Monique Montaigne
Latest News
Falls Village library discusses $10,000 grant, automatic doors
Patrick L. Sullivan
Jul 29, 2026
The Hunt Library could receive automatic doors thanks to a $10,000 grant from the American Library Association.
Patrick L. Sullivan
FALLS VILLAGE — Patrons of the David M. Hunt Library gathered Saturday, July 25, to help decide how a $10,000 grant from the American Library Association should be spent, with automatic entrance doors emerging as a leading proposal.
The grant is part of an ALA program, “Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities,” that offers grants to small and rural libraries to increase the accessibility of facilities, services, and programs to better serve people with disabilities.
The grant requires recipients to hold at least one community conversation before the funds are used. During the discussion, Library Director Meg Sher proposed installing automatic door-opening buttons at the library’s main entrance. She said the entrance’s two separate doors, with a small vestibule between them, can be difficult for patrons using wheelchairs, walkers or canes to navigate.
“I’ve watched people struggle with the doors for 13 years,” Sher said.
Her proposal would add one automatic door-opening button outside the entrance and another inside the vestibule, allowing patrons to open each door without assistance.
Sher said the improvements would benefit not only people with mobility challenges, but also parents pushing strollers and delivery drivers bringing boxes of books into the library.
Ellery “Woods” Sinclair, a library patron who uses a wheelchair, asked whether there was enough demand to justify the project.
“I think so,” Sher replied. “The median age in town is getting older, and I see more patrons who need assistance.”
Other ideas discussed during the meeting included purchasing shopping baskets to make it easier for patrons to carry books while browsing, and adding display shelving to better showcase library materials.
Sher emphasized that installing an elevator is not under consideration.
“We’re not talking about an elevator,” she said, noting that such a project would cost far more than the grant and would require a substantial fundraising campaign.
No decisions were made during the meeting. Sher said her next step is to seek cost estimates for the proposed automatic doors by consulting Salisbury Comptroller Joe Cleaveland about a similar project completed at the Grove building in Lakeville.
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Cornwall celebrates Colonial-era contra dancing at Foote Field
Allison Gollenberg
Jul 29, 2026
Residents perform to the commands of Rachel Gall, who helped organize a Colonial-era dance party in Cornwall July 25. A contra group met in Cornwall for about 15 years up until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Allison Gollenberg
CORNWALL — Foote Field was transformed into a Colonial-era dance hall on July 25, as residents gathered for a picnic and an afternoon of dancing as part of the town’s America 250 celebration.
Rachel Gall, known as the Falls Village Fiddler, led the group through several dances set to period music. People of all ages joined in on the fun, with some members of the band even donning Revolutionary-era garb.
Gall said First Selectman Gordon Ridgway suggested the idea for the dance. She drew on her experience as a fiddler, caller and contra dancer to bring the event to life.
Contra dancing is a type of traditional American folk dance in which a caller, in this case Gall, leads participants through a series of moves known as figures. These sorts of dances have a long history, Gall said, but experienced a strong revival in the 1960s. That’s when her collaborator, Tom Scott, became involved with a dancing group in nearby Sheffield, Massachusetts, which he said has been dancing “right on through from colonial times.”
Rachel Gall, known as the Falls Village Fiddler, led Cornwall residents through contra dancing, a type of traditional American folk dance, at Foote Field July 25.Allison Gollenberg
Scott said there was a contra group that met in Cornwall for about 15 years up until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gall and Scott said they’d love to bring the activity back to the area.
“We’re having a problem getting new dancers,” Scott said. “The older ones are getting older, dropping out. And the new generation coming up doesn’t seem to be as excited about going out and dancing. Which is too bad. It’s a lot of fun.”
Scott added that he met his wife at a contra dancing event. Gall said connection is the whole point of the activity.
“It’s a very social dance,” she said. “I always say that all of you grandparents and ancestors did this and that’s why you’re here – because somebody went up to dance with somebody else.”
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Let's Hear It - July 30, 2026
Lakeville Journal
Jul 29, 2026
This Week
Some of the best places in our community aren’t the ones you’ll find on a map —they’re the quiet trails, family-owned businesses, scenic overlooks, and local favorites that residents know and love. This week, we want to celebrate the hidden gems that make our corner of the world unique.
