West
Washington Senate approves $8M to combat addiction among Native Americans, but some say it is not enough
Evelyn Jefferson walks deep into a forest dotted with the tents of unhoused Lummi Nation tribal members and calls out names. When someone appears, she and a nurse hand out the opioid overdose reversal medication Naloxone.
Jefferson, a tribal member herself, knows how critical these kits are: Just five months ago, her own son died of an overdose from a synthetic opioid that’s about 100 times more potent than fentanyl. The 37-year-old’s death was the fourth related to opioids in four days on the reservation.
“It took us eight days to bury him because we had to wait in line, because there were so many funerals in front of his,” said Jefferson, crisis outreach supervisor for Lummi Nation. “Fentanyl has really taken a generation from this tribe.”
CRISIS IN THE NORTHWEST: POLICE STRUGGLE AS FENTANYL’S GRIP IN RURAL OREGON BECOMES ‘NEXUS’ OF DAILY RESPONSES
A bill before the Washington Legislature would bring more state funding to tribes like Lummi that are trying to keep opioids from taking the next generation too. The state Senate unanimously approved a bill this week that is expected to provide nearly $8 million total each year for the 29 federally recognized tribes in Washington, funds drawn in part from a roughly half-billion-dollar settlement between the state and major opioid distributors.
The approach comes as Native Americans and Alaska Natives in Washington die of opioid overdoses at five times the state average, according to 2021-2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data that includes provisional numbers. The rate in Washington is one of the highest in the U.S. and more than three times the rate nationwide — but many of the state’s Indigenous nations lack the funding or medical resources to fully address it.
Lummi Nation, like many tribes, faces an additional challenge when it comes to keeping outside drug dealers off their land: A complicated jurisdictional maze means tribal police often can’t arrest non-tribal members on the reservation.
Evelyn Jefferson, a crisis outreach supervisor for Lummi Nation, stands at her son’s grave at the Lummi Nation cemetery on tribal reservation lands, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024, near Bellingham, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
“What do we do when we have a non-Lummi, predatory drug dealer on our reservation with fentanyl, driving around or on their property and are selling drugs?” said Anthony Hillaire, tribal chairman.
Against the backdrop, tribes such as the Lummi Nation, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of Seattle, say the proposed funding — while appreciated — would barely scratch the surface. The tribe of about 5,300 people on the shores of the Salish Sea has already suffered nearly one overdose death a week this year.
Lummi Nation needs $12 million to fully finance a 16-bed, secure medical detox facility that incorporates the tribe’s culture, Hillaire said, and money to construct a new counseling center after damage from flooding. Those costs alone far exceed the annual total that would be designated for tribes under the legislation. The Senate has proposed allotting $12 million in its capital budget to the facility.
“We’re a sovereign nation. We’re a self-governed tribe. We want to take care of ourselves because we know how to take care of ourselves,” he said. “And so we usually just need funding and law changes — good policies.”
The proposed measure would earmark funds deposited into an opioid settlement account, which includes money from the state’s $518 million settlement in 2022 with the nation’s three largest opioid distributors, for tribes battling addiction. Tribes are expected to receive $7.75 million or 20% of the funds deposited into the account the previous fiscal year — whichever is greater — annually.
Republican state Sen. John Braun, one of the bill’s sponsors, has said he envisions the funds being distributed through a grant program.
“If this ends up being the wrong amount of money or we’re distributing it inequitably, I’m happy to deal with this,” he said. “This is just going to get us started, and make sure we’re not sitting on our hands, waiting for the problem to solve itself.”
Opioid overdose deaths for Native Americans and Alaska Natives have increased dramatically in the past few years in Washington, with at least 100 in 2022 — 75 more than in 2019, according to the most recent numbers available from the Washington State Department of Health.
In September, Lummi Nation declared a state of emergency over fentanyl, adding drug-sniffing dogs and checkpoints, while revoking bail for drug-related charges.
The tribe has also opened a seven-bed facility to help members with withdrawal and get them on medication for opioid use disorder, while providing access to a neighboring cultural room where they work with cedar and sage. In its first five months, the facility treated 63 people, the majority of whom are still on the medication regimen today, said Dr. Jesse Davis, medical director of the Lummi Healing Spirit Opioid Treatment program.
But truly thwarting this crisis must go beyond just Lummi Nation working on its own, said Nickolaus Lewis, Lummi councilmember.
