Category: Government

The Hill Country Observer covers local leaders, elections and elected officials, town and city councils bodies including libraries, schools, planning and other town boards, and all kinds of conversations and decisions that matter to our communities.

  • Issue:

    Blue wave moves north as Delgado wins

    ,

    After defeat of Faso and others, Stefanik urges GOP changes By FRED DALEYEditor   When Antonio Delgado flipped a Hudson Valley congressional district from red to blue on Nov. 6, he set the stage for another likely battle in two years that will test how much the region’s politics really are shifting. Delgado, a Harvard-educated read more

    Blue wave moves north as Delgado wins
  • Issue:

    Election 2018: Results from three states

    ,

      MASSACHUSETTS   GOVERNOR AND LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR* Charles Baker and Karyn E. Polito (R) 1,781,341 (66.8%) Jay Gonzalez and Quentin Palfrey (D) ….. 885,770 (33.2%)   U.S. SENATORShiva Ayyadurai (i) …………………………………… 91,710 (3.4%)Geoff Diehl (R) ……………………………………. 979,210 (36.2%)* Elizabeth A. Warren (D)…………………. 1,633,371 (60.4%)   ATTORNEY GENERAL * Maura Healey (D) …………………………. 1,874,209 (70.0%)James R. read more

    Election 2018: Results from three states
  • Issue:

    Saving a country crossroads in Craryville

    ,

    Gas station proposal draws backlash, spurs test of a town’s newvision for development A proposal for a large new gas station and convenience store in the vacant lot across from the Craryville United Methodist Church, above, has set off a controversy in the town of Copake, N.Y. The project’s developer announced in late October that read more

    Saving a country crossroads in Craryville
  • Issue:

    State rewrites manure rules for large farms

    , , ,

    After legal fight, many N.Y. farms opt for alternative set of regulations State environmental regulators in New York have drafted new rules aimed at preventing water pollution from large dairy farms — after a judge tossed out an earlier rewrite of the rules. Rob Barendse file photo   By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer   New York read more

    State rewrites manure rules for large farms
  • Issue:

    Election 2018: A preview of local ballots

    ,

    Here are the candidates and referendum questions on ballots for the Nov. 6 federal and state elections across the region. Because of space limitations, uncontested races are not included. A guide to political party abbreviations is at right. Incumbents are marked with an asterisk (*). Polls are open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to read more

    Election 2018: A preview of local ballots
  • Issue:

    A closer look at a toxin’s trail

    , ,

    New studies find more cancer, wider contamination from PFOA Judith Enck, a former regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Bennington College professors Janet Foley and John Hultgren went door to door in Hoosick Falls, N.Y., to gather information for a community healh survey as they researched the effects of PFOA. David Bond read more

    A closer look at a toxin’s trail
  • Issue:

    From blue Berkshires, a push for Faso’s defeat

    ,

    Mass. activists target N.Y. congressman in ad campaign A billboard along Route 20 west of New Lebanon, N.Y., this summer cast U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook, as Pinocchio for his vote last year on health care reform. The ad was paid for by the Catskills Freedom Network, a group organized by activists from across the read more

    From blue Berkshires, a push for Faso’s defeat
  • Issue:

    Strengthening a city in transition

    , ,

    Pittsfield project fosters new ties in ‘civic infrastructure’ Alisa Costa is the director of Working Cities Pittsfield, a grant-funded initiative that seeks to bring together local people from a wide range of backgrounds in helping the former industrial city to reinvent itself. Susan Sabino photo   By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer PITTSFIELD, Mass. When researchers for read more

    Strengthening a city in transition
  • Issue:

    An escape route from dairy farming’s crisis?

    , , , ,

    Some see hope in shift to organic production, but economic pressures remain Samantha and Chris Kemnah walk among the cows at Clover Bliss Farm, their 2-year-old organic, grass-fed dairy operation in Argyle, N.Y. Joan Lentini photos   By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer ARGYLE, N.Y. The name of Clover Bliss Farm refers to the contentment its abundant read more

    An escape route from dairy farming’s crisis?
  • Issue:

    Primary elections near in Vermont and Mass.

    ,

    Primary elections on Aug. 14 in Vermont and Sept. 4 in Massachusetts will set the stage for statewide races this fall — and will effectively determine the winner of several local positions that only one major party is contesting. In Vermont, the most crowded contest locally is the five-way Republican race for three seats representing read more

    Primary elections near in Vermont and Mass.