Kenron Laing found not guilty
By Nicole DeCriscio Executive Editor
Kenron Laing, 24, of Crown Point, Indiana, was acquitted last week in the shooting death of 39-year-old Gildardo “Gil” Garcia Salinas from November 2022.
The four-and-a-half day trial culminated with less than an hour of deliberations from the 12-person jury. Judge Kelsey Hanlon presided.
Laing was represented by public defenders Jacob Fish and Megan Schueler.
As previously reported by The Owen News, at the time of
his arrest, Laing was stationed at Fort Liberty as a Private First Class as a petroleum supply specialist assigned to the 82nd Airborne’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, according to a Nov. 20, 2024 article from Stars and Stripes, a daily newspaper reporting on matters concerning members of the United States Armed Forces. Stars and Stripes also reported that Laing enlisted in the Army in August 2023.
Fort Liberty, formerly known as Fort Bragg, is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with over 52,000 military personnel.
Throughout the trial, Laing wore his Army Green Service Uniform. The court granted a motion to allow Laing to wear his uniform.
During the opening statement, Prosecutor Ben Kim described what they alleged happened on the evening of Nov. 2, 2022. Salinas was working at a Motel or Studio 6 in Fishers as a landscaper for New Wave. During his shift, Salinas found an iPhone, which he ended up taking home.
That iPhone belonged to Laing. And it was during the
LAING | PAGE 6
Burton resigns
By Nicole DeCriscio Executive Editor
Commissioner Gary Burton announced his resignation from the position of District 1 commissioner for Owen County, IN, effective April 30, according to an April 25th press release from Owen County Republican Party Chair Kristi Risk. Burton had announced his intention to resign via an email sent earlier in the week to Risk, councilman
Artist Adam Long
The art of making others smile
By Travis Curry Correspondent
It’s a common myth that finding your true calling is reserved for the young, fresh out of school and ready to conquer the world. Reality, however, is
often far more inspiring. For longtime Monroe County resident Adam Long, finding his purpose as an artist became more a journey than a destination.
“I thought I was going to be a
ART | PAGE 22
FROM TOP: The falls at McCormick’s Creek State Park provided inspiration for artist Adam Long, who incorporated the well-known local attraction into the mural he created for the Dill family along W. State Road 46 in Spencer. // Artist Adam Long, right, and property owner Travis Dill are shown in front of the recently completed mural on Spencer’s west side. Long described the project as “absolutely one of my favorite jobs.” PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY ADAM LONG.
Melton reinstated as highway superintendent
By Nicole DeCriscio Executive Editor
County highway superintendent Greg Melton was reinstated following a nearly three-week unpaid suspension as a result of more than a million dollars in
unpaid claims for the department. Initial coverage by The Owen News last month included a long-existing precedent of holding bridge claims until the property tax installment could cover the bill. When
removing 2025 claims and bridge claims, the total for unpaid claims was $237,848.41.
Melton’s reinstatement was discussed in an April 11 executive session and then the decision from the executive session was the only
agenda item for a special meeting later that day. It was discussed again during the public comment portion of the April 17 meeting.
HIGHWAY | PAGE 22
RESIGNS | PAGE 4
By Nicole DeCriscio Executive Editor
Owen County residents raised a ruckus in an effort to prevent the Indiana General Assembly from eliminating Circuit Court II. Judge Kelsey Hanlon presides over Circuit Court II and has since its creation.
CIRCUIT COURT | PAGE 19
2024 murder suspect’s trial begins May 12
By Travis Curry Correspondent
The murder trial for Quentin Lamont Porter, Jr., accused of the July 2024 shooting death of 23-yearold Malik Darea Sims, is scheduled to begin May 12 at 9 a.m. in Owen County Circuit Court I. Porter remains in custody without bond at the Owen County Security Center pending
TRIAL | PAGE 7
ON finalist for two SPJ Indiana awards Staff Report
The Owen News is a finalist for two awards in the Indiana Pro Chapter of The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) 2024 Best of the Best in Indiana contest. The annual contest celebrates journalism from newsrooms across the state.
AWARDS | PAGE 7
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THE OWEN NEWS IS THE PRINTED NEWSPAPER OWNED BY THE OWEN NEWS PROJECT, INC, A NONPROFIT 501(C)3 ORGANIZATION. AT THE OWEN NEWS PROJECT, WE ARE COMMITTED TO DELIVERING RELIABLE AND UNBIASED LOCAL NEWS AND INFORMATION TO EMPOWER OUR READERS AND BUILD A STRONGER COMMUNITY.
Egg-cellent fun at the fairgrounds
Friday, April 18 was an egg-stra special day at the Owen County Fairgrounds in Spencer, the host site of the Owen County 4-H Fi Easter Egg Hunt. Hundreds of egg-static children were divided into different age groups and patiently waited for the 6 p.m. start. Although overcast skies and damp conditions may not have been egg-actly the conditions the Easter Bunny had hopped for, the children were still all smi plans and prepared to scramble to collect the colorful eggs and prizes scattered throughout the grounds! TRAVIS CURRY | THE OWE
Government Meeting Calendar
May 5
Spencer Town Council, 6 p.m. at the Spencer Municipal Building, 90 N. West St., Spencer.
May 8
Spencer-Owen Community Schools Board of Trustees, 7 p.m. in the auditorium at Owen Valley High School, 622 SR 46W, Spencer.
May 12
Owen Valley Fire Territory Board, 6 p.m. at the Owen Valley Fire Department, 401 Walnut St., Spencer. Cloverdale Community Schools Board of Trustees, 7 p.m. in the Arthur L. Johnson Administration Building, 310 E. Logan St., Cloverdale.
May 13
Gosport Town Council, 7 p.m. in the Gosport Community Building, 301 N. Ninth St., Gosport.
May 15
Owen County Board of Commissioners, 6 p.m. in the Commissioners Room of the Owen County Courthouse, 60 S. Main St., Spencer. Owen County Board of Zoning Appeals, 7 p.m. in the Commissioners Room of the Owen County Courthouse, 60 S. Main St., Spencer.
May 19
Owen County Public Library Board, 5 p.m. in the OCPL Vault Room, 10 S. Montgomery St., Spencer. Owen County Council, 6 p.m. in the Commissioners Room of the Owen County Courthouse, 60 S. Main St., Spencer.
Obituaries
Coming soon! Our community, through the Needs Assessment completed as part of the Large Impact Planning Grant, resoundingly said that obituaries are a priority.
At The Owen News, we strive to get obituaries into the print product. However, the nature of a monthly paper means that printed obituaries can never be the main way to share this information with our community. Our goal is to have our website be the go-to place for obituaries and to have this space, in our printed paper be a space of rememberance of those who have passed.
Spencer Town Council, 6 p.m. at the Spencer Municipal Building, 90 N. West St., Spencer.
May 20
Owen County Advisory Plan Commission, 6:30 p.m. in the Commissioners Room of the Owen County Courthouse, 60 S. Main St., Spencer.
May 22
Spencer-Owen Community Schools Board of Trustees, 7 p.m. in the Mike Wells Memorial Board Room at Central Office, 205 E. Hillside Ave., Spencer.
May 26
Owen County Courthouse closed in observance of Memorial Day.
May 27
Spencer Plan Commission & BZA, 6 p.m. at the Spencer Municipal Building, 90 N. West St., Spencer. Gosport Town Council, 7 p.m. in the Gosport Community Building, 301 N. Ninth St., Gosport.
June 2
Spencer Town Council, 6 p.m. at the Spencer Municipal Building, 90 N. West St., Spencer.
June 5
Owen County Board of Commissioners, 9 a.m. in the Commissioners Room of the Owen County Courthouse, 60 S. Main St., Spencer.
EPA hosts presentation on Superfund Site
By Nicole DeCriscio Executive Editor
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hosted a presentation and open house last month to share updates on the remedial investigation for the Franklin Street Groundwater Superfund Site.
The meeting was called to share where the EPA is in the Superfund process, what sampling has been completed, what sampling work is planned for the rest of 2025 and what the longterm schedule for the site is.
As reported in April 2024 by The Owen News, the site was added to the national priorities list in May of 2018, but the next step in site milestones, the remedial investigation, did not begin until the fall of 2023. Site testing began in early 2024.
The contaminant tetrachloroethene (PCE) was first detected by the BBP Water Corporation in 2011 and has been completely removed from the treated water since 2017. Even at the initial detection the contaminnat’s levels were 1.2 parts per billion (ppb), which is under the maximum contaminant level set by the EPA at 5 ppb.
