East End weeklies announce joint effort to examine the opioid crisis
Eastern Long Island’s weekly newspapers have joined together to form the East End News Project for the purpose of reporting and writing stories about one of the most important issues of the day: opioid abuse and overdose deaths in our communities.
The Times Review Media Group’s three newspapers — the Shelter Island Reporter, The Suffolk Times, and the Riverhead News-Review — will team up with The Press News Group (The Southampton Press, The East Hampton Press and 27east.com), The Sag Harbor Express and the Independent to begin jointly reporting on this critical issue.
The facts of the overdose crisis are stark and frightening: Suffolk County has the highest rate of overdose deaths in New York State. Almost 500 people died from opioid overdoses in Nassau and Suffolk counties in 2016, the most ever. The drug fentanyl, which is 50 times more potent than morphine, was a culprit in many of those deaths.
In June of this year, the Suffolk County police commissioner held a press conference to report that there had been 22 opioid-related overdoses within a 48-hour period. These overdoses and overdose deaths have affected every community in Suffolk County — including the five East End towns, villages and hamlets.
We have not escaped this scourge. The menace is here. And it is getting worse. A recent forum on the issue at Hampton Bays High School filled the auditorium. One speaker said she was on a train when her son called to tell her that her other son was dead from an overdose. Southampton Police Chief Steven Skrynecki told the crowd that there had been five overdose deaths in the town in 2016 — and that 17 had occurred so far in 2017.
For our project to work, we need your help. We need people who have beaten addiction, families who have lost loved ones, families who have saved loved ones, first responders, treatment specialists and others to tell us their stories. We will respect everyone’s privacy, but we firmly believe that powerful voices and stories, with photographs and videos, can best communicate the horrible reality — and save lives.
If you can help us with our work, here is our contact information:
The Press
Joseph Shaw, executive editor
[email protected]
631-287-1500, ext. 125
The Independent
Kitty Merrill, executive editor
[email protected]
631-324-2500
The Sag Harbor Express
Kathryn Menu, editor/co-publisher
[email protected]
631-725-1700
Stephen J. Kotz, news editor
[email protected]
631-725-1700
Times Review Media Group
Steve Wick
631-354-8048
[email protected]
Joe Werkmeister
631-354-8049
[email protected]
Taylor Vecsey
631-354-8033
[email protected]
