Mosquito-borne illnesses are rising: Here's how to protect yourself

Mosquitos love heat. And as summers get warmer, mosquito-borne illnesses are rising, in the U.S., Europe, and South and Central America. Here are some tips to protect yourself.

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Mosquitoes kill more people than any other creature in the world. So the key is — try not to get bitten. Cavan Images/Getty hide caption

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Mosquitoes aren’t just a nuisance. Recent headlines remind us they can also be a serious health concern.

In New England, cases of Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) — a rare but potentially deadly disease — have shut down some public parks and killed one person in New Hampshire. Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s former top infectious disease expert, is recovering from West Nile virus, another mosquito-borne disease.

Researchers say mosquito-borne illnesses are on the rise across the U.S., Central and South America and Europe, thanks to warming temperatures and other factors. And while West Nile virus remains the most common in the U.S., many other mosquito-borne illnesses – including Zika, malaria and dengue – are also a concern.

“Luckily for humans, you prevent them a lot the same way,” says Dr. Angelle Desiree LaBeaud, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Stanford University and epidemiologist whose work focuses on insect-borne diseases.

Here’s what you need to know about protecting yourself from a potentially infectious mosquito bite.

Cover Up

A mosquito can’t infect you if it can’t bite you, and that means avoiding going outdoors when they are most active, from dusk until dawn. If you do go outside at these times, it’s important to cover up with long pants and long sleeves so there’s less exposed skin for mosquitos to nip at, says Dr. Peter Hotez, the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston, Texas.

Even though he’s on the Gulf Coast, where summers can get brutally hot, Hotez says he makes sure to cover up completely whenever he ventures outside in the morning or evening.

“I am actually covered in a long-sleeve hoodie, sweat pants, socks and sneakers and a hat. And of course, people look at me like I'm crazy because it's so hot and everyone’s in shorts.” But it helps him avoid getting bitten.

Use insect repellent

Hotez says he also applies insect repellent on whatever skin is left exposed – the back and palm of his hands, his neck and the sides of his face.

The CDC recommends using an insect-repellent registered with the Environmental Protection Agency, including DEET, picaridin and IR3535.

Oil of lemon eucalyptus and para-menthane-diol (PMD) also work, according to the CDC, but they should not be used on children under age 3.

You can also treat your clothes with an insect repellent called permethrin. Just don’t get it on your skin. And cat owners should be careful when spraying, because permethrin is toxic to cats. The CDC has a video on how to use it properly.

Don’t forget to protect kids, too.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends using insect repellent on kids, too, whenever you’re in an area where bites are a concern.

And while some parents are wary, the AAP says it's safe to use DEET on kids – just make sure to use a product that contains no more than 30% DEET, and only apply it once a day on a child.

The pediatricians’ group recommends using insect repellents in the form of sticks, lotions and unpressurized sprays for kids, and avoiding products that combine insect repellent with sunscreen.

Don’t spray kids’ faces directly. Instead, the AAP says to put repellent on your own hands and then rub it on the child’s face. And don’t apply repellent to young kids’ hands because they tend to put their hands in their mouth or eyes.

As with grownups, you can reduce the amount of insect repellent needed with kids by dressing them in long pants and sleeves. The CDC also recommends using mosquito netting to cover babies in strollers and baby carriers.

Mosquito nets are also good for adults, especially when sleeping outdoors.

Check your screens and get rid of standing water

Mosquitoes love to breed in standing water, so it’s important to make sure to empty any containers – whether it be empty flower pots, kids’ toy buckets or whatnot – that might attract them, LaBeaud and Hotez both say.

That goes for indoors too, Hotez says, especially if you’re keeping the door open for a while to, say, let the dog out. And don’t forget to check window and door screens for holes or snags that might let mosquitoes sneak inside.

Call mosquito control

If you happen to see a lot of mosquito activity on your property and don’t know where it’s coming from, LaBeaud says you can call your local mosquito control district and they’ll come out and investigate and help treat the problem.

LaBeaud welcomes the recent attention to preventing mosquito bites, because as she notes, “Mosquitoes are not always harmless,” they kill more people than any other creature in the world.

Still, she says, she doesn’t want people to be terrified – “just recognize that they could have a health impact,” and take precautions.

This story was edited by Jane Greenhalgh

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2024-08-21

The DNC roll call featured a musical salute to each state. Here's what your state chose

2024 Election

DJ Cassidy performs during the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on Tuesday in Chicago. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America hide caption

toggle caption Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America

The NPR Network will be reporting live from Chicago throughout the week bringing you the latest on the Democratic National Convention.


DJ Cassidy and the Democrats played special tracks for each state and territory during Tuesday night's roll call.

