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:

    Creating a community forest

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    Deal preserves land at a village’s edge for education, recreation A group visiting the new Cambridge Community Forest last month included Alex Dery Snider, Elliott Norman, Bill Arnold, Sarah Ashton and Jared Woodcock. George Bouret photo   By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer CAMBRIDGE, N.Y. A wooded hillside on the edge of the village of Cambridge, the read more

    Creating a community forest
  • Issue:

    Cleaner than coal? — Cement plant’s plan raises concern

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    Cement company’s alternative-fuel plan raises questions about air emissions The sprawling Lehigh Cement Co. plant in Glens Falls is seeking approval from state regulators to supplement its normal fuel supply of coal and natural gas with raggertail, a mixture of plastic and paper left over the process of recycling paper and cardboard. Joan K. Lentini read more

    Cleaner than coal? — Cement plant’s plan raises concern
  • Issue:

    In the Berkshires, preparing for legal marijuana sales

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    Mass. retailers get set for legal marijuana sales, raising questions for N.Y., Vermont Theory Wellness opened the Berkshires’ first medical marijuana dispensary, above, in Great Barrington two years ago. Now it’s one of the first four retailers in Berkshire County that are expected to begin selling to anyone over 21 after the state’s voters backed read more

    In the Berkshires, preparing for legal marijuana sales
  • Issue:

    A closer look at a toxin’s trail

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    New studies find more cancer, wider contamination from PFOA Judith Enck, a former regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Bennington College professors Janet Foley and John Hultgren went door to door in Hoosick Falls, N.Y., to gather information for a community healh survey as they researched the effects of PFOA. David Bond read more

    A closer look at a toxin’s trail
  • Issue:

    A soothing crop for stressful times

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    Lavender becomes focus of couple’s back-to-the-land enterprise David and Diane Allen opened Lavenlair Farm to the public two years ago. The farm in the Washington County town of Fort Ann grows lavender and produces an array of lavender products that the Allens sell at an on-site gift shop, at farmers markets and online. Joan K. read more

    A soothing crop for stressful times
  • Issue:

    In green gesture, town bans plastic water bottles

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    Great Barrington voters pass new law easily; critics push for new vote Retailers in Great Barrington would be prohibited from selling plastic water bottles like these starting in May 2019 under a local law approved by voters at last month’s annual town meeting. Susan Sabino photo   By JOHN TOWNESContributing writer GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. Supporters read more

    In green gesture, town bans plastic water bottles
  • Issue:

    A new model of care

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    Region’s peer-respite homes offer alternative approach to mental health The weekly staff meeting at Alyssum, a peer-respite house in Rochester, Vt., is unlike any other gathering of its kind. The focus is on team building through an approach called “co-supervision.”Courtesy photo   By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer   For many people in the grip of a read more

    A new model of care
  • Issue:

    State, watchdogs urge more work on PCBs

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    Reports suggest high levels of contamination remain in Hudson River New studies show the upper Hudson River, seen from North River Road in Fort Edward, remains burdened by PCB pollution despite completion of a seven-year, $1.7 billion cleanup. Joan K. Lentini photo   By EVAN LAWRENCEContributing writer FORT EDWARD, N.Y. A series of new federal read more

    State, watchdogs urge more work on PCBs
  • Issue:

    Changing course on pot

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    In Vermont, medical marijuana faces risks in push for broader legalization Mike Di Tomasso, Matt Lavallee, Chris Williams and Chris Motyka are among about 50 employees of Champlain Valley Dispensary and Southern Vermont Wellness, which operate Vermont’s largest legal marijuana-growing facility and supply medical marijuana dispensaries in Burlington and Brattleboro. Courtesy photo Jessica Sipe   By read more

    Changing course on pot
  • Issue:

    Trading old hazards for new? — Mystery shrouds chemicals that replaced PFOA

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    The Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics plant on McCaffrey Street in Hoosick Falls is blamed for contaminating the village’s drinking water wells with perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA. The chemical has been phased out of production, raising questions about what industries like Saint-Gobain are using in its place. Joan K. Lentini photo   By TRACY FRISCHContributing writer HOOSICK FALLS, read more

    Trading old hazards for new? — Mystery shrouds chemicals that replaced PFOA