PCE is also sometimes referred to as PERC.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), PCE “is a manufactured chemical that is widely used for dry cleaning of fabrics and for metal-degreasing,” and “it appears as a clear colorless volatile liquid.”
PCE is both a known and probable carcinogen, and it can harm the nervous system.
PCE is also a volatile organic compound. It can contaminate drinking water, indoor air quality through soil vapor intrusion and groundwater.
“We’re the ones that found the problem in the
first place because we do annual water testing,”
BBP CEO Todd Gardner told The Owen News last spring.
“Even though the finished water was under the guidelines set for the chemical [PCE] the BBP Water Corporation Board of Directors decided to be proactive and in 2014 designs for treating and removal of all PERC from the finished water was being engineered,” BBP’s 2022 annual water quality report said.
In addition to a new well being added, BBP added air strippers and reverse osmosis filtering units.
PCE has not been found in BBP’s finished water since the air strippers were turned on in May of 2017, completely removing it from the finished water.
“Even before then we weren’t using the well that had the contamination, so we never sent treated water that was contaminated. It was a well that wasn’t being used at the time that it popped up on,” Gardner told The Owen News last spring.
“We are proud to report that the water quality provided by BBP Water Corporation has met or exceeded the water quality standards established at the state and federal levels,” the report reads. “The BBP Water Corporation Board of Directors are all members of the water system. Our customers are our neighbors and relatives. BBP strives to produce the safest water possible for our customers.”
The EPA has completed several sampling activities over the past year.
Soil vapor plume delineation took place during February and March of 2024. With the rapid soil vapor plume delineation, 63 exterior soil vapor locations in city rights of way were analyzed with HAPSITE, seven locations exceeded
the EPA residential soil Vapor Intrusion Screening Levels (VISLs) for PCE, and four soil vapor plumes were established based on PCE exceedances.
Potential source area soil sampling took place from March to September of last year.
The EPA tests for vapor intrusion sampling in both the spring and the winter. The results may be different based on the season. Not only can the season impact the soil moisture and groundwater levels which influence the movement and concentration of vapors in the soil, heating and cooling systems can change the rate at which soil vapors enter the building. Because of this, winter is typically the worst case scenario as homes tend to be more closed up than in the summer when windows might be open.
“If there’s going to be a worst-case result, it’s going to be in the winter,” said Dion Novak, EPA remedial project manager for EPA-Region 5. Novak gave the presentation and answered questions following the presentation.
All testing requires the permission of the property owner, and the results from individual properties are not published. Rather, locations are placed on a map.
As part of the process, should a testing site have an issue with the air quality, the EPA will install a mitigation system at no cost to the owner. It is similar to how radon is removed from homes.
The mitigation system creates negative pressure below the structure to essentially blow the vapors outside where it dissipates and is no longer a concern.
Breathing in the vapors from PCE poses similar health risks as consuming it.
Residential and commercial vapor intrusion sampling took place in April, May and
August of 2024 and January and March of 2025. The initial properties for sampling were identified based on the results of the HAPSITE investigation. A total of 49 properties were sampled during the vapor intrusion sampling conducted in 2024 during the cooling season. Of those properties, there were 54 sub-slab soil vapor samples, 34 crawl space air samples, 91 indoor air samples and 24 outdoor air samples. For the heating season samples, which were all taken in 2025, 39 properties that were originally sampled during the 2024 cooling season were resampled. This included 48 subslab soil vapor samples, two exterior soil vapor samples, 22 crawl space air samples, 72 indoor air samples and 18 outdoor air samples. Three properties refused access for a second round of sampling, and seven properties were unresponsive to scheduling attempts.
Through the soil vapor intrusion during the cooling season, additional properties were identified based on those results. An additional 26 previously untested properties were sampled for the first time in March 2025. Testing for those 26 properties include 24 subslab soil vapor samples, four exterior soil vapor samples, 12 crawl space air samples, 46 indoor air samples and 12 outdoor air samples.
“We’ve got close to 100 properties that we have tested since spring of last year,” Novak said “We’re trying to be as thorough as we can be to give you the best information so at the end I can say here’s what the problem is, here’s what we’re going to do to fix it.”
VISLs set by the EPS are calculated at minimum levels to protect the most sensitive individuals from potential future health effects. The EPA specifically notes that exceedances in the
VISLs does not necessarily mean there is a health risk.
From March to September of last year, a total of 30 soil borings were advanced and 206 soil samples were collected. These soil samples were collected from six potential source properties and analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs); semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs); 1,4-dioxane; polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); metals; and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
Initial piezometer installations also took place from March to September of last year. The EPA installed 21 groundwater piezometers during that time. The EPA also began a townwide groundwater study in June. That study is ongoing. They collected groundwater samples from 18 EPA-installed piezometers and 18 existing wells.
Initial monitoring well and piezometer sampling took place in May and June of 2024, and groundwater hydraulic profiling began in June of 2024 and is ongoing. The EPA also collected 70 groundwater samples from 20 temporary borings.
Groundwater samples were initially analyzed for VOCs; SVOCs; 1,4-dioxane; PCBs; metals; PFAS; and some for only VOCs.
“Obviously just like all the other levels that EPA uses, they’re designed to be protective of human health and calculated to prevent and to protect even the most sensitive people from potential future health effects. Just because you have results and it exceeds some of these screening numbers, it doesn’t mean there’s a health risk. It just gives us enough information, again, to be as complete and as thorough as possible,” Novak said.
Novak then presented what the immediate
EPA | PAGE 6
retrieval of that phone from Salinas at his home located in northern Owen County that the altercation leading to his death took place.
The prosecution defined murder for the jury, explaining in order to find the defendant guilty that the state statute requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant knowingly or intentionally killed another human being.
In her opening argument, Schueler said that Laing used the “Find my iPhone” feature on a newer phone to try to retrieve his older phone and that much of the content from the older phone had not yet been transferred over.
She addressed one point of contention early, saying that
EPA | FROM PAGE 5
and long-term next steps are for the remedial investigation. The EPA will continue the groundwater study and install groundwater monitoring wells through April and May of 2025 and begin quarterly groundwater sampling. They are also doing a potable well survey to try to identify all potable wells within five miles of the site and sample potable wells in areas of potential site-impacted groundwater.
They will also continue round two residential and commercial vapor intrusion sampling for the additional
Laing, who is originally from the Bahamas, wore a face covering because of the cold weather. She said that Laing didn’t call the police because he simply thought he could knock on the door to retrieve the item. Then, she said, Salinas would not let Laing leave, that Salinas shot his shotgun and Laing recklessly shot the revolver that he had a concealed carry permit for in order to create cover and get away.
She argued that Laing’s reckless shooting was in self-defense.
Forensic pathologist
Bamidele Adeagbo testified as to the closeness of the revolver when fired due to stippling and soot. However, he struggled to offer specifics as to the distance range for the various definitions.
Throughout the
properties tested in March 2025. These will be tested in August.
The EPA is also completing an underground sewer investigation by utilizing 25 utility access locations for sewer gas sampling this summer. They will be prioritizing areas based on the results of other testing.
Further into 2025 and 2026, they will do surface water and sediment sampling. If necessary, White River sampling will take place in 2026. That need will be based on the likelihood that groundwater may be discharging into the river.
“As you can see,
STYLE STATION
trial, much of the physical evidence placing Laing at the scene went undisputed. This evidence included testimony that the test bullets matched the projectiles retrieved during Salinas’ autopsy, the location of Laing’s cell phone and the location of his sister’s cell phone.
As a result, the state struggled to prove whether or not Laing knowingly or intentionally killed Salinas.
The prosecution pointed to security footage from the home in which “get out” could be heard, the 9-1-1 call in which Salinas’ fiancée, Brandy Pocasangre, claimed Laing was trying to break in.
They also offered eyewitness testimony from Pocasangre and her now 16-year-old daughter. The Owen
we’ve done a lot of work. We still have a lot of work yet to do,” Novak said.
One resident said that they felt some locals might not self-report wells because of the misconception that any well contamination would shut down their well and force them onto BBP or city water.
Novak reiterated that all testing is done with the property owner’s permission. He said wells could also be identified by BBP, the state board of health and DNR records.
“The main way to be at risk from this type of contamination is to have a private well that’s potentially
News is not releasing the name of the minor who offered testimony.
Schueler disputed the credibility and pointed out some inconsistencies in the testimony and earlier interviews with police for both eyewitnesses.
Laing’s sister testified as a witness for the prosecution; however, she said that she did not see the incidents that took place in front of the home, as she was in the vehicle parked across the street at Jim McHugh’s auto repair business, Jim’s Equipment Repair. She testified that she did not have her glasses and was unable to see.