WATCH: The full Democratic National Convention celebratory roll call

But what song — or songs, in some cases — repped your state? We found them all so you don't have to. Better yet, we offer some reasons behind the choices.


Alabama: Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd

While Lynyrd Skynyrd's ode to Alabama might seem like an obvious choice, the band was formed in Jacksonville, Fla.


Alaska: Feel It Still - Portugal. The Man

The rock band is from Wasilla, Alaska, where two of its members met in high school and began playing music together.


American Samoa: Edge of Glory - Lady Gaga

The song choice is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the territory's position as the southernmost territory in the United States.


Arizona: Edge of Seventeen - Stevie Nicks

Singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks, known for both her solo career and her work in the band Fleetwood Mac, is from Phoenix.


Arkansas: Don't Stop - Fleetwood Mac

Speaking of Nicks, her band's track "Don't Stop" became the official song of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, with the band even uniting to perform at the former president's first inaugural ball. Clinton is famously from Hope, Arkansas, and served as the state's governor from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1983 to 1992.

President Bill Clinton (left) shakes hands with Michael Jackson (center) as Stevie Nicks sings during inauguration festivities in Landover, Md. AFP/Getty Images/AFP hide caption

toggle caption AFP/Getty Images/AFP

California: The Next Episode - Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg,

California Love - Tupac Shakur, featuring Dr. Dre, Alright - Kendrick Lamar, Not Like Us - Kendrick Lamar

Nearly all of the above artists are legendary California musicians, with Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar born in Compton, and Snoop Dog born in Long Beach. Only Tupac does not count himself among the native Californians, having been born in New York City.

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Colorado: September - Earth, Wind & Fire

Philip James Bailey, one of two lead singers of Earth, Wind & Fire, was born in Denver. What's more, he turned to Denver East High School friends Larry Dunn and Andrew Woolfolk to shore up the band after some original members left, according to the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.


Connecticut: Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours) - Stevie Wonder

It’s “kind of a perfect campaign song,” as Chris Willman, the chief music critic at Variety, notes on Morning Edition. Wonder is from Michigan, but that didn’t stop Barack Obama from making “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” a hallmark of his two presidential campaigns.


Delaware: Higher Love - Kygo & Whitney Houston

Higher Love has been a staple of President Biden's campaign, with the track playing at the end of his 2020 acceptance speech.

President Biden holds up his fist after delivering remarks in 2020 in Wilmington, Del., after being declared the winners of the presidential election. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images/AFP hide caption

toggle caption Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images/AFP

Democrats abroad: Love Train - The O'Jays

Trains? Travel? Abroad? Sure, why not.


Washington, D.C.: Let Me Clear My Throat - DJ Kool

The legendary rapper was born and raised in our nation's capital.


Florida: I Won't Back Down - Tom Petty

Tom Petty was born in Gainesville, Florida. His “American Girl” was also used by Hillary Clinton’s campaign.


Georgia: Turn Down For What - DJ Snake and Lil Jon

Lil Jon made a surprise convention appearance to express his support for Kamala Harris. The rapper is from Atlanta, while DJ Snake, his counterpart on the track, is from Paris.

Rapper Lil Jon (right) performs with the Georgia delegation during the Ceremonial Roll Call of States on the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on Tuesday in Chicago. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Getty Images North America hide caption

toggle caption Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Getty Images North America

Guam: Espresso - Sabrina Carpenter

The summer hit, which has over a billion streams on Spotify, is one of several songs that may have been chosen simply for their mass appeal — and understandably so. In June, Carpenter became the first artist since The Beatles to have two songs debut within the top three spots on the Billboard Hot 100.


Hawai’i: 24K Magic - Bruno Mars

R&B and funk musician Mars is from Honolulu, Hawai'i.


Idaho: Private Idaho - The B-52's

"Private Idaho" was a single off the Georgia band's second album, though they didn't play a show in the state of Idaho until 2011.


Illinois: Sirius - The Alan Parsons Project

"Sirius" was the walk-on music for Chicago's NBA team, the Bulls.


Indiana - Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson

Jackson was born in Gary, Ind. — the eighth of 10 children.


Iowa: Celebration - Kool & The Gang

A classic party anthem, Kool & The Gang actually hail from New Jersey. Meanwhile, Iowa passed on their hometown heroes of the band Slipknot.


Kansas: Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas

The band Kansas was formed in the state in 1973, hailing from its capital city of Topeka.


Kentucky: First Class - Jack Harlow

Rapper and singer Harlow was born in Louisville, Ky., and raised in Shelbyville.

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Louisiana: All I Do Is Win - DJ Khaled

Rapper and producer DJ Khaled is from New Orleans.