What’s your favorite hidden gem in our community, and why should others check it out?
Send your responses to social@lakevillejournal.com by Monday, Aug. 3 at 10 a.m. or comment on Facebook or Instagram.
We’ll publish a selection in next week’s paper.
Last Week’s Question
What is one local issue or topic you wish you knew more about?
“Would love to know the status of the improvement plan for Century Boulevard in Millerton — including parking and landscaping. AND, what is the status of getting sewer system along Main Street.”
— Lori Coats, Millerton
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Letters to the Editor - July 30, 2026
Lakeville Journal
Jul 29, 2026
A crisis in affordable housing
In 1968 the world population was 3.5 billion, today it is over 8.3 billion. No wonder affordable housing is a world-wide problem. But in Washington the administration cut 13% of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Purchasing a house is the most important investment people can make, and it helps them start accumulating wealth. A homeowner becomes a part of a community and meets his neighbors. As the owner pays property tax, he becomes aware of the town government, schools, fire and ambulance service. Home ownership is an important part of the American Dream, and it is important for our towns and suburbs.
Young people used to be able to buy their first home in their twenties, now the average age of first-time buyers is thirty-eight. The medium price of a family home in the US is $440 000.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act was passed as bipartisan legislation despite the President refusing to sign it. Among its benefits is to stop institutional investors from purchasing small family homes and reselling them at a higher price. The Act gives renters credit for purchasing a home. It encourages building factory-built modular homes to reduce prices and it creates a pilot program to make available small mortgage grants to pay for down payments and closing costs. It is time for the young people working at Walmart and other low-entry jobs to afford to buy a home too.
The administration with the legislature in Connecticut is doing its part, they built twenty-one thousand new units of housing for rentals and built ten thousand new starter homes. We need affordable housing to convince young people to stay in Connecticut. There are just not enough houses available for the demand.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition says there is no state in the country with adequate affordable rental housing.
Lizbeth Piel
Sharon
This year, how you vote matters
Starting with August’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, Connecticut’s voters will have an option they’ve never had before: to cast a mail (aka “absentee”) ballot with no excuse required. Here’s why all voters should cast a mail ballot.
Mail voting is under attack by those who want to make voting harder. Donald Trump and his allies keep insisting it can’t be trusted, even though it has been used safely and securely for decades in thousands of elections with tens of millions of ballots cast, in red and blue states alike. Mail voting is convenient and makes voting more accessible for everyone — especially people juggling work and family responsibilities, caregivers, students, older voters, younger voters, and people with disabilities. Choosing to vote by mail is a way of pushing back against Trump’s fearmongering and standing up for voting rights.
There’s a practical reason, too. Connecticut only recently gained no-excuse absentee voting, after voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2024 and the legislature followed up this year with the law needed to implement it. But lawmakers kept the existing schedule of in-person early voting intact — 14 days before general elections and 7 days before primaries — meaning every town, large or small, must still fully staff polling operations for that entire stretch, even on days when barely anyone shows up.
That made sense back when early voting was the only alternative to voting in person on Election Day itself. It makes little sense now. A mail ballot is, in effect, early voting, but without requiring a trip to a polling place, and it opens up a longer window: 31 days before a general election and 21 days before a primary.
It is also considerably cheaper for municipalities to administer than staffing an early-voting site. That’s why town clerks and voter registrars across the state, Republicans and Democrats alike, have pushed for the legislature to scale back early voting days. Skeptics of that idea argue we don’t yet have enough experience with the new absentee system to justify the change. The best way to prove them wrong is for voters to actually use it. Every mail ballot cast this year makes the case that Connecticut doesn’t need to keep running expensive early-voting operations alongside a mail option that does the job better.
And remember: despite the name, a “mail ballot” doesn’t have to go through the mail at all. You can drop it off in person at your town clerk’s office, use the secure drop box outside your town hall, or send it by U.S. mail — whichever is easiest. To get an application, reach out to your town clerk or visit the Secretary of the State’s online portal.
Voting is always important. But this year, how you vote matters, too.
Lee Greenhouse
Salisbury
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A place to get rich
Kathy Herald-Marlowe
Jul 29, 2026
Chris Murphy, one of Connecticut’s two highly respected US Senators, on June 23, 2026, addressed the Senate focusing on the first 500 days of Trump’s “nuclear-grade” graft, corruption, and illegalities.
