Kentucky SAVE is an animal rescue operating out of For Paws Unleashed in Madison County. The groups also work closely with the Madison County Animal Shelter.

For Paws went into the shelter to help get it kind of back up on its feet, get it kind of structured in a better way, said Kentucky SAVE president Ashley Renton. Through that partnership, Kentucky SAVE also partnered with the shelter to work together. It's really beneficial when rescues and shelters can work together, because it's a huge team effort.

While Renton says a lot of work has been done already to improve the county animal shelter, theres still a need for better facilities.

They've tried a lot to make it better, but the outcome is just they need something better, Renton said. Even if it's not new, it just needs to be a better facility.

Kentucky SAVE is hoping to help bring facility improvements by hosting a fundraiser and theyre doing it in a unique way.

We're trying to bring something that we had not heard of that other organizations had done, Renton said.

In order to do something a little bit different, Kentucky SAVE is hosting a casino night at Chenault Vineyards. The funds raised will help the rescue and benefit the Madison County Animal Shelter as well.

It's an evening where people could come out and they can just enjoy an evening of playing different games, Renton said. While you're betting and enjoying the games, all that money that's being raised is going back to these causes.

This will be the second time Kentucky SAVE has put on a casino-style fundraiser event, designed to look like a night in Vegas. Renton says events like this and community support are a big need.

The community has to now step up and say, you know, I didn't like how it was, and I said something and you all changed it, and now we got to support it.

The Kentucky SAVE Casino Night is scheduled at Chenault Vineyards from 7 to 11 p.m. on April 24. You can find more about tickets and donations here.

A former Army combat medic and Eastern Kentucky University alum is impacting the level of care provided by paramedics with an intubation tool he designed. He returned to campus to speak to students and make an equipment contribution to the Emergency Medical Care program.

During his time as a combat medic, Andrew Napier, M.D. saw a lot in a deployment to Afghanistan.

Those are my friends that are out in the rocks in Afghanistan that, you know, we're putting tourniquets on, that we're intervening on to save their life, he said. That's not just a patient, that's not a number, that's my friend.

During this time, Napier saw firsthand the importance, and difficulty, of managing an airway in medicine.

I did watch a soldier succumb to wounds that he sustained a battle because we did not have the right tool to be able to manage his airway, Napier told the students. That moment never left me.

After his service, Napier earned a degree in biomedical sciences from EKU. Combining his experience in the Army with his education, he designed a tool that helps medical professionals see more clearly during the intubation process.

To be able to place a breathing tube you have to be able to see where you're going and what you're doing, he said. To be able to clear off that lens during that intubation changes that game.

Students like Christopher Block, who is a senior in the paramedic program, had the opportunity to learn more about the IntuBlade devices Napier invented.

I think it's a really neat innovative device that hopefully could revolutionize the game, he said. We're supposed to be the future leaders of EMS with the program, that's what they strive for.

Napier announced that IntuBlade will be donating a fleet of its video laryngoscopes to EKU's Emergency Medical Care simulation lab and program for students to use.

We're looking for an opportunity here for us to not just donate devices, it's for us to be able to improve the level of care these paramedics are providing, Napier said.

Less than a week ago, Kentucky officials announced the states budget will continue to match local contributions for Dolly Partons Imagination Library. Since 2023, Better With Books has worked with Imagination Library to send books to kids around Madison County.

Early literacy is of such an importance because it's an indicator of future success, said founder and director Whitney Hamilton.

Hamilton operates Better With Books out of her own home, mailing books to kids around the county each month. Kids who are a part of the program receive these monthly packages from birth until their fifth birthday.

After the discussions about funding at the state level, Hamilton is glad the state decided to continue its dollar-for-dollar match funding.

We are so thankful that they decided to keep all of that fifty-fifty in the budget, she said.

Heres what that means. Each book costs $5.20. The Dollywood Foundation covers half the cost, which is $2.60. The state and groups like Better With Books both split that remaining cost.

They're only having to pay $1.30 per book instead of $2.60 because of that state's 50/50 deal to do that match for us, Hamilton explained.

That match funding is part of what allows Better With Books to send books to around 2,800 kids in the county.

