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:

    In rural Columbia County, a Quaker group tests a new model of community

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    In rural Columbia County, a Quaker group tests a new model of community By TRACY FRISCH Contributing writer CANAAN, N.Y.Along a quiet dirt road in the foothills of the Berkshires, a half-dozen new houses have taken shape on an old farm over the past decade. But the social norms and values of this new community read more

    In rural Columbia County, a Quaker group tests a new model of community
  • Issue:

    Vt. backs wider police access to drug data

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    House, Senate split over requirement for search warrants By CRAIG IDLEBROOK Contributing writer Faced with what some are calling an “epidemic” of prescription drug abuse in Vermont, state legislators have passed two competing bills to give police greater access to a state database of prescription records. But the state House and Senate have so far read more

    Vt. backs wider police access to drug data
  • Issue:

    Ruling boosts Spa City reform effort

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    Vote possible this fall on government overhaul By EVAN LAWRENCE Contributing writer SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. A local citizens group won a major court ruling last month in its effort to force a referendum on overhauling the Saratoga Springs city government, but it’s not clear yet whether voters will get to weigh in on the issue read more

    Ruling boosts Spa City reform effort
  • Issue:

    A hard act to follow — Hubbard Hall

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    As founder’s retirement looms, Hubbard Hall seeks a new leader By EVAN LAWRENCE Contributing writer CAMBRIDGE, N.Y.Hubbard Hall, the 19th century opera house that was reborn more than 30 years ago as a performing arts center for southern Washington County, is facing some big changes. Benjie White, the executive director of Hubbard Hall Projects Inc., read more

    A hard act to follow — Hubbard Hall
  • Issue:

    What corsets, petticoats revealed

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    Exhibit traces social history through 19th century undergarments By STACEY MORRIS Contributing writer BENNINGTON, Vt. Can a corset tell a story? Perhaps. Callie Stewart, the collections manager at the Bennington Museum, knows that corsets, stays, and petticoats signified a lot more than the mere wearing of undergarments for women living in New England in the read more

    What corsets, petticoats revealed
  • Issue:

    In age of super PACs, a grassroots revolt

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    Rutland, area towns back resolutions opposing ‘corporate personhood’ By TRACY FRISCH Contributing writer RUTLAND, Vt. On the shortest, darkest days of the year, local activists were out knocking on doors and collecting signatures in support of a constitutional amendment. Outraged by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that has unleashed unlimited election spending by corporations, members read more

    In age of super PACs, a grassroots revolt
  • Issue:

    Maps reshape political calculus in N.Y.

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    New district lines set stage for heated congressional races By FRED DALEY Editor   The political ground is shifting across eastern New York, thanks to new district maps that were finalized last month for the state’s congressional and legislative seats. The new maps, required every 10 years because of populations shifts revealed by the U.S. read more

    Maps reshape political calculus in N.Y.
  • Issue:

    Vermont moves to limit vaccine exemptions

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    Vermont moves to limit vaccine exemptions, prompting backlash By CRAIG IDLEBROOK Contributing writer   BENNINGTON, Vt. Asked about the subject of childhood vaccines, Lauryn Starkie Kreuder became guarded. Starkie Kreuder and her husband have chosen not to vaccinate their two children. Citing philosophical objections, they obtained a waiver from the state’s vaccine requirements. The waiver read more

    Vermont moves to limit vaccine exemptions
  • Issue:

    Vermont’s biggest insurer pushes back on Home-birth law

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    Vermont’s biggest insurer balks at providing coverage By CRAIG IDLEBROOK Contributing writer   DANBY, Vt.It was supposed to be a watershed moment for home-birth midwives like Heather Whitley. Last year, Vermont legislators responded to a grassroots campaign to bring home births more into the mainstream medical system, passing a bill that requires private health insurers read more

    Vermont’s biggest insurer pushes back on Home-birth law
  • Issue:

    A sign of tough times for group for hearing-impaired

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    By JUDY BERNSTEIN Contributing writer   QUEENSBURY, N.Y.The children, seated in chairs around the edges of the room, were concentrating — and laughing — as they signaled to each other with their hands. King monkey, cat, signed one girl to another. Cat, dog, signed that girl to a boy nearby, as the dozen kids, ages read more

    A sign of tough times for group for hearing-impaired