The Altamont Reservoir is worth a third of the value at which the town of Knox, where the reservoir is located, had assessed the property.

In Westerlo, Councilman William Bichteman will be stepping down in January. Bichteman has done the bulk of the work on many of the town’s projects in Westerlo, and his ouster has led to questions about what this means for the supervisor he has assisted.

“Deck the Halls,” an original musical by Penny Shaw, will be performed this weekend by the Hilltowns Players in the troupe’s 35th year.

After holding a public hearing, the Westerlo Town Board adopted its 2018 town budget. Westerlo will stay under the property tax cap with a 1.84-percent tax levy increase, but is anticipating exponential increases over the years in fees for garbage and ambulance services.

An absentee ballot count for the town of Berne left the GOP candidates holding on to the supervisor and the town council seats. But the Democratic candidate Joel Willsey is only one vote behind Republican candidate Frank Brady. Two votes that were brought in excess of the eight-ballot minimum by Democratic Party Chairman Gerald O’Malley have not been counted, and the GOP intends to file a lawsuit to keep it that way.

Three local runners, two from Voorheesville and one from Berne-Knox-Westerlo, slogged through the mud and snow at the State Cross-Country competition at Wayne High School in Ontario Center in western New York Saturday, racing against the fastest runners in New York. Each ran on the 3.1 mile course.

WESTERLO — The Westerlo Baptist Church is hosting a free Thanksgiving dinner for the community on Nov. 23 at noon.

The church is located at 619 Route 143.

For more information, call the church office at (518) 797-3927.

Linda VanAller Hernick, a former cytotechnician and paleobotanist, has written a book on exploring the world of freshwater microorganisms in ditches and ponds surrounding her Rensselaerville home. She hopes others will be encouraged to partake in this little-known study.