Latest News
Public forum on Flock cameras set for September
Graham Corrigan
Sep 01, 2026
Dutchess County’s top law enforcement officials will hold a public forum on their use of surveillance technology manufactured by Flock Safety on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 5 p.m. at the Pleasant Valley Town Hall.
The forum, hosted by County Legislator Eric Alexander, will include District Attorney Anthony Parisi and Dutchess County Sheriff Kirk Imperati.
The announcement comes amid a controversial year of expansion for automated license plate readers across the county. Flock cameras have spread through small towns, gathering vehicle movement data to aid law enforcement investigations.
In a statement, Alexander said the event will give residents an opportunity to “ask questions and express concerns” about the AI-equipped cameras, while allowing the sheriff and DA to explain how the technology is deployed.
County Legislature Chair Yvette Valdés-Smith said the forum grew out of repeated constituent concerns, while Parisi said his office and the Sheriff’s Office are prepared to “answer difficult questions” and correct misinformation, even as he defended the county’s right to use lawful tools to solve crimes. Imperati added the county has taken steps to ensure the cameras are used within legal guidelines while remaining accountable to the public.
Parisi pointed to ARTCIC, the office’s online portal for Flock activity. ARTCIC highlights arrests made with the help of the Flock system, and lists the publicly available camera locations. Parisi has described it as one of the first efforts to unify multiple agencies under one crime-analysis platform.
Flock’s cameras and software are used by law-enforcement agencies across the country. It is just one company in an industry of automatic license plate readers, but Flock’s rapid growth has drawn criticism from privacy advocates. Concerns over data sharing with outside agencies—including federal immigration authorities—have prompted municipalities from Los Angeles to Windsor, Connecticut, to terminate their Flock contracts.
Earlier this year in the town of Pine Plains, a police sergeant signed an $80,000 contract with Flock without the Town Board’s knowledge or approval. The discovery came after residents spotted survey stakes marking planned camera locations around town. The sergeant has since retired, and the town ultimately canceled the agreement with Flock.
But some property owners have entered into independent agreements with the Sheriff’s department to host the cameras, leading to the presence of at least one Flock camera in every county municipality.
In August, Dutchess County Chief Deputy Steve Reverri appeared before the Amenia Town Board to discuss the utility of these cameras, and assuage concerns that the data was being misused.
September’s forum will be the county’s most direct attempt yet to address that unease head-on. Alexander frames the event as part of an ongoing effort at transparency, and Valdés-Smith said she expects a “candid and robust conversation.”
Keep ReadingShow less
Upcoming ‘Affordability Fair’ in Amenia highlights cost-cutting options
Graham Corrigan
Sep 01, 2026
AMENIA — In the midst of the ongoing affordability crisis, Amenia’s upcoming town meeting on Thursday, Sept. 17, will double as an affordability fair.
Organized by local politicians and businesses, the fair will bring residents and local businesses together to highlight discounts already available in the community.
“These are existing programs that have not found their way to Amenia in a fulsome way,” said County Legislator Eric Alexander. “It’s my job to make sure that my constituents are aware of and have easy access to these programs.”
From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., residents can learn about property tax relief, free services for seniors, low cost veterinary services, prescription drug savings, grocery discounts, utility bill discounts, and more. Attendees are encouraged to bring their utility bills to the fair.
Alexander has organized the fair alongside State Sen. Michelle Hinchey, Assemblyman Anil Beephan, and Dutchess County Legislature Chair Yvette Valdés Smith. Participating organizations and businesses include Freshtown, Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Dutchess County Office of Veterans Affairs, and Hudson Valley Animal Rescue.
Representatives and elected officials will be on-site to answer questions and assist with applications.
The fair aims to address what Alexander sees as a lack of awareness in Amenia. On a per-capita basis, Pleasant Valley residents are five times more likely than Amenia residents to request free home-delivered meals, case management, and health insurance counseling.
Closing that gap has become more urgent as household budgets tighten.
Alexander also notes that the high prices aren’t just driven by local factors. The conflict in Iran, insurance spikes, and tariffs have driven up the cost of many household items. Wages and Social Security have not kept pace — and Alexander says relief from high prices is still a ways off.
