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:

    Reinventing a dairy farm

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    Fifth-generation homestead finds rebirth through raw milk, farm store   Willow Marsh Farm in Ballston, N.Y., had been a conventional dairy operation until a new generation of family owners began making cheese and Greek yogurt and shifted to retail sales of raw milk. Joan K. Lentini photo   By STACEY MORRISContributing writer BALLSTON, N.Y. Despite read more

    Reinventing a dairy farm
  • Issue:

    A month in the hills — NY correctional facility

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    New York’s plan to close Great Meadow Correctional Facility has set off an outcry in northern Washington County, where the maximum-security prison has long been a major employer. The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision announced July 18 that it plans to shut Great Meadow and another maximum-security prison in Sullivan County effective Nov. read more

    A month in the hills — NY correctional facility
  • Issue:

    Intimate spaces, innovative shows — Region’s small theaters blaze a path through post-pandemic upheaval

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    Region’s small theaters blaze a path through post-pandemic upheaval Courtesy of Adams Theater   By KATE ABBOTTContributing writer ANCRAM, N.Y. “And there are drums on the mountain …”On a July night, Martha Redbone will come to the banks of the Sankhenak river to compose music drawn up from her own folk, blues, gospel and Native read more

    Intimate spaces, innovative shows — Region’s small theaters blaze a path through post-pandemic upheaval
  • Issue:

    Online-betting windfall stirs debates

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    As states cheer revenue, critics point to costs of gambling addiction By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer   Two years after New York legalized mobile sports betting, it appears the biggest winner by far has been the state government. From early 2022 through the beginning of this year, Albany raked in more than $1.55 billion from its read more

    Online-betting windfall stirs debates
  • Issue:

    Happy herd, tasty cheese

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    At Ardith Mae Farm, the flavor starts with rambunctious goats Farmstead cheesemaker Shereen Alinaghian walks among the goats at Ardith Mae Farm in Stockport, N.Y. The farm has earned Animal Welfare Approved certification for more than a decade. Scott Langley photo   By STACEY MORRISContributing writer STOCKPORT, N.Y. It may be early afternoon, but Shereen read more

    Happy herd, tasty cheese
  • Issue:

    Signs of economic change

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    Region’s manufacturing takes high-tech turn as some familiar employers exit   The sign outside AngioDynamics’ medical device plant in Queensbury, N.Y., says the company is now hiring, but the factory is set to shut down at the end of 2025. Employee shortages are one reason the company has cited for its decision to close its read more

    Signs of economic change
  • Issue:

    Hudson fishing shanties face likely demolition

      A collection of more than a dozen old fishing shanties along the Hudson River, some of which are seen here in 2018, has been deemed historically significant by state officials. But the city of Hudson says it lacks the resources needed to preserve them as part of a pending waterfront redevelopment project. Susan Sabino read more

    Hudson fishing shanties face likely demolition
  • Issue:

    On the rails, serving travelers with flair

    He was as nimble as a circus acrobat, as gregarious as a politician and, at least in the estimation of one canine, as fashionable as a stage actor. “That’s Conductor Frost, the best fellow that ever lived,” a railroad passenger told a reporter for The Mechanicville Era in 1883. The popularity of Charles Frost, a read more

    On the rails, serving travelers with flair
  • Issue:

    The museum that transformed a city — Mass MoCA turns 25

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    Mass MoCA, now 25, gave rise to North Adams’ new creative economy   By KATE ABBOTTContributing writer NORTH ADAMS, Mass. When Tom Bernard worked at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art 20 years ago, he wore his grandmother’s badge from Sprague Electric Co. clipped to his own. She worked in Sprague’s sprawling mill complex in read more

    The museum that transformed a city — Mass MoCA turns 25
  • Issue:

    A month in the hills — Birthing center to stay open with state aid

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    The only remaining maternity ward in Rensselaer County will stay open after receiving a promise of $5 million in new state grants. St. Peter’s Health Partners announced April 29 that it will keep the Burdett Birth Center in Troy open for at least five years while the hospital system works to improve the center’s economic read more

    A month in the hills — Birthing center to stay open with state aid