As part of her job as Franklin County Coroner, Dr. Jan Gorniak is head of the child fatality review board. And the board spotted a troubling trend.

One of the things that we noticed: We were reviewing a number of suicides. We said ‘Let’s go back and look at this. So we’re at the point now that ten suicides in one year, which is more than the past four years total. Are we missing something? Is there something else that we can do?

Dr. Gorniak says the youngest teen suicide victim in Franklin County last year was 13 years old.

She says it’s impossible to determine why so many Franklin County teens took their lives in 2012. As coroner, she hasn’t identified any common threads or common themes that connects the ten deaths.

Ohio State University researcher and author Paul Granello lost a brother to suicide in 2000. As part of his research, he’s conducted mental health screenings in 100 Ohio middle and high schools.

He says more than 20 percent of high school students screened had what he calls “significant” mental health problems and a smaller percentage were at risk for suicide.

The rate of suicide in the country is increasing. It’s increasing among young people faster as a group than it is across the general population. But it’s not surprising to me that we have those numbers in Franklin County given the size of population we have.

Granello says suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people after accidents and homicide. He welcomes Ohio’s new legislation to train teachers and other school personnel to spot students at risk for suicide.

During class change at a Central Ohio high school, a group of about 20 students are headed to health class for today’s lesson on major depression. Guest lecturer Mary Brennen-Hofmann introduces the topic with a film.

“This film will show how depression affected four teenagers. They each had common experiences, but what they had in common is that each were changed by their depression…”

Brennen-Hofmann coordinates suicide prevention services at North Central Mental Health. She’ll visit a school when asked by its administrators.

The assistant principal at this high school allowed WOSU to observe class, but asked that the school not be identified.

Brennen-Hofmann says in this instance, the health teacher asked for instruction on ways to help students identify risk factors for major depression and suicide.

Probably, Facebook or social media is the best place to find out what’s really going on inside their heads. Drastic changes in behaviors. A lot of times they’re tired with no energy. They may be angry. Also they’re feeling trapped or they’re having reckless behaviors like drinking.

Brennen-Hofmann says she’ll continue visiting classrooms to build suicide awareness among students. But, Ohio’s new law goes one step further; it requires school districts to train teachers, school nurses, counselors, and administrators to help them spot students at risk for suicide. Granello says the new required training could save some young lives.

“I mean we’re trying to train them as gatekeepers that they can recognize the signs, you know, the kind of warning signs, and get that kid to the appropriate help that they need to have.”

“We are looking for positions for cooks, dishwashers, hosts, servers, and looking for people willing to invest themselves in the hospitality industry with a great company.”

Recruiters with more than a dozen businesses searched for employees at a job fair at the Westerville Community Center. It’s the 4th of 5 to be held before students go on summer break.

Sous Chef at the Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant, Matt Paisley says he wants to hire up to 20 young people as cooks, dishwashers, and waiters.

“It’s a different focal point for them to get a position than the older crowd. They’re looking to take a couple more chances, work longer hours than that crowd,” says Paisley.

17 year old Jajuon Poindexter a junior at Westerville Central High School has worked before in a kitchen.

“I worked at St. Stephens Community House as like the chef’s assistant, cooking for the old folks and stuff. So you like being in the kitchen then? Yes. And what do you like about that? I like to cook food, I know how to cook food and I enjoy cooking food,” says Poindexter.

The Central Ohio Workforce Investment Corporation or COWIC has government and private funds to employ about 2700 teens and young adults between the ages of 14 and 24.

It’s estimated nearly a quarter of teens are unemployed and for black youth the figure can be more than double.

Director of the youth workforce program, Gailmarie Harris matches young adults with potential employers at job fairs.

“Young people have their own idea of what they think want to do, and even if they want a job they’re not quite sure about how to go about doing that.” And so we ask them to come to COWIC, get the instructions on how to apply. Get into the system, because we can also advocate on their behalf,” explains Harris.

