A crowd gathers at an open house at the Plant Connector in downtown North Adams. Press photo by Kate Abbott

Jobs

Here are the Hill Country Observer’s articles about jobs, listed from newest to oldest. Questions about local economies surface in The Hill Country Observer as we follow movements in co-ops, small businesses, nonprofits and sustainable ways to make a living in our rural communities and support kinds of work that fulfill workers and local needs.

  • 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:

    Leaving urban life to run a bookstore in a barn

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    Family leaves California to take charge of area vintage bookstore   Sydney Nichols and Eric Kufs stand with their daughter Sally Jane in the children’s section at Owl Pen Books. Nichols and Kufs are the new owners of the 60-year-old vintage bookstore in Greenwich, N.Y. Joan K. Lentini photo   By STACEY MORRISContributing writer GREENWICH, read more

    Leaving urban life to run a bookstore in a barn
  • 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?
  • Issue:

    A battle over saving bees

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    Farming, green groups debate New York bill to ban neonic pesticides   A close-up view of bees from a hive at Dancing Bee Gardens, near Middlebury, Vt., taken in 2015. Photo by Joan K. Lentini   By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer   New York lawmakers are expected to vote in the new year on whether to read more

    A battle over saving bees
  • Issue:

    Essential oils, scent power a one-woman micro-business

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    Essential oils, scented pillows power a one-woman micro-business   Gina Grillo started her one-woman business in 1996 after becoming a single parent with two pre-teen daughters. She vowed her new career would be something she could do at home while providing a living for her family. Joan K. Lentini photo   By STACEY MORRISContributing writer read more

    Essential oils, scent power a one-woman micro-business
  • Issue:

    Farmers reel as organic dairy giant dumps them

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    Advocates seek action to aid dozens of farms in Vermont, New York   Several dozen organic dairy farms in Vermont and upstate New York, including 17 in Washington County alone, are looking for new buyers for their milk after Danone, the multinational corporation that owns the Horizon Organic brand, announced it will stop buying from read more

    Farmers reel as organic dairy giant dumps them
  • Issue:

    A farmstead cheese maker rebuilds

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    Consider Bardwell resumes scaled-down operation after safety scare   The self-service farm store in the barn at Consider Bardwell Farm is open again now that the farm’s cheese production has resumed. The farm suspended operation in 2019 after a contamination scare. Joan K. Lentini photo   By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer WEST PAWLET, Vt. Two years read more

    A farmstead cheese maker rebuilds
  • Issue:

    Local bread, local flour

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    Bakers’ plans for grain mill would fill gap in region’s food system   Julie Sperling and Doug Freilich stand in front of the wood-fired brick oven where they bake their breads at Naga Bakehouse in Middletown Springs, Vt. photo by Joan K. Lentini   By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer MIDDLETOWN SPRINGS, Vt. Julie Sperling and Doug read more

    Local bread, local flour