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Rural Florida county shocked by fentanyl deaths over holiday

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Rural Florida county shocked by fentanyl deaths over holiday


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A small, largely rural county west of Florida’s capital noticed an unheard-of spike in lethal drug overdoses believed to be attributable to fentanyl combined with different unlawful medication, an indication that the nationwide downside is turning into much more far-reaching.

In all of 2021, Gadsden County had simply 10 overdoses, Sheriff Morris Younger mentioned. He could not recall any being deadly. The state had even rejected a grant software to deal with fentanyl overdoses as a result of the county of about 43,700 folks couldn’t definitively determine any instances involving the highly effective artificial opioid.

Then final Friday, calls to emergency companies started flooding in. Over the vacation weekend, 9 folks died and one other 9 had been handled over suspected fentanyl overdoses. It is the newest in a rash of fentanyl deaths across the nation.

“It is shaken your complete neighborhood. I really feel their ache,” Younger mentioned Wednesday. “I am actually treating this like we had a hurricane coming into city. It implies that a lot to me that we might lose folks in such a brief time frame.”

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Gadsden County is basically identified for its vegetable and livestock farms, historic Southern buildings and vintage outlets. Many households have identified one another for generations. County Fee Chairman Ron Inexperienced mentioned among the many households of victims he knew had been the kids of a lady in her 60s who died over the weekend.

“They did not even understand their mom was utilizing once more,” Inexperienced mentioned. “This introduced an alarming discover to them. Sadly it is too late.”

Whereas the victims had been 34 or older, Inexperienced worries youthful folks might be endangered, “if we won’t hurry up and get it off the streets.”

Fentanyl may be 50 to 100 instances stronger than heroin, and sellers lace it in with different unlawful medication to spice up their addictiveness. Regulation enforcement officers say most individuals affected do not know it is within the unlawful medication they’re shopping for — in quantities that in any other case would not essentially be lethal.

The issue has change into so acute that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued a warning three months in the past about what it referred to as “mass-overdose occasions.” It cited dozens of deaths in additional than a half-dozen clusters in current months in areas starting from the small city of Cortez, Colorado, with lower than 9,000 residents, to main cities reminiscent of Washington, D.C.

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DISC Village is a nonprofit drug therapy heart with companies all through Florida’s Massive Bend, the cluster of counties the place the Panhandle meets the state’s peninsula. It contains Gadsden County in addition to Tallahassee, the state capital.

“In these final six months I’ve seen probably the most overdoses that I’ve ever seen since I have been working right here,” mentioned Jennifer Travieso, who has labored at DISC for 17 years. “It is positively fentanyl and it is in medication we would not anticipate it to be in, for instance cocaine or marijuana or methamphetamines.”

“For the sellers, with fentanyl and different opioids, they need to be sure folks get hooked to maintain their gross sales up,” Younger mentioned.

He gave an instance of simply how highly effective the habit may be. One of many males handled for an overdose on Friday was launched from a hospital Sunday, solely to return after a second overdose on Tuesday. Younger mentioned he had helped the identical man get a job a couple of month in the past.

“That is the scary half,” Younger mentioned. “These folks, even with the concern of the fentanyl and that they might die, they’re nonetheless going to take an opportunity going on the market and getting these medication. These are among the addicts which can be really, really addicted.”

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He mentioned investigators try to hint the supply of the medication laced with fentanyl. He believes it arrived within the county prepackaged, so it is potential native sellers weren’t conscious they had been promoting fentanyl. Both approach, he desires extreme punishment for these concerned.

“We’re hoping to push these instances to homicide instances,” Younger mentioned.

Younger and different legislation enforcement plan to satisfy Thursday with officers from the Division of Kids and Households and the state’s surgeon common to debate how one can deal with the issue.

Younger mentioned EMTs have entry to overdose remedies like naloxone, identified by the model title Narcan, however deputies don’t. He mentioned he desires to right away get provides within the arms of his officers and have them educated on their use.

“Fentanyl was not even on my radar, and that modified about 9 o’clock on Friday night time,” Younger mentioned.

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Florida-Tulane free livestream: How to watch Gasparilla Bowl, TV, schedule

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Florida-Tulane free livestream: How to watch Gasparilla Bowl, TV, schedule


The Florida Gators play against the Tulane Green Wave in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. The matchup will begin at 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN 2. Fans can watch this game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV Stream and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.