Harris says the summer jobs program also attracts private businesses to provide many jobs at their own cost.

Corporate recruiter Trisha Mannick is with Redemtech a company that recycles old computers, laptops, cell phones and printers. Mannick has 8 positions open.

“I definitely feel if they’re going for an IT career this is a really great place for them to be because they’re learning entry-level information about IT equipment,” explains Mannick.

21 year old Maya Dixon is from Columbus but studies at Spellman College in Atlanta. The English Major says she understands it’s a competitive job market.

“I‘m competing against people who actually have families and have people to support. And it’s more difficult to find a job when you don’t have anyone to support and it’s just yourself,” says Dixon.

20 year old Desmond Holmes a student at Columbus State says he’s ready to put the time into job hunting.

“Nothing was really difficult I just had to make like looking for a job, a job for real. And I had to stay focused and not let everything distract me,” says Holmes.

Gailmarie Harris with COWIC adds that young job seekers can get help on following up with companies through the agency. The last of 5 youth job fairs is scheduled for next week.

One in three Ohio kids is overweight or obese. And for children and adolescents who live in rural communities the figures can exceed 50 percent.

That statistic should not necessarily startle you, although it might have 25 years ago. That’s when Dr. Amy Sternstein began practicing medicine.

“If you saw an obese child it was more likely that you would look very diligently for a genetic cause. And at this point in time the obesity and the overweight crisis is very common,” Sterstein said.

Dr. Sternstein works at The Wexner Medical Center at the Ohio State Univeristy and for the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Sternstein said as children grow and mature they’re supposed to gain weight, between five and eight pounds a year, maybe 10, depending on the child’s height.

“But what we have seen, unfortunately, is it’s been more steadily increases 15, 20 pounds per year. And so over time of course you’ve accumulated a lot of excess weight,” Sternstein said.

And those children will not necessarily lose the excess weight as they become teenagers.

“Now we’re seeing very good substantial research that’s showing that if you are overweight or obese at a very young age, even as young as toddlers and pre-schoolers, that that weight is persistent weight and you will not quote un quote “grow out” of the overweight status,” Sternstein said.

But the obesity trend could be changing. A report released by The Journal of the American Medical Association finds the increases appear to have plateaued.

The report measured the body mass indices, or BMI, of children ages two to 19 years over the course of a decade. And from 1999 to 2010 the BMI rates were steady. Most age groups had slight increases.

Dr. Ihuoma Eneli directs Children’s Hospital’s Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition. Dr. Eneli credits efforts at decreasing childhood obesity over the last five years.

“While we cannot point at a specific intervention, I think it’s the sum of the intervention that we have at the school system, at a public health level, in the community, in the health care field, in just increasing awareness in what it means to have a healthy lifestyle,” Eneli said.

Jacob Vreeland, 16, is one of those kids who has benefited from the increased awareness. Jacob was one of nearly 2,000 kids seen at Children’s healthy weight center last year. When he was eight, his pediatrician noticed he was gaining more weight than he should for a kid his height and age. By the time Jacob turned 14 he was 5’10” and 270 pounds. That’s considered obese.

“I mean, just to put it plain and simple it kind of sucked; because your friends were out there and they were having fun playing soccer and basketball, and I could try and go play, but I definitely get picked first for the teams. And it was definitely harder to play. And I could never score,” he said.

The good news, Dr. Amy Sternstein said, is young people have an advantage over adults when it comes to weight loss.

“Often times children may not lose weight, but they may stabilize their weight. So they’re no longer gaining the excessive weight. And as they stabilize their weight and you couple that with height growth you actually end up with a very different physique over time,” Sternstein said.

It’s been 18 months since Jacob began the program at Children’s. Instead of going home and watching TV all afternoon, Jacob is more active. His family eats healthier. No more fast food. And Jacob’s physique is different. He’s taller at 6’2”, and he’s down to 240 pounds.

“I still want to lose more weight because I want to run a full mile without stopping really. And so I haven’t quite got there, but that is one of my big goals. And also I want to get below 200 pounds,” Jacob said.

