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M’s drop to 2nd place
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PENINSULA DAILY NEWS May 16, 2016 | 75¢
Port Townsend-Jefferson County’s Daily Newspaper
Drug bill adds $1B to opiate fight Aid could help Peninsula towns BY ROB OLLIKAINEN PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
PORT ANGELES — U.S. Rep Derek Kilmer and others in Congress whose districts have been hit hard by opioid drugs have introduced a bill to provide more than $1 billion to fight the epidemic. Kilmer, whose 6th Congressional District includes the North Olympic Peninsula, was one of six lead sponsors of the Opioid and Heroin Abuse Crisis Investment Act. The bill has the support of 90 house Democrats and reflects President Barack Obama’s bud-
get request for resources to increase treatment programs that will help address the drug crisis, according to Kilmer’s office. “Wherever you live, too many folks have felt the impact of heroin and opioid abuse,” said Kilmer, a Port Angeles native, in a Thursday news release. “This scourge has led to overcrowded jails, overwhelmed medical professionals and emergency responders and families who simply want to do more to help their loved ones. “I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing a bill that invests in programs and profes-
ALSO . . . ■ For legislative information, see Eye on Congress/A6
sionals that are on the ground helping those struggling with addiction and working to provide lifesaving care.” Kilmer added.
Opioid overdoses More than 28,000 died from opioid overdose nationwide in 2014, a 200-percent increase since 2000. Clallam County had one of the highest opioid overdose death rates in the state at 29.0 per 100,000 people in 2013. The state death rate was 14.8 per 100,000. Jefferson County’s opioid over-
access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorders. ■ $50 million to expand access to substance use treatment providers. ■ $12.5 million for Drug Enforcement Administration heroin enforcement. ■ Studies of real-world medication-assisted treatment. ■ Advancements of safe opioid prescribing guidelines. ■ Enhancements of prescription drug monitoring programs. ■ Treatment for prisoners, Second Chance Act grant program funding and residential Bill provisions substance abuse treatment pro■ $930 million to support grams. TURN TO OPIATES/A5 agreements with states to expand dose death rate is lower than Clallam County’s but higher than the state average, Jefferson County Public Health Director Jean Baldwin has said. Kilmer The Opioid and Heroin Abuse Crisis Investment Act reflects the president’s call for $1.16 billion to combat the roots of the epidemic, Kilmer’s office said.
Student scaling up lizard business BY CHARLIE BERMANT PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
PORT TOWNSEND — A high school sophomore’s love and respect for reptiles has turned into a fledgling business that provides education and entertainment. By the end of the school year, Lauren Taracka, 16, will have led 25 seminars bringing her animals to more than 500 students in six different local schools. She calls her business Lizardopolis. She faced her largest audience Friday during an assembly at Blue Heron Middle School. She told about 100 fourth- and sixth-graders about reptile care and feeding while providing contact with animals ranging from a small gecko lizard to a 13-foot, 40-pound Burmese python. Taracka usually makes presentations using her own animals but Friday she included several from Clallam County Snake Pit, a Port Angelesbased reptile rescue organization founded in 2015. Taracka is assisted in the business by her mother, Heather, and sister, Grace, 12. “At these presentations, there is always one child who is terrified of snakes that gets turned around,” Heather Taracka said. “This is a change of a lifetime. If there is an adult with a fear of snakes, there is nothing you can do.” Heather Taracka said that people can gain a reptile’s trust but not their love. TURN TO REPTILES/A5
CHARLIE BERMANT(2)/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
Lauren Taracka, above, a Port Townsend sophomore, holds a boa constrictor. At right, Jonathan Shanur of Clallam County Snake Pit leads in lifting a Burmese python. Assisting are, from left, fourth-graders Caden Yackulic and Roscoe Barry; Principal Matthew Holshouser; Madisyn Boyd, fifth grade; and sixthgraders Jazmyn Taylor and Peyton Clanton.
Deceased gray whale couldn’t dive for food THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE — A juvenile gray whale found dead in Seattle’s Elliott Bay over the weekend had air in its chest cavity that likely prevented it from diving for food, according to exam results. A necropsy conducted on Indian Island by biologists with the Cascadia Research Collaborative confirmed what scientists observed when they assessed the
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whale a couple of days before it died, it was announced Friday. At the time, they suspected the animal was suffering from an infection or a collapsed lung that had filled its chest cavity with air, which would have made the animal too buoyant to dive. Jessie Huggins, the group’s stranding coordinator, said Friday they still don’t know what caused all that air to build up in the
whale’s chest. It could be a previous traumatic injury, disease or both, she said. Tests of tissue samples might provide more information. The 35-foot female whale, likely only a few years old, was first spotted off Kingston in late April. It apparently had trouble diving. Gray whales feed by diving to the sea floor and sifting sediment
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for food. “Not being able to dive means not being able to eat food,” Huggins said. Several state and federal agencies and other groups helped track, monitor and assess the whale throughout several weeks as it was spotted around Puget Sound. NOAA Fisheries, which coordinated the monitoring, said inter-
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vening wasn’t a possibility because gray whales weigh up to 40 tons and a distressed whale can be very dangerous. There isn’t a way to treat or euthanize large marine mammals swimming in open waters, the agency said. The whale was found dead Sunday near downtown Seattle and eventually towed to Indian Island, where it was examined.
CLASSIFIED COMICS COMMENTARY DEAR ABBY DEATHS HOROSCOPE NATION PENINSULA POLL PUZZLES/GAMES
B5 B4 A7 B4 A6 B4 A4 A2 B6
*PENINSULA SPOTLIGHT
SPORTS WEATHER WORLD
B1 A8 A4