Laing took the stand to testify on his own behalf and was the only witness offered by the defense. Laing said he did not call the police because he believed it to be a civil matter. He
impacted, and so if you’re drinking that water I want to know that. And if there’s chemicals in there that you shouldn’t be drinking, I will tell you. I can’t mandate that you switch to city water,” Novak said. “I can tell them here’s why you should do it, here’s the risks and all that, but again if they say no, I can’t force them.”
He then addressed some of the solutions to contaminated groundwater.
“There’s a number of ways that we can fix contaminated groundwater. We can pull it out of the ground and treat it and then discharge it. We can do that. We can treat it under the ground, with good chemicals that’ll actually break down that contamination. For a private well that is contaminated, obviously, the solution is to close the well and to hook them up to some other alternative water
described opening the gate around the front of the property and knocking near the closed storm door while the front door was open. He said that he knocked several times and that he watched as the minor left what Laing could view from the open door. He said he did not leave because he did not want them to “think he was on some funny business.”
He described being shocked by the sudden appearance of Salinas and being told to go to the southside of the property, where he was held at gunpoint. He then said that he ducked as Salinas fired the shotgun and used his weapon to escape.
The Owen News will update this story as more details are released.
source,” Novak said.
He said it is difficult to come back and do testing later for a property owner that changes their mind because it is no longer part of their investigation.
Another resident asked if untreated, contaminated wells could contaminate a treated or uncontaminated well nearby.
“I’m not going to say no, it will never happen, but typically with this, how groundwater gets from here to there is relatively unimpacted by a private well because you’re not pulling enough water out of the ground to kind of change the direction of the water,” Novak said.
“Now, if you’re an industrial well pulling thousands of gallons out of the ground, that’s a different story. But a private well, you’re only taking out what you need, right? And it’s typically a very small amount.”
Novak ended the presentation with several thank yous. The first was to the Spencer Wastewater Treatment Plant for allowing them to store equipment on the property and discharge drilling water directly after testing. This results in significant government cost savings. The next was to the residents that “have been extremely nice.” He noted that the field teams feel very welcome. He also noted that the field team also really enjoy the local restaurants in Spencer. The same presentation was presented again later in the evening. The Owen News was not able to send a reporter due to coverage of another conflicting meeting. The slides can be viewed on the web page dedicated to the Franklin Street Groundwater Superfund Site on the EPA website.
Pursuit ends in self-inflicted shooting
By Travis Curry Correspondent
The Owen County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) was called to a
dispute that resulted in a vehicle pursuit on April 5th on State Road 43 South. According to information provided by Owen County
Food Inspections
Routine food inspections were conducted by the Owen County Health Department during the month of April 2025. Reported below are the critical and non-critical comments left for these establishments:
4-3
Thelma and Louise, food truck. Routine inspection. No violations.
AWARDS | FROM PAGE 1
The Owen News is a finalist in the Newspaper Page One Design (All Newspapers) Category and Environmental Reporting (Publication Circulation Below 10,000) Category.
The other two finalists in the design category are The Indianapolis Star and The Indianapolis Business Journal
The other two finalists in the environmental reporting category are Limestone Post
4-4
Dairy Queen, 404 E. Morgan St., Spencer. Preoperational inspection. Note: make sure to remove all construction materials before opening for food services. Good to open; will do secondary inspection once open and running.
El Ranchero, 405 E. Franklin St., Spencer. One critical, two noncritical violations. Tested
Magazine and The Herald-Times
“We’re incredibly proud of the newspaper that we publish, and at the end of the day, we know The Owen News serves our community. That is what we’re most proud of, regardless of any award recognition,”
Executive Editor Nicole DeCriscio said.
“But being selected as a finalist for these prestigious awards from our coverage and design in 2024 is an outward testament to the quality of The Owen News and a great honor. It’s affirming
TRIAL | FROM PAGE 1
the upcoming trial by jury. The court has allotted eight days for the trial, excluding Saturday and Sunday.
The body of Sims was reportedly discovered off Stephenson Road near the Owen-Monroe county line by a passerby on July 15 of last year.
An autopsy later revealed the cause of death to be a single gunshot wound to the head. The death was ruled a homicide by the examining pathologist.
Porter faces charges of murder and auto theft. He was
Sheriff Ryan White, during the pursuit the driver of the suspect vehicle died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Sheriff White
chemical solution for dishwasher. PPM (parts per million) not at recommended range. Observed no sanitizer being dispensed into the washing machine. Corrected. Maintenance fixed the washing machine while the Health Department was on-site. Follow-up testing was completed and PPM was in recommended range. Observed gap under back door and gap
of the work that we do, placing what we produce among some of the best in the state. To place among two of our state’s largest newspapers for page one design is a fantastic feat for a start-up publication.”
The awards contest is judged by journalists from another SPJ chapter, located outside of the state of Indiana.
“It’s nice to be recognized by our peers in the newspaper industry,” said Travis Curry, President of The Owen News Board
25 years old at the time of his arrest.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed in the case, at approximately 2:21 p.m. on July 15th deputies from the Owen County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) responded to a location on Stephenson Road regarding an unresponsive male discovered by a passerby.
Owen County Emergency Medical Services personnel also responded and upon arrival, a black male was located and determined to be deceased.
The deceased male was reportedly found approximately
said for the privacy and dignity of the deceased, the OCSD will not release the names of those involved in the investigation.
Members of the OCSD, Owen County Coroner’s Office and the Indiana State Police assisted with the investigation.
above side exit door. The manager spoke with maintenance while the Health Department was on-site; will be sending someone to fix. Observed condenser in walk-in freezer dripping onto food product. Corrected. Staff moved food products and put up a barrier while the Health Department was on-site.
4-5
Dollar General #23176, 3401 S.R. 46E, Spencer. Routine inspection. No violations.
Mulligan’s (Rolling Meadows Golf Course), 4120 N. Mt. Carmel Rd., Gosport. Pre-operational inspection. Good to open; will do secondary inspection once open and running.
Smokin Pete’s, food truck. Routine inspection. No violations. 4-22
of Directors. “To challenge larger and more established publications for recognition in just our first year of operation is amazing, but as a nonprofit we couldn’t do what we do without the support of our financial contributors, advertisers and readers.”
The placement of the award finalists will be announced at the SPJ Indiana Pro Chapter’s annual banquet this evening. The Owen News Facebook page will post information immediately following
20 feet north of the gravel roadway, wearing red gym shorts, a white tank top, no shoes, and had a black plastic bag pulled over his head. Evidence technicians also found suspected blood and glass fragments.
While on the scene, authorities reported that an individual appeared and said he and Sims share their location with one another through “Find My iPhone,” and Sims’ last known location through this feature was in immediate proximity of where the crime scene had been established. Authorities noted that individual indicated this location stayed constant as Sims’ location for over the past 20 hours, indicating Sims had been in that location since the afternoon of Sunday, July 14.
Law enforcement was able to preliminarily identify the deceased black male as Sims, a resident of nearby Bloomington.
Authorities further noted that a second male subject, who was found to be a long-time friend and a current roommate of Sims, arrived at approximately 5:25 p.m. from the west end of the established crime scene. According to the probable cause affidavit, that individual stated the last time that he saw Sims was on Sunday, July 14, at approximately 1 p.m. Later in the investigation the roommate stated he was leaving the apartment and saw Sims after 2 p.m. on their front porch with another male that he knew as Quentin Porter, Jr., aka “QP.”
the banquet, and The Owen News website, theowennews.org, will have a story announcing the results early next week.
The Owen News , which began printing a monthly newspaper in April 2024, is Indiana’s first nonprofit newspaper. It was named Non-Profit of the Year last fall by the Owen County Chamber of Commerce, and in February, it won a regional Quality of Place Innovation Award from Regional Opportunities Initiatives, Indiana Uplands.
A person who was later identified as the girlfriend of Sims provided detectives with information that she received a Snapchat message from Sims on July 14, at 3:15 p.m. This message thread was later viewed from Sims’ Snapchat account. In this message the Snapchat account identified as belonging to Sims stated, “Be this ni**a QP got me going through some bulls***.”
Additional coverage of the case was published in the August 2024 issue of The Owen News. The article can be accessed on our website at Authorities arrest suspect in Bloomington man’s murder | The Owen News.
A final pretrial conference was held on January 10th in Owen County Circuit Court I, where Porter appeared in person and in custody of the Owen County Sheriff. The defense, represented by Jacob Fish and Megan Schueler, motioned the court for a continuance of the jury trial originally slated to begin on January 21. Owen County Prosecutor Benjamin Kim and Chief Deputy Prosecutor Parker Trulock objected to the continuance, which was ultimately granted by Judge Don VanDerMoere, setting the stage for the jury trial to get underway on May 12.
