BY CHERYL PATRICK LEADER STAFF WRITER
It appears the responsibility of performing food safety inspections may once again fall under the jurisdiction of the Starke County Health Department staff, according to information presented at the bi-monthly Starke County Commissioner’s meeting Monday morning.
Recently, the Health Department appointed Dave Kesvormas as the Starke County Health inspector. However, Kesvormas learned when seeking insurance that his premium would be between $8000 and $10,000 annually. The job only pays an annual salary of $14,000 for the contracted position, which would leave Kesvormas with a meager $4,000 a year for services rendered.

Starke County Commissioner Mark Milo said that while Kesvormas has been appointed, to date he has not completed any inspections.
Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem told the board that she received a call indicating another county position would also be vacated soon.
“Dr. Thomas Browne called me at home Saturday to let me know he could be resigning his seat on the Starke Memorial Hospital Board,” Norem said.
While Browne’s seat will soon be vacant, filling the position may not be a major issue.
“County code states that there only needs to be one MD on the board. And currently there is. Dr. Walter Fritz is also on the board. Most likely, we will fill that vacancy at the same time we make our other appointments at the first of the year.” Norem said.
Commissioner Norem also added praise for Starke County Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall.
“We’ve gone from more than 80 inmates in the county jail to 60. The Circuit Court Judge has done a good job of reducing the jail population,” she said.
Norem also made a suggestion to board about what could be done with grant funds that are expected to be awarded for the jail.
“We’re expecting to get $500,000 from Congressman Joe Donnelly’s office to do some renovations to the jail. I don’t think that $500,000 is going to be enough to bring the jail up to code, if we start adding on... An alternative would be to take the $500,000 and set up a fund for future spending on a new jail,” Norem said.
Starke County Attorney Martin Lucas said he would look into the grant terms to see if such a plan would be acceptable use for the funds.

Jail protest
Linda Draper approached the board to tell them about her upcoming jail protest which will be held Saturday, Nov. 7 from 2 to 4 p.m. in front of the Starke County Jail. Draper and her supporters will be rallying for the civil rights, especially the eighth amendment, of Starke County inmates.
“We all have certain rights as human beings to be treated fairly,” Draper said.
Draper initially approached the commissioners about her idea for the protest following the fire that broke out at the Starke County Jail on Sunday, Sept. 27.
“This is my heart. I was there. I saw the 84 plus people there. The potential for disaster is there,” she said.
Commissioner Dan Bridegroom said it was good that Draper had so much support from Starke County citizens.
“It’s a good thing the public is interested in doing that (protest). Because they’re the ones who are going to have to pay for it (a new jail),” he said.
Draper said the protest isn’t so much about a new jail, but the conditions at the current one.
“In part, the protest is about how the inmates are treated—their human rights,” she said.
“We treat our animals good — we need to treat our humans good. Protecting their civil rights —I’m all about that,” Draper said.