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:

    Two vie for right to challenge Stefanik

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    Castelli, Putorti spar over ballot lines in busy Aug. 23 election By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer   A new wrinkle in the 21st Congressional District race developed recently when Matt Castelli, one of two candidates running in the Aug. 23 Democratic primary, established an independent “Moderate Party” line. It’s the latest bone of contention in a… read more

    Two vie for right to challenge Stefanik
  • Issue:

    Cell-tower dispute puts Pittsfield at center of national debate

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    Cell tower dispute puts Pittsfield at center of a national debate   Courtney Gilardi and her daughters stand outside their home in Pittsfield, Photo by Susan Sabino.   By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer PITTSFIELD, Mass. Courtney Gilardi’s 9-year-old daughter came downstairs one morning in the late summer of 2020 and announced that she was feeling “headachy,… read more

    Cell-tower dispute puts Pittsfield at center of national debate
  • Issue:

    U.S. Senate seat opens in Vermont

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    Wave of retirements sets up a series of competitive primaries By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer   Open U.S. Senate seats rarely come along in Vermont, but when they do, the state’s lone U.S. representative usually is well positioned to step up. Bernie Sanders, Vermont’s independent junior senator, served 16 years in the House of Representatives before… read more

    U.S. Senate seat opens in Vermont
  • Issue:

    U.S. House districts shift for Hudson Valley races

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    Court rulings set stage for close Hudson Valley races as Delgado exits   A final map of New York’s new congressional districts, released last month by a court-appointed expert, creates two new politically competitive districts in the Hudson Valley, neither of which has an incumbent currently. One would stretch from Columbia County westward to Ithaca.… read more

    U.S. House districts shift for Hudson Valley races
  • Issue:

    State’s new political map might help our democracy

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    It is a season of discontent for House Democrats from New York. In a difficult election season, they already were at risk of losing their majority in Washington. And lately they’ve been sniping at each other – even planning to run against each other – as they grapple with the fallout from a gerrymandering effort… read more

    State’s new political map might help our democracy
  • Issue:

    Saratoga Springs pushes for police reforms

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    In Saratoga Springs, leaders pursue changes and aim to rebuild trust   Police cruisers line the street outside Saratoga Springs City Hall. Photo by Joan K. Lentini   By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. A new slate of city leaders in Saratoga Springs has been moving swiftly in recent weeks toward adopting one of… read more

    Saratoga Springs pushes for police reforms
  • Issue:

    After 27 years, state restores tuition aid for inmates

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    Some area colleges set to offer more programs By MAURY THOMPSON Contributing writer   Every year since 1999, New York lawmakers have introduced legislation to make state college tuition grants available to students incarcerated at prison facilities. And every year, until this year, the legislation never made it out of committee.Inmate education advocates rejoiced when… read more

    After 27 years, state restores tuition aid for inmates
  • Issue:

    A gerrymander for the House?

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    New York’s new maps draw criticism while boosting local incumbents New York’s Democratic-controlled Legislature adopted a new map (below)for upstate congressional districts, right, that shuffles the political terrain of the upper Hudson Valley’s three U.S. House members. Analysts predicted the new map would effectively cut the number of Republicans in the state’s House delegation to… read more

    A gerrymander for the House?
  • Issue:

    Maps contain big changes for state Senate districts

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    By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer   As state Sen. Daphne Jordan campaigns for a third term in office this fall, she might have to introduce herself to lots of new voters. The Republican senator’s hometown of Halfmoon in Saratoga County is one of only a few towns she currently represents that would remain in the newly… read more

    Maps contain big changes for state Senate districts
  • Issue:

    In New York’s new farm overtime rules, progress or ruin?

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    In New York’s new overtime rules, some see agriculture’s transformation — or its ruin   Stewart Ziehm tends to the cows at Tiashoke Farms, a dairy operation near Buskirk, N.Y., on a cold winter day. Joan K. Lentini photo   By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer CAMBRIDGE, N.Y. Labor and social justice activists are calling it a… read more

    In New York’s new farm overtime rules, progress or ruin?