Latest news with #Greg
Wales Online
12 hours ago
- General
- Wales Online
Family of missing Brit in Portugal urge locals to check CCTV footage
Family of missing Brit in Portugal urge locals to check CCTV footage Greg Monks, 38, was last seen on the night of Tuesday, May 27 Greg Monks has vanished on a stag do in the party hotspot of Albufeira (Image: Facebook ) The family of a Glasgow man who disappeared during a stag do in Portugal have issued an urgent appeal for locals to check their private CCTV and doorbell footage. Greg Monks, 38, vanished after becoming separated from his friends during the first evening of their trip. He was last seen on CCTV in the residential area of Cerro de Aguia, roughly four miles away from the main club and bar strip of Albufeira, on Tuesday night where he had been enjoying the night with his mates. His last known whereabouts were between Tuesday evening, May 27, and the early hours of Wednesday morning, May 28. His sister, Jillian Monk, has now urged residents in the Cerro de Aguia area to review any footage from their private cameras and ring doorbells. The worried sister posted on a Facebook page for expats and holidaymakers asking if anyone living nearby could assist in the search for her brother, reports the Daily Record. In a further post today she asked for help contacting local Portuguese radio stations to get the word out to local taxi drivers. Article continues below Jillian also wrote: "I am now seeking help from residents of the Cerro de Aguia area to please check any home cameras or doorbell footage around 2am and 5am as police believe he was in the area around this time!". "Please share this if you know anyone in the area. If you have cameras that cover parts of the streets, send me a message with your name and phone number." Greg disappeared on the first night of the stag do (Image: Facebook ) Portuguese police, who are conducting the search, have been checking local hospitals in their efforts to locate Greg. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here . Greg is said to have checked in with his mates at the Novochoro Apartments, a holiday resort with 31 units, just before he disappeared. The apartments are a mere 15-minute stroll to the main strip. However, they're about four miles from Cerro de Aguia, where Greg was last seen - and Cerro de Aguia is roughly the same distance from the strip. The stag party was scheduled to return last Saturday after arriving on Tuesday to celebrate in the popular sun-soaked destination. Jillian first sounded the alarm that Greg had gone missing in a frantic social media post on Thursday. She said: "My brother has not been seen since Tuesday evening. If you are currently there and have any information place contact me with any info." Greg's father has allegedly cut short a holiday in Spain to cross the border and look for his son. A fundraiser has also been set up to help raise money for the family who have flown out to help the search. Gillian McCallum, set up a fundraiser on behalf of the distraught family, said: "Our son Greg Monks went to Portugal for a stag do on Tuesday May 27 and on the first night back out there he never returned to his hotel and has now been missing for three days. We are desperately seeking Greg's safe return and need your help." Over £20,000 has been raised to fund the search efforts. A statement from the family said: "There are professional search teams out looking for Greg and the family have all flown out to try to help find him but don't know how long their stay will be." Article continues below They said: "They are doing everything they can. Every donation, no matter the size, will make a difference in our efforts to bring Greg home. Thank you for your support and prayers."
