Peter Hotaling, who was Westerlo’s assessor for 19 years before the town replaced him with Garth Slocum, has filed an Article 78 proceeding against the town, requesting that he be reinstated with back pay and that the town reimburse him for medical costs he accrued after losing his insurance.

At Berne-Knox-Westerlo’s regular board of education meeting, Yira Matiz, who was hired last summer to teach seventh- and eighth-grade Spanish, accused the school administration of not performing its due diligence when following up on complaints that Matiz was ineffective in the classroom. Matiz was forced to resign, she said.

In its first regular board meeting of the year, the town of Knox announced a renewal of its Multi-use Recreational District proposal and the advent of high speed internet in the town.

Supporters of Emily Vincent, who was illegally demoted as a full member of the Berne planning board to alternate status, have donated more than $5,000 to a GoFundMe page dedicated to her just one day into its existence. She plans to use that money to fund her brain surgery, as well as take legal action against the town.

Esports, or competitive video gaming, is a $1 billion dollar industry that Berne-Knox-Westerlo teacher William Dergosits wants to bring to the school. He says it may open doors for students academically, professionally, and socially — especially for those in what he calls the “hidden demographic.” 

At its reorganizational meeting on Jan. 1, the new town board of Berne removed several long-standing employees from their posts, stoking the ire of residents. Some of the board’s decisions are illegal, The Enterprise has learned.

TJA Clean Energy, which was planning to propose a solar farm in Berne that spans up to approximately 25 acres near the intersection of Switzkill and Canaday Hill roads, says that the town’s newly adopted industrial-scale solar-energy facility regulations “throw a wrench” in the development process. The town’s law restricts the size of solar facilities to 10 acres. ​

Former Rensselaerville supervisor, Steven Pfleging, pleaded guilty to petit larceny the same day he restored the $13,000 he stole from the town. He was sentenced to 50 hours of community service.

The same day he set a hearing for a law that would make Berne a firearm sanctuary, Town Supervisor Sean Lyons posted a photo of himself displaying the hand-signs of a far-right militia group that has been described as “anti-government” and is connected to a failed 2017 bomb plot in Oklahoma.

The Town of Knox rang in the new year with a reorganizational meeting where Supervisor Vasilios Lefkaditis refused to answer questions about the absence of transfer station appointments on the meeting agenda, and acknowledged that he’s seeking new counsel ahead of Town Attorney Javid Afzali’s planned resignation.