Snowstorm linked to 5 road fatalities
ST. LOUIS -- A winter snowstorm that blanketed most of Missouri and several other Midwest states was a factor in at least five road deaths Saturday.
The storm moved into Kansas and Nebraska from the Rockies on Friday, then east into Missouri, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, covering roads and making driving dangerous. Part of Interstate 44 near St. Louis was blocked for several hours Saturday, and at one point the Missouri State Highway Patrol warned of traffic delays as long as eight hours.
The storm was expected to spread east into the Mid-Atlantic region, with between 3 and 6 inches of snow expected in the Washington, D.C., area, including parts of northern and central Maryland, by today.
At least five people were killed in crashes on slick roadways in Kansas and Missouri. They included a woman and her 14-year-old stepdaughter whose car slid into the path of a semitrailer in Clinton, about 80 miles southeast of Kansas City, on Friday, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. Another woman died when her car slid on U.S. 24 in northern Missouri and was hit by an oncoming SUV.
In Kansas, a 62-year-old man died after his pickup skidded on the Kansas Turnpike and hit a concrete barrier, according to the patrol. Another crash involving two semitrailers in snowy conditions killed a 41-year-old driver from Mexico, the patrol said.
1 death reported in mass overdose
CHICO, Calif. -- One man has died and four people are in critical condition after apparently overdosing at a house in Chico, the Chico Enterprise-Record newspaper reported.
A dozen people were taken out of the house Saturday morning and taken to hospitals, police told the newspaper.
The mass overdose appears to have been largely caused by the dangerous opioid fentanyl, Chico Police Chief Mike O'Brien said at a news conference.
"Every indication is that this mass overdose incident was caused from the ingestion of some form of fentanyl in combination with another substance. That is yet to be confirmed, but we do anticipate confirmation in the coming days," O'Brien said.
All of the people hospitalized were over 18 and most appeared to be in their 20s, Chico police commander Mike Rodden said.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed on six people at the scene, said Steve Standridge, chief of Chico's Fire Department.
Chico is a city of about 92,000 people about 160 miles north of San Francisco.
Police name man who killed officer
DAVIS, Calif. -- Authorities on Saturday identified a man who shot and killed a rookie police officer in Northern California and later took his own life during a standoff with police.
The Yolo County coroner said the man was Kevin Douglas Limbaugh.
The Sacramento Bee reports that court documents show Limbaugh, 48, was charged and convicted in a battery case and he agreed in November to surrender a semi-automatic rifle.
The newspaper said authorities have not determined where Limbaugh obtained the weapons he used in the Thursday night attack that killed officer Natalie Corona in the college town of Davis.
Police said a gunman on a bicycle ambushed the 22-year-old officer, shooting her as she investigated a car accident.
A Section on 01/13/2019