“This moment is exceptional.It’s a one of one moment, and if it becomes normal, if people stop being outraged at what he is doing to enrich himself, then I fear there is no going back. The White House will become a place to get rich.”
Month by month, Murphy laid out 19 of the 100’s of instances that have tripled Trump’s net worth post his election. Endlessly boasting of not taking his salary as President – $400,000-Trump speaks not of the Billion$ of personal wealth he has gleaned from multiple shenanigans to outright scandals:cryptocurrency, sale of pardons, no bid contracts, stock manipulations, bridge closures, funding sons Don Jr and Eric businesses, pay-to protect contracts in DHS. Trump has gotten immensely richer rising from $2.3 Billion in early 2024 to an estimated $6.5-7.0 Billion currently (Forbes World’s Billionaire List, Bloomberg’s Billionaire index.)
Get informed, pull up Murphy’s address as video or as text online – be aware. You will be immersed into scandals that leave Nixon and Watergate gapping as absurd amateurs.Here is a quick summary.
Cryptocurrency was deemed a “scam” by Trump until it as an industry donated to his campaign and he –with family- launched $TRUMP meme coins. Trumps cashed in, MAGA followers lost. Next a crypto company “World Liberty Financial” with deals forged with the United Arab Emirates ($500 million), Russia, North Korea and Iran.Rather than sell his businesses puttingproceeds into a blind trust as have other Presidents ad infinitum, Trump simply rachets up to maximize his take. Monetizing anything and everything.
Trump pardons were highlighted by Murphy not for an excess in their number but their scandalous procedures. 1500 January 6 invaders of the Capitol with Congress in session were pardoned – solely by Trump on a whim – included were those convicted by juries of violence - causing injury and death to police. 200 more were pardoned for various “fake election” convictions.Of the individual 310 pardons and 144 commutations granted, Murphy cited in particular two nursing home executives convicted for fraud of millions of dollars on their employees and patients.Each of these two executives was indicted, convicted, incarcerated several months then a relative accompanied by $1M dined with Trump - each received a pardon. In the Trump presidency, pardons are no longer earned clemency (to counter severe sentences or reward for rehabilitation) but akin to a bribe. The DOJ’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, formerly an independent advisor reviewing backgrounds, forwarding recommendations, is gone. Everything for sale.
In December of 2025 Trump issued a rule withdrawing Biden-era standards establishing minimum staffing requirements for nursing homes under Medicare and Medicaid. This withdrawal offered a vast boon for the nursing home industry just as earlier rescinding of cryptocurrency Investigations set a new hands-off regulatory framework for Trump’s major investment, cryptocurrency. Additionally, the USPS overturned a long-standing law restricting guns sent by mail – this change to accommodate Don Jr’s large investment in a mail-order gun dealer. Make us all richer- pay-to-play.
The Reflection Pool along with two fountain renovations were contracted to a ”no bid “White House Ballroom construction firm.The estimated bid for the fountain and reflection pool renovations when pursued by the National Parks Service was for $3M. The replacement “no bid” contractor via Trump was paid 17M$: fountains working, reflecting pool a disaster (with bogus vandal charges). It is just taxpayer money.
Half of the 130 donors attending a White House dinner in October 2025 that contributed $250M for Trump’s Ballroom walked away with US government contracts totaling $50 B.
Currently, a White House teleprompter operator is being investigated for using insider information to make bets related to Trump’s announcements regarding Iran. Peculiarly, this instance is less than a peanut, $100,000, as $2 Billion in trading volumes have been tracked across platforms with perfectly timed bets for geopolitical intelligence and military action.Trump’s solution to this scandal on national security is to offer Truth API, a paid Trump data service, subscribers early assess to Trump’s Truth Social announcements – paid betting tips for profit – of course.
The US Coast Guard was told to stock Trump products at all its bases–to sell his wine and cider. There is so much more – monetizing the presidency, the White House, DC.Think what you like but be informed/aware.
“As citizens of this great nation, it is kindness, love, and compassion for each other that will bring us together- keep us together.These are values Donald and I will bring to the White House.”Melania Trump.
Kathy Herald-Marlowe lives in Sharon.
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