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Some Sask. evacuees forced to find far-flung rooms on their own as wildfires put pressure on hotels
Maureen and Greg McBratney didn't have many options for places to stay when wildfire forced them to leave their home in Denare Beach, Sask., late last week. Maureen, 65, has kidney failure and usually receives dialysis three times a week across the border in Flin Flon, Man., but that city has also been evacuated due to an out-of-control fire very close to the community. A dialysis co-ordinator told Maureen to go to Yorkton to continue her treatment, but the retired couple is on a fixed income and struggled to find an affordable hotel. "We're staying at a hotel right now because we don't know anyone in Yorkton," Greg said. "We've tried to contact Red Cross and our house insurance [to pay for a hotel]." They're worried about where they'll go next. "We have nowhere to go after Friday. We're getting kicked out of the hotel because they're fully booked," Greg said. The couple doesn't expect to go home any time soon. Maureen cries when she thinks about the financial and emotional strain. "If you know anyone in Yorkton who wants to put up with a couple of old people for awhile, let us know." The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) and other organizations are searching far and wide to identify any hotel space that could accept evacuees, SPSA vice-president of operations Steve Roberts said. "Anywhere from Prince Albert to Weyburn and from North Battleford to Hudson Bay," Roberts said during the SPSA daily wildfire update. "Basically, we're canvassing every community in Saskatchewan for their capacity and as evacuees come out, they will be directed to areas where they can be housed until they can return home." On Monday, a group of evacuees from Denare Beach and Creighton who ended up in Saskatoon held a protest in the city, demanding more resources to fight fires and help evacuees. They hoped to get the attention of Prime Minister Mark Carney and the premiers while they're in Saskatoon for the first ministers' meeting. There were about 8,000 evacuees from Saskatchewan communities as of Monday afternoon, according to the SPSA. Where evacuees end up depends on where they come from. The SPSA manages some, as does the Canadian Red Cross, while some First Nations also manage accommodations for evacuees from their communities. Added pressure comes when evacuee stays push into reservations made by sports teams or other large groups, leaving hotels a choice between kicking out evacuees or reneging on reservations. It's up to hotel management to decide who gets bumped, according to tourism trade group Hospitality Saskatchewan. "In both cases, you're dealing with folks that are displaced for whatever reason, whether it's an evacuation or a family that's traveled 100 miles to get to a ball tournament and they don't have a place to stay," said Jim Bence, Hospitality Saskatchewan president and CEO. "It's a real ethical dilemma in many cases. And it's one that, whether you're a front desk agent or a hotel manager, it's a struggle to make those decisions." WATCH | Finding accommodations yet another hurdle for wildfire evacuees: Bence said the province should create a central reservation system to manage hotel inventory during emergency situations. "The technology already exists," Bence said. "It's just how could we adapt it or enhance it so that governments or the Red Cross would be able to at a moment's notice be able to see, OK, I've got 10 rooms available in Warman. I've got 30 rooms available in Saskatoon.… If we could access everybody's inventory in real time, then you could make those decisions."
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
What a grieving mother's story shows us about the fentanyl crisis in Indianapolis
The piercing chirps and fluttering of parakeets echo through the single-family home in east Indianapolis. Diane Holt, 73, cares for Pretty Boy and Pretty Girl like she would children, keeping their long, white cage just feet from her bed ("They're my pride and joy," she says). They've been her only solace in the three tormented years since the death of her son, Gregory, on Feb. 15, 2022. Greg's death was among thousands in Marion County and her story gives a snapshot into the lasting effects of the ongoing fentanyl crisis. From Holt's granddaughter's phone call asking why police cars and an ambulance were parked outside Greg's house. The officer informing her Greg died from an overdose. And the dried tears on her only son's cheeks as he laid wrapped in the white body bag. He still had years left in his life to cook, travel or fish – his favorite activities, she said. He appeared sober when she saw him at Christmas months earlier. Instead, Holt watched her son become entombed at 48 years old. He left behind four children. Losing a child so suddenly has made Holt a recluse. She copes with the grief by sleeping and her body language shows the emotional toll: Her shoulders hunch over her thin frame when she sits. Her eyes rarely look up from the ground. Her voice is barely audible. Murder is what happened to her son, she'll say in her soft voice. She wants the person who supplied him the deadly cocktail of fentanyl and methamphetamine to land behind bars before she dies. She's asked the police, prosecutor's office and local media for help. She never gets answers − at least the one she wants. 'Justice is what I need,' she says. 