ALBANY COUNTY — "Madzi ndi moyo" — water is life. Amy Hart, director and producer of Water First:Living Drop by Drop, believes this, and is doing what she can to spread the word.

ALBANY COUNTY — Local restaurants are preparing to change how they cook since the county legislature voted to ban trans fat.

BERNE — As a student fought cancer to the death, his teacher stayed by his side right up to the end, and now uses his life as a foundation.

BERNE — After winning first place in the state culinary arts competition in January, a team of local students went on to nationals and earned the best finish in the state’s history.

BERNE — Middle-school students at Berne-Knox-Westerlo have solved real-life problems with their inventions, which are being recognized at the regional Invention Convention.

RENSSELAERVILLE — A youth detention center that has stirred up a rural community will be closing in 2008.

BERNE — In a district where incumbents are rarely defeated, Edward Ackroyd, currently vice president of the Berne-Knox-Westerlo School Board, was not re-elected for another three-year term.

ALBANY COUNTY — Municipalities in Albany County now have a vehicle to discuss shared services.

In an effort to cut costs, the county legislature formed a Municipal Highway Services Board last week.

BERNE — In a landslide vote, the Berne-Knox-Westerlo school budget for next year passed late Tuesday in a district where budget defeats had been common.

NEW SCOTLAND — A hike in Thacher Park Friday went awry as two women slid down an embankment.