SundayJuly 3, 2016Reading, Pennsylvania

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A HOT TIME AT CENTRALIAS 150TH ANNIVERSARY

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Pennsylvanias other amusement parks/ Life, D1

READING EAGLE
readingeagle.com

Lawmakers
in Pa. take aim
at gun ruling

From fade to black

back into the light

T ODAY
Berks & Beyond

LEARNING, OLD
SCHOOL STYLE

After law enabling NRA, others to

sue towns tossed, new bills in works
Th e A s s o c i at e d P r e s s

Under threat of costly litigation, dozens of

Pennsylvania municipalities repealed their
gun ordinances last year in response to a new
state law that made it easier for gun owners
and groups like the National Rie Association
to challenge them in court.
Pennsylvanias high court recently tossed the
state law on technical grounds, but towns and
cities might not be so quick to reinstate their
rearms measures.
Thats because lawmakers in both the House
and Senate have introduced bills that once again
would permit the NRA to sue, with the Senate
version already clearing committee. Gov. Tom
Wolf, a Democrat, has pledged to veto the measure if it reaches his desk.
The swift legislative action, coming amid state
budget negotiations, took gun-control activists
by surprise.
Frankly, we didnt expect they were going
to try to do it this soon, said Shira Goodman,
executive director of CeaseFirePA. We were
disappointed and wrong, and we are going to
have to ght it.
She predicted towns and cities that might
be inclined to impose gun restrictions would
choose to wait a little bit longer to see what
happens with the legislation.
Pennsylvania has long prohibited its municipalities from enforcing rearms ordinances that
regulate the ownership, possession, transfer or
transportation of guns or ammunition. Gunrights groups complained that scores of municipalities ignored the 40-year-old prohibition by
approving their own gun restrictions.
The NRA seized on the new state law, which
took effect in January 2015, to challenge gun
measures in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Lancaster. Other municipalities repealed their gun
laws rather than face lawsuits.
Last month, the Supreme Court invalidated
the state law, saying it was passed improperly,
prompting mayors in at least two cities to say
theyll press for new gun measures.
Allentown plans to consider reinstating an ordinance that required gun owners to report lost
or stolen weapons to police within 24 hours, an
attempt to crack down on straw buyers who purchase guns legally and sell them to criminals.
In Easton, Mayor Sal Panto told City Council
he wants to ban guns on public property and
institute a lost-and-stolen requirement.
Joshua Prince, an attorney for several pro-gun
groups, put scores of municipalities on notice
last year that they would be sued unless they rescinded their rearms ordinances. He promised
similar legal action against Allentown and Easton
if they go through with any new gun measures.

Weather report
Sun with clouds.
Winds: 4-8 mph. A14

56 85

As the 2016 Kutztown Folk

Festival opens, kids visit
a one-room schoolhouse
with century-old books. B1

Tri-County

POTTSTOWN CROWNS
QUEEN FOR A DAY
MarDaije Pearson is
named Fourth of July
queen, even though she
will rule over no parade. B6

Politics

HILLARY CLINTON HAS

MEETING WITH FBI
Bonnie Hill, 22, of Exeter Township says she has been battling suicidal thoughts for as long as she can remember and hopes that by sharing her story, she can help other people.

The presidential candidate

is interviewed about her
email server when she was
secretary of state. A10

Efforts being made to help young people at risk of attempting suicide

World

By Karen Shuey

28 DEAD FOLLOWING
BANGLADESH ATTACK

READING EAGLE: SUSAN L. ANGSTADT

Warning signs of suicide

Reading Eagle

Changes in eating or sleeping habits.

Withdrawal from friends, family and activities.
Violent actions, rebellious behavior or running away.
Drug and alcohol abuse.
Unusual neglect of personal appearance.
Signicant personality change.
Persistent boredom, difficulty concentrating or a decline in schoolwork.
Frequent complaints about physical symptoms, often related to
emotions, such as stomachaches, headaches or fatigue.
Loss of interest in activities.

