Quakertown driver gets 14 years in DUI homicide death of Dallas man

web1_TTL032216Beato1.jpg

Real estate fraud suspect Ignacio Beato held on $1 million bail

<p>How are you doing?</p><p>The question, rather than a casual social greeting, takes on bigger significance in light of Luzerne County&#8217;s bottom-of-the-pack performance in yet another analysis of its residents&#8217; collective health. Too many of us are not doing well compared to our peers across Pennsylvania. We&#8217;re unfit. And it&#8217;s largely our own fault, according to a look at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation&#8217;s newly released <a href="http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/" target="_blank">county health rankings</a>.</p><p>Nearly one in three of us doesn&#8217;t get enough exercise, relegating us to the foundation&#8217;s category of &#8220;physically inactive.&#8221;</p><p>About 29 percent of adults in this county fit the definition of &#8220;obese.&#8221;</p><p>Eighteen percent of adults here smoke.</p><p>The report&#8217;s findings are equally disheartening when it comes to newly diagnosed chlamydia cases, teen birth rates and other markers of a community&#8217;s well-being. In fact, out of this state&#8217;s 67 counties, Luzerne County finds itself at dismal No. 64, based on the foundation&#8217;s criteria.</p><p>Get below the statistics from this and similar Northeastern Pennsylvania health surveys, and here&#8217;s what it means: We&#8217;re needlessly putting ourselves at risk for diseases. We&#8217;re setting ourselves up for end days marred by poor mobility and suffering. And we&#8217;re dying years before &#8220;our time.&#8221;</p><p>The good news in this sorry scenario: It doesn&#8217;t have to be this way.</p><p>We &#8211; as individuals and a community &#8211; can do much better, and we have access to tools that can help.</p><p>&#8226; In conjunction with its report, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provides an online &#8220;<a href="http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/roadmaps/action-center" target="_blank">action center</a>&#8221; with guidelines for community leaders in, among other fields, health care, government, business and education. Communication, as always, is key. The Princeton, New Jersey-based organization even offers coaching for local leaders to encourage them to get and stay on track.</p><p>Among one potential focus for Northeastern Pennsylvania to consider rallying around: wider access to mental health care.</p><p>&#8226; As individuals, of course, we finally can get off of our butts &#8211; both the cigarette sort and the variety found on our posteriors. For information on smoking cessation and weight loss programs near you, call <a href="http://www.helpline-nepa.info/" target="_blank">Help Line</a> at 2-1-1.</p><p>Also, move your body more. &#8220;Residents of this region are blessed with many nearby recreation sites (indoor and outdoor),&#8221; we wrote in <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/archive/155730/news-ouropinion-1362279-our-opinion-regions-poor-health-for-longer-life-break-bad-habits" target="_blank">a prior editorial </a>on the topic of healthy living. &#8220;Options include the Wyoming Valley levee trail, walking/biking paths, state park trails, neighborhood sidewalks, plus a river and multiple lakes on which to paddle.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; See a doctor. Consult a professional before small problems become big and potentially costly medical conditions. If lacking insurance, contact Help Line and ask about nearby free clinics. In Wilkes-Barre, for instance, patients from working families that are uninsured or underinsured can visit the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic. (For details, call 570-970-2864.)</p><p>How are you doing?</p><p>Before long, the answer for more of us in Luzerne County should be &#8220;better.&#8221;</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_LeveeExercise.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Wyoming Valley levee trail offers exercise options for residents willing to get out and get moving. Yet a recent report suggests about 30 percent of Luzerne County adults are &#8216;physically inactive.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_LeveeExercise.jpg</photo0><caption0>The Wyoming Valley levee trail offers exercise options for residents willing to get out and get moving. Yet a recent report suggests about 30 percent of Luzerne County adults are &#8216;physically inactive.&#8217; </caption0><photoCredit0>Times Leader file photo | Aimee Dilger </photoCredit0></div></div>

Our Opinion: Get moving to improve region’s health outlook – and extend lives