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DELTA COUNTY
MARCH 7, 2018 VOL. 135, NO. 10
75¢
INDEPENDENT
www.deltacountyindependent.com
Conversation turns to suicide
Volunteer; be ‘agents of change’
BY KAYLEE DUNHAM Contributing Writer
On Wednesday, Feb. 28, residents from across Delta County gathered to discuss solutions to the ever-growing issue of suicide within the community. It is common to respond with anger, numbness, or go into a frenzy after incidences like this occur. To kick off the meeting, Sheriff Fred McKee encouraged the group to put aside their anger, acknowledge there is a problem, and take responsibility while seeking positive practical solutions to the problem at hand. The forum was put together by the Safety, Education and Wellness (SEW) coalition, which was formed in the wake of two teen suicides within a month. Members of the coalition include the Delta County School District, the Center for Mental Health, Delta Police Department, Delta County Sheriff ’s Office, A Kidz Clinic, Delta County Memorial Hospital, HopeWest, Delta County Health & Human Services, and numerous faith-based organizations. Sheriff McKee stated that from Jan. 1 to the day of the meeting on Feb. 28, Delta County law enforcement agencies had responded to 120 mental health/suicide calls. With the assistance of mental health professionals, the police department has been able to intervene and prevent deaths in most of those cases. So there’s been success in suicide prevention, but not enough. Ed Hagins, the chief operations officer of the Center for Mental Health, came forward
as an individual who has lived with the experience of mental illness and as a survivor of his own battle with suicidal thoughts and attempts, as well as knowing the loss of family members who have taken their own lives. He is a licensed professional counselor. “Blame and anger while real, honest, and normal responses to the loss of life, don’t serve to help reconcile why a fellow human being could take their own life. Instead seek to honor the person, try to respect them and those they have left behind and ultimately try to work with as many as who will join to curtail the tragic loss of life.” Shawna Magtutu, counselor at Delta High School, was next to step up to the podium. In Magtutu’s 11 years as a school counselor, she’s experienced five student suicides and said that not a single one gets easier. She said the old solutions haven’t worked so the SEW coalition are trying to prevent mental distress. She called this an upstream approach. “What I have found in my years as a school counselor is that kids do not want to ask for help,” she said. “They can all be talking in a group, and they are talking about some of the most difficult topics out there, but they are scared to talk to a parent, even a loving parent.” Magtutu continued by saying that Delta High School is working to implement a research-based national curriculum designed to be a comprehensive wellness program
Businesses sought to complement hotel BY PAT SUNDERLAND Managing Editor
Delta Urban Renewal Authority (DURA) isn’t waiting to see how many hotel developers respond to a request for proposals, but instead is already considering complementary businesses for the riverfront development. At a DURA board meeting Feb. 27, Better City consultants sat in via video conference to discuss commercial development that would complement, but ideally not directly compete with existing downtown businesses. Better City surveyed several communities with successful downtown economics, including Palisade, Montrose, Pagosa Springs, Buena Vista, Gunnison and Salida. Targeted businesses included unique restaurants, wineries and wine tasting, boutique craft/ art shops, dessert shops, craft beverages and spirits, and recreational businesses that sell or rent bicycles, kayaks
INDEX
Accent ........................... A4 Activities ....................... A9 Back Page ................... D6 Business .......................A10 Church .............................. 6 Classifieds .................. D1-2 Editorial ......................... A2 Legals ......................... D3-4 North Fork Times ........B1-4 Obituaries .................. A7-8 School Zone ............... A5-6 Service Directory ........ D5 Sports ..........................B7-9 Surface Creek News ...C1-6 TV Listings ..................C3-4
and other outdoor equipment. Delta’s existing businesses were also surveyed, to identify gaps that could help diversify offerings within the community. As the discussion unfolded, emphasis was given to equipment rentals, a microbrewery or wine tasting facility, and a national restaurant chain. Commissioner Tom Huerkamp said it would be wonderful to have a wine tasting facility that featured locally sourced wines, hard ciders and distilled products. Don Suppes agreed, saying, “If we’re going to be growing these businesses, we should start locally.” That’s where economic development comes in, said Huerkamp — helping existing businesses establish more than one location. The conversation got trickier when DURA commissioners considered national restaurant chains. DURA TO A3
that is not just for suicide prevention. This curriculum, called Sources of Strength, recognizes that some of the major risk factors include substance abuse, domestic violence, bullying and suicide. “This is all to try and encourage those peers and those students to ask for help and to make connections rather than keeping all to themselves,” said Magtutu.
