Dust settling, but questions remain
By Suzanne Werre
Editor
The dust may have settled following recent arrests in Underwood following a sting operation involving the McLean County Sheriff’s Department and several other law enforcement agencies, but the members of the Underwood City Commission want to know more.
More about what can, should, and needs to be done in order to make sure drugs do not become the major issue it was recently reported to be in several area news media outlets.
Members of the Underwood City Commission are still hoping to set up a meeting with members of the Sheriff’s Department, State’s Attorney Ladd Erickson, and the public, including the owners of the Black Nugget, which was the focus of the department’s investigation.
In advance of that meeting, the date which has yet to be determined, McLean County Sheriff JR Kerzmann and Erickson issued a memo to the city commission regarding the investigation, including background, past incidents and investigations.
In part, the memo read as follows: “However, it would be a false conclusion to single out Underwood or any other community as having a bigger drug problem than any place else just because there happened to be a series of drug arrests there in short order.”
“Except they did,” commented commissioner Patti Werre, regarding comments in a news story that indicated Detective Aaron Matties claimed Underwood is the No. 1 city in the county for drug activity.
