Fifteen people in total were arrested Friday morning, accused of several charges including dealing in prescription drugs, methamphetamine, and marijuana. One of the suspects is a former Crawford County Sheriff.

The suspects were arrested for allegedly dealing drugs like meth, hydrocodone, oxydone, opana, and marijuana. It took two years and six different law enforcement agencies including the Indiana State Police, Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, US Marshals Service, DEA, Milltown Town Marshals office, and DNR Law Enforcement Division to bring the alleged dealers down.

At the Crawford County 4H Fair, people looked over the list of people arrested with shock. Notable names like Lisa and Rick Pittman, owners of Lisa’s Bargain Barn, accused of dealing prescription drugs and former Crawford County Sheriff Alvin Crecelius.
“I’m shocked,” one woman at the fair said. “I didn’t really know him, but I am surprised that someone who would’ve been a sheriff in the county at one time would be doing something like that.”
Crecelilus was sheriff in Crawford County in the early ‘90s. He’d been arrested before, in 1998, accused of voter fraud.
Crawford County prosecutor Cheryl Hillenburg says these most recent arrests were the result of an investigation that took two years of hard undercover work; a challenge in such a small community.
“You have to keep a very small number of people involved and that’s hard to do and so many people are related. It’s just hard to do something for two years and not let anyone know what you’re doing,” she explained.
Most of the people arrested were charged with dealing controlled substances, some were charged with dealing meth and marijuana. Of the people arrested some were able to bond out the same day they were arrested.

Arrested:

1. Mary Harmon, 74 Marengo, IN a. Dealing in a Schedule II Controlled Substance (2 counts), B Felony b. Maintaining a Common Nuisance (2 counts), D Felony
2. Melissa “Kelly” Harmon, 38 Marengo, IN a. Conspiracy to Deal Schedule II Controlled Substance, B Felony b. Maintaining a Common Nuisance, D Felony
3. Esther Smith, 55 Marengo, IN a. Dealing in a Schedule II Controlled Substance (2 counts), B Felony b. Maintaining a Common Nuisance (2 counts), D Felony
4. Ricky Pittman, 52 Marengo, IN a. Dealing in a Schedule III Controlled Substance (2 counts), B Felony
5. Lisa Pittman, 42 Marengo, IN a. Dealing in a Schedule III Controlled Substance, B Felony
6. Gail Dillard, 48 Marengo, IN a. Dealing in a Schedule II Controlled Substance (2 counts), B Felony b. Maintaining a Common Nuisance (2 counts), D Felony
7. Alvin Crecelius, 69 Marengo, IN Charges: Dealing in a Schedule III Controlled Substance (4 counts), B Felony
8. Jeremy D. Byerly, 37 Marengo, IN a. Dealing Methamphetamine over 3 grams, A Felony
9. Charles Becht, 48 Milltown, IN a. Dealing Methamphetamine under 3 grams, B Felony b. Dealing in a Schedule IV Controlled Substance, C Felony c. Dealing Marijuana over 30 grams, D Felony d. Dealing Marijuana under 30 grams, A Misdemeanor
10. James H. Graham, 50 English, IN a. Dealing in a Schedule III Controlled Substance (2 counts), B Felony
11. Carl Hines, 69 Saint Croix, IN a. Dealing in a Schedule IV Controlled Substance, C Felony
12. Jennifer McDaniel, 41 Ramsey, IN a. Dealing in a Schedule II Controlled Substance, B Felony b. Maintaining a Common Nuisance (2 counts), D Felony
13. Scott McDaniel, 52 Ramsey, IN a. Dealing in a Schedule II Controlled Substance, B Felony b. Dealing in a Schedule IV Controlled Substance (2 counts), C Felony c. Maintaining a Common Nuisance (3 counts), D Felony
14. Kenny Mills, 46 Milltown, IN a. Dealing in Marijuana over 30 grams
15. Cordellia Patton, 58 English, IN a. Dealing Schedule IV Controlled Substance

Starting Monday, over 470 civilian employees at Grissom Air Reserve Base will have to take off one unpaid day each week until the end September.

The furlough days are the result of the federal government sequestration that took effect earlier this year. Lieutenant Colonel Gary Lockard in the Public Affairs Office says base employees have been preparing for the furloughs for several months and are taking everything in stride.

The original call for the furlough days was 22 days, however base leadership were able to reduce that number to 11 days. In order to maintain mission requirements and other duties, civilian employees will be able to chose their day off each week to best accommodate their job requirements and personal schedules.

Snoring may annoy your spouse, but it can also mean a danger to yourself.

Dr. Adam Fisch, a neurologist with J-W-M Neurology in Indianapolis and board-certified sleep specialist, says while snoring may be simply an annoyance, it could also be a warning sign for sleep apnea. He says studies are showing that sleep apnea is becoming more and more common. He says in the past, experts may have said one in 20 people have sleep apnea, but now it‘s more common in one in four people.