“The purpose of this event is to help people start saving money now,” he said, “and be prepared for what lies ahead.”
Keep ReadingShow less
Protective order issued in former IMS athletic director’s sexual assault case
Christian Murray
Sep 01, 2026
TORRINGTON — A judge issued a protective order Thursday, Aug. 27, in the criminal case against Maxwell Abendroth, the former Indian Mountain School athletic director and gym teacher charged with three felonies involving alleged sexual contact with a 15-year-old student.
The court identified the person protected by the order only by initials and did not disclose the individual’s relationship to Abendroth or the pending case.
The charges against Abendroth were not otherwise addressed during the brief proceeding in Torrington Superior Court.
The order prohibits Abendroth, 32, from contacting the protected person by telephone, electronically, in writing, or through a third party.
The judge told Abendroth that the order can be modified only by a Superior Court judge and remains binding even if the protected person attempts to contact him.
“No contact really means no contact,” the judge said, explaining that a violation would constitute a new felony offense.
The order also requires Abendroth to surrender or transfer any firearms and ammunition in his possession if he has not already done so.
Abendroth declined to comment when approached by a Lakeville Journal reporter outside the courthouse.
Abendroth is charged with fourth-degree sexual assault and two counts of risk of injury to a minor stemming from alleged conduct at the Lakeville school in January.
He was arrested Aug. 18 after surrendering at Connecticut State Police Troop B in North Canaan. He was released on $50,000 bond.
A 14-page arrest warrant affidavit provides further details about the allegations and Indian Mountain School’s response.
According to the affidavit, an IMS administrator making rounds Jan. 25 entered Abendroth’s office and saw him and the victim standing close together in a way the administrator considered “unsettling” and “odd.” The administrator reported that Abendroth pushed the student by the shoulder, causing her to fall over a coffee table.
The school’s director of student health and wellness interviewed the student and Abendroth the following day.
The student initially denied that anything inappropriate had occurred. She said she had been discussing exercises for back problems with Abendroth and that he had never made her uncomfortable. The school official reported that the student did not appear distressed.
Abendroth told the school that the student had come to discuss a rehabilitation protocol and that he nudged her, inadvertently causing her to fall, according to the affidavit.
Administrators continued investigating and reviewed communications between Abendroth and the student.
They found text messages dating to Nov. 20, 2025, that appeared romantic, although the initial review found nothing indicating a physical relationship, the affidavit states.
The school reported the matter to the state Department of Children and Families on Jan. 27. State police began investigating later that day. IMS placed Abendroth on administrative leave that day and fired him shortly afterward.
The school provided investigators with 40 files containing communications between Abendroth and the student. A DCF caseworker combined the files into a document totaling approximately 383 pages.
State police said Abendroth sent the student 133 emails from his school account between Nov. 20 and Jan. 22. Investigators also obtained letters and handwritten notes given to the student.
In one letter quoted in the warrant, Abendroth allegedly wrote that he felt himself being drawn toward the student and sought opportunities to see her around campus. He acknowledged that emailing her, leaving notes, and learning her schedule could get him “into a lot of trouble.”
“We do need to be careful because there are some observant people around,” he allegedly wrote.
Another email proposed using coded messages to select dates when the two could communicate.
Abendroth, according to the affidavit, would also leave handwritten notes in her cubby. “Hey, you look beautiful this morning,” one note read. Another said: “I wish it would be just you and me in my office.”
After initially denying inappropriate conduct, the student later told a DCF caseworker that she and Abendroth had kissed twice, according to the affidavit.
During a Feb. 3 forensic interview, she described several alleged encounters.
She said that during one encounter in a dark study-hall room, Abendroth grabbed her and kissed her, placed his hands on her buttocks over her clothing, and pulled her close.
During another, she alleged that he put his hands under her shirt, unclipped her bra, and touched her skin beneath the bra.
The student also provided a different account of the Jan. 25 encounter.
She alleged that she was on top of Abendroth in his office while he lifted her shirt and kissed her stomach. When the administrator entered, she said, Abendroth pushed her away, causing her to fall over the coffee table. She was not injured.
