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EPIC BOUT ENDS IN OVERTIME WIN FOR COMET
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dailyGAZETTE Monday, December 19, 2016 n SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
ELECTION 2016 | OPIOID EPIDEMIC
Can Trump break heroin’s hold? Experts wonder what will happen when the war on drugs gets a new commander-in-chief Tribune News Service
AP
President-elect Donald Trump, shown here Thursday at a rally in Hershey, Pennsylvania, has vowed to curb America’s heroin epidemic by cracking down on the Mexican border. But officials at the local level wonder what a policy that’s heavy on rhetoric and short on detail will look like.
President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to curb America’s heroin epidemic by cracking down on the Mexican border. That sounds terrific to DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin, who has seen the drug ravage his suburban jurisdiction. “[The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration] is seizing more and more, but the reality is there’s more that can be done,” he said. “If we can reduce the amount that comes into the country, we’ll limit the supply and, I think, reduce the number of users. That’s a public safety win.” But Trump has also promised to repeal Obamacare, the federal health insurance program many people have used to access treat-
Inside Drugs are taking a deadly toll as the number of overdose deaths continues to rise. And when it comes to deaths from opioids, Illinios has seen a 120 percent increase. Page A5 ment. That sounds awful to Chelsea Laliberte, leader of an Arlington Heights-based nonprofit dedicated to combating heroin. “I truly believe this could be a disaster,” she said. “I’m an optimistic person, but I’m having a hard time being optimistic here.” Trump frequently mentioned the opioid crisis during his campaign, and according to some postelection analyses, he performed especially well in Rust Belt counties
SAUK VALLEY
devastated by the drugs. But his policy prescriptions remain vague, and to some observers, contradictory – a grab bag of tactics alternately embraced by the right and the left. It has left some treatment specialists, anti-heroin advocates and law enforcement professionals in the Chicago area unsure of exactly what to expect from the Trump administration. “[Trump’s strategy] is both sides of the coin,” said Dan Bigg of the Chicago Recovery Alliance, which does outreach work with people with addictions. “It’s not just [a law-and-order approach]. It says some of the most enlightened stuff too. I don’t know what to think of it. It’s all over the place.” HEROIN’S GRIP continued on A54
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
Nelson Vasquez, head custodian of Merrill School in Rock Falls, clears snow from the sidewalks Sunday afternoon.
Fall goes out like a lion Area gets a double whammy of bitter cold, snow How this week is shaping up: Predicted highs TODAY
STAFF REPORT news@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5501
The Sauk Valley joined the rest of the Midwest in its sub-zero suffering over the weekend as a bitter blast of arctic air pushed through the region, resetting the record books and putting car batteries to the test. The wintry weather also added to snowfall totals, with reports of 2.5 to 4 inches deposited in Sauk Valley snowbanks over the weekend, keeping local law enforcement and tow trucks busy. Sergeant J.D. Sanders of the Sterling Police Department said officers had responded to at least a dozen accidents as of Sunday. WEATHER continued on A104
17º
TUESDAY 29º
WEDNESDAY 31º
THURSDAY 32º
FRIDAY 38º
SATURDAY 32º
City workers use heavy equipment to remove snow from the roadways Sunday near Scheid Park in Sterling.
Worrying in the workplace Repealing Obamacare would impact people insured through their employer, too Tribune News Service
One of the first things Tracy Trovato did – once she overcame the shock of learning her 42-year-old, marathon-training husband had leukemia – was look through their health insurance documents. She dug up one paper that said the plan would pay no more than $1 million for medical services in a lifetime. The Chicago woman and her husband, Carlo, called their insurance company in a panic. “Our first question was, ‘Can we take care of leukemia in a million dollars?’” Tracy Trovato said. The woman on the other end of the line reassured them, telling them, “The president took care of that, we don’t have maximum caps anymore,” Trovato recalled. “Those were among the sweetest words,” said Trovato, whose insurance is through her husband’s employer. Now, however, that ban on lifetime limits, along with other health insurance protections, has been thrown into question with the election of Donald Trump, who’s promised to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. In recent weeks, much attention has focused on what repealing and replacing the law might mean for the roughly 1 million Illinois residents and nearly 20 million Americans who get health insurance through the law’s exchanges or Medicaid expansion. But Obamacare is far broader than that. Scrapping the law also could change how health insurance works for 6.8 million Illinois residents and 156 million Americans who had coverage last year through employers, as estimated by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. “We view everything as being threatened right now,” said Kathy Waligora, director of the health reform initiative of EverThrive Illinois. REPEAL continued on A44
Photos by Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com
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TODAY’S EDITION: 20 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 163 ISSUE 7
INDEX
ABBY.................... A7 COMICS................ A8 CROSSWORD.......B8
ELECTION 2016.... A9 LIFESTYLE............ A7 LOTTERY.............. A2
OBITUARIES......... A4 OPINION............... A6 POLICE................. A2
Today’s weather High 17. Low 11. More on A3.
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