Grants Pass -- What’s happening in the Josephine County jail? Why are Daniel and his administration keeping a tight lip on conditions in the new jail? Strobezone is asking for full disclosure from both the county commissioners and the sheriff’s jail administration. Until this information is readily available to the public Strobezone will use our own sources of information and post these stories in this column. Strobezone will make corrections to information shown to be in error.

December 2000: A pregnant woman is reported to be on suicide watch. She is wearing a paper gown and is fed from a paper bag. She appears to be very despondent and is being fed loads of psyche meds.

A group of young people recently toured Daniel’s zoo. Daniel lets outsiders into the jail to see the show. Only the non-critics are allowed to get behind the black curtain of secrecy surrounding the JoCo jail. Critics that pay property taxes to support the jail are excluded. Tours on the taxpayer dollar are a waste of employees’ time. How efficient is the sheriff’s department?

The telephone system in the new jail is reported to be plagued with bugs. The jail may be also after a recent sewage overflow. The grinder in the sewer line failed its initial test. Apparently, the grinder was placed in the wrong part of the system. Is this bad design, and are there other problems in the new jail? It’s time for the sheriff to come clean on this issue. This major sewage spill into the pristine new jail was accompanied with a stench powerful enough to induce nausea.

The new jail is reported to be in a 23-hour daily lock down. No television, and reportedly, no books. This is not a state prison, this is the JoCo jail to house local prisoners sentenced to one year or less. Is Daniel having a problem running the jail?

Federal prisoners are warehoused in the new jail at times. Strobezone is seeking information as to how many at any given time. The federal prisoners may be partly responsible for the high security level in the new jail. Daniel might be afraid of an incident that could destroy the credibility of his administration. Could something already have happened during the present sheriff’s administration they don’t want the public to know about?

Is the sheriff’s department using a surcharge and high call charges with ATT to silence inmates? A base charge is reported to be $5.68 for the first minute and .69 cents a minute thereafter. In addition to this, the ATT representative told me there was a $2.75 service charge. This money goes to either the sheriff’s department or the county. Strobezone recommends this charge be dropped and a less expensive carrier be found to handle the telephone calls to the outside. This appears to be another big rip off to fund county coffers. What’s next, charges for jail tours?

During the past several months, Sheriff Daniel has refused to divulge the name of a patrol deputy that drove onto the old JoCo parking lot behind the courthouse on "C" street at a high rate of speed. This reckless action by a JoCo deputy endangered nearby by pedestrians, standing on the sidewalk, and splashed water on one person. The sheriff refused to act on this complaint, despite the fact, when Corporal Darby was told of the incident he said, "I don’t doubt what you say." In this reporter’s opinion, this is typical treatment for critics of the present sheriff’s administration. Strobezone has obtained the deputy’s name. The initials are J.G., isn’t that right sheriff?