My community is going to make national headlines

It has already made national headlines due to the amount of heroine overdoses here which is more than likely the #1 in the country. That's not it though the choices the city makes are insane.

NBC

Wilkes-Barre Faces Heroin Scourge Turning It Into ‘the Most Unhappy Place in America’

This is only the beginning you guys have no idea. Every week I see on my Facebook timeline people I grew up with dying to heroine overdoses it's insane. The insanity doesn't stop there however.

In 3 days alone this weekend we had 19 overdose deaths, I know someone who works at the local General Hospital and they made a meme that has been spreading around the local community to get the word out.

Hidden Tax

Many landlords comply, Wampole said, but there are some who either don’t know about it or ignore it and that costs the city revenue — $50 to license a rental and $75 to inspect it every two years or each time a new tenant moves in.

So now, out of the blue suddenly after the raise in local taxes on property owners driving up rental cost now the city has decided it has the right to invade your privacy and inspect your apartment. Obviously this isn't legal. This isn't it though it get's crazier.

16% tax hike

WILKES-BARRE — The vote was 3-2 in favor of raising city property taxes in Wilkes-Barre by 16 percent next year.

Oh wait..

4% tax hike

Luzerne County vehicle owners won’t pay $5 more next year, but county property taxes will rise 4 percent for real estate owners in 2017, officials decided Tuesday.

Oh that's not it.

Tax increase

By a 3-2 vote, council ratified the general fund budget with a 19.7-mill increase for 2017.

Wow. Welcome to a Democratic state folks but holy crap the insanity hasn't even begun.

I work night as a printing press operator in town and I went for a walk earlier downtown as I often do because of boredom and there is literally nothing to do in the middle of the night and guess what... a fricken helicopter is sitting above the middle of downtown for over 2 hours and I start wondering what the hell is going on.

Every once in a while this helicopter turns on a spotlight and circles around different streets. Obviously this is unusual so I walk up to a few people with cellphone out and ask them, "hey are they looking for somebody?".... response, "no idea man this is very odd maybe related to the multiple random shootings that have been happening in town."

So I eventually walk up to a bouncer working the door at a local club and ask him what's going on and he tells me, "This is a new initiative the local police are doing to spot people committing crimes".

WOW!

People are randomly driving around and shooting into peoples houses for no reason.

WILKES-BARRE — Police say shots were fired into a residence on South Welles Street, marking the fourth incident of its kind within city limits in less than a week.

A male resident reported to police at 11:32 p.m. Tuesday that he was sitting on his bed on the second floor when a bullet was fired at his house.

It ended up lodged into a nearby wall, missing the 63-year-old man by approximately 20 inches, authorities report.

Holy crap, I literally have to watch my back everywhere I go in town it's INSANE!!! I call the community Wilkes-Baghdad.

This is insane guys. We need national headlines to help figure this out.

a reply to: toysforadults


It's a problem almost every where. I think you will find this video interesting.

a reply to: toysforadults

This is insane guys. We need national headlines to help figure this out.

No, we need less strict gun laws and less socialism.

originally posted by: toysforadults
Every once in a while this helicopter turns on a spotlight and circles around different streets. Obviously this is unusual so I walk up to a few people with cellphone out and ask them, "hey are they looking for somebody?".... response, "no idea man this is very odd maybe related to the multiple random shootings that have been happening in town."

So I eventually walk up to a bouncer working the door at a local club and ask him what's going on and he tells me, "This is a new initiative the local police are doing to spot people committing crimes".

Sounds like the Weed and Seed Program. I know they've done it in Pittsburgh, Philly and Erie. I've seen the helicopters flying around in both the Pittsburgh area and Erie.

www.ojjdp.gov...
Weed and Seed has three objectives: (1) develop a comprehensive, multiagency strategy to control and prevent violent crime, drug trafficking, and drug-related crime in target neighborhoods; (2) coordinate and integrate existing and new initiatives to concentrate resources and maximize their impact on reducing and preventing violent crime, drug trafficking, and gang activity; and (3) mobilize community residents in the target areas to assist law enforcement in identifying and removing violent offenders and drug traffickers from the community and to assist other human service agencies in identifying and responding to service needs of the target area. To achieve these goals, Weed and Seed integrates law enforcement, community policing, prevention, intervention, treatment, and neighborhood restoration efforts.

Damn near moved there as a kid in the early 70's.
It was already looking pretty jaded and post-industrial then.
These heroin deaths are why I keep saying the War On Opiates is a fraud.
People are spiking their fix with chinese made Fentanyl which is already dangerous enough.
Chinese quality control being what it is these people have no idea how much they're taking.

It isn't doctors, pharmacies or patients - we're already under the radar of the DEA constantly.
The net result of all the new rules being passed in their anti-opiate fervor will be to take more people off legitimate pain medications and push them in to the heroin market.
More money for the CIA I guess, and the smaller gangs too.

a reply to: toysforadults

I don't understand the logic behind the property owner "forgetting or not knowing" about the fees involved in rentals. So instead of enforcing and fining owners who don't pay they're raising everyone's taxes???

