In lean times, finding new funding for town projects

CORNWALL — A reissuing of the town’s only outstanding bond, to raise funds for the school expansion completed in 2005, was approved by the Board of Selectmen. It will trim annual interest payments by about $10,000.The town is about seven years into the 20 year financing, paying about 4 percent in interest, according to the selectmen. The reissue would reduce it by about 1 percent. Annual interest payments drop about $4,000 per year, with $72,000 due this year.The selectmen gave credit to Town Treasurer John Green and Finance Officer Barbara Herbst for staying on top of things and making the refinance happen. More money on the horizon: A check for $423,000 is reportedly in the mail from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The funds are a 75 percent reimbursement for the rebuilding of the Lower River Road bridge in West Cornwall, destroyed by Tropical Storm Irene last August. The town’s share of the permanent new structure, which allowed for improvements to stream flow, is $141,000.Reimbursement is also expected on a number of small projects, with an estimated $20,000 due.In other business, the selectmen have nearly completed filling a large number of vacancies on town boards, commissions and committees. Ginny Potter was appointed by unanimous vote to a two-year term on the Sydney M. Kaye Fund Advisory Committee.

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Mountaineers fall 3-0 to Wamogo

Anthony Foley caught Chase Ciccarelli in a rundown when HVRHS played Wamogo Wednesday, May 1.

Riley Klein

LITCHFIELD — Housatonic Valley Regional High School varsity baseball dropped a 3-0 decision to Wamogo Regional High School Wednesday, May 1.

The Warriors kept errors to a minimum and held the Mountaineers scoreless through seven innings. HVRHS freshman pitcher Chris Race started the game strong with no hits through the first three innings, but hiccups in the fourth gave Wamogo a lead that could not be caught.

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The artist called ransome

‘Migration Collage' by ransome

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If you claim a single sobriquet as your artistic moniker, you’re already in a club with some big names, from Zendaya to Beyoncé to the mysterious Banksy. At Geary, the contemporary art gallery in Millerton founded by New Yorkers Jack Geary and Dolly Bross Geary, a new installation and painting exhibition titled “The Bitter and the Sweet” showcases the work of the artist known only as ransome — all lowercase, like the nom de plume of the late Black American social critic bell hooks.

Currently based in Rhinebeck, N.Y., ransome’s work looks farther South and farther back — to The Great Migration, when Jim Crow laws, racial segregation, and the public violence of lynching paved the way for over six million Black Americans to seek haven in northern cities, particularly New York urban areas, like Brooklyn and Baltimore. The Great Migration took place from the turn of the 20th century up through the 1970s, and ransome’s own life is a reflection of the final wave — born in North Carolina, he found a new home in his youth in New Jersey.

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Four Brothers ready for summer season

Hospitality, ease of living and just plain fun are rolled into one for those who are intrigued by the leisure-time Caravana experience at the family-owned Four Brothers Drive-in in Amenia. John Stefanopoulos, pictured above, highlights fun possibilities offered by Hotel Caravana.

Leila Hawken

The month-long process of unwrapping and preparing the various features at the Four Brothers Drive-In is nearing completion, and the imaginative recreational destination will be ready to open for the season on Friday, May 10.

The drive-in theater is already open, as is the Snack Shack, and the rest of the recreational features are activating one by one, soon to be offering maximum fun for the whole family.

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