The tragic death of actor and comedian Robin Williams shocked his fans and the world. It has been tough, even more than a week later, for people to grasp how someone who seemed so happy could feel so cornered in life, that the only out he could find was to end it.
The biggest question people ask themselves is, “Could it have been prevented?”
There are warning signs that could lead to saving the life of a loved one — or even your own. But even then, knowledge might not be enough.
“What comes out of all of this is that we never know when someone is suffering suicidal thoughts,” Betsey Westuba, chairwoman of the Florida Suicide Prevention Coalition, told reporter B.C. Manion. “It’s a very complex situation.”
When someone does tragically commit suicide — around 39,000 Americans do it each year — it can be even more traumatic on family members, especially since those closest may blame themselves for not being able to stop it.
“I believe that friends and families of those who die by suicide have a particularly difficult grief challenge,” said Grace Terry, founder of Grief Resolution Resources of Tampa. “No matter what the circumstances or situation, people who have loved ones die by suicide have a crushing sense of guilt.”
To read more about how to help someone in need, and what sometimes happens in the minds of those who are contemplating suicide, read this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News. You can find it at your home or at local retailers, or you can read it free right now in our online e-edition by clicking here.
The new school year has started, with many kids showing up for class with dreams of going on to college and pursuing an amazing career. But there are others who may want those dreams, but feel that because of their family’s financial situation, can never achieve it.
But there is hope, as reporter Michael Murillo talks about in this week’s The Laker/Lutz News.
Pasco-Hernando State College runs a program called Concept College, where at-risk youth and disadvantaged high school students explore and obtain college opportunities. It helps nearly 600 students each year, taking them on campus at PHSC, giving them a firsthand look at college life, answering questions, helping with application, and exploring scholarship opportunities.
“This is really targeting students who need assistance to help make them believe that college is possible for them,” said Maria Hixon, PHSC’s director of development. “Sometimes without that direct outreach and personal attention, they kind of fall through the cracks.”
To find out how the program has helped students, and ways to get involved, read this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, or read the online e-edition for free by clicking here.
Finally, we as a society seem to have a hate-hate relationship when it comes to rust. We don’t want it on our cars, our metal tables, our pipes … nothing.
But B.C. Manion has found a North Tampa man named Tom Harden who not only loves rust, but seeks out the history behind each rusty object he finds.
“When people go out and detect, I always tell them, ‘Dig up the iron. You never known what you’re going to find,” Harden said. “When you’re planting the plant in the ground, or hoeing the row to plant the tomatoes, or whatever you’re going to plant — you might turn up that old iron object and wonder, ‘What is this? Where did it come from?'”
Learn what Harden has discovered, and some of the local history behind it in the B Section of this week’s The Laker/Lutz News. If you can’t wait to get the hard copy of the edition, read our free e-edition by clicking here.
Oh, and are you ready for some football? We continue our preview of all the local gridiron teams this week from reporter Michael Murillo with the Wesley Chapel Wildcats and the Pasco Pirates.
All of these stories and more can be found in this week’s The Laker/Lutz News, available in newsstands throughout east and central Pasco County as well as northern Hillsborough County. Find out what has your community talking this week by getting your local news straight from the only source you need.
If The Laker/Lutz News is not coming to your door, call us to see where you can get your copy at (813) 909-2800, or read our free e-edition by clicking here.
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