Authorities say six were

among the attackers who
held hostages in a restaurant in Dhaka. A6

Source: American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

More supermarkets and

convenience stores are
stocking beer on their
shelves in Pennsylvania. F1

lone in her dorm room

at Moore College of Art
& Design in downtown
Philadelphia, Bonnie
Hill wrote a cryptic message to
her friends on Facebook asking
them to look after her sh after
she was gone.
Then she swallowed a handful
of oxycodone.
And everything faded to
black.
The next thing she remembers
is waking up in a hospital with
loved ones by her side.
I felt like I was a burden to everyone around me, she said, wiping away tears. I didnt feel like
I was worth anything to anyone.
Its really hard to put into words
because those thoughts are literally all in your head. What you
think is real is not real.
That was two years ago now.
But it wasnt an isolated inci-

dent.
The 22-year-old Exeter Township woman has been battling
suicidal thoughts as far back as
she can remember.
I have no idea how it feels to
be normal, she said. This has
always been my reality.
Hill displayed symptoms typical of children struggling with
bipolar disorder before she was
enrolled in kindergarten.

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Bipolar disorder is not the

same as the normal highs and
lows everyone goes through. Hill
has cycles of extreme hyperactivity followed by extreme depression, accompanied by changes in
sleep, energy level and the ability
to think clearly.
I have suicidal thoughts on
a regular basis that accompany
both parts of the disorder but
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Money

BREAD, MILK, EGGS

AND A SIX-PACK

Sports

ATHLETES OF THE
YEAR PROFILED
Berks Catholics Devon
Merritt and Reading Highs
Khary Mauras win the 11th
annual awards. C1

2016 READING EAGLE COMPANY

A4

SUNDAY, JULY 3, 2016

READING EAGLE, READING, PA.

Suicide among youths

Putting lifelines in place for young people who are at risk

[ From A1 >>> ]
are more common with the
depressive part, she explained. It kind of switches
on and off but, no matter what,
there are always those pervasive thoughts.
While she takes medication to help curb the dramatic
shifts in mood from morose
to euphoria, Hill said the
symptoms are always lingering under the surface. And
that creates a lot of stress on
her relationships with other
people.
People dont understand
that I cant really control
my feelings, she said. That
doesnt mean I dont try to
rein them in, but its much
harder and frustrating than
it sounds. It feels like Im on
autopilot. I feel helpless and
hopeless to everything.

While Hill may feel alone at

times in that darkness, that
feeling is alarmingly more
common among young people
than many may realize.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for young
people ages 10 to 24.
It results in nearly 4,600
lives lost each year, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
And it claimed the lives of
387 young people in the Berks
County region between 2004
and 2013. Pennsylvania Department of Health data show
Montgomery County with
the highest number of youth
deaths by suicide in the region
during that time, at 84.
But deaths from youth
suicide are only part of the
problem.
More young people survive
suicide attempts than actually die. About 157,000 youths
between the ages of 10 and 24
receive medical care each year
at emergency rooms across
the nation for self-inicted injuries, according to the CDC.
A nationwide survey conducted by the CDC of students
in grades nine through 12 in
public and private schools in
the U.S. found that 16 percent
of them reported seriously
considering suicide, 13 percent reported creating a plan
and 8 percent reported trying
to take their own life in the
last 12 months.
Within that particular population, some young people
are more at risk than others.
More than 80 percent of
youth suicide deaths are boys.
Nearly 90 percent of youth
suicide deaths are associated
with mental illness or addictive disorders. About 40 percent of youth suicide deaths
are linked to an identiable
event like the death of a loved

Suicides among youth, young adults

Ages 10 through 24, in Berks and surrounding counties from
2004 to 2013.

