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:

    Flooding shapes debate over climate policies

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    Advocates turn focus to land-use patterns, better infrastructure By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer   Last month’s severe floods in Vermont and New York will have long-term public policy implications in areas ranging from infrastructure and community planning to environmental and insurance rules, government officials and advocates say. “Make no mistake, the devastation and flooding we are read more

    Flooding shapes debate over climate policies
  • Issue:

    Local shop, global connections — Fair-trade boutique boosts women artists

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    Fair-trade boutique boosts women artists, makers from near and far   Dayanis Bowie, owner of the DB Trends boutique in Ballston Spa, shows customers Jude Hughes of Amherst, Mass., and Sandy Staniec of Syracuse an “air plant” from Guatemala that grows without soil. Joan K. Lentini photo   By STACEY MORRISContributing writer BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. read more

    Local shop, global connections — Fair-trade boutique boosts women artists
  • Issue:

    Reshaping the future of the mail

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    Postal Service consolidation plans stir fears about rural services   The tiny post office in Rupert was one of 14 across Vermont that the U.S. Postal Service tried unsuccessfully to close in 2011. Now some advocates and members of Congress say rural post offices face a new threat from the pending consolidation of regional mail read more

    Reshaping the future of the mail
  • Issue:

    Group organizes to save Triplex Cinema

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    Great Barrington’s Triplex Cinema to reopen as nonprofit operation   Nicki Wilson, board president of the new nonprofit Triplex Cinema Inc., says strong local support enabled the group to act quickly to acquire the downtown Great Barrington movie theater. Susan Sabino photo   By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. The Triplex Cinema, an independent read more

    Group organizes to save Triplex Cinema
  • Issue:

    Editorial — Last-minute changes turn reform to poison

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    For those who dream of a more open, competitive system of political representation in New York, the news seemed almost too good to be true. In negotiations over a new state budget in early May, legislative leaders agreed to move forward with a new public campaign finance system that would reduce the influence of the read more

    Editorial — Last-minute changes turn reform to poison
  • Issue:

    Reimagining a river

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    Flood-control update offers chance to revive North Adams’ links to the Hoosic   Seen from the Brown Street bridge, the north and south branches of the Hoosic River converge just west of downtown North Adams, each contained within massive concrete chutes built in the 1950s. Joan K. Lentini photo.   By KATE ABBOTTContributing writer NORTH read more

    Reimagining a river
  • Issue:

    N.Y. launches public financing for state races

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    Small, local donations will be matched in Senate, Assembly contests By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer   Next year’s candidates for New York state Senate and Assembly will have the option of participating, for the first time, in a new public campaign finance program that will match small-dollar donations raised within the candidate’s district. The new program read more

    N.Y. launches public financing for state races
  • Issue:

    Creating a downtown food hub

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    Nonprofit market aims to nourish Bennington’s ‘food desert’   Head baker Shayne Williams holds a tray of freshly baked loaves of bread at the new Bennington Community Market. Joan K. Lentini photo   By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer BENNINGTON, Vt. A new nonprofit market in downtown Bennington aims to bring fresh, healthy food to a town read more

    Creating a downtown food hub
  • Issue:

    Bigger tax credit could redevelop historic structures

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    Assemblywoman pushes bigger tax credit to redevelop historic structures   Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner stands outside a long-vacant mill complex in the village of Victory, N.Y. It’s the kind of structure she says could be redeveloped to ease the state’s housing shortage — with help from an expanded tax credit for large historic buildings.Joan K. Lentini read more

    Bigger tax credit could redevelop historic structures
  • Issue:

    Local ‘wrong house’ killing adds to national outcry

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    The shooting death last month of a 20-year-old Schuylerville woman who turned up the wrong driveway stunned people across Washington and Saratoga counties and quickly became part of a national outcry over gun violence. Kaylin Gillis was killed after she and several friends were searching for another friend’s house about 10 p.m. Saturday, April 15, read more

    Local ‘wrong house’ killing adds to national outcry