Misty Combs and her office colleagues knew something was wrong when they observed a large raccoon pacing in a nearby parking lot one morning, a report from The Washington Post stated. After looking into a dumpster filled with rainwater and fermented peaches from a local distillery, they located two small raccoons.

They successfully used a shovel to lift one raccoon out of the dumpster, and it quickly ran away with the larger one, The Washington Post reported. The second small raccoon, however, was in critical condition: It was soaking wet, smelled of moonshine, and was barely breathing. The colleagues of Combs thought it was deceased.

Video: The heroic CPR efforts on the racoon / Social media

"Not on my watch," Combs, a nurse, recalled herself thinking, according to The Washington Post. "I'm going to try to do whatever I can do to save it." Combs, who is trained in CPR for humans but not animals, bent over the raccoon and started giving it animated stomach compressions while repeatedly yelling, "Come on, baby! Come on."

After one or two minutes, the raccoon began spitting up water, kicking its legs, and sticking its tongue out. Combs continued to pat its back until its breathing appeared normal. Since the Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg, Kentucky, first reported the story, Combs, 43, has become a local hero.

"I couldn't leave that baby in the dumpster knowing it was drowning, you know?" Combs told The Washington Post. "That's just a part of me: to save lives and to help wherever I can."

Employees at the Letcher County Health Department in Whitesburg sometimes notice an adult raccoon and two smaller raccoons under a nearby bridge. On Aug. 14, however, the adult raccoon was alone and seemed to be in distress near the dumpster.

The employees heard chittering sounds from inside the dumpster and saw the two animals. The neighboring Kentucky Mist Distillery had thrown large bags of fermented peaches inside. The distillery creates an infused peach moonshine that it advertises as "a golden blend of the freshest peaches grown in the southern region of Appalachia."

Combs noted that the first raccoon was on top of the peach bags, so it was easy to scoop out with the shovel. The other raccoon, though, was stuck further down in the rainwater.

Combs pulled the cold, unconscious mammal out by its tail. As a mother to Ford, 22, and Farrah, 19, Combs said her maternal instincts took over. She laid the raccoon on its back in the parking lot and started to compress its stomach with her bare hands.

Combs was careful about getting too close; she worried the raccoon–an animal that frequently carries rabies–might bite her if it awoke. Once it started spitting out water, someone off-camera said, "Oh, it's puking."

Then Combs turned the raccoon onto its right side and patted its back for about five minutes to help clear water from its lungs. Her colleagues wrapped it in a beige towel.

The coworkers of Combs called local animal control, which put the raccoon in a cage. Combs took the caged animal to a mechanical room in the back of her office building, where it remained until the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources arrived.

The colleagues and Combs named the raccoon Otis Campbell, based on the fictional character known as the "town drunk" in the 1960s television show "The Andy Griffith Show."

Colin Fultz, the owner of the Kentucky Mist Distillery, said he had "a scary few hours" after learning about the intoxicated raccoon but was relieved the mammal survived. He mentioned that he requested a lidded dumpster from the city so other animals do not jump in and drink from it.

After a veterinarian aided the raccoon's recovery, a wildlife official returned the animal to the parking lot the next morning. There, Combs took a photograph with the raccoon and opened its cage. "Don't bite me," she said before the raccoon ran by her, into the grass, and toward the base of the bridge.

Combs and her colleagues called out their goodbyes to Otis.

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A member of a Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Kentucky was injured following an anti-Semitic incident on Saturday night, according to multiple reports.

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Ahead of a menorah-lighting for the third night of Hanukkah a driver pulled up to the congregation and verbally abused the congregants.

When a community member walked up to the driver's side door, the driver grabbed the man, dragged him for a block, and ran his car over the man's leg. The vehicle then sped off.

The injured man was taken to the hospital, but not before the lighting as to "not allow darkness to quench our light." He was released on Sunday morning, reported local CBS affiliate WKYT.

Lexington Police said they are investigating the incident and trying to find the vehicle and driver.

"The anti-Semitic attack reported Saturday night outside of the Jewish Student Center is an outrage," Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear tweeted. "This hate has absolutely no place in the commonwealth as we build a better Kentucky that is fair and equitable for all of our people."

The anti-Semitic attack reported Saturday night outside of the Jewish Student Center is an outrage. This hate has absolutely no place in the commonwealth as we build a better Kentucky that is fair and equitable for all of our people. (1 of 2) https://t.co/0g2pfp6gHB

— Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) December 13, 2020

"My thoughts are with the victim and the Chabad of the Bluegrass," tweeted Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and called the incident "sickening and unacceptable."

In a tweet, Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton posted, "Racism and religious persecution have no place here. Police have started an investigation into the criminal incident at Chabad of the Bluegrass on Saturday. Those who violated the law will be prosecuted. Let's join in the spirit of Chanukah, a celebration of good over evil."

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The Chabad at the University of Kentucky's Jewish Student Center has been subjected to multiple vandalism incidents, including to its menorah, in recent months.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org

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"Kentucky condemns the #BDS movement and refuses to tolerate boycott-related tactics used to threaten the sovereignty and security of @Israel or other allies of the United States," tweeted Gov. Matt Bevin.

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"My colleagues and I condemn the BDS movement, and we have sent a letter to the Office of Foreign Asset Control requesting an update on the federal government's oversight of non-governmental organizations engaged in anti-Semitic hate against our allies in Israel and the Jewish people worldwide," said Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) at the bill's signing ceremony.

StandWithUs CEO and co-founder Roz Rothstein tweeted that the enactment was "great news."

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations also applauded the Aug. 27 move.

The legislation codified into law an executive order that Bevin signed in November to prohibit awarding state contractors who partake in the anti-Israel movement.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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According to The New Yorker, the invitation was delivered by Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) during a meeting with Zarif in New York on July 15.

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Trump reportedly signed off on the diplomatic overture on July 14 while playing golf with the senator, who worked with the State Department and the White House for weeks trying to arrange a meeting between the two.

Zarif, who was in Manhattan for a series of meetings at the United Nations, reportedly told Paul he could not unilaterally accept the White House invitation without first consulting with Tehran.

Zarif later told the magazine he was not interested in attending a White House meeting that yielded nothing more than a photo op and a statement, The New Yorker said.

Trump has publicly reiterated his willingness to hold talks with the Iranians even as he lambastes Tehran as a corrupt, incompetent and dangerous regime that threatens regional security and US interests.

Trump pulled the US out of an international accord designed to curb Iran's nuclear program last year, and has since reimposed sanctions on Iran, even slapping them on Zarif personally last week, in an effort to force it to renegotiate the agreement.

Tensions soared in the Persian Gulf in June and July amid a series of attacks on oil tankers and Iran's downing of an unmanned US surveillance drone .

Trump has said the attack on the US drone prompted him to order a military strike in response, only to call it off at the last minute.

A White House spokesperson declined to provide comment on the invitation to The New Yorker.

This article was originally published by i24NEWS.

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