Porter also faces separate charges of escape and battery against a public safety official related to an incident that occurred on July 30, 2024.
All people are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
CCSC Board holds lease hearing, hires CES assistant principal
By Travis Curry Correspondent
The Cloverdale Community School Corporation (CCSC) Board of School Trustees, working in the absence of board member Mike Rightmyer II, met in regular session on April 14th to approve routine matters, to recognize student and staff members of the month and to address several items under the new business portion of the meeting.
Under routine matters, the board voted 5-0-1, with Katrina Lewis abstaining from the vote due to a previous meeting absence, to approve meeting minutes for executive and regular sessions held March 10.
Acting on a motion from board member Melissa Carrell, seconded by Joe Mann, the board voted 6-0 to approve the latest claims and financial reports, which CCSC Superintendent Greg Linton advised totaled $2,742,151.53 since the board’s previous meeting.
Next, the board recognized the corporation’s Student of the Month honorees for April, which included Cloverdale Elementary School (CES) first-grader Calum Collins, Cloverdale Middle School (CMS) student Mason Butler and Cloverdale High School (CHS) sophomore Kadence Dorsett.
“Keep seeking and reaching for your dreams,” board president Vivian Whitaker said at the conclusion of the presentations, addressing the Student of the Month recipients. “Thank you for what you do both in and out of the classroom. And thank you, parents and family members, for instilling in these students the drive to do good things.”
James Wade, CCSC Athletic Director and CHS math teacher, was recognized as the latest Staff Member of the Month. Wade’s
professional career spans 25 years, including 24 at CCSC.
“As a former student and player, nobody worked harder in the classroom or as an athlete at Cloverdale than he did, and that has carried over into his role at Cloverdale High School,” commented CHS Principal Sonny Stoltz. “Most of us work five days a week, but Mr. Wade works seven days a week. He runs most of our athletic activities, as well as teaching four math periods at the high school, and he does a great job. All of us at CHS are proud of our athletic director/math teacher.”
Next, the board moved on to new business, conducting a hearing on the lease related to a planned renovation project and needed improvements to facilities throughout the school corporation, including the construction of a training facility, site and athletic improvements throughout the school corporation and the purchase of equipment, real estate and technology. CCSC plans to lease all or a portion of the project from the Cloverdale High School Building Corporation.
Following the brief hearing, the board cast separate 6-0 votes to adopt an additional appropriation resolution, as well as a resolution authorizing the execution of the lease.
Acting on a motion from Donna Fidler, seconded by Mann, the board voted unanimously to adopt a resolution assigning construction bids to the building corporation once received.
In addition, the board voted 6-0 to adopt a resolution approving a supplement to the master disclosure undertaking.
Lastly, the board acted on a motion from Lewis, seconded by Emily Haltom, to approve the hiring of CORE Construction to serve as
the construction manager for the 2025 project.
CORE provides building services in 13 markets, including the K-12, higher education, civic, public safety, healthcare and senior living sectors. CORE has offices across the country, including in Indianapolis and Schererville, Indiana.
The board later cast separate 6-0 votes to approve the CMS Prevention, Intervention and Education (PIE) program, as well as three donations to CHS.
In addition, the board unanimously approved the following professional leave, field trip, and facility use requests: Professional Leaves
March 14 – Karl Turk, Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG), Ivy Tech, Indianapolis.
April 2 – Karl Turk, JAG, Indiana University, Bloomington.
April 29 – Megan Puckett, Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) refresher course, ONT.
May 15 – Jaralee Branigan, Jessica Fidler and Jenna Sullivan, fifth grade trip, Historic Tivoli Theatre, Spencer. Field Trips
March 14 – JAG, Ivy Tech, Indianapolis
March 20 – animal science class, Beutler Meat Processing, Lafayette.
April 2 – JAG, Indiana University, Bloomington
May 1 – CHS Spanish III, Indianapolis Zoo.
May 3 – CMS Academic Super Bowl Team, Sarah Scott Middle School, Terre Haute.
May 7 – digital photography class, Indianapolis Zoo.
May 15 – CES fifth grade i-Ready Incentive, Historic Tivoli Theatre, Spencer.
May 16 – Art Honors Club, Cincinnati, Ohio.
May 19 – High Ability, Lafayette. Facility Use
April 2-3 – Cloverdale Community Youth League (CCYL), softball coaches scheduling meeting, CMS library.
CMS student Mason Butler, CES first-grader Calum Collins, and CHS sophomore Kadence Dorsett, left to right, were recognized as CCSC Students of the Month for the month of April. PHOTO SUBMITTED BY CLOVERDALE COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION.
part of CMS parking lot.
April 25-summer, Wednesdays and Fridays – workout sessions for personal improvement, CHS Tucker Court.
May 2 – CMS choir program, dance, CMS gymnasium.
May 3 – CHS junior class 2026, promenade, CHS gymnasium.
May 20 – CHS PTO, track and field day, practice field and part of CMS parking lot.
June 7 – Jalen Moore Basketball Camp, CHS Tucker Court, auxiliary gymnasium, and café.
June 7-8, dance workshop, photos, rehearsal and dance recital, CHS cafetorium.
Additional personnel matters receiving unanimous board approval included: Employment
Kelley Tyler – Knoy teacher, 2025-2025 school year.
Alaina Abegg – CHS math teacher.
Shelby Roberts – CES computer lab assistant.
Megan Puckett – CES assistant principal.
Diane Ladd – CES fourth grade substitute, 2025-2026 school year.
Daphne Rutenbergfull-time bus driver. FMLA
Stefanie Shepherd –CMS custodian.
Michaela Marcum –CES fourth grade teacher, 2025-2026 school year. Coaching Resignation
Debbie Steffy – CMS
Coaching Hire
Aleksey Stewart – CMS seventh/eighth grade track coach.
Brent Newland – CMS drama assistant.
CCSC Superintendent Linton closed out the evening’s meeting by commenting on the hiring of Megan Puckett, a 16year veteran educator at CCSC, to serve as CES assistant principal.
“I’m very proud of the growth we’ve seen at the elementary over the last few years with our preschool program,” Linton said. “Anyone associated with Ms. Puckett knows the quality of work she does in her third-grade classroom, as well as in her role as the Knoy director. We really look forward to the leadership that she’ll bring to CES in her new role and the support she’ll give to [CES Principal] Ms. [Mary] Elkins. I think it will be a great team, and I look forward to seeing continued growth and development at CES.”
The Cloverdale Community School Board will meet again on Monday, May 12 beginning at 7 p.m. in the Arthur L. Johnson Administration Building, 310 E. Logan St., Cloverdale. Members of the board include Vivian Whitaker, Katrina Lewis, Donna Fidler, Melissa Carrell, Emily Haltom, Joe Mann and Mike Rightmyer II.
Step into spring: Let’s get WalkIN!
By Jamie Jo Lowder Health and Human Sciences Educator, Purdue Extension-Owen County
April 16
With sunshine in full swing and summer just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to get outside, soak up some fresh air and get moving. One of the easiest—and most eff ective—ways to boost your health is by simply going for a walk.
According to Purdue Extension, walking just 30 minutes a day can help improve heart health, lower blood pressure, reduce stress and even support weight control. Best of all? It’s free, easy on the joints and a great mood booster.
Hi! I’m Jamie Jo Lowder, and I’m proud
to serve the Owen County community with programs related to food, family, finance and health. I’m here to help you live your best (and healthiest) life, and this spring, we’ve got something exciting to help you step in the right direction.
Purdue ExtensionOwen County and the Owen County Health Department are teaming up this May to bring you a fun, flexible walking challenge that’s all about getting active, feeling great, and even winning prizes.
The Get WalkIN Program takes place May 5 through June 30, Monday to Friday, from noon to 1 p.m. on the Owen County Courthouse square.
How to participate: Walk around the courthouse square—or choose your own route! Sign in at the security check-in to track your minutes. County employees offsite can log minutes with their department heads.
Optional weigh-ins and measurements will
be available on May 5, May 30 and June 30, courtesy of the Owen County Health Department. All info is kept confidential.
Surprise incentives will be given out randomly throughout the challenge!
Complete 80 percent or 33 days of the program to be entered into a grand prize drawing, which includes: a state park pass and a three-month YMCA membership.
The program is supported by local sponsors, to be announced at the kickoff !
So, grab your walking shoes and come join us—your heart, mind and body will thank you.