'Greg had a right to live.' Holt's story mirrors the experience of thousands of families across Indianapolis. Drugs killed more people in the city in the past three years than homicides and car crashes combined −more than 2,000 people, to be exact. But these deaths rarely break through the crowd of daily headlines splashed with the latest shootings and violent crime. The main culprit behind these deaths is fentanyl, a powerful opioid being laced in street drugs. In many cases, the user doesn't know the highly lethal drug is in their supply. Fentanyl is hidden in many ways. It's being mixed into counterfeit pills disguised to look like prescription Xanax or Adderall. It's being added to cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. The goal each time is to give a stronger high to the more hardened addict, but also ensnare the casual user. But in many cases, people die from the potent drug. The introduction of fentanyl in the streets has created a crisis that federal investigators say is the worst they've seen in decades – far worse than the crack cocaine epidemic that gripped the nation for more than two decades. As one deputy coroner explained: Crack cocaine created a generation of addicts and a crime wave. Fentanyl, on the other hand, is 'just death." Holt doesn't believe her son intentionally took fentanyl. Greg's habit mostly involved a rotation of heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine. The only hint lies in his autopsy report, where the people who were with Greg in his final moments told the coroner's office they had taken methamphetamine earlier that morning − no mention of fentanyl. The report refers to his death as an "accident." In her waiting, Holt has seen families like hers on the evening TV news rejoicing about an arrest in their relative's overdose. In those moments, the sadness washes over her again. She wants the same. But when her family has asked police whether the bystanders to Greg's death could be prosecuted, they're told the harsh reality: Jailing drug dealers who cause an overdose are among the hardest cases to prove in court. 'The coroner's office must have determined there was not enough to say it was a murder,' an Indianapolis police captain told the family in an email. 'I'm sorry that you're having to go through this.' Law enforcement officials often say overdose investigations are some of the most complicated cases to bring an arrest and secure a conviction. For an overdose case to stand a chance, investigators must tie a person's death to the dealer who gave them the substance. A person may also have multiple drugs in their system, each from a different dealer. Pinpointing the drug that caused a person to overdose and die, then determining where the drugs came from, can quickly become like finding a needle in a haystack. Indiana's law targeting drug dealers is also relatively new. Police across the state are navigating how to secure an arrest in the complex and often lengthy investigations. On a sunny March morning in 2023, Holt and her family huddled near Greg's tomb deep in the grounds of Washington East Park Cemetery. His remains lie in the top row of the mausoleum, forcing an observer to crane their neck to see. Holt rests on a bench below, her hands tucked in the pocket of her oversized sweatshirt that swallows up her small frame. 'I hadn't heard of it until after he died,' she said, referring to fentanyl. 'I have,' Holt's daughter, Bennie, responded. A distant relative of her boyfriend died from a fatal dose just weeks earlier. 'That really opened my eyes,' she said. The deadly traces of fentanyl found during Greg's toxicology exam leads the family to refer to the drugs that ended his life as a 'kill shot.' It's part of what makes his death particularly cruel, says Greg's sister, Michele Alarcon. If her brother had intentionally taken the fentanyl-laced mix, she'd have more peace, she says. Instead, the family is plagued with the visions and sounds of him overdosing. 'I hope when they close their eyes at night, they hear that gurgling in their head,' Bennie chimes in, referring to the bystanders to Greg's death. Holt nods her head, her eyes still looking to the ground. 'I can't help but think his death has been treated like a folding of the page and moving on,' she said. 'But that just hasn't been how I felt.' In the years IndyStar has followed Holt, much of the answers about her son's overdose death remain. Who gave him the drugs? Why hasn't anyone been arrested? What evidence was left behind? But much has changed around her. In Indiana, attitudes about addiction are evolving. On April 10, 2025, Gov. Mike Braun signed a bill decriminalizing test strips that detect traces of fentanyl - something users have long feared carrying under threat of prosecution. The bill will take effect on July 1, 2025. Federal dollars left over from a settlement against opioid makers are starting to trickle down into programs combating addiction. Fatal overdoses continue to decline after years of record deaths. Experts credit the drop to the multiple fronts assigned to tackle the issue, including wider access to drug treatment programs and access to naloxone, the opioid reversal drug sold under the brand name Narcan. In Marion County, Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced his intent to hold more dealers accountable as they make strides in learning the new law. In the first few years of the law being on the books, Indianapolis police only made two arrests under the dealing resulting in death law. Since then, police across the Indianapolis metro have locked up more than 20 people in fatal overdoses. At least nine have resulted in convictions. But even as the city has made strides in lowering fentanyl overdoses, another drug has come onto the scene. Xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, has compounded the problem by increasing the risk of drug poisoning when used with fentanyl. And the drop in overdoses, while successful, has only made a dent in fatal drug poisonings. In 2024, 506 people died in Marion County still died from suspected drug overdose. Holt, in many ways, feels like she's withered away, too, since Greg's death. Some days, caring for her parakeets is the only flicker of joy in the day. They make her feel needed, something she's longed for since her children reached adulthood. So she clings to her birds, and the prospect she may get answers about the moments before Greg died. 'I'm not real religious,' she said. 'But I have hope.' Contact reporter Sarah Nelson at This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What a grieving mother's story tells us about Indianapolis' fentanyl crisis
