There are several things on my mind—each more than a morsel but not quite a full meal. Grazing and tapas can be satisfying, so let’s give this a shot. Hopefully, you will leave feeling sated. No need to tip your waiter.
Fairview
Anne, my spouse, had abdominal pain. Having intently watched “The Pitt,” we felt qualified to diagnose stomach flu, though, to be fair, no other stomach flu symptoms presented. When the pain became more localized, Anne thought it best to get a second opinion.
Who amongst us has not made a life-threatening misdiagnosis? If you have ever wondered how many “Pitt”-trained quasi-physicians have overlooked a burst appendix, we can safely say at least two.
Driving back to Fairview Hospital as instructed by the doctor after a CT scan—as an aside, sure, anyone can diagnosis a burst appendix with the help of modern imaging—Anne received a call directing her instead to Berkshire Medical Center (BMC). Believe me, we are rule followers (so much so that I totaled a car last year “moving over” onto a patch of ice to avoid a disabled car). But as we discussed treatment options nearing Lenox, we turned around. Not out of slight to BMC, but, as previously discussed, Anne enjoys the homey, small-town feel of Fairview.
If you think it odd to ignore a hospital directive, know this: We have seen it before. Once at The Egg in Albany, a friend’s Apple Watch flagged atrial fibrillation. The EMT on duty confirmed a possible heart attack and directed our friend to the nearest emergency room. What did they do? With one eye on the Apple Watch, they drove past Albany Medical Center, past St. Peter’s Hospital, past BMC, and landed at Fairview. Fair to say, people are dying to come to Fairview. (Postscript: mild heart attack, quick recovery, friend swears by the Apple Watch.)
For Anne’s care, Dr. Mark Taylor quickly assembled a kind and skilled surgical team, including anesthesiologist Dr. Mark Vanden Bosch, and removed the offending organ. Anne is deeply grateful—not only to Drs. Taylor and Vanden Bosch but to the entire staff. Thank you, Fairview.
Now out of the medical-diagnosis business, I am not suggesting anyone ignore clinical directives in favor of a preferred local hospital with great staff (and surprisingly good food). Still, if you happen to be lucky enough…
Southern Berkshire Ambulance Service (SBAS)
This column previously explored the dismal economics of running an ambulance service in South County. SBAS’s average cost per transport is $960. It gets reimbursed $615. If they come to your home and you decline transport to the hospital, they get $0.
As a result, SBAS runs a deficit of over $700,000—partially covered by the towns it serves (Alford, Great Barrington, Egremont, Monterey, Mt. Washington, and Sheffield) and by charitable contributions. Still, it remains on financial life support.
Past fundraising helped SBAS acquire essential equipment: ventilators and LUCAS chest-compression devices, among other things. Now, its needs are less flashy but no less real. Paramedics and EMTs spend days and nights waiting to assist us—from a rather grim headquarters. To help with recruitment and morale, SBAS is seeking funds (donate here) for things like carpet, hardwood flooring, couches, mattresses, game stations, and exercise equipment.
Please consider their appeal.
Gotta show up
Jack Luber, owner/operator of Hy’s Fried in Egremont, recently joined a Rotary meeting to share his experience opening and running the fried chicken hotspot (dancing/cocktails later in the evening) down the road from Catamount. If you have not been, go. If you have been, go again (and again).
Jack made a point worth repeating, one I have heard echoed by other small business owners: Our rural community often laments what it lacks, but when something new does open—a restaurant or shop—we fail to show up in droves. We are fortunate to have a dedicated fried chicken restaurant. Let’s make sure we can keep it.
This isn’t just about fried chicken. It is about the local economy. We need to prioritize purchasing from our local businesses… or we will not have any local businesses to purchase from. Amazon should not be the answer to our purchasing needs, although it is enticing. I recently bought two key fob batteries at a local hardware store, only to find I could have bought six of the same brand on Amazon for less. I will still buy my batteries locally. I need the store to be there—and it needs us to stay open.
Light is the greatest disinfectant
A recent column included this brief note: “Town government does itself no favors by keeping residents in the dark about efforts to resolve the HWW crisis.” Nothing radical—just a reminder that officials work for the public. Sure, at times there may be reasons to cloak information, but the inclination should be for town officials to be open and forthright.
Following the column, a member of the Brookside Road Bridge group provided a copy of an email produced by the town pursuant to a public records request. It appears not sharing information publicly is as disturbing to some within town government as it is for those seeking information.
The following is an excerpt of a December 2024 email from a town supervisor to members of the Selectboard and town manager seeking permission to share information:
10 days ago Merle [Kailas] sent the email below. As you see it was specifically addressed to Mark, myself and the [Tighe & Bond] Team that works under my direction. There has been substantial ‘good’ progress on this matter that has not been shared publicly in some manner. I personally feel a response and update in some capacity to the group is overdue … [I]t troubles me that we have not responded … [W]e have solid shareable data and not sharing and communicating it to some extent is unnecessarily raising the temperature of the matter … Should we be communicating??????
Let me take a shot at answering their question: Yes, town officials should be communicating. Let’s flip the presumption. The public should be informed unless there is a compelling reason not to.
Community Impact Fee litigation
Speaking of opacity, let’s consider a troubling development in the litigation between Theory Wellness and the town.
As you may recall, Theory Wellness is seeking a refund of roughly $5 million in Community Impact Fees paid to the town (previously discussed here, here, and here). The matter is set for a hearing in June.
The Cannabis Control Commission (CCC), which drafted the Host Community Agreement (HCA) at issue, has moved to intervene, seeking to help the Court interpret its own form agreement.
Seems reasonable, right? Apparently not to Great Barrington.
Let’s be clear: The town is actively trying to prevent CCC—the agency that drafted the form HCA—from weighing in on how it should be interpreted.
That is like telling a court to ignore Betty Crocker’s advice on how to follow one of her own recipes.
A public entity charged with the public good should want the court to get it right. Keeping the court in the dark is not a good look.
Survey Monkey Question
Here is a link to the following Survey Monkey poll: “Should the town drop its effort to prevent the Cannabis Control Commission from intervening in the Theory Wellness litigation?”
Survey Monkey Results
Here is the result of the following recent survey question: “Should the town formalize a process to provide information concerning the acquisition of the Housatonic Water Works Company and other town efforts to resolve the Housatonic water crisis?”
As of publication, 92.31 percent of respondents said “yes.”