Other upcoming programs you won’t want to miss include:
May 6
Teen Chefs, 4 p.m., at the Owen County Public Library. Learn cooking skills and food safety. Call 812-8293392 to register.
May 14
Preserve It Now…
Enjoy It Later – Jams & Jellies Workshop, noon to 4 p.m. at the Spencer United Methodist Church. Hands-on workshop teaching the boiling water bath technique and jam/jelly science. Registration includes resources, kitchen time and a sample to take home! Register by May 7 at https://cvent.me/ bzkx75 or call 812-8295020.
May 15 & 29
Hero Story Time, 10 a.m. at the Owen County Public Library. Preschool program teaching kindness, friendship and behavior basics. Call the library to register.
May 15
Junior Chefs (Ages 8 to 12), 4 p.m. at the Owen County Public Library. Fun with cooking and food safety! Register at 812829-3392.
May 23
Container Gardening Workshop – Make and Take, 3 to 5 p.m. at the Owen County Health
Department (parking lot). Plant your own veggie to take home and learn container gardening basics.
June 9
A Matter of Balance (eight-week program), 10 a.m. to noon at the Owen County Public Library. A practical program focused on managing falls and staying independent. Register at https:// cvent.me/m2MRoZ or call 812-829-5020.
And this is just the beginning! Keep an eye on our Purdue Extension-Owen County Facebook page and website for more programs added throughout the season. Interested in bringing a program to your group or organization? Whether it’s food, health, family or finance—we’ve got you covered. Email me at lowder0@purdue. edu and let’s plan something together.
Let’s make this spring your healthiest and happiest yet—see you out there!
Owen County 4-H: A century of youth development
By Cassie Linville 4-H Youth Development Educator
that spans over a century, making it an integral part of
the community’s fabric. Established as part of the national 4-H movement, Owen County 4-H has grown into a vibrant program that prepares young people to be leaders through handson experiences and community involvement.
History and Growth
The 4-H program began over 100 years ago and has since become
the largest youth development organization in the United States. In Indiana, the program is delivered through our landgrant University, Purdue Extension, which ensures that the 4-H mission of empowering youth to reach their full potential is upheld.
The program is open to all youths from grades three to 12, with a Mini 4-H program available
for younger children in kindergarten through second grade.
Operations and Activities
Owen County 4-H operates yearround, with the new 4-H year starting on Oct. 1 and ending on Sept. 30. The program offers a variety of activities, including community clubs, programs, school enrichment, camps, workshops and special interest events. These activities are designed to help youth develop essential life skills such as selfconfidence, goal setting, decision making and leadership.
One of the key aspects of 4-H is its “learning by doing” approach. This hands-on method allows youth to engage in projects that interest them, ranging from agriculture and animal science to robotics and arts. Through these projects, participants not only gain practical skills but also learn the importance of teamwork, responsibility and community service.
4-H Motto and Pledge
The 4-H motto, “To make the best
better,” encapsulates the organization’s commitment to continuous improvement and excellence. This motto encourages members to strive for their personal best in all their endeavors.
The 4-H pledge is a promise that members make to uphold the values of the organization. It goes as follows:
“I pledge my head to clearer thinking, My heart to greater loyalty, My hands to larger service, and My health to better living, For my club, my community, My country and my world.”
This pledge highlights the four H’s—Head, Heart, Hands and Health— which represent the core values of 4-H. These values guide members in their personal development and their contributions to their communities.
Impact on the Community
Indiana 4-H has a significant impact on the local communities to which 4-H members belong. With over 300,000 members in Indiana alone, the program
fosters a sense of belonging and civic responsibility among youth. Through various community service projects, 4-H members contribute to the well-being of their neighborhoods, making a positive difference in the lives of others.
The program also provides opportunities for young people to showcase their skills and achievements. Events such as the Owen County 4-H Fair allow members to present their projects, compete in various categories, and receive recognition for their hard work. These events not only celebrate the accomplishments of 4-H members but also bring the community together in support of its young people.
Owen County 4-H continues to be a cornerstone of youth development, offering a supportive environment where young people can grow, learn and lead. With its strong emphasis on hands-on learning, community service, and personal development, 4-H remains dedicated to making the best better for future generations.
STEAM Night
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: Jasper Linville holds one of fifth-grade teacher Fred Walden’s snakes at McCormick’s Creek Elementary School’s (MCES) Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) night. Linville held a Ball Python. // Maleeah White (left) and Braylee Key (right) practice taking out a pretend kidney stone in a kidney model. Cook Medical hosted the activity. // Brooke Stumph, a Cook Medical co-op, demonstrates putting a skewer through a balloon without popping it. The activity, hosted by the Society of Plastics Engineers, showed how long-chain molecular structures function. // Kennedy Gilreath watches her daughter Izzy Gilreath do a music activity at McCormick’s Creek Elementary School’s STEAM night. Spencer-Owen Community Schools music teacher Brock Beeman organized the activity. // Spencer-Owen Community Schools music teacher Brock Beeman (left) explains his music activity to Zoey Cooper (right). The activity allowed students to make their own songs, adding their own beats. // Mckenzee (left) and Maicee (right) Robertson try to spot the fake $20 bill at the Owen County State Bank’s booth. // Braylee Key holds fifth-grade teacher Fred Walden’s Corn Snake. Walden had an area set up in the school’s library for attendees to interact with snakes from his classroom. HANNAH AMOS | THE OWEN NEWS
Outdoor Type: Walker and the first turkey hunt, in his words
By Larry LaGrange & Walker LaGrange Guest Columnists
Awhile back I approached my 15-year-old grandson Walker with a proposal that he write a column in my place. His first turkey hunt was in the works, and I figured it would make compelling reading, coming from the young hunter himself. My son Aaron proved to be a capable tutor, as years ago he had successful turkey hunts. Now the torch was being passed. Here’s Walker’s account of the hunt in Owen County, complete with lightning, thunder and pouring rain: I’ve had an interest in hunting turkeys for the last few years, and with the knowledge that my dad used to hunt turkeys over 20 years ago, I had always thought of it as a possibility. One problem we faced until recently was having a spot to hunt with a good turkey population, but with recently gaining access to two properties with promising turkey populations, that problem had been solved.
One of the first things I learned about turkey hunting is that I knew next to nothing about turkeys. I tried to expand my knowledge about
the species, their behavior and how to hunt them whenever possible, whether that be asking my dad questions, reading articles or searching the internet for tips. With each new piece of information learned, I would gain a piece of confidence. But no matter how much you read or how confident you are, one cannot simply walk into a field up to a turkey and shoot it. So next would come the preparation. My dad and I were in possession of a few trail cameras from deer season that we had left out and moved around to find where the turkeys on this property frequented. With the knowledge of our best locations for turkeys, we would then need to pick areas on the woodline to trim in order to be able to sit in out of sight of the turkeys, but also to see and shoot out of. We selected multiple spots so we could have options in the case that we would need to reposition, but we made sure that our spots would provide a wide view with the best possibility of an in-range, ethical shot. We would also need to acquire proper clothing. With our current camouflage selection being for deer season, there were few items we could also use for turkey hunting, because of warmer
turkey season temperatures. It was also supposed to be raining on youth hunting weekend, so we would need to take that factor into account. With a few trips to stores and online websites, along with spraying our clothes with bug repellent and getting raincoats, we had proper attire. With turkey season looming closer and closer, I had never used turkey shot, only deer slugs, so my dad purchased turkey targets and had me get comfortable with the twelvegauge I would be using. He made sure I understood the importance of placing a pellet in the unfeathered head or neck region. He explained that if a pellet does not come into contact with the head or neck, pellets to the bird’s body would typically prove non-lethal. Being comfortable with shooting the gun and having our hunting spots and clothing ready, the last thing I would need to do before I was ready to hunt was learn to “talk turkey.”
Being new to turkey hunting, I had only ever used whitetail deer calls before, so learning the basics of turkey calling was a foreign subject to me. My dad purchased both of us a mouth diaphragm – a small item used to call hands-free, and I
found and collected his old box call and slate call. My dad taught me how to use the box call and slate call which were the simplest of the three, but then I still needed to learn how to use the mouth diaphragm. Even with my dad trying his best to explain how to use it correctly, I just couldn’t figure it out. Only after many days and lots of practice was I finally able to start producing noises let alone sounds resembling turkeys. The more I practiced, the closer it got to resembling a turkey. Now I was as prepared as I could be going into youth weekend.
On opening morning of youth weekend, I woke up at 4:45 a.m. My body was not as tired as I thought it would be, but instead full of excitement for what was to come in our hunt. My dad and I got dressed and drove to the hunting location which was about a 30-minute drive. We started our almost half-mile jaunt with all of our equipment to where we would be setting up our blind. We finally got settled after placing the decoy Jake and hen duo and setting up our blind.
