Women's Exercise Program

A group of female offenders at the Utah State Prison have established an exercise program with the support of Utah Department of Corrections staff and officers. KSL-TV recently visited the Draper site to talk to the women directly about how the program has impacted their lives.

Read the story here.

Gingerbread Festival

It’s not just a house – it’s “gingerbread architecture.”

That’s how a group of female offenders at the Utah State Prison describe a pair of ornate and detailed sceneries they recently crafted over the course of just a couple weeks.

Since mid-October, a group of fewer than 10 women have been collaborating to design, bake and build two edible and aesthetically wondrous works of art. The first depicts a mountainous scene, complete with the balloon house from the Disney/Pixar movie “Up,” and intends to honor the Boy Scouts of America’s 100^th anniversary. The second is a massive and intricate model of the Notre Dame Cathedral inspired by “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

The exquisite pieces will be featured in an annual gingerbread house competition hosted by the Boy Scouts of America and the PTA. Following an awards presentation and three-day event, the culinary creations will be auctioned to benefit Utah children through Learning for Life character education and the Utah PTA Arts Education Fund.

This is the ninth time women in the Utah State Prison have participated in the Gingerbread Festival. Prison Lt. Rod Villamil, who is once again spearheading the effort, said onlookers distracted by the creations’ beauty are always shocked to learn that inmates built the awe-inspiring works of art.

The women said they are thrilled for the opportunity to work together and do something creative with the time they spend in prison.

“In an institutional environment, the overall goal is homogenization. You try to toe the line,” said Carole Alden, a team member and artist who fashioned the characters depicted in the scenes using bread dough, fondant and food coloring. “But something like this really inspires people’s creativity. I’m grateful that we’re allowed to do this.”

And Janette Snyder said she gained skills and learned a lot about the craft of designing and building through the journey to create the gingerbread projects.

“I look forward to it, because you really form a meaningful association with these other women,” Snyder said.

Said Deb Brown: "It's the legal great escape."

The group used gingerbread, fondant, hard candies, frosting and food dye along with other materials such as lights. They worked in different shifts – often late into the nights and early mornings – whenever they could fit the project into their out of cell time. That meant juggling the artistic effort along with their usual classes, treatment or other programs.

So what was the hardest part of the whole project? The group notes they faced humidity that warped the shapes and bulged the windows of the cathedral. The group constructed a house, mountains, rocks, merit badges, cathedral walls, flying buttresses, bell towers, a steeple, cobblestones and snow flakes from gingerbread. Ailine Tauteoli notes they handcrafted trees, leaves and flowers from fondant as well as stained-glass windows from hard tack candy and finishing touches with royal icing. But Deb Brown insists the prize goes to the balloons on the “Up” scene. Though it appears to be gently floating an entire home through the air, the mass of fondant balloons feel more like a lead brick, making it difficult to steady the stick that served as a stand.

Eventually the group finished assembling all the separate parts and carefully pieced them together to form two masterpieces. In the end, the women said they were shocked by how coherently all the pieces and personalities came together.

A first-timer to the gingerbread project, Silia ‘Olive said she came in with a lot of anxiety and didn’t want to make a mistake. But after observing, baking and contributing to the project, she notes she’ll “really be ready for next time.”

As he thumbed through a photo album of past projects, Villamil pointed to multicultural projects, castles, dragons, and an impressive depiction of Hogwarts from the “Harry Potter” books and movies. But the inmates note that he’s never satisfied and continues to raise the bar every year, ushering in a new challenge.

He and fellow officers still face the daunting task of meticulously transporting the projects down to Orem for the festival coming up on Nov. 12, 13 and 15.

The women pieced together a brief written explanation to accompany each of the projects, including praise for supportive prison staff, namely Villamil, Deputy Warden Jerry Pope and Captain Mary Ann Reding. They also wrote a brief educational history of the Notre Dame de Paris and the Boy Scouts of America.

The women add that the gingerbread depictions are “ a small gesture…extended to society with sincere hearts…This is one step on our journey to becoming the women we are capable of being.”

Participating inmates:

-Sally Krivanek
-Barbara Curvin
-Carole Alden
-Silia 'Olive
-Deb Brown
-Janette Snyder
-Ailine Tauteoli

Photos: (Above) Barbara Curvin, left, and Carole Alden pose next to the gingerbread scene from the movie "Up."

