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:

    How we might vote differently

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    Push for ranked-choice ballots gains traction nationally, locally   Voters line up outside an early voting site last month at the Warren County Muniipal Center in Queensbury, N.Y. Joan K. Lentini photo.   By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer   Green Party activist Matt Funiciello of Glens Falls has been championing the merits of ranked-choice voting for read more

    How we might vote differently
  • Issue:

    Election 2024 Preview

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    Here are the candidates and referendum questions on ballots around the region for the Nov. 5 general election. Because of space limitations, uncontested races are not included. A guide to political party abbreviations is at right. Incumbents are marked with an asterisk (*).   MASSACHUSETTS The voter registration deadline is Oct. 26. Vote-by-mail application deadline read more

    Election 2024 Preview
  • Issue:

    Waiting for the train — State advances study of potential North Adams-to-Boston run

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    State advances study of potential North Adams-to-Boston run State Rep. John Barrett III, D-North Adams, stands along the tracks near the Western Gateway Heritage State Park. Barrett and others are pushing to restore passenger rail service from North Adams and Greenfield east to Boston, and a new state study details options for the project. Joan read more

    Waiting for the train — State advances study of potential North Adams-to-Boston run
  • Issue:

    Election 2024 — Voters face rare dual vacancy in Vermont Senate district

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    By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer   The death of longtime state Sen. Dick Sears and the retirement of Sen. Brian Campion have set up the first election in more than three decades in which both Senate seats representing Bennington County are open. Six candidates, including three running as independents, will be on the November general election read more

    Election 2024 — Voters face rare dual vacancy in Vermont Senate district
  • Issue:

    Election 2024 — Public financing aids challenger in Saratoga race

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    By MAURY THOMPSON Contributing writer New York’s new public campaign finance system has given a big boost to the campaign of Democratic challenger Minita Sanghvi in the state Senate district that covers Saratoga County. The new system, which uses public money to match small-dollar contributions after certain fund-raising thresholds are reached, is intended to dilute read more

    Election 2024 — Public financing aids challenger in Saratoga race
  • Issue:

    Swing district — Molinaro, Riley face off again for crucial Hudson Valley House seat

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    Molinaro, Riley face off again for crucial Hudson Valley House seat U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-Catskill, narrowly won an open seat in New York’s 19th Congressional District two years ago. Now, in a high-turnout presidential election year, he faces a rematch with Southern Tier lawyer Josh Riley in a district that’s a top target for read more

    Swing district — Molinaro, Riley face off again for crucial Hudson Valley House seat
  • Issue:

    A month in the hills — NY correctional facility

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    New York’s plan to close Great Meadow Correctional Facility has set off an outcry in northern Washington County, where the maximum-security prison has long been a major employer. The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision announced July 18 that it plans to shut Great Meadow and another maximum-security prison in Sullivan County effective Nov. read more

    A month in the hills — NY correctional facility
  • Issue:

    Online-betting windfall stirs debates

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    As states cheer revenue, critics point to costs of gambling addiction By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer   Two years after New York legalized mobile sports betting, it appears the biggest winner by far has been the state government. From early 2022 through the beginning of this year, Albany raked in more than $1.55 billion from its read more

    Online-betting windfall stirs debates
  • Issue:

    Signs of economic change

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    Region’s manufacturing takes high-tech turn as some familiar employers exit   The sign outside AngioDynamics’ medical device plant in Queensbury, N.Y., says the company is now hiring, but the factory is set to shut down at the end of 2025. Employee shortages are one reason the company has cited for its decision to close its read more

    Signs of economic change
  • Issue:

    Counties push back against election changes

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    Legal filings challenge New York shift to even-year voting Participation gap Turnout is sharply higher in New York’s even-year elections, which feature statewide and legislative races, than in odd-year elections that have only local contests. The figures below show the number of votes cast in each year’s general election in area counties. County        read more

    Counties push back against election changes