The student described an earlier incident in which Abendroth allegedly picked her up, pulled her close, and kissed her. Investigators found an email that appeared to refer to that encounter.
“I’m sorry that I scared you earlier when I picked you up,” the email stated. “I kinda just lost control and wanted to be close to you.”
Head of School Lisa Sun told families in an e-mail that IMS acted immediately after learning of the conduct, supported the student, notified authorities, and conducted an internal investigation.
Sun said that investigation found no evidence of misconduct involving other students but encouraged anyone with information to contact the school or police.
Abendroth worked at IMS from August 2016 until January 2026. He became director of the athletic department in 2019.
Keep ReadingShow less
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
Student films bring hidden history to the big screen
Patrick L. Sullivan
Sep 01, 2026
Rhonan Mokriski, left, and Lionel Maltby discussed the student’s film at The Moviehouse Thursday, Aug. 27.
Photo by Patrick L. Sullivan
MILLERTON – Five student films on little-known aspects of history were shown at The Moviehouse in Millerton Thursday, Aug. 27.
Rhonan Mokriski, a history teacher at Salisbury School, introduced the films, which were from the 2026 Troutbeck Symposium, held at the Troutbeck hotel complex in Amenia.
“Hamilton in Salisbury” by Rocco Famularo, a student at Salisbury School, used primary sources and some detective work to establish that Alexander Hamilton did in fact have a connection to Salisbury.
Drawing on a survey by Samuel Moore, Famularo noted that what is now Route 44 was known for years as Hamilton Street.
And working backwards from an item in The Lakeville Journal in 1941, Famularo was able to find evidence of a 1793 real estate transaction in Salisbury involving Hamilton.
Ty Moynahan, another Salisbury School student, looked at the Northeast Lime Company of North Canaan, which produced magnesium.
Magnesium was needed as part of the Manhattan Project, which produced the first atomic bombs, subsequently used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan during World War II. Moynahan interviewed Christian Allyn of North Canaan, who said that the Northeast Lime Company was known for the purity of the product and the plant’s ability to produce the volume necessary.
There was a personal connection for the filmmaker. He interviewed his grandfather Steve Moynahan, who told the story of his father, John F. Moynahan, who worked on the project.
“My name was actually on the bomb” that was detonated over Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.
“It was supposed to be the bomb that ended the war,” said Steve Moynahan. “My father wrote ‘No white crosses for Stevie’ on it.”
Produced by a team at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, “MLK in Connecticut” looks at the summer a 15-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. spent at a tobacco farm in Connecticut.
The story relates how King, traveling by train in the summer of 1944, had to ride in a segregated car until Washington, D.C., where the travelers switched to a train with integrated seating.
He was headed to the Cullman Brothers tobacco farm in Simsbury. The farm produced broadleaf tobacco for cigar wrappers.
One interviewee, Lerone Martin of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute, said King’s future career was foreshadowed at the farm, when he was asked to lead Bible study.
The Black students working at the farm were invited to worship by a church in Simsbury, and King was asked to join the choir.
The MLK film was produced by Jordan Almeida, Sophia Camphouse, Ivy Zheng, and Sophia Fitzpatrick.
Another film was “Hotchkiss and Hampton,” made by students in Hotchkiss teacher Amanda Robiolo’s history classes, who examined the connection between The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville and what was then known as the Hampton Agricultural and Industrial Institute in Hampton, Virginia. (It is now Hampton University.)
In 1903 Hotchkiss students were making direct financial donations to Hampton and the relationship deepened over the years. The students practiced “microhistory,” making use of census records, city directories, and military records.
The final film, “Juanita Jackson: The Power of Youth” by Lionel Maltby of Salisbury School, focused on the remarkable career of Juanita Jackson Mitchell, who was the first African-American woman to practice law in Maryland and was active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) starting in the mid-1930s.
After the films, Mokriski opened the discussion by noting that the 2026 Troutbeck Symposium was the sixth year of the event, which brings high school students together to work on neglected areas of history and to tell those stories.
“We’ve found so many good ones,” he said. “You just got a taste of it.”
