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:

    Phasing out the plastic shopping bag?

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    Pittsfield pursues ban, following lead of five Berkshires towns By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer PITTSFIELD, Mass.   Anna Masiero, left, and Micayla Levesque bag groceries at Guido’s Fresh Marketplace, whose Pittsfield store has already stopped offering single-use plastic shopping bags to customers.  Susan Sabino photo The days of supermarkets packing groceries into single-use plastic shopping bags read more

    Phasing out the plastic shopping bag?
  • Issue:

    In Vermont, many moves to shield immigrants

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    State, towns push back against federal crackdown By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer   Vermonters have lately been taking action at the state and local levels to push back against a federal crackdown on undocumented immigrants – and to oppose any effort by the federal government to create a registry of Muslims. Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, read more

    In Vermont, many moves to shield immigrants
  • Issue:

    In blue Berkshires, election spurs new activism

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    Groups rally, petition, and look beyond state line By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer   Almost from the moment Donald Trump upended the predictions of pollsters and pundits by winning the November election, progressive activists in the Berkshires have been organizing to counter the new president’s agenda. In the past few months, a series of new citizens read more

    In blue Berkshires, election spurs new activism
  • Issue:

    Unequal justice? Bennington, Rutland rank high in study of police bias

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    By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer   Black drivers who are pulled over by city police in Rutland are at least six times more likely than white drivers to wind up being searched. But police searches of black drivers in Rutland and elsewhere across Vermont are less likely than searches of white drivers to turn up drugs read more

    Unequal justice? Bennington, Rutland rank high in study of police bias
  • Issue:

    Door slams shut as first refugees arrive

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    Only two Syrian families make it to Rutland before Trump halts program By C.B. HALLContributing writerand FRED DALEYEditor RUTLAND, Vt.   Several hundred people took part in a Jan. 28 vigil in Rutland to express support for allowing Syrian refugees to resettle in the city. The flow of refugees was halted the previous day by read more

    Door slams shut as first refugees arrive
  • Issue:

    Vote creates fund for preservation in Pittsfield

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    Pittsfield backs property-tax surcharge that could help save landmarks By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer PITTSFIELD, Mass.   The Masonic Temple building on South Street in Pittsfield is for sale, and preservationists say it is among several landmark structures in the city that face an uncertain future. Concern about the demolition or threatened loss of familiar structures read more

    Vote creates fund for preservation in Pittsfield
  • Issue:

    Election 2016 results

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    Here are the results of the Nov. 6 election for federal and state offices across the region. Winning candidates are in boldface type if the outcome is not in dispute. Incumbents are marked with an asterisk (*).Statewide results for the presidential race are listed in the main table; a separate county-by-county tally of presidential returns read more

    Election 2016 results
  • Issue:

    Marijuana legalization debate heats up as vote nears

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    Marijuana legalization debate heats up as vote nears in Mass. By CRAIG IDLEBROOKContributing writer PITTSFIELD, Mass.   Judy Harris thinks marijuana would help with pain from her childhood case of polio, but trying to navigate the state’s medical marijuana system proved too frustrating. Now she favors outright legalization. Emily Walsh photo Judy Harris wants pot, read more

    Marijuana legalization debate heats up as vote nears
  • Issue:

    Refugee plan gets green light in Rutland

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    City leaders call for unity after divisive debate By C.B. HALLContributing writer RUTLAND, Vt. It’s official: The refugees will be coming to Rutland. The U.S. State Department has approved a plan to resettle about 100 refugees from Syria and Iraq in the city over the next 12 months. The decision was announced Sept. 28 by read more

    Refugee plan gets green light in Rutland
  • Issue:

    GMO — State still seeking the right to know

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    Activists weigh path forward after Congress thwarts GMO food labels By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer   U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., joined other elected officials and activists on July 1 to celebrate the start of Vermont’s new law requiring labeling of genetically modified foods. The achievement would prove short-lived, as Congress voted later in July to read more

    GMO — State still seeking the right to know