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.

As the town awaits the delivery of two dumpsters it needs to create an ad hoc transfer station while the old one gets torn down and replaced, service is expected to continue uninterrupted, Knox Supervisor Russ Pokorny told The Enterprise this week. 

Muriel Frasher was first appointed town justice in Rensselaerville in 2018 to fill a vacancy left by Dwight Cook, and, though she was unsure at the time whether she’d stay in that position, she was re-elected this November. 

At a town board meeting, Berne Supervisor Dennis Palow defended the state of the town’s finances, which was called into question by outstanding electric bills and a preliminary budget whose numbers didn’t add up. 

The Enterprise spoke with Cornell researcher David Kay, who is currently studying this very topic, and Knox resident David Whipple, who lives on a farm that became home to the Hilltowns’ first commercial solar array, for their perspectives on the relationship between farmers, agriculture, and solar companies.