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:

    Plan to gut historic theater draws howls

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    City to replace Saratoga Music Hall with new court space By THOMAS DIMOPOULOSContributing writer SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.   Saratoga Music Hall was set up for a sellout crowd in 2013 for the local premiere of “Small Apartments,” a film based on the book by Saratoga Springs native Chris Millis. This spring, city officials backed a read more

    Plan to gut historic theater draws howls
  • Issue:

    Opponents push for vote on refugees

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    Rutland petition calls for referendum on Syrian resettlement By C.B. HALLContributing writer RUTLAND, Vt.   Lawn signs promote the new civic group Rutland Welcomes, which supports the planned resettlement of 100 Syrian refugees in the city. C.B. Hall photo With the prospect of 100 Syrian refugees arriving in Rutland this fall, some local activists are read more

    Opponents push for vote on refugees
  • Issue:

    Common Folk Collective builds a community through art

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    Common Folk collective aims for permanent role in North Adams By JOHN SEVENContributing writer NORTH ADAMS, Mass.   The Common Folk artist collective, which has hosted a series of arts and community events over the past year around North Adams, has a new home on Main Street downtown. Courtesy photo With its new location at read more

    Common Folk Collective builds a community through art
  • Issue:

    Seeking refuge in Vermont – Refugee plan draws praise, backlash in Rutland

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    Rutland’s plan to resettle displaced Syrians draws praise — and a backlash By C.B. HALLContributing writer RUTLAND, Vt.   Representatives of state and national refugee resettlement organizations take questions from city aldermen and the public at a May 25 forum in Rutland. The refugee placement organizations have been working with the city’s mayor on a read more

    Seeking refuge in Vermont – Refugee plan draws praise, backlash in Rutland
  • Issue:

    Busy downtown is destination — for panhandlers

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    Saratoga Springs weighs new limits on sidewalk solicitation, vagrancy By THOMAS DIMOPOULOS Contributing writer SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.   A panhandler, leaning against the signboard at right, seeks donations from pedestrians on Broadway in Saratoga Springs. The city is debating new limits on what officials say is “agressive panhandling.”Thomas Dimopoulos photo As the growth of Saratoga read more

    Busy downtown is destination — for panhandlers
  • Issue:

    Vermont’s new anti-sprawl law faces test in Rutland

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    State’s new anti-sprawl law faces early test in Rutland By C.B. HALLContributing writer RUTLAND, Vt.   The struggling Diamond Run Mall in Rutland, Vt., is visible atop a hill in the distance, across Route 7 from a meadow where developers want to build a new BJ’s Wholesale Club store. Opponents, including the mall’s owners, say read more

    Vermont’s new anti-sprawl law faces test in Rutland
  • Issue:

    State pesticide-reporting effort lags

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    New York program, adopted with fanfare, yields old, opaque data By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer   Twenty years ago, a coalition of breast-cancer activists, environmentalists and others celebrated a hard-fought victory when New York agreed to set up a statewide system for tracking the sale and use of pesticides. When the legislation was signed into law read more

    State pesticide-reporting effort lags
  • Issue:

    Revival set for oldest N.Y. theater space

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    Hudson Opera House begins restoration of long-dormant main hall By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer HUDSON, N.Y.   Restoration work began this spring on the long-dormant main performance hall at Hudson Opera House. When the $8 million project is completed next year, a modern, flexible 300-seat theater will be ready to host performances on the landmark building’s read more

    Revival set for oldest N.Y. theater space
  • Issue:

    Vermont sees evidence of tainted water

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    Concern grows along with list of towns contaminated by PFOA By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer NORTH BENNINGTON, Vt. Relying on bottled water for drinking and cooking is a new and unwelcome experience for Jim Sullivan. Like the rest of his neighbors on a small street at the southeastern edge of North Bennington, Sullivan gets his water read more

    Vermont sees evidence of tainted water
  • Issue:

    Bus to the train?

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    By C.B. HALLContributing writer MANCHESTER, Vt. Bennington County could soon be linked to the national passenger rail system, closing a public-transportation gap that has persisted for nearly half a century. But the new link would come in the form of a bus, rather than the train service some citizens and local government officials have been read more

    Bus to the train?