WESTERLO — “If I do get the honor of being re-elected — and I consider it an honor and a privilege — I’d like to continue the good work the town board is doing,” said Democrat Joseph Boone. “We have to remain vigilant in keeping spending where it needs to be.”

WESTERLO — “I’m looking for a little bit of change in the town,” said Republican Kevin Flensted of his reason for running for a seat on the Westerlo Town Board.

He first ran two years ago, motivated, as he is now, by making the government more transparent. He was narrowly defeated in a four-way race for two seats.

After winning a town board seat in 2015, Westerlo Republicans are stressing transparency as the two Democratic incumbents on the town board run on their records. Both of the challengers favor moving to full-value assessment.

The Berne-Knox-Westerlo Board of Education is putting up for a Nov. 2 vote two propositions for capital projects — for $15 million and $5 million. After a lengthy debate over whether the capital project was a “blank check” or a means of improving student education, three board members voted yes, one voted no, and one abstained.

At Berne-Knox-Westerlo, a new program will teach students the many aspects of agriculture, from water pH to horse care.

The month of September has been very busy for our Helderberg Ambulance squad. We answered 48 calls with 30 transports to local hospitals.