Once it became legal shooting time, it was only a few minutes until we heard two gobblers sound from their roost in the distance
around 300-400 yards away. Soon after, we heard two far closer gobblers sound from their roost around 150 yards away. My dad called back to try to spark their interest and get them to investigate the decoy. Later, hens joined the Tom’s vocalization in their roost. With a little more encouragement from my dad’s calling, we finally convinced a Tom to step out of the woods about 150 yards away on the woodline of the field. With full sight of the decoys, we let him strut around and we were going to wait for him to approach the decoys on his own timing. Then the skies unleashed. A streak of lightning and deafening boom of thunder struck as the rain started pouring. I was discouraged and assumed the turkey would hunker down elsewhere. My dad and I sat there watching the storm for close to 15 minutes when I heard him whisper, “He’s right there.” I looked over and sure enough there was the lone Tom still far off, but making a beeline for the Jake and hen decoys. I discreetly shouldered my gun and held aim on the turkey as he at first was hesitant but then walked quickly towards the decoys. As the gobbler neared the decoy, another streak of lightning lit up
the tree line straight ahead. The Tom walked closer to us and went straight for the Jake decoy, in full strut, going nose to nose with him. He needed to show him who was the boss of the neighborhood. Once he stopped moving, I pulled the trigger. The turkey dropped and after some flapping, lay motionless. It was still pouring, so we waited until a break occurred in the storm to retrieve what we soon discovered to be a large Tom. After we took some pictures, I started the challenging task of walking the near half a mile back to our truck with the large bird on my back. We left just in time, with the rain picking back up substantially once we were on the road, making it difficult to even see. We arrived at our house to check it in and took measurements of my first-ever turkey prior to harvesting the meat. The gobbler came out weighing 24.5 pounds with an 11.5-inch beard and 30-millimeter spurs. I was pleasantly surprised at this early success in my hunt. I am very grateful for the opportunity to have been able to start my turkey hunting career in such a manner and also to be able to spend time with my dad in the woods doing something we both enjoy.
FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2025
CIRCUIT COURT | FROM PAGE 1
Residents were first alerted to there being an issue following a post from Circuit Court I Judge Donald Van Der Moere on April 11. With that post Van Der Moere said that he and Hanlon had learned that a bill had passed through a committee to eliminate Circuit Court II.
“If you care about your court system in Owen County and its impact on our local citizens, we implore you to contact our representatives at the State and let your voice be heard,” the post read.
That post was then shared by County Councilman Anton Neff.
“As the Indiana Legislature is nearing the end of their session, a recent development concerning the judicial system here in Owen County has raised cause for concern. For many years, we have operated under a unified circuit court system, with Judge Donald Van Der Moere II serving Circuit Court I and Judge Kelsey Hanlon serving Circuit Court II. House Bill #1144 currently working its way through the state legislative process, was recently amended by the Senate Appropriations Committee to, simply put, abolish Circuit Court II by Dec. 31, 2026,” Neff added when sharing the Facebook post.
“Overall, this weakens the judicial system and its service to our community. Higher case volumes, impaired response times and delayed actions were precisely what we worked to fix for years and finally were successful with, beginning 10 years ago when the second court was created. The efficient and responsive operation of our courts and court programs are in jeopardy. If you value and support the variety of court services we have in our county, I recommend that you read Judge Van Der Moere’s recently published post here and contact all three of the state legislators that represent our county.”
Prior to the creation of Circuit Court II, Owen County had a judge, a half-time paid state referee position and a child support commissioner, according to Hanlon;
“We kept the commissioner position for a couple years, but just didn’t find that our weighted caseload justified it. And you know, we were getting credit on the weighted caseload for having, you know, a judicial officer doing a third of the caseload,” Hanlon said, adding that the commissioner could only hear a small portion of cases.
Hanlon was first elected in 2014 after beating Terry L. English in the primary and running unopposed in the general
election. She ran again in 2020and her current term ends at the end of 2026.
“I knew that it was a possibility that they would eliminate courts when they did. They’ve been talking about it for a long time, and I know it was mentioned at an interim study committee that they believe that there were basically the right number of judicial officers in Indiana. So if they’re going to give them to places, they’re going to take them away from underutilized places,” Hanlon said. “I never dreamed we would be on that list, because our overall weighted caseload and our historic weighted caseload just do not justify it.”
From Hanlon’s understanding, the legislature used the 2023 weighted caseload in the decision-making.
“If they were to take my court away, [Circuit Court I Judge] Don [Van Der Moere] would immediately be at like a 1.4 [utilization] which is higher or comparable to the places where they’re giving [other] counties judges,” Hanlon said. “So, like this idea that we were on notice, I think, is not accurate. I mean, we knew that there was a possibility that it would happen. But in terms of understanding that we were possibly going to be included in this… I was shocked by being included.”
Hanlon explained that a weighted caseload is a way of measuring judicial workload.
According to the Indiana Supreme Court website, the system was created in 1996. The goal is that the utilization is at 1.0, meaning that the judge does the work load of only one judge. Anything below 1.0 is considered underutilization, and anything above is considered overutilization.
The weighted case load is updated periodically through a caseload study where judges keep track of time on every single type of case.
“As part of the weighted caseload assessment studies completed in 1996, 2002 and 2009 only a sample of judicial officers from around the state participated in the study. During the most recent studies completed in 2016 and 2024, every judicial officer in the state was asked to participate,” the Indiana Supreme Court website reads.
Time and credit for the workload is also included for administrative responsibilities. Each type of case is given an estimated number of minutes for that particular type of case, based on the caseload study.
As cases are filed, the judicial officer gets credit for the case.
Each type of case
gets the same amount of time for the same type of case across the state, regardless of the county.
“It’s a hard number to pin down.. Just because of the way cases are filed and the way that a case could be filed and dismissed. I’ll use CHINS (Child in Need of Services) cases as an example, because I think it’s salient,” Hanlon said. “I’m not exactly sure what the [caseload] figure is, but it’s not that high. But the reason it’s not that high is because sometimes they get filed and they get dismissed before you do anything with them. So on that one off, sensibly, you’ve done zero minutes, versus the ones that stay open for five years… it’s just trying to kind of capture a fair snapshot.”
Severity of need statistics apply only to new case filings in each court.
There is also a temporary adjusted weighted caseload. This report also adds to the court’s total minutes the cases in which the reporting judge assumed jurisdiction as a special judge in other courts. It adds to the court’s total minutes the venued in and transferred in cases. It subtracts from the court’s total minutes the number of cases in which another judge assumed jurisdiction as a special judge in the reporting court. It also subtracts from the court’s total minutes the venued out and transferred out cases.
The 2023 amended severity of need by county, which used the new case weights from 2024, placed Hamilton, Shelby and Vigo Counties at the top with respective utilizations of 1.34, 1.34 and 1.33, respectively. It placed Owen County at number 80 with a utilization of 0.66.
The last ranking county was Union County with a utilization of 0.35 and one judicial officer. Brown County ranked second to last with a utilization of 0.41 and two judicial officers.
In 2023, the overall state utilization was 0.98.
The 2023 amended weighted caseload measures show Owen Circuit I with a utilization of 0.48 and Owen Circuit II with a utilization of 0.84.
In 2024, Vigo, Hamilton and Allen Counties as the top three in severity of need, with respective utilizations of 1.43, 1.38 and 1.36.
In 2024, Owen County ranked 78 out of Indiana’s 92 counties with an average utilization of 0.70. Circuit Court I had a utilization of 0.63, and Circuit Court II had a utilization of 0.76
Comparatively, the two lowest-ranking counties, Brown and Ohio, each had an average utilization of 0.40.
“We have been solidly in the realm of needing two judges since before the second [circuit] court
was created. That was why we got it, because we needed two courts. And the legislature determined that we needed two courts and gave us two courts. And then, so we’ve been solidly at, like, a 1.7, 1.8,” Hanlon said. “Both courts are doing plenty of work.”
Hanlon believes that is an ideal utilization.
“It’s almost the perfect number, in my opinion, that 0.8, 0.9, because you can absorb weird increases in case filings, if they happen. But you’re not so low that you need to justify your existence,” Hanlon said. “To me, that’s kind of the utilization sweet sweet spot, because we don’t have any control over how many criminal cases get filed. We don’t have any control over how many CHINS cases get filed, and the fluctuations can be huge, depending on what’s going.”
Hanlon said other civil filings, which are predominantly heard by Circuit Court II, are reliable and more populationdriven. However, she noted changes to policy and those holding certain elected offices can change the number of filings.
