Midday Roundup: More evidence points to overdose in Prince's death

Cry for help. Prince’s family had concerns the singer was addicted to painkillers in the months before his death, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported today. An addiction treatment expert flew from California to Minneapolis at the request of the Prince’s family the night before he was found unresponsive in an elevator at his home. Prince never got to meet with the expert, who arrived the next morning in time to call 911 when workers in the house found his body. Police are still investigating Prince’s official cause of death.

Ultimate sacrifice. The Defense Department has identified the Navy SEAL killed in action fighting Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq as Petty Officer 1st Class Charles Keating. Keating, 31, was an Arizona native and high-school track standout who attended Indiana University on a track scholarship. He left college to join the SEALs and after a previous tour of duty worked at a base in Coronado, Calif., instructing snipers, The Wall Street Journal reported. Keating was assisting Peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq when he was killed. He was the third U.S. service member killed in the fight against ISIS.

Personal inspection. President Barack Obama visits Flint, Mich., today to see for himself the effects of the city’s lead-tainted water crisis. He plans to meet with local officials and families affected by the contamination. The Environmental Protection Agency, which operates under the president’s oversight, has come under fire for its slow response to reports of lead poisoning in Flint. Obama plans to ask Congress for more funding to upgrade the water infrastructure in Flint and meet residents’ healthcare needs.

Free to frack. The Colorado Supreme Court this week overturned fracking restrictions imposed by two cities. Fort Collins had imposed a five-year moratorium on the practice for extracting oil and natural gas. Longmont banned fracking outright. In the fracking process, crews inject a high-pressure mix of water and chemicals underground to crack open rock formations, making it easier to recover oil and gas. The court said the state has primary authority to regulate energy, rendering the local rules unenforceable and invalid. The unanimous ruling addressed only state versus city and county rules. It was not an opinion about fracking itself. Localities still have zoning jurisdiction over where energy development can occur.

Preventable deaths. A new study in BMJ found human error in hospitals could be the third leading cause of death in the United States. Doctors from Johns Hopkins Hospital studied death rates and estimated 251,457 deaths occur each year as a result of medical errors. The researchers noted hospitals have little incentive to report medical errors to the public, and therefore systemic fixes that could prevent hospital mishaps are often left undone.

WORLD Radio’s Mary Reichard contributed to this report.