Society

Two Hopkinsville men will serve prison time for trafficking prescription drugs from Florida to Kentucky. Circuit Judge Andrew Self sentenced 24-year-old Cary Alder and 26-year-old Scotty Highsmith to ten and fifteen years respectively. The two men are suspected of transporting more than 3,000 Oxycodone pills by mail.  27-year-old Peter Nibert of Pasco County, Florida was also convicted in connection to the case.

Prosecutors say a drug deal gone wrong was the motive for a shooting in Graves County last week that left two dead and one injured. At a preliminary hearing yesterday, Graves County Sheriff’s Detective Brad Smith testified that witnesses said Ashley Lambert of Dublin took money from Jacob Carder and Kenon Andrews to purchase methamphetamine for them. A week later, Lambert had neither the drugs nor the money, so Carder and Andrews confronted her. The incident left 25-year old Lambert, 22-year old Jonathon Cagle, and 18-year old Whitley Moore shot in the head. Only Moore survived.

Calloway County is the third healthiest county in Kentucky according to a new online report from The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Police in Hopkinsville have arrested eight middle school students accused of beating a 15-year old boy. Hopkinsville Police Officer Paul Ray says an investigation found the beating was part of a youth gang initiation. The incident took place on March 22nd. Ray says the boy didn't immediately tell his parents and it was a day or two before he was treated. And when his parents discovered what happened, they called police. Ray says the attack occurred after school and not on school grounds. The accused teen are being held at a youth detention center in Paducah. 

The canine distemper virus among Hopkins County dogs is on the rise. Dr. Monroe Slaton of Madisonville Veterinary Clinic doesn’t usually see cases of the respiratory virus which causes fever, loss of appetite and nasal discharge.  He attributes the rise in the rate of distemper to new dog owners neglecting to get their pets vaccinated. Slaton says most of the cases are coming from people who have adopted dogs from animal shelters.  The disease spreads to dogs by air, contact, and water.