Dr. Fisch says the best and most common form of treatment is C-PAP therapy which involves the patient wearing a mask that opens up the airways. He says dentists can make can make oral devices to pull the jaw forward to get air flow in and Ear, Nose & Throat doctors can snip the uvulua to open up the airway.

Dr. Fisch says sleep apnea can disrupt your sleep structure which means you‘ll wake up from a less restful slumber. He says if you snore, have daytime sleepiness, wake up gasping for air or if someone sees you not breathing while you sleep, you should see a doctor to get checked out.

More than 250 new state laws take effect today — including a few unusual ones.

Starting Monday, the penalty for minors boarding a riverboat casino is scaled back from a misdemeanor to an infraction — that carries a fine, but no jail time.
School bus drivers will have to explain each semester how to fasten your seat belt, on buses which have them.
Hunters will be allowed to use silencers. Indiana Deer Hunters Association president Joe Bacon says manufacturers sought the change — his group took no position.

Legislators instructed the Department of Natural Resources to redefine what a minnow is. Bait dealers must follow laws on shipping and handling minnows.

The D-N-R says a definition passed in 1995 goes beyond biological minnow species, but uses language that’s too ambiguous.

Another new law allows motorsports trailers to be four feet longer and three feet wider than other trailers.

South Bend-area legislators passed a law limiting the potential liability of the Compton Family Ice Arena, which Notre Dame opened in 2011.

Most new Indiana laws take effect on July 1 because it‘s the start of the state fiscal year.

The Indiana Youth Group has its specialty license plate back.

The Bureau of Motor Vehicles reinstated the plate that was revoked last year after a complaint was filed by 20 Republicans state senators against the Indianapolis group that offers support to gay young people.

BMV Commissioner Scott Waddell announced the reinstatement in a letter to ACLU of Indiana legal director Ken Falk. Falk had recently sued the BMV after Waddell rescinded a ruling from BMV administrative law judge Melissa Reynolds saying the Bureau was wrong to revoke the specialty plates in 2012.

The lawsuit said Waddell violated IYG‘s right to due process.

The case was based on the low-numbered plate allocation program, where agencies who are granted specialty plates are allowed to give away specialty plates numbered 1 through 100 to staff or supporters. The BMV had revoked the plates from IYG, the Indiana 4-H Foundation and the Greenways Foundation, saying the groups violated state law by selling or auctioning those plates.

Waddell‘s letter to Falk says that while the BMV will reinstate the IYG plate, the group will be barred from participating in the low-numbered plate program. IYG had claimed it gave the plates as gifts to those who had donated a certain amount of money to the group, similar to gifts given to donors to public television stations.
Waddell‘s letter states that Falk agreed to drop the federal lawsuit if the BMV agreed to forego further appeals of Reynolds‘s ruling.

Indiana pharmacists now can offer more immunizations to customers.

A new law that went into effect today, (Mon-July1) allows your local pharmacist to now vaccinate you against pneumonia, tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis, HPV infections and meningitis.

The goal is to make immunizations more available to the public and drive down health care costs.

The state already has more than 27-hundred pharmacists trained to provide the shots and several hundred new ones are added annually.

A historical marker to memorialize the late Governor Ralph Gates will be dedicated Tuesday (July 2nd) in Columbia City. The 37th Governor of Indiana was born in Columbia City in 1893.

He served as Governor of Indiana from 1945 to 1949. During his administration, state departments were created to address issues on revenue, flood control, veterans‘ affairs and traffic safety.

Additionally, he focused on education reform, development of Indiana’s highway system and industrial growth. Senator Jim Banks says the historical marker is a overdue honor for someone who played a major role not only in the Columbia City community, but in the state.   

The ceremony will be at 1:15 p.m. on the Whitley County Courthouse lawn.

Good times await the thousands of people who will visit 4-H fairs this month in more than 80 Indiana counties, but so does the risk of getting sick.   

Health officials say remember those common safe hygiene practices when you pick up your favorite fair food and then head to the livestock barns. Pigs especially can be infected with influenza strains that occur in different species.

Influenza A -(SWINE FLU) made its way around Indiana last year with 138 cases in 24 counties. One of the easiest and most important precautions we can take is to wash our hands often with soap and avoid face-to-face contact with animals.

Symptoms of variant influenza A include: fever, cough, sore throat, chills, headache and muscle aches. Diarrhea and nausea can also occur in children.

Fort Wayne is the smartest city in Indiana according to a new survey.

Real estate blog Movoto.com has released its latest ranking.

The 2013 list ranks Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the “Smartest City In America.” The ranking uses six criteria that include: the number of colleges, libraries, media outlets and museums in each city along with public school ranking and education levels.

Fort Wayne comes in at number 35. Indianapolis doesn‘t even make the top 50. Orlando, DC, Atlanta, Honolulu, Tampa, Seattle, San Francisco, Cincinnati and Miami round out the top ten.