Esports, or competitive video gaming, is a $1 billion dollar industry that Berne-Knox-Westerlo teacher William Dergosits wants to bring to the school. He says it may open doors for students academically, professionally, and socially — especially for those in what he calls the “hidden demographic.” 

At its reorganizational meeting on Jan. 1, the new town board of Berne removed several long-standing employees from their posts, stoking the ire of residents. Some of the board’s decisions are illegal, The Enterprise has learned.

Kindness was evident as well as enthusiasm on the dance floor Friday night. It was the fifth Hilltown Dance and its organizers are hoping more adults with disabilities will attend the monthly gathering.

Former Rensselaerville supervisor, Steven Pfleging, pleaded guilty to petit larceny the same day he restored the $13,000 he stole from the town. He was sentenced to 50 hours of community service.

The same day he set a hearing for a law that would make Berne a firearm sanctuary, Town Supervisor Sean Lyons posted a photo of himself displaying the hand-signs of a far-right militia group that has been described as “anti-government” and is connected to a failed 2017 bomb plot in Oklahoma.

The new Berne Town Board is proposing a law that would make Berne a “Second Amendment Sanctuary Town.” The bill outlines a series of state and federal regulations, such as registering firearms, and says, “Any such ‘Unlawful Act’ is invalid in Town of Berne and shall not be recognized by Town of Berne ….”

The Town of Knox rang in the new year with a reorganizational meeting where Supervisor Vasilios Lefkaditis refused to answer questions about the absence of transfer station appointments on the meeting agenda, and acknowledged that he’s seeking new counsel ahead of Town Attorney Javid Afzali’s planned resignation.

Seeing nearly 200 patients in its first month of operation, the Hilltowns’ sole medical provider, Hilltown Healthcare, is off to a running start.

In advance of the swearings-in of new Hilltowns board members the first week of January, The Enterprise spoke with three outgoing board members who reflected on their tenures and offered some advice for the newcomers. 

Berne just passed a law that paves the way for industrial-scale solar facilities to plant their roots in the town, while ensuring that the privilege won’t be abused with restrictions surrounding land use.