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With North East’s EMS contract ending, looming issue is cost

MILLERTON — The Town of North East discussed the five-year contract EMS provider NDP Emergency Medical Services which ends in January, at a Town Board meeting on Thursday, July 11.

The EMS service has a three-town contract with the towns of North East, Amenia and Dover. The community is searching for providers willing to station ambulances for fewer than one emergency call per day as the contract is coming to an end.

“I met with the supervisors of Amenia and Dover and we all met with the representative of Empress,” said Chris Kennan, the Town of North East’s supervisor. “Empress is another ambulance provider. They operate in the southern and southwestern part of the county, basically Poughkeepsie on down.”

Kennan said Empress is larger than NPD, contracting with East Fishkill, Fishkill, Wappingers, Lagrange and more communities in the Hudson Valley. Empress is a union shop. The town will not know the specific costs of services until it is out to bid.

“We are bracing ourselves for a significant increase,” Kennan said.

“It’s important that we anticipate this as far ahead as possible, which is what we are doing and I will report back in August. I anticipate knowing a lot more … Any and all thoughts are welcomed because this is a huge item on our budget. It is more than ten percent of the town’s budget.”

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An evening of wine pairings worth singing about

Emily Gallagher, soprano, is one of the performers pairing wine with opera at Stissing Center.

Photo Provided

When old-world elegance calls to mind both opera and fine wine, “Opera Uncorked” answers with both. On Saturday, Aug. 8, at Stissing Center in Pine Plains, carefully curated wines from Fulton and Forbes Wine and Spirits in Ancram will be paired with classical arias from beloved operas.

The wines will mostly be drawn from the regions where many famous operas were born.

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Saturday, July 25, in the Shed at Tanglewood, the BSO took the stage with pianist Paul Lewis for Mozart’s “Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat major” (K. 595). This was Mozart’s final piano concerto, completed in January 1791. Mozart died on Dec. 5, 1791.

Premiered by Mozart himself on March 4, 1791, it was his final public appearance as a soloist.

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Classifieds - August 6, 2026

Classifieds - August 6, 2026

Help Wanted

Finance Associate: Full-Time 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

Home Help Needed. Part Time. Sharon. 407-620-7777.

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Priscilla Rudd Wolf

Priscilla Rudd Wolf

LAKEVILLE — Priscilla Rudd Wolf was born in Norwalk, Connecticut on May 29, 1946, the youngest daughter of Roswell Hopkins (“Hop”) Rudd and Josephine (“Jo”) Bauman. She was six years younger than her closest sibling, Eve, and had two older brothers Ben and Roswell. Priscilla, affectionately known as Prissy, and then only as Pris, when she had any say about it, grew-up as a dorm kid at Salisbury boys’ school, not an easy feat for a girl in the 1950s. By about age 12, her main goals in life were to (1) become a cheerleader, and (2) make her way onto American Bandstand; Jo wisely sent her off to Walnut Hill, an all girls boarding school, at age 14. Over the years, Pris gave mixed reviews of her boarding school days, but she always recounted fondly her summer visits to Block Island with her best friend, Jeannie Smith, and summer days at home in Lakeville. She loved sunbathing on the back porch of Hop and Jo’s lake house which was in clear view of Hop’s summer camp for boys where Peter Wolf was a counselor one summer. The rest is history with interludes along the way.

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Frank Camille Grusauskas

Frank Camille Grusauskas

FALLS VILLAGE — It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Frank Camille Grusauskas of Falls Village, Connecticut, on July 22, 2026, at the age of 70. Frank was born on Nov. 14, 1955 in Goshen. He was a beloved father and grandfather, uncle, brother, and partner. He was a fine woodworker and craftsman, an insatiable library patron, a musician, and a lover of life and the natural world. He was an extraordinary and talented man.

Frank spent his boyhood exploring the woods behind his childhood home, on Pie Hill Road in Goshen. He was the youngest and only son of Francis and Doris Grusauskas, with four older sisters, who he called his “Other Mothers.” From an early age he embraced Native American culture, and one of his favorite pastimes was walking local cornfields after a rain, in search of arrowheads, points, and stone tools.

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Stacie A. Weiner

Stacie A. Weiner

SALISBURY — Stacie A. Weiner passed away on July 7, 2026. Born on March 2, 1945, Stacie lived her last 51 years with her partner and spouse, Danella Schiffer, as well as with many adopted stray cats. Important people in her life include her beloved cousin Ellie Voss, Jenn Scott, a dear friend and colleague from RBC Wealth Management where she worked, Kevin Prell, also from RBC, Peter Menikoff of Salisbury and Rob Breakell, her trainer at the Canaan YMCA. Stacie was indebted to Dr. Sharynn Hall, MD, a brilliant, compassionate and supportive medical oncologist from Yale New Haven Health. Diagnosed with advanced cancer in Dec. of 2024, Stacie spent her last 1-1/2 years with determination and resilience; never complaining about her situation. She stayed active until her last month.

Stacie grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, and obtained a BA degree from Goddard College in Vermont in 1966 with a major in drama. She then earned an MA degree from New York University in 1974 also in drama and studied toward a Ph.D. in Japanese theater. While pursuing studies at NYU, she worked as an elementary school teacher.

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