Following our annual tradition, for this week’s podcast, Enterprise reporters look back at some of the most important stories for 2021.
 

Noah Zweifel, who covers the Helderberg Hilltowns, discussed how social-media accounts can vary from facts. He spoke of several stories he wrote this year — notably one involving dishonest posts meant to slur a candidate before elections — where finding and reporting the truth was essential in setting the record straight.

Zweifel, the only reporter to cover elections in the four Hilltowns, reflected on the changing political landscape in the rural towns — all of which have more enrolled Democrats than Republicans and all of which went for Barack Obama in 2012 but went red for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. Republicans dominated the local elections this year after prior decades of Democratic dominance.
 

Melissa Hale-Spencer, the newspaper’s editor, spoke of how pandemic coverage this year and last changed the way The Enterprise puts out news, with regular updates on the website and in a free daily newsletter as well as a weekly round-up for print readers. The goal is to make the evolving science and government programs and regulations understandable and accessible to our readers while also covering how the pandemic plays out locally.

Hale-Spencer, who has covered the Guilderland schools for decades and is also a Guilderland graduate, spoke of the district’s reckoning with racism — a story that has been building for years and this year saw some important resolutions.
 

Sean Mulkerrin, who covers Guilderland planning and zoning issues, discussed the ever-evolving lawsuits centering on Pyramid. At the same time the behemoth company is challenging the town of Guilderland to nearly halve its tax assessment, it also partnered with Guilderland this past year to successfully overturn a lower court decision that would have halted construction of a 222-unit apartment complex and a Costco wholesale center.

Mulkerrin, who covers the villages of Altamont and Voorheesville as well as the town of New Scotland, also discussed plans by CSX to acquire Pan Am Railways, which, if approved, would mean two 9,000-foot-long trains would run through the villages daily — something about which Voorheesville as well as Altamont’s library director have raised concerns.