A 19-year-old Knox man was arrested Saturday after police found approximately 12 grams of suspected heroin in his possession.
An officer from the Knox City Police Department pulled over a vehicle driven by Matthew Norem in the area of Lake Street and Main Street as the vehicle’s exhaust was too loud and the registration returned expired.
Another step has been completed in the process of building a new Starke County jail as the commissioners yesterday morning decided to proceed with the site across from Sabre Manufacturing on Highway 8 near 550 East.
The commissioners had been looking at four to five sites as possibilities before ultimately deciding on this location. Commissioner Dan Bridegroom voted against the motion and said that the building that his fellow commissioners were in favor of is larger than necessary. He said the extra square footage will result in higher heating and cooling bills, which could add up to an expense of millions of dollars over the years.
A final decision as to the location of the new Starke County jail facility is expected today, as the Starke County Commissioners have planned a special session to discuss that topic and several others.
An overwhelming number of Starke County residents turned out for last week’s public hearing to voice their concern and opposition to the proposed location. While it was said that no matter where the jail is located somebody is going to be upset about it, several attendees had specific concerns including property values near the jail, traffic issues due to the proximity of Sabre Manufacturing, and public safety for residents who live near the proposed location.
The Starke County Commissioners will meet tomorrow at 9 a.m. for a special session to discuss the location of the new county jail facility and other topics.
A public meeting held last week revealed a number of community concerns regarding the proposed location of the jail facility on Highway 8 near the intersection of 550 East. The opposition centered around three main concerns, including public safety, property values, and traffic on Highway 8 and 550 East.
The Starke County Commissioners this week met with the county council for a discussion regarding the proposed site for the new county jail facility. A huge public turnout filled the meeting room with concerned residents who were uneasy about the idea of having a jail for their neighbor.
Commissioner Kathy Norem explained that they’ve looked at a number of properties over the last several months as prospective jail sites, but the top contender at the moment is a piece of property located at the intersection of State Road 8 and 550 East.
The Starke County Jail Committee has found a suitable piece of property, but what happens now? Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem said that while they have found a useable location, they have not yet decided on whether or not to purchase it.
“We’ve looked at a number of properties over the last couple of months as prospective jail sites, but the one that is a very strong contender right now is a piece of property located at the intersection of State Road 8 and 550 East,” said Norem.
The initial hearing for a woman accused of trying to smuggle contraband into the Starke County Jail was held last week in the Starke Circuit Court.
Lindsey Dennis pleaded not guilty to a charge of Attempting Trafficking With an Inmate as a Class C felony and denied allegations that she had helped to hide a controlled substance inside a deodorant container to smuggle into the jail.
Four people were arrested late last night after the Starke County Dispatch Center received a phone call of individuals manufacturing methamphetamine at a residence.
Knox City Police officers arrived at 406 E. John Street and took two people into custody on outstanding warrants. The pair were transported to the Starke County Jail and when police returned to the residence, an active methamphetamine lab was located inside the residence. Two more people were arrested after further investigation into the incident.
A Knox man was recently arrested after he allegedly stole items from vehicles parked at Community Services of Starke County.
Knox City Police officers were called to Community Services of Starke County after the suspect, Matthew Lemarr, was reportedly seen going through vehicles in the parking lot and items were coming up missing.
Starke County Sheriff Oscar Cowen is reviewing video tape of an incident that occurred at the Starke County Jail Sunday night.
According to Cowen, a piece of concrete fell through the ceiling in the lobby at the jail which reportedly injured a visitor. The incident happened during visiting hours at the jail.
A Knox man was arrested Tuesday after allegedly driving drunk.
Jack Stoddard, Jr. was reportedly driving his vehicle around 1:30 a.m. when he lost control of his vehicle at the intersection of County Road 25 North and County Road 600 East. Officers arrived on scene and found Stoddard and a female passenger out of the vehicle. Stoddard told police that he lost control of the vehicle during an argument with his girlfriend.
On Monday, it is alleged that Jason Cooke entered the property of Linda Draper and she ordered him off the property. Cooke had reportedly exited a vehicle and walked onto the property and said he needed to speak with Draper’s son. She told Cooke that he was not welcome on the property and to leave. He then said he was going to talk to him anyway and continued on her property and into the house. Draper then called police and he left the property. He was eventually taken into custody and arrested on preliminary charges of Criminal Trespass and Residential Entry.
The state called three witnesses to the stand throughout the course of the trial, including the victim in the case, along with the dispatcher and the detective. The defendant called only himself as a witness.
The Starke County Commissioners this week approved two contracts regarding the proposed construction of a new Starke County jail facility.
One contract was signed with Skillman Corporation, who will be handling the construction of the facility. The local on-site construction manager will be Bob Chorba, a Starke County resident. Chorba currently works with Skillman, and has been the project manager for several projects handled by Skillman. A contract was also signed with DLZ, the architectural firm that will be handling the design aspects of the facility.
Council President David Pearman says the motion passed 5–1, and they will now be able to move on to the next step in the process.
The Starke County Commissioners and the Starke County Council will meet tonight at 6 p.m. to discuss the proposed jail project.
Council President David Pearman said the council and the commissioners hope to approve a proposed ordinance that would enable the officials to utilize a 0.65 percent tax rate that would help fund the construction of a new jail facility.
Once the ordinance is approved, Pearman said the project will start to take shape
With the Starke County Jail construction project pending, Starke County Sheriff Oscar Cowen and the county officials are still dealing with overcrowding issues in the jail. Some inmates are being housed in the Pulaski County Jail, per an agreement, to help in the overcrowding situation.
Starke County Council President David Pearman said that he hopes that agreement will continue until the new jail is built.
“The state has certified our jail for 62 beds and as we approach that number, we will continue to house inmates outside our jail in another facility. Hopefully, Pulaski County will want to continue working with us.”
An internal investigation is being conducted into allegations of how an inmate was injured in the Starke County Jail.
Starke County Sheriff Oscar Cowen confirmed that an inmate was injured while incarcerated in the jail. Luther Lovins had been arrested by North Judson police on July 12 for a charge of Disorderly Conduct. He was released on July 26.
The last in a series of public meetings concerning the Starke County Jail project is tonight at 6 p.m. CT at the North Judson-San Pierre High School Auditorium.
The DLZ Corporation will provide construction options and Umbaugh and Associates will discuss the financing options.
In the first meeting, DLZ presented the jail committee and those in attendance with the proposal for a new 32,406 square foot jail facility that could be built on a site of anywhere from four to 10 acres, at an estimated cost of $14 million. Umbaugh and Associates revealed that in order to fund this project, the county would issue bonds with a 20 year maturity at $1.18 million annually. Income taxes would finance these bonds with an increase of 0.65 percent of adjusted gross income.
The arrangement to house a number of Starke County inmates in the Pulaski County Jail to ease the overcrowding situation in the Starke County facility seems to be going well, according to Pulaski County Sheriff Michael Gayer.
“So far it’s been going really well,” said Gayer. “The inmates haven’t caused any additional work. We’re set up to house 127 inmates, we were down to about 50 when this agreement came into play, so things are going well so far.”
Pulaski County is housing the inmates for the agreed upon cost of $20 a day per inmate. The jail staff is then responsible for housing the inmates, providing their meals and issuing their necessary medications. Sheriff Gayer said there were 13 inmates in the jail yesterday, and the number of inmates ranges from 13 to 15 a day.