A special judge can be attained by one of two ways. The first way is that both parties can agree on a judge and the judge can accept it. If the parties agree and the judge does not accept it or if the parties cannot agree, the case goes to a district facilitator who assigns it to a judge unless that judge has a conflict of interest.
“The ones that I have all in the far-flung parts of the state that aren’t in our judicial district are ones that I’ve gotten by agreement,” Hanlon said. “It’s flattering, you typically accept them.”
Hanlon said she communicated with legislators when she found out Circuit Court II was added to the list of courts to eliminate through an amendment.
The amendment was later removed during a conference committee between the House of Representatives and the Senate.
“With our input and the favorable negotiation among legislators, the final version of the bill had the adverse language removed, thus preserving Owen Circuit Court II in our county. Without it, we would have gone 10 years back in time to a high case volume and delayed judicial actions. We thank everyone who spoke up and appreciate our state legislators for listening and most important, taking the right action,” Neff posted to Facebook after the amendment was removed.
Senator Rod Bray, who represents part of Owen County and is President Pro Tempore of the Indiana Senate, explained the process.
“Every committee that hears a bill can change it and amend it, and it happens all the time. And so now I will say this one was a little bit unusual and probably didn’t happen exactly the way it should,” Bray said.
He referenced a formal process for analyzing which areas need additional judicial officers using the weighted caseload information.
“Typically, every two years, we take a look at this, and we add judges across the state in counties where weighted caseload suggests they need another [judicial officer.] But over the course of the last couple years, Senator [Liz] Brown, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, started a conversation with the Supreme Court to say, look, as we continue to add judges around the state, we also need to take a look at whether counties are overrepresented,” Bray said.
The cost for judges are shared by the counties and the state. The state pays the salary of the judge while the county pays for the physical office, office supplies and any salaries for court staff.
“And so that was, I think, what Senator Brown was doing in this circumstance. So I will grant you, while it’s very difficult for bills to be amended in whatever committee that they’re in, is a perfect situation in this kind of a case, because we’ve got judges that this is their livelihood. They ought to have ability to have some ability to come up to the state navigate suggests why their court shouldn’t be cut, why the numbers may be aren’t representative or whatever the case may be,” Bray said. “That didn’t happen in this process, and that is the large reason why we kind of moved that amendment back.”
In the counties where courts were eliminated in the final version of the bill, Bray said that many were retiring. He said they try to do it as it fits in with the judge’s plans through attrition.
He explained that it is common for the appropriations committee to add amendments when the bill has a fiscal note on it. Bills receive a fiscal note when implementing them costs the state more than $100,000. For the House, the equivalent committee is called ways and means. Bray explained that this allows those committees to incorporate the expense into the budget.
“Owen County only has two judges, and so at this point, the judges aren’t as busy as some judges, but because they
COURT
| FROM PAGE 1
teacher,” Long recalled. “I tried that for a while in the Houston [Texas] area, but I quickly found out that I did not like to stay inside the box, literally or metaphorically.”
Long, who studied elementary education and business at Franklin College, said he has no formal art training. In fact, he didn’t begin to paint professionally until the age of 40.
“It was mostly an accident,” Long said of his full-time career working as a mural artist. “I’m completely self-taught. The first time I ever painted anything with a brush for money, I was 40 years old. When I was younger, I would draw and create, and I was passionate about it for sure so when I had the opportunity to take my creativity to another level, I went for it.”
Long’s first paid job as an artist was for the Cloverleaf Family Restaurant on the south side of Bloomington.
“At the time I had never painted professionally before, but they didn’t know that,” he said. “They paid me, and I
went and got some cheap paint brushes and some paint from the hardware store because I really didn’t know what I was doing. I ended up painting some images related to Indiana University, including Assembly Hall and Memorial Stadium. Somebody else saw the mural when it was done and asked me to do another mural – that just kind of started the ball rolling.”
Long said from the moment he started painting with a brush, he knew he’d never turn back. To date, he’s created more than 300 murals, each one different from the last.
“I’d say that what I do is 75 percent sales and 25 percent art and in order to keep the ball rolling, you have to do that,” he explained. “I get to know the person or people that want the artwork. I really need to know who I am talking to and to get a feel for how they sound when they talk about what they enjoy. I just pick up on all those verbal cues and in the course of a conversation, I can usually understand what kind of artwork they like just from the way they talk and
HIGHWAY | FROM PAGE 1
“We are still conducting research, as well as an investigation,” Commissioners President Sam Hobbs said.
He said that the State Board of Accounts (SBOA) would be there in April for both a routine audit of 2023 and financials and to look at the highway department claims, finances and contracts per Owen County’s request.
“It’s going to be extensive, and it’s going to be expensive,” Hobbs said. “I made a commitment. I said to everybody in meetings that we’re not going to let this go. I’m not going to let it go. Greg Melton is guilty of things that he did and did wrong. He admitted it. Greg’s not the only guilty person. When the State Board of Accounts gets done and they turn in their report, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there, but rest assured, there’s going to be some people, and probably some people, maybe in this room or listening that’s not going to like what happens. I don’t care who you are, what your position is elected, appointed, janitor, stuff like that. They will not like what is coming. This issue of highway stuff has been going on for a long time. This is not a six-
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only have two, if you take one away, then all of a sudden then that one judge is pretty busy, so that was problematic,” Bray said. “That’s one of the reasons we kind of rolled that back because you get the potential to take that judge away, then immediately they’re kind of back in the conversation of do they need another judge added. “It’s better to
answer questions.”
Once a client or an individual settles on a theme, Long said they can work through the mural and its images together, organically.
Long’s most recent project found the artist at work on Spencer’s west side, creating a memorable mural for Travis and Krista Dill at their property along West State Road 46.
“Initially, all he really wanted was a flag and an eagle. He just said, ‘Go for it, do whatever you want.’ And that’s the best thing to do with an artist,” Long said. “When you have someone who says, you know what you’re doing, you’re the pro so go for it… having that freedom to really create is special. This was absolutely one of my favorite jobs.”
Long quickly built upon the initial flag/ eagle idea, incorporating the falls at McCormick’s Creek State Park into the mural among other details, including Spencer, Indiana and the name of the couple’s business, KMSJ Services. The project took an estimated 40 hours to complete from start to finish.
“I like to get in and
month, eight-month deal.”
Hobbs promised it would all eventually be made public.
“It’s going to be public because the public has a right to know. I don’t want to hide anything. I’m not going to hide anything,” he said.
Hobbs added, “There’s more than Greg Melton involved in what’s coming. The chips are going to fall where they may. And I’ve said it over and over. I’m going to keep saying it over and over. If there’s weeds that need to be pulled, they’re going to be pulled. Soon.”
He likened the county’s current financial position to the deficit from a few years ago. He referenced a meeting at the fairgrounds where a plan was developed.
“Might as well shove that in the toilet because it didn’t happen,” Hobbs said. “So now we’re back to another round of issues that can’t continue for Owen County because it’s not fair to the taxpayers.”
County Council President Polly Chesser spoke up.
“I want to correct you a little bit, because when I came on, that was when they had that we were six months away from going bankrupt, and we did the hard things, and we got it back on track. So this is totally
do this even in the summer, long before the session actually begins, so those conversations can happen in full, and the judges that might be in the conversation to get cut can come in and really talk about why it’s necessary that they remain, “ Bray said. “But we’ll make better decisions if we do it that way, and I think you will see us do it that way in the future, because that’s a better way to do it.”
Senator Eric
Bassler, who represents the other half of Owen County and serves on the appropriations committee, did not vote on the amendment coming from the appropriations committee on April 10. The bill with the amendments from the Senate was called for a vote on April 15. Bray voted in favor of the bill, and Bassler voted against it. Those
really find what I’m doing through trial and error,” Long said. “I’m not a very good artist as far as saying here’s what I’m going to do, and I’m going to stick to it. I’ve never been that way. I like to create and then kind of destroy to get to the best possible outcome. I might repaint an entire wall, 50-foot long and 20-foot high, three times just to make sure that it looks right.”
The vibrant piece of local art at the Dill property has already generated countless comments on social media and through word of mouth in and around Spencer.
“I like the idea of the waving flag and the fact that it has motion,” Long explained. “I like things in motion. I thought having the eagle’s head that big would be necessary to see it from the road with detail, so that’s why I ended up making it as big as I did. And then the falls at McCormick’s Creek is something that’s nearby and is well known. The idea was, if I added something that was from nature, then I could spread the trees and the green across
different than that,” Chesser said.