Maine: Shut Up and Dance - WALK THE MOON

It’s a universally-adored pop hit, even if the state did borrow it from a Cincinnati, Ohio, band.


Maryland: Respect - Aretha Franklin

Using an anthem by the queen of soul — with roots in Tennessee and Michigan — is the only reason we can think of to pass on Billie Holiday, Toni Braxton and David Byrne, who are among other talent with Maryland ties.


Massachusetts: I’m Shipping Up to Boston - Dropkick Murphys

The American Celtic band was formed in Quincy, Mass. The song itself describes a sailor with a missing leg, who is going to Boston in search of a wooden prosthetic.


Michigan: Lose Yourself - Eminem

The rapper famously grew up in Detroit and his 2002 movie 8 Mile is set in the Motor City.


Minnesota: Kiss - Prince & The Revolution, 1999 - Prince & The Revolution

The celebrated musician was born in Minneapolis, Minn., in 1958. The singer also died in his home state in Paisley Park in 2016 at the age of 57.


Mississippi: Twistin' the Night Away - Sam Cooke

One of the most influential soul singers of all time, Cooke was born in Clarksdale, Miss.


Missouri: Good Luck, Babe! - Chappell Roan

The 26-year-old from Willard, Mo., has found herself on a meteoric rise to stardom following the release of her 2023 album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.

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Montana: American Woman - Lenny Kravitz

Several of the songs remaining in the DNC roll call playlist veer towards simply keeping the party going, with no obvious ties between the tracks and their assigned states. But these hits are on-brand for a party building momentum around the goal of putting a woman in the White House.


Nebraska: Firework - Katy Perry

Fireworks evoke the classic American pageantry of the fourth of July. Weirdly, this pick makes sense, though we've been unable to find any relationship between pop star Perry and the state of Nebraska.


Nevada: Mr. Brightside - The Killers

The rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning.


New Hampshire: Don’t Stop Believin' - Journey

A classic "keep on truckin'" anthem for a party dead set on reinvigorating its voting base.


New Jersey: Born in the U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen

"The Boss" is famously from Long Branch, N.J.


New Mexico: Confident - Demi Lovato

The singer-songwriter was born in Albuquerque, N.M.

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New York: Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys

The song serves as an ode to New York City by the two artists, who are from Brooklyn and Manhattan respectively.


North Carolina: Raise Up - Petey Pablo

The rapper and record producer is from Greenville, N.C.


North Dakota: Girl on Fire - Alicia Keys

Another feminist anthem on the strength and resilience of women. This tracks.

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Northern Mariana Islands: Ain’t No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

Harris is climbing the metaphorical mountain — and breaking glass ceilings, as Hillary Clinton reminded us on Night 1.


Ohio: Green Light - John Legend featuring André 3000

Legend was born in Springfield, Ohio, while André 3000 hails from Atlanta.

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Oklahoma: Garth Brooks - Ain't Goin' Down ('til the Sun Comes Up)

Country singer Brooks is from Tulsa.


Oregon: Float On - Modest Mouse

The rock band was formed in Issaquah, Wash., in 1993, but is now based in Portland, Ore.


Pennsylvania: Motownphilly - Boyz II Men, Black and Yellow - Wiz Khalifa

Vocal group Boyz II Men is from Philadelphia, with the music video for "Motownphilly" filmed across locations in their home city. Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow" is about growing up in Pittsburgh, Pa. The colors represent that city's NFL team, the Steelers.

During their 2011 Super Bowl match-up against the Green Bay Packers, the team used the track as their fight song, while their opponents used a remix, "Green and Yellow," as their own.


Puerto Rico: Despacito - Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee

Both Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee hail from San Juan, Puerto Rico. A remix of the hit track featuring Justin Bieber was released in 2017.


Rhode Island: Shake it Off - Taylor Swift

Swift owns the single most expensive home in the state of Rhode Island — an entire estate called High Watch, which she purchased in 2013.


South Carolina: Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine - James Brown

James Brown was born on May 3, 1933, in Barnswell, S.C.


South Dakota: What I Like About You - The Romantics

I guess South Dakota is stoked about their candidate, who's saying "all the things that I wanna hear."


Tennessee: 9 to 5 - Dolly Parton

Country music star Dolly Parton was born in Pittman Center, Tenn., and currently lives just outside of Nashville. Her Dollywood theme park and resorts are located in Pigeon Forge.


Texas: TEXAS HOLD EM' - Beyoncé

This one's a little self-explanatory.

Beyoncé accepts the Innovator Award onstage during the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles in April. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for iHeartRadio/Getty Images North America hide caption

toggle caption Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for iHeartRadio/Getty Images North America

Utah: Animal - Neon Trees

The rock band formed in Provo, Utah, in 2005.