She further stated that in times like this we respond with all the first responders and mental health experts we can have in our schools and in the community. “As you know that becomes exhausting and we can never truly guarantee success,” she said. “Over time the first responders become exhausted. If we start to focus our efforts upstream, like the Sources of Strength model,
there is so much more we can do by connecting, preventing, and building those relationships. Once your prevention is strong and focused, it often becomes the best postvention practice.” With that Shawna Magtutu handed the microphone to Joey Boese the executive director of A Kidz Clinic. A Kidz Clinic is a schoolSUICIDE TO A3
Photo by Kaylee Dunham
The conference room at Bill Heddles Recreation Center was filled with serious discussion about the serious topic of suicide. While the community meeting was spurred by two teen suicides, the issue affects men and women of all ages. As of the Feb. 28 meeting date, Delta County law enforcement agencies had responded to 120 mental health/suicide calls.
Opening arguments heard in Nathan Yager’s trial BY PAT SUNDERLAND Managing Editor
After taking three days to seat the jury, opening arguments were heard Friday morning in the case of Nathan Yager. Yager is charged with second degree murder in the death of his estranged wife Melinda in 2011. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Yet, district attorney Dan Hotsenpiller said, Yager was acting quite rationally when he parked where his vehicle couldn’t be seen, approached Melinda’s house from the back, crawled through a doggy door to gain entry, then was caught by Melinda as he was leaving. After he spotted Melinda taking an incriminating photo with her cell phone, he chased her down, struck her so hard on the side of the head she was dazed or on the verge of unconsciousness, then slashed her neck so deeply she was nearly decapitated. As he was fleeing the scene, he had the presence of mind to get rid of the knife, discard the cell phone he’d taken from Melinda and skirt a railroad crossing arm that was dropping, leaving a Paonia police officer on the other side
Call before burning If you are planning to conduct any open burning, you must first contact the Delta County Dispatch (399-2955) on the day you plan to conduct the burn. If a red flag day has been declared, callers will be notified to delay burning. “Red flag” days are days when the danger of forest or grass fires is found to be high as determined by the National Weather Service. The burning of household trash and other dense smoke-producing materials is prohibited in Delta County. Penalties and fines have been established for failure to notify dispatch of the intent to burn, initiation of a fire on a “red flag” day and the burning of trash.
of the tracks. Nathan then called his mother, confessed his crime and through her, arranged to turn himself in at the Montrose Police Department to an officer with whom he was acquainted. Hostenpiller told the jury this series of actions demonstrates that Nathan Yager was not only capable of the crime, but he knew right from wrong — a key element of the insanity defense. Public defender Kori Zaplatel urged the jury to consider Nathan Yager’s mental state in the context of a stressful and contested divorce. “Nathan Yager did kill Melinda Yager, he did, and when he did he was suffering from mental illness.” Melinda’s death was “terrible and tragic,” she continued, “and you will not hear anything different from this side of the room.” She outlined a marriage that was “toxic” from the beginning. The divorce, like the marriage, was not smooth. Arguments over parenting styles and the house in Paonia (owned by Nathan and vacated by Melinda) were ongoing. Exchanges of their young daughter got to the
point where they were being recorded by both sides. The divorce was affecting Nathan’s work, Zaplatel told the jurors, and he was distracted and depressed. Nathan Yager tried to reach out to the police and to the court for help, but events continued to pile onto his unstable house of cards “and everything came tumbling down.” Expert testimony will come from two psychiatrists, Dr. Karen Fukutaki and Dr. Hal Wortzel. Dr. Fukutaki visited Nathan Yager in April 2011 and determined he doesn’t remember stabbing Melinda in the neck because he was in a disassociative state at the time of the murder. Dr. Wortzel, appointed by the court to perform a forensic psychiatric exam, comes to a “very, very different conclusion,” in the words of Hotsenpiller. It will be up to the jury to determine if Yager was in a “culpable mental state” when Melinda was murdered on Jan. 7, 2011. A three-week period has been set aside for the retrial. The first trial was overturned on appeal because the jury wasn’t allowed to consider an insanity defense.
Champions of rural health Last week, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) acknowledged seven rural organizations from across the nation as champions in providing high-quality access to health care in rural communities. Families Plus of Delta was named Champion of Innovation in Health Care Delivery. Families Plus was created by therapists who developed an emerging wraparound system of care for children growing up in challenging circumstances. Families Plus now uses wraparound as an evidencebase model to deliver health care.
The organization shares the HRSA award with Stoney Mesa Family Practice, Delta Health and Wellness Center. As a team, these entities are integrating behavioral health into medical offices, allowing clients to receive complete health care. “These organizations are an essential part of the health care system because they understand their local communities, are able to fill significant health care gaps and ultimately improve the quality of life for those living in rural America,” said HRSA administrator George Sigounas, MS, Ph.D.