Pumpkin Donations

Each Halloween, the Utah Department of Corrections donates thousands of pumpkins to children throughout the Salt Lake valley. The 2010 donation will benefit Camp Kostopulos, a local Boys & Girls Club, a family center, special-needs students at a local school, and Primary Childrens Medical Center.

Earlier in October, Utah State Prison workers began delivering some of the approximately 2,000 pumpkins grown by some 50 inmates at the Draper site's greenhouse facility. The inmates began growing the pumpkins in June with help from prison staff and some offenders in other sections of the prison site.

The inmates and staff work year-round in the greenhouse. During the early winter months, offenders begin planting seeds for spring flowers. They are hired to work in the facility as a formal prison job. Their daily laboring hours normally last from about 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. When they have finished harvesting the pumpkins, inmates will begin growing poinsettias for the holiday season, which will be sent out to various state offices.

Below is a listing of all this year's pumpkin deliveries:

-Primary Childrens Medical Center: Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010.

-Turn Community Center: Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010.

-Murray Boys & Girls Club: Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010.

-Rise, Inc.: Friday, Oct. 15, 2010.

-Camp Kostopulos: Friday, Oct. 15, 2010.

-Shriners Hospital: Friday, Oct. 22, 2010.

-Kauri Sue Hamilton School: Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010.

-Jordan Valley Family Center: Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010.

For more information on the events, please contact the Department of Corrections' Public Information Officer at 801-545-5500.

Photos (Above): Lt. Ivie, left, and Officer Tuttle of the Utah State Prison help a young student select a pumpkin at the Oct. 26 donation at the Kauri Sue Hamilton school in Riverton.

(Below): A Kauri Sue Hamilton student beaming after picking out a pumpkin.

Prison Graduation

*UPDATE* On June 23, 2010, a record 184 inmates graduated from the Central Utah Academy at the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison, Utah. This figure was up 78 graduates over the 2009 number - a nearly 74 percent increase.

DRAPER — She dropped out of school at the age of 14, just after her first son was born. For the next 12 years, Patricia Staley’s life spiraled out of control. She had three children by 19 and lost custody of all of them before her 21st birthday. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and began struggling with a pain-pill habit. She started sleeping all day, made several attempts to take her own life, and ultimately landed at the Utah State Prison at the age of 26 on a burglary conviction.

“It was short-sighted to think I should just end it,” Staley said. “But by the time I realized that, it was too late to go back and tell myself that I should be fighting for my kids.”

When reality set in, Staley finally began picking up the pieces. Now 28, she has shed nearly 50 pounds, established structure in her life, and graduated from Ex-Cell (the prison’s substance-abuse program for women).

To top it off, Staley is looking forward to an accomplishment many of her peers achieved 10 years ago. She will receive her high-school diploma and address her fellow classmates at the Utah State Prison’s commencement ceremonies on Tuesday, June 1.

Staley said she always loved school, but the team of teachers at the prison’s South Park Academy – under the jurisdiction of the new Canyons School District – inspired her to change.

“I learned to lead, to manage, to delegate,” she said. “Sometimes people have to trust you before you trust yourself.”

Now, Staley said she would like to work at the school in effort to give back. She has a parole date set for October and wants to regain custody of her oldest, 13-year-old son. Her other son and daughter were adopted by a good family, but Staley’s experiences left her hoping to work with teenage mothers who are going through similar struggles.

“I hated me so bad, but I’ve changed the things I didn’t like. Now, I love me,” Staley said. It’s all up to me now.”

South Park Academy will hold two separate commencement ceremonies on June 1. About 370 inmates - the most in prison history - will receive their diplomas.

News stories:

KSL

FOX13

Photos by Steve Gehrke

Top: Inmate Alexander Gibson addresses his fellow 2010 classmates at the South Park Academy graduation ceremonies.

Middle: Utah State Prison Warden Steve Turley speaks to the South Park Academy class of 2010.

Bottom: Inmates listen to South Park Academy principal Lory Curtis as he addresses the class.

Hard Times Cafe

The Hard Times Cafe at the Draper Prison site recently opened to the public. See the story as it aired on Fox13 News here.

Hard Times Cafe

Corrections Staff Finishes Inmate-Built Home

DRAPER, Utah — Prisoners built it, and a handful of Utah Department of Corrections employees added the finishing touches.

The modest rambler, just off Orem’s 1200 North and State Street, now hosts a family that had been suffering from health and credit issues and was stuck in a substandard and unsafe apartment. And it all started with an unlikely crew of prison inmates. For several months, they constructed this place for the family to call home.

