Recycling and reuse were the topics of a public meeting for Dutchess County’s Local Solid Waste Management Plan, “Rethinking Waste.” On Tuesday, Feb. 26, the Dutchess County Division of Solid Waste Management held the meeting for community feedback regarding the 10-year plan. The meeting was held in Millbrook at Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County’s Farm and Home Center; in attendance was Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro and six Dutchess County legislators, including: Benjamin Traudt, James Doxsey, Barbara Jeter-Jackson, Joel Tyner, Debra Blalock and Alan Surman. “I was surprised by how many people turned up for the meeting,” said Lindsey Carille, director of the Solid Waste Management Plan. “We had 47 people there, which I think is great for a cold winter’s night to talk about solid waste. I am thrilled that there were so many people actually interested and took the time to come out and comment.”Carille said the top comments of the night were that the county should increase its recycling goals and strive for zero waste. “Currently, the goal in the plan is 60 percent by 2021 and we feel that’s a realistic goal, given our current rate of 23 percent that’s just average,” said Carille. “But we plan on tracking our rate annually so we get a better idea of what we are doing and then assess our progress in reaching our goals. We are really hoping that we are going to do better than we think we can.”Carille said people suggested a lot of good ideas for initiatives to increase the recycling rate. Solid Waste Management is currently proposing to more than double its recycling efforts in less than 10 years. Some attendees would rather see that rate at 75 or 80 percent. Carille said they would strive for those numbers but was hesitant to record it as a goal. The director said that 60 percent is a more realistic goal.The public meeting sparked a lot of comments about closing the Resource Recovery Facility, a waste energy facility located in the town of Poughkeepsie. The facility is overseen by the Resource Recovery Agency (RRA).“For many years the county had to take a net service fee, which is the fee that we pay when the revenues are less than the expenses at the Resource Recovery Agency,” said Carille. “So a lot of people feel that it’s just going to be a drain and we should close it and put that money toward other recycling and composting efforts. A lot of people also feel that it is hazardous to people’s health.”The plan currently states that it doesn’t make financial or environmental sense to close the Resource Recovery Facility. Without the facility the waste would have to be transported to landfills; the closest one is 250 miles away, totaling a 500-mile journey. Carille said that the greenhouse gasses from the transport would exceed anything coming from the facility. She also didn’t agree with the idea of putting Dutchess County’s waste in someone else’s backyard permanently.“The facility itself is continually tested for environmental impacts and it’s definitely less than any transportation to a landfill,” Carille said. “It’s always been well below the allowable standards mandated by the Clean Air Act. The county stance is until we reach zero waste we feel that the waste energy facility is preferable to landfilling all our waste.”In order to operate the facility it takes a maximum of 164,000 tons of waste a year. Carille said they have considered allowing surrounding counties without a landfill or a waste energy facility to make use of Dutchess County’s Recovery Resource Facility. The pros and cons of that idea were debated.The public comment period for the plan is open until Thursday, March 14. Solid Waste Management plans to respond to and incorporate all comments into the plan. It’s hoping to have that work completed for the Legislature’s April 8 meeting.Once the Legislature adopts the plan it will be sent to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) which will give the plan final approval. A 10-year plan is required by the DEC; 1990 was the last time a plan was submitted, so it’s well overdue.“We are not going to make every single person happy but we will do the best we can to plan for solid waste management for the future,” Carille said. “I think everyone is in agreement that we really need to do better in terms of recycling and reusing our waste.”
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One systemic consequence of slavery is the loss and obscuring of the histories of those who were enslaved. Records were often not kept about where Africans had been stolen from or who they were related to. Families were torn apart, leaving nothing but the faintest traces of the past. The delineation point, where genealogists can no longer trace histories back, is refered to this as the “document wall.”
Today, 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and more than 160 years since the Emancipation Proclamation, there is a growing effort to restore some of the history stripped from enslaved people and their descendants. Among the leaders of these efforts is Mills, president of the Alex Breanne Corporation, a nonprofit organization that works to identify previously anonymous Black Americans from history and connect them with their living relatives.
The work began with Mills’ sister, who started digging into their family’s past in the 1990’s and introduced him to this emerging world of genealogy. Through that process, the Mills family discovered their great-great-grandfather, Ned Mills, who had been enslaved in Texas. His last name came from his final enslaver and remains the family surname. Through their research, they found that the document wall directly affected their ancestor, who learned of his liberation on June 19, 1865, now commemorated as Juneteenth.
“For the first time,” Mills writes on his website, “American slavery wasn’t something that had happened to anonymous people in a history book. It had happened to my family.”
The discovery gave Mills a familial pride he had been missing for years. That pride fueled his desire to help others find their own history. In 2023, Mills received his certificate in genealogical research from Boston University. He has used his expertise to help descendants of enslaved people uncover histories they never dreamed of learning.
To do this, he uses a process called “reverse genealogy,” identifying a person from the past and working forward to discover their descendants. Along the way, Mills has found some remarkable people who fought for freedom on American soil, some of whom were never freed.