Vermont: Stick Season - Noah Kahan

The 27-year-old is from Stratfford, Vt.


Virgin Islands: VI to the Bone - Mic Love

The rapper hails from the Virgin Islands.


Virginia: The Way I Are - Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson and D.O.E.

Timbaland is from Norfolk, Va., while Keri Hilson is from Decatur, Georgia, and D.O.E. is from New York.


Washington: Can’t Hold Us - Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

The rapper is from Kent, Wash., while Ryan Lewis is from Spokane.

YouTube

West Virginia: Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver

While Denver is from New Mexico, his hit song describes the natural beauty of West Virginia, including the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River.


Wisconsin: Jump Around - House of Pain

The 1992 hit is played at University of Wisconsin home football games as students and fans jump and cheer, becoming synonymous with the state's flagship university.


Wyoming: I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas

A classic party hit to close out the roll call, while also reiterating that the party is fully standing behind their recently-appointed candidate. Seems like they've got a good feeling about her.


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Correction Aug. 21, 2024

A previous version of this story misspelled Bruce Springsteen’s birthplace. It is Long Branch, New Jersey. It also incorrectly identified when The Killers formed. That was in 2001.

2024-08-13

Her son died of an overdose in his dorm room. Where was the Narcan?

Shots - Health News

Monica Vera-Schubert says she's tormented by the question of whether her son Bobby would be alive if the overdose reversal drug Narcan had been easily accessible in his UCLA dorm room. She keeps a "Museum of Bobby" in her living room. Mette Lampcov for NPR hide caption

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In the summer of 2020, Monica Vera-Schubert talked to NPR about her long struggle to get insurance coverage for her son Bobby’s addiction treatment. They’d recently prevailed, he was getting sober, and Vera-Schubert, a single mom, expressed immense gratitude.

“My son is alive; I appreciate every moment I have with him,” she said.

In the years that followed, Bobby became a devoted student, got into his dream school of UCLA, and sometimes joined his pharmacist mom as an activist, giving talks and warning others of the dangers of prescription-drug abuse.

Bobby Schubert Schubert Family hide caption

toggle caption Schubert Family

“I always tell him, ‘Bobby, I'm so proud of you,’” Vera-Schubert said at the time. Bobby would respond, “Mom, I’m so proud of you.”

That was four years ago.

This spring, Vera-Schubert reached out again, saying Bobby had relapsed. On April 12, a roommate found him slumped over his desk in his dorm, apparently overdosed from fake Xanax pills laced with fentanyl. Bobby Schubert was 29.

Deadly trend

The Schuberts’ tragedy speaks to the need for greater public health response to overdoses, including on college campuses. The overdose death rate among young adults ages 18 to 24 spiked 34% in just five years between 2018 and 2022, according to data provided to NPR from the CDC. The trend largely is driven by cheap and potent opioids like fentanyl infiltrating a variety of street drugs and fake pills resembling treatments for anxiety, or ADHD.

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In short, casual or even inadvertent drug use is now far riskier, killing a broader range of people — many of whom may not even realize they’re ingesting opioids. Yet public health advocates say too few colleges have specific plans to address overdose prevention on campus — either through mandatory overdose training, broad distribution of overdose-reversal medication, or chemical drug testing strips that check for the presence of fentanyl.

Shrouded in shame

A big reason for that lack of action is a lack of data, says Christina Freibott, a researcher at Boston University. “There's nothing that tracks, specifically, college campuses,” she says. “They are not always aware of the cause of student death. If it was an overdose or something else.” Medical privacy often shields that information, she says. And even if students are revived from an overdose, for example, they’re very unlikely to report the incident to school officials.

Overdoses are shrouded in secrecy and shame, says Monica Vera-Schubert. That devastating night, as she stood outside her son’s dorm and wailed over her son’s body, she felt shunned; no one from UCLA, the police, or medical examiner spoke to, or consoled her. “My son passed away, there in the dorms on the university, and nobody wants to say anything.”

Monica Vera-Schubert decorates Bobby's grave with flower petals. Visiting her son's grave at Forest Lawn cemetery in Los Angeles has become a daily ritual. Mette Lampcov for NPR/visual Coverage for NPR Science hide caption

toggle caption Mette Lampcov for NPR/visual Coverage for NPR Science

A few weeks later, as Vera-Schubert reconstructed a timeline of the final moments of Bobby’s life, her grief turned to torment, as she realized one thing might’ve changed everything: “The dorm that my son is at: Was there Narcan there? No.”

