Dr. Mario Hasaj, a psychiatrist with the Brattleboro Retreat, is accepting new patients at Grace Cottage Family Health in Townshend.
Hasaj sees adult outpatients Monday through Friday at Grace Cottage.
“I work with patients with a wide variety of issues,” he said, “ including mood disorders, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), dementia, Alzheimer's, geriatric depression, and bipolar disorder. A combination of counseling, medication, and various types of behavioral therapy can help in so many cases.”
Hasaj is a graduate of the University of Buenos Aires Medical School in Argentina. He completed his residency at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and a fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. He is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology; his specialty is adult psychiatry.
The Brattleboro branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) has awarded four college scholarships of $1,000 each to Windham County students: three to high school graduates and one to a mature woman continuing work towards college degree. Suzanne Edwards of Townshend graduated from Leland & Gray Union...
In a surprise move, Gaz Metro is attempting to woo Central Vermont Public Service away from a deal with Fortis, Inc. Gaz Metro made a bid to buy Central Vermont Public Service on Thursday with a public offer of 15 cents more per share than the purchase price deal...
The Journey School, a natural learning community founded in Chester eight years ago, will move its home base to the Putney Community Center this fall. Incorporating elements of homeschooling, democratic education and other progressive learning models, The Journey School is alternative education program serving children ages 6-17. The Putney Community Center will host two main programs for The Journey School. The first program is Teen Odyssey, an alternative education program for kids 12 – 17, offering a learner-centered approach that...
A few years ago, a constituent came to Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, with an unlikely complaint: He couldn't get enough high-quality marijuana. The Bennington County area resident, Mark Tucci, has multiple sclerosis and smokes medically-prescribed marijuana to relieve chronic pain and muscle spasms. For several years, Tucci has been outspoken about how marijuana has helped him manage his illness well enough to raise a family and start a nonprofit group. Under a 2007 law, Vermonters with chronic conditions like MS,
For the past six years, a memorial of hand-painted American flags has been installed on the Newfane Common, honoring the life of each American military serviceperson killed in Iraq. Today, other wars have become the focus, dominating the headlines. And today, American men and women are still getting killed in Iraq. In fact, 33 have died so far in 2011, bringing the total number of American fatalities to 4,463. This Iraq War memorial is not meant to exclude or overshadow...
Whether you experienced the magic in the dark theatre during the power outage that disrupted the June 12 performance at the Latchis, or missed it entirely, the good news is that the Windham Orchestra's interrupted performance of Beethoven's Ode to Joy has been rescheduled. On Sunday, July 10 at 3 pm, at the Latchis Theatre on Main Street, the Windham Orchestra, under the direction of Hugh Keelan, will present Beethoven's iconic Symphony No. 9, with the Windham Festival Chorus. Admission...
Six possible statewide Republican candidates recently got together at party headquarters in Montpelier to start talking about next year's campaign. They did not decide who would run for what. “It was essentially a meeting to talk about 2012, but no decisions were reached,” said Sen. Randy Brock, R-Grand Ise-Franklin, one of the meeting-goers. “No one as far as I can tell reached any firm decisions. People are thinking about various options.” Neither, despite reports to the contrary, were they trying...
With a theme of “Coming Home,” Saxtons River will kick off its annual Independence Day celebration Monday, July 4, with a 5K Firecracker road race at 8:30 a.m., followed by a parade at 9:30 a.m. In addition to the race sponsored by Pleasant Valley Brew Pub, the day's activities include a street fair highlighted by water polo, a hula hoop contest and music on the bandstand. Miniature golf, an egg toss, a pie contest, and baseball games featuring all-star teams...
Do you have a shopping addiction disorder? Perhaps an addiction to food? Maybe one of your kids has Internet addiction disorder, or video-game attachment syndrome. Well, not quite yet, because these kinds of new mental diagnoses are only proposed, not final, for the new revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the bible of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). And there is a terrible problem with this. The DSM was first created in the 1920s. Based...
Obituaries Editor's note: The Commons will publish brief biographical information for citizens of Windham County and others, on request, as community news, free of charge. • Sharon V. Boardman, 63, of Richton, Miss. Died June 21 at the home of her daughter in Guilford. Wife of Paul David Boardman for 38 years. Mother of Michelle Frehsee of Guilford; Rachael Malone of Jackson, Miss.; and David Addison Boardman of Sikeston, Mo. Sister of Carolyn Pool of Murray, Ky. Born in Murray,
The Putney Artists Residency, a new annual artists-in-residence program, has brought two artists to work in town on a project related to community resilience, positive solutions to oil depletion and climate change, and strengthening local economies. In its inaugural summer residency program, two California artists, Katie Bachler and Frances Garretson, will work in town with Putney residents to produce their project through July 15. Transition Putney hosted a welcoming program at the Putney Library on June 20. This summer, the...
