Editor Duncan pithily calls out New Albany in the newspaper's "Crossroads of Crisis" series finale.

NA Confidential persists in reprinting these instructions for the safe disposal of syringes and sharps, as found on the city of Louisville's web site. In New Albany, Team Gahan has chosen to mimic Ronald Reagan's response to the AIDS crisis by saying nothing at all. More about that in a moment, but first, the final round of newspaper opioid epidemic coverage ...

• CROSSROADS OF CRISIS: Anti-drug initiatives loosening heroin's stronghold
• Our Place sees success in drug prevention programs
• Stories of success: Recovering addicts reveal how they survived drug abuse

 ... and a series summary by the editor, who against all odds manages to make a devastating observation about the very city her newspaper so often neglects.

DUNCAN: Epidemic a crisis of the conscience, by Susan Duncan (Make Clark County Great Again)

 ... We hope you found something of merit in our special report “Crossroads of Crisis: Heroin Epidemic Demands Solutions,” which wraps up today. We did.

Addicts. Experts. Survivors. We learned from them all as we dug a shovel into Southern Indiana to help uproot the hold the opioid epidemic has on our communities.

It is, you know, an epidemic. If we were honest with ourselves, it would be listed among the most deadly. Naloxone, the anti-overdose drug, continues — daily — to bring users back to life. It’s the main reason the high numbers of opioid deaths aren’t even more outrageous.

People are dying, though, including young people whose lives held such promise.

Yes, Duncan locates the center of the target when it comes to "leadership" in New Albany, and since NAC has been making this point for weeks ...

Bob Caesar's intrinsically sad battle against drug addiction treatment clinics -- and this supposed Democrat's heroic ongoing advocacy of the beautiful people.

Council wrap: Then Bob Caesar said, "Can't we just load the opioid addicts on the cattle cars along with public housing residents?"

Does New Albany's ruling caste grasp that the opioid epidemic doesn't stop at the Clark County line?

Opiate addiction treatment clinic can duly kicked.

... we applaud her.

... we need a medically supervised place for people to detox. It’s better than a trash-filled alley or the cold concrete of a jail cell. It’s more humane. It offers better outcomes. We talk about it, but that’s about it.

Our passivity is palpable.

For instance, the next-best way, besides a needle exchange, to get spent, dirty needles off our streets is to place needle drop boxes in easily accessible spots in our communities.

Too many places, including New Albany, have rejected that idea, mostly for reasons rooted in fear and lack of knowledge.

Yep -- and the main offenders, marooned like clams at the crossroads of denial, are purported Democrats (Gahan, Caesar, Phipps).

At least they have an excuse. They've been too busy dismantling public housing to notice the opioid epidemic.

Maybe the newspaper can take note of this, too, now that the series is finished?

Opioid crisis denier Jeff Gahan won't be reading, but the newspaper's "Crossroads of Crisis" series continues.

Opioid crisis denier Bob Caesar won't be reading, but the newspaper's "Crossroads of Crisis" series continues.

The newspaper's opioid crisis series continues.

Opioid epidemic comes front and center in the Clark County newspaper.

Opioid crisis denier Jeff Gahan won't be reading, but the newspaper's "Crossroads of Crisis" series continues.

Photo taken in New Albany, Bob.

For at least the third time, we're passing along valuable information about how to discard syringes and other sharps (courtesy of the city of Louisville).

Meanwhile, the newspaper somehow found the time between embarrassing bouts of chain envy (Poopeye's, Gloria Jean) ...

 ... to continue its otherwise useful series on the opioid crisis, which Team Gahan denies exists, which is why we're the ones telling you how to safely dispose of syringes, and not them.

Wouldn't want to shatter the Disney facade, would we?

CROSSROADS OF CRISIS: Businesses have costly incentive to address drug abuse

Holding onto hope: One mother's struggle to cope with her children's addictions

Local Dairy Queen owner giving second chances

Opioid crisis denier Bob Caesar won't be reading, but the newspaper's "Crossroads of Crisis" series continues.

These links are from Weekend Three of the News and Tribune's ongoing series. I'll call out the chain newspaper when it errs, but also praise it for efforts like this. At times, they're one and the same.

The Crossroads series is needed, and it serves another purpose, as a valuable counterweight to Bob Caesar's career in persistent civic incomprehension.

CROSSROADS OF CRISIS: Southern Indiana courts, jails forced to respond to opioid epidemic

Local police aim to rid streets of opioids

Mother recalls the daughter heroin took away

The newspaper's opioid crisis series continues.

Of course, the local chain newspaper is celebrating itself as much as explicating a problem, but the problem is real, and so I'm giving Cirque de Hanson a pass. The link leads to collected stories from the first two weekends of the series.

Crossroads of Crisis

Opioid epidemic comes front and center in the Clark County newspaper.

No, that's not it, either.

If we can ignore the Jeffersonville newspaper's characteristically tacky self-promotion -- intrusive auto-play video, boilerplate "Crossroads of Crisis" as interchangeable with numerous other potential story lines -- this series has the potential to be genuinely useful, if for no other reason than shining a light on local politicians with their heads buried in the sand.

After all, this is a 1,500-word piece, staggering in length for a newspaper that insists 250 words are plenty for a letter writer to make his or her point. Bill and Susan are gunning for one of those CNHI in-house "see, we won again" awards, but if it gets this issue out in the open, then it's worth it.

And, if it's worth getting this issue out in the open, just imagine what the newspaper might be able to do if the same level of scrutiny was directed toward other hidden realities -- like the ongoing Chronicles of New Gahanian Corruption.

But wait.

The entire article takes place in Clark County, doesn't it? Apparently Southern Indiana has a new working synonym. Can't the dynamic duo make it official, and stop pretending that this newspaper covers New Albany and Floyd County?

The mayor will be pointing to this and saying, "See? Even the newspaper itself says the problem's in Clark County only."

CROSSROADS OF CRISIS: Heroin overdoses on the rise in Southern Indiana, by Elizabeth DePompei (All Clark, All of the Time Tome)

County health officer says epidemic is getting worse

SOUTHERN INDIANA — Soon after a needle exchange opened in Jeffersonville in late January, Clark County Health Officer Dr. Kevin Burke was reminded of why he declared an epidemic in the first place.

One of the first people to start receiving services from the exchange overdosed and died. The drug of choice, heroin, is the same drug Burke suspects is responsible for a spike in HIV and Hepatitis C cases.

It’s why he’s spent nearly two years tracking the drug and its consequences, and warning the public about the scourge that’s changing his community.

Burke has plenty of numbers, but he said there isn’t a reliable way to estimate just how many Clark County residents use heroin intravenously or otherwise. What he is more certain of is that the highly addictive opioid crosses all demographics.

“We used to think of opioid abusers as sort of inner-city Skid Row, destitute, down and out sort of individuals,” he said. “We were finding all socio-economic classes, all religions, all races, all ages, so it was a problem that sort of became part of the whole community rather than just a subset.”

Also in the newspaper:

Prescription opioids a leading pathway to heroin

Far from a 'good time': Evan Blesset working to help others avoid mistakes he made