Narcan — a brand of the medication naloxone — can fully reverse opioid overdose if administered quickly, often as a nasal spray. California’s Campus Opioid Safety Act took effect last year, requiring most state and community colleges to provide education and free naloxone to students. UCLA officials say the school is compliant.

Monica Vera-Schubert looks at baby pictures of Bobby. Mette Lampcov for NPR/visual Coverage for NPR Science hide caption

toggle caption Mette Lampcov for NPR/visual Coverage for NPR Science

Nevertheless, in the 10 minutes it took paramedics to arrive after Bobby was found, Monica Vera-Schubert says no one near him had access to naloxone. She was later told there was none in the building.

“For 10 minutes, maybe more, my son just laid there; there was no Narcan,” Schubert says. “My son just laid there. Would he still be here? Maybe.”

Blinders on?

Naloxone itself is inexpensive and harmless; it has no effect on anyone not overdosing. But some college administrators worry that making naloxone very visible on campus might tarnish their image: What will prospective parents think? Does it appear to condone drug use?

“Of course, you don’t think it’s a problem until you have to put a student in a body bag,” says Susan Murphy, who was in that position when she was assistant dean of the pharmacy school at the University of Charleston, West Virginia. That loss, and others, prompted her to leave academia five years ago to head the West Virginia Drug Intervention Institute, which provides overdose education and distributes kits with training videos to schools and bus systems.

She says even as the risks mount, many college administrators remain willfully blind. “That lack of reporting data allows people to continue to put blinders on,” she says.

Murphy says some colleges do understand the urgency — including all colleges in her home state of West Virginia. “We had some really brave college presidents who said, ‘I don't care what the perception is, this has to happen,’” she says.

The most proactive among schools are devising some of their own solutions. Some use their own pharmacy-school students, for example, to train other students to recognize overdose and administer naloxone. Others — including Virginia Tech, University of Georgia, and colleges and universities across West Virginia — hang boxes containing free naloxone and how-to videos in place like libraries and dorms, alongside first-aid kits and fire extinguishers. Some even distribute fentanyl test strips, so students can test their drugs before using them.

That includes places like UCLA. Officials there declined an interview, but said in an emailed statement that it provides free naloxone and fentanyl test kits at more than 20 locations on campus, including at residence halls. It said it plans to expand the availability of those this month, before school resumes.

That wasn’t enough to put naloxone within arm’s reach when Bobby Schubert needed it.

His mother says she met with school officials the month after his death, telling them she found no naloxone visible anywhere on campus, including in her son’s old dorm. “My son might still be alive if there were changes made,” Vera-Schubert says she told them.

In recovery and ready to help

Proximity to naloxone is critical, says Preston Quigley, whose high school years passed in a blur of drug use and some perilously close brushes with opioid overdose.

“It's kind of like drowning, but you don't know it,” says Quigley, of how overdose can feel. Quigley is now 26, three years sober, and a social work major at West Virginia University. He’s had friends who needed naloxone to revive them. “If Narcan wasn't available, we were shaking, slapping, doing whatever we could to keep that person awake,” he says.

Preston Quigley Preston Quigley hide caption

toggle caption Preston Quigley

Quigley, who is active in his college recovery community, says in the years since he got sober, fentanyl has made drug use only scarier: A student might take a pill from a friend, thinking it’s a late-night study aid, then wind up dead. “That for me is where the difference I think lies, and where a lot of the danger lies for the college population,” he says.

“The students know”

But expecting schools themselves to accept and adopt overdose prevention takes too long, says Theo Krzywicki, a former paramedic in long-term recovery who founded a group called End Overdose. The group works directly with students, bypassing school administrations to distribute naloxone and provide training. So far, it has 28 chapters, with a backlog of students at 75 other schools looking to start new ones.

“I think that answers how big of a problem it is: The students know,” Krzywicki says of the large number of new student applicants. “That's why we focus on working with the students, because the students are more motivated to make change, typically, than the campuses.”

He says too few of the public-health efforts speak to the realities young people face; the old “Just Say No” anti-drug campaigns have no relevance, especially considering fentanyl lurks invisibly in so many places. Education, he says, is most effective when it comes from peers who understand.

“When you have one person that understands the community and culture and can provide the information at a level that people not only understand but receive— that’s the biggest part — you can really make a lot of progress,” Krzywicki says.

Trauma for the witnesses, too

Peer-to-peer training can also be a critical source of emotional support for bystanders — including students who’ve tried to revive unresponsive roommates or friends.

“People are very aware that this is a huge problem that is threatening our generation,” says Madeleine Ward, who lost a middle-school friend to overdose. She says that experience leaves terrifying scars. “I feel like I was very, very aware of the fact that fentanyl in particular is a very big issue and something that I needed to look out for, for myself and for my friends.”