Dr. Ihuoma Eneli said more families like Jacob’s are seeking help for their overweight children. And with more people adopting healthier lifestyles, Dr. Eneli expects to see obesity rates start to fall.

“I would like to see a decline within the next five years, and I don’t think that would be too outrageous to expect,” Eneli said.

But Dr. Eneli warns the fight is not over. She said while stats are encouraging, Eneli said the number of children who are morbidly obese has increased more rapidly than any other group.

When 17-yea- old Alleesha Cremeans arrived at COSI about a half-hour after the start of the job fair she confronted the day’s first challenge. She was at the end of two lines, both about a block long.

“I was expecting a hundred or so, and looking out, wow, way more people than I expected.”

Cremeans was looking at an estimated 2,000 students and young adults, dressed professionally with folders of resumes in hand. They were waiting to enter the exhibition space. The West High School junior said she learned of the job fair through her grandmother.

“Uh, the newspaper. My grandmother read an article and told me I was going. So, I was pretty much going.”

Deshaune Stewart was closer to the front of the line. Dressed in a suit and tie, he said he was actually looking for two jobs.

“To get money for my family.”

Stewart allowed he was a bit nervous. He’s been looking for a job for six months and he was trying to anticipate what employers wanted.

“I think they expect confidence. I think they expect for people to look nice and I think they expect good workers.”

Stewart and others who had been searching for jobs for some months were also looking forward to meeting potential employers face-to-face and at least get a short interview and a chance to personally hand a resume to a company representative. Inside the COSI exhibit hall, 42 companies, both profit and non-profit, were prepared to make a combined 2100 job offers. Dan Olzak represents Jani-King. His company has the contract to clean Crew stadium after soccer games and concerts.

“We actually need a total of 230 people to take in for the large concert events and the pay range is $8 an hour.”

Olzak says his company has been inundated with phone calls and applications for the past three-and-a-half weeks. He says he’s not surprised by the large turn-out of job applicants. “Its very difficult for people to find something right now. ”

Brendan Kent was recruiting young employees to help distribute and install energy saving kits to Central Ohio residents. Kent says his 4-year-old Michigan-based company is a contractor for American Electric Power. He says the company is looking for both seasonal and permanent workers.

“We’re going to have a $12- to $14-an-hour pay range, on average, for people starting out. There’s a lot of opportunity for upward mobility and it is going to be an ongoing job.”

Vicki Johnson was also looking for new hires. She is a recruiter for Gap Inc. and needs more employees for a call center in Grove City.

“The call center will be hiring all the way through the summer. We’re looking for the most part, customer service representatives. So it would be entry level customer service, very, very good jobs for our young people.”

Many of the job applicants received coaching help and job readiness training through the Central Ohio Workforce Investment Corporation. COWIC, along with civic and business leaders helped fill the need for summer employment for youth. In the past, funding for summer jobs was provided, in part, by the federal government. No federal money was available this year.

Two teenagers hid inside of a church on the city’s southeast side after a shooting involving another teenager. 16 year old Darrick Dawson and 17 year old Jayme Eugene-Jamar Prince are charged with the murder of 16 year old Katrel Parker. In another incident, 16 year old Malcolm Brown faces charges for allegedly shooting and killing a man on the North side earlier this month. Teen violence appears to be spreading through Columbus streets. Mayor Michael Coleman is frustrated that young people are in the crossfire.

“You don’t need an AK 47 to shoot deer and the corner of Broad and High in Columbus,” stressed Coleman.

Coleman says that attempts made to curb the number of guns on city streets get shot down by the U.S. Supreme Court and by some Ohio lawmakers.

“Far too many guns are being made available. We’re a gun state. We allow concealed weapons by law. We allow the proliferation of guns in all of our communities,” explained Coleman.

City Councilwoman Priscilla Tyson says city leaders are fighting back as much as they can.