Mokriski said that in addition to acting as historians, the students are also filmmakers, responsible for all the technical aspects of a successful film.
Keep ReadingShow less
Lakeville Open Horse Show raises funds for next generation of riders
Madi Long & Aly Morrissey
Sep 01, 2026
Jazmine Bona and The Great Gatsby compete in the Power and Speed Jumpers on Sunday, Aug. 30.
Photo by Aly Morrissey
MILLBROOK — The annual Lakeville Open Horse Show brought riders and equine enthusiasts to Riga Meadow at Coole Park Farm in Millbrook on Sunday, Aug. 30, for the 69th annual fundraiser hosted by the Lakeville Pony Club.
Horses and ponies with names like Pop Tart, Trigger and The Great Gatsby competed under a late-August sun, with ribbons and prizes distributed to riders of varying experience levels.
The show featured a mix of competitions in which horses and riders performed on level ground and over jumps, including hunter events judged on a horse’s movement, equitation events focused on the rider’s position and balance, and jumper events judged on the pair’s speed and accuracy.
Spectators also came out in support of the Lakeville Pony Club, which aims to inspire a love of riding while expanding access to a sport that can be expensive.
The Pony Club is a local branch of The United States Pony Clubs, a national organization centered on equine education for young riders. The Lakeville branch is one of the organization’s oldest continuously operating clubs. It currently has 11 members, ranging in age from 10 to 20.
“It teaches everything — veterinary work, farrier work, a little bit about everything — so you become a well-rounded horse person,” said organizer and director Linda Bushnell, who began riding at age three and is a Pony Club graduate herself.
With roots in Lakeville, the club was previously based on Route 41 before moving to the Millbrook area in 2018 after the original property was sold.
Members participate in mounted activities while also learning horse management, including the day-to-day responsibilities involved in caring for horses and ponies.
Proceeds from Sunday’s horse show help support club activities, including rallies and clinics, but Bushnell said much of the fundraising goes toward maintaining Quincy, the beloved club horse available to young riders who do not have a horse of their own.
Having a horse specifically for club members is not something offered by every Pony Club, and the costs associated with Quincy — including boarding, veterinary care and farrier services — make him one of the Lakeville club’s largest expenses.
District Commissioner Sara Sartorini, the club’s volunteer leader and chief administrator of the Pony Club, estimated Sunday’s show would raise between $2,000 and $3,000, with proceeds also supporting club merchandise and activities throughout the year. The funds are raised through rider entry fees and sponsorships.
Years ago, Bushnell said, when the club operated out of Lakeville, many of the children interested in riding did not have a horse of their own.
“Some people thought it would be really good for the kids to be able to have their own horse,” she said. The club began offering designated riding days with Jerry, its club horse at the time, a tradition that continues today with Quincy. The arrangement gives members access to a horse without the expense of owning one.
“It’s like your own horse for a day,” Bushnell said.
Millerton resident Jaclyn Perusse purchased a gift certificate for riding lessons for her daughter, Lillian, for Christmas and said she became hooked. “She’s been riding since the day after Christmas,” said Perusse, who is also a lifelong rider.
“Everyone at the club is very welcoming,” she said, adding that the short distance from Millerton is also a draw. Perusse said she and her husband were proud to see their daughter compete on Sunday.
Sartorini’s daughter, Eliza, joined the club in 2022 after her 4-H club closed. Sartorini was then recruited to serve as district commissioner.
“It’s like another part-time job,” she joked. “But it’s worth it because I know she’ll have her barn friends for life.”
Membership for 2027 costs $185 and includes access to Quincy, the club horse, monthly meetings and a weekly summer program, among other activities. Members can arrange designated days to ride him and may also compete with him in horse shows, giving children without horses of their own an opportunity to participate.
Former Pony Club member Mia Dodge returned to the show with Trigger, a young horse competing for the first time. The pair won each of their events, earning a championship ribbon.
Dodge, now 19, was 8 years old when she first competed in the Lakeville Open.
“I love getting to come back here,” she said. “Pony Club taught me a lot that I now get to use when working with a young horse like Trigger. It’s a great environment to show him the ropes and support young riders.”
