Butler County had an eventful 2017, and the Butler Eagle was there to cover the events that shaped the community.

With prescription opioids and illegal drugs like heroin, fentanyl and carfentanil continuing to ravage communities across the country, Butler County — which in August had the 14th-highest rate of overdose deaths in the state — experienced a particularly deadly 2017.

By mid-November there had been 74 confirmed overdose deaths, matching the total from 2016. The majority have been attributed to fentanyl, a powerful synthetic painkiller originally used to treat terminally-ill cancer patients.

As of Dec. 27 the Butler County Coroner's Office had reported 88 confirmed overdose deaths — nearly double the 47 overdose deaths reported in 2015.

Read Sunday's Butler Eagle to learn more about all the stories that affected our community in 2017.