GREAT FALLS — Chester-Joplin-Inverness standout Brynn Kammerzell announced Thursday that she has committed to play for the Montana State women’s basketball program.

Kammerzell helped lead C-J-I o a 24-3 record and a fourth-place finish at the Class C state tournament this past season. She averaged more than 24 points per game as a junior.

WATCH: Brynn Kammerzell talks about her commitment to MSU

CJI Standout Brynn Kammerzell Commits to Montana State

For Kammerzell, the decision came down to more than basketball.

“I just love (MSU’s) winning culture right now,” Kammerzell said. “They’ve been on fire winning lots of games. Their coaching staff is just incredible. And their girls are my type of people. Just great people. Fun to be around.”

Kammerzell said seeing other Class C athletes find success at Montana State, like Roberts’ Taylee Chirrick and Saco’s Teagan Erickson, also made the transition feel natural.

“It’s really nice knowing that these Class C girls are going to be there,” she said. “I’ve known Teagan for a while when I was a freshman she was competing against me at state high jump.”

She added that staying close to home was another major factor in her choice.

“It means a lot to be a Montana girl and to be able to go play at Montana State,” Kammerzell said.

Kammerzell has been a standout multi-sport athlete throughout her high school career. Along with her basketball success, she has helped the C-J-I volleyball team reach the Class C state tournament twice and will be chasing her third straight Class C high jump state championship next weekend.

Now that her college decision is made, Kammerzell says she can fully focus on her senior season and locking up a track and field title next week. 

“I feel so relieved,” she said. “I’m so happy with the choice I made. And I can’t wait to be a Bobcat, but I want to finish off my school season with a trophy.”

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Nevada Department Of Corrections may not have the drugs needed to carry out several executions.

Last month, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson stated his office plans to seek execution warrants for three inmates who have been on death row for years.

Zane Floyd was convicted and sentenced to death for killing four people and wounding a fifth during an attack at a Las Vegas Albertsons in 1999.

Donald Sherman was convicted and sentenced to death for using a hammer to kill a retired doctor while he slept in 1994.

Sterling Atkins was convicted and sentenced to death for beating, sexually assaulting, and strangling a mother in North Las Vegas in 1994.

When looking at a new federal court filing from Wednesday, attorneys for the NDOC wrote “At the current time, all medications previously obtained through the Cardinal Health portal have expired, NDOC is not in the possess of any unexpired drugs that are contained in the Protocol, and NDOC has confirmed to [attorneys for Floyd, Sherman, and Atkins] that there is no plan to change the protocol to proceed with the use of expired medications.”

According to court records, the NDOC is following protocols that were proposed in 2021, which include a three-drug lethal injection procedure “in which the drugs midazolam, fentanyl and cisatracurium” are used.

When looking at what these drugs are generally used for, the Mayo Clinic says midazolam is “used to produce sleepiness or drowsiness and relieve anxiety before surgery or certain procedures.” Fentanyl injections are “used to relieve severe pain during and after surgery. It is also used with other medicines just before or during an operation to help the anesthetic work better.” Cisatracurium injections are typically “used before and during surgery to provide muscle relaxation.”

When looking at past cases that have used similar drugs, fentanyl has been used only once in an execution protocol. That was in 2018 in Nebraska.

The court filing states attorneys for the three inmates have offered a different protocol that would contain fentanyl, ketamine, and potassium (chloride or acetate) and not include cisatracurium.

Attorneys for the inmates also suggested using pentobarbital, which is typically used as a medical sedative and a medicine that helps with emergency seizure control, as an alternative means of execution.

Ketamine has not been used in an execution. The State of Utah used a protocol of ketamine, fentanyl, and potassium chloride in 2024. However, they changed their systems to a one-drug protocol using pentobarbital.

Why does the medication combo matter?

Advocates say it’s because lethal injections aren’t the most efficient ways to carry out executions.

