HILLTOWNS — Penny Shaw Bartley has always loved to sing and entertain people.

It started when she was a kid growing up on a farm in Michigan. She and her siblings worked in the fields, “hoeing out weeds and driving the tractor and feeding the animals,” says Shaw in this week’s Enterprise podcast.

Muriel Frasher was first appointed town justice in Rensselaerville in 2018 to fill a vacancy left by Dwight Cook, and, though she was unsure at the time whether she’d stay in that position, she was re-elected this November. 

At a town board meeting, Berne Supervisor Dennis Palow defended the state of the town’s finances, which was called into question by outstanding electric bills and a preliminary budget whose numbers didn’t add up. 

RENSSELAERVILLE — Jost Nickelsberg, a former Rensselaerville supervisor with a passion for baseball and a résumé that included major stops on Wall Street, died peacefully on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, at his home in Medusa after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 80 years old. 

Zenie Gladieux, Hilltowns Clothing Project Kiwanis Club of the Helderbergs

Amie Burnside, Chairwoman  Westerlo Hometown Heroes

The Enterprise spoke with Cornell researcher David Kay, who is currently studying this very topic, and Knox resident David Whipple, who lives on a farm that became home to the Hilltowns’ first commercial solar array, for their perspectives on the relationship between farmers, agriculture, and solar companies.

Berne Planning Board Chairman Joe Martin has been working with the Hilltown Riders to bring his idea of a more ATV-friendly town into reality. 

The antiques boutique is the first shop business at the old resort property, which owner John Dolce hopes to turn into a commercial hub.