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.

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. 

“It didn’t make sense to have two people with the same policy positions run against each other,” said Jeff Collins, explaining why he has ended his campaign to represent District 46 in the State Senate and will instead support fellow Democrat Michelle Hinchey.

At her last meeting, Councilwoman Patricia Snyder voted against supporting the county’s clean-air bill because of what she termed a “vacuum” of information.

“It was a half-hour of hell,” said Gary Greenberg of the sexual abuse he suffered at age 7, which led him to be an activist for the Child Victims Act. He’s now exploring a run for a seat in the senate he helped flip.

“I never intended to be a career politician,” Republican Senator George Amedore told The Enterprise this week after announcing on Friday that he won’t run for re-election in 2020.

Amedore, who is 50, served in the State Assembly for six years, until 2012, and has represented District 46 in the State Senate since 2014.

ALBANY COUNTY — After receiving “numerous complaints of time abuse” by county employees who were alleged to have been doing political campaign work on county time, an investigation into the allegations by the Albany County Department of Audit and Control is being hamstrung by County Executive Daniel McCoy’s office, according to County

Rensselaerville sees one new official on the town board following unopposed elections.

Election results show Democrat Bill Bichteman as supervisor, with Republicans Aimee Burnside and Matt Kryzak on the town board. 

Come Jan. 1, Joel Willsey will be the sole Democrat on the Berne Town Board, long a Democratic stronghold, as GOP-backed candidates again swept to victory.