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:

    Climate-saving efforts go local

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    States, cities and activists push to meet goals of Paris agreement By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer   With President Trump’s announcement June 1 that he would pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord, area states, cities and citizen groups are redoubling their efforts to curb carbon dioxide emissions and shift to renewable energy read more

    Climate-saving efforts go local
  • Issue:

    Pedal power for the masses

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    Bike-sharing program to start in July in Saratoga, Troy By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.   The bicycle lane along Excelsior Avenue in Saratoga Springs might soon have more traffic as the Capital District Transportation Authority sets up a series of area bike-sharing stations. Joan K. Lentini photo Anyone who needs a bike to read more

    Pedal power for the masses
  • Issue:

    Internet equality for all?

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    Some in region warn of fallout in battle over net neutrality By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer   The future of the Internet is at stake in regulatory changes now being debated in Washington, and the effects of these changes will be felt in local offices, living rooms and libraries, area advocates say. Last month, the Federal read more

    Internet equality for all?
  • Issue:

    Bennington — Transforming a downtown

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    By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer BENNINGTON, Vt.   The historic Putnam Hotel building anchors a redevelopment project that covers nearly a full square block in downtown Bennington. George Bouret photo Over the next four years, local civic leaders say a cluster of vacant or underused properties in downtown Bennington will be transformed into a thriving urban read more

    Bennington — Transforming a downtown
  • Issue:

    Phasing out the plastic shopping bag?

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    Pittsfield pursues ban, following lead of five Berkshires towns By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer PITTSFIELD, Mass.   Anna Masiero, left, and Micayla Levesque bag groceries at Guido’s Fresh Marketplace, whose Pittsfield store has already stopped offering single-use plastic shopping bags to customers.  Susan Sabino photo The days of supermarkets packing groceries into single-use plastic shopping bags read more

    Phasing out the plastic shopping bag?
  • Issue:

    Free clinics try to fill region’s gaps in medical care

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    Free clinics try to fill the gaps in region’s medical system By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer   Dr. Richard Dundas, right, started the Bennington Free Clinic eight years ago after retiring from a 40-year medical career. Sue Andrews became the clinic’s executive director. The clinic is one of several in the region at which doctors volunteer read more

    Free clinics try to fill region’s gaps in medical care
  • Issue:

    In Vermont, many moves to shield immigrants

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    State, towns push back against federal crackdown By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer   Vermonters have lately been taking action at the state and local levels to push back against a federal crackdown on undocumented immigrants – and to oppose any effort by the federal government to create a registry of Muslims. Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, read more

    In Vermont, many moves to shield immigrants
  • Issue:

    In blue Berkshires, election spurs new activism

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    Groups rally, petition, and look beyond state line By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer   Almost from the moment Donald Trump upended the predictions of pollsters and pundits by winning the November election, progressive activists in the Berkshires have been organizing to counter the new president’s agenda. In the past few months, a series of new citizens read more

    In blue Berkshires, election spurs new activism
  • Issue:

    Unequal justice? Bennington, Rutland rank high in study of police bias

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    By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer   Black drivers who are pulled over by city police in Rutland are at least six times more likely than white drivers to wind up being searched. But police searches of black drivers in Rutland and elsewhere across Vermont are less likely than searches of white drivers to turn up drugs read more

    Unequal justice? Bennington, Rutland rank high in study of police bias
  • Issue:

    Education that aims to empower

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    After fire destroys would-be home, youth program changes plans By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer HUDSON, N.Y. When a historic former factory and warehouse building on Hudson’s waterfront was formally donated to the local youth education program Kite’s Nest in September, the organization had high hopes for redeveloping it. In addition to converting the 18,000-square-foot structure and read more

    Education that aims to empower