January 14, 2022

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January 14, 2022

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The Local News You Need to Know

Chef Geoff Lazlo’s The Country Table

COVID UPDATE COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to add stress to hospital systems. State health officials in Connecticut reported on January 11 that 79 percent of inpatient beds and 77 percent of intensive care unit beds in hospitals across the state were occupied with COVID patients using 26 percent of inpatient beds and 33 percent of ICU beds. At the same time, hospitals are dealing with staffing shortages. Growing evidence suggests that the omicron variant is less severe than previous variants yet still requires hospitalization for those at risk. Because COVID-19 patients require additional isolation there is added strain on hospital resources. At Greenwich Hospital there are 172 adult inpatient beds, 92 of which are occupied by other than COVID and 55 used by confirmed and suspected COVID-19 patients. New BET Leadership The newly elected leaders of the Board of Estimate & Taxation (BET) are mostly newcomers to the powerful local board. Dan Ozizmir, a Republican, is the new Chair. The Vice Chair is Michael Basham, the Clerk is Nisha Arora. Ozizmir won the vote 11-1 receiving support from all democrats and republicans on the board with the exception of Karen Fassuliotis. He will now have the tie-breaking vote when one is needed. Ozizmir has experience as a past chair of the RTM’s Labor Contracts Committee and Vice Chair of the Budget Overview Committee. Basham will serve as chair of the BET’s Audit Committee as well as Vice Chair. Basham has experience on the RTM as chair of the Finance Committee on the Labor Contracts Committee as well as on committees looking at Please turn to page 7

The Pause

The Country Table, located at 1 Glenville Street in Greenwich, is the brick-and-mortar extension of Geoff Lazlo Food, a boutique events and catering company owned by Geoff Lazlo and Greg Oshins, lifelong best friends and Greenwich natives who met at Brunswick School in the second grade. Oshins stepped-in to partner with Lazlo in 2019 to help lead the company’s evolution into brick-andmortar. The Country Table is the shared vision of Lazlo and Oshins, who have collaborated informally for years, and have long dreamt about the opportunity to partner on such a

Providing an “exceptional experience for every person the company touches.” project together. The Countr y Table prov ides the perfect medium for Chef Lazlo to channel his fine dining pedigree into creating accessible, ingredientfocused, family-friendly fare, like gourmet sandwiches, made-to-order salads, and an array of house-made

prepared foods. Geoff Lazlo Food was born as a natural expression of Chef Lazlo’s core ph i losoph ies. L a z lo fou nd culinary direction early in his career while cooking at Chez Panisse. He learned that cook ing seasonally and sourcing local, sustainable i ng r e d ient s c r e ate d not on ly a delicious final product, but also one which helped to build awareness and support for local food producers. The cornerstone of Geoff Lazlo Food’s philosophy is “to provide an exceptional experience for every person the company touches.” On the menu: breakfast, gourmet

sandwiches, specialty salads, an array of prepared foods, ice cream, catering, and more The Country Table partners with local companies like PATH Coffee Roasters in Port Chester, NY. As a fourth-generation roaster, great coffee has always been in the DNA of PATH founder, Jason Richter. The Country Table says, “We’re partnering with Jason in his search for clarity of flavor, sweetness, and overall presence and body in each cup. Stop by for coffee and experience it for yourself.” Located at 1 Glenville Street, Greenwich, (203) 701-4340.

Tips to stay safe during cold weather.

Illustrated by Wajih Chaudhry

By Jill S. Woolworth, LMFT

or bedroom.

When confronted with somet h i ng d i f f ic u lt or unpleasant, pause before responding. A pause allows blood to flow back to our prefrontal cortex where logic, reason, compassion, and creativity help us formulate better responses. Without a pause, we’re stuck in our reptilian brain with its f ight-or-f light response, which is neither pretty nor productive. Our pause button gets bigger with practice. Try br e at h i ng t h r e e t i me s deeply to tell your nervous system that this is not a life-or-death emergency. We can sometimes buy ourselves a little more time by heading to a bathroom

Eve had an eating disorder. She thought that cookies ran straight of f the grocery shelf into her mouth. Having grown up in a chaotic home, Eve had no idea she could cultivate a pause button. Over time, she learned to pause before making food choices. Her newfound ability to pause also helped her better handle relationships and important decisions. Excerpted from Greenwich resident , Jill Woolworth's , book , The Waterwheel, available at Diane’s Books, Dogwood Bookstore, Amazon, and barnesandnoble.com. Jill is a therapist at the Greenwich Center for Hope & Renewal.