Geeky Gadgets
16 hours ago
- Business
- Geeky Gadgets
Master Token Management: Save Big While Using Claude Code
Have you ever been surprised by how quickly costs can spiral when working with large language models like Claude Code? While these tools are undeniably powerful for coding, problem-solving, and brainstorming, their utility comes with a hidden challenge: token consumption. Every word, character, or snippet of text processed by the model counts as a token, and these tokens directly influence both performance and pricing. If you've ever wondered why your seemingly simple task suddenly feels expensive—or why the model's responses seem to degrade during long conversations—you're not alone. Managing token usage isn't just a technical skill; it's an essential strategy for anyone looking to make the most of these innovative tools. In this instructional feature, Greg provide more insights into practical strategies for optimizing token usage in Claude Code, helping you strike the perfect balance between cost and performance. You'll uncover why stateless conversations can quickly inflate token counts, how to avoid context limitations, and when to switch between advanced and lighter models for maximum efficiency. Whether you're a developer juggling complex projects or a curious user exploring the model's capabilities, this guide will equip you with actionable insights to streamline your workflow. After all, mastering token management isn't just about saving money—it's about unlocking the full potential of AI without unnecessary trade-offs. Understanding Token Costs TL;DR Key Takeaways : Large language models (LLMs) like Claude Code calculate costs based on token usage, making effective token management crucial for reducing expenses and maintaining performance. Stateless conversations in LLMs require the entire conversation history to be included with each interaction, leading to rapid token accumulation and increased costs. Strategies to optimize token usage include starting new chats for separate tasks, summarizing long conversations, and selecting the appropriate model for specific tasks to balance cost and performance. Extended conversations can degrade model performance as the context limit is approached, resulting in less accurate responses and escalating costs. Practical workflow recommendations include using advanced models for complex tasks, switching to lighter models for simpler tasks, and regularly monitoring and resetting conversations to manage token consumption effectively. LLMs calculate costs based on the number of tokens processed during both input and output. Tokens can represent words, characters, or even parts of words, depending on the model's architecture. The more advanced the model, the higher the cost per token due to its enhanced capabilities for complex reasoning. For example: A simple query might consume only a few dozen tokens. A detailed conversation or code generation task could involve thousands of tokens. As token usage increases, so does the expense. This makes it essential to monitor and manage token consumption, particularly for tasks requiring extensive interactions. By understanding how token costs accumulate, you can make informed decisions to optimize usage and control expenses. Challenges of Token Usage in Stateless Conversations One of the fundamental challenges of working with LLMs is their stateless nature. These models do not retain memory between interactions, meaning the entire conversation history must be included with each new message. While this ensures continuity, it also leads to rapid token accumulation during extended conversations. Key challenges include: Increased Costs: Longer conversations consume more tokens, significantly driving up expenses. Longer conversations consume more tokens, significantly driving up expenses. Context Limitations: Exceeding the model's context limit can degrade performance, resulting in less accurate or relevant responses. Understanding these challenges is the first step toward effective token management. By addressing these issues, you can ensure smoother interactions and better performance from the model. How to Optimize Token Usage in Claude Code Uncover more insights about Claude Code in previous articles we have written. Strategies to Optimize Token Usage To mitigate token-related challenges, you can adopt several strategies to manage usage effectively. These approaches help balance cost and performance while maintaining the quality of outputs. Start New Chats for Separate Tasks: Avoid using the same chat thread for unrelated tasks. Each additional message adds to the token count, even if it's irrelevant to the current topic. Resetting the chat history with commands like /clear can free up context and reduce unnecessary token consumption. Avoid using the same chat thread for unrelated tasks. Each additional message adds to the token count, even if it's irrelevant to the current topic. Resetting the chat history with commands like /clear can free up context and reduce unnecessary token consumption. Summarize Long Conversations: When a conversation approaches 50% of the model's context limit, summarizing the discussion can