Friday, April 7 is World Health Day, a day to increase awareness about health issues impacting people across the globe. While the focus of World Health Day is global, we would like to highlight a national and local public health issue–fentanyl and the opioid overdose crisis–and a new local campaign working to address it in Nevada County.

The Outstanding Women of Clinton County committee has selected four scholarship winners from the 2023 high school senior class. They are: Emma Falgner of Blanchester; Jenna Hanlon of Clinton-Massie; Ryleigh Tooill of East Clinton; and Jenna Allemang of Wilmington.

Learn about opioids, fentanyl, signs of an overdose, and how to use Narcan at the next meeting of the Tahoe Alliance for Safe Kids (TASK). They will be meeting on Thursday, March 16 at 3:30 p.m. in the South Tahoe High School Student Union meeting room.

The Speedy Foundation expresses gratitude for it’s loyal donors following Amazon’s announcement of its cancellation of the AmazonSmile nonprofit donation program.

“Although 90 percent of suicides are completed by someone with a mental illness, suicide isn’t always connected to a mental health struggle,” Decker said. Sometimes the causes are situational – bankruptcy, divorce, legal ramifications or job loss.

One source of protection for all people, whether or not they have mental illness, can be a faith community, she said. “The Church could be a protective factor if it is a place that is welcoming and forgiving, where people feel that they belong and have a sense of purpose,” Decker said.

The Speedy Foundation is so excited and honored to announce our partnership with Hannah Menzner, the newly crowned Miss Idaho USA. Her deep passion for mental health stemmed from her experience volunteering for a crisis hotline, and she has since founded Project IdaHOPE to teach Idahoans to spot suicide warning signs and risk factors. We look forward to working alongside her as she continues her campaign for suicide awareness, and can’t wait to see the wonderful things she has in store this year!

According to CDC data, mountain destination mecca Wyoming has the highest suicide mortality rate in the country. Since 2015, states in the Interior West—Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Idaho—have all also consistently ranked in the top ten for suicide death. The data is so marked that the Rocky Mountain states have been dubbed “the Suicide Belt.”

Why? The reasons are complicated and multifold.