Sheriff's Pink Duds Have Inmates Vowing to Reform
MASON, Texas (AP) - Three county inmates in the jail here lay on their bunks, not saying much.
They wore pink jumpsuits and pink slippers, and one was wrapped in pink sheets. They were surrounded by pink bars and pink walls.
They were not comfortable.
Despite the cramped condition of the tiny jail, the inmates said sitting there was better than working outside, where they might be seen by people they know. Using pink uniforms in a pink jail is a small step to deter inmates from ever wanting to spend more time in the Mason County Jail, which might be getting too old to operate, said Sheriff Clint Low.
"The county would have more inmate labor without them," said one inmate, who did not want to be identified.
"I'm not going outside in these things. It's a good deterrent because I don't want to wear them anymore."
"You can make that two," another inmate said from a different cell.
"You can probably make it three or four," the inmate added.
That's exactly Low's point.
Low bought pink jumpsuits soon after taking office in 2005 and painted the jail pink about eight months ago. The jumpsuits are to keep inmates from coming back to jail, and the pink walls are designed to keep tempers and emotions cool in a jail that is tiny by today's standards.
Even if it helps a little, keeps just a few inmates from returning to the Mason County Jail, Low said, it's a success.
Mason County, with about 3,800 residents, is about 100 miles southeast of San Angelo. The jail is in Mason, the county seat.
Low got the idea of pink jumpsuits from a sheriff in Arizona, Joe Arpaio, who bought pink boxers to keep inmates from stealing the underwear and other clothing. In Mason, Low dyed the jumpsuits and slippers pink, and the color later bled to sheets, underwear and other articles during washings.
Low, who was a deputy in Mason before being elected sheriff, estimated the re-offense rate in the county is down 70 percent since he switched to pink jumpsuits for the inmates. He also said there have been no fights between inmates in the jail since it was painted.
"I wanted to stop re-offenders," Low said. "They don't want to wear them. Working inmates get a choice to work outside or sit inside, and some choose to sit inside because they don't want people to see them. They would rather stay upstairs."
The jail, built in 1894, is a historical site, and Low said he doesn't want to do anything to take away from its historical significance. In fact, it might be a better museum than a jail, he said.
So if another sheriff is elected, he or she can simply repaint the walls.
"It's just an easy step that will hopefully make some progress," Low said.
The Mason County Jail is clean and secure, he said. But it's also old, and it's tiny, Low said.
He believes the county needs a new jail, while some county officials have said the cost would simply be more than the rural county can afford.
The Mason County Jail is among the oldest working jails in the state. It has a capacity of five inmates - four males and a female - and, on Friday, was at capacity with three more Mason inmates staying at the Comanche jail for $35 per inmate per day.
Comanche is about 100 miles northeast of Mason.
Low doesn't know the size of the Mason jail floor, but said each cell is 18 square feet. There is also a walkway around the cells.
The Mason County Jail is operating under 17 variances of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. That means it would not pass inspection under today's standards, but those variances allow the jail to stay operational.
Low says that could change any day. It's an 1800s jail facing 2006 problems.
"The problem is we need a new jail," he said. "I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place. If the jail commission comes in and closes the jail, I'm the sheriff that got the jail closed. If we build a new jail, I'm the sheriff that raised taxes."
Low believes the county needs a 36- to 45-bed facility. The county could use the beds it needs and lease the rest of the beds to other counties looking for space. That could defray some of the cost of the jail.
"At some point, the jail commission can come in and say this is wearing thin," Low said. "They could say we have had ample time to do something about it. My job is to protect the community. I can't look at profit and loss."
As a comparison, Menard County, just west of Mason County, has 2,300 residents, and its jail has a capacity for nine inmates. It was built in 1981.
Low estimates a new jail would cost between $6 million and $9 million.
Adan Munoz, executive director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, said variances are issued to antiquated jails such as Mason that were built well before state standards were created. He said all Texas jails are inspected at least once a year.
