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Ad agency Publicis to pay Arizona $8M over role in opioid crisis

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Ad agency Publicis to pay Arizona $8M over role in opioid crisis


PHOENIX — Arizona’s portion of an international marketing firm’s multimillion-dollar settlement over its role in the U.S. opioid crisis is about $8 million, officials announced Thursday.

Publicis Health agreed to pay $350 million overall, which will flow to every state in the next two months, to settle the complaint.

The advertising agency, part of the Paris-based media conglomerate Publicis Groupe, helped develop marketing campaigns for OxyContin and other prescription painkillers.

“This settlement marks another step in our efforts at holding accountable those who have contributed to Arizona’s opioid crisis,” state Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a press release.

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“While settlement dollars cannot reverse the harm caused to so many Arizonans and their families, they will help substantially in our state’s ongoing prevention and recovery efforts.”

How many Arizonas have died from opioid overdoses?

Nearly 11,000 Arizonans have died from opioid overdoses since 2017, including almost 1,800 in 2023, according to the state Department of Health Services.

As part of the settlement, Publicis agreed to release internal documents detailing its work for Purdue and other companies that made opioids.

The company said in a statement that the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing and noted that most of the work subject to the settlement was done by Rosetta, a company owned by Publicis that closed 10 years ago.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Arizona

2-year-old boy killed when bounce house blows away in Arizona

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2-year-old boy killed when bounce house blows away in Arizona


A 2-year-old boy was killed while playing in a bounce house over the weekend in Arizona, authorities said.

Bodhi Naaf was playing with other children on Saturday in Casa Grande when a gust of wind picked up the bounce house and blew it away, local NBC affiliate KPNX reported.

After the inflatable landed in a neighboring lot, two children were rushed to a nearby hospital, according to local CBS affiliate KPHO. Bodhi died at the hospital, while the other child suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Sources told KPHO the second child broke her arm.

“This appears to have been a tragic accident,” the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office told local Fox affiliate KSAZ. “We would like to extend our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the grieving family.”

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Winds were consistently between 10 and 15 mph in Casa Grande on Saturday, according to weather records. Gusts reached up to 25 mph, and there was a 23-mph gust right before 5 p.m., when police said the accident occurred.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, “maximum wind speed should be no more than 15 to 25 mph if you are using a bounce house.” No wind gusts over 25 mph were recorded in Casa Grande after 12:15 a.m. on Saturday.

A GoFundMe has been created for Bodhi’s parents, Karl and Cristy. Karl Naaf is a Phoenix firefighter, and his union identified him in an Instagram post.

“Adding to their challenges, Cristy is due to give birth to their second child on May 31, 2024,” the GoFundMe reads. “Amidst their sorrow, they face the daunting task of preparing for the arrival of their newborn.”

The GoFundMe had already surpassed its $100,000 goal as of Tuesday afternoon.

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Prosecutors won’t retry Arizona rancher, 75, charged with murder of Mexican national on property after hung jury

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Prosecutors won’t retry Arizona rancher, 75, charged with murder of Mexican national on property after hung jury


Prosecutors have decided against retrying an Arizona rancher accused of fatally shooting a Mexican national who crossed onto his property near the southern border after his murder trial ended with a hung jury last week.

The Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office decided to drop the highly politicized case against 75-year-old George Alan Kelly after jurors were unable to come to a consensus on a verdict following more than 48 hours of deliberation.

Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink declared a mistrial last Monday, which left the decision of whether to retry Kelly for the death of Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, 48, up to the prosecutors.

“Because of the unique circumstances and challenges surrounding this case, the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office has decided not to seek a retrial,” Deputy County Attorney Kimberly Hunley told Fink Monday.

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Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly who was accused of fatally shooting a Mexican migrant on his property won’t have his case retried. AP

The judge agreed to dismiss the case and will set a hearing date to see if the dismissal will be without prejudice — which would make it so that the charges wouldn’t be able to be brought back to court.

Kelly’s lawyer Brenna Larkin plans to file a request for the case to be dismissed without prejudice.

In the meantime, the rancher said he felt “relief” when interviewed by a local reporter from KGUN as he left the courthouse.

“The nightmare’s over,” Kelly said.

Satan Cruz County Superior Judge Thomas Fink listens to arguments during Kelly’s trial on Mach 22, 2024. AP
The rancher said he felt “relief” when interviewed by a local reporter from KGUN as he left the courthouse on Monday. AP

He offered his “sincere sympathy” to Cuen-Buitimea’s family outside the courthouse where protesters had gathered to demand a retrial so that the victim could get justice.

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“Gabriel was a human being,” one of the protesters had written across a sign.

Kelly, whose trial lasted nearly a month, had been charged with second-degree murder for the Jan. 30, 2023 shooting outside Nogales, Arizona.

His victim, Cuen-Buitimea, lived just south of the US-Mexican border in Nogales, Mexico. He was crossing Kelly’s Arizona cattle ranch with a group of other men when the elderly rancher fired nine shots from an AK-47 rifle toward them from about 100 yards away, according to prosecutors.

Kelly claimed the shots were only meant to be a warning and that he didn’t aim directly at anyone, but one of the bullets struck Cuen-Buitimea, killing him.

The case ignited debate across the country with the influx of migrants from the south coming into the US as Republicans have slammed President Biden for his handling of the border crisis as he is up for reelection.

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A sign referring to the Mexican national Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea is displayed outside the Santa Cruz County Courthouse on April 29, 2024. AP
Kelly claimed the shots were only meant to be a warning and that he didn’t aim directly at anyone, but one of the bullets struck Cuen-Buitimea, killing him. AP

GoFundMe campaigns created to support Kelly — who was initially held on $1 million bond — were forcibly shut down for violating the site’s policies on raising funds to benefit people accused of violent crimes. 

With Post wires



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University of Arizona student killed in quadruple shooting

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University of Arizona student killed in quadruple shooting


A 20-year-old woman who was a student at the University of Arizona was killed in a quadruple shooting in Tucson early Sunday morning. Three others, including a teen, were also hurt.

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