In concert with the Hooker-Dunham Theater, The Awareness Initiative Inc., announces the opening of The Awareness Theatre. This effort is an experiment with the Hooker-Dunham Theater to create an old-time community based forum for lecture, film, and theater. In general, all events will stimulate awareness and critical thinking. However, this does this mean that audience members must possess a high degree of education, only a high degree of interest and an openness to learn. Every Wednesday evening, a lecture, film...
The Vermont-Cuba Solidarity Committee is again collecting used tools to send to Cuba with Pastors for Peace. These tools have been requested and will be used by the Cuban people. They ask that the tools be functional and reasonably clean, but beyond that, almost any tool is of use in Cuba. The U.S. embargo of Cuba, which has been going on for nearly 50 years, has made it difficult for Cubans to get tools of any sort. Plumbing and electrical...
After a site visit and two hours of public discussion last week, the Development Review Board (DRB) said that it wants to hear more about a plan to reopen the former Maple Valley Ski Area as a four-season recreation center. Owner Nicholas Mercede, of Brookline and Connecticut, doing business as MVS Associates of Stamford, Conn., and his lawyer, Christopher Dugan, were told by the DRB to return on July 26 at 7 p.m. with a sharpened-up proposal for the 300-acre...
Parks Place Community Resource Center of Bellows Falls, a nonprofit agency dedicated to connecting individuals and families to the resources, information and education critical to strengthening their lives, recently hired Margaret Grisczenkow as its development director. Founded in 1995 and currently serving more than 3,500 people annually, Parks Place houses 35 social and human service agencies under one roof, making it easy for persons in need to access programs and get immediate support. The agency's new Development Director possesses more...
The Brattleboro Colonels, the two-time state softball champions, were well represented when the Marble Valley League released its All-Star team selections last week. Kayla Wood, Taylor Kerylow and Ariel Kane were all named to the All-MVL A Division softball team, while Kelly Markol was named the A Division's Coach of the Year. Wood, a sophomore pitcher, gave up on 65 hits this season for the 19-1 Colonels, with 175 strikeouts and 36 walks. Kerylow, a senior third baseman, was the...
Alleging that Vermont has violated their civil and constitutional rights by regulating nuclear power in the state, seven Vermont Yankee employees have filed a lawsuit to prevent the state from regulating the nuclear power plant. Michael Harris of Brattleboro, John Twarog of Keene, N.H., Derek Jones and Vincent Ferrizzi, both of Newfane, Neal Jennison of Greenfield, Mass., Albert Zander of Readsboro, and Thomas Roberts of North Adams, Mass., all work as senior reactor operators at the Vernon plant and filed...
For the second time this year, an Illinois-based collectibles business is coming to town in search of gold and silver. THR & Associates of Springfield, Ill. arrived in January with its “Treasure Hunters Roadshow” to see clients with treasures to sell, except the only treasures they really wanted to see were coins and some jewelry. Representatives turned away paintings, mismarked paper money, and other items one might see at a yard sale. News accounts and discussion boards online are littered...
I was a plump, worried girl growing up in East Bethel, Vermont in the 1950s, prone to the overly dramatic. A lot of time was spent in the backyard pretending to be in television commercials. A lot of time was spent thinking about food. Those who know me now will not find either of those facts surprising. June was a highlight for me because it included our tiny town's annual Strawberry Festival, held in a farmer's field at the top...
Brattleboro's 2011 Independence Day celebration will honor the community's spirit of cooperation in the face of recent challenge with this year's theme, “Together, We Go Fourth.” All events are free and will happen rain or shine. The town's 38th annual July 4 event will begin at 10 a.m. with a parade along Canal and Main streets to the town Common, featuring: • Members of the Brattleboro Area Interfaith Clergy Association and Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, who will lead...
Representatives of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) came to the region last Wednesday to go over the agency's annual safety review of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon. The safety assessment was done before an earthquake and tsunami heavily damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex in Japan, and was done days before the agency granted Vermont Yankee a 20-year extension of its operating license. Vermont Yankee shares the same containment design as the Fukushima reactors, and while...
A new collection of stories has been added to the Grafton Public Library. These stories are not bound in books. They dance through the rooms, flutter at the windows, and whisper in corners and in the memories of all who have heard them. Last February, librarian Michelle Dufort and I launched a monthly series of storytelling gatherings for adults. Inspired by The Moth Radio Hour on public radio, and reports of similar gatherings in Mad River, Montpelier, and Burlington, we...