“It doesn’t make any difference,” Hobbs said, adding that parts of the plan were skipped, which in his opinion should not have been skipped. “This may be different, but it is still a debt.”
One resident asked if previous commissioners are involved, would there be any retroactive activity for what went wrong.
“I hate that you asked that question,” Hobbs said before explaining. “If it turns criminal, yes… I will state this, and I’m probably going to get a phone call. It seems to me that it’s okay to be unethical and immoral all you want. There is no justice for it.”
Hobbs said mistakes happen and nobody is perfect.
“But there’s some things that are not mistakes. Some things have been done on purpose. That’s what we have to find out,” he said.
Currently, all invoices for the highway department go through the auditor’s office. Hobbs also cited issues of not knowing how large orders of materials were divided. He said that documentation or some sort of documentation as to where it is supposed to go should be included with the claim.
amendments were not accepted by the House, which was the house of origin for the bill. This sent it to conference committee, which is where the language eliminating Circuit Court II was removed.
On April 24, the conference committee report from the Senate shows Bray voting in favor and Bassler not voting. The conference committee report from the
and over to the other side of the flag so the mural would have a good balance throughout. There’s water, an animal and a flag, and they’re all moving so it just kind of feels alive, like it’s all in motion.”
For Long, 47, leaving something behind that creates a feeling of happiness in others is the most rewarding part of his career.
“Every time I paint something, it’s left out there and people can see it and enjoy it,” he said. “I don’t get a lot of sleep anymore because I’m excited to get up, get going and do my play. I call it play because it’s not really a job, it’s more than that. It just adds to being able to wake up and be happy every day knowing that I’m giving someone else something to smile about. I think everyone is looking for a chance to make other people smile, and I feel like I have that.” Long and his wife, Nicole, make their home in Smithville with the couple’s daughter, Lorene Maree.
To contact the artist or to see more of his work, visit Adam Long on Facebook.
“Because if you’re not a budget person, and you don’t know line items and stuff like that, it’s easy to get confused,” Hobbs said. “If you’re not looking at your cash balance, if you don’t know what your cash balances are and you keep spending, you rob Peter to pay Paul. Then you rob Paul to pay James. Now Peter and Paul are both broke…. It’s become a domino effect, plus other things that’s involved, but that’ll all come out in the wash. It will.”
Hobbs said that he does not have a timeline for when the SBOA audit would be complete. It was said that the previous mandatory audit from SBOA cost the county $50,000 Highway department assistant superintendent Chad Walker did not receive extra pay during Melton’s suspension. He said his job is to step up when the superintendent is not there and that it is part of his job. Melton’s suspension coincided with the major flooding event the first weekend in April.
When asked if Melton would receive back pay for the duration of his suspension, Hobbs responded, “He was suspended without pay. When you’re suspended without pay, that means you don’t get paid.”
House shows Representative Bob Heaton, who also represents Owen County, voting in favor of it.
The final version of the bill limits the judges in Marion County juvenile courts to no more than 11 magistrates. It eliminates one court each in Blackford County and Monroe County. It also eliminates a magistrate in Jennings County. It allows the judges of the Elkhart circuit
and superior courts to appoint four fulltime magistrates. It also adds two superior courts to Hamilton County, and it allows the judge of Lawrence County’s juvenile court to appoint not more than one full-time magistrate. Finally, it allows the judges of the Vigo circuit and superior courts to jointly appoint one magistrate.
White River sees fourth highest crest
By Nicole DeCriscio Executive Editor
Owen County saw historic flooding in early April following several days of rainy weather, leading to a warning or red travel advisory. A resolution from the Owen County Commissioners is required to enact the highest level of travel advisory.
The crest for the river based on measurements from the National Water Prediction Service as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was the fourth highest crest since at least 1913. The White River in Spencer crested at 24.41 feet on April 7 between midnight and 1 a.m.
The highest historic crest was 28.5 feet on March 26, 1913. The second and third highest crests were at 26.84 feet on June 6, 2008 and 25.08 feet on Jan. 7, 2005, respectively.
The fifth highest historic crest was 23.95 feet on Jan. 1, 1991, making this event the highest crest since the 100-year flood of 2008. Anything over 24 feet is considered a major flood by NOAA.
In preparation for the flooding, the State of Indiana offered skids of 50 pre-filled sandbags for pickup in Bedford, and the Owen County Highway Department left its entrance gate unlocked during April 5 and 6 to allow public access for anyone in need to fill and haul their own sandbags. These were offered without charge.
Throughout the flooding event, Owen County Water Rescue made a total of 11 water rescues, according to Emergency Management Director Jack White.
County roadways incurred an estimated $15,302,675 in roadway damage assessed by the Owen County Highway Department (OCHD) as of April 25. The highway department was still assessing the full damage, and OCHD Superintendent Greg Melton said he would not be surprised if that number doubled, as new reports of damage from the event are still being added to the list.
On April 11, Indiana Governor Mike Braun declared a state of emergency for 18 counties, of which Owen County was included.
“Due to flooding, storm, and tornado damage, I am declaring a state of disaster emergency in Bartholomew, Brown, Clark, Crawford, Dearborn, Delaware, Gibson, Hamilton, Harrison, Lake, Madison, Marshall, Martin, Owen, Perry, Posey, Spencer, and Warrick counties. This is effective for 30 days and allows the Indiana Department of Homeland Security to begin providing financial assistance to impacted communities who have eligible expenses under the State Disaster Relief Fund program,” Braun said in a press release.
“It is my hope that this step enables residents, businesses, and local governments to access needed resources and assistance as they assess and recover from these devastating weather events.”
Photos shared on Facebook on April 8 by county commissioner Sam Hobbs shows Braun assessing the damage alongside Hobbs and commissioner Dave Risk. Senator Jim Banks and Senator Todd Young also sent out members of their teams to view the damage in Owen County.
Flood stage for the White River begins at 14 feet as a minor flood. Moderate flooding begins at 20 feet, and major flooding begins at 24 feet.
According to NOAA, when the White River in Spencer measures 14 feet, lowland flooding begins in the Spencer and Gosport areas and Rattlesnake, Fall, McCormick’s, Limestone, Big and Bean Blossom Creeks
begin to back up, and the Spencer Public Access site to the river begins to flood.
At 15.5 feet, County Line Road in Owen County begins to flood on the north side of the river, Romona Road west of Gosport begins to flood, and flooding of low agricultural land is noticeable.
At 16 feet, the lowest portions of trails one and seven at McCormick’s Creek State Park flood.
At 16.3 feet, County Line Road south of Gosport begins to flood.
At 17 feet, a few mobile homes located downstream of Spencer are isolated due to their driveway lanes being flooded. In addition, County Line Road on the north side of the river has one foot of water and begins to flood in a second place.
At 17.2 feet, high water affects the Owen County Fairgrounds parking lot and county
roads in the Freedom area. At 18 feet, flooding begins at the Owen County Fairgrounds and Cooper Commons on the south side of Spencer.
At 19 feet, the road south of the river gage begins to flood and extensive agricultural flooding is in progress.
At 20 feet, Hyden Road, Fifth Avenue and the west side of Cooper Street in Spencer begin to flood.
At 21 feet, the Prospect Park area of Spencer and East Street begin to flood.
At 22 feet, some evacuations may begin in Prospect Park and the western outskirts of Spencer. Flood waters affect the southern part of Freedom, and the rural area north of Freedom extensively floods.
At 22.5 feet, the east side of Cooper Street on the south side of Spencer begins to flood.
At 23 feet, flooding affects all homes in
the Prospect Park area in western Spencer, and evacuations are necessary. The fairgrounds parking lot and arena flood.
At 24 feet, a major flood is in progress, and as many as 150 people may be forced to evacuate from the western outskirts of Spencer.
At 24.3 feet, Prospect Park on the west side of Spencer extensively floods. Streets within Spencer that are partially flooded on the south side of town include East Cooper Street, East Clay Street, South West Street, South Montgomery Street, South Main Street, South Washington Street, South Harrison Street and South East Street. Sandbagging is necessary on the south side of Spencer.
At 24.6 feet, the road located on the east side of Owen Valley Middle and High Schools
flood.
begins to
FROM TOP: Flood waters had already begun to cover Cooper Commons, a portion of the Owen County Fairgrounds and homes along and near Cooper Street when this aerial photo was posted to Facebook by Ronan Young on the morning of April 6. The White River at Spencer would crest at 24.41 feet between midnight and 1 a.m. the following day. The local flood stage is 14 feet. // Pottersville Road south of the Owen County Veterans Memorial Bridge was closed due to flood waters that impacted Spencer and the surrounding area in early April. PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY RONAN YOUNG.