“We can do everything in our power to protect our people. But if they go out into Bellingham, they go out anywhere off the reservation, what good is it going to do if they have different laws and different policies, different barriers?” he said.
The tribe has urged Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and President Joe Biden to declare states of emergency in response to the opioid crisis to create a bigger safety net and drive additional vital resources to the problem.
In the encampment in Bellingham, Jefferson estimates there are more than 60 tribal members, some she recognizes as her son’s friends, while others are Lummi elders. She suspects many of them left the reservation to avoid the tribe’s crackdown on opioids.
When she visits them, her van filled with food, hand warmers and clothing to hand out, she wears the shirt her niece gave her the day after her son died. It reads, “fight fentanyl like a mother.”
“It’s a losing battle but, you know, somebody’s got to be there to let them know — those addicts — that somebody cares,” Jefferson said. “Maybe that one person will come to treatment because you’re there to care.”
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A Utah man driving the wrong way on Interstate 80 died over the weekend after colliding head-on with a semitrailer near Evanston.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol confirmed Monday that Duane Derrick, 40, of Logan, Utah, was driving a Chevy pickup the wrong way in the interstate at about 2 p.m. Saturday.
According to witnesses and evidence collected at the scene, Derrick was driving eastbound in the westbound lanes before the collision.
He died at the scene, the WHP reports. The driver of the semitrailer was transported to a local hospital, where he was treated and released.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol was not available for additional comment at the time of publication.
‘How Did He Not See Him?’
Paige Sequeira of Ogden, Utah, shot a video of the aftermath of Saturday’s accident as she was traveling along I-80.
Her reaction and what she captured on her phone paints a harrowing picture.
The Chevy pickup was beyond totaled. The entire vehicle was smashed into a tangled mess of metal, with wheels nearly twisted off their axles.
The semitrailer was hundreds of feet away, having driven off the highway and down an embankment toward a housing development.
Its forward engine and drive axle were nearly severed from the rest of the cab, a testament to the force of the impact.
The shoulder was covered with large debris from both vehicles.
Sequeria openly questioned, “How did he not see him?”
According to the Wyoming Highway Patrol, both vehicles “reacted and swerved to the north shoulder, colliding head-on.”
Derrick was wearing his seat belt when the collision happened, WHP reports.
Rough Start
Derrick’s death was the seventh fatality on Wyoming’s roadways so far in 2026. There were six fatalities at this point in 2025, and two in 2024.
Wyoming is already one of the deadliest states for trucking.
Statistics compiled by the Truck Safety Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization, show Wyoming had seven fatalities per 100,000 population in the last year, topping the list as the deadliest state.
According to the Wyoming Department of Transportation’s crash data, 90% of commercial motor vehicle crashes on I-80 involve non-Wyoming resident drivers, and 78% of those crashes happened during inclement weather.
Saturday’s crash was another on what truckers call “The Gauntlet,” the stretch of I-80 through Wyoming that runs between Evanston and Pine Bluffs. However, analyses like these are often skewed by Wyoming’s small population.
“In a rural state like Wyoming, with one of the smallest populations but some of the highest truck miles traveled per capita in the nation, even a small number of crashes can dramatically skew the results,” Kevin Hawley, president of the Wyoming Trucking Association, previously told Cowboy State Daily. “This makes Wyoming appear ‘deadlier’ than larger states with far higher crash totals.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
The Mavericks will be without P.J. Washington for their Tuesday meeting with the Boston Celtics.
Dallas officially listed Washington as out for Tuesday’s game. According to the team’s injury report, Washington is in concussion protocol.
#Mavs forward PJ Washington is in concussion protocol and is out for tomorrow’s game against the #Celtics.
Brandon Williams is questionable due to a right lower leg contusion.
Two-ways Ryan Nembhard and Miles Kelly are probable, but Moussa Cisse is questionable.
— Mike Curtis (@MikeACurtis2) February 2, 2026
Washington left Saturday’s game against the Houston Rockets in the fourth quarter after taking an elbow to the head from teammate Naji Marshall. The veteran forward sat on the bench for a brief period, but was rubbing his forehead before he walked back to the locker room.
Guard Brandon Williams, who also left Saturday’s game early, was listed as questionable on the injury report with a right lower leg contusion.
