Author: CNN Newsource

By Jennifer Baileys

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    LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) — Need a drill, sewing machine or even a lawnmower, but don’t want to buy one?

A Louisville nonprofit is offering a solution that works just like a traditional library, except instead of books, it lends out household items.

The Louisville Tool Library operates on a simple concept: Share resources so people don’t have to own everything themselves. While it may sound new, founding volunteer Shelby Rodeffer said tool libraries have been around for decades.

“A lot of people think we came up with the concept, but tool libraries have been around since the end of World War II,” Rodeffer said.

The Louisville Tool Library opened in Shelby Park in the summer of 2022 and has continued to grow. Everything inside the space, from the tools to the shelving, lights and computers, has been donated.

The library functions much like a traditional one, but with power tools, sewing machines, lawn equipment, camping gear and more. Unlike a public library, there is a membership fee, though Rodeffer said the cost is designed to be accessible for everyone.

“We’re sustained by membership fees that are sliding scale,” she said. “You could pay a minimum of $20 for a year, or you could pay 0.1% of your income.”

Inside the library, items are organized into three main sections: home, outdoor and traditional tools. Members may also borrow things like label makers, laminators, audio equipment, kitchen appliances and hobby kits, including rock tumbling and glass-cutting kits.

Rodeffer said the idea is especially helpful in neighborhoods where storage space is limited.

“In this neighborhood, it’s a lot of shotgun homes without garages. And you still have a yard, but it might only be 10 feet wide. And it doesn’t really make sense to own a lawnmower. Like, do you keep that in your living room, or where does it go? So this way, everyone owns this lawnmower together. We’re all responsible for the upkeep of it through our membership fees and through taking care of things while you have them borrowed,” she said.

Rodeffer added that the library is about more than saving money. It also focuses on education, sustainability and building community.

“This space is meant for you to try something out,” she said. “There’s no risk, but there’s a lot to gain by trying something for the first time.”

The Louisville Tool Library currently has about 2,500 donated items, nearly 400 active members and a volunteer network of around 80 people.

The library is open Wednesdays from 5 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The organization is always looking for volunteers and donations.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Jack Thurston

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    MONTPELIER, Vermont (WPTZ) — Vermont’s first-ever “kid governor” began her one-year term in office on Monday, following an inauguration ceremony at the Vermont State House in Montpelier. Roslyn Fortin of Highgate was sworn in along with members of her youth cabinet from around the state.

Fortin won an election for fifth graders last fall that more than 1,000 Vermont students voted in. As reported on NBC5 In Depth in December, the Kid Governor program was designed by the Connecticut Democracy Center and is run locally by the office of Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas. It asks fifth graders to identify a problem in their community and lay out a vision to solve it.

Fortin will work on projects like a 5 K and food and clothing drives to support people experiencing homelessness.

“These actions may seem simple, but when we work together, they can create real change,” Fortin said in her inaugural address. “I believe when we come together with kindness and compassion, even small actions can make a big difference. You do not have to be Kid Governor to make a difference. Every act of kindness, big or small, helps Vermont become a better place to live, learn, and grow.”

Other finalists in the Vermont Kid Governor election will serve as Fortin’s cabinet members. The cabinet members are Karin Ashley of the Barnet School, Phoebe Bingham of Red Fox Community School in Manchester, Westyn Danforth of Bradford Elementary, Rumano Hassan of Champlain Elementary in Burlington, Gaelen McNaughton of the Weathersfield School, and Lincoln Ratta of Lincoln Community School. Each has their own priorities, including youth mental health and preventing bullying, which the cabinet members will work with the secretary of state’s office to address.

“At the end of the day, this program is preparing kids to be voters when they are adults,” Copeland Hanzas said. “I can’t wait to see what happens when these fifth graders turn 18 and take on the world.”

After the swearing-in ceremony, Fortin and her cabinet members met with Gov. Phil Scott, R-Vt. Scott heard from the elementary schoolers’ about their advocacy projects and shared some interesting history facts with them about the Vermont State House.

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By Stephanie Moore

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    LAVONIA, Georgia (WYFF) — A doctor was arrested inside a Georgia hospital after a confrontation with a patient he had done surgery on that morning, according to Lavonia police.

A report from the Lavonia Police Department said on Thursday an officer was called to St. Mary’s Hospital about a dispute between a patient and a surgeon.

A patient at the hospital said she was on the phone with her surgeon, Steven Muscoreil, about her procedure and Muscoreil “became angry and raised his voice at her,” the report said.

The patient told the officer that Muscoreil then came to her room and “charged toward her in an aggressive manner as if he was going to strike her, got into her face, and began yelling,” the report said. The patient said Muscoreil was shaking his finger inches from her face and yelling loud enough for hospital staff outside the room to hear.

The officer spoke with two nurses who corroborated the patient’s statements.

One nurse told the officer she had to physically intervene and push Muscoreil away from the patient.

Both nurses said Muscoreil was “extremely angry.”

Muscoreil was charged with simple assault and taken to jail.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Jessica Brown

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    BOSTON (WCVB) — Kevin Morrison always felt at home and at his best in high-stress situations.

