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:

    Fear of empowerment — In a Vermont town, goal of ‘climate economy’ draws support, resistance

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    In a Vermont town, goal of ‘climate economy’ draws support, resistance Michelle Pekrol and some other residents of Pownal, Vt., have organized under the name SOS Pownal to oppose a new planning initiative aimed at helping the town better prepare for climate change.  Joan K. Lentini photo   By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer POWNAL, Vt. This read more

    Fear of empowerment — In a Vermont town, goal of ‘climate economy’ draws support, resistance
  • Issue:

    A sanctuary for all seekers

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    Sufi retreat keeps spiritual focus in former Shaker buildings The Abode of the Message, a Sufi community and retreat center in New Lebanon, N.Y., was established in 1975 in a collection of 19th century buildings that were once part of the large local Shaker community. Susan Sabino photo   By STACEY MORRISContributing writer NEW LEBANON, read more

    A sanctuary for all seekers
  • Issue:

    Trading old hazards for new? — Mystery shrouds chemicals that replaced PFOA

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    The Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics plant on McCaffrey Street in Hoosick Falls is blamed for contaminating the village’s drinking water wells with perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA. The chemical has been phased out of production, raising questions about what industries like Saint-Gobain are using in its place. Joan K. Lentini photo   By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer HOOSICK FALLS, read more

    Trading old hazards for new? — Mystery shrouds chemicals that replaced PFOA
  • Issue:

    To age in place, it takes a village

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    Volunteer networks planned in Berkshire, Columbia counties Shirley and Howard Shapiro are working to establish a volunteer network in central Berkshire County, affiliated with the national Village to Village nonprofit group, to help seniors live independently. John Townes photo   By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer LENOX, Mass. Two separate efforts are under way in Berkshire and read more

    To age in place, it takes a village
  • Issue:

    Berkshire Museum pushes toward sale of artwork as resistance grows

    Berkshire Museum pushes toward sale of artwork as resistance grows The Berkshire Museum has proposed shifting its focus more to science and natural history — and selling off 40 works of art from its collection to help bolster its endowment and pay for renovations. But art lovers are calling on the museum’s leaders to halt read more

    Berkshire Museum pushes toward sale of artwork as resistance grows
  • Issue:

    State line sets sharp contrasts in PFOA water crisis

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    Border makes for sharp contrasts in handling of tainted-water crisis By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer HOOSICK FALLS, N.Y.   Downtown Hoosick Falls is seen from across the Hoosic River. The groundwater that supplies the village water system remains heavily contaminated, and a local manufacturing plant near the water supply was designated as a federal Superfund site read more

    State line sets sharp contrasts in PFOA water crisis
  • Issue:

    Unearthing a long-lost community

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    Teacher traces history of Vermont settlement built by Mass. rebels By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer SANDGATE, Vt.   High-school students in a summer archaeological field school sift through the soil at a remote property in Sandgate, Vt., where leaders of the Shays Rebellion built an extensive community beginning in 1787. The rebels fled Massachusetts for Vermont, read more

    Unearthing a long-lost community
  • Issue:

    Immersion in healing — For cancer survivors, a retreat just for healing

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    After cancer, owner shares riverside retreat with patients, survivors By STACEY MORRISContributing writer GREENWICH, N.Y.   Roger and Letitia Wyatt run the Barn at Basset House on Hudson, a riverside retreat in Greenwich, N.Y. Next month, they’ll host a daylong retreat for area cancer patients and survivors.  Joan K. Lentini photo When Letitia Wyatt opened read more

    Immersion in healing — For cancer survivors, a retreat just for healing
  • Issue:

    At Wild Oats food co-op, testing limits of cooperation

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    Workers at a food co-op form a union, testing limits of collectivism By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.   Erin Merrigan, left, and Karen Kane show off buttons supporting a labor union at Wild Oats Market. Workers at the food co-op in Williamstown voted to unionize in February 2016, but the union and management have read more

    At Wild Oats food co-op, testing limits of cooperation
  • Issue:

    Saving a strawberry farm

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    $1.5M campaign aims to preserve Columbia County destination By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer ANCRAM, N.Y.   Don and Marnie MacLean have been running Thompson-Finch Farm, best known for its pick-your-own organic strawberries, since 1982. But a generational change in the farm’s ownership has threatened to force the sale of the property. Local conservation groups have launched read more

    Saving a strawberry farm