Schuylkill

30

55
Berks

Lebanon

71

21

Montgomery

84
Lancaster
Chester

59

67

Seven county total

60
51
50

42

46

40
30
26

20
10

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

By gender and age

FEMALE

MALE

20-24
years old
31

20-24
years old
209

10-14
years old
18

.
readingeagle

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Health

one, loss of a valued friend or

sexual abuse.

Avidan Milevsky, a psychology professor at Kutztown

University who has conducted extensive research
on adolescent development,
said suicidal thoughts are
rarely a sudden occurrence.
There are a number of stressors like peer pressure, academic pressure and societal
pressure that can contribute
to anxiety and unhappiness,
increasing the possibility of
a suicide attempt.
A lot of this is linked with
an identity struggle, he said.
Who am I? What do I believe
in? What do I want to be?

These are broad questions

that most young people ask
themselves and can potentially magnify any insecurities.
Milevsky said the biggest
danger exclusive to young
people is that they typically
have an exaggerated ego that
can make nding their place
in the world feel incredibly
insignificant and extremely
lonely at times.
Mental illness is terrifying
on its own, but when youre also trying to gure out how to
be independent, it can be really hard to nd a way forward,
said a 20-year-old Reading
resident who requested that
her name not be used. Its
so exhausting mentally and


  



 
 
 



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best thing that could have

happened, because talking
about it has helped me learn
how to cope with it.
Keiko Wolfe, a licensed
professional counselor at
Emotional Wellness, Exeter
Township, said it can be tough
for parents and friends to
break through to young people in crisis, but that theres
always hope.
Unlike adults, she said,
young people are typically
much more open to learning
coping skills and are generally much better at understanding each other in group
settings.
I really like working with
young people because you
can see them grow, Wolfe
said. But the hard part can
be getting them to admit that
they may need help in the rst
place. No one wants to be perceived as being different.
One way to help erase the
stigma of mental illness and
prevent suicide is through
education.
And Wolfe said schools have
an obligation to be a leader in
the fight to spread the message.

Thats why she was happy

that state legislators passed a
law that requires districts to
have a youth suicide prevention policy.
Starting this past school
year, districts had to adopt
protocols for awareness and
prevention education; methods of reporting, prevention
and intervention; and how
to respond after a student or
staff member commits suicide, along with resources for
youths.
Anne Fisher, director of
health services for the Reading School District, said educators are taking these new
policies seriously because they
have seen a sharp increase in
the number of stressors their
students experience.
Theres a lot of pressure
to be successful and to t in
with the added pressure of
social media, she said. Were
seeing a lot more mental
health issues than we have
in the past. Im not sure if

Contact Karen Shuey: 610-371-5081 or

kshuey@readingeagle.com.

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ACCOUNT

24/7 county hotlines in the

region for people who might
be suicidal or need to talk to
someone:
Berks: 610-236-0530
Chester: 610-280-3270
Lancaster: 717-394-2631
Lebanon: 717-274-3363
Lehigh: 610-782-3127
Montgomery: 610-279-6100
Schuylkill: 877-993-4357

were just more aware of it or

if there are more cases.
Fisher said there were 375
student referrals just from
Reading Intermediate High
School, home to more than
2,000 students in grades eight
and nine, to the districts mental health services provider
during the previous school
year.
Thats a signicant number
of students, she said. And
those are just the ones who
got referred.
There are similar efforts
underway at the Brandywine
Heights School District.
Kelly Pearsall, a counselor
at the high school, said mental
health education has been embedded in the health curriculum as a proactive measure to
support all students. And for
those who need more specialized help, a team of trained
teachers has partnered with
the Caron Foundation to work
with students. They even recently teamed up with a counseling agency in Fleetwood
to offer services to students
and their families during the
school day.
Were also trying to be
more proactive at the lower
levels so we can catch the
students earlier, she said.
We want to work with these
kids at a younger age so by the
time they come up to the high
school they have supports in
place.
Pearsall said the district is
making great progress, but
acknowledged theres a lot
more work to be done.
The more people are educated about mental health and
the issues our kids are dealing
with, the better our chances
are going to be at preventing
suicide, she said.

