A mobile outreach clinic is meeting people where they are — and the results are hard to ignore. Rise Above reversed nearly 300 overdoses in the New River Valley in 2025, using a street-level strategy built on compassion, lived experience and life-saving supplies.

The month of January was tough for the people at Rise Above NRV Harm Reduction as they saw a rise in overdoses across the valley while combating cold temperatures. Adding to their challenges, a different drug is circulating the New River Valley, raising concerns for everyone: purple heroin.

A deal for Europe to jointly help asylum-seekers was breaking apart in a bitter French-Italian feud over a ship floating in the Mediterranean, its passengers and crew desperate for land.