Briefs LOVELAND RESIDENT HAS WEST NILE VIRUS
A Loveland resident is the first person in Larimer County to be hospitalized with a confirmed case of West Nile virus this summer, authorities say.
The person, whose name has not been released, had meningitis, a neuroinvasive form of West Nile virus disease, according to Katie O’Donnell, Larimer County Health Department spokeswoman.
The county also received reports of two people infected with West Nile virus who were not hospitalized, O’Donnell said in a news release Saturday. Both of their illnesses were discovered when they donated blood and both were “asymptomatic.”
Dr. Adrienne LeBailly, health department director, said workers in Loveland, Windsor, Timnath and Johnstown were spraying to keep larvae from growing into biting mosquitoes.
Two killed in car crash. Excessive speed and possible marijuana use left a driver and his passenger dead during an early Saturday morning rollover crash that ended in an Arapahoe County embankment.
The crash happened around 2:30 a.m. Saturday near Gun Club Road and East Hampden Avenue, said Trooper Tim Sutherland of the Colorado State Patrol.
Road evidence suggested the driver was headed east on Hampden in a 2006 Toyota Camry when he found himself drifting onto the westbound lane, according to investigators.
He overcorrected but lost control, and the car slid down the embankment, overturning a few times. Both the driver and the passenger were ejected, Sutherland said.
The 20-year-old male driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The female passenger was transported to Swedish Medical Center but died almost nine hours later at 11:54 a.m.
Drugs may have played a role, but Sutherland said that is still under investigation.
“It’s suspected there was marijuana involved because the vehicle rolled and there was still marijuana in the car,” he said.
Authorities have not yet identified the two people.
Man arrested in child’s beating
death B grand junction» A 21year-old Grand Junction man has been arrested for investigation of second-degree murder in the death of a 2-year-old girl, authorities say.
Isaac Paul Ortiz was arrested Friday night and is being held in the Mesa County Jail with no bond in connection to the death of Lyla Blackwood. Ortiz is also being held for investigation of child abuse resulting in death.
Dr. Dean Havlik, the Mesa County coroner, performed an autopsy and Saturday ruled the girl’s death a homicide from blunt force injuries to the head and neck.