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Pace of local suspected drug deaths slowing, events planned

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Community events marking International Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 31 come amid a series of local deaths which have slowed this year over last.

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Statistics show 28 people died by fentanyl or another opioid overdose in Grey-Bruce last year. But those are just coroner-confirmed cases.

There were actually 46 suspected drug deaths in Grey-Bruce last year but the cause has not been confirmed in all cases. So far this year there have been 20 suspected drug deaths, Grey Bruce Health Unit figures show.

Comparing May, June and July, there were eight suspected drug deaths last year and four this year.

So the pace of suspected drug deaths has slowed this year, said Alexis Cook, the health unit’s harm reduction manager responsible for responding to the opioid problem.

There was another suspected fatal opioid overdose in Owen Sound Thursday. The health unit has issued three overdose alerts this month, triggered when there are three or more overdoses in a 48-hour period.

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The person who died was in his or her mid-30s and Cook noted people aged 25 to 44 are three times more likely than any other age group to experience a fatal drug overdose. Local and provincial data both show that, she said.

Fatal drug overdoses peaked in 2020 during the pandemic, when more than 2,400 people in Ontario died. That was a 58 per cent increase over 2019, when 1,529 people died.

Cook said local figures indicate we all need to be aware of the ongoing drug overdose crisis. People can help by being trained and carrying naloxone kits containing the drug which temporarily reverses an opioid drug overdose.

Also, people should know the Good Samaritan Act protects people from simple drug possession charges when 911 is called, she said.

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Cook said the health unit is “currently working with community partners to build a response, as it is a priority for public health, and to increase our current response.” Public health nurses visited drug users in the community during each of the three overdose alerts this month, Cook said.

“The nurses went out and they did targeted outreach and ensured that individuals who were using drugs had access to naloxone . . . we hand out needles as well and we do meth kits and crack kits to ensure individuals are using as safely as possible.”

The nurses reminded them to use drugs with someone else present who can administer naloxone, or use while on the line with an operator with the Overdose Prevention Line, who will call 911 if the user becomes unresponsive, she said.

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Naloxone is available free-of-charge at the health unit Monday to Friday and from community partners, including paramedics and mental health workers.

To mark International Overdose Awareness Day, there will be a community barbecue at Neyaashiinigmiing on Tuesday, the day before the official day for overdose awareness, from 2 p.m. until sunset, at Kina Waa Noojmojig Nanaweing Wellness Pavilion.

Owen Sound will have three events: a community barbecue from noon to 3 p.m. at Safe ‘n Sound drop-in centre, a barbecue and sacred fire from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at M’Wikwedong Indigenous Friendship Centre, and a candlelit vigil from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Owen Sound Farmers’ Market parking lot.

Also Aug. 31, a candlelit vigil will take in Port Elgin at Coulter Parkette, and a candlelit vigil with speakers will take place in Hanover’s Hope Community Church from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., to which people are asked to bring a blanket or lawn chair.

“These events are a chance to stimulate discussion about substance use prevention, overdose prevention, available supports and evidence-based drug policies and reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths,” Cook said in a news release. “It’s also a time for the community to mourn, in a safe environment, and remember the loved ones who have been lost.”

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As the MTA attempts to conceal expenditure, its head of events keeps up the pace – his demotion never happened

As the MTA attempts to conceal expenditure, its head of events keeps up the pace – his demotion never happened

While the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) is currently going to great lengths to conceal the names of sponsorship beneficiaries in spite of this portal’s Freedom of Information requests approved by the Data Protection Commissioner, the person responsible for disbursing millions in dubious sponsorships remains in charge.

The MTA’s head of events, Lionel Gerada, who was originally appointed by disgraced former tourism minister Konrad Mizzi despite a criminal record, remains in charge of the Authority’s decision-making related to sponsorships dished out to support event organisers in the country, despite evidence of his close association to certain event organisers he favoured by handing tens of thousands of euros of taxpayer money to those close to him.

Just last week, Gerada was in Gozo promoting an event organised by 356 Entertainment Group, a company run by his close associates. Based on The Shift’s research into Gerada’s first year in his position at MTA, an event organised by the same group, the International Music Summit, had cost taxpayers €37,500 in sponsorships, from a total of €2 million spent in the summer of 2018 alone.

The budget for these sponsorships for events tripled in the first year of Gerada’s tenure as director of the MTA’s events section, going from €2 million to €6 million.

