Year in Review – Part Three

We continue to count down the top ten stories of 2011.

Starke County moved into the national spotlight when the new Oprah Winfrey Network, OWN, featured a series on “Women Behind Bars.” One of the women featured was Lisa Owens, who, a decade earlier, had taken the life of her husband in Knox. Owens told of life behind bars and her hope for early release from prison for the shooting. That wish was granted when Owens received an early release. She was paroled into the custody of a sister, who did not live in the county. The story evoked many emotional comments on the WKVI Discussion Board arguing the pros and cons of her early release.

And, even though it’s a sport popular in many countries South of the Border, 76 people found it was not only not popular here, but was illegal, too. 76 Hispanic men involved in cock fighting were arrested in February after police received a tip about a large number of cars and trucks some with crates filled with chickens in the vehicles at a rural Starke County location. The massive raid ended with the arrests and confiscation of the birds.

We’ll review two more of the top stories tomorrow.