ABC-7 LISTENS: 01.23.16

abc-7 listens. here’s rick cabrera. 42,773. that’s how many people committed suicide in 2014 … according to the centers for disease control. it’s a staggering number. here in the borderland … suicide was a topic of conversation this week … following the death of former las cruces city councilor miguel silva. on tuesday we reported on mayor ken miyagashima having all city flags on city property lowered to half staff. “can we honor suicides now alon with our nation’s heroes? “mayb look into that policy of our flag half- staff. “i think it’s disrespectful. “my deepes condolences to mr. silva’s family, but his passing was due to a suicide. disappointed.” there are lots of rules regarding who can order u-s flags to be lowered to half-staff and under what circumstances. but, remember this was the city of las cruces flag, it’s at the mayor’s discretion and he tells our new mexico mobile newsrooms he wanted to honor silva’s service to his community. it’s certainly not surprising to hear that some might not support lowering a flag for someone who committed suicide. in fact, that was the focus of our story this week. but as one of my co-workers put it … in this case the goal was to honor silva for how he lived … not how he died. rick cabrera. abc-7 listens. we have a link to a handful of suicide prevention hotlines on our website k-v- i-a dot com under links mentioned.