Life Sketches by Terry Berkson Out On The Ice One bitterly cold morning, Joe Gravelding, my muskrat-trapping partner, didn’t come to call for me. It was the weekend, so I figured he slept in knowing he could count on me to go and check the line. When I left the house, my dog, Pinkie, began to follow me. I threw a few snowballs at him and yelled for him to go home, but he kept trailing me. Pinkie might sound…
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Columns - Page 41
News from the Noteworthy Workforce Wellbeing Impacts Business Bottom Line The cost of doing business and staying in business is rising these days. It’s not just inflation, supply chain, COVID fallout and keeping the lights on. For most business owners and managers, that would be more than enough to contend with. We also know that it’s about the workforce and the overall wellbeing of the people we work with and work for. We are emerging from a dual pandemic (COVID…
Column by Richard Sternberg M.D. World Polio Day Celebrated Next Week October 24 is World Polio Day, an international commemoration of the efforts to eliminate poliomyelitis in the entire world, recognize those fighting the disease, and bring awareness to the public of the danger of the disease and how they can help to end it. The eradication of polio is, or maybe better to say was, in the last mile of a marathon, but complacency and a decreased emphasis on…
Weekly Medical Briefs October 13, 2022 Weighted Blankets Promote SleepA weighted blanket of approximately 12 percent body weight used at bedtime prompted the release of higher concentrations of melatonin, as measured in the saliva, compared with a lighter blanket of only about 2.4% of body weight. This suggests that weighted blankets may help promote sleep in patients suffering from insomnia, according to the results from the small, in-laboratory crossover study. Sore Throat Common in COVIDHaving a sore throat is becoming…
News from the Noteworthy Celebrate Fall in Many Ways The beauty of fall—as it ushers us from the heat and activity of summer to the chill and serenity of winter—is celebratory and full of hope. Fall does not meekly transition; it sings out with color as it triumphantly faces winter. With our magnificent landscape’s celebration on full display, I have recently thought about how much our community has to celebrate. On Friday, October 14, Dr. Alberto J.F. Cardelle will be…
Column by Richard Sternberg Correlation Doesn’t Imply Causation I read a news report of a scientific article recently that was originally published in a reputable scientific journal that said something to the effect that multivitamins were good for the brain. I shared this with my daughters via text, one of whom is a real biomedical scientist. She retorted back almost immediately, “Dad, did you look at the original paper?” I hadn’t. She did. “Not only is the study flawed but…
News from the Noteworthy County Offers Host of Services for Seniors Otsego County Office for the Aging serves approximately 2,500 individuals per year on a variety of levels. Some of the major programs offered by Office for the Aging include: In-Home Services: Services are provided to assist older adults who want to remain at home, yet need assistance with daily activities such as dressing, bathing, personal care, light housekeeping or meal preparation. Personal Emergency Response System units are also available…
Column by Richard Sternberg COVID’S Silver Lining Sometimes, out of the worst experiences something good happens. At the end of my column on MASH last week, I mentioned that I have learned about creating family where you found it. Amazingly, because of COVID, I found my family that I wasn’t even aware of for the past 45 years. At the very beginning of the COVID epidemic in March 2020, a friend of mine from college who lived on the same…
Otsego 2000 Energy Statement September 2022 We at Otsego 2000 applaud the progress that has been made at local, state, and federal levels with regard to clean, renewable, and carbon-free energy production and we hope that this is only the beginning for serious, thoughtful, and timely policies to protect our environment. At the local level, leaders in Cooperstown have contracted with solar power producers in the North Country region to offset 100 percent of the electrical demand for municipal buildings…
Life Sketches by Terry Berkson Puffball hunting Yesterday morning I looked out the window and saw that a puffball was emerging from the ground at the edge of a hedgerow bordering our back lawn. It reminded me of an incident that occurred many years ago. I had taken my son and his friend, Junior, puffball hunting on a farm just outside of Warren off of Route 20. What’s different about a puffball from others in the mushroom family is that…