As long as the variances don't become a safety issue for staff or inmates, the variances can be timeless, he said.
Mason County Judge Jerry Bearden said the county doesn't have the money for a new jail and he wants to continue operating the existing jail until jail standards say they can't. Mason County commissioners recently passed a roughly $2 million budget.
"And you don't want to build a jail for 10 people," he said. "So if you build it for 49 people, you have to hire nine more people to run it, and then there is more food and cost.
"It's a domino effect."
Mason, Menard and McCulloch county officials have talked about created a multicounty jail for all three counties to utilize. Talks have slowed of late because the three counties have expressed concerns about the cost, but Bearden said it's an option that is still available.
For now, Low and others hope small things such as giving inmates pink jumpsuits keeps them from coming back.
"That's not the Holiday Inn they are staying in up there," he said. Heh.
#1
The Arcata eye police blotter sometimes refer to the jail as the 'Pink House'. Some of the entries are funny...
Friday, June 2 12:52 a.m. Word was that some sort of problem was about to go down at the Intermodal Transient Facility. But it was just the usual loudies, who migrated by instinct to the Plaza.
3:52 a.m. A red-bearded tom of the peeping persuasion was spotted a-lurking round 15th and F streets.
9:28 p.m. Teen titans made their mark on the world in the form of torrid tire tracks and revving engines behind their educational incarceration facility following a social function.
9:49 p.m. Breakfast at a Northtown café was rather more languorous without the green-haired man and his big hunting knife.
Saturday, June 3 12:02 p.m. A dog was found locked in a poop-laden van on Heather Lane. No one around knew who it belonged to.
2:16 p.m. A man used his debit card at a downtown shop, and by the following day the card had been used to run up five charges to adult websites. He said he called one of the porn pages, and officials there gave the card users e-mail address, which included the stores name.
6:34 p.m. A woman said to be drug seeking at a medical facility tested positive for meth and was refused narcotics. She said someone had slipped the stimulant into her drink.
Monday, June 5 2:41 p.m. A woman said she took a call from an inmate at a SoCal prison, who asked her if she wanted a companion. She said no, so he asked her if she was married. She said she didnt want to talk to him, which seemed to narrow future relationship possibilities.
A WOMAN has suffered severe burning to her anus after being struck by lightning which hit her in the mouth and passed right through her body. Natasha Timarovic, 27, was cleaning her teeth at home when lightning struck the building.
She said: "I had just put my mouth under the tap to rinse away the toothpaste when the lightning must have struck the building. I don't remember much after that, but I was later told that the lightning had travelled down the water pipe and struck me on the mouth, passing through my body. It was incredibly painful, I felt it pass through my torso and then I don't remember much at all."
"Considering what happened, that might be because I'm trying to forget. Do we have any more gin?"
Doctors at the city hospital where she was treated for burns to the mouth and rear said: "The accident is bizarre but not impossible."
"Of course it's not impossible!" she snapped. "Now put some more of that salve on my bunghole!"
"She was wearing rubber bathroom shoes at the time and so instead of earthing through her feet it appears the electricity shot out of her backside," a medic told local television news channel, 24 Sata.
"I'd hate to think where it'd have come out if I'd been wearing my fluffy bunny slippers," she sniffed.
"It appears to have earthed through the damp shower curtain that she was touching as she bent over to put her mouth under the tap. If she had not been wearing the shoes she would probably have been killed by the blast."
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/10/2006 10:52 ||
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Like Kramer in "the Proctologist" episode of Seinfeld:
"One in a million, doc. One in a million!"
Posted by: BA ||
10/10/2006 11:48 Comments ||
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#3
A fascinating story, but strangely unsourced. There's no mention of the city she lived in, or even the country. (Yeah, I know it's an Australian site, but they only have about three or four cities there, so they would've said which one it was, if it was in Australia.)
#12
Oh Man, can you imagine if this would have happened to a guy? Afterall, we have our manly "lightning rods", that said bolt would have traveled through!
