Republican gubernatorial candidate Ernie Fletcher unveiled a three-part approach to battling the growing Kentucky drug problem Friday during a brief stop at the Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport. A crowd of 40 people gathered in the airport lobby where Fletcher and running mate Steve Pence discussed the devastating impact of methamphetamine in western Kentucky while offering to improve the state's drug education, enforcement and rehabilitation efforts. Funds to pay for the initiative would likely surface after a reorganization of state spending and through federal grants, and without creating a larger bureaucracy, Fletcher said. [continues 455 words]
WHITESBURG -- As a nurse in eastern Kentucky, Diane Watts is all too familiar with the ear-piercing screams of drug addicts suffering through withdrawal. Comforting them through the pain and tremors has become a regular part of her job in the obstetrics unit at Whitesburg Appalachian Regional Hospital. The number of infants born addicted to prescription drugs like OxyContin and methadone has sharply increased over the past year. In the newest twist to the prescription drug epidemic in the mountain region, hospitals have found themselves doubling as detox centers for babies hooked on powerful narcotics. [continues 505 words]
The debate over punishment versus treatment for drug offenders, from an ideological perspective, is one that has strong arguments on both sides of the issue. But study after study show that, without adequate treatment, all the enforcement in the world isn't going to alleviate the growing drug problem. That's bad news for Owensboro, because in terms of treatment options, this community is lacking. That was the assessment of an assistant U.S. attorney, who in the midst of an all-out assault on meth two years ago, said treatment options were limited, and those available weren't very successful. [continues 398 words]
Anti-Drug Program Puts More Emphasis on Decision-Making The centerpiece for the Kentucky D.A.R.E. Association's annual in-service training this week at the Executive Inn Rivermont is the first change in the D.A.R.E. curriculum since 1994. "The major change is the focus is now on decision-making skills," said Bruce Olin, the state D.A.R.E. coordinator and a Kentucky State Police trooper. "You teach a child to make good decisions and give them a process to follow. It's a learned trait." [continues 367 words]
Osborne: 'Need Is Here' for Treatment Proposal Daviess County Jailer David Osborne is hoping to turn a vacant jail building into an intensive substance abuse program for county inmates. Momentum appears to be growing, he says. Osborne is gathering feedback and support for the proposed project. Support has already arrived from the jail's psychiatrist, Community Solutions for Substance Abuse, representatives of the local Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse Policy (Ky-ASAP) and Gary Hall, senior director of the regional prevention center. [continues 830 words]
Residents Urge Drug Task Force During five years as the Daviess County Sheriff's Department's lone narcotics investigator, Detective Sgt. Jim Acquisto has had a front row seat as the county's methamphetamine presence has escalated from a growing problem into a widespread epidemic. Acquisto has seen children inside a home filled with meth fumes, men arrested up to three times for making meth, a pregnant woman using the drug and another woman, in the grip of a powerful addiction, who opted to put her child up for adoption rather than try to rehabilitate, he said. [continues 610 words]
A group of residents concerned about police manpower shortages and the proliferation of drugs unveiled a presentation Thursday before Daviess Fiscal Court with hopes of garnering support for a drug task force among city and county law enforcement. A drug task force would focus exclusively on drugs throughout Daviess County, allowing the officers to gather intelligence, work with an assigned prosecutor and have access to a lab technician to eliminate the occasional one-year backlog of evidence analysis, according to the presentation. [continues 492 words]
Since Steve Pence is a last minute addition to the GOP ticket, folks around here haven't seen much of him in the campaign for lieutenant governor. However, he was in town on Monday speaking to a crowd of jailers and deputies at the Kentucky Jailers Association conference. That appearance unfortunately told us a lot about him, and about the deceptive campaign we're likely to see in the fall. Pence's speech included an ample share of political rhetoric, and that's to be expected. But in the middle of the plentiful promises and even more plentiful barbs there were a few outrageous untruths -- that's something I don't think you should have to tolerate as a voter, and a record I feel I need to correct as your state senator. [continues 463 words]
Prosecutors and police working to fight the proliferation of methamphetamine fear that a Kentucky Supreme Court ruling on Thursday could greatly complicate their efforts to arrest and punish makers of the drug. The 4-3 ruling said that to be charged with manufacturing meth, someone must have all the necessary equipment or ingredients. A defendant possessing some but not all the equipment or chemicals could be prosecuted for criminal attempt, the court said. Assistant Daviess County Commonwealth's Attorney Ken Nall had not yet read the court's ruling Thursday, but he said the ramifications would likely be felt throughout western Kentucky. [continues 601 words]
