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ARCHDALE — Students at UNC-Chapel Hill return to class today grieving the loss of a fellow student who was shot and killed early Sunday by an Archdale police officer. Read the rest of this entry

A scheme to steal more than $300,000 intended for residents of some Winston-Salem group homes is about as low as it goes, especially in a state with a poorly managed and underfunded mental-health-care system. Group-home operators should double their efforts to guard against such crimes. Read the rest of this entry

Winston-Salem police officers can stun people with Tasers on their torsos and legs when those people are fighting or resisting them, according to a policy released last week. Officers should use caution “to avoid firing probes to a subject’s head, neck and genital areas,” the policy says. Read the rest of this entry

Yes, the stock market has risen nicely this summer, regaining some of the losses from last fall and winter. But those gains are nothing compared to the performance of Targacept, which has spiked more than 500 percent in last six weeks — from $2.37 a share to $13 and above.

The Winston-Salem drug discovery company is slowly being discovered by a core group of investors on Wall Street. And it appears likely, though by no means assured, that more will be jumping on the bandwagon in the months ahead. And there’s a good reason why. Read the rest of this entry

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A brand-new state spending cut, accountability at UNC, political influence at the DMV and fixing mental health treatment are up for discussion.

A FEW YEARS BACK, police officers in Memphis, Tenn., faced off with a mentally ill individual with the same results as the recent Jacksonville incident in which an officer shot and killed 30-year-old Sam Jarolim.

At the outset, let this be clear: No one blames the officer in the Jacksonville incident. Jarolim, whose family says he was bipolar, not on his medication and depressed about a break-up with a girlfriend, was apparently determined to die. The officer who shot him did so to defend both police and the public.

The rightness or wrongness of the shooting is not the only concern here. No, this is about how America handles mental illness. Read the rest of this entry

They’ll get their chance next week when Shuler meets with Western Highlands board members. “It was at my request,” Henderson County Manager Steve Wyatt said. “At the last meeting, I asked that we extend an invitation to Shuler and (Rep. Patrick) McHenry.” Read the rest of this entry

CARRBORO — A jury is supposed to decide guilt, not feel it. But the jurors whose first-degree murder verdict on Friday meant Alvaro Castillo would spend the rest of his life in prison longed for other options, the jury foreman said in an interview Saturday. The six men and six women felt sorry for the mentally ill defendant who had lived a hardscrabble 22 years, said Thomas Boyer, the foreman. Read the rest of this entry

Correlations between food insecurity and mental health and obesity in school-aged children.

When almost a quarter of North Carolina’s youngest children aren’t eating a balanced diet, what does that mean for their health as they grow? Doctors, dieticians and experts in childhood development say the effects of malnutrition show up in a variety of ways, including chronic health woes and problems with learning in school

The family of a man shot dead by Jacksonville police last week say a lack of affordable area mental health assistance contributed to his death. “My brother needed help with his addictions,” Francine Wood, the sister of Samuel Jarolim, told The Daily News on Thursday. “But we didn’t have $50,000 to get him into a good program.” Read the rest of this entry

A gunman shot dead by Jacksonville police last week and an armed man killed by an Onslow County Sheriff’s deputy in March knew each other through Alcoholics Anonymous, family said. Both men had tried in vain to stay sober. Both men used law enforcement to end their lives. Read the rest of this entry

The onset of Alzheimer’s is often described as a lit house where the lights are going out, one room at a time. Dementia carries with it a whole host of complicated scenarios and issues. It is a disease that affects the entire family. I distinctly remember the day my husband received the diagnosis. It was a truly beautiful day with a gentle breeze and a lovely blue sky. The weather was so inviting … Read the rest of this entry

Family members say a history of mental illness and drug addiction plagued a gunman shot dead by Jacksonville police Friday during a Gum Branch Road standoff. Samuel J. Jarolim, 30, died at the scene. What was supposed to be a jubilant day for Jarolim’s family, celebrating the birthday of matriarch Darcy Jarolim, turned tragic when his family found out he had been killed. Read the rest of this entry

And the legislature assumed no responsibility for the failed mental health reforms they passed in 2001, the inept administration of those reforms or in finding solutions to them. Withholding funding, while perhaps understandable, is a cruel prescription for people who are mentally ill.