Yet her freshman year at UCLA, Ward says everyone around her seemed wholly unprepared.. “When I got to college, it was very scary because I didn't feel like that many people knew what Narcan was, or that many people were scared about taking drugs that were laced with fentanyl.”

So Ward co-founded an End Overdose chapter at her school, giving out naloxone and educating peers to recognize signs of overdose. "After every single training we have, so many people have been really deeply impacted by overdose and overdose loss.” (Ward coincidentally lived on the same campus as Bobby Schubert, but did not know him and was not aware of his death.)

Ward, who graduated in May, says things are starting to change on campus. In one of her last classes, a professor asked for a show of hands of people who were carrying naloxone with them. About 50 in a lecture hall of 200 students raised their hands, Ward says, “which was huge to me because I didn't know a single person who carried Narcan freshman year.” That, she says, means everyone is safer.

Photography by Mette Lampcov. Photo editing by Katie Hayes Luke.

2024-08-30

A Hong Kong court convicts 2 journalists in a landmark sedition case

Asia

Former chief editor Chung Pui-kuen, right, and former acting editor Patrick Lam, left, of the now-defunct independent media outlet Stand News leave the court on the last day of the publication's sedition trial closing statements in Hong Kong on June 28, 2023. Louise Delmotte/AP hide caption

toggle caption Louise Delmotte/AP

HONG KONG — A Hong Kong court on Thursday convicted two former editors of a shuttered news outlet in a sedition case widely seen as a barometer for the future of media freedoms in a city once hailed as a bastion of free press in Asia.

The trial of Stand News former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam was Hong Kong’s first involving the media since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Stand News, which closed in December 2021, had been one of the city’s last media outlets that openly criticized the government as it waged a crackdown on dissent following massive pro-democracy protests in 2019.

It was shut down just months after the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, whose jailed founder Jimmy Lai is fighting collusion charges under a sweeping national security law enacted in 2020.

Chung and Lam had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications — charges that were brought under a colonial-era sedition law used increasingly to crush dissidents. They face up to two years in prison and a fine of 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $640) for a first offense.

Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Ltd., the outlet’s holding company, was convicted on the same charge. It had no representatives during the trial, which began in October 2022.

Judge Kwok Wai-kin said in his written judgment that Stand News became a tool for smearing the Beijing and Hong Kong governments during the 2019 protests.

He said a conviction is deemed proportional “when speech, in the relevant context, is deemed to have caused potential damage to national security and intends to seriously undermine the authority of the Chinese central government or the Hong Kong government, and that it must be stopped.”

The case was centered on 17 articles Stand News had published. Prosecutors said some promoted “illegal ideologies,” or smeared the security law and law enforcement officers. Judge Kwok ruled that 11 carried seditious intent, including commentaries written by activist Nathan Law and esteemed journalists Allan Au and Chan Pui-man. Chan is also Chung’s wife.

The judge found that the other six did not carry seditious intent, including in interviews with pro-democracy ex-lawmakers Law and Ted Hui, who are among overseas-based activists targeted by Hong Kong police bounties.

Chung appeared calm after the verdict while Lam did not appear in court due to health reasons. They were given bail pending sentencing on Sept. 26.

Defense lawyer Audrey Eu read out a mitigation statement from Lam, who said Stand News reporters sought to run a news outlet with fully independent editorial standards. “The only way for journalists to defend press freedom is reporting,” Eu quoted Lam as saying.

Eu did not read out Chung's mitigation letter in court. But local media outlets quoted his letter, in which he wrote that many Hong Kongers who are not journalists have held to their beliefs, and some have lost their own freedom because they care about everyone’s freedom in the community.

“Accurately recording and reporting their stories and thoughts is an inescapable responsibility of journalists,” he wrote in that letter.

After the verdict, former Stand News journalist Ronson Chan said nobody had told reporters that they might be arrested if they did any interviews or write anything.

The delivery of the verdict was delayed several times for various reasons, including awaiting the appeal outcome of another landmark sedition case. Dozens of residents and reporters lined up to secure a seat for the hearing.

Resident Kevin Ng, who was among the first in the line, said he used to be a reader of Stand News and has been following the trial. Ng, 28, said he read less news after its shutdown, feeling the city has lost some critical voices.

“They reported the truth, they defended press freedom," Ng, who works in risk management industry, said of the editors.

Stand News shut down following a police raid at its office and the arrests of its leaders. Armed with a warrant to seize relevant journalistic materials, more than 200 officers participated in the operation.

Days after Stand News shut down, independent news outlet Citizen News also announced it would cease operations, citing the deteriorating media environment and the potential risks to its staff.