“Young people have access to weapons and they’re using those weapons and unfortunately we’ve tried a lot through the city. The mayor in the past, we’ve brought weapons in, we’ve had strike patrols, we’ve done many many things to try to remove them. But, as we’re constantly trying to do our work, there’s another element out there that is also doing their work and putting those guns on the street,” Tyson said.

Mayor Coleman says recent undercover police operations have been helpful in getting many weapons off the streets, but the battle continues. He also is working to encourage other Ohio mayors to join the Mayors Against guns effort to push for what Coleman says are common sense gun laws.

Typically, in Franklin county, white women have more abortions than black women – simply because white women make up a greater percentage of the population. Here’s the startling math. In Franklin County teenage white females out number teenage black females by nearly three to one. But last year, African American teenagers had more abortions than white teens. This is the first time in ten years this has happened.

In Franklin County in 2007, while white teens saw a 19 percent decline in abortions, black teens saw a six-and-a-half percent increase.

The New York-based Guttmacher Institute tracks national and state abortion statistics. Guttmacher researcher Rachel Jones said abortions are declining in all racial and ethnic groups, but not as fast for African-Americans. Why? She’s not sure. But Jones suspects income may play a role in the disparity. And she said it’s more difficult for African American women to find health care. “We know that just for women of color, in general, even when they’re not necessarily poor, that gaining access to health care services can be a little more difficult. Even if they’re not poor they might not work in jobs that provide them with access to private health insurance, and if they’re not aware that there are others ways to access health care or reproductive health care then they might not be able to take advantages of those services,” she said. And Jones said it’s not just that African-Americans have more abortions than white women, she said they have more unintended pregnancies.

Planned Parenthood of Central Ohio CEO Lisa Perks said she could not pinpoint a specific reason for why the abortion rate was higher among Franklin County African-American teens. But Perks said women of color who seek abortions generally can not afford birth control, like The Pill. She said cultural or linguistic barriers can further frustrate access to birth control, and many of these women, even if they are given birth control, have a hard time using it as prescribed. All of these can lead to unintended pregnancies.

“If they are prescribed the pill and they don’t take it every day, you know their life stresses sometimes causes them to lack compliance with certain birth control methods. So unstable life situations, frequent life changes,” Perks said.

Day Gardner is founder of the National Black Pro-Life Union in Washington. Gardner credits the racial disparity to easy access to abortion clinics, not income level. In the Los Angeles Times Gardner said, “It doesn’t have as much to do with poverty as that the abortion facilities are there, ingrained in the neighborhoods.”

Planned Parenthood of Central Ohio has one facility that performs abortions. It’s located on East Main Street near James Road. Other abortion providers are located on East Broad Street and Indianola and Cleveland Avenues. All of these facilities are in or near neighborhoods with large African American populations.

But Planned Parenthood’s Lisa perks said Gardner’s easy access theory is wrong. Perks said it’s harder to get an abortion in Central Ohio. She points out that several Central Ohio abortion clinics have closed in recent years. And she said state laws, like the 24-hour waiting period, make having an abortion more difficult.

“I’m concerned that perhaps the number of abortions, while I want to make them also safe, legal and rare, are declining. I’m worried it’s an access issue. That, you know, there’s a lot of restrictions in Ohio and women are having trouble finding providers that offer the services and that they may be having trouble accessing the exact opposite of the woman you quoted,” Perks said.

Perks said the Planned Parenthood abortion facility site was chosen because of its central location, parking lot and its close proximity to the interstate. She said she thinks many providers often choose a site because of its visibility and access to a major expressway.

State Representative Courtney Combs says anyone under the age of 18 should be required to have a prescription to enter a tanning bed. Combs claims artificial tanning lights lead to skin cancer. He calls skin cancer a national epidemic.

But the head of a national trade group that represents tanning salons says there is no proven link between indoor tanning and skin cancer. John Overstreet, executive irector of the Indoor Tanning Association, says tanning salon workers are trained to keep customers from burning.