OUTDOOR SAFETY TIPS • Wear layers of loose clothing with hat, gloves, scarf and insulated shoes • Limit outdoor exposure including daily exercise routines • Keep walkways free of ice and snow to prevent falls • Avoid the use of alcohol • Notify someone of your whereabouts when you go out • Avoid prolonged time outdoors of infants, children, the elderly, those with medical conditions and pets PREVENT CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING • NEVER use portable generators or gasoline-powered equipment inside

your home or garage, car port, etc. • Never use gas or charcoal grills in the house, garage, etc. • Make sure inlets and outlets for your furnace are free of snow • Make sure your car’s exhaust pipe is clear. Never heat your car up in the garage, even if the garage door is open

STAY WARM Residents can go to Greenwich Public Safety Complex at 11 Bruce Place from 9 AM – 11 PM to “warm-up” read, sit quietly and charge their cell phones.

Symptoms of CO poisoning include headache, fatigue, dizziness, nausea or vomiting or loss of consciousness. Take everyone, including pets out of the house and call 911 from outside the house if you think there is a CO exposure.

EMERGENCY HELPLINES Aquarion Water Company 1-800-7329678; Eversource 1-800-286-2000; CT Natural Gas Company (203) 8696900.

TO REPORT EMERGENCIES Police, Fire and EMS emergencies, dial 911.

LOCAL NON-EMERGENCY: To w n o f G r e e n w i c h – w w w. greenwichct.org (203) 622-7700; Department of Health (203)-9871000; Greenwich Fire Department non-emergency (203)-622-3950; Greenwich Police Department nonemergency (203)-622-8000; NonEmergency Medical Transportation Service – American Medical Response (AMR) 1-800-462-9111; American Red Cross (203)-869-8444; Social Services ( 203) 622-3800. For more information, contact the Greenwich Department of Health by calling (203) 622-7836 or online at www.greenwichct.org

Seismic Shift at Republican Caucuses a Surprise By Anne White Monday and Tuesday caucuses to elect members of the Republican Town Committee (RTC) turned out to be less predictable than many assumed. After a year of Republicans winning back the state senate seat in a special election and winning local offices by large margins, many town committee members who worked on those campaigns were looking forward to a quiet caucus and celebrating some hard fought victories. Instead, the caucuses were v iewed by many as what one

Republican insider referred to as “the red wedding” where many long-time RTC members were not re-elected including incumbents Nisha Arora and Tom Michaud who lost their seats as well as party stalwarts who lost in other districts which included Stephen Walko, Dr. Carl Carlson, RTC Treasurer John McShea, Kimberly Salib, Randy Caravella, Linda Mosher, and Irene Dietrich. In the end, more than 20 incumbents lost their seats, taken by surprise on the heels of what they believed was a very successful election year. The seismic shif t was in

some measure broug ht about by the Greenwich Patriots, who showed up in large numbers to elect well-organized slates. This ye a r ’s c auc u s e s d r ew over a hundred people in some districts which previously saw just fifteen or twenty participants even as many who wanted to participate said they could not due to COVID concer ns or q ua ra nti nes. A l l registered members of the Republican Party were eligible to vote in their district. One of the biggest shifts came in District 8 where Carl Higbie chaired the caucus although he

did not run for a seat. Higbie, a former Trump adviser and Navy SEAL said, “This is the mark of a new party, we welcome the folks we voted out to work with us, but the new direction of this party is a conservative agenda. We want government control out of your wallet, out of your bedroom and off your face. We want our schools to be the best and our taxes to be low. That is the new reality of Greenwich Republicans.” Dan Quigley, the current RTC Chairman, won re-election by just one vote. In a statement he congratulated all of the candidates

who won acknowledging that it took focus and commitment to organize their effort. He made a point of thanking all of the outgoing RTC members “for their service to the party, their counsel and their hard work during what has been a very busy and extremely successful election year.” Quigley made it clear he believes he and the RTC deserve credit for the success of Republican candidates last year saying, “In 2021, we flipped a State Senate seat with Ryan Fazio which prevented a Democrat super majority in Hartford, re-elected our First

Selectman Fred Camillo with a 70% popular vote and swept our local elections including the BET. The RTC has a lot to be proud of. We have fought hard to defend the Republican values that represent those of our constituents, and I am hopeful this will continue as we move forward.” Republican National Committeewoman, Leora Levy, said she was very pleased with such widespread engagement. “It was exhilarating to see the large number of people who came out on a very cold January night to

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January 14, 2022 by Greenwich Sentinel - Issuu