The Shift had published an article showing how 356 Entertainment Group, through its venture known as Malta Shows, had organised at least six events which were sponsored by Visit Malta, the tourism information branch of the MTA. Given the MTA’s efforts to block information requests about its expenditure, the amount spent on these events is not yet known.

The MTA has denied Freedom of Information requests by The Shift on the matter, despite the Data Protection Commissioner ruling the information must be granted.

On 16 January, the Times of Malta published a report saying that following a spending spree in which MTA employees had booked expensive hotel rooms funded by the taxpayers for use during an event in Valletta, Gerada was going to be demoted and no longer allowed to be in charge of funding or decision-making. That did not happen.

Sources consulted by The Shift said nothing has actually changed, with Gerada holding the same responsibilities he has held since 2018. Official records confirm this.

The government database shows Lionel Gerada is still Head of Events

In the summer of 2018 alone, The Shift’s findings showed that the MTA disbursed around €2 million in sponsorships that went largely to the same tight-knit group of organisers. Gerald Debono, Trevor Camilleri, Nicholas Spiteri and Edward Zammit Tabona of the Fortina Group, the organisers in question, had received the lion’s share of funding that year, with one of their festivals alone, Summer Daze, costing taxpayers €1.1 million.

Gerada was hauled in to testify in front of the Public Accounts Committee in 2020 following The Shift’s investigations into the millions that were disbursed on his orders throughout 2018.

Former PAC chairman and opposition MP Beppe Fenech Adami had confirmed that, in spite of the findings of the committee, which included revelations about a parallel sponsorship system in which applicants who had ‘spoken to Lionel‘ were fast-tracked, no action had been taken by the MTA or the tourism ministry itself.

Event organisers who had spoken to The Shift had said that Gerada’s ties with specific players in the industry left ‘no room for a level playing field‘, with several individuals complaining about how their proposals would be discarded or treated with indifference while those of Gerada’s associates would often take the lion’s share of funding that was made available.

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Hurley, Sorah Pace Wolves On Final Day Of Adams/Klein Combined Events – Western Oregon University Athletics

Hurley, Sorah Pace Wolves On Final Day Of Adams/Klein Combined Events - Western Oregon University Athletics

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Jenelle Hurley and Brennen Sorah each had solid second days of the Adams/Klein Combined Events on Friday to lead the Western Oregon University men’s and women’s track and field teams. Hurley remained in eighth, while Sorah moved up one spot to place seventh.

Hurley finished with 4,480 points to place eighth in the heptathlon. Sorah totaled 5,560 points to come in seventh in the decathlon. Amity Deters moved into the top-10 in program history in the heptathlon with her 4,332 points to place ninth on Friday. Macy Clemens also competed in the heptathlon posting 3,795 points to come in 17th. JJ Walker was only able to compete in one event on Friday and posted a result in three of the events during the meet.

Hurley and Deters came out strong to start day two in the long jump with Hurley placing fifth and Deters in sixth. Hurley hit a distance of 17-1.75 for 623 points and Deters was right behind at 17-0.25 for 612 points. Clemens placed 14th in the event to come away with 519 points. Next up was the javelin and Hurley came away with a strong throw to place third hitting a mark of 114-2.25 and 568 points for a new PR. Deters hit a distance of 91-10.75 to come in 11th and earn 439 points. Clemens placed 18th to tally 347 points. To close out the heptathlon, Hurley led the Wolves in the 800 coming in seventh with a time of 2:28.99 and 706 points. Deters crossed in 15th with a time of 2:35.28 and 628 points. Clemens was just a few spots back in 17th crossing with a time of 2:36.36 to earn 615 points.

Deters posted multiple PR’s throughout the event including in the 200, 800, 100 hurdles, long jump, shot put, and javelin.

The 110 hurdles started the day in the decathlon with Sorah coming in with a top-five finish crossing at 15.65 to place fourth and earn 773 points. Walker led the Wolves in the discus coming in seventh hitting a distance of 101-4.75 to earn 482 points. Sorah was a few places back in 11th to earn 386 points. Sorah tied for seventh in the pole vault reaching a height of 11-5.75 to collect 482 points. He almost added another top-five results in the javelin hitting a mark of 133-8.25 to come in sixth and earn 453 points. To close the decathlon, Sorah competed in the 1,500 and crossed in 11th to earn 556 points.

With the combined events meet completed, the rest of the WOU track and field teams will compete tomorrow (Saturday) in Salem at the Willamette Invitational.