The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1147567
C-12 Wednesday, July 24, 2019 The Press-Dispatch EAST GIBSON NEWS Submit school news: Email: egnews@ pressdispatch.net Deadline: Noon on Friday dchosp.org/pediatrics • Six convenient locations. • Board-certified pediatricians. • Appointments available! Pediatric care from newborns to teens. Services from check-up to specialized care. Let DCH care for your little ones. BIG CARE Oakland City Lions Club SWEET CORN ARE BACK AUGU ST 1 - 3 W irth Park • 1200 W . Mo rton St., Oakland Ci ty CHICKEN & SMOKED PORK CHOP DINNERS SERVED THURS. & FRI., 4PM-9PM • SAT., 11AM-9PM Carnival Rides Entertainment August 1 - Sweet Corn Parade August 2 - Mike Lance Starbound August 3 - Rodney Watts, Kids' Games and much more OAKLAND CITY SWEET CORN FEST PAGEANT CONTESTANTS Little Miss Sweet Corn contestants for 2018 are, (l to r): Chloe Fergu- son, daughter of Tim and Amber Ferguson, of Evansville; Rebecca Tay- lor, daughter of Kenny and Amber Taylor, of Princeton; Embyr Beasley, daughter of John and Ivy Beasley, of Oakland City; Lydia Whitehead, daughter of Seth and Hannah Whitehead, of Princeton; McKinley Catt, daughter of T.J. and Nicole Catt, of Haubstadt; Raygan Taylor, daughter of Kenny and Amber Taylor, of Princeton. Little Miss Sweet Corn Pageant will be Friday, July 26 at 7 p.m. CDT in the Oakland City School Cafeteria. The Miss Sweet Corn pageant contestants for 2019 are, (l to r): Lizzie Richardt, Kara Ingle, 2018 Miss Sweet Corn Abbi Richardt, Madyson Hegedus and Nora Johnston. Right: There are no contestants for the 2019 Teen Miss Sweet Corn pageant. Pictured is 2018 Teen Miss Sweet Corn Abby Gates. The 2019 Young Miss Sweet Corn Contestants are, (l to r): Breelyn Peterson, Bristol Powers, 2018 Young Miss Sweet Corn Jessa Ridao, Addi Catt and Avelyn Knepp. The 2019 Junior Miss Sweet Corn pageant con- testants are, (l to r): Leyla Cargal, Jayla Harris and Calleigh Wibbler. Not pictured are Penelope Parker and Ainsley Sheffer. Gibson County Council considers new tax for jail McConnell urges intervention, Bottoms headed to court By Janice Barniak Gibson County Council has a hearing scheduled for 6 p.m. Aug. 6 to consider whether to pass a .02 percent income tax to support changes at the county's overcrowd- ed corrections facility, a facility that is the subject of two lawsuits. Lawsuits allege overcrowding, with three inmates in cells built for two, which puts one inmate on the floor between the other inmates and their restroom. The tax would raise approxi- mately $1.5 million, 20 percent of which could be used for opera- tions, and the rest of which would need to be used for capital pro- jects. The tax would have a sunset, required to end at or before 22 years have passed. If passed be- tween now and October, the coun- ty could begin receiving the tax revenue by 2020. As for a plan as to what to use the money raised for—facility up- grades, a new jail, or more jailers, for example—the council is look- ing at several approaches to a po- tential fix. Longtime Councilman Bill Mc- Connell is in favor of an approach that would include reducing the number of inmates through alter- natives to jail or reducing recidi- vism (inmates committing more offenses post-release), rather than building a new facility. A pilot study in eight counties tried an Indiana Risk Assessment system to assess pre-trial flight risk. In some cases, the accused wait for trial in jail because they cannot afford bail. Those consid- ered low risk would instead await their court date at home. To reduce the number of peo- ple who lapse back into the crimi- nal corrections system, the coun- ties also offer high school equiva- lency classes, counseling or other programs. In combination, the pro- grams reduced populations by ap- proximately 25 percent. "This is a commissioners' pro- ject, but guess who is furnishing the cash? " said Councilman Bill McConnell, referring to the coun- cil having to pass the funding for a jail project. "Let people know, it's going to take time. We're not go- ing to hurry to spend any money." Commissioner Steve Bottoms told the council he was open to re- search into intervention projects aimed at reducing the population of inmates. "You say we are not in any hurry. But I will be in federal court this month. Are we going to be able to counsel our way out of this prob- lem? " He added that Porter County's jail has a more modern design compared the 40 -year-old build- ing in Gibson County, where the layout requires more jailers to pa- trol inmates. Looking at where the tax in- crease would put Gibson Coun- ty, right now median county in- comes are at $51,000, and for those households, the increase would be approximately $ 96 per year. The average income tax rate currently is at .7 percent, com- pared to Dubois County at 1 per- cent, Carroll County will now be at 2.27 percent, and Whitley Coun- ty at 1.4829. A tax expert told the council 87 counties have higher in- come taxes than Gibson County, and if the income tax was imple- mented, 85 would still exceed the county's rate. In Dubois County, passing the tax took a matter of weeks. McConnell was not in favor of passing the tax at this time. "We need to see what we need first," he said. "They're always tell- ing us what to do, never telling us where to get the money." From the audience, area res- ident Cecil "Bob" Allen asked where members stood on the idea. Councilman Craig Pflug said the council was at the information gathering stage, and would want to hear the public at the public hear- ing scheduled at 6 p.m. Aug. 6. "We have no idea what the pro- ject cost would be," Pflug said. Bottoms said he wanted to know what to present in court as the council's next move. "Education is not going to solve our problem in the jail right now, which is overcrowding and un- dermanning," he said, adding the problem has continued for five years, and the commissioners have initiated a jail study. McConnell said Gibson County has had counseling programs off and on, but not sustained efforts. "We're not going to be making any decisions for some time," he said, adding it would be the com- missioners that approved a project but the council that would have to find the funding. From the audience, Allen disa- greed. "Taxpayers! Taxpayers are go- ing to furnish the money, not the board," he said. "We've ignored the same problem. It's time to ad- dress the problem and do some- thing about it." "We are," said McConnell. "Not yet we're not," said Allen.