Voters OK with 2011 budget

NORTH CANAAN — The wait is over. A town budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 was approved at a town meeting May 31. It was the third scheduled meeting, with town officials putting off a vote on $6.5 million in proposed local spending in the hopes that the state would resolve its budgeting issues. Much still rides on decisions made in Hartford. The biggest concern is a potential cut to the town’s education grants, which offset about $2.5 million in education spending here. The plan was to wait and see, and if worse came to worst, look for further budget cuts rather than raise taxes.The approximately 30 voters in attendance unanimously approved a proposed budget with a $91,000 drop in spending at North Canaan Elementary School from this year’s budget; and a $121,000 decrease in municipal expenses. That cushion inspired confidence that state aid cuts could be absorbed.“Even given all the things going on in Hartford,” finance board Chairman Louis Allyn said, “we are more optimistic than we were two weeks ago.”When asked, he called it a “fair assumption” that the mill rate would not change. The finance board was expected to make that decision at its June 8 meeting.“If we get blindsided by Hartford, we do have options,” Allyn said.Resident state trooperAmong the options would be amending a decision made prior to the budget vote to renew the resident state trooper contract. The town has 30 days from the vote to reverse its decision on the two-year agreement.If it comes down to that, much public debate can be expected. Most of last week’s 25-minute meeting was devoted to discussing the value of the resident state trooper program. The town has no power to negotiate the cost. The state passes along 70 percent of all program costs. The coming year will see an increase of 9.6 percent to $79,890. A motion to renew the contract received two dissenting votes. If it comes down to a tax increase to keep the program, things might go differently.During the May 31 discussion, residents were assured by Resident State Trooper Jim Promotico that he only puts in overtime during Railroad Days, which is included in the budget, so the actual expenditures will not increase.Wheaton Byers asked Promotico and former Resident State Trooper Bob Janco, now a sergeant at Troop B, to find a way to show the effectiveness of the program, which includes teaching the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) at North Canaan Elementary School.Janco said DARE allows the trooper to get to know the children and their families, and to encourage the students into positive behaviors, including joining the State Police Explorers program. There was a shocked response when he added that he had children disclose to him that they were being sexually assaulted.That revelation may have been the deciding factor for those in attendance who seemed to be uncertain about how to vote. It is also a good example of how the public will never see the whole picture. Sexual assault cases involving children are not always made public, and never before an arrest is made. Janco said making a determination on the effectiveness of DARE would require tracking students for years. But he was able to cite a few examples of former DARE students who have gone on to serve in the military and such. As for stemming the tide of illegal drugs, Janco said much of what happens in those investigations is classified information, “stuff you’ll never know about,” such as protected informants. He offered instead the perspective that North Canaan’s location on two state highways, the low-income housing that surrounding towns do not have and a drug rehabilitation facility here mean a higher rate of illegal drug activity is a given.

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Father Joseph Kurnath

LAKEVILLE — Father Joseph G. M. Kurnath, retired priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford, passed away peacefully, at the age of 71, on Sunday, June 29, 2025.

Father Joe was born on May 21, 1954, in Waterbury, Connecticut. He attended kindergarten through high school in Bristol.

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Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

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Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

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Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

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Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

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After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

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