Agency Tackling Drug, Alcohol Issues After many months of planning, Community Solutions for Substance Abuse has received its first grant to tackle drug and alcohol issues in the community. The organization recently received $14,850 to be allocated among four area agencies and one school system to provide prevention services to youths. "Our mission is to work with others who are implementing programs and have needs," said Debbie Zuerner Johnson, executive director of the organization since May 12. "We want to be the vehicle to help secure dollars to put back into this community, whether it's for prevention, intervention or treatment of substance abuse." [continues 403 words]
Daviess, McCracken, Warren see increasing demands Sheriff's departments throughout western Kentucky say they juggle the demands of urban sprawl, methamphetamine and homeland security concerns with patrol staffs that have remained largely unchanged during the past 10 years. Daviess, McCracken and Warren county sheriff's departments could double the size of their road patrols and still fall below the recommended national averages of two officers per 1,000 residents. At full strength, the Daviess County Sheriff's Department will have a patrol force of 21 officers who respond to crashes and calls for help. Currently, the department has 19 officers and is awaiting two new recruits who will graduate from the police academy this month. [continues 934 words]
GREENVILLE -- For Steve Hendrix, the trip to Muhlenberg County's Drug Court started at age 16 with marijuana and alcohol. About 1999, Hendrix started using methamphetamine. "It was a weekend thing," the 37-year-old Greenville resident said. It became a twice-a-week thing and eventually a daily habit that left him with little motivation to get out of bed, he said. "Then it just eats you up," Hendrix said Friday after a ceremony honoring him and three other men as the first graduating class of the drug court. [continues 549 words]
Doctors Face Drug Charges In Appalachia PIKEVILLE -- A growing list of doctors who were once welcomed with open arms into medically underserved Appalachia have been taken away in handcuffs. In eastern Kentucky alone, seven small-town doctors are in prison or on their way there for illegally supplying drug addicts with prescriptions for powerful narcotics such as OxyContin. At least six others have been rounded up in the hills of West Virginia, Virginia and southern Ohio. Advocates for the mountain region say the loss of so many doctors ordinarily would have left a void. In these cases, they say, the departures can only improve medical care. [continues 944 words]
Newman Man Battling Rise in Drug Activity A resident of the quiet rural community of Newman posted signs along his street this week that are intended to send an unmistakable message to residents and visitors. Six white signs with red lettering are posted along Steamboat Road and read: "Attention meth users. We will take our community back. Leave while you have the chance!" The signs were posted Tuesday on telephone poles and a tree by resident Mike Hardesty, who lives with his wife and two children, ages 11 and 16, on the same property that his father once owned. Hardesty said he wants his children and others along the street to feel as safe as he did while growing up. [continues 404 words]
Numerous studies have been compiled in recent years measuring alcohol and drug use among youths at both the national and state levels. The findings have been consistent -- teenagers are using, or at least experimenting with, drugs and alcohol at alarming rates. The trouble with such studies, however, is that they only represent a broad overview of the problem. Understanding that a certain percentage of teenagers across the state, or even the country, have tried alcohol or drugs is important, but it can't be assumed that that same percentage holds true for every area. [continues 424 words]
LEXINGTON -- The drug war is one of the most pressing issues facing the next attorney general, five candidates agreed Thursday. "The No. 1 issue in America domestically ... is the drug culture," Chris Gorman, one of the Democratic candidates, said at a forum. Gorman, running to regain an office he held from 1992 to 1996, said he would create a "drug squad" in the attorney general's office to concentrate on drug cases. He said it would be akin to the office's "death squad," a group of assistant attorneys general who specialize in capital punishment cases. [continues 157 words]
Students moving up to high school are more likely to use drugs and alcohol, according to a survey of local students released Wednesday. Small percentages of students in the sixth and eighth grades have used marijuana, alcohol and tobacco, but the numbers spike when they reach the 10th grade. Reasons vary. But local officials studying the problem say students in the ninth grade are going through a transition period, including puberty and leaving their middle schools to attend the larger high schools. [continues 655 words]