I think your tax payer paid city ordinance official needs to be held accountable for not pursuing owners of said rentals.

The police helicopter surveillance must cost a doosey. Is there a big fentanyl problem associated with these od's? IDK I'm kinda on the fence with weeding the drug dealers vs invasive means. Isn't it a good thing they aren't letting the town go down the drain, drug/crime wise?

The tax hikes are outrageous though. I'd be setting up public meetings with officials to address all these concerns, imho.

Good luck!

originally posted by: Asktheanimals

These heroin deaths are why I keep saying the War On Opiates is a fraud.
People are spiking their fix with chinese made Fentanyl which is already dangerous enough.
Chinese quality control being what it is these people have no idea how much they're taking.

It's a lot worse than Fentanyl now.

This is an elephant tranquilizer:

en.wikipedia.org...
Carfentanil or carfentanyl (also known as 4-carbomethoxyfentanyl) is an analog of the synthetic opioid analgesic fentanyl.[1] Carfentanil was first synthesized in 1974 by a team of chemists at Janssen Pharmaceutica which included Paul Janssen.[2]

The supposed toxicity of carfentanil in humans and its ready commercial availability has aroused concerns over its potential use as a weapon of mass destruction by rogue nations and terrorist groups.

Carfentanil is classified as Schedule II under the Controlled Substances Act in the United States with a DEA ACSCN of 9743 and a 2016 annual aggregate manufacturing quota of 19 grams.[4]

Police dogs are overdosing from smelling this stuff.

vetmed.illinois.edu...
Carfentanil is so potent that an amount as small as a poppy seed could kill a human.

Working dogs may be asked to enter areas where there is no prior knowledge that narcotics are in the vicinity. Therefore, a dog may begin to display abnormal clinical signs after conducting a routine search, with no confirmation of the product inhaled. Officers cannot visually tell the difference between heroin, coc aine, methamphetamines, fentanyl or carfentanil. It’s for this reason that working dogs should be monitored after a search, and their handlers should seek veterinary care immediately if the canine shows any symptoms of drug exposure.

And it's only a schedule II!!

a reply to: itsallmaya

You don't even know the half of it

timesleader.com...

The entire court system took two months off

What we need is open season on heroin dealers ....Then when we've thinned that herd down, we start shutting down the legal drug dealers.....Methadone Clinics. What a damn useless tool this is in the attempt to stop people from using. just get them hooked on a legal drug that's more addictive than heroin.

a reply to: openyourmind1262

In Portland Maine, there are city funded people who go around on a bike handing out free needles and other supplies to assist the junkies in shooting up.

Rome is falling, smartest thing to do is escape the dense population areas and hope it fails before they pass any more stupid laws

All of that is tragic...

Did you hear of the Daulphin County forensic investigator of over 600 hundred homocides got a tv deal about the murders he investigated? Yea, only one place I can think of where I assume most of those came from... Harrisburg... just across the river from me.

Dauphin County coroner Graham Hetrick 'Speaks for the Dead' in new television series

originally posted by: buster2010
POST REMOVED BY STAFF

Right... because you know those criminals love abiding by the law and all... deny ignorance

originally posted by: lordcomac
a reply to: openyourmind1262

Rome is falling, smartest thing to do is escape the dense population areas and hope it fails before they pass any more stupid laws

That ship sailed.
The opioid problem is rampant out here in the stix, along with meth an others. The idea there is a place where it isn't is a myth.

originally posted by: Caver78

originally posted by: lordcomac
a reply to: openyourmind1262

Rome is falling, smartest thing to do is escape the dense population areas and hope it fails before they pass any more stupid laws

That ship sailed.
The opioid problem is rampant out here in the stix, along with meth an others. The idea there is a place where it isn't is a myth.

This is true unfortunately. The town I in work is very small, and our pharmacy can not keep enough Narcan on the shelf, we literally go through hundreds of boxes a month (some to police depts, drug rehabs, doctors offices, and to addicts themselves). That plus the fact that there are no less than 10 suboxone/subutex clinics within a 20 minute radius is astounding.

Just to show what numbers we are talking about here. One clinic has 10 doctors that rotate in, each one can take 120 patients per month, no more. Talked with one of the doctors there off the record, and was told just about all docs are at max patient threshold. So just that ONE CLINIC has 1200 patients....and there are 9 more such clinics within a short drive. The numbers are astounding.

Where is Wilkes - barre ? I'm assuming that's the town of the topic ?

a reply to: Meldionne1

It's actually been renamed to Wilkes-Baghdad

a reply to: Meldionne1

Pennsylvania


This is really tragic. Almost makes you wonder if the people there were doomed to some kind of social experiment.
very sad indeed

a reply to: Caver78

People lost their jobs in 2008, then they went off unemployment with no job to replace so they went on disability. Disability came with pain pills. Depressed people who are unhappy about not having work start taking pain pills for disability they don't have. Epidemic of opioid addictions ensues.