Over the course of those months, select groups of the state’s lowest-risk offenders were transported daily to and from the Orem home-building site under the supervision of Department of Corrections officers. The crews consisted of convicted drug and property offenders – all who readily acknowledge their mistakes and wish to start anew. By the end of the project, the inmate workers had learned valuable skills that very well could help them land permanent jobs as soon as they finished serving their time in prison.

Inmate Ron Eckhardt has been locked up since 2002. He had no experience in construction when he began building the home in January. But by the time it was finished, he knew how to roof and side a house.

“These are going to be some good skills that I plan on using when I get out,” Eckhardt said, noting that he is slated for a November parole date and would like to start a real estate business when he is released. “This whole experience has helped prepare me for life back in society.”

Eckhardt said he was shocked the first time he traded prison doors, handcuffs and barbed-wire fences for blue skies and a tool box.

Fellow inmate Kevin Strong said expects he will become an electrician or a plumber when he is released at the end of November. Noting that he plans to stay out of prison, Strong said being motivated and getting a job are the biggest challenges he faces – but he anticipates this home building project will help him battle both of these underlying issues.

The inmates were hired on to the prison’s home-building positions through Utah Correctional Industries and paid a stipend of approximately $1 per hour. They were regularly evaluated to mirror a real-world work environment.

Though the home was formally handed over to the families during a ribbon-cutting ceremony last month, a large dirt mound has sat outside ever since. Several Department of Corrections employees will volunteer their time on Friday to polish off the project by landscaping the front yard. The workers will either use their day off to work on the project, or they will donate leave hours to spend time away from the office.UCI REACH boss Kelly Willey noted that most of the inmates made just one mistake in life, and they’re all getting out of prison at some point so it’s best to prepare them for that date.

Habitat For Humanity Director Kena Mathews awarded the group a special honor at a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony and noted, “This is just an example of good people coming together to provide for these families.”

The service project is part of the Department’s 2010 Corrections Week, focused on “paying it forward.” The Department has organized several charitable drives throughout the week and has encouraged its hard-working staff to donate free time away from the job to help their community – whether through official Department events, or their individual efforts.

During the week, Corrections employees also donated blood to MountainStar Blood Services and the American Red Cross, held raise money for the Special Olympics, and framed and sheet-rocked a second home in conjunction with Habitat For Humanity.

What are UCI and REACH?

Utah Correctional Industries gives state inmates on-the-job training experience while providing products and services to public agencies. These jobs provide offenders the experience they need to lead healthy and productive lifestyles when they leave the prison and re-enter society. The jobs also maintain a safer prison environment by replacing idle time with productive activity. Offenders must be hired by UCI, have a parole date within three years, and have demonstrated extended, exceptional behavior while in the institution to earn the privilege of leaving the prison to work on off-site projects. UCI is completely self-supported, meaning any income generated by the goods and services goes back toward funding the program itself. UCI provides everything from furniture and clothing to signs and homes. All of the work either matches or exceeds industry standards.

The Rehabilitation through Affordably Constructed Housing (REACH) project builds homes for organizations such as Habitat For Humanity and the Utah Housing Corporation. The group often builds homes on-site at the prison and ships them out. REACH has built three homes for Habitat For Humanity and more than 30 for the Utah Housing Corporation.

(TOP: Corrections Executive Director Tom Patterson and Central Utah Correctional Facility Maintenance Crew member Bud Park haul buckets and wheelbarrows full of dirt to plant trees as part of a Habitat For Humanity project.)

(MIDDLE: Draper Prison Warden Steve Turley, Corrections Executive Director Tom Patterson and Training Academy Director Dennis Hutchinson install sheetrock in a home as part of a Habitat For Humanity project.)

(BOTTOM: Corrections Deputy Director Mike Haddon and Training Coordinator Kurt Candalot place sheetrock in a home as part of a Habitat For Humanity project.)

Read the Daily Universe story here

Inmate Library Use

Read The Salt Lake Tribune's story on male and female inmates learning through reading at the prison's various libraries.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_15059087

To learn more about donating books and the importance of libraries in prison, see this video produced by a Salt Lake Community College class.

http://www.youtube.com/user/globestudentmedia01#p/a/u/0/cFR67ld3G5U

News Release on upcoming execution

DRAPER, Utah — On Friday, April 23, 3^rd District Judge Robin Reese signed a death warrant in the case of the State of Utah vs. Ronnie Lee Gardner. The Utah Department of Corrections is moving forward with plans to carry out the Court’s order in compliance with long-standing Department policy. The Department will make every effort to minimize any anxiety and negative impacts on the family and friends of both the victims and the condemned. Department staff will display appropriate levels of professionalism, restraint and courtesy at all stages of the process.