He’s got boxes of awards, photos, and trading pins that he collected during a legendary career on a hockey rink and a softball diamond.

“If I’m going to umpire, you’re going to notice me,” Morrison said. “Always hustling like crazy.”

So as an umpire, he’s in the USA Softball of Massachusetts Hall of Fame.

As a dad, he’s raised two exceptional student-athletes.

“This is Michael’s rookie card from Topps when he made it to the NHL with the Oilers,” he said, pointing to a framed photo of his son, Michael Morrison, a former NHL goaltender.

But at age 76, Morrison now faces Stage 4 prostate cancer.

It’s his fiercest competition yet.

His doctor recommended chemotherapy.

“And that’s where it went to hell,” he said.

The hell was in his stomach.

Suddenly, Morrison was at his worst.

“They’d say, ‘What’s your pain? Compare 1 to 10, what do you have?'” he told doctors. “I said, ‘I have a 10.'”

Doctors prescribed pills. They didn’t work.

Doctors ordered tests. They showed his prostate cancer responding well to treatment, but no clear source for his stomach pain.      

Morrison’s wife, Rose, was worried.

“It was just getting worse and worse and worse,” she said. “He was losing more and more weight, more and more hope.”

Morrison was desperate — and becoming despondent.

“No one knew what this 10 was and how to get rid of it,” he said. “No one knew. Now I know, I’m at the end of the line with this, so now to figure this out, I’m ready to go to a florist, a gas station, anywhere. I’ll go anywhere to take this away.”

His doctor sent him to Dr. Tamara Vesel, the chief of palliative care at Tufts Medical Center.

“When he walked in, it was very clear to us that he was suffering a tremendous amount,” she said.

Vesel reviewed his medical file, then asked him to tell his story.

She learned about umpiring, being a goalie dad, and the stomach cramp he sometimes felt when he was stressed.

“I saw a pattern,” Vesel said. “The pains went away as soon as he stopped doing his umpire business and came back a decade later when his son was a player. Again, they went away. Then, during cancer care, they returned back.”

She diagnosed Morrison with chronic visceral pain, a common condition that has different triggers, such as inflammation, blockages, and — in Kevin’s case — stress.

The intensity can vary, but many people describe it as a deep ache or pressure.

She prescribed a medication called nortriptyline.

It’s been used for decades to treat depression, but researchers found it also controls this type of pain.

Morrison was ready to try anything.

“They could have given me a quart of gasoline,” he said. “It wouldn’t have mattered.”

The change was immediate.

“Miracle, miracle,” he said. “Within a year, I had a full head of hair, no pain. I was eating like a hog and I’m back to 205 pounds.”

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Rachael Perry

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    BOCA RATON, Florida (WPBF) — A retired firefighter said he was assaulted by a man while protesting against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

WPBF 25 News spoke with the victim, Luis Garcia, a retired Boynton Beach firefighter, who was attending the anti-ICE protest in Boca Raton on Saturday. Garcia said the suspect, Thomas Landry, aggressively approached him, accusing him of stolen valor.

“He immediately came up to me, I’m holding an American flag, and he’s immediately spitting out, screaming, you’re not a real fireman. Where do you work? Where do you work?” Garcia said.

Garcia maintains that Landry punched him in the chest before Garcia can be heard telling nearby protesters to video the incident and call 911.

“That’s a video segment you see. And then I’m backing up, I just tell him to back up, and he just comes at me again, swinging for my head, but I turned slightly. So he managed to knock my firefighter helmet off my head,” he said.

Before approaching Garcia, the police report shows Landry is accused of knocking a sign out of a woman’s hand.

Garcia told WPBF 25 News he has since seen comments of people asking why he didn’t defend himself.

“We were right next to a moving lane of traffic. That would have been pretty stupid. He could have gotten hurt. I could have gotten hurt. We both could have gotten killed,” Garcia said.

At the time of the incident, Garcia was wearing his firefighter helmet and an International Association of Fire Fighters t-shirt. He said Landry continued to yell at him while accusing him of stolen valor.

“He felt it was within his right to attack me because he was also starting to scream stolen valor, stolen valor. He and his wife were yelling at us, calling us illegals, saying we had stolen valor. And I get it. He thought I was just some fat middle-aged guy who bought a helmet online and a t-shirt,” Garcia said.

He explained his T-shirt is from the 2020 campaign supporting former president Joe Biden.

“My belief system is that if I served in the U.S. Marine Corps, I have the right to stand there with an American flag. If I’m a U.S. citizen, I have nothing to be afraid of. If I spent 28 years saving lives, protecting property, helping people, and going into burning buildings, I certainly have earned the right to wear my retiree helmet, even at a political protest,” he told WPBF.

Garcia said Landry seemed fixated on his shirt and couldn’t let it go.

“I’m doing nothing wrong. I’m not impersonating anybody. But he was sure in his mind that there’s no way I could be a real firefighter or a retired firefighter,” he said.

While the incident was shocking, Garcia said he’s dealt with similar issues in the past.

