FALLS VILLAGE — Shea Stones is a noteworthy project devised by Shea Cohn’s family to memorialize his too-short life and to spread his spirit of adventure out into the world, near and far.
A tragic motor vehicle accident in March 2020 took the life of the 16-year-old Falls Village resident. Those who knew the popular young man and those who only knew of him mourn the loss.
To have known him was to know that Shea collected stones he encountered during his travels. Stones were collected. If they were smooth enough, they were used for skimming. Others were appreciated and carried home as souvenirs of a day’s adventures.
During a conversation on Friday, March 12, Shea Cohn’s family gathered on Zoom. His parents, Denise and Doug in Falls Village, and sisters Emma and Grace shared memories and stories of Shea. Emma was in Salisbury, Md., where she teaches English to students in the 10th grade. Grace, younger of the two sisters, is studying at the University of South Carolina.
“Shea was always collecting good skimmers,” his father said.
“And also shells by the seaside,” Emma added.
“It all started with my mom,” Grace recalled, prompting Denise to explain that she had known of a similar concept created for different circumstances, and remolded the idea. What emerged was the idea of stones to reflect the uniqueness of Shea, his affinity for small rocks, and his love for travel.
Fittingly, Shea Stones tend to travel.
The concept is simple. Shea Stones can be obtained from the designated website, either pre-decorated or the family will provide a kit with a stone and paints you can decorate, as you wish.
Shea Stones are traveling the world
If someone is having a family gathering anywhere, leave a Shea Stone behind, perhaps providing a photo of the stone so that it can be added to the 350 stones and photos already on display.
When someone finds the stone, instructions on the stone indicate that the stone can be taken and left somewhere else as a remembrance of Shea, with a photo taken in the new location, if the person wishes.
The locations where stones have been deposited are tracked informally on a Google map on the website. So far, map pins indicate that Shea Stones have been deposited in all 50 states, Europe and South America.
In what the Cohns term “moving the spirit along,” there are 250 destination locales where stones have been left in seven different countries around the world. The family indicates that there are many in Falls Village, of course, which counts as one destination.
One of the first stones ever found was one that Grace left at Seabrook Beach in New Hampshire, Shea’s favorite vacation spot. She had lost it into the sandy beach. As it turned out the person who found it was named “Shea.” That person in turn has placed it somewhere else.
A stone that was placed in Annapolis, Md., made its way to Washington state. Another went on to Guatemala. The stories abound.
Curious, talented and beloved
Remembering her brother, Emma noted that she was eight years Shea’s elder, so her relationship was more of a mothering overseer.
“He knew how to make things interesting,” Emma said. “His adventurousness challenged us in the best ways.”
She described him as very, very bright and an incredible musician, easily learning and surpassing anything she had to teach him about music.
Shea was so musically gifted, the family recalled his eighth-grade graduation ceremony from the Lee H. Kellogg School when music teacher Brook Martinez paid tribute to Shea’s piano talents by performing Billy Joel’s “Piano Man,” with appropriately adjusted lyrics. The audience cheered.
Closer in age to Shea, with four years between them, Grace said that he was an overall good brother, although they messed with each other as much as they could.
Shea could solve a Rubik’s Cube in 48 seconds, his dad recalled.
“We knew he would be remarkable.” Enjoying a vast circle of friends, Doug said that Shea was bright and curious, and able to converse easily with adults.
“He did his research,” his dad said.
“Shea took the time to hear and understand other points of view,” his mother added, remembering several instances of Shea’s demonstration of innate empathy.
The Cohns are now also involved with the Boston-based New England Donor Services (NEDS), having discovered that Shea had volunteered to be an organ donor, even before he had earned a driver’s license. As a result, seven recipients have benefited from Shea’s organs and tissue. All seven have received Shea Stones and have placed them somewhere. A Shea Stone now rests by the sign at the NEDS entrance.
To learn more about Shea Stones, go to www.sheacohn.com.
State Sen. Stephen Harding
NEW MILFORD — State Sen. and Minority Leader Stephen Harding announced Jan. 20 the launch of his re-election campaign for the state’s 30th Senate District.
Harding was first elected to the State Senate in November 2022. He previously served in the House beginning in 2015. He is an attorney from New Milford.
In his campaign announcement, he said, “There is still important work to do to make Connecticut more affordable, government more accountable, and create economic opportunity. I’m running for reelection to continue standing up for our communities, listening to residents, and delivering real results.”
As of late January, no publicly listed challenger has filed to run against him.
The 30th District includes Bethlehem, Brookfield, Cornwall, Falls Village, Goshen, Kent, Litchfield, Morris, New Fairfield, New Milford, North Canaan, Salisbury, Sharon, Sherman, Warren, Washington, Winchester and part of Torrington.
MILLERTON — James (Jimmy) Cookingham, 51, a lifelong local resident, passed away on Jan. 19, 2026.
James was born on April 17, 1972 in Sharon, the son of Robert Cookingham and the late Joanne Cookingham.
He attended Webutuck Central School.
Jimmy was an avid farmer since a very young age at Daisey Hill and eventually had joint ownership of Daisey Hill Farm in Millerton with his wife Jessica.
He took great pride in growing pumpkins and sweet corn.
He was very outdoorsy and besides farming, loved to ride four wheelers, fish, and deer hunt. He also loved to make a roaring bonfire.