FairPoint Communications says it is on track with a $66 million effort to expand “robust” next-generation broadband throughout the state on its phone lines. FairPoint's Vermont President Michael Smith said recently that the North Carolina-based company expects to meet a state-imposed June 30 deadline on broadband expansion in Vermont, one of several markers the company committed to when it took over Verizon landlines in 2008. The company has run more than 1,000 miles of optical fiber and installed 300 “remote...
Westminster town government has passed to a new generation - literally. Matthew Daskal, 23, was hired last week as the new Town Manager, succeeding Sonia Alexander, who officially retires on Thursday. Daskal signed a contract with the town through June 30, 2013 and will receive an annual base salary of $55,000. He is one of the youngest town managers serving in Vermont. To ease the transition, Alexander has offered to stay on until July 18. “He's a very intelligent and...
Once it was part of a vast and ancient forest that spanned the continent. Enormous trees grew, died, and fell in the silence of this eternal forest. The arrival of the first Europeans changed everything. Steel tools cut through trees, transforming woods into pasture. By the end of the Civil War, most of Vermont had been cleared for grazing land. Veterans who had seen the rich flat land of Virginia, Ohio, and Maryland left the state in droves in search...
“I was supposed to go to their wedding.” That's what their friend told me after the ambulance had pulled away. Police officers and firefighters were milling around, collecting evidence and directing traffic. I wanted to say something comforting. This man had, like me, happened upon this accident scene. But I was an EMT, with blood-stained clothes from trying to help. And I didn't know them. I didn't know the woman in the back of the ambulance, nor did I know...
Housing international students has been an easy way for Americans to connect with the international community for decades, but one must wonder: Why, exactly, do families in the States want to open their houses to someone who is a complete stranger? Why would a student want to stay with a family about whom they know nothing? And, when the program is over, what does one really gain? The Program of Academic Exchange (PAX), Brattleboro's local exchange program, is one of...
• Dreams and recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections of the event, including images, thoughts, and perceptions • Acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring, including a sense of reliving the experience, illusions, and flashback episodes • Intense psychological distress over actions or things that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event • Feelings of detachment or estrangement from others • Inability to express loving feelings • Sense of a foreshortened future (for example, does not...
In response to your recent editorial, I would like to inform the public about the many ways that Brattleboro's municipal government and business communities have been working over the past ten years to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainability. In 2002, Brattleboro joined the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign, an international network of cities and towns working to reduce carbon emissions, sponsored by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability. In 2003, the Selectboard approved a Climate Action Plan (available at www.brattleboro.org) that...
Here's the lineup for Brattleboro's 38th annual Independence Day Parade, set for Monday, July 4, at 10 a.m. from Canal and Main streets to the Common. DIVISION I: TOGETHER, WE GO FOURTH (line up at the student parking lot across from BUHS; enter at the eastern end opposite the baseball grandstand, then go to left section): Windham County Sheriff's Department cruiser, Brattleboro Area Interfaith Clergy Association/Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, Agape Christian Fellowship, Brattleboro police cruiser, Vermont State Police...
• For more information or help: Brattleboro Retreat. Call 802-258-3700. • Information from the National Institute of Mental Health. • Information from PubMed Health. • Information from the VA National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. • Information on PTSD in children.
Gallery Walk, Brattleboro's monthly first-Friday celebration of the arts, returns on July 1 to liven up the downtown and a few satellite locations within a short drive of Main Street. There are 37 listed venues, some with meet-the-artist receptions or live music. Four new venues joining the Walk include Three Stones Mexican-Mayan Restaurant on Canal Street with a four-day exhibit; Newquist Metalworking in the Whetstone Studios on Williams Street, showing work by three artisans; Turning Point of Windham County on...
At a public hearing by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) before nearly 200 people last Wednesday night at the Brattleboro Union High School auditorium, foes and supporters voiced their concerns for the health and safety of Entergy's Vermont Yankee 650-megawatt nuclear plant in Vernon. The NRC was there to give a presentation of its safety assessment of Vermont Yankee for 2010. NRC representatives also spoke about the commission's evaluations of nuclear plants in the United States in response to...
In a defensive priming of the pump for hearings this fall, Entergy lawyers went beyond asking for a court order that that would allow its Vermont Yankee nuclear plant to continue operating while its lawsuit against Vermont makes its way through the courts. At a hearing for Entergy's quest for a preliminary injunction, the company's lead attorney, Kathleen M. Sullivan, of the New York-based law firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, told Judge J. Garvan Murtha that he should...
Two days of hearings in U.S. District Court concluded Friday afternoon with both sides making their final arguments over whether should Entergy Nuclear be granted an immediate preliminary injuction that would block any effort by the state of Vermont to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon next year. Kathleen M. Sullivan, of the New York-based law firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, the lead attorney for Entergy, spent about three hours Friday morning covering many of the...