Of those eligible children right now we've only so far been able to reach just under half of those who could be receiving a book, said Hamilton.

While the match funding is sticking around for now, the recent focus on funding has Hamilton working to raise money on a local level through donations and fundraisers.

We're already at about $4000 that we have to secure every month to keep this program running, Hamilton said. Its so worthy of it, but that's not an easy feat.

No matter the cost, however, Hamilton says its worth it.

When a child feels seen and receives a book in the mail addressed to them every single month, that lets them know they matter.

One of the Better With Books fundraisers is coming up on April 25. Its a pickleball tournament fundraiser at Lake Reba. You can learn more at bwb-ky.org.

After days of searching, the Madison County Sheriffs Department captured Christopher Morphis Friday afternoon near a restaurant just off of I-75 in Berea. The sheriffs department says Morphis is the suspect in a shooting and assault that occurred on March 27.

The sheriffs department has been responding to tips of Morphis sightings throughout the week. A Ring doorbell camera captured the 38-year-old over the weekend, and deputies were tipped off about a gas station visit in Richmond on Wednesday.

On Friday around 11 a.m., officers in Berea were alerted to a sighting at a restaurant.

A bystander said that he was approached by who he thought was Christopher Morphis in reference to giving him a ride for $200 out of the city, said Berea Police Department Officer Austin Scholes.

When the attempt at buying a ride proved unsuccessful, Scholes says witnesses told them that Morphis went across the street, past the Dollar General, and to the tree line where he took cover in a drain that goes underneath the road. He hid in a drain culvert.

We set up a perimeter with the Madison County Sheriff's Office, Scholes said.

At that point we just had boots on the ground and uniforms in the wood line and in the creek line until we identified where he was, said Madison County Sheriff's Deputy Jennifer Kermeen.

Kermeen first spotted Morphis as he stuck his head out of one of the culverts in the area. She then headed to her cruiser to get her K-9 dog Spike.

I came down that pathway and I began giving my challenges that were required to give, Madison County Sheriff's Office canine unit, show yourself or you will get dog bit, Kermeen explained. So three times. First one, as I'm still going down the embankment. Second challenge, Spike clears the first culvert, clears the second one, clears the third one, no suspect.

Morphis exited the fourth culvert as Kermeen gave her final warning. Morphis was unarmed when deputies arrested him, after which he was transported to the Madison County Detention Center.

Kermeen never had to let Spike off of the leash, and believes the K-9 challenge led to a peaceful surrender.

We've got exceptional dogs and we've got exceptional handlers, and having that tool at our disposal and on our belt is something that you can't put money on," she said. "There's a huge psychological factor.

Kermeen is thankful for the assistance from other law enforcement agencies around the county as well, and she especially proud of Spike.

It has been a team effort, Kermeen said. I'm thankful for the outcome today and that the community can enjoy the, the Easter weekend.

Morphis was charged with attempted murder, assault, terroristic threatening, strangulation, among other charges.

From firefighters with tenure to those new to the job, one requirement is to pass a series of yearly fire truck driving skill checks. This week, firefighters with the Madison County Fire Department tested their skills at the Blue Grass Army Depot.

Making sure you can handle one of these in good conditions is important, said Jake Fuller, a firefighter and EMT with the Blue Grass Army Depot. Going through some of the obstacles, make sure you can back them up appropriately, know your clearances, know your turning radius, all that, so you don't drop a wheel off the side of a little county road in the middle of a thunderstorm and you're trying to go help somebody that really needs it.

Fuller helped Madison County firefighters navigate the course, which included practicing lane changes, three-point turns, and had cones set up for drivers to navigate a slow serpentine in drive and reverse.

It's a driving course we have to do every year, Madison County Fire Department Chief Tim Gray said. The drivers all have to maintain to be on the fire department.

The practical portion of it... gives them familiarization of the truck, gets you used to just even driving how the truck operates, said Assistant Chief Wayne Adams with the Blue Grass Army Depot Fire Department.

Adams is a drivers trainer and EVOC-certified instructor as well.

To fulfill their requirements, each firefighter has to drive the course in one of the fire engines as well as one of the tanker trucks which Gray said are new to the department.

