Tag Archives: epidemic
Letter to a son
It has been a year since we got that phone call in the middle of the night from a Bradenton, Florida detective, who said, “Mr. and Mrs. Miller, I regret to inform that” … blah, blah, blah. Not sure your mother heard the rest. She was on the floor in a heap, your sister on the floor in a heap beside her. As it turns out you died from an accidental overdose. Opiate abuse seems to be the bane of your entire generation. Yeah, times in the-late-2000-teens are bad, but times have always been bad, or bad enough.,,, Editor’s note: RDN received this letter from a father expressing remorse over the loss of his son to an opioid overdose. Mr. Miller, his wife and family are not alone in his grief for a loved one lost to this epidemic. We print this, hoping it might help others in some way click here to read the letter 11:26
White spot threat: is fishing finished in Queensland?
The Logan River white spot epidemic could destroy all mainland fishing in Queensland, including a big slice of the Cooloola Coast seafood and tourism economy, industry leader Kev Reibel has warned. A Queensland Seafood Industry Association board member and Tin Can Bay trawler operator, Mr Reibel said the threat was credible and immediate. “To say we are worried would be something of an understatement,” he said in an exclusive interview with The Gympie Times on Sunday. “We don’t know if it can be stopped and we don’t know its boundaries within the crustaceans, or even if it has any boundaries. If it affects crabs, that’s another industry and another tourism factor wiped out. He backed claims by industry environmental adviser and Bay net fishing operator Joe McLeod that the apparently unstoppable virus is a threat to the food chains which sustain all kinds of fin fishing. Mr McLeod said the plankton that kicked off the fin fish food chain included juvenile prawns and other crustaceans. “If they’re not there, there is nothing for the fish to eat,” Mr McLeod said yesterday. Both said there was a fearful lack of knowledge of the virus’ boundaries, especially with the crustacean group. Continue reading the story here 09:32