“Execution is brutal. I think that a lot of the public think these guys are just kind of peacefully going to sleep in the death chamber and we know, from expert witnesses and anesthesiologists who have reviewed hundreds of autopsies, who have witnessed these executions, who know these drugs better than anybody in the world, what they say is to a medical certainty, these people are suffering,” said journalist and author Gianna Toboni, who wrote a book called The Volunteer, which looks at the history of the death penalty in the United States, specifically through the eyes of former inmate Scott Dozier. “I think when we talk about firing squad and nitrogen gas, a lot of people are stunned like ‘Oh my God. We’re going back to these gruesome, brutal methods.’ Guess what? Lethal injection is pretty brutal too. It has the highest rate of botched executions at 7%.”

CHANNEL 13 ARCHIVES: Is the death penalty effective in Nevada?

Is the death penalty effective in Nevada?

When it comes to how the State of Nevada is obtaining the drugs that will be used for the proposed executions, “NDOC takes the position that contemplation of potential alternative sources for procuring medications are, at this time, protected by the deliberate process privilege, and therefore are not discoverable unless and until Director Dzurenda acquires medications to be used in the execution.”

Toboni previously told me that is not unusual because there are several states across the U.S. who keep the processes for how they obtain execution drugs under wraps.

“A lot of states are going to what’s called compounding pharmacies. Typically, these pharmacies are used for people who have allergies but need a specific medication. So they’ll combine different ingredients in order to make a custom drug for somebody. These drugs are not FDA-approved. They’re not in any way regulated by the federal government,” Toboni explained.

Toboni worked with the NDOC a lot while researching her book and says she understands how difficult this process is.

“Now, I understand the challenge that the prison system is up against and James Dzurenda, by no means, had it easy. He was genuinely trying to get the drugs in order to do his job, to carry out that execution, and the fact of the matter is it’s hard to get these drugs.”

As for Nevada, according to the court filing, the Cardinal Health portal “continues to be the primary and preferred source for obtaining medications that may be used in executions”, but “Director Dzurenda notes that he does not feel bound to pursue access to medications through the portal only and may pursue procurement of medications through other lawful channels.”

When looking at the federal court docket, no future hearing dates have been set. However, if one is needed, the court filing says it will be scheduled for June 22, 2026.

Nevada has not carried out an execution since 2006.

First responders were exposed to fentanyl and sickened after arriving at a rural New Mexico home earlier this week to investigate a possible overdose that left three people dead, officials said Friday.

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They found four people unconscious at the home in Mountainair, east of Albuquerque, and two of them were declared dead at the scene, officials said.

A third died shortly after arriving at the University of New Mexico Hospital, officials said Friday. The fourth survived.

Both the survivor and one of the deceased had been administered the overdose medication Narcan.

More than a dozen first responders were quarantined after exposure to an unknown substance, with some reporting nausea and dizziness, officials said.

“Preliminary findings indicate this incident is tied to the exposure to a powdered opioid substance within the home, and on-scene DEA laboratory analysis has confirmed the presence of fentanyl, methamphetamine and para-fluorofentanyl, also called P4 fentanyl. It’s a more illicit form or version of fentanyl,” New Mexico State Police Chief Matt Broom told reporters Friday.

The fentanyl was in powder form, police said.

In total, 25 people were exposed to the drugs, including the three who died, officials said. Two people, one of them a first responder, remained in the hospital Friday, authorities said.

Micah Rascon, 51, and Georgia Rascon, 49, were among those who died.

One of the victims did not show up for work, prompting the employer to send a co-worker to the house in Mountainair on Wednesday, officials said. That colleague then called authorities after discovering the possible overdose.

“These men and women responded to a dangerous situation while working to protect lives and secure the scene,” Broom said. “We especially recognize the first responders who became sick while carrying out their duties.”

The first responders to arrive were not wearing any hazmat protection, but Torrance County Fire Chief Gary Smith said there were no initial reasons to believe there could be dangerous exposure.

While authorities won’t “armchair quarterback” Wednesday’s actions, Smith said his team will analyze the response.

“I mean, we’re only as good as our last call, right?” Smith said. “There’ll be multiple debriefings that we’re going to be doing over the next week or two to find out where our strengths were and where our weaknesses were.”

The investigation is continuing, but there was no immediate sign that the drugs were manufactured at this home, officials said.

Five dogs from the home were also placed in quarantine at Mountainair Animal Control.