Hong Kong was ranked 135 out of 180 territories in Reporters Without Borders’ latest World Press Freedom Index, down from 80 in 2021. Self-censorship has also become more prominent during the political crackdown on dissent. In March, the city government enacted another new security law that raised concerns it could further curtail press freedom.

Francis Lee, journalism and communication professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said the ruling on which articles were seditious appears to be drawing lines. Whenever an article is about a one-sided political stance, highly critical or viewed as lacking factual basis, then that could be considered as smearing, Lee said.

Some of the court's logic differs from how journalists typically think, he said. Journalists "may have to be more cautious from now on.”

Eric Lai, a research fellow at Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said the ruling is in line with “the anti-free-speech trend” of rulings since the 2020 security law took effect, criminalizing journalists carrying out their professional duties.

Foreign governments criticized the convictions. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller wrote on X that it was a “direct attack on media freedom."

However, Eric Chan, Hong Kong's Chief Secretary for Administration, insisted that when journalists conduct their reporting based on facts, there would not be any restrictions on such freedom.

Steve Li, chief superintendent of the police national security department, told reporters the ruling showed their enforcement three years ago — criticized by some as a suppression of free press — was necessary.

2024-08-30

NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother are killed on bicycle ride

Sports

Johnny Gaudreau, seen here skating in warmups before last year's NHL All-Star Game. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The brothers were on a bike ride together near their family home in New Jersey, just one day before they were to serve as groomsmen in their sister’s wedding. But a terrible accident has instead thrust the family of NHL star Johnny Gaudreau into tragedy.

Gaudreau -- a popular player nicknamed “Johnny Hockey” for his ethereal abilities on the ice -- and his younger brother, Matthew, were struck and killed by an SUV driven by a man suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Gaudreau, 31, was a forward for the Columbus Blue Jackets. He had previously played for the Calgary Flames after starring at Boston College. He and Matthew had gathered with family in New Jersey to prepare for their sister Katie’s wedding, scheduled for Friday, Aug. 30.

"He thrilled fans in a way only Johnny Hockey could," the Blue Jackets said on Friday. But more important than Gaudreau's outsized talent, the organization said, was his role as a loving father, son and husband.

"We extend our heartfelt sympathies to his wife, Meredith, his children, Noa and Johnny, his parents, their family and friends on the sudden loss of Johnny and Matthew."

Driver tried to pass a car on the right, police say

The two brothers were riding bicycles shortly after 8 p.m. on County Route 551 North, a rural road in Salem County, N.J., when a Jeep Grand Cherokee plowed into them from behind, according to New Jersey State Police.

The Jeep was driven by Sean M. Higgins, 43, of Woodstown, N.J. Higgins was trying to pass two slower-moving vehicles traveling north on the highway as the trio of cars came upon the Gaudreau brothers, who were riding “close to the fog line of the roadway,” according to police. (A road’s “fog line” is the white lane marker on the right-hand side.)

Higgins had just completed passing a sedan when an SUV that was directly behind the cyclists moved to the middle of the road to give them space, police said. The agency added, “Higgins then attempted to pass the SUV on the right and struck the two pedalcyclists in the rear.”

The collision killed the two brothers. State troopers who were called to the scene suspected Higgins of being under the influence. The driver was charged with two counts of death by auto; he was arrested and booked into the Salem County Correctional Facility.

Matthew R. Gaudreau was 29; he had been living in Pedricktown, N.J., according to police.

Hockey mourns the loss of a well-liked veteran

In a story that has become a bit of a legend, Gaudreau learned to skate by "tracking a trail of Skittles candy on the ice inside Hollydell Ice Arena in Sewell, New Jersey, the rink where his father, Guy, was serving as hockey director," according to the NHL.

"Johnny embraced our community when he arrived two years ago and Columbus welcomed him with open arms," the Columbus Blue Jackets said. "We will miss him terribly and do everything that we can to support his family and each other through this tragedy."

Gaudreau was a fourth-round pick by the Flames, but when he got a shot at the NHL, he didn't miss. The forward scored in his first NHL game and skated his way into competition for rookie-of-the-year honors. He went on to appear in seven All Star games and play for Team USA in international competitions.

In the wake of the tragedy, fans posted images of Gaudreau — including video of him showing next-level abilities as an 8-year-old.

“While Johnny’s infectious spirit for the game and show-stopping skills on the ice earned him the nickname ‘Johnny Hockey,’ he was more than just a dazzling hockey player; he was a doting father and beloved husband, son, brother and teammate who endeared himself to every person fortunate enough to have crossed his path,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said.

