bates foundations — we’ve been able to stabilize operations and invest in our newsroom. Combined with community support, this funding sustains essential reporting and helps us build the capacity we need for the future.

Community Engagement

This spring we held the first Millerton Street Fair, modeled on our annual Salisbury Street Fair, convening nonprofits and community groups for a day of connection and shared purpose. And in November, we presented the Estabrook Community Leadership Award to Bunny Williams, recognizing her extraordinary contributions and bringing together supporters and neighbors in celebration of community leadership.

Looking ahead to 2026, our focus is on strengthening our reporting, deepening community engagement, and building a sustainable local news organization. None of this work is possible without you — our readers, subscribers, advertisers, donors, and partners.
Thank you for your trust and support. It’s a privilege to serve our communities.

James H. Clark

CEO/Publisher

Reach out to us

Please don’t hesitate to contact me directly with questions, comments, concerns at 860-435-9873 x401 or jamesc@lakevillejournal.com.

News: Reach Executive Editor Christian Murray at christianm@lakevillejournal.com, Lakeville Journal Managing Editor Riley Klein at rileyk@lakevillejournal.com and Millerton News Managing Editor Nathan Miller at nathanm@millertonnews.com.

Letters to the Editor may be emailed to publisher@lakevillejournal.com or submitted via our websites.

Obituaries may be submitted to obituaries@lakevillejournal.com or via our websites.

Advertising inquiries can be directed to Roxanne Lee, roxannel@lakevillejournal.com, or Mary Wilbur, maryw@lakevillejournal.com. And for classified line ads, Lyndee Stalter at classified@lakevillejournal.com.

Legal Notices can be sent to Michelle Eisenman at legals@lakevillejournal.com.

Subscription questions including new subscriptions, renewals and address changes can be sent to circulation@lakevillejournal.com.

Latest News

Classifieds - August 11, 2026

Classifieds - August 11, 2026

AUTOS FOR SALE

1990 Mazda Miata hard top/soft top. Manufactured Oct. 1989. 64,000 plus miles. 99% original parts. $20,500. 203-215-0729.

HELP WANTED

Garden Help. Looking for an experienced person to weed my acre garden and cut back some plants. In Salisbury. For July and August. Could continue into Fall. naylor99@gmail.com

Keep ReadingShow less

Legal Notices - August 11, 2026

Legal Notices - August 11, 2026

Legal Notice

Notice of Formation of Chapters & Charm LLC. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on May 22nd 2026. Office location: Dutchess County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 16 Barton Street, Millerton NY 12546. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. 0

Keep ReadingShow less
Millerton dispensary faces further delays from state regulators

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.

Photo by Nathan Miller

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.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

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

Contractor alleges Amenia never paid bills for sidewalk work

The sidewalk extension project along Route 44 to Beekman Park remains incomplete nearly eight months after state transportation officials halted the project.

Photo by Nathan Miller

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.

Keep ReadingShow less
Parking variance granted to Center Street apartments

Apartment buildings at 26-32 S. Center St. currently host four housing units. Owners are seeking to renovate a fifth at the property.

Photo By Nathan Miller

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.

Keep ReadingShow less
County legislators to ban synthetic kratom derivatives

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.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

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

google preferred source

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