Berne-Knox-Westerlo Salutatorian Liam Hanley has grown up doing activities outdoors in the Hilltowns. He now gets to pursue his love of the outdoors and his skills in math and science studying at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

At the Berne-Knox-Westerlo graduation, speakers looked two ways: back at the graduates’ past experiences at BKW, and also to their future paths in life.

KNOX — Brad Ableman, who is 17, has been fishing since he was “old enough to cast a rod and reel,” and has wanted to be like the professional anglers he has followed over the years. Now, he’s getting that chance.

Districts like at Cobleskill-Richmondville are currently letting students take college courses from the State University of New York College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill in the high school, in order to earn a degree a year early.

Two new programs were presented to the Berne-Knox Westerlo Board of Education on June 19. Teachers at a summer STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math) camp discussed plans involving nature walks and robots, while students from a recently formed peer-mediation team discussed what they had learned from it.

EAST BERNE — Thomas I. Chase — described by his family as “a true country boy who never wished to stray far from his home in the Helderberg Mountains” — died peacefully at his East Berne home on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, after a long illness. He was 56.

KNOX — United States airman first class Annielaura M. Shafer graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in San Antonio, Texas. She was at the top of her female division of over 300 and has earned four coins.

A special Rensselaerville Town Board meeting to discuss the closure of the town’s volunteer ambulance was met with a solemn acknowledgement of the end of the 45-year-old organization.

The Knox Planning Board ruled to deny an application for the construction of a solar array on property owned by Peter Young Housing last Thursday. Board members cited an inability to gather information for the board and neighbors of the property to review, as well as objections by neighbors to its construction.

In Berne, the Albany County executive announced that the town’s senior center would become a weekly satellite office for various county services. Meanwhile the county sheriff’s office is one step closer to obtaining the Clarksville Elementary School building, which the sheriff has had the same vision for.