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:

    Keeping a city’s past intact

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    In Pittsfield, campaign to save church leads to wider preservation effort By JOHN TOWNES Contributing writer PITTSFIELD, Mass.       The former St. Mary the Morning Star Church in Pittsfield has helped to spawn a new preservation drive in the city after a developer proposed this fall to raze it to make way for read more

    Keeping a city’s past intact
  • Issue:

    Parking garage plan raises ire in Saratoga

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    By THOMAS DIMOPOULOSContributing writer SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.   The Saratoga Springs City Center, seen above from Maple Avenue, is proposing to build a 511-space parking garage to replace a surface parking lot across the street. An architect’s rendering, left, shows the garage and a new pedestrian bridge over Maple Avenue that would link it to read more

    Parking garage plan raises ire in Saratoga
  • Issue:

    Election 2014: The pendulum swings to red

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    Here are the detailed results of federal and state elections held Nov. 4 across the region. A guide to politcal party abbreviations is at right. Incumbents are marked with an asterisk (*). Winners are marked in bold. Figures for Massachusetts and Vermont are the final, certified results from the secretary of state’s office in each read more

    Election 2014: The pendulum swings to red
  • Issue:

    In a town that said no, Wal-Mart tries again

    By THOMAS DIMOPOULOSContributing writer BALLSTON, N.Y. For the town of Ballston, it’s 2004 all over again. Back then, the town was in an uproar over Wal-Mart’s proposal to build a massive new superstore along Route 50, just outside the village of Ballston Spa. Although supporters at the time touted the store’s potential economic benefits, opponents read more

    In a town that said no, Wal-Mart tries again
  • Issue:

    Chasing a dream, crossing a channel

    Vermont woman achieves ‘Mount Everest’ of long-distance swimming By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer WALLINGFORD, Vt. Bethany Bosch admits that the last seven hours of her swim across the English Channel were “pretty intense.” She had already been stroking freestyle through 62-degree water for more than 10 hours as the tidal currents pushed her west toward the read more

    Chasing a dream, crossing a channel
  • Issue:

    Celebrating W.E.B. Du Bois

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    Center explores context of a civil rights pioneer’s legacy By TELLY HALKIASContributing writer GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. W.E.B. Du Bois wasn’t born until three years after the Civil War ended, but the war and its aftermath were crucial in shaping the views of one of the nation’s first prominent African-American scholars and civil rights activists. With read more

    Celebrating W.E.B. Du Bois
  • Issue:

    Flow of military gear to local police raises questions

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    By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer   QUEENSBURY, N.Y. The mine-resistant armored personnel carrier was built to help U.S. troops survive roadside bomb attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan, but its new home is among malls and outlet stores here in the foothills of the Adirondacks.Last fall, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office was among eight local police agencies read more

    Flow of military gear to local police raises questions
  • Issue:

    Local agriculture’s new frontier: medical pot?

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    Washington County developer says he’ll seek state license By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer JACKSON, N.Y. The recent legalization of medical marijuana in New York is opening up a new market for entrepreneurs who would become the state’s first authorized growers and processors of cannabis. Among those who hope to join this nascent industry is Ted Berndt, read more

    Local agriculture’s new frontier: medical pot?
  • Issue:

    Election 2014 Preview: Who’s on your ballot

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    Here are the candidates and referendum questions on ballots for the Nov. 4 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 (*). Polls are open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to read more

    Election 2014 Preview: Who’s on your ballot
  • Issue:

    Diamond in the rough? Village lays ground for rebirth

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    News Sept. 2014 In downtown Hoosick Falls, projects could set stage for rebirth By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer HOOSICK FALLS, N.Y. David Borge, the mayor of this village in northeastern Rensselaer County, acknowledged that its downtown looks “sad,” as he put it. Two- and three-story buildings from the 19th century, many vacant and decaying, are mixed read more

    Diamond in the rough? Village lays ground for rebirth