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:

    Creating art in a holiday season darkened by Covid

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    Artists, nonprofits steer toward light in a darkened holiday season   Michael Scupholm, the glass studio director at Salem Art Works in Salem, N.Y., shapes a blown-glass ornament. The pandemic has forced artists to work alone in SAW’s studios, rather than in groups. Courtesy photo   By KATE ABBOTTContributing writer CHESHIRE, Mass. Rods of glass read more

    Creating art in a holiday season darkened by Covid
  • Issue:

    As pandemic limits visitors, museums work to adapt

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    As pandemic limits visitors, museums work to stay connected   After the Covid-19 crisis forced it to close its building from mid-March until July, the Bennington Museum is now operating on a restricted basis. Photo by Joan K. Lentini   By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer   When Covid-19 began to spread into the region in early read more

    As pandemic limits visitors, museums work to adapt
  • Issue:

    A holiday landscape of light and sound

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      The grounds of The Mount, Edith Wharton’s historic home in Lenox, will be transformed by NightWood, a holiday season light and sound show that opens Nov. 19 and runs through Jan. 3. Courtesy photo   By KATE ABBOTTContributing writer LENOX, Mass. The gardens will wake with elf-light and firelight, a drumbeat and a sound read more

    A holiday landscape of light and sound
  • 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:

    In pandemic’s wake, some see changes for region

    Will urban dwellers who escaped to countryside opt to stay long-term? By CRAIG IDLEBROOKContributing writer GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. The Berkshires were awfully quiet this summer, with Tanglewood and many other cultural sites shuttered or gone virtual because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but Eric Steuernagle has been a very busy man. Steuernagle, the owner of Fairground read more

    In pandemic’s wake, some see changes for region
  • Issue:

    Now back to class? Colleges prepare for influx of students

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    Area colleges make plans to welcome students back as virus surges nationally   A seating area behind the Case Campus Center at Skidmore College awaits the arrival of students. The college is among several in the region that aim to resume in-person classes this month.Joan K. Lentini photo   By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer CASTLETON, Vt. read more

    Now back to class? Colleges prepare for influx of students
  • 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