He was a farmer, friend, husband, father, son and brother. He will be missed by many.
He is survived by his father, Robert Cookingham, wife Jessica (Ball) Cookingham, daughters, Hailey Cookingham-Loiodice (Matt), Taylor Ellis-Tanner (Jimmy) and sister Brenda Valyou, as well as many cousins, nieces and nephews.
He is predeceased by his mother, Joanne (Palmer) Cookingham.
His daughter, Hailey, will always keep his legacy alive by their father-daughter antics, such as their handshake, nicknames and making “quacking noises” at each other.
Services/Memorials will be held at a later date.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
Telecom Reg’s Best Kept On the Books
When Connecticut land-use commissions update their regulations, it seems like a no-brainer to jettison old telecommunications regulations adopted decades ago during a short-lived period when municipalities had authority to regulate second generation (2G) transmissions prior to the Connecticut Siting Council (CSC) being ordered by a state court in 2000 to regulate all cell tower infrastructure as “functionally equivalent” services.
It is far better to update those regs instead, especially for macro-towers given new technologies like small cells. Even though only ‘advisory’ to the CSC, the preferences of towns by law must be taken into consideration in CSC decision making. Detailed telecom regs – not just a general wish list -- are evidence that a town has put considerable thought into where they prefer such infrastructure be sited without prohibiting service that many – though not all – citizens want and that first responders rely on for public safety.
Such regs come in handy when egregious tower sites are proposed in sensitive areas, typically on private land. The regs are a town’s first line of defense, especially when cross referenced to plans of conservation and development, P&Z regulations, and wetlands setbacks. They identify how/where the town plans to intersect with the CSC process. They are also a roadmap for service providers regarding preferred sites and sometimes less neighborhood contention. In fact, to have no telecom regs can weaken a town’s rights to protect environmental, scenic, and historic assets, and serve up whole neighborhoods to unnecessary overlapping coverage and corporate overreach. Such regs are unique to every town and should not follow anyone else’s boiler plate, especially industry’s.
Connecticut is the only state that has a centralized siting entity for cell towers. The good news is that applicants must prove need for new tower sites in an evidentiary proceeding and any decisions have the weight of the state behind them. The bad news is that the CSC used to be far less industry-friendly and rote in their reviews, which now resemble a check list. There is an operative assumption at CSC that if an applicant wants a tower, they must need it, otherwise why spend significant money to run the approval gauntlet? This reflects a subtle shift over the years at CSC from sincere willingness to protect the environment toward minimal tweaking of bad applications with minor changes. The bottom line is that towns really cannot rely on the CSC to do all the work for them.
What CSC issues telecom providers is a “certificate of environmental compatibility” after an evidentiary proceeding (not unlike a court case) with intervenors, parties, expert witnesses, and the service provider’s technical pro’s sworn in and subject to cross examination. Service providers get to do the same with any opposition from intervenor/party participants – like towns and citizens -- and their experts. It’s an impressive process whose ultimate goal is the fine balancing between allowing adequate/reliable public services and protecting state ecology with minimal damage to scenic, historic, and recreational values. They unfortunately often fall short of their mandate – like approving cell towers with diesel generators over town aquifers -- evidenced by CSC only rejecting about five cell towers in the past 15-20 years.
The CSC was founded in 1972 and clarified its mission in the 1980’s to prevent the state from being carved up willy-nilly by gas pipelines, high tension corridors, and broadcast towers. With the sudden proliferation of cell towers beginning in late 1990’s, it became the most sued agency in Connecticut by both an arrogant upstart industry if applications were denied and by towns/citizens when bad sites were forced on them. CSC gradually formed a defensive posture that drives their decisions toward industry with deeper pockets and attorneys on retainer.
For citizens, nothing can wreck one’s day like the CSC. It behooves towns to protect what little toolkit they have, and understand the legal parameters of the CSC’s playing field. The CSC is not a “normal” government agency where municipal/citizen redress is based on logic and local support. Their process is largely immune to everything but specific kinds of evidence – like town regs with setbacks/fall zones, radio frequency transmission signal strengths, sensitive areas identified, and detailed wildlife inventory, among others.
There is a current cell tower fight involving two intervening towns -- Washington and Warren; both with good cell tower regs – over a tower site within 1200’ of a Montessori School, near Steep Rock’s nature preserves with comprehensive geology/wildlife databases that include endangered, threatened and special concern flora and fauna, on established federal/state migratory bird flyways, within throwing distance to a historic site capable of being listed on the Underground Railroad, and with an access road on a blind curve entering a state highway that will permanently damage wetlands, vernal pools, and core forests. There are well credentialed environmental experts, including Dr. Michael Klemens, former chair of Salisbury’s P&Z, as well as the former director of migratory bird management at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and an RF engineer testifying to alternative approaches, plus three attorneys representing intervenors. It is the most professional challenge I have seen at CSC since Falls Village successfully mounted one that protected Robbins Swamps several years ago.
The hearing is ongoing, with uncertain results. To see what it takes today to stop an inappropriate tower siting, see Docket #543 under “Pending Matters” at https://portal.ct.gov/csc before removing local cell tower regs – the lowest hanging fruit that any town can possess in case it’s needed.
B, Blake Levitt is the Communications Director at The Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council. She writes about how technology affects biology.