The 2009 session of The General Assembly is over, ending, as T.S. Eliot wrote, “Not with a bang but a whimper.” It will be best remembered for missed opportunities. Read the rest of this entry

MORGANTON – As of 1:06 p.m. Tuesday the Burke County sheriff’s office had spent six full days accompanying an involuntary commitment patient in the emergency room at Grace Hospital. That evening, a deputy and the patient were still in the emergency room. Read the rest of this entry

State Health Plan officials are auditing payments to 15 North Carolina hospitals after learning they had not notified the plan of rate changes going as far back as 2003.
The audit is to determine whether the hospitals overcharged for out- patient medical services. The plan had negotiated contracts with the hospitals that set rates for those services, and it required the hospitals to tell the plan if rates changed. If those rates had increased beyond the contract terms, the health plan, which is supported by taxpayers, may have overpaid hospitals for their services Read the rest of this entry

RALEIGH — State mental hospitals and homes for the developmentally disabled are eliminating 354 jobs in the wake of budget cuts enacted by Gov. Beverly Perdue and legislators earlier this month. Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro, cited for chronic understaffing by federal regulators last year following the death of a neglected patient, is cutting 123 full-time positions. All but 31 of the positions being eliminated are vacant. Read the rest of this entry

HILLSBOROUGH — Alvaro Castillo rose to stand before Judge Allen Baddour, who sentenced him Friday afternoon to life in prison for first-degree murder and nine other crimes. His speech was flat. The 22-year-old killer thanked the Lord for his blessings and thanked his father, the man he murdered on Aug. 30, 2006 — now “up in heaven” — for watching out for him. Read the rest of this entry

HICKORY – The North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled against the Catawba County district attorney’s office on the admission of key statements in the case of a man charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder. The court upheld a ruling that Derek Colson, 42,  had been diagnosed as mentally retarded and schizophrenic and did not understand his rights.

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Michael Charles Hayes, who killed four people and wounded five others during a shooting spree in Forsyth County in July 1988, may soon be freed because of a watershed ruling from the N.C. Court of Appeals. His eventual release is certain, but the state has done little to prepare for it, or address cases in general in which defendants like Hayes are found not guilty by reason of insanity. Read the rest of this entry

For the second time in six weeks, CenterPoint Human Services is having a forum aimed at how to better handle mental patients in the emergency room. And for the second time, it has chosen to exclude from the forum local mental-health advocates and organizations, as well as the media. It will take place from 9 a.m. to noon Monday at the Forsyth County Jail. Read the rest of this entry

Jeffery Scott Swaim had a troubled life, bedeviled by drink and drugs, but he deserved better than to have that life slip away at the age of 40 in the back of a bus. Time and investigation will answer the technical questions about his death last month in Wilmington, which came after his discharge from Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro, a public mental health facility. Swaim’s mother, Sheila Buckner, says doctors told her they found a patch containing a powerful painkiller in her son’s mouth. Read the rest of this entry

The mentally ill in North Carolina will have less access to care as the state makes dramatic changes to save money in the recession. The budget approved by the legislature Wednesday cuts about $40 million, or 12 percent, in mental health treatment for people without other insurance. The cuts come despite the state’s goal of providing more treatment to people where they live. Read the rest of this entry

GREENSBORO — Despite a last-minute plea to legislators, funding for group homes serving children who are suicidal or violent or have severe emotional or mental problems will be cut from the state budget. The budget eliminates $38.4 million for group homes over the next two years. Leza Wainwright, director of the mental health division in the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, said Wednesday that the cut would lead to better treatment for the children. Read the rest of this entry