Hoarder update

I visited Kenneth Epstein's house Saturday afternoon and for a second time, he said he was too busy to talk to me. Nor would he talk to me if he was not so busy, he said bitterly. "You can write whatever you like about me."

He was busy washing his ski poles, apparently in an effort to salvage them and prevent them from going into the 1-800-GOT-JUNK trucks for things to be hauled away.

Ironically, considering Las Vegas officials say this is the worst case of hoarding they'd ever seen, a worker was tossing a vacuum cleaner into the truck when I walked up. Meanwhile, a steady stream of cars were driven slowly by the home.

So far, Friday and Saturday, nearly 10 trucks have hauled away items from the house in Sun City Summerlin. City of Las Vegas spokesman David Riggleman said they removed five refrigerators filled with food so rancid it had liquified.

The dead cat count is now up to five and nine cats have been captured by Animal Control.

The workers trying to remove items from the home are 25 percent through the living room and 75 percent through the kitchen, Riggleman said.

A second shipping container has been brought in to contain the items Epstein wants to keep, and the containers will be fumigated before the stuff is returned to him.

Except for the incident Friday when Epstein locked himself in the house when workers tried to enter the house to remove stuff authorized under an administrative warrant, he has been cooperative.