C'mon Ice Cream!
A 62-year-old retired accountant from Nevada swallowed 247 peppers in eight minutes to win the Jalapeno Eating World Championship at the State Fair of Texas.
Richard LeFevre won $2,000 for prevailing in Sunday's contest, which was sponsored by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.
"It's really pretty stupid. Like any sort of abuse of your body, it doesn't make any sense."
-- Dr. Daniel DeMarco, gastroenterologist and director of endoscopy at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, on contestants eating hundreds of jalapenos
"I love to eat, and I love to compete, so the two go pretty well together," said LeFevre, the world's eighth-ranked eater according to the federation.
LeFevre, who has also won the fair's World Corny Dog Eating Contest three times, said his winning strategy was to mix three or four peppers in his mouth with a swig of milk before swallowing.
LeFevre was one of four professional eaters who took the top four places in the competition. a professional eater?
Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas said she had never eaten a jalapeno before the contest. Ranked third in the world by the federation, she downed 239 peppers to take second place and $1,000 in prize money.
Christopher Huang, of Arlington, entered the competition even though he doesn't normally eat spicy foods. "I eat mild salsa," Huang said. "But there's nothing like putting yourself through a lot of pain for no reason." Darwin candidate. Keep an eye on him...
The 26-year-old required several minutes of recovery time after eating 53 jalapenos.
"I can't feel my face," he said when he was able to speak again. LOL!!
Dr. Daniel DeMarco said the amount of jalapenos consumed in an eating contest is more harmful than the burn. He said long-term complications are unlikely, but there are some risks. like setting your toilet paper on fire the next morning...yikes!
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/10/2006 09:04 ||
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#1
like setting your toilet paper on fire the next morning...yikes!
Nah. The amount of dissolved intestinal lining will prevent any flames.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
10/10/2006 9:47 Comments ||
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#2
I wonder which episode produced more fire out the ass, this or the lightning strike mentioned above ?
BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) - Northern Ireland's dominant Protestant leader, who has long denounced the Roman Catholic Church as corrupt and heretical, held talks Monday for the first time with the leader of the church in Ireland. Ian Paisley's meeting with Archbishop Sean Brady, leader of Ireland's 4 million Catholics, was timed to signal Paisley's willingness to work with Catholics on the eve of negotiations to revive power-sharing in Northern Ireland, the central goal of the Good Friday peace accord of 1998.
Britain and Ireland, which are leading three days of multiparty negotiations starting Wednesday in Scotland, have given the Northern Ireland Assembly a Nov. 24 deadline to elect a Catholic-Protestant administration or be shut down.
Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party, which represents most of the province's British Protestant majority, is pivotal to the outcome. He has refused to share power with his enemies in Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican Army-linked party that represents most Catholics, citing its hostility to the police as a primary obstacle.
TV cameras captured Paisley and Brady exchanging pleasantries and quips over a light brunch of tea and scones. But journalists were not permitted to record the substance of their 90-minute discussion. Brady said they discussed many social issues, including their shared opposition to abortion, euthanasia and stem-cell research, as well as their shared hope for forging a stable government in Northern Ireland.
Brady said the meeting was "very constructive and helpful" and demonstrated "that all of us have a part to play in creating a more stable and prosperous future for Northern Ireland." "I think that real peace will come only when we focus on the common good of all of our society and not just on sectional interests," he said.
Paisley read a statement that reflected his difficulties with the session. He described Brady not as the top-ranking figure in the Irish church but instead as the leader of the church's social affairs committee in Northern Ireland, a much lower position. Nonetheless, he welcomed their dialogue. "We have had a very good and useful exchange of views across a range of issues. It is in the interests of everyone to develop the foundations for stability and prosperity for all the people of Northern Ireland," Paisley said.
Both Brady and Paisley pledged to meet again.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/10/2006 00:16 ||
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I thought it said Brad Paisley holds talks in Ireland!
