Raymond Pignone reports for Columbia-Greene Media that part of the land for the proposed Shepherd’s Run solar energy project in Columbia County from Hecate Energy has been sold, creating new questions for its approval. Craryville Farms LLC purchased 60 acres at the corner of Cambridge Road and county Route 7 on Jan. 2, part of a proposed 265-acre solar installation near Route 23, Route 7, and Route 11A in Craryville and Copake. Brittany Kenny, senior public affairs manager with Martin Group Marketing, which is working with Sensible Solar, a group opposing the project, said, “We don’t know what this will mean for the future of the project.... But we do know it brings everything into question, and we know it throws a monkey wrench into the project.” The town of Copake immediately after the sale filed a petition with the New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting for an immediate adjournment of two public hearings scheduled for Jan. 9 and Jan. 10 about the proposed solar project, and to dismiss Hecate’s application as “infeasible and inaccurate.” The newspaper could not get anyone from Hecate Energy's Chicago office to return calls or emails for comment. Kenny said, “The farmer who sold the land to the LLC wants it to remain forever agricultural, so the land will remain in active agricultural use.” Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.