Students on the Simon's Rock campus gather at the library in preparation for the Bard Queer Leadership Project. Press photo courtesy of Bard College at Simon's Rock

News

Here are the Hill Country Observer’s news articles, listed from newest to oldest. The Hill Country Observer covers town events, local government, community stories and more — from public health to housing to education and freedom of mind in New York, Vermont and Western Massachusetts.

  • Issue:

    A battle over saving bees

    , ,

    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

    ,

    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:

    Zombie candidates prompt calls for change

    ,

    Third party decries hostile takeover of ballot line in some local races By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. In the days leading up to the Nov. 2 election, leaders of the local Working Families Party delivered an unusual campaign message to Saratoga Springs voters: Ignore the party’s candidates for city offices, they said, and read more

    Zombie candidates prompt calls for change
  • Issue:

    Election 2021

    ,

    Here are the results of the key races and ballot questions decided by voters in the Nov. 2 elections in Massachusetts and New York. A guide to political party abbreviations is in the box at right. In the tables below, incumbents are marked with an asterisk (*), and winning candidates are in bold type. A read more

    Election 2021
  • Issue:

    A progressive pitch to the North Country

    Detailed descriptions of appearance were important to journalism in the era before photographs were common. So The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported on Sept. 17, 1887: “Among the passengers who alighted from the early north train at Fort Edward yesterday morning was a medium-sized man, with full red beard and a florid countenance that read more

    A progressive pitch to the North Country
  • Issue:

    Farming for a greener future

    , , , , ,

    New effort guides investment in region’s local food system   The sheep at Studio Hill Farm in Shaftsbury, Vt., are rotated frequently to new grazing areas. Photo by Joan K. Lentini   By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer SHAFTSBURY, Vt. Jesse McDougall became a farmer a decade ago by twist of fate. He and his wife, Caroline read more

    Farming for a greener future
  • Issue:

    Redistricting reform swiftly reaches partisan deadlock

    ,

    New York panel offers competing maps amid predictions of failure New York’s new Independent Redistricting Commission has put forth two alternatives for redrawing the state’s congressional districts. The map above was crafted by the panel’s Democrats, the one below by its Republicans.     By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer   New York’s new Independent Redistricting Commission read more

    Redistricting reform swiftly reaches partisan deadlock
  • Issue:

    Farmers reel as organic dairy giant dumps them

    , , ,

    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:

    Will diversity revive Rutland?

    ,

    After bitter 2016 debate, city slowly welcomes refugees, asylum seekers   Terese Black, president of Bridge to Rutland, and Ellen Green, the group’s executive director, stand next to a display of photographs of people seeking asylum in the United States. The organization helps to bring asylum seekers to Vermont and to support them while their read more

    Will diversity revive Rutland?
  • Issue:

    A farmstead cheese maker rebuilds

    , ,

    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