VEHARI: A man killed his son in Mustafabad on Monday when he refused to go to school, said police. Mumtaz Mai, the child's mother, told police that her son Asim (8) was not willing to go to school. She said she asked her husband Zahoor Ahmad to try to persuade Asim to go to school, but the child refused again, at which his father allegedly hit him against the charpoy. The child was injured and had to be rushed to hospital, but he died on the way. Police registered a case.
Normally, we just spank the little brats and hustle them to the bus stop. In severe cases, Pop's belt might come off, and in routine cases a pinched ear might do it. Knives, firearms, bludgeons, and shoving them into the charpoy aren't recommended until they're in senior high.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2006 00:00 ||
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What type of school was this? Was it a madrassah? If so, the kid was rational. Let's also recall that some of the headmasters at those schools are sexual predators. We discussed one case here where a headmaster threw acid at a teenaged boy who refused his advances. Of course, the headmaster's goons threatened the family.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
10/10/2006 0:17 Comments ||
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Wonder if Babs has heard about this?
Malibu residents are in for a shock. State investigators will test sea water off Malibu and DNA check to see if the offending waste is human, and if so, a lot of Malibu residents will have the state of California environmental agencies up their bottoms checking to see who the offenders are. The sewage could really hit the fan. Who'd we piss off to get stuck on this detail, sarge? Quit whining, Muldoon. We get to deal with celebrities. Well, kinda...
Under intense pressure from Southern California regulators, these forensic investigators will begin testing sea water. If DNA shows the fecal matter is from animals such as raccoons or coyotes, all will rest. Yeah...raccoons! that's the ticket!
If not, and the results are human, they will follow Malibu Creek and Las Virgenes Creek that cut through neighborhoods in Malibu upwards toward Monte Nido and the Calabasas-Malibu divide, where celebrities such as David Geffen, Barbra Streisand, Mel Gibson, Brad Pitt, Britney Spears, Pierce Brosnan and Ted Danson live. ..and I'll bet they'll all blame Bush.
The AP reports that "where the tests show a concentration of human waste, inspectors will sleuth out the source. Though they will not request DNA samples from residents to match waste with its human source, they may ask a judge for authority to inspect tanks of property owners who bar them from taking samples." ...and don't you tip over that bucket, Streisand, or I'll make sure you do it all over again!
The suspected culprit for all this stinking mess is believed to be Malibu homeowners' leaky and failing septic tanks. That's okay. They'll all blame their illegal Mexican gardeners.
Malibu is home to many environmentally aware and active celebrities, including Madonna, Cher, Sting, Brian Grazer, and Tom Hanks. Malibu was incorporated in 1991 specifically to stop construction of a sewer line. The Los Angeles Times reported there were an estimated 2,400 septic tanks in this city of multimillion-dollar homes strung along 25 miles of coast. Okay, drop'em, Madonna. C'mon, it's not like you haven't done this a couple of thousand times before...
"It is a big deal that the county is now saying, We're willing to go on to properties to see what the source of fecal contamination is,'" says Mark Gold, executive director of the local environmental group Heal the Bay to the AP. Open up! Shit Squad! We gotta warrant!
Malibu resident and actress and PETA member Pamela Anderson thinks the real polluter is animal agriculture, such as chicken farms."When the results of these tests come back, I'll bet that once again we'll find that it's people's meat addiction, not their septic tanks, is causing this pollution," Anderson wrote in an e-mail. "The best thing any of us can do to fight pollution is to adopt a vegetarian diet." I've seen your videos, Pam baby. Looks like you can't get enough meat to me...
If county officials find actual septic culprits, they will inform the Los Angeles Water Quality Board. The board could fine homeowners or require them to upgrade their systems at an estimated cost of $30,000. Ooooh, 30 grand. They probably spend that in a month on dog psychiatrists.
Board president H. David Nahai says he is optimistic residents will comply with the investigation. "The very cachet of Malibu and the high property values they enjoy are dependent upon a clean ocean," he says. I don't think I've ever lived in a place that had "cachet". I feel so deprived...