Most parents are at least somewhat familiar with the statistics regarding teens and drug and alcohol abuse. But there is a difference between parents knowing the facts and believing those facts could apply to their own children. "Nobody wants to believe their child is on drugs or that their drinking is a problem," said Tina Wedding, education committee chairwoman for Community Solutions for Substance Abuse. Saturday afternoon, Community Solutions held its first "Family Awareness Fair" at Mount St. Joseph, to help educate residents about substance abuse and connect them with treatment and support services. [continues 378 words]
"The devil's weed" will join the fight against "angel dust." But this time, the devil's the good guy. Large Scale Biology Corp., a California firm with biomanufacturing facilities in Owensboro, has signed an agreement with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock to use Daviess County tobacco to produce a commercial grade intervention therapy for phencyclidine. Phencyclidine is better known as "angel dust" or PCP. Opponents once labeled tobacco "the devil's weed." Michael Owens, director of the Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Studies at the Arkansas university, said Large Scale had been selected to produce a potentially therapeutic antibody for PCP. [continues 410 words]
GREENVILLE -- A community health council/task force will concentrate on finding funding for three of the top five needs identified by Muhlenberg County residents in a recent survey. More than a fourth -- 467 -- of the 1,652 respondents in a recent survey said anti-drug efforts are the county's biggest need. Also cited was a need for more school nurses and a resource coordinator. But the council won't concentrate on finding money for two of the top five vote-getters -- building a wellness/fitness center and putting defibrillators in schools -- said council member Vicki Yonts. [continues 476 words]
SOUTH SHORE -- Kentucky's booming illegal prescription drug trade has spawned a new offshoot: the trade of bogus medical records, including MRIs. Investigators say the emergence of such counterfeit documents shows the problem is becoming both more organized and more sophisticated, The Lexington Herald-Leader reporter in Sunday's editions. A woman who paid for a phony MRI report, Donna Sue Hurt Webb, said she got it from a man in a parking lot outside a medical clinic in South Shore. She was later arrested for using the report to get prescription drugs. [continues 583 words]
702 People Are Enrolled In Programs Statewide LEXINGTON -- Nearly 800 Kentuckians charged with drug crimes have gone through drug court and avoided prison or jail since 1993. But while 42 counties are served by programs to treat adults, juveniles and families, only 11 of those are in eastern Kentucky, where state health officials call drug abuse an epidemic. Those who go through drug court follow a strict, life-changing program that state officials say is working. And they saved taxpayers more than $11 million, Joanie Abramson, acting manager of the drug court program for the state Administrative Office of the Courts, told the Lexington Herald-Leader. [continues 334 words]
Allowing parents to refer their children to early intervention programs is a long-overdue improvement to the local fight against drug and alcohol use among youths. When one looks at prevention research for teenagers, it's surprising that, until recently, the only way to get into the early intervention program was to be referred through the courts. The most effective prevention programs have proven to be family-, community- and school-based initiatives, which focus on building self-esteem, teaching the consequences of drug and alcohol use and strengthening family and peer relationships. [continues 365 words]
Fewer Kids Using Alcohol, Marijuana Parents can now refer their children to an early intervention program that youths once had to be referred to through the courts. If parents suspect their children are using drugs or alcohol, they can call a court designated worker to set up an initial screening. "One of the goals of the program is to get parents and kids talking," said Dianne McFarling, early intervention specialist at RiverValley Behavioral Health, where the programs are held. "If parents and kids can talk, you can work through a lot of problems. But if you turn your head, it's not going to happen." [continues 525 words]
Among the many positives to arise from last year's study circles forums on law enforcement is an increased effort to improve collaboration between the Daviess County Sheriff's Department and the Owensboro Police Department. Representatives from both departments are part of a 15-person task force considering a number of ideas, including a compatible 911 dispatch system and programs to make neighborhoods safer. Of all the ideas being studied, however, the one that makes the most sense - -- and offers the most intriguing possibilities -- is that of a local drug task force. [continues 344 words]
