BEDFORD – The Lawrence County Commissioners Tuesday morning, asked that all county employees complete the county’s security training.
“So far about 20 percent of the employees have completed the training,” said Valerie Luchauer, Emergency Management Director.
Commissioner President Rodney Fish asked that employees