#1
Somehow I think of a septic tank cleaning company run by two guys named Richard called, "Two Dicks Pumping. You Dump it We Pump It". And yes, my Mom thinks I'm weird.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/10/2006 20:22 Comments ||
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Jobless Germans could be forced to surrender anything but the cheapest of cars to keep their benefit payments flowing, if a plan by conservative politicians goes ahead. The latest bid to make drawing Germany's traditionally generous social benefits less attractive would see the long-term unemployed forced to shun high-end "Vorsprung Durch Technik" Audi convertibles, BMWs and Mercedes S Class cars for distinctly lesser models. The Christian Democrat MPs' plans, leaked this week to a German news magazine, would put a limit of 10,000 (£6,750) on the value of cars owned by the unemployed - and restrict car ownership to one per (unemployed) household. Anything ritzier would have to be sold.
#1
HHHHMMMMMMM, the Chicoms are allegedly/reportedly moving towards private ownership of Western-style automobiles - meanwhile, the Germans move from cars towards BICYCLES.
#2
Germany, or at least the German Govt., also allegedly/reportedly wants to close down all of its domestic nuke energy plants by Year 2015 - does this mean the German/Euro-Lefties want Germany to begin using those oil, gas, and coal, etc. natural resources Terra Firma is supposed to be running out of???
#5
Having lived in Germany for three years, courtesy of Uncle Sugar, I know that the Germans love their cars as much as Americans, but not necessarily the same way as Americans.
So will this be met with a shrug or rioting in the streets? Beats me.
A group of media and political partners is teaming up to launch a new star search for progressive talk radio. Clear Channel Radio, the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Jones Radio Networks and Media Syndication Services, which is based in D.C., will conduct a nationwide talent search for the next voice of the political left.
The contest begins Monday and will culminate with a final broadcast in front of a live studio audience in the District. Entries will be judged by an expert panel that includes Ed Schultz, one of the highest-rated syndicated progressive talk show hosts on the airwaves. The entire at-large contest will be managed online at TalkProgress.com, a Web site designed by Seattle-based Internet development company Nakea and by local promotions.
Clear Channel Radio developed the progressive talk format in March 2004 at one of its AM radio stations in Portland, Ore. The station's rating shot from 23rd to first in that market. Since then, nearly 100 radio stations industrywide have begun airing syndicated progressive talk content, including eight in the top 10 radio markets.
Clear Channel Radio alone has 23 progressive talk radio stations.
"Talk radio has emerged as a potent force for driving the national debate," says Center for American Progress Action Fund President John Podesta. "We're working towards a return to a balance in the airwaves by supporting this initiative to bring more progressive voices to the microphone." The Center for American Progress Action Fund is the advocacy organization of the Center for American Progress. The Action Fund works to turn progressive ideas into public policy through communications, legislative action and grassroots organizing. It also publishes the Progress Report.
For years, talk radio had been the bastion of conservative hosts. However, radio broadcasters are finding a sizable market among listeners from the other side of the political aisle. "Progressive Talk has grown so big, so fast, that all of us in the industry are searching high and low for more great Progressive Talk radio talent," Media Syndication Services President Paul "Woody" Woodhull says. "Great talkers like Ed Schultz, Bill Press, and Al Franken are hard to find." Media Syndication Services is an independent radio production and consulting company. Jones Radio Networks is an independent radio programming company with offices in New York, Seattle, Denver and Nashville, Tenn. It also syndicates Ed Schultz, Stephanie Miller and The Bill Press Show.
#1
"Has grown so big, so fast" > doubt it, but in any case still don't use the "S" word [SOCIALISM], "C" word [COMMUNISM], "W" word [WELFARISM], andor the "G" word [GOVERNMENTISM] to describe their ideo. The audience are the ones whom STILL have to guess what they truly stand for. * USE 'EM = USEM = USING SOMEONE ELSE'S MONEY. The Lefties are happy as larks wid TOTALITARIANISM as long as doesn't apply to them.