In accordance with Utah law, Ronnie Lee Gardner has elected to be executed by firing squad. It is anticipated that the Court’s order will be carried out shortly after midnight on June 18, 2010.

Below is information, as specified in state statute and Department policy, related to carrying out an execution by firing squad. This information is provided to address common questions the Department is receiving from members of the news media and other interested parties in light of the recent Court action.

Witnesses

No one will be required to witness the execution, nor will anyone attend as a matter of right. No person under the age of 18 will be permitted to attend. All witnesses will sign release forms, undergo searches, and will be ushered in and out of staging areas and witness rooms. Witnesses may include:

· Prosecutor or deputy prosecutor working for the county where the offense was committed

· No more than two law-enforcement officials from the county where the offense was committed

· The state’s Attorney General or a designated deputy

· Religious representation

· Friends or relatives designated by the condemned, not exceeding five

· No more than five close relatives of the deceased victim(s)

· Selected pool media witnesses

· Utah Department of Corrections staff or personnel from allied agencies as deemed necessary

Protests

The Department of Corrections has specific policies in place that seek to maximize movement through the general prison environs during an execution, while also securing the facility and all those involved in the process. The Department will provide an opportunity for demonstrators to express their opinions, whether in favor or against capital punishment, as long as they do so in a lawful manner. Additional details regarding the designated staging locations will be released as the date approaches.

Prosecution

The Department of Corrections and its allied agencies will arrest and encourage prosecution of anyone who in any way attempts to document the death of the condemned via audio, video, or any other means. The Department will also seek to prosecute those found to be trespassing or entering the secured property without proper permission and clearance. Anyone taking part in unlawful demonstrations, unlawfully attempting to disrupt the execution, or threatening or terrorizing those involved in the execution process will likewise be subject to possible prosecution – including inmates being disruptive, assaultive, etc.

Condemned Choices

The condemned may request up to five individuals to witness the execution, including legal and religious representatives, friends and family. The Department has discretion whether to grant the request. The condemned will be contacted by Department officials for instructions on how to dispose of his personal property and any funds remaining in his inmate account.

Organ donation is not an option for condemned inmates.

The condemned will be offered a last meal. The request will be granted at the discretion of Department of Corrections officials. The last meal will be prepared at the prison facility by Corrections personnel. Alcohol will not be served or used in the cooking of the meal.

The condemned will have access to religious and legal representation, and will be given an opportunity to offer any last words prior to execution of the death warrant.

Execution Chamber

The execution will take place at the Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah. The facility’s execution chamber was completed in 1998. It has been used once – for a lethal injection execution in the 1999 case of State of Utah vs. Joseph Mitchell Parsons.

The scheduled execution will be the first performed by firing squad in this permanent chamber. The room is approximately 20 feet by 24 feet and is fitted with curtains to cover the windows into the adjacent witness rooms. The windows are complete with bullet-proof, reflective glass to protect the witnesses from unintended ricochet, and to both physically and emotionally separate and protect the identities of the witnesses.

Firing Squad Logistics

Executioners are pre-selected by the Department of Corrections and must be law-enforcement certified in the State of Utah. The five law enforcers remain anonymous, and will be stationed behind a gun ported brick wall in the execution chamber. The executioners will be armed with .30-caliber rifles, four of which will be loaded with live rounds. The weapon carrying the blank round will be unknown to the law enforcers.

The condemned will be secured to a chair, and a target will be placed over his heart and a hood over his head. At the conclusion of the condemned’s last words, the execution team will commence fire. A physician will be on site to certify that death has occurred.

Prison Inmates Build Home for Two Utah Families

OREM – At first glance, the simple new rambler standing just off Orem’s State Street near 1200 North seems pretty basic. A wide carport protrudes from the speckless home, and a pair of support beams accents the front porch.

But the simplicity belies the marvel of the process. The home was built from the ground-up by an unlikely crew of Utah State Prison inmates.

Select groups of the most proven offenders working for Utah Correctional Industries were transported to the Orem work site each day from Gunnison and Draper in order to build the house. The crews consisted of former drug users, thieves and burglars – but all of the men now readily acknowledge their mistakes and tout a desire to start anew.

