hill country observerThe independent newspaper of eastern New York, southwestern Vermont and the Berkshires

February - March 2024Facebook linkHill Country Observer TwitterHill Country Instagram page NEWS ARCHIVE

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GOP offers mixed message on early voting in New York

Ever since he lost the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump has been claiming the increased use of early voting and mail-in ballots helped to “rig” the contest against him. But U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters in upstate New York, has lately been leading a campaign to urge more Republicans to vote early -- even as she leads a legal fight to block the wider use of mail-in ballots.

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Supporters raise $5M to save Darrow School

After several weeks in which it appeared that the current academic year might be the last for Darrow School, alumni and supporters of the private secondary school have rallied to save it. An emergency fund drive in December and January raised about $5 million in donations and pledges -- enough, the school’s leaders said, to reverse their decision to shut it down.
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Hot sauces add spice to farm-to-table meal service

Back in 2009, the owners of 9 Miles East Farm wanted to make it easy for busy people to eat healthy, locally produced food. Today, their farm’s vegetables star in the prepared meals made at their kitchen in Saratoga Springs for customers around the Northeast. Now they’ve expanded into making their own line of homegrown hot sauces.
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Exhibit explores Black Americans’ paths to liberation

An exhibit opening Feb. 16 at the Williams College Museum of Art explores the journey to freedom for Black Americans since the Civil War. In “Emancipation: The Unfinished Project of Liberation,” seven contemporary artists visualize the nation’s ideals of freedom in the 21st century.
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