help maintain focus and efficiency. Commands like /compact allow you to condense the conversation history, retaining only the most relevant information. When a conversation approaches 50% of the model's context limit, summarizing the discussion can help maintain focus and efficiency. Commands like /compact allow you to condense the conversation history, retaining only the most relevant information. Choose the Right Model: Not all tasks require the most advanced and expensive models. For high-level reasoning, a powerful model may be necessary, but simpler tasks can often be handled by lighter, less costly models. Switching between models using commands like /mod can help balance cost and performance. By implementing these strategies, you can significantly reduce token consumption while maintaining the effectiveness of your interactions with Claude Code. Why Long Conversations Can Be Problematic Extended conversations not only increase token usage but also introduce additional risks. As the context limit is approached, the model's ability to generate accurate and relevant responses diminishes. This can lead to several issues: Escalating Costs: Prolonged interactions result in higher token consumption, driving up expenses. Prolonged interactions result in higher token consumption, driving up expenses. Decreased Performance: Exceeding the context limit can cause the model to lose track of important details, reducing the quality of its outputs. While techniques like context caching and token compression can help mitigate these issues, they are not foolproof. Proactively managing conversation length and token usage remains the most effective solution to maintain performance and control costs. Practical Workflow Recommendations To optimize your workflow and minimize token-related expenses, consider adopting the following best practices. These recommendations ensure that you can use the full potential of Claude Code while keeping costs manageable. Start with a Powerful Model: Use an advanced model for tasks requiring complex reasoning, brainstorming, or initial planning. This ensures high-quality outputs for critical stages of your work. Use an advanced model for tasks requiring complex reasoning, brainstorming, or initial planning. This ensures high-quality outputs for critical stages of your work. Switch to a Lighter Model: Transition to a less costly model for execution, refinement, or repetitive tasks. This approach helps save on expenses without sacrificing quality for simpler tasks. Transition to a less costly model for execution, refinement, or repetitive tasks. This approach helps save on expenses without sacrificing quality for simpler tasks. Monitor and Reset Conversations: Regularly track token usage and reset or summarize conversations as needed. This prevents unnecessary accumulation and ensures the model remains efficient and focused. By following these strategies, you can maximize the benefits of LLMs like Claude Code while keeping token consumption under control. Effective token management allows you to harness these advanced tools for coding, problem-solving, and other AI-powered activities without compromising performance or efficiency. Media Credit: Greg Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy
Indianapolis Star
17 hours ago
- Health
- Indianapolis Star
What a grieving mother's story shows us about the fentanyl crisis in Indianapolis
The piercing chirps and fluttering of parakeets echo through the single-family home in east Indianapolis. Diane Holt, 73, cares for Pretty Boy and Pretty Girl like she would children, keeping their long, white cage just feet from her bed ("They're my pride and joy," she says). They've been her only solace in the three tormented years since the death of her son, Gregory, on Feb. 15, 2022. Greg's death was among thousands in Marion County and her story gives a snapshot into the lasting effects of the ongoing fentanyl crisis. From Holt's granddaughter's phone call asking why police cars and an ambulance were parked outside Greg's house. The officer informing her Greg died from an overdose. And the dried tears on her only son's cheeks as he laid wrapped in the white body bag. He still had years left in his life to cook, travel or fish – his favorite activities, she said. He appeared sober when she saw him at Christmas months earlier. Instead, Holt watched her son become entombed at 48 years old. He left behind four children. Losing a child so suddenly has made Holt a recluse. She copes with the grief by sleeping and her body language shows the emotional toll: Her shoulders hunch over her thin frame when she sits. Her eyes rarely look up from the ground. Her voice is barely audible. Murder is what happened to her son, she'll say in her soft voice. She wants the person who supplied him the deadly cocktail of fentanyl and methamphetamine to land behind bars before she dies. She's asked the police, prosecutor's office and local media for help. She never gets answers − at least the one she wants. 'Justice is what I need,' she says. 