Category: Health

We follow local stories of well-being in the Hill Country Observer, from physical and mental health to systems of healthcare and insurance and the challenges of medicine today.

  • Issue:

    Reimagining a river

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    Flood-control update offers chance to revive North Adams’ links to the Hoosic   Seen from the Brown Street bridge, the north and south branches of the Hoosic River converge just west of downtown North Adams, each contained within massive concrete chutes built in the 1950s. Joan K. Lentini photo.   By KATE ABBOTTContributing writer NORTH read more

    Reimagining a river
  • Issue:

    Crafting a perfect cream

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    Longtime Spa City esthetician aims to fill a skincare niche Mary Kuntz holds a jar of her handcrafted, small batch Divine Radiance face cream. Joan K. Lentini photo   By STACEY MORRISContributing writer SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. It was the end of another marathon session in the kitchen for Mary Kuntz. As she took stock of read more

    Crafting a perfect cream
  • Issue:

    Saratoga battles over biochar

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    Plant’s backers tout green benefits, but critics see a toxic threat   Gina LeClair holds signs opposing construction of the Saratoga Biochar Solutions facility that’s planned for a site at the Moreau Industrial Park in northern Saratoga County. Joan K. Lentini photo   By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer MOREAU, N.Y. The developers of a multimillion-dollar biochar read more

    Saratoga battles over biochar
  • Issue:

    Balint puts focus on housing, mental health

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    New congresswoman for Vermont sees chance of bridging partisan gap Rep. Becca Balint, the first woman elected to represent Vermont in the U.S. House, was sworn into office in early January. Courtesy photo   By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer   Vermont’s new member of Congress says the nation’s housing and mental health needs are two initial read more

    Balint puts focus on housing, mental health
  • Issue:

    Many reasons to doubt biochar firm’s promise

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    For the sake of argument, let’s be charitable and assume for a moment that the developers who want to build a new sewage sludge-to-fertilizer plant in northern Saratoga County are sincerely trying to solve a pressing environmental problem while making a few dollars for themselves.As our cover story this month details, the partners in a read more

    Many reasons to doubt biochar firm’s promise
  • Issue:

    Pandemic dividend comes fresh from the oven

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    Economic upheaval helps spur new micro-bakeries across region   Kean McIlvaine moved from Washington, D.C., to Washington County, N.Y., after the pandemic threw her culinary career into turmoil. Once here, she started Covered Bridge Bread, a home-based baking business. Joan K. Lentini photo   By STACEY MORRISContributing writer SHUSHAN, N.Y. After the pandemic clobbered the read more

    Pandemic dividend comes fresh from the oven
  • Issue:

    How dark Covid times nurtured bakers’ dreams

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      Dede Weber started her Bohemian Nouveaux Bakery at the height of the pandemic and soon built a following in the northern Berkshires. Now she’s preparing to open a new bakery cafe in North Adams. Susan Sabino photo   By KATE ABBOTTContributing writer Dede Weber imagines a winter day in North Adams, with snow falling read more

    How dark Covid times nurtured bakers’ dreams
  • Issue:

    Cell-tower dispute puts Pittsfield at center of national debate

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    Cell tower dispute puts Pittsfield at center of a national debate   Courtney Gilardi and her daughters stand outside their home in Pittsfield, Photo by Susan Sabino.   By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer PITTSFIELD, Mass. Courtney Gilardi’s 9-year-old daughter came downstairs one morning in the late summer of 2020 and announced that she was feeling “headachy, read more

    Cell-tower dispute puts Pittsfield at center of national debate
  • Issue:

    In sign of spring new life emerges on farms

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    Area events provide close encounters with piglets, lambs and more   Piglets are among the new arrivals this spring at the annual Baby Animals festival at Hancock Shaker Village in the Berkshires. Susan Sabino photo.   By KATE ABBOTTContributing writer HANCOCK, Mass. The barn is different on a spring night. Calves lie in the hay read more

    In sign of spring new life emerges on farms
  • Issue:

    Restoring the Batten Kill watershed

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    Groups band together to protect a river famous for its wild trout   The Batten Kill rushes under a covered bridge in the hamlet of Eagleville, N.Y. Photo by Joan K. Lentini.   By DON LEHMANContributing writer SALEM, N.Y. A man snorkeling in a shallow pool of water in remote Camden Creek is not a read more

    Restoring the Batten Kill watershed