LOUISVILLE -- Former detective Mark Watson was a grunt on the front lines of the war on drugs, his attorney said. Watson bent the rules, but he wasn't alone and it went to the greater good, the attorney said Tuesday as the police corruption trial began for Watson and another former officer. Watson and Christie Richardson, former narcotics detectives, face 300 charges including burglary, bribery and forgery. The two former partners, who resigned as Jefferson County officers last year, are accused of creating bogus search warrants with photocopied judges' signatures, obtaining warrants through the use of fraudulent affidavits, and obtaining payments for informants who say they never got the money. [continues 644 words]
Drug Blamed for Increasing Total of Foster Children HOPKINSVILLE -- The physical withdrawal from methamphetamine Teresa Cannon could handle. It was knowing what she had done to her children, then ages 7 and 10, that made her cringe in her jail cell. "I forgot about my kids," Cannon said of the four years she spent cooking and smoking "boats" of meth while her kids fended for themselves. "Looking back at the way they had been treated, you hate yourself. I was so ashamed. So ashamed." [continues 805 words]
Sheriff: Deputies Are In Short Supply Daviess County Public Schools will lose one of its two D.A.R.E. sheriff's deputies in January, Daviess Sheriff Keith Cain said Monday. Deputy Kelly Payne will be reassigned to patrol in the county while Deputy Scott Wedding continues to offer the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program to elementary students full time, Cain said. The move could eliminate D.A.R.E. officer visits to students in kindergarten through fourth grade, Wedding said. [continues 453 words]
More Substance Abuse Treatment Options Needed Local substance abuse specialists and elected officials have understandably expressed concern over Owensboro Mercy Health System's decision to cut its number of detox beds for patients addicted to drugs. OMHS completed the reorganization of its detoxifying unit in early November, cutting its number of beds from eight to two, and moving rehabilitation services off campus. The move has caused some to question whether those in need of help can get the treatment they need locally. But it's hard to find fault in what OMHS has done. The hospital says that, on average, only two beds were being used a day, and the unit lost $1 million last year. [continues 428 words]
EVANSVILLE -- The crackdown on methamphetamine production in the Midwest has left a countryside pocked with abandoned and destroyed labs. Hidden away in barns and farm houses and trailers, the residue of illicit meth labs has leaked toxic chemicals into ditches and farm fields. Indiana will spend millions this year cleaning more than 800 meth labs, a considerable increase from 1994 when drug officials found only four labs. Kentucky and other Midwest states have seen similar increases in recent years. The production of just one pound of methamphetamine typically creates six pounds of hazardous waste, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. An average lab costs $4,500 to clean up. [continues 459 words]
It's been nearly five years since Gov. Paul Patton, joined by Republicans and Democrats alike, signed a new comprehensive criminal justice package that was the state's first major piece of crime legislation in 25 years. Not a single dissenting vote was cast in either the Senate or the House, and pledges were made about tougher laws, longer sentences and more prisons, all of which would lead to making Kentucky a better, safer place to live. It's amazing what a few years -- and a budget deficit in the hundreds of millions -- can do to change the legislative atmosphere. [continues 540 words]
Governor Says State Can't Afford To Hold Them Kentucky would release some felons from custody earlier than usual if the state can't afford to keep them behind bars, Gov. Paul Patton said Thursday. Patton said he is caught between a booming prison population and $509 million in projected budget cuts over the next two years. Unless the state gets more revenue from tax increases or other sources -- which legislators predict is unlikely -- the early release of prisoners is one possible answer, he said. [continues 573 words]
BOWLING GREEN -- A retired Kentucky State Police narcotics detective was sentenced Friday to more than 10 years in prison for producing and trafficking in marijuana and methamphetamine. Benjamin Dwan Hadley, 53, of Columbia, had reached an agreement and pleaded guilty in July to the federal charges. U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell also sentenced Hadley to five years supervised probation following his prison sentence of 10 years and one month. In July 2001, Kentucky State Police and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided Hadley's farm in Adair County and discovered nearly 1,000 marijuana plants and evidence of an indoor growing operation. They also discovered materials and equipment used to make methamphetamine at the southern Kentucky farm. [end]
Ohio Voters Defeat Drug-Reform Measure In twin setbacks for the drug-reform movement, Nevada voters refused Tuesday to make their state the first to legalize possession of marijuana, and voters in Ohio rejected a treatment-instead-of-jail proposal. In Florida, voters approved a sweeping ban on smoking in restaurants and virtually all other workplaces. "It's going to save lives," said Martin Larsen, chairman of the Smoke-Free for Health campaign. Smokers also were targeted in Arizona, where voters approved an increase in cigarette taxes from 58 cents to $1.18 per pack. [continues 531 words]