It's first tandem axle the county's ever had, so everybody's driving it to get familiar with it, he said. It handles a little different than what the other trucks do. Each truck handles different, and that's the reason we have them driving, so everybody learns how that truck handles.

Events like this also build up the mutual aid connection the two fire departments have. They work together for these trainings, and they will assist each other in fire responses on the base and in the county.

We only have one engine crew right here right now, and for most structure fires, that's not even going to start to cut it, Fuller said.

My guys get to respond off base and catch a few fires and help out with the rescues, Adams said. It just makes a lot more knowledge for my guys.

This is just another way that we get to train with one another, added Gray.

A Berea College student is having an international impact by helping physics students around the world learn through a variety of online academic platforms.

Sophomore Aliaksandr "Alex" Melnichenka traces his love of science back to his childhood.

When I was eight-years-old, I tried to assemble a telescope from parts, like attach mirrors together to get the focused image of the moon, Melnichenka said.

As a native of Belarus, that telescope introduced Melnichenka to a world of equations relating to math and physics. It didnt take long for him to join a club to compete in the physics Olympiad. The only problem? Melnichenka had no teacher.

I decided to create the biggest national physics Olympiad platform, he said, So, other people from our club could prepare for the physics Olympiads.

Melnichenka built belpho.org to help his club prepare for the Olympiads. The website became a resource for students all across the country to prepare for the competition as well. Its that experience that inspired another project savchenkosolutions.com.

In the post-Soviet countries, there is a widely known problem textbook named Savchenko Problems in Physics, and for 30 years, no solutions existed, Melnichenka explained.

The Savchenko Solutions platform is collaborative, involving people from around the world. The Savchenko textbook needed translating, and Melnichenka was up to the task.

Soon after we translated the textbook on the English language, the United States became the top three most popular countries that uses our website, he said.

Melnichenka is majoring in physics and mathematics at Berea College now, with a minor in computer science. He enjoys learning, and seeing others learn.

For me the most captivating part is when I see the people who discuss the problems that they cannot solve and another person on the website shares his own thoughts, and the other person understands how the problem could be solved, he said. That's the most interesting part, when I see the real impact on how it helps.

Melnichenka shared that over winter break, he visited Cambridge, Massachusetts to work with professors at MIT. He also turned down a monetary offer for his Savchenko Solutions platform in order to keep it free under Creative Commons.

A Tennessee man is in custody facing attempted murder and other charges after authorities say he shot his girlfriend, assaulted her mother, and evaded police for days in Madison County.

A complaint warrant reads that 38-year-old Christopher Morphis of Lenoir City, Tennessee, surrendered to authorities April 3 near Giovanni's Pizza in Berea. The Madison County Sheriff's Office said Morphis attempted to flee on foot into a culvert but surrendered without incident after being challenged by patrol K-9 Spike. The Berea Police Department and the United States Marshals Service assisted in the arrest.

Morphis faces charges of attempted murder, first-degree assault, fourth-degree assault, first-degree strangulation, failure to comply with sex offender registration, and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.

The charges stem from a March 27 altercation at a home on Kentucky River Drive. According to complaint warrants, Morphis and his girlfriend argued throughout the day after reportedly consuming alcohol, the warrant reports.

The warrant states the woman retrieved a revolver to defend herself, but Morphis grabbed the gun, allegedly shot her in the leg, and struck her in the head with the firearm. Morphis also allegedly strangled her twice until she began to black out.

When the woman's mother attempted to call 911, Morphis reportedly grabbed the phone, breaking two of her fingers. The warrant alleges Morphis then pointed the gun at the woman's head and threatened to kill her, stating he had killed three people and did not care to kill more. Authorities noted Morphis fired all six shots from the revolver before fleeing.

Morphis fled the scene in a Chevrolet Astro van, which deputies later found abandoned with two flat tires on Carver's Ferry Road. Despite searches using K-9 units and drones, and a doorbell camera sighting early Saturday morning, Morphis eluded capture until his arrest in Berea.

Court documents also reveal Morphis is a registered sex offender in Tennessee and had been living in Kentucky for at least a month without registering. The firearm used in the incident has not been recovered.

Morphis' bond is set at $350,000 in total for both cases.