hill country observerThe independent newspaper of eastern New York, southwestern Vermont and the Berkshires

June 2022Facebook linkHill Country Observer TwitterHill Country Instagram page NEWS ARCHIVE

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A rebirth fueled by food?

On a Friday afternoon in early May, the heart of Hoosick Falls was stirring with people seeking -- and making -- good things to eat. At first blush, the village might seem like an unlikely place for a thriving culinary scene. The former manufacturing center hub has lost more than half the population it had a century ago, and in recent years it made headlines because of drinking water contamination that has since been resolved. But the affordability of its classic downtown buildings and large old homes has lately made it a destination for entrepreneurs.
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Local food for a hungry town

Farmers market expands through year-round retail storefront.
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New York’s congressional districts shift again

The status of U.S. House races across eastern New York has been upended in recent weeks by a court-ordered redrawing of election districts -- and by the resignation of Democratic Rep. Antonio Delgado, who has become the state’s new lieutenant governor. A final set of district maps approved by a state court on May 20 left intact much of the geographic area in the current districts of Democrat Paul Tonko and Republican Elise Stefanik -- except for the hometowns of the two incumbents. To the south in the Hudson Valley, the new maps will dramatically reshape the territory that had been represented by Delgado.

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Exploring the breadth of American dance

To celebrate the 90th summer of the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and the reopening of the Ted Shawn Theater, associate curators Melanie George and Ali Rosa-Salas are offering a contemporary take on the first performance Shawn brought to the theater’s stage in Becket, Mass. In 1942, in the midst of World War II, Shawn curated a night of American folk dances. George and Rosa-Salas have picked up that theme and reshaped it for the 21st century: What does it mean to contemporary dancers to be American?

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