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:

    Election 2020: Results from three states

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    Here are the results of the Nov. 3 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 read more

    Election 2020: Results from three states
  • Issue:

    With colleges gone, new plans for campuses take shape

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      The campus of Green Mountain College, seen here in its final semester of operation in 2019, was sold at auction in August to an entrepreneur who says he hopes to revive it as an agricultural work college. The campus is one of three in southwestern Vermont that are in the process of being converted read more

    With colleges gone, new plans for campuses take shape
  • Issue:

    Local role in push for women’s rights

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    Show highlights friendship of Susan B. Anthony, Hubbard Hall founder   David Snider and Kathrine Danforth of Hubbard Hall display a new historical marker commemorating Susan B. Anthony’s 1894 visit to the hall as she campaigned for women’s rights. Hubbard Hall will explore the region’s role in the women’s suffrage movement in a new play, read more

    Local role in push for women’s rights
  • Issue:

    Election 2020 Preview

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    Here are the candidates and referendum questions on ballots for the Nov. 3 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 (*).   MASSACHUSETTS   President and Vice PresidentJoseph R. Biden and read more

    Election 2020 Preview
  • Issue:

    Are we ready to vote?

      A voter casts an early ballot at North Adams City Hall in advance of the Sept. 1 state primary in Massachusetts. photo by Joan K. Lentini   By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer   Elections officials across the region are scrambling to prepare for a surge of mail-in or drop-off ballots this fall against the backdrop read more

    Are we ready to vote?
  • Issue:

    For Neal, a spirited challenge from the left

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    By FRED DALEYEditor   The November election may be shaping up as a referendum on the presidency of Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress, but some hotly contested primary contests now under way in Massachusetts and Vermont are focusing on the message and priorities of the Democratic Party. In primaries scheduled for Aug. read more

    For Neal, a spirited challenge from the left
  • Issue:

    Changing a culture of policing

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    Bennington weighs how to transform officers from warriors into guardians   The town of Bennington is crafting a series of reforms to its policing policies after a report issued this spring found the local department’s practices had sown “deep distrust” in the community it serves. Tony Israel file photo   By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer BENNINGTON, read more

    Changing a culture of policing
  • Issue:

    The drama of democracy

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    WAM Theatre’s Suffrage Project explores voting rights, citizenship   Flo Brett, a member of WAM Theatre’s Elder Ensemble, is among those taking part in the theater company’s Suffrage Project, an online work begun in May that explores the ideas of voting and citizenship. Courtesy photo/Amy Brentano   By KATE ABBOTTContributing writer LENOX, Mass. It’s an read more

    The drama of democracy
  • Issue:

    Early voting’s first try

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    Area counties rank near top, bottom as New York expands its election system   William Van Ness and Beth McLaughlin, the Republican and Democratic elections commissioners for Warren County, demonstrate one of the new electronic poll books used as part of New York’s system for early voting. Photo by Joan K. Lentini   By EVAN read more

    Early voting’s first try
  • Issue:

    Debate over New York bail system balances fairness, risk

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    Local officials in N.Y. push back against bail system overhaul   Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen is among the local law enforcement officials calling for changes or a delay in implementing New York’s new bail reform law. Photo by Joan K. Lentini   EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer   Supporters of New York’s new bail reform read more

    Debate over New York bail system balances fairness, risk