Berne’s town attorney Javid Afzali informed the town board at its July 22 meeting that the controversial Switzkill Farm property may have been acquired illegally because the 2014 town board did not allow for a permissive referendum following the purchase authorization. Then-supervisor Kevin Crosier tells The Enterprise that no referendum was required.

Michelle Hinchey, the Democratic candidate for the State Senate’s 46th District, paid for the lawyer of Hébert Joseph, chairman of the Rensselaerville Democratic Party, who submitted a challenge against Democrat Gary Greenberg’s nominating petition, which resulted in Greenberg’s removal from the primary ballot. Hinchey had distanced herself from Joseph’s challenge when asked about it by The Enterprise in March. 

The Berne Town Board voted, with the needed majority of 3, to formalize the town’s planning board, which Councilman Mathew Harris said in May was illegitimate. 

Rensselaerville resident Sarah Gordon is calling on local businesses to take a stand against racism by pledging — on a public, digital spreadsheet — to call out racist behavior that occurs on professional property and to denounce the slogan “all lives matter,” which exists to diminish the anti-racist “Black lives matter” slogan. 

Knox and Berne have each signed an agreement that allows Berne’s dog-control officer, Jody Jansen, to shelter dogs in Knox’s kennel while Berne renovates its own Switzkill Farm kennel. 

Bozenkill Road, which connects the town of Knox to the village of Altamont, will reopen at the end of July upon the completion of a million-dollar bridge repair, said Mary Roazak, spokeswoman for the Albany County executive.

As the Berne Town Board negotiates a new union contract for town employees that will likely include improved compensations for highway workers, residents question the town’s financial standing in a pandemic-addled economy. 

The Warners Lake Improvement Association, which stewards Warner Lake, in Berne, is taking steps to have the name adjusted by the United States Board on Geographic Names to reflect local preference for Warners Lake.

The Berne Town Board’s lone Democrat, Joel Willsey, has been censured following an investigation into allegations of discrimination against veterans made by Republican board member Dennis Palow.

To close an expected budget gap, two Republicans on the Westerlo Town Board are recommending cutting the Democratic supervisor’s two staffers after the Democrats and one tie-breaking Republican authorized the layoff of two of the highway department’s roughly seven workers.