Hill said shes trying to do

her part to bring awareness
by sharing her story.
This is the rst time the recent college graduate has spoken publicly about her mental
illness and suicide attempt.
She said the thing she wants
people to know about mental
illness is that its serious. As
serious as any other disease.
And it has no cure.
The way people think about
and talk about something
thats a matter of life and
death for some people is so
sad, she said.
She said the thing she wants
people who have a mental illness to know that you are not
dened by your darkest day.
In that darkness it can be
very hard to see the light, but
its there, she said. Be stubborn as all hell.




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County hotlines for help



610
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15-19
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physically. It feels like youre

carrying a bag of rocks.
The young woman has been
in and out of the psychiatric wards of local hospitals
since she was 14. She would
be placed on medications, released after a short stay and
then harm herself again when
the symptoms of her mental
illness were too overwhelming.
Schizophrenia distorts her
reality, while the dissociative
disorder impairs her state of
awareness, memory and consciousness. Shes been doing
better lately, but said dealing
with those demons continues
to be a struggle.
This isnt something that
just goes away, she said.
There is recovery, but there
is no cure.

SanSan Weber, clinical

program director for the assertive community treatment
program at Berks Counseling Center, 645 Penn St., said
detecting and diagnosing a
problem can be tough when
it comes to young people because many often will want
to deny that theyre having
problems.
Its very difficult to access
what theyre thinking and
feeling, she said. They want
to deny that theyre having
problems, so theyll retreat.
The interesting thing is that
when they do talk about it,
theyre surprised to nd out
that other people feel the
same way.
Thats exactly how one Exeter High School student said
she felt when she started attending a group therapy program a few months ago.
The 15-year-old has come
a long way in a short period
of time following struggling
with depression after she was
raped nearly two years ago
by a relative of a close friend.
The Reading Eagle doesnt
publish the names of sexual
assault victims.
I used to feel like it was my
fault, like I deserved it, she
said. I didnt think anyone
would understand or that
people would judge me if they
knew what happened.
She said she started harming herself by dragging a razor
blade across her thighs and
hips, creating wounds that
would be hidden underneath
clothes. The cutting, she said,
was more about finding release in moments of extreme
anger and sadness. It was
not done with the intention
to die.
A friend told her mom what
I was doing and then she told
my mom, she said. Looking back, it was probably the

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READING EAGLE, READING, PA.

SUNDAY, JULY 3, 2016

A5

Suicide among youths

A young mans journey into wilderness of despair

Father hopes story
helps other parents
By Ford Turner
Reading Eagle

Chad Painter was the cream

of Berks County baseball
when he stepped onto the eld
at Shea Stadium that beautiful
summer day in 1998.
He hit for power, ran swiftly
and played a hard-nosed outeld, going all out for every
ball. Wearing the blue and
white of Exeter High School,
hed been all-county three
times, a feat no other Eagle
has pulled off since.
As he tried out for the New
York Mets that day, not long
after high school graduation,
Chads parents knew many
little things about their son
like his fondness for peanut butter and pizza and
ice cream but there was
something dark growing in
his mind whose scope only
Chad could comprehend.
He was severely depressed.
It had rst gripped him, later
events indicated, during his
high school years, when his
parents noticed changes in
his behavior.
Nine years after the Mets
tryout, in late summer of 2007,
Chad took his own life in the
wilderness of Montana.
My focus is to share something that happened to Chad
that other parents might learn
from, said his father, Mark
Painter of Birdsboro, who has
memorialized Chad with a
scholarship given in his name
at the high school. Particularly when they have children
in high school and in college,
stay in tune with any types of
change in personality.
His mother, Jean Painter
of Avondale, Chester County,
said its tough for parents to
investigate the reasons for
changes of behavior by teenagers.
She felt she did what she
could to help Chad but still
wonders if there was more
that might have been done.
It will be nine years this
August, and I am still this
close to tears, she said. I can
start crying at the drop of a
hat, thinking about him.
Chad was, almost from the
start, agile and athletic.
Playing with other kids in
his Exeter Township neighborhood and then in organized competition, his talent
stood out. He swam and golfed
and played soccer, but baseball was his passion.
He could throw the ball
from outeld to home plate
at an early age. In his varsity
rst at-bat for the Exeter High
School team, he hit a home
run.
Justin Freese, head baseball
coach at Exeter for the past
22 years, called Chad a total
package on the eld. He was

