
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.
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Issue: August-September 2025
Health care challenges ahead
Clinics, hospitals, nursing homes weigh effects of big Medicaid cuts Hudson Headwaters Health Network opened its newest family health center in May in Salem, N.Y. Now the center is among the many health care facilities across the region that are likely to lose revenue as the federal goverment cuts about $1 trillion in Medicaid read more
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Issue: June-July 2025
Talking tariffs
Local businesses try to find safe passage through fast-changing trade wars John Carr, owner of Adirondack Pub & Brewery in Lake George, is closely watching the effects of new U.S. tariffs, as he relies on imported malt and barley to produce his lagers and ales. Joan K. Lentini photo By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer read more
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Issue: June-July 2025
Where Dutch and Black history meet
Groups join forces to save long-vacant house near Hudson The house built by the Dutch colonist Jan Van Hoesen in the early 1700s later became the home of the Quaker abolitionist Charles Marriott and was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Now two local history groups have joined forces to preserve the structure, which has read more
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Issue: April-May 2025
Farm to fashion
N.Y. backs efforts to link fiber producers to bigger markets Mary Jeanne Packer, the founder and co-owner of the Battenkill Fibers mill in Greenwich, NY., checks through some of the yarn the mill makes from locally raised wool. Joan K. Lentini photo By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer GREENWICH, N.Y. Just as the farm-to-table movement read more
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Issue: April-May 2025
Pungent flavor, spicy heat
Laura Ramos and Adam Fronhofer and their son Tiago, 2, hold jars of the garlic powders they produce from organic garlic grown at their Quill Hill Farm in Poultney, Vt. Joan K. Lentini photo By STACEY MORRISContributing writer POULTNEY, Vt. At the peak of the growing season, Quill Hill Farm’s fields will be read more
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Issue: April-May 2025
From Claverack to the frontier
Columbia County native played key roles in early days of Arizona, Alaska Postal Inspector John P. Clum, atop a mule, talks with miners in Nome, Alaska, in 1898. Clum, who grew up in Columbia County, N.Y., ran a newspaper in territorial Arizone before heading north. Photo courtesy of The Tombstone Epitaph By PAUL read more
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Issue: February-March 2025
Housing that’s not just for the wealthy?
In the Berkshires, a new land trust aims to protect affordability Lillian Zavatsky, left, and Elizabeth Smith are among those involved in organizing a new Northern Berkshire Community Land Trust. Zavatsky, the group’s president, says it aims to help keep housing affordable. Joan K. Lentini photo By KATE ABBOTTContributing writer NORTH ADAMS, Mass. Victorian read more
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Issue: December 2024-January 2025
Taxing times in Vermont
Election results add to pressure for school funding changes By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer The debate over school funding in Vermont is gaining new urgency after an election that wiped out Democratic supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature. Even as the Democratic presidential ticket was carrying the state by more than 30 percentage read more
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Issue: December 2024-January 2025
Election 2024 Results
Push for ranked-choice ballots gains traction nationally, locally Here are the results of the Nov. 5 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 (*). Uncontested races are not shown.Statewide results for the presidential race read more










