Joshua and Stefanie Rockwood, who took over Gordon Farms from former Knox resident Alexander “Sandy” Gordon, are nowhere to be found as Gordon attempts to collect more than $130,000 from the couple through a lawsuit.

The bill, signed by the governor late last month, requires that all funds received by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority from renewable-energy facilities built on farmland will be put into a farmland protection fund. 

Mohawk Hudson Humane Society said last month that it would not renew contracts with local towns like Westerlo because of the increase in stray intakes this year from certain city clients, who will still be offered service.

The budget is similar to  what was proposed earlier this year, with taxes down 8 percent and spending up about 6 percent from this year.

The Holiday Hunt is a week-long extension of the regular deer season over the winter holidays that was implemented by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation last year, frustrating snowmobilers who have to shorten their recreational season as a result. The state legislature has passed a bill allowing counties to opt out of the additional hunting week.

Interest in farming saw a resurgence during the pandemic, and, according to Knox farmer and chairman of the town’s agricultural committee Gary Kleppel, a new generation is finding that the oldest profession lines up perfectly with their modern values. They just need a little help getting started.

The Helderberg Lake Association, which owns the high-hazard and disrepaired Helderberg Lake Dam, is in need of funds to bring the dam up to code after the town of Berne voted not to front the money earlier this year, despite the town-wide impacts that dam failure would cause. 

The homeschooling rate at Berne-Knox-Westerlo doubled during the pandemic and has yet to come down, leaving district officials to figure out how to attract students back into a formal school setting. 

The new redistricting plan will follow the Albany County Legislature’s recommendation that the county concentrate minority voting power in five dense majority-minority districts rather than up to seven, which is what the original plan, rejected by the legislature, would have done. 

Berne is the only one of the four Hilltowns whose tax rate was unchanged, with the others increasing between 1 and 2 percent, but not always for all residents.