READING EAGLE: NATALIE KOLB

Chad A. Painter
Memorial Fund
Mark Painter plans to restart a scholarship at Exeter High School in memory
of his son, 1998 graduate
Chad A. Painter, who took
his own life in 2007. People
who wish to donate to the
scholarship fund may send a
check to Exeter High School
Memorial Fundraiser at the
high school at 201 E. 37th
St., Reading, PA 19606. Designate Chad A. Painter Memorial in the memo line of
the check.

quiet but led by example and

was captain of the team his
senior year.
Freese accompanied the
Painter family to Shea that
summer day in 1998. Although Chad was not chosen
to advance out of the tryout,
he was vigorously recruited
and chose Shippensburg University.
A change had come over
Chad, though. His father
started to see mood swings
during his sons senior year.
He had angry outbursts, even
though he was generally a
calm person.
He started to want to be by
himself, and this kid was not a
loner, Mark Painter said.
Chad struggled academically in college and did not

Jean Painter of Avondale, Chester County, with a picture of her

late son, Chad Painter. He committed suicide in 2007.

She confronted him, and he

showed her the scars on the
undersides of his forearms.
He saw a psychiatrist and
was given medication. Jean
Painter said Chad told her it
made him feel funny and so
he stopped taking it.
He said, I need to go away.
Into the wilderness, she
recalled.
About ve years after high
school, he moved alone to
Montana, where he got a job
working for the same cemetery company.
Ultimately, he attended
University of Montana at
Missoula.
On Aug. 31, 2007, Mark
Painter got a phone call from
police in Montana. Chad was
missing.
Mark Painter and Jean
Painter, who were divorced,
traveled west with their other
two children. In Chads apartment were an empty box from
the purchase of a new gun and
a bunch of goodbye notes in
COURTESY OF THE PAINTER FAMILY
manila envelopes.
The note to Jean Painter
Chad Painter became severely depressed during his high school
was seven or eight typed
years, his parents say.
pages.
He knew he was loved, she
make an impact on the base- a job working in a cemetery said. He knew he had a great
life.
ball field. He left Shippens- near his home.
But mental illness played
A friend told Jean Painter
burg and enrolled for a time at
Kutztown University, then got that Chad was cutting himself. havoc with his mind.

His thoughts were jumbled

all the time, she said. He
couldnt sleep. He prayed to
die because he wanted some
peace.
Missing from the apartment
was a copy of one of Chads favorite books, Jon Krakauers
Into the Wild, a nonction
best-seller about a young man
who journeys to a remote
part of Alaska and dies there.
While a coroners report said
the young man probably died
of starvation, some speculated
he was suicidal, and evidence
emerged after the book was
published that the death had
been caused by toxic seeds.
Mark Painter said that on
the first day of hunting season in mid-September 2007,
Chads body was found on a
Montana mountainside by
hunters. He had shot himself
with a handgun.
The pain endures. Both
parents can still retrieve the
happy times, like that day at
Shea Stadium.
The goodbye note to his father also told Mark Painter
that his son wanted release.
Chads letters, he said,
showed that he believed this
is the only way I can end this
torture.
Contact Ford Turner: 610-371-5037 or
fturner@readingeagle.com.

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