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:

    Tax break for renewable energy draws skepticism

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    Washington County debates opting out of incentive program By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer   A 16,000-panel solar installation along county Route 21 in Whitehall is one of three such projects planned in the town by Borrego Solar. But county supervisors are considering doing away with a property tax exemption the developer says it was counting on read more

    Tax break for renewable energy draws skepticism
  • Issue:

    Saratoga Springs debates affordable-housing mandate

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    By THOMAS DIMOPOULOSContributing writer SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.   The Washington, a mixed-use downtown building seen under construction in 2013, included 14 luxury apartments on its upper floors. Under a new affordable-housing program being debated in Saratoga Springs, projects with 10 or more housing units would need to set aside some spaces for low- and moderate-income read more

    Saratoga Springs debates affordable-housing mandate
  • Issue:

    Eggs, farms and the law

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    Mass. ballot question launches debate on agricultural practices By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer PITTSFIELD, Mass.   Sara Housman, the marketing manager at Wild Oats Market in Williamstown, shows off some of the co-op’s locallly sourced eggs. The store only sells eggs from cage-free hens under a policy adopted in 2006. A November ballot question aims to read more

    Eggs, farms and the law
  • Issue:

    Gun shows may vanish from Saratoga scene

    Longtime promoter says City Center won’t let him book future dates By THOMAS DIMOPOULOSContributing writer SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.   A crowd jams the Saratoga Springs City Center in 2013 for a gun show, one of three or four that have been staged annually at the center by New Eastcoast Arms Collectors Associates Inc. The show’s read more

    Gun shows may vanish from Saratoga scene
  • Issue:

    Decision on refugees now months away

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    Rutland aldermen seek more discussion, decline to endorse program By C.B. HALLContributing writer RUTLAND, Vt. The federal government appears to have put off a decision on whether to resettle 100 Syrian refugees in Rutland after city aldermen chose last month not to endorse the resettlement effort.The U.S. State Department had been expected to render a read more

    Decision on refugees now months away
  • Issue:

    From water to blood — Got PFOA?

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    Anger, frustration grow as blood tests show hundreds with high levels of toxin in Hoosick Falls, Petersburgh By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer HOOSICK FALLS, N.Y.   State tests this spring showed Emily Marpe of Petersburgh had the chemical PFOA in her blood at a concentration of 332 parts per billion, far above the typical background level read more

    From water to blood — Got PFOA?
  • Issue:

    Opponents push for vote on refugees

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    Rutland petition calls for referendum on Syrian resettlement By C.B. HALLContributing writer RUTLAND, Vt.   Lawn signs promote the new civic group Rutland Welcomes, which supports the planned resettlement of 100 Syrian refugees in the city. C.B. Hall photo With the prospect of 100 Syrian refugees arriving in Rutland this fall, some local activists are read more

    Opponents push for vote on refugees
  • Issue:

    Seeking refuge in Vermont – Refugee plan draws praise, backlash in Rutland

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    Rutland’s plan to resettle displaced Syrians draws praise — and a backlash By C.B. HALLContributing writer RUTLAND, Vt.   Representatives of state and national refugee resettlement organizations take questions from city aldermen and the public at a May 25 forum in Rutland. The refugee placement organizations have been working with the city’s mayor on a read more

    Seeking refuge in Vermont – Refugee plan draws praise, backlash in Rutland
  • Issue:

    Busy downtown is destination — for panhandlers

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    Saratoga Springs weighs new limits on sidewalk solicitation, vagrancy By THOMAS DIMOPOULOS Contributing writer SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.   A panhandler, leaning against the signboard at right, seeks donations from pedestrians on Broadway in Saratoga Springs. The city is debating new limits on what officials say is “agressive panhandling.”Thomas Dimopoulos photo As the growth of Saratoga read more

    Busy downtown is destination — for panhandlers
  • Issue:

    Vermont’s new anti-sprawl law faces test in Rutland

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    State’s new anti-sprawl law faces early test in Rutland By C.B. HALLContributing writer RUTLAND, Vt.   The struggling Diamond Run Mall in Rutland, Vt., is visible atop a hill in the distance, across Route 7 from a meadow where developers want to build a new BJ’s Wholesale Club store. Opponents, including the mall’s owners, say read more

    Vermont’s new anti-sprawl law faces test in Rutland