The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau - Episode 41 - 6/23/2024

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.    Completed suicides in the U.S. number upwards of 46,000 annually.  It's one of the highest suicide rates among the world's wealthiest nations and is made even more grim when one factors in who those victims are.  Over 6,300 are veterans, and almost exclusively male vets.  But the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Administration has long been working to stem this awful tide.  The latest effort is a community-based program called Operation S.A.V.E.  In an extended conversation, Erikka Trotter, Licensed Clinical Social Worker at the Lebanon VA Medical Center discusses the program, which she is tasked with getting out to community members, both military and non-military.  She explains how each of us can learn effective techniques to spot someone who may be contemplating suicide, and how to help them.  In the PA-mazing segment, a discussion with Rowan Crisp of the Lumber Heritage Region promotional group, about how Cameron County is trying to create a dark sky observation area and nature park on 99 acres of reclaimed land in Pennsylvania's least-populated county, which 30 years ago served as the county landfill.