Instructor Phil Woolery Leads Gardening Class for Starke County Jail inmates
According to Starke County Sheriff Bill Dulin, more than 30 jail inmates recently started a gardening class instructed by Starke County Purdue Extension Educator Phil Woolery.
Sheriff Dulin shared that a total of 32 inmates will be attending the month-long class where Woolery will teach lessons about agriculture, horticulture and other skills related to botany.
He said the “green thumb” gardening class is a part of a Starke County Jail program called F.A.R.M., which is an acronym that stands for Focusing A Recovery Mindset. Continue reading →
The Starke County Jail is now accepting registration times for on site video visits.
According to information released by Sheriff Bill Dulin, the visits will take place on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but must be scheduled 24 hours in advance. Those interested in signing-up for a registration time can visit the website jailatm.com.
Land at the former Pleasant View Rest Home in Pulaski County could soon play host to fruit trees.
As part of an Eagle Scout Project, Jacob Conner with Boy Scout Post #229 in Winamac intends to work with jail facility inmates to plant the trees and set-up a program that allows them to harvest the crops. Continue reading →
The facility is not being fully used, presenting an opportunity to fundraise for a good cause.
Starke County Relay for Life will be hosting an event on May 21st that mimics being jailed. Individuals can surrender themselves at the new Starke County Jail on that date, or issue a “warrant” for someone’s “arrest.” Continue reading →
Sixteen jail employees attended the Starke County Commissioners meeting yesterday to have the holiday pay schedule clarified. After some discussion, it was decided that for all police, 9-1-1, EMS, and jailers, the holiday pay would be straight time, but if they worked the holiday it would be straight time plus time and a half.
Commissioner Kathy Norem, who was formerly the hospital CEO at Starke Memorial, explained that it would be similar to what they paid and why they paid the amount.
“Anybody that worked the holiday got paid time and a half, but they also, within the same pay period, got an extra day off with pay. In essence, since these guys are not taking an extra day off, that’s no different, really, than double time and a half. And in some ways its much more beneficial to us to pay them the double time and a half if they work on the holiday rather than pay them time and a half and get them an extra day off paid, because with as skeleton as that crew is, that’s going to cause someone to get overtime,” Norem explained.
Any county employee working a holiday will be paid time and a half, on top of their regular holiday pay.
Bridgett Markin of First Source Insurance and Sheriff Oscar Cowen came before the Starke County Commissioners yesterday to present an inmate catastrophic insurance proposal. By not having such a policy, the county was responsible for all catastrophic expenses incurred by inmates while incarcerated.
The policy selected came with $250,000 maximum coverage and $10,000 deductible. Sheriff Cowen said that many Indiana counties have this type of policy.
In the end, the commissioners voted unanimously to purchase the policy that costs $17,500 annually.
Starke County Commissioners ( L to R ) Kathy Norem, Dan Bridegroom, Jennifer Davis
A special meeting was called by the Starke County Commissioners to discuss possible solutions to problems with some of the county buildings, as well as various options for funding some of their recent projects. Several issues were mentioned in particular, such as the jail being short on space under a leaky roof, the courthouse elevator in need of repair with cramped offices on the second floor, and the prosecutor’s office in need of handicap access to name a few. Because of the expense of these projects, the commissioners met with representatives from H.J. Umbaugh & Associates and RQAW to discuss possible problem solutions and financial strategies.