Keep ReadingShow less
Original play packs Amenia Town Hall theater
Joseph Brennan
Sep 01, 2026
The long-anticipated “Amenia’s Spycatcher” received enthusiastic applause following the opening night performance on Friday, Aug. 21. Written and directed by local resident George Bistransin, and sponsored by the Amenia Historical Society, the three-act play captured a thread of the town’s Revolutionary War history, while bringing the 21st-century community together.
Photo by Leila Hawken
AMENIA — Colonial history came to life last weekend as local resident George Bistransin presented a play he wrote, Amenia’s Spycatcher, about some of Amenia’s early residents.
The obstacles he had to overcome to put on the production were daunting despite the fact that he was backed by a $15,000 grant.
The play took place in late August, which meant many townspeople would be on vacation or preoccupied with summer outdoor activities, rather than choosing to be inside a theater without air conditioning.
Also, the play’s subjects, George and Mary Paine, were hardly heroes of yore students in the old Amenia schoolhouse would have learned about in history class. Only a few facts were known about an encounter these Revolutionary War era patriots had with a spy, which may have merely been a legend. Yet that didn’t stop George from filling the parking lot and sparking standing ovations.
The theater was nearly filled for all three performances last weekend from Aug. 21 to Aug. 23. The crowd reacted eagerly even though the subject matter was dusty history. History buffs came from all walks of life, engaged by the expository prologues delivered by a single actor speaking directly to the audience before the curtain in the footlights. These set the moment of time for the coming action and explained the events of the War for Independence going on far from the sleepy dairy burg of Amenia.
Before the first curtain went up, Bistransin, as director, candidly admitted that “judging from last night’s dress rehearsal, we are ready.” At the last minute Bistransin had finally found a stage manager, his brother, who came to visit and had to learn fast. Cast member Wade Crow had volunteered to step up and fill a role left vacant when one of the actors had to leave the play unexpectedly. Luckily his daughter, local thespian and Webutuck student Fiona Crow, already had a big part so it became a family affair. “He’s our savior,” actress Sadie Whitlow said.
Bistransin is not someone who shows his worry. He does not seem to fear failure. “More people have showed up than I expected,” he said. “But you never know how people are going to receive your work.”
Bistransin met compliments of his work with gentle deflection, pointing to a love for theater that drives him despite the potential of failure. “I’m retired, I love theater, I wanted to mount a production but I don’t know if it is any good,” he said. “I’ve put on plays where there were more people on stage than in the audience.”
The production wasn’t without its hiccups. Opening night jitters caused a mix-up where a scene was skipped. The actors accidentally started the next scene and it was impossible to go back. But the play was well received, Bsitransin said.
“The audience never noticed,” he said. “It’s live theater, things happen.”
The actors made it work, handling it like pros. This was particularly true of the star playing Mary Paine, Sadie Witlow. She is a working actress and gave life to her lead role alongside Gary Petagine, another steady hand, who portrayed Ephraim Paine, and has played other historical figures in his career. What the rest of the cast lacked in experience, they made up for with an amusing bit or an attitude that played well in an amateur production. “I’m having fun,” Fiona Crow said. “I love theater.”
Kent native Margaret O’Brian praised Bistransin’s directing. “George was a wonderful director, very kind, personable,” she said. “I knew him from the Town’s Executive Committee. I enjoyed the experience.”
Bistransin and the others openly acknowledged the crucial role set and light designer David Palmieri played. He brought the play’s only setting, a convincing Colonial farm house, and his lighting created a natural feel.
The brighter lights of Broadway are only ninety miles south down Route 22, but this short slice of a full play demonstrated how a night of culture can come to a tiny town on a hot summer night. Bistransin’s daring and dedication to carry through his vision of history was on full display. These long dead souls, now only stones in the Amenia Burying Ground, were up this weekend, running around on stage, fighting over love and double-crossing spies lost in the mists of history’s scraps that survive.
“I had the time of my life,” Bistransin said. “And was thrilled to work on ‘Amenia’s Spycatcher’ with talented and hard-working actors and crew. I hope that we will start a theater group based in the Town Hall Theater.”
Keep ReadingShow less
Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.
loading