Pay Bill for Robin Starr’s service in the Continental Army.Courtesy the Alex Breanne Corporation
At the Cornwall Historical Society event, Mills will present the stories of four Connecticut families: Job Lathrop of Norwich, the son of Pirmus Armes, about whom Mills has published a book; Prince Mortimer of Middletown, also the subject of a book by Mills;, the three sons of London Wallace of Simsbury; and Robert “Robin” Starr of Danbury, who later lived in Cornwall and Sharon.
A few years ago, Cornwall Consolidated School social studies teacher Will Vincent reached out to Mills for research guidance on a local history project his students were undertaking. Together, they learned about Naomi Freeman of Cornwall. After purchasing an acre of land on Great Hollow Road in 1828, Naomi Freeman became the first Black female landowner in Cornwall.
The students petitioned the town to rename a road after the historic Cornwall resident In April 2025, Great Hollow Road was officially renamed Naomi Freeman Historic Road. U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes joined Mills and the Cornwall Consildated School students for a presentation of their research.
Since then, Mills has guided the students in their quest to learn more about Starr’s story. Starr was a Revolutionary War soldier who joined the Continental Army to earn enough money to buy his own freedom, receiving the Badge of Merit in the process. The stories of his descendents’ services are equally worthy of their own books.
In recognition of Mills and the students’ work, First Selectman Gordon Ridgway proclaimed Feb. 8 as Robin Starr Day.
Preregistration is required for the event at the Cornwall Historical Society. To learn more about Mills’ work, visit
alexbreanne.org.
John Mills speaking at Quinnipiac University.Courtesy the Alex Breanne Corporation
Stephanie Saetta runs Charlie Chicken Bones, a sanctuary in Salisbury.
Dogs have been at the center of Saetta’s life since childhood. She remembers going to the library to research different breeds and trying to convince her parents the family needed a dog. She had her heart set on an Irish Wolfhound, but she was more than happy when her mom brought home a West Highland terrier.
After college, she adopted Charlie as a puppy from a rescue on Long Island. He was a hound-shepherd-Rottweiler mix who suffered from intense seizures. Some veterinarians recommended euthanasia, but Saetta wasn’t ready to give up on him.
When Charlie would have an episode, she would sit with him, nose to nose, talking him through it. She learned to look for the moment he began to come around — when he could smell her again and his tail started to wag.
“You only get one or two of these soul connection dogs, so I do this in his honor,” Saetta said. “I like to think that all the dogs that come through are going to have that person that they connect with just the same.”
Through a network of women working to rescue animals in Texas, she learned about the desperate situations facing many dogs.
With limited space, some public pounds euthanize even healthy animals to make room. Limited access to veterinary care leaves sick dogs or unvaccinated puppies especially vulnerable.
Saetta saw that reality firsthand with a puppy named Gus, a Labrador mix she fostered who has since been adopted. Gus and his sisters had been dumped beside a road, where they were living under an abandoned car. People would leave food for them, but no one would take them to the pound.
“Even the people who rescue animals down there were like, ‘sadly, the best place for them to be is on the side of the road,’” she said. “That’s safer. Someone might actually help them that way.”
Saetta knows that there are far more dogs than any one person can save, but she also knows that helping one dog means one fewer on the street.
Stephanie Saetta,with her rescue dog George and Blue (left), a shepherd mix awaiting his forever home.Madi Long
Charlie Chicken Bone Sanctuary operates entirely through foster homes, a model that Saetta believes is best for the dogs and the humans hoping to adopt them.
Rather than moving directly from a difficult environment into a permanent home, the dogs have a chance to settle into a quieter setting. They can learn what it’s like to live with a family, sleep somewhere comfortable and receive affection without fighting for attention. Fostering also allows the rescue to really get to know each dog.
“As fosters, we’re honest,” said Saetta. We’ll tell you everything that’s been bad, everything that’s been good. What their temperament is and how they’ve responded to all the things they’ve experienced.”
A successful adoption is not just about finding a dog a home; it’s about finding the right home where the dog and family can thrive together.
Saetta is looking for more people willing to open their homes to foster dogs. She understands that the thought of growing attached and eventually saying goodbye can feel daunting. But she sees that goodbye a little differently.
Fostering means being part of a dog’s journey, even if only for a short time. It gives dogs a safe place to rest, the chance to trust again and the love they have gone without for much of their lives. And when the time comes for them to leave, it is not really a loss. It is the reward of knowing they are moving on to a forever home.
Blue, Saetta’s current foster, is hoping to find his perfect home.
Blue, a 7 year-old Shepard mix, is waiting for his forever home. Madi Long
Now around 7 years old, Blue spent most of his life wandering the streets of Texas. People sometimes left food out for him, but his mangy, dirty coat kept them from stopping to pet him. Today, he has a chance to experience something different.
Blue is still waiting for his forever home. Saetta believes he would do best as the only dog in a household or alongside another senior dog. He will need someone willing to continue working with him on his training and understand that a dog with his history needs patience.
But what he gives in return is a whole lot of love.
“He’s so enthusiastic, he’s so excited for life, he’s so friendly, and he’s got such a good heart, and he loves to cuddle,” Saetta said. “He’s a good, good, good dog.”
For more information on adopting Blue or how to foster, visit ccbsanctuary.org.
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