Two-way players Ryan Nembhard and Miles Kelly are listed as probable, while Moussa Cisse is questionable. Tip-off for Tuesday’s Mavericks-Celtics game is scheduled for 7 p.m. at American Airlines Center.
Find more Mavericks coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Wyoming High School boys’ basketball teams completed the seventh week of the season to wrap up January. The last undefeated team suffered its first loss of the season, and that snapped the state’s longest win streak at 43 games in a row. Two teams are still in search of their first victory in the 2026 season. Nearly every conference has reached the halfway point of league play, except the 3A West.
WYOPREPS BOYS BASKETBALL STANDINGS 2025 THROUGH WEEK 7
Here are the standings for all games played through January 31, 2026. WyoPreps updates the standings weekly throughout the season. Teams are listed by their conference record or points total first, and then by their overall record. If a tie exists, teams are listed in alphabetical order unless a head-to-head result can break the tie.
1A Northwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Meeteetse 11-4, 5-0
Burlington 11-7, 4-1
St. Stephens 9-4, 4-2
Ten Sleep 6-7, 2-3
Dubois 3-12, 1-4
Riverside 0-14, 0-6
1A Southwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Cokeville 9-8, 5-1
Saratoga 13-2, 4-1
Little Snake River 9-5, 3-2
Ft. Washakie 7-7, 2-4
Farson-Eden 4-11, 2-4
Encampment 4-12, 1-5
1A Northeast: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Upton 11-5, 5-0
Hulett 9-2, 4-0
Casper Christian 5-7, 4-3
Midwest 5-8, 2-2
Arvada-Clearmont 0-12, 0-4
Kaycee 5-11, 0-6
1A Southeast: (Overall Record, followed by Points Standings)
Lingle-Ft. Laramie 15-1, 35 points
Lusk 13-4, 28 points
H.E.M. 9-9, 17 points
Rock River 5-8, 9 points
Southeast 4-13, 8 points
Guernsey-Sunrise 1-12, 2 points
2A Northwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Thermopolis 12-4, 3-0
Rocky Mountain 8-10, 2-1
Shoshoni 10-5, 1-2
Greybull 8-11, 0-3
2A Southwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Wyoming Indian 17-2, 3-0
Big Piney 6-10, 2-1
Kemmerer 4-12, 1-2
Wind River 1-17, 0-3
2A East: (Overall Record, Conference Record)
Big Horn 12-4, 1-0
Pine Bluffs 11-6, 4-1
Wright 12-5, 0-1
Moorcroft 5-12, 0-1
Sundance 2-12, 0-1
Tongue River 1-15, 0-1
Read More Boys Basketball News from WyoPreps
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WyoPreps Coaches and Media Basketball Polls 1-21-26
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WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 3 Scores 2025-26
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WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 2 Scores 2025-26
WyoPreps Coaches and Media Boys Basketball Poll 12-17-25
WyoPreps Boys Basketball Week 1 Scores 2025-26
3A West: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Lovell 13-2, 3-0
Lander 10-4, 2-1
Lyman 9-4, 2-1
Powell 12-3, 1-2
Pinedale 8-6, 1-2
Mountain View 6-7, 1-2
Worland 6-9, 1-2
Cody 4-10, 1-2
3A East: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Douglas 11-4, 5-0
Wheatland 8-9, 4-0
Buffalo 7-6, 3-1
Torrington 5-6, 2-3
Rawlins 7-9, 2-3
Glenrock 3-11, 1-3
Newcastle 3-11, 1-3
Burns 6-12, 0-5
4A Northwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Natrona County 9-5, 3-0
Green River 11-3, 1-2
Kelly Walsh 3-10, 1-2
Rock Springs 11-3, 1-2
4A Southwest: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Star Valley 7-6, 3-0
Evanston 4-11, 1-1
Riverton 7-9, 1-2
Jackson 1-11, 0-2
4A East: (Overall Record, followed by Conference Record)
Sheridan 13-1, 6-0
Cheyenne Central 12-4, 5-1
Thunder Basin 9-6, 4-2
Campbell County 3-10, 2-4
Cheyenne East 9-8, 2-4
Laramie 7-10, 2-4
Cheyenne South 1-15, 0-6
James Johnson Winter Showcase Basketball Tournament 2026
Photos from game action at the James Johnson Winter Showcase tournament in Cheyenne.
Gallery Credit: Courtesy: Shannon Dutcher
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