By Zach Simeone and Anne Hayden

BERNE — As Hilltown membership in the Lutheran Church declines, forcing a consolidation next week, membership in Africa is growing.

Taking the temperature of safety at the Bethlehem water plant

In January, we called for a public accounting of what went wrong to allow repeated mercury spills at the Bethlehem water plant in New Scotland. None was forthcoming.

Knox boy killed in off-road rollover

By Zach Simeone

KNOX — A Berne-Knox-Westerlo seventh-grade boy died last Thursday, after his new off-road vehicle rolled on top of him, police say.

Planks split

NEW SCOTLAND — The top of the Republican ticket this fall may not share a platform with the bottom.

The proposal for a large-scale shopping center that has shaped debate in town for the past year also divides the GOP ticket.

By Jordan J. Michael

ALBANY –– The Dutchmen baseball team knew its first round Class AA sectional game wouldn’t be easy with an ace on the opposing mound.

By Jordan J. Michael

ALBANY –– The Guilderland lacrosse team has waited a long time for a Class A championship.

By Zach Simeone

BERNE — Cell-phone service came to the Berne-Knox-Westerlo School District last month, so the school board adopted a policy this Monday that governs cell-phone use and text messaging.

By Jordan J. Michael

The Bulldogs and the Blackbirds both got the job done at the Class CC sectionals in Greenwich on Saturday.

School to rein in use of electronic devices

GUILDERLAND — Cell phones and iPods are as ubiquitous in schools today as slates and chalk were in a much earlier era.

GUILDERLAND — A water contract with the city of Watervliet that was supposed to last until 2017 is being re-negotiated as the town faces a potentially large increase in water payments, which could affect resident’s water bills.