State Senator Michelle Hinchey, a Democrat representing the 46th District, will seek election to the new 41st District, which features a large portion of the current 46th District but excludes Albany County. 

In addition to $1 billion invested nationwide by the federal government, New York State Senator Michelle Hinchey announced a $5 million meat processing expansion grant, which aims to empower New York residents to open up meat-processing facilities at a time when farmers are reportedly having trouble finding any.

The farmers’ market, which features a wide variety of vendors from the Hilltowns and beyond, will continue to be held each Wednesday through most of October from 4 until 7 p.m. at the Helderberg Lutheran Church, in Berne. 

Berne-Knox-Westerlo voters re-elected incumbent, unchallenged school board candidates Matthew Tedeschi and Rebecca Miller; approved the district’s $25 million budget; and authorized the purchase of several buses, as well as a property that sits adjacent to campus. 

The 37-acre, 5-megawatt solar project proposed by RIC Energy received conditional approval from the Knox Planning Board last month as the town board works to negotiate a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement among the company, the county, and the Berne-Knox-Westerlo School District.

The map will be subject to a public hearing on May 26.

Megan Bassler, a 2010 graduate of Berne-Knox-Westerlo, spent two years as a social worker after getting a master’s degree in that field, then went on to law school and passed the state bar exam last year.

Michelle Hinchey and Richard Amedure were opponents in 2020, when both sought office for the first time after former Senator George Amedore, a Republican, decided not to seek re-election.

Berne building inspector Jonathan Heigel is not qualified to issue building permits for construction projects without the approval of a code-enforcement officer, but granted some to the town and Berne Town Board member Albert Thiem anyway.

Assemblyman Chris Tague, of District 102, wants New York schools to offer whole and 2-percent milk to students to, essentially, ensure that they drink milk at all. Higher-fat milks are currently restricted by federal law because milk fats have been linked to higher levels of so-called “bad” cholesterol, which in turn is linked to heart disease.