Local D.A.R.E. police officers said they are pleased to learn of the latest study of the anti-drug and alcohol program, which demonstrates promising results with children. Researchers at the Institute for Health and Social Policy at the University of Akron studied about 15,500 seventh-graders, some of whom took part in the program's updated curriculum and others, in a control group, who didn't. They plan to follow the students until their junior years in high school. [continues 643 words]
Based on Keith Cain's recommendation, Sheriff John Bouvier hired me on July 1, 1998, as the first full-time narcotics investigator at the Daviess County Sheriff's Department. I never saw a merit board. I was issued Cain's former vehicle, a forfeited 1990 Chevrolet pickup truck, since Bouvier had approved the purchase a 1998 Ford Expedition. Since I began at the sheriff's department, our agency has investigated more than 200 methamphetamine labs. Sheriff Cain and I have presented numerous methamphetamine awareness programs across the region. Cain has also sent six deputies to DEA Clandestine Lab Certification training to combat this epidemic. We have received federal methamphetamine initiative grants for overtime, safety equipment, lab clean up, and vehicles. It was this grant money that was used to purchase the Ford Explorers for detectives. Marked patrol units were strictly forbidden by the federal government. [continues 57 words]
Readers Write In recent campaigning by John Bouvier, he has said Sheriff Keith Cain is not doing enough to educate the public on the dangers of methamphetamine labs. By making this statement, it is obvious Bouvier is not in touch with this issue. Cain has lectured to many groups, including churches, schools, local merchants and fire departments. Many of these lectures are hours-long, covering issues such as the ingredients used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine, the psychological effects of meth on the user and much more informative issues concerning the methamphetamine epidemic. [continues 56 words]
2002 General Election The race for Muhlenberg County sheriff is two years and several clashes in the making. But both incumbent Jerry Mayhugh and challenger Jody Hawkins agree on the county's top need -- eliminating drugs, especially methamphetamine. "That's the number one priority on my list," Mayhugh said. "I feel we're beginning to get a handle on it." Mayhugh said the new county jail has more space in which to house offenders and the county has started a drug court to help avoid repeat offenders. [continues 808 words]
2002 General Election - McLean County Attorney The candidates for McLean County attorney agree that the county has increasing problems with drugs and a continuing problem with child support. Incumbent Democrat Billy Quisenberry hopes his record will speak for itself. Since 1990, Quisenberry has worked on initiatives including the handling of cold checks for merchants, operation of a child support collection system and addressing the county's methamphetamine issue. Republican Laura Rushing Eaton views this election as an opportunity for residents to make changes in its judicial system, at least in the area of district court. Longtime District Judge Charles Elschide is retiring, meaning a new judge will be elected to fill the post. [continues 612 words]
Eight to 10 men will be housed on Clay Street The home looks like many others in the area, television blaring in the living room where a worn couch and two chairs sit and porcelain plates pictured with lighthouses decorate the mantle. But this home will house eight to 10 men 18 and older who have been referred by the courts to the Lighthouse Recovery Program, a 12-step alternate program that aims to provide education, care and Christian mentoring to men with drug and alcohol addictions. [continues 340 words]
The fight against methamphetamine proliferation in Daviess County spans from covert police operations in fields to educational efforts in seminars and evolving laws geared to target the worst offenders. The meth battle has multiple fronts which are intended to educate the public about the dangers of meth while working to eradicate labs, catch meth makers and deliver strict prison sentences for their crimes. "We're convinced that methamphetamine is not a law enforcement problem, it's a community problem," Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain said. "I think it's important for the community to realize the lengths we go to ... that the sheriff's department is aggressively pursuing this." [continues 902 words]
Departments Say Information-sharing Paying Off In Arrests When tips of illegal drug activity surfaced two weeks ago involving Daviess County and Owensboro locations, two law enforcement agencies shared their information, staked out both locations and made arrests. The incident was one of about three joint investigations in the past two weeks involving the Owensboro Police Department and the Daviess County Sheriff's Department. The two agencies have cooperated well during the past few years but hope to keep building on that relationship, resulting in better intelligence and larger drug seizures, Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain says. [continues 670 words]
