BERNE—If a Stewart’s gas station and convenience store is built in Berne, few people will be as directly affected as Kenneth Bunzey. Bunzey and his family live at 1713 Helderberg Trail in Berne, right next to the proposed Stewart’s site.

RENSSELAERVILLE — The town of Rensselaerville has taken the first step towards reassessing property values town-wide.

— Matt Cook

BERNE — The town of Westerlo has repeated its request to buy the Westerlo Elementary School building.

— Matt Cook

MEDUSA—In the southern Hilltowns, among the farms and forests, a small factory turns out some of the best condiments in the world.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer

KNOX — Jeremy Rue is home in the Hilltowns on R & R. He’s a long way from the deserts of Iraq where he has served as a member of the National Guard and to which he will return.

— Matt Cook

BERNE—The Stewart’s company is moving forward with its plan to construct a shop and gas station in the hamlet of Berne.

—Matt Cook and Maggie Gordon

— Matt Cook
BERNE—The Berne Library is out of room. On busy days, pa-trons have to squeeze by each other in the tight spaces between the shelves, "doing the dance," said Jeannette Miller, president of the Friends of the Town of Berne Free Library.

— Matt Cook

BERNE—The town has finally approved bids for the reconstruction of its transfer station.

— Matt Cook

BERNE—The Berne-Knox-Westerlo school budget was voted down by district residents Tuesday by a margin of only 17. Westerlo residents, angry about the closing of their elementary school, may have been the deciding factor in the vote.