#3
Joe, all we have to do is replace some of your words and phrases with some 'progressive' sounding ones and I think you are in with a big chance.
"Joe mendiola, gives us your thoughts on the current Administration."
"Has grown so big, so fast" > doubt it, but in any case still don't use the "S" word [SECURITY], "C" word [CAPITALISM], "W" word [BUSH], andor the "NC" word [NEOCON] to describe their ideo. The audience are the ones whom STILL have to guess what they truly stand for. * USE 'EM = USEM = USING SOMEONE ELSE'S MONEY. The Neocons are happy as larks wid TOTALITARIANISM as long as doesn't apply to them."
#5
of course, this is easier than having someone become popular on their own merits, skills. Just designating someone as the new lefty star will be sooooo effective
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/10/2006 8:54 Comments ||
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"Talk radio has emerged as a potent force for driving the national debate," says Center for American Progress Action Fund President John Podesta.
John Podesta? I thought he was dead.
John, it's not talk radio that's "driving the national debate", it's talk radio thats trying to stem the never-ending flow of leftist vitriol and propaganda in every other form of media.
Bring it on, John. Radio is a thinker's medium. TV is a "feeler's" medium. Since you come to it with no real ideas of your own, (unless you can call BDS an idea) you're destined to failure. We THINK out here in radioland, John. You're much better suited for 'short attention-span theater', aka TV.
#7
What these fools miss is that allowing the public to call in and ask questions or make challenging statements will change TV and even Congress into a right wing movement.
Logic is on the right side of the political spectrum, and it is logic which leads to successful solutions of problems.
The left are basically parasites, and that position cannot be defended within public debate.
Victimhood, law suits, affirmative action and all other parasite positions just don't hold water.
#9
Entries will be judged by an expert panel that includes Ed Schultz, one of the highest-rated syndicated progressive talk show hosts on the airwaves.
Who? Pretty funny that I've never even heard of this guy, and he's one of the highest-rated "progressive" hosts? Meanwhile, everyone else has heard of Hannity, Rush, even Boortz, Medved, etc. Jeebus, mcsegeek1's post sums it all up....this is a "thinker's" medium vs. the "feeler's" medium of film/print. This all goes back to the best summary I've ever heard:
Liberal rely on feelings to make policy/decisions. Conservatives rely on facts to do so.
Posted by: BA ||
10/10/2006 11:46 Comments ||
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"Progressive Talk has grown so big, so fast, that all of us in the industry are searching high and low for more great Progressive Talk radio talent," Media Syndication Services President Paul "Woody" Woodhull says. "Great talkers like Ed Schultz, Bill Press, and Al Franken are hard to find."
Whaddya smokin there, Woody, and can ya send me some...
#13
The number #1 Talk Radio staion in Portland Oregon (according to recent Arbitron ratings) is KEX-AM. This station includes such progressives as Rush Limbaugh, Dr. laura, and Dave Ramsey. The #2 talk radio station includes such progressives as Bill Oreily, Mike Savage, and Lars Larson. The #3 station is actually honest to god LLL Mo0nb@t station. But as you can see the ratings for that station are not climbing but falling:
KEX-AM News Talk Information 4.4 5.1 5.0 5.2
KXL-AM News Talk Information 3.7 3.5 3.7 3.9
KPOJ-AM Talk/Personality 4.4 4.1 4.1 3.5
But hey LLL never let facts get in the way of a business decision. You know if Conservatives were really mean we could fleece these guys pretty good. But then they are having so much fun preying on themselves.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Natasha Timarovic, 27, was cleaning her teeth at home when lightning struck the building. 
A group of media and political partners is teaming up to launch a new star search for progressive talk radio. Clear Channel Radio, the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Jones Radio Networks and Media Syndication Services, which is based in D.C., will conduct a nationwide talent search for the next voice of the political left.