2024-08-13

Here’s how you can keep finding new sports to love between now and the next Olympics

Sports

Datinha of Brazil does a bicycle kick Feb. 25 as Italy's Tommaso Fazzini defends during the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup final between Brazil and Italy at the Dubai Design District Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Christopher Pike/AP hide caption

toggle caption Christopher Pike/AP

One of the attractions of watching the Olympics is getting sucked into and learning about sports you’ve barely heard of before. The Paralympic Games are just around the corner, with exciting sports including wheelchair rugby and goalball, a game for people who are blind

If you still find yourself jonesing for more athletic novelty after that, there are plenty of events even farther out on the fringe than the ones contested in Paris. Many are played in small contests across the country, or can be found in the darker corners of sports broadcasters’ schedules. They’re sorted below into categories similar to the Summer Olympic events.

(This is far from a comprehensive list, and there are entire cultural or industrial multisport competitions that are incredibly compelling, including Highland Games in Scotland, Timbersports — here the athletes compete in using axes and saws similar to lumberjacks — and Alaskan Natives’ Traditional Games, just to name a few.)

Team sports

Upcoming Olympics will reintroduce lacrosse, which is played professionally and collegiately across the U.S., and will for the first time feature flag football. If India is selected to host the 2036 Olympics, a couple of tag-like games could be included too, and cricket might return.

Another popular sport combines two current Olympic favorites: soccer and beach volleyball. Beach soccer is played 5-on-5 with standard-size goals and unlimited substitutions.

If that’s still too tame for soccer fans, there’s also Omegaball, which moves the game to a circular field — then adds a third team and a third goal.

Running

The most basic of Olympic sports has inspired a cornucopia of variants, including mud runs that insert messy obstacles into the course, rucksack races that add weighted packs, or even races that let running buffs run in the, uh, buff.

Or you can bust out more useful skills by participating in an adventure race, which like a triathlon may require multiple modes of travel, and may not include a marked course, requiring participants to navigate to the finish line on their own.

Climbing

You can get your fix through winter with an added degree of difficulty in ice climbing. Or if you just enjoy watching competitors eat it, ESPN sometimes televises the Wipeout-adjacent Slippery Stairs.

Aidan Heslop of the United Kingdom, competes June 8 in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Boston. Michael Dwyer/AP hide caption

toggle caption Michael Dwyer/AP

In the water

Red Bull has a 15-year-old series of cliff-diving competitions in which athletes may leap from nearly 100 feet up, which really makes wings-delivering products sound tempting. Or for a much tamer (and cuter) water sport, you might consider dog surfing.

Another swimming discipline (one that might be, dare we say it, more useful than the butterfly or breaststroke?) is lifesaving, in which competitors take on a variety of lifeguard-type tasks, including swimming under obstacles or dragging a mannequin the length of the pool. A surfing variant may be considered for the 2032 Olympics in Australia.

Paco the Spanish Water Dog jumps off the surf board in the second head of large dogs during the World Dog Surfing Championships Saturday, Aug. 3, in Pacifica, Calif. Eakin Howard/AP hide caption

toggle caption Eakin Howard/AP

Net sports

Tennis’ next Grand Slam tournament, the U.S. Open, starts later this month, and a national table tennis league was founded last year. You could also get into tennis-adjacent squash, which makes its Olympic debut in Los Angeles in four years.

As for non-Olympic sports: There’s already a professional pickleball league? Of course there is, friend — what timeline did you think we were in? Other variants include Forehand Strike, in which racquets are replaced with padded gloves, and table volleyball, a sort of mushing-together of volleyball, soccer, and table tennis played across a speed-hump-shaped table.

Riding sports

Another round of the X Games, this one focused on skateboarding, BMX biking, and motocross, roars through Chiba, Japan, in September. But if you crave something closer to Paris’ mountain biking competition, you could check out the racing league launched by hoverboard manufacturer Onewheel. You may have seen folks tooling around on these skateboard-like self-balancing scooters in your neighborhood, but you probably haven’t seen them tearing down trails at speeds that can top 25 mph.

If that’s too tame for you, there’s always street luge — the asphalt-riding variant of the death-defying Winter Olympics sport, in which racers have topped 100 mph. There do not appear to be enough highly competitive crazy people to make a face-first version, street skeleton, a thing.

Combat sports

The varieties of martial arts and wrestling techniques created by cultures across the world are practically endless, and there are sure to be gyms near you teaching several of them. The venues can range from the salt-strewn, ceremony-wrapped sumo ring to the brutal octagonal cage of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. And then there’s carjitsu, where competitors live out the action-movie staple of brawling in the front seats of a sedan, using anything at hand to convince their opponent to tap out.