roads

Tower Hill Road paving project draws to a close

Tower Hill Road paving project draws to a close

Putting the finishing touches on a three-year project to convert the 1.9 miles of Tower Hill Road from dirt to a paved surface, the town crew paused for a photo on Thursday, July 25. Operating the excavator was town Highway Superintendent Megan Chamberlin. Town crew Foreman Paul Voorhees, at left, and crew member Darren Peterson were applying traprock to control runoff on the shoulders. Asphalt paving was completed in June.

Photo by Leila Hawken

WASSAIC — After three years of work and planning, a paving project along Tower Hill Road in Wassaic is nearing completion.
In recent days the town crew has applied finishing materials to disperse water runoff along the 1.9 miles of asphalt surfacing. The road extends from Route 22 in Wassaic to the Town of Washington on its far end.

Over its long history as a narrow, hilly dirt road, Amenia Highway Superintendent Megan Chamberlin commented, Tower Hill Road was a safety concern for residents and emergency vehicles alike. Mud season was always a problem. If the dirt road had failed to freeze in the winter, town plows struggled. A heavy rain would require immediate attention, Chamberlin said.

The project began in 2022 with repairing the road, replacing drainage pipes and enlarging the culverts to control drainage. In 2023 a base was applied to serve as a binder for the asphalt layer that was applied in June of this year.

The finishing work by town crews in July has applied materials they saved from a Wassaic road project in 2021 and adding traprock to the road’s shoulders to further control the erosive effects of water runoff, Chamberlin said.

The road improvement project was supported by state funding leading to an appropriation of $398,090, and a donation to the town of $277,000 from Tower Hill Road Works, LLC.

roads

Latest News

Millerton’s 175th committee advances plans for celebration, seeks vendors and sponsors

Millerton’s 175th committee advances plans for celebration, seeks vendors and sponsors

The Millerton 175th anniversary committee's tent during the village's trunk-or-treat event on Oct. 31, 2025.

Photo provided

MILLERTON — As Millerton officially enters its 175th year, the volunteer committee tasked with planning its milestone celebration is advancing plans and firming up its week-long schedule of events, which will include a large community fair at Eddie Collins Memorial Park and a drone light show. The events will take place this July 11 through 19.

Millerton’s 175th committee chair Lisa Hermann said she is excited for this next phase of planning.

Keep ReadingShow less
events

Why the focus on Greenland?

Why the focus on Greenland?

As I noted here in an article last spring entitled “Hands off Greenland”, the world’s largest island was at the center of a developing controversy. President Trump was telling all who would listen that, for national security reasons, the United States needed to take over Greenland, amicably if possible or by force if necessary. While many were shocked by Trump’s imperialistic statements, most people, at least in this country, took his words as ill-considered bluster. But he kept telling questioners that he had to have Greenland (oftenechoing the former King of France, Louis XIV who famously said, “L’État c’est moi!”.

Since 1951, the U.S. has had a security agreement with Denmark giving it near total freedom to install and operate whatever military facilities it wanted on Greenland. At one point there were sixteen small bases across the island, now there’s only one. Denmark’s Prime Minister has told President Trump that the U.S. should feel free to expand its installations if needed. As climate change is starting to allow a future passage from thePacific Ocean to the Arctic, many countries are showing interest in Greenland including Russia and China but this hardly indicates an international crisis as Trump and his subordinates insist.

Keep ReadingShow less
column

Military hardware as a signpost

Military hardware as a signpost

It is hard not to equate military spending and purchasing with diplomatic or strategic plans being made, for reasons otherwise unknown. Keeping an eye out for the physical stuff can often begin to shine a light on what’s coming – good and possibly very bad.

Without Congressional specific approval, the Pentagon has awarded a contract to Boeing for $8,600,000,000 (US taxpayer dollars) for another 25 F-15A attack fighters to be given to Israel. Oh, and there’s another 25 more of the F-15EX variant on option, free to Israel as well.

Keep ReadingShow less
column

Truth and evidence depend on the right to observe

Truth and evidence depend on the right to observe

A small group of protesters voice opposition to President Trump's administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Amenia's Fountain Square at the intersection of Route 44 and Route 22 on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025

Photo by Nathan Miller

The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, and before him Renée Good, by federal agents in Minnesota is not just a tragedy; it is a warning. In the aftermath, Trump administration officials released an account of events that directly contradicted citizen video recorded at the scene. Those recordings, made by ordinary people exercising their rights, showed circumstances sharply at odds with the official narrative. Once again, the public is asked to choose between the administration’s version of events and the evidence of its own eyes.

This moment underscores an essential truth: the right to record law enforcement is not a nuisance or a provocation; it is a safeguard. As New York Times columnist David French put it, “Citizen video has decisively rebutted the administration’s lies. The evidence of our eyes contradicts the dishonesty of the administration’s words.”

Keep ReadingShow less
editorial