The Gators enter this matchup with a 7-5 record, and they have played well recently. The team has won three consecutive games, including two victories against ranked opponents.

In their most recent game, the Gators defeated Florida State 31-11. During the victory, Florida accrued 368 total yards. The team rushed for 235 yards and averaged more than six yards per carry.

The Florida defense also played well against Florida State, forcing five turnovers.

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The Green Wave enter this matchup with a 9-4 record, but they have lost back-to-back games. In their most recent game, the Green Wave lost 35-14 against Army.

During the loss, Tulane struggled defensively. The team allowed 335 rushing yards and conceded nearly six yards per carry.

Fans can watch this game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV Stream and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.



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How to Watch: Louisville Cardinals at Florida State Seminoles

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How to Watch: Louisville Cardinals at Florida State Seminoles


LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A week removed from falling to Kentucky in the Battle of the Bluegrass, the Louisville men’s basketball program is back in action, traveling to Florida State for their first road game in ACC play.

While the Cardinals might have lost to their most hated rival in their last time out, they certainly gave the Wildcats a run for their money. Despite having only eight healthy scholarship players, Louisville kept within striking distance of Kentucky for the majority of the game before ultimately falling 93-85 in Rupp Arena.

As for the Seminoles, year 23 under head coach Leonard Hamilton is off to a solid start. While FSU is currently six games over .500 and heading into their matchup with Louisville on a two-game win streak, they’re 0-3 against teams ranked in KenPom’s top-100, including an 84-74 overtime loss at NC State.

This will be the 54th all-time meeting between Louisville and Florida State, with the Cardinals owning a 35-18 advantage. UofL won 101-92 back on Feb. 3, 2024 in the last matchup, snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Seminoles.

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(Photo of Terrence Edwards Jr.: Jordan Prather – Imagn Images)

You can follow Louisville Cardinals On SI for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram:

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You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter/X and @mattmcgavic.bsky.social on Bluesky





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More South Florida school zones will be getting speed cameras – how it's been going

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More South Florida school zones will be getting speed cameras – how it's been going


If you don’t look carefully, you could easily miss the cameras set up outside schools. They, however, are watching you, and if you’re going at least 10 miles over the speed limit, you will receive a $100 surprise in the mail. 

“If you don’t want to get one of those violations just stay within the speed limit, very simple,” said Village of Pinecrest Police Chief Jason Cohen. 

Pinecrest and South Miami were the first cities in South Florida to take advantage of a new state law allowing automated cameras to catch speeders in school zones. Since their systems went online in October, they’ve sent out about 7,400 citations in South Miami and about 5,800 in Pinecrest. 

“It’s too early to say from the data on the overall impact it’s going to have around the schools, but we believe it’s going to change peoples’ driving patterns, that they’re going to be cognizant that they’re near a school and they’re going to automatically slow down, that’s the goal,” Cohen said. 

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Diane Gilmore has been a security monitor for decades at Palmetto Senior High School. She said she sees speeders fly past the school all the time as students are trying to cross the street, and she’s glad the cameras have been installed. 

“I think they did a good idea because a lot of times, they be going across the street, these cars don’t respect us at all, they come fast and I say it ain’t careful, somebody gonna end up getting killed,” Gilmore said. 

Students spilling out of school seem to appreciate the cameras. 

“I think it’s good, ‘cause it controls the drivers so the drivers don’t speed and especially in a school zone,” said Nicholas Henriquez, a senior at Palmetto who drives to school. 

Not everyone agrees. Christian Gutierrez picks up a student regularly and he’s not impressed with the cameras’ impact. 

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“Even speedbumps, I feel like, stops speeding,” Gutierrez said. “More than the cameras, yeah, for sure.”

The school zone cameras operate only on school days, starting a half hour before school starts and ending a half hour after school ends, no matter what the speed limit is during those hours. The police departments make $39 for each citation issued. 

“But I think it’s important to highlight that the funds coming in have to be used for public safety,” Chief Cohen said. “Anything that can help make our city safer, especially around the children and the schools, we looked at it as a win.”

Soon, police departments in Miami Gardens, West Miami, Davie and Plantation will be starting up their own school zone camera systems. Miami-Dade Police have also installed cameras outside eleven schools with many more to follow. Cohen predicts almost all South Florida police departments will join the trend.

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