Colorado
Prosecutor: Fentanyl likely killed 5 in apartment
DENVER (AP) — Preliminary evidence suggests that five people found dead in an apartment in suburban Denver overdosed on fentanyl while taking what they believed to be cocaine, the district attorney said Monday.
Drug tests done at the apartment in Commerce City, about 7 miles (11 kilometers) northeast of Denver, found an “overwhelming amount” of fentanyl and cocaine, 17th Judicial District Attorney Brian Mason said. The evidence suggests the victims were snorting the substance, which is a more common way to ingest cocaine than fentanyl, when they died Sunday, he said.
Autopsies and drug testing of each victim still need to be done to confirm how they died, he said.
Mason said he is concerned that there are other people who might have drugs from the same supply as the one used by the victims, potentially putting their lives at risk too.
Fentanyl is an unpredictable and powerful synthetic painkiller that is blamed for driving an increase in fatal drug overdoses. Authorities have been finding it mixed in with cocaine, heroin, oxycontin and, in limited cases, in marijuana, Mason said.
“No drug is safe right now,” he said.
Detectives were working to determine where the drugs were obtained and “will vigorously pursue charges for those who sold/provided the drugs” police said in a statement Monday.
The three women and two men who died were found in an apartment, along with a 29-year-old woman and an infant who were alive, after officers responded to a report of an unconscious person, police said.
The names of the victims have not been released, but police said they ranged in age from 24 to 32.
The 29-year-old woman was receiving medical care, police said, while the 4-month-old infant was released after being taken to the hospital to be checked out.
Police have not said whether the baby’s parents were among those found dead.
New Hampshire
Big ol’ treehouse creates backyard battle royal
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — A treehouse is causing trouble on New Hampshire’s Seacoast.
The parents of an 8-year-old boy say they checked with neighbors before building a treehouse, and there were no objections.
But neighbors were shocked by the immense construction project: The treehouse is 25 feet (7.6 meters) long and 8 feet (2.4 meters) high, with a 168 square-foot (15.6-square-meter) platform, WGME-TV reported.
“Its size is imposing and dominates the field of view in our backyard and from our house,” neighbor Mark Moses said.
Portsmouth resident Jill Maloney said she didn’t mean to create a backyard battle royal. She only wanted to build a treehouse for her son.
“My family and I never set out to anger our neighbors or make enemies,” she said.
John Raczek, who built the treehouse, said the family tried to please the neighbors by checking with them first.
“Her neighbors were fine with it. They didn’t have an issue,” he said. “She bent over backwards trying to make everybody happy.”
Portsmouth Board of Adjustment ruled last week that the treehouse was more like a deck structure. As a result, they said it requires a 5-foot (1.5 meters) to 8-foot (2.4 meters) setback from the fence.
“My objection to this has to do with the fact that it is so intrusive on the other property,” Phyllis Eldridge of the Portsmouth Board of Adjustment said.
That means it has to be moved.
Nevada
Crash victims’ family target of scammer
LAS VEGAS (AP) — North Las Vegas police are looking into allegations that a man scammed a couple who lost seven family members, including four children, in a horrific car crash last month.
Erlinda Zacarias told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday that a man who initially supported her and her husband, including accompanying them to the funeral home, began asking for personal documents like bank information.
They reported him to police last week and have since learned his name, Steve Prz, was an alias.
The investigation also revealed the suspected scammer had previously interacted with Mayor John Lee. The mayor told the newspaper he didn’t know the suspect well but he had done some construction work for Lee. The suspect also arranged for Lee and his wife to be able to visit Zacarias to give their condolences.
A spokesperson for North Las Vegas police could not be reached for comment Monday.
Zacarias lost four of her young children plus two stepsons in their 20s and her 35-year-old brother in the Jan. 29 crash. Police say the driver of a sports car sped through a red light and hit the minivan carrying the family.
The 59-year-old driver and his passenger were also killed.
Kansas
GOP saves, advances plan to limit agency regulations
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Top Republicans have revived a proposed amendment to the state constitution to make it easier for the GOP-controlled Legislature to overturn state agencies’ regulations, pushing it through the Kansas House with a little help from dissident Democrats.
The House voted 85-39 on Monday to approve the measure, giving supporters one vote more than the two-thirds majority needed for passage. The measure initially fell four votes short last week, but the Legislatures’ rules allowed a second attempt.
Many Democrats see the measure as a political attack on Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, but two of them joined most of the House’s Republicans to pass the measure.
Under the proposal, lawmakers could repeal regulations with simple-majority votes in both chambers. Lawmakers now must pass a bill and obtain the governor’s approval or two-thirds legislative majorities to override a veto.
The measure went to the Senate. If senators approve the measure, it goes on the November ballot for voters’ possible approval.
Republicans said they’re trying to prevent bureaucrats from imposing regulations undercutting or contradicting policies set by lawmakers.
Attorney General Derek Schmidt outlined the proposal last year after fellow Republicans spent months criticizing Kelly’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Schmidt is the presumed GOP nominee for governor this year.
