Louis Krauss

When Andy Astells saw his boyfriend overdose and collapse following a shot of heroin in the neck four years ago, he was terried that it might be the end for his companion. It wasn’t, and an increasingly popular drug called Narcan, which is being used to combat potentially fatal opioid overdoses, may have been the life or death dierence. “When he fell to the oor I could not nd a pulse, hear a heartbeat, or see him breathing. It was so very scary,” said Astells, 38. “I would say that the likelihood of him not living without receiving the Narcan would’ve been quite high.”

Just last spring, Hollingsworth was able to farm on this section of mud. The oysters thrived here, growing in clusters on ropes strung between PVC pipes sticking up from the mud. But the shrimp have taken over, burrowing into the mud and turning it into a slurry. This causes the PVC pipes to sink, the oysters to drop down into the mud and die — and owner Hollingsworth to despair. “At the rate the shrimp are going, I’m done,” he said.

With Grays Harbor County’s syringe exchange potentially ending June 30, the program and the county commission’s decision to end it has been a hot topic. Many health officials want to keep it, while two of the three county commissioners have said it’s not appropriate for the county to fund it. Among the drug users who actually rely on the local syringe exchange to turn in used needles in exchange for clean ones, some fear there will be dire consequences for the health and wellbeing of both drug

As excavators prepared to demolish the large lean-to tent he built with tarps and wooden beams, part of his riverside home at the longtime Aberdeen homeless encampment, a wistful Leonard Vervalen took a break from packing to hit some golf balls into the Chehalis River Wednesday afternoon. “It goes against everything we love and believe in,” said Vervalen. “Would you like living in a fish bowl? If I want to sit down and smoke a cigarette while looking at the river I’m going to do it.”