CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: It`s April, 18, Good Friday for millions of people worldwide. Welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS. Ten minutes of commercial-free current events. Our first story today takes us to a Texas town named West. Yesterday was exactly one year after an enormous explosion destroyed a fertilizer plant there.

That gives you a sense of how powerful it was. It started with the fire, and while first responders were fighting it, the explosion occurred. 15 people were killed. The accident is still under investigation, but some effects on the landscape remain. 120 homes were destroyed. Another 200 were damaged. The blast registered as a magnitude 2.1 earthquake, shaking houses 50 miles away. In a town of about 2800 people, everyone in West was affected in some way. But residents have started to rebuild. The process described as being brick by brick, shingle by shingle, prayer by prayer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In West it is a new day. Street by street, block by block, house by house, the town`s mayor Tommy Muska likes what he sees.

TOMMY MUSKA, WEST, TEXAS MAYOR: It`s a smile on my face. And we lived with dumpsters for a while. Dumpsters is progress. That humming is progress.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The town recently hired the same economic development consultants who helped New Orleans and Galveston start over after Hurricanes Katrina and Ike. And for the first time since the town`s darkest day last year, folks who live here are beginning to ask a painful question: should a new fertilizer plant be built in West?

MUSKA: That`s a hard pill. That`s going to be a hard pill to swallow for some people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the West plant gone, the mayor says farmers must travel up to 30 miles away to get the fertilizer they need.

MUSKA: You know, it`s a needed industry. Somewhere in this area. Is it right here in West? I don`t know. Will it be zoned where people won`t build around it? Hopefully, hopefully we`ve learned the lesson there. Will it be safe? You bet!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While the mayor looks toward the future, he says he will never forget the 15 people who lost their lives that day. Mostly first responders, some of who`ve volunteered with him at the Fire Department. As we drove around town, Mayor Muska spotted the two flags flying over the ambulance sheet. Someone lowered them to half-staff after the explosion and they`ve remained that way ever since. The powerful symbol for the town.

AZUZ: Might seem hard to believe that in some areas what`s killing more Americans than violent crime and car crashes is the illegal drug heroin and other opiate narcotics. These are highly addictive drugs. They are easy to overdose on. They cause violent withdrawal symptoms. Despite that, there`s been a recent surge in heroin use in the U.S. Experts say one reason might be a nationwide crackdown on prescription painkillers. That`s leading addicts to turn to heroin. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says the issue seemed to sneak up on government officials. That it used to be thought of as a regional problem, until statistics showed it was nationwide. Holder`s been criticized, though, for pushing for more lenient treatment of non-violent drug offenders.