Inmate Ron Eckhardt has been locked up since 2002. He had no experience in construction when he began working on the Habitat For Humanity home in the second week of January. But Eckhardt was willing to learn, and by the time the home was built, he could roof and side a house.

“These are going to be some good skills that I plan on using when I get out,” said Eckhardt, noting he’s slated for a November parole date and would like to start a home buying and selling business when he gets out. “This whole experience has prepared me for life back in society.”

Eckhardt said he was shocked the first time he was released from the confines of the heavy prison doors, handcuffs and barbed-wire fences for the work program.

“It was weird,” Eckhardt said, adding that it was nice to get away from the everyday grind of prison lifestyle. “But we earn these privileges. We’ve earned our way to that position.”

Inmate Kevin Strong agreed: “It’s pretty cool that they trust me – and that I can be trusted.”

Strong said he has learned several odds and ends on the construction site. He expects to take up plumbing or become an electrician when he is released at the end of November.

“I’m sick of this old life, I want to change and stay straight,” he said referring to his two prison sentences and his probationary terms. “Being motivated and getting a job is the biggest challenge when you get out. But I want to use these trade skills I’ve learned in order to do that.”

Inmate Jason Nyborg said he learned essentially every construction skill there is to know as he built the home. And, he joked, “I forgot I was in [prison] for the day – at least until that sack lunch came.”

The 31-year-old eventually wants to get an apprenticeship and become a master electrician. He said getting out in the community bit-by-bit helped him feel less prone to be anxious and jumpy. The steady work evaluations prepared him for a real-world job, and the meager $1 an hour pay allowed him to save a little cash. He hopes that will allow him to make ends meet until he lands a steady job after he paroles in May.

Like the other offenders on the job, Nyborg praised his UCI supervisors, calling them “mentors.”

“It’s been good working with them,” he said. “I’ve been blessed.”

And UCI REACH boss Kelly Willey returned the praise.

“Most of these guys just made one mistake in life,” Willey said. “And they’re all getting back out at some point.”

In fact, one of the concrete pourers in particular who showed up on the day of the open house to finish the driveway went out of his way to thank the prison crew. That’s because just two years ago, the now stable and productive worker was just making his way in to the construction business as an inmate at UCI, according to site supervisor Wessley Andreason

“He was really working hard and staying clean. He had a sense of accomplishment having come and gone [through the prison system],” said Andreason. “You know, for a lot of these guys, no one has given them the time to teach them how to use tools and give them some responsibility. Sometimes we learn from our mistakes.”

Now, two of the many American families struggling to make ends meet in the midst of the rough recession will call the rambler “home.” Two mothers and two children were suffering health and credit issues and had been stuck in a substandard, unsafe apartment. They kicked in more than 500 hours of their own sweat equity during construction, and Habitat For Humanity funded the home through mortgages on other Habitat homes.

Habitat For Humanity Executive Director Kena Mathews praised the prison workers and everyone involved in building and funding the home. She said she never worries working with inmates, and the public doesn’t tend to mind either. She glowingly recounted a time when she noticed an elderly woman talking and laughing with an inmate worker.

Said Mathews: “This is just an example of good people coming together to provide for these families.”

What are UCI and REACH?

Utah Correctional Industries gives state inmates on-the-job training experience while providing products and services to the public. These jobs provide offenders the experience they need to lead healthy and productive lifestyles when they leave the prison and re-enter society. The jobs also maintain a safer prison environment by reducing idle time and hopelessness among the working inmates. Offenders must be hired by UCI, have a parole date within three years, and be among the most trustworthy inmates in the institution to earn the privilege of leaving the prison to work at off-site projects. UCI is completely self-supported, meaning any income generated by the goods and services goes back toward funding the program itself. UCI provides everything from furniture and clothing to signs and homes. All of the work either matches or exceeds industry standards.

The Rehabilitation through Affordably Constructed Housing (REACH) project builds homes for organizations such as Habitat For Humanity and the Utah Housing Corporation. The group often builds homes on-site at the prison and ships them out. REACH has built three homes for Habitat For Humanity and more than 30 for the Utah Housing Corporation.

Draper April 4 visitation update

April 3, 2010:

The Draper facility has been under a modified lockdown following a minor altercation in the Oquirrh facility on Friday. While the incident did not result in any serious injuries, officials proactively enacted precautionary measures to ensure there were no underlying threats that would extend to other portions of the facility. The modified lockdown did impact visitation, but Easter Sunday visitors should be able to see their inmates per the usual guidelines according to the usual April 4 visiting schedule. Escorts may accompany visits as a continued precaution.