“I’ve encountered Trump supporters who spit in my face, tear my sign out of my hand, and push me, trying to get me to fall to the ground, but it’s always been face-to-face. This is a weird dynamic now that he came up behind me,” he said.

Garcia said he’s been protesting against the Trump administration for several years.

“I think just in the last year, I’ve seen an increase of more people being aggressive and confrontational,” he said. “Just ignore us. If you don’t agree with us, you can shoot the bird, you can say Go Trump, whatever. Drive by. You don’t need to park and sneak up behind us. But I’ve definitely seen a dramatic shift in the last year.”

Deputies with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office were nearby and arrested Garcia, who has now been charged with two misdemeanors. PBSO, which was nearby, was contacted and Landry was arrested on suspicion of battery of Garcia and a woman.

Garcia said he didn’t sustain any injuries but says the incident left him shaken and even feeling a little sorry for Landry.

“In five, 10, 15 years, we’re all going to look back and think about whatever our experience was. Maybe some of us will be proud that we stood up for either side, whatever you believe in on either side. Maybe some people will look back and say with shame that maybe they were misled. And maybe somebody will realize I shouldn’t have attacked other people. At the end of the day, we’re all human beings. We’re all Americans,” Garcia said.

Landry was booked in the Palm Beach County jail and has since bonded out.

A spokesperson for the PBSO said the majority of participants complied with lawful directives and remained within designated protest areas, and no widespread issues involving traffic disruption, property damage, or disorderly conduct were observed.

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By Gail Paschall-Brown

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    BREVARD COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — John Brittingham rescued two toddlers who wandered into the middle of busy A1A traffic in Brevard County on Sunday, reuniting them with their unaware parents.

Brittingham stopped traffic with one hand and scooped up the toddlers along the busy road.

“I was terrified thinking of what could have happened to them. The rest of my life would have been ruined,” Brittingham said.

He was driving home southbound on A1A when he noticed the two little girls in the middle of the road. He immediately pulled over and ran out because one of them was already in the middle of the road. He grabbed that one first and then picked up the second, getting them off the road in about six seconds.

“My adrenaline spiked. I had a migraine when I finally got home. I was drained completely for the rest of the day,” he said.

Dash camera video from his vehicle’s front and rear cameras captured it all.

“You see the dash cam, they put their little arms out, oh my God, they’re adorable,” Brittingham said.

He then went looking for their parents, found an Airbnb, and knocked on the door, but no one answered. He went around the house, yelling for someone, but nobody seemed to hear him.

The girls, who he guessed to be about 2 years old or younger, could only point at things and say, “Ohh.”

Finally, he looked in the back gate, which he said was open. He added that’s how the children got out, and their parents were clueless to the fact that they were gone.

“There was an elderly couple and a young girl, and they immediately went into like, ‘Oh my God, we’re so sorry.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I know, I’m just glad I could get them back to you. They were out in the road, and your gate was open,'” Brittingham said.

Brittingham did not call the police.

“My main concern was to reunite them, and by that time I was glad they were with their parents,” he said.

Bottom line, Brittingham emphasized the importance of watching children. He and his wife have five children and grandchildren.

WESH 2 contacted Cocoa Beach Police and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

Cocoa Beach said it’s not its jurisdiction, and the sheriff’s office said there have been no reports or calls relating to the incident.

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By John Paul

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    YEADON, Pennsylvania (WPVI) — The Yeadon police chief says families across the country are reaching out in fear that their loved ones’ remains may be among more than 100 skeletons authorities say were recovered from the home and storage unit of a Lancaster County man.

“It’s a shock. It’s a shock you have to tell someone their family member is gone,” Yeadon Police Chief Henry Giammarco said.

Giammarco said he spent much of the weekend responding to more than 60 messages from people with relatives buried at Mt. Moriah Cemetery. Some callers reached out from as far away as Hawaii and California, worried that the remains of their family members may have been taken.

“We’re answering phone calls, we’re answering emails because that’s their loved one. That’s important,” Giammarco said. “As I said before, rest in peace is rest in peace.”

Police say Jonathan Gerlach broke into mausoleums and underground crypts on the Yeadon side of Mt. Moriah Cemetery. Last week, investigators revealed that more than 100 skeletons, in various states of decay, were found in Gerlach’s basement and a storage unit. They believe he was selling the remains online.

“To feel violated is putting it, is just the beginning of the feelings,” said former Philadelphia Police Captain Drew Techner.

Techner said he learned from Action News that the mausoleum of his relative, Francis Charlton, had been broken into. Charlton was the son of a Philadelphia City Councilman and operated a coal company before his death in 1908.

“My family has been buried in the cemetery for over 100 years,” Techner said.

He said mausoleums can be difficult to secure and have long been targets for criminals. As a police captain, he recalls investigating similar incidents two decades ago.

“I knew about 20 years ago these mausoleums were being broken into for the intent of burglaries,” he said. “As a former police captain in the city of Philadelphia, I knew what their motive was: it was to go in there and get valuables. But this takes it to a whole new level.”

Gerlach’s preliminary hearing, originally scheduled for Jan. 20, has been postponed. He faces more than 500 charges.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.