In Other News: Aging dog hailed as hero; social media and teen suicides link questioned

Published 9:21 pm Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Editor’s note: “In Other News” is a list of state, national and global headlines compiled by the Daily Citizen-News staff. Click on the headlines below to read the full stories. To suggest a story, email the appropriate link to inothernews@daltoncitizen.com.

Generations, disabled

As the number of working-age Americans receiving federal disability payments rose from 7.7 million in 1996 to 13 million in 2015, so did the number of households with multiple family members on disability, climbing from an estimated 525,000 in 2000 to an estimated 850,000 in 2015. Households reporting at least one disabled adult are three times as likely to report having a disabled child, too. Multiigenerational disability is far more common in poor families. Ruth Horn, director of social services in Buchanan County, Va., which has one of the country’s highest rates of disability, has spent decades working with profoundly poor families. Some parents, she said, don’t encourage their children academically, and even actively discourage them from doing well, because they view disability as a “source of income,” and think failure will help the family receive a check. — The Washington Post

Is social media contributing to rising teen suicide rates?

In the age of what some are calling the “screenager” — with teens averaging more than 6.5 hours of screen time every day, according to nonprofit Common Sense Media — suicide prevention experts are wondering if enough is being done to protect young minds online. Recent studies have shown a rise in both teen suicides and self-harm, particularly among teenage girls. — NBC News

Louie, the hero

Louie, the sheepdog, loves to roam his family’s farm in New Zealand. But at 12, his senses have dulled and he’s lost a step or two, so when he didn’t come home one day, his family feared the worst. He finally did show up, looking exhausted and with a note tied to his collar. The note, from a farmer who lived about a mile away, called Louie a hero. The family called to find out what had happened. The man said he’d come home from running some errands to find Louie on his property, and it quickly became apparent Louie wanted him to follow him. When he did, Louie led him to the woods where the man’s own dog was trapped under some branches. The man was then able to rescue his dog. He says he might never have found her if not for Louie leading him to her. — Metro

Stonewall Elementary gets an apology

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has removed Kentucky’s Stonewall Elementary School from its list of schools named after Confederate figures and apologized to the school community. The school is not named for Gen. Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson as the SPLC had claimed, but for an old stone wall, once common to farms in the area, that once surrounded the property. — Lexington Herald Leader