The sixth week of Degorski's capital murder trial opened today with four character witnesses, all Cook County correctional officers, testifying on the convicted killer's behalf.

Talking to the media, Prof. Chawla said that the motive behind celebrating Diwali in the Mental Hospital is to make the inmates feel at home and share their joy so that they may not feel themselvesbereft of warmth of their families.

Extending felicitations, Prof. Chawla called upon people to rededicate themselves to the cause of promoting social welfare. She said that on this festival of lights may a ‘deepak’ be lighted by each one of us to rid the society from the evil of adulteration, illiteracy, corruption and female feticide.

The three programs, each separate from the other, include earning a GED, learning culinary skills and The Journey Forward, which combines a 12-step program to treat addiction, spiritual lessons and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Most inmates graduated from one of the programs, while a few graduated from two.

"I always thought I could change on my own, (but) I couldn't," said Sneider, who graduated from The Journey Forward.

Trevor Morganti, the classification manager at the jail, said about 85 percent of inmates at the jail have substance abuse issues.

According to Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Lt. Lari Sevene, there have been three confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu and other inmates have shown flu-like symptoms.

The quarantine affects 380 inmates housed in six out of the jail’s 23 wards. Four of the affected wards have been on quarantine since Saturday and the quarantine will be in effect through Friday if no other inmate shows flu-like symptoms. The other two wards were put under quarantine today and it could be lifted in five days.

A spokesman for the department says the assistant coroner is reporting he found no visible signs of trauma or a physical altercation on the body of Henry Goodwin.

Goodwin died October 11th at UMC after complaining of back and stomach pains in the jail.

But no mention of Goodwin's death was made until the inmates family contacted Eyewitness News.

Reached for comment District Attorney Mike Harson says he is monitoring the case.

Harson says one option is to ask the state police to conduct an investigation.

Inmates are being moved out as they are transported for court appearances. The move means about $450,000 in lost revenue for Ross County.

Ross County Jail Administrator T.J. Hollis said that number is just what Pike County was paying, not profit to the county.

"It costs us man-hours. It cost the county food and medical provisions, as well as the overtime that it takes to keep that many inmates in here," Hollis said.

"The families definitely need the help," said Anita Brewer, coordinator of the Assistance to Families of Inmates program. "It was something (Ross County Community Action) decided to do with (some of our federal stimulus funding)."

The website's owner, who goes by the name Rene Fergie, told News Channel 25 Wednesday she was unaware of Tabler's history and did not even know the letter posted on her website threatened Senator Whitmire. She also said she was approached by two Texas investigators in her hometown in Ohio regarding the issue.

"I had no idea this was going on until I got the call and the Sheriff's Department wanted to see me. I was terrified," said Fergie.

Fergie, who says she lives in Ohio, started the website to give a voice to death row inmates. She also says a volunteer, who types the inmate letters is the one who posted Tabler's threatening letter.

Manitoba Justice says the "situation" started about 12:30 p.m. Sunday and involved 27 inmates.

The government said the riot was brought under control several hours later by the centre's emergency response unit and a negotiation team.

The centre has 282 inmates currently housed there.

Michelle Duncan, superintendent of the Winnipeg Remand Centre, told a news conference the injured inmate had a minor wound that required some stitches.

She would not say what kind of damage was caused or what started the disturbance.

The correctional centre in Brandon was put into lockdown.

Also, if a prisoner has child support or court fees, their earnings go to those expenses, Humphreys said.

The amount the state paid inmates used to be higher, said John Dipko, spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. But it was reduced as a part of the 2003 state budget, Dipko said. Minnesota and Iowa also have similar pay programs, according to their departments of correction.

Police said Foote, a 21-year veteran with the Jacksonville Fire Department, was arrested on bribery charges, accused of taking money, cigarettes and sex in exchange for granting favors to inmates.

Foote works for the Fire Department as a maintenance engineer out of a warehouse on the Westside.

Police said he was qualified to supervise inmate work crews by himself.

The crews would do simple maintenance work there and at other firehouses.

One of the inmates turned into an informant and went to police about what he said was going on with the bribes.

The other new feature is designed to provide notification to crime victims when the custody status of an inmate changes.

The two new additions can be viewed on the jail's in-custody Web site when looking up the specific data and booking photo of any inmate housed at the jail.

The care-style packages, called kit packages, feature an assortment of goods, primarily comfort food, and range in price from $56 for a "mega meal pack" that features instant noodles, tuna, flour tortillas and other items, to $10 for a stationery kit, which includes stamped envelopes, a letter pad and a pen.

Bataan Gov. Enrique Garcia relieved Lt. Col. Inocencio Capuno on the spot after inmates staged a noise barrage in their cells on Monday afternoon to protest the alleged malpractices and bad behavior of the acting jail warden. The noise barrage was intended to press the relief of Capuno.

At the height of the barrage, the governor and Col. Manuel Gaerlan, Bataan Philippine National Police (PNP) director, rushed to the jail to check the protesting inmates.

The noise barrage on Monday afternoon lasted for almost an hour, sending chaos in the entire capitol compound where the jail is located.

Since the beginning of the year, the number of inmates in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Clarksburg has fluctuated little, between 700 and 744 inmates.

Warden Robert Green told the council's Public Safety Committee on Thursday that the population was 743 that day.

The jail's capacity is 1,028, but the actual number of usable beds is less, he said.

Critics note the prison farms cost taxpayers $4 million a year and don't prepare inmates for the modern workplace.

Around Canada in recent months, there have been protests and letters from the farm groups and unions, saying the farms should continue. So far, the government hasn't budged.

"The plan is still that the farm operation will continue to be gradually phased out by March 31, 2011," said Correctional Service of Canada spokeswoman Christa McGregor, who is not related to Donny McGregor.

In response, inmates have been writing testimonials and sending them out to whoever will read them.

Since at least 2005, inmates have flushed jumpsuits, boxer shorts, hair gel containers, pomade, cups, granola bar wrappers and other items that aren't supposed to go in the toilet, according to the South Bayside System Authority, which sued the county in January 2008.

The tentative settlement between the two public agencies is slated to be approved Thursday by the board for the authority, a joint agency that provides sewer service for Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City and the West Bay Sanitary District.