Everyone is at risk for over-consumption at the holidays simply because it is expected as a part of any celebration, said Jeffrey Wilbert, a nationally recognized diet psychologist who is director of the Counseling Center for Emotional Eating in Ohio. more

Michael Gruson, a successful attorney, got the worst possible news from his doctor in March 2005: His persistent headache was more serious than anything an aspirin could cure. It was the symptom of a malignant brain tumor. A partner at Shearman & Sterling and the head of an eight-member household, Gruson, 69, was accustomed to success and responsibility. Now, with stage-four brain cancer, he was at life’s mercy. more

Recent reports claim that we may have weathered the worst part of the current recession. But the economic slump hasn’t seemed to abate the new development that continues apace on Manhattan’s West Side. As construction workers hammered away at a high rise on the northeast side of West 53rd Street and 10th Avenue last Tuesday, politicians and community members gathered across the street at P.S. 111 to voice their concerns about the severe overcrowding in Hell’s Kitchen public schools projected for the next decade. more

The Independence School (P.S. 234) in Manhattan’s Financial District held a panel discussion last Thursday with education historian Diane Ravitch and democratic speaker of the Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. They gathered to consider concerns about the current mayoral control of schools, which has been described as the “marquee attraction” in Albany this session. more