'Greg had a right to live.' Holt's story mirrors the experience of thousands of families across Indianapolis. Drugs killed more people in the city in the past three years than homicides and car crashes combined −more than 2,000 people, to be exact. But these deaths rarely break through the crowd of daily headlines splashed with the latest shootings and violent crime. The main culprit behind these deaths is fentanyl, a powerful opioid being laced in street drugs. In many cases, the user doesn't know the highly lethal drug is in their supply. Fentanyl is hidden in many ways. It's being mixed into counterfeit pills disguised to look like prescription Xanax or Adderall. It's being added to cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. The goal each time is to give a stronger high to the more hardened addict, but also ensnare the casual user. But in many cases, people die from the potent drug. The introduction of fentanyl in the streets has created a crisis that federal investigators say is the worst they've seen in decades – far worse than the crack cocaine epidemic that gripped the nation for more than two decades. As one deputy coroner explained: Crack cocaine created a generation of addicts and a crime wave. Fentanyl, on the other hand, is 'just death." Holt doesn't believe her son intentionally took fentanyl. Greg's habit mostly involved a rotation of heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine. The only hint lies in his autopsy report, where the people who were with Greg in his final moments told the coroner's office they had taken methamphetamine earlier that morning − no mention of fentanyl. The report refers to his death as an "accident." In her waiting, Holt has seen families like hers on the evening TV news rejoicing about an arrest in their relative's overdose. In those moments, the sadness washes over her again. She wants the same. But when her family has asked police whether the bystanders to Greg's death could be prosecuted, they're told the harsh reality: Jailing drug dealers who cause an overdose are among the hardest cases to prove in court. 'The coroner's office must have determined there was not enough to say it was a murder,' an Indianapolis police captain told the family in an email. 'I'm sorry that you're having to go through this.' Law enforcement officials often say overdose investigations are some of the most complicated cases to bring an arrest and secure a conviction. For an overdose case to stand a chance, investigators must tie a person's death to the dealer who gave them the substance. A person may also have multiple drugs in their system, each from a different dealer. Pinpointing the drug that caused a person to overdose and die, then determining where the drugs came from, can quickly become like finding a needle in a haystack. Indiana's law targeting drug dealers is also relatively new. Police across the state are navigating how to secure an arrest in the complex and often lengthy investigations. On a sunny March morning in 2023, Holt and her family huddled near Greg's tomb deep in the grounds of Washington East Park Cemetery. His remains lie in the top row of the mausoleum, forcing an observer to crane their neck to see. Holt rests on a bench below, her hands tucked in the pocket of her oversized sweatshirt that swallows up her small frame. 'I hadn't heard of it until after he died,' she said, referring to fentanyl. 'I have,' Holt's daughter, Bennie, responded. A distant relative of her boyfriend died from a fatal dose just weeks earlier. 'That really opened my eyes,' she said. The deadly traces of fentanyl found during Greg's toxicology exam leads the family to refer to the drugs that ended his life as a 'kill shot.' It's part of what makes his death particularly cruel, says Greg's sister, Michele Alarcon. If her brother had intentionally taken the fentanyl-laced mix, she'd have more peace, she says. Instead, the family is plagued with the visions and sounds of him overdosing. 'I hope when they close their eyes at night, they hear that gurgling in their head,' Bennie chimes in, referring to the bystanders to Greg's death. Holt nods her head, her eyes still looking to the ground. 'I can't help but think his death has been treated like a folding of the page and moving on,' she said. 'But that just hasn't been how I felt.' In the years IndyStar has followed Holt, much of the answers about her son's overdose death remain. Who gave him the drugs? Why hasn't anyone been arrested? What evidence was left behind? But much has changed around her. In Indiana, attitudes about addiction are evolving. On April 10, 2025, Gov. Mike Braun signed a bill decriminalizing test strips that detect traces of fentanyl - something users have long feared carrying under threat of prosecution. The bill will take effect on July 1, 2025. Federal dollars left over from a settlement against opioid makers are starting to trickle down into programs combating addiction. Fatal overdoses continue to decline after years of record deaths. Experts credit the drop to the multiple fronts assigned to tackle the issue, including wider access to drug treatment programs and access to naloxone, the opioid reversal drug sold under the brand name Narcan. In Marion County, Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced his intent to hold more dealers accountable as they make strides in learning the new law. In the first few years of the law being on the books, Indianapolis police only made two arrests under the dealing resulting in death law. Since then, police across the Indianapolis metro have locked up more than 20 people in fatal overdoses. At least nine have resulted in convictions. But even as the city has made strides in lowering fentanyl overdoses, another drug has come onto the scene. Xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, has compounded the problem by increasing the risk of drug poisoning when used with fentanyl. And the drop in overdoses, while successful, has only made a dent in fatal drug poisonings. In 2024, 506 people died in Marion County still died from suspected drug overdose. Holt, in many ways, feels like she's withered away, too, since Greg's death. Some days, caring for her parakeets is the only flicker of joy in the day. They make her feel needed, something she's longed for since her children reached adulthood. So she clings to her birds, and the prospect she may get answers about the moments before Greg died. 'I'm not real religious,' she said. 'But I have hope.'