Additive May Make Anhydrous Ammonia Unusable in Drug An experiment under way at two universities could greatly change the way methamphetamine proliferation affects the lives of Daviess County residents and others in rural communities. Research projects at University of Iowa and Johns Hopkins University are testing an additive in anhydrous ammonia that would make the popular crop fertilizer ineffective for meth makers, said Daviess County Sheriff's Detective Sgt. Jim Acquisto. Acquisto attended a Clandestine Laboratory Investigators conference in Kansas City, Mo., where the new form of anhydrous ammonia was discussed last August, he said. [continues 587 words]
GREENVILLE -- Partners in a new program that will replace D.A.R.E. classes in Muhlenberg County are expected to meet Wednesday to finalize plans for hiring the program's leader. Dale Todd, superintendent of Muhlenberg County schools, a member of the Pennyrile Narcotics Task Force and County Judge-Executive Rodney Kirtley will try to iron out details on hours and salaries for officers of the new life skills program, which will teach more than just alcohol/drug awareness to more students. [continues 485 words]
While the world is watching the Middle East, a terrible conflict is going on in Colombia. U.S. tax payers are paying for most of it. A terrible feature of the Colombian action is fumigation. Spraying of cocoa (cocaine) plants is so indiscriminate many other crops are destroyed; even animals and humans are often poisoned. Colombia is the largest cocaine producer, so we fumigate their farms. The U.S. is the largest marijuana producer, so why don't we fumigate our farms? One Colombia observer says: "Let's get serious about drugs. If fumigation works, let's fumigate parties where drugs are used, mansions of drug lords and banks where drug money is laundered." [continues 137 words]
The Muhlenberg County school board is expected to talk today about upgrading the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, two high school agriculture programs and three buildings. During a special meeting at 5 p.m. at the Central Office in Powderly, the board also is scheduled to hear proposals designed to improve employee absenteeism. County D.A.R.E. instructor Keith Whitehouse resigned July 5. The board today will discuss how, or whether, to change or broaden the program's focus. D.A.R.E. classes were taught to about 900 Muhlenberg County students - -- all sixth-graders and some fifth-graders -- this past school year. [continues 357 words]
Area law enforcement officials praised a new Kentucky law Monday afternoon that provides stiff penalties for people caught with large amounts of drugs used to make methamphetamine. The legislation, House Bill 644, makes it a Class D felony to possess more than 24 grams of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. The drugs, which are found in common cold or allergy medicines, are common ingredients in methamphetamine. Officials discussed the bill Monday at a press conference at the Daviess County Judicial Center. Rep. Brian Crall, an Owensboro Republican, sponsored the bill in Frankfort. In the past, Crall said, law enforcement officials have not been convicting people caught with large quantities of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, because prosecutors could not prove the defendant intended to use the drugs to make methamphetamine. [continues 307 words]
Continuing to have a police presence at Kendall-Perkins Park is critical to controlling illegal drug activity on Owensboro's northwest side, and residents must not turn the other way when they observe such activity. The Northwest Neighborhood Alliance and acting Police Chief John Kazlauskas appeared to agree on those key assertions at the neighborhood board's monthly meeting Monday afternoon in the Audubon Area Community Service board room. "I'm here to assure you that the ties you had to Chief Allen Dixon will not break," Kazlauskas said. "We will build on the relationships he started." [continues 556 words]
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A 26-year veteran of the Jefferson County Police Department has resigned after testing positive for cocaine in a random drug screening, according to Chief William Carcara. Capt. Daniel Borden, commander of the department's C District, resigned Thursday, Carcara said. "It's very disappointing to have to deal with this type of personnel issue," Carcara said on Saturday. "But since I've been chief for 3 1/2 years, I've seen that police officers are human beings and human beings make mistakes. Unfortunately, in our occupation we cannot tolerate mistakes that cross the line into the criminal realm, and we have to deal with those problems." [continues 300 words]
For the better part of three years, the Daviess County Sheriff's Department has been out in the lead in the fight against methamphetamine. The department works multiple cases on a daily basis, and Sheriff Keith Cain, Lt. Jeff Jones, Detective Sgt. Jim Acquisto and others give their time to speaking about the drug's devastation to just about any group who will listen. Invariably, one of the first things they'll say is that their work is far from a solo act. While law enforcement is often known for its turf battles, the cooperation among agencies in the fight against meth is both unparalleled and inspiring. [continues 386 words]