Inmates crochet for Haiti

UTAH STATE PRISON -- American aid workers and U.S. dollars have been pouring in to Haiti ever since a massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake on Jan. 12 rocked the tiny nation’s capital area near Port-au-Prince. And Haitians are about to get some more aid from one of the unlikeliest places: crocheting inmates.

Offenders in the Utah State Prison’s ConQuest and ExCell substance-abuse rehabilitation programs have been knitting intricate, bright-colored toys and clothing for the Haitian people from yarn that has been donated by the community.

The idea to donate knit gear to Haiti came from ConQuest director Donna Kendall. It’s mandatory for the offenders to research news and keep up on current events, so when they saw the news coverage of the devastating earthquake, they were excited to help in whatever way they could, Kendall said.

Within weeks, small groups of men from ConQuest and females from ExCell finished off an entire supply of yarn, spurring some inmates to plead day after day for more materials so they could crochet more teddy bears, caps and blankets for the people living in tent cities whose homes and entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble.

The charitable attitudes may come as a surprise – afterall, many of these donors are locked up because they have taken from society. But some say that’s exactly why they’re now giving back – part of a broader effort to make amends with the public.

“We’ve taken a lot from society, but now we’re forced to look at what we’ve done,” said inmate Jeremy Reed. “You can’t put in to words how great it feels to do something for someone else. It helps me to feel a human connection. And now we want to step it up and do something positive for this nation going through a disaster.”

Some offenders crochet during restless nights by the glow of an emergency exit sign, others find free time on weekends while they watch TV. For Reed – who learned everything he knows about crocheting in prison – it takes an average of one hour to make a cap, while a blanket can take around eight to 12, depending on the size and the pattern.

Fellow inmate Jamie Birch sorted through a sack full of clothes and toy knit bears, pointing out that all the white yarn in the bunch was purchased by inmates. Some donated not only their time, but their own often scarce money and resources to craft clothing and toys for the Haitians.

“It takes up time with positive energy,” said Birch. “A lot of our self-esteems hit all time lows when we got to prison. But you have to collect yourself. Before now, a lot of us couldn’t say we did anything for someone.”

And the same goes for the women, according to Gregory Hendrix, who oversees the prison’s ExCell program. He said the knitting projects bring the female offenders a sense of joy from making someone’s suffering a little less painful – all while they learn new skills for coping with recovery from their own drug or alcohol abuse.

“Many of the women have suffered trauma and understand pain and suffering,” he said. “The yarn project helps in the healing process as they give back to the community.”

Though there are hundreds of thousands affected by the earthquake who will never see the donations from Utah inmates, Reed said doing a little is better than doing nothing.

“It doesn’t matter – you just do what you can,” he said. “Change is possible. It doesn’t matter where you are, what your circumstances are – you can do something to help. You don’t have to be rich or famous.”

When they aren’t focusing on natural disasters, both male and female inmates crochet for the needy in our local community, including Primary Children’s Medical Center and other charities. But they are in constant need of yarn. If you would like to donate yarn to the prison, or if you know someone who would, please contact Donna Kendall at dkendall@utah.gov or Gregory Hendrix at 801-576-7811 (ghendrix@utah.gov).

PHOTO: Inmates Jeremy Reed, left, and Jamie Birch, right, show off various hats, blankets, bears and scarves. They and their fellow ConQuestadors crafted the materials to donate to victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

ConQuest inmates knit for charity

Inmates in the Utah State Prison's ConQuest program recently were in the news for charitable knitting they perform. The inmates use donated yarn to crochet gifts for patients at Primary Children's Medical Center and other organizations.

Read the Deseret News story below.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705355605/Con-Quest-inmates-donate-crocheted-items-to-hospital.html

Gunnison horse gentling

KUTV Channel 2 News recently aired a story on the horse-gentling program at the Central Utah Correctional Facility, administered through Utah Correctional Industries in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management. See the segment below.

http://connect2utah.com/content/fulltext/?cid=63852

Gunnison Visitation Update

Following a post-Christmas Day lockdown that prevented facility-wide visitation at the Gunnison prison last weekend, most operations will return to normal in time for Friday's (Jan. 1) visitation to resume. The exception will be the Cedar facility, which will not be able to visit and will remain on a modified lockdown through the weekend. Make sure you know the section in which your inmate is housed before coming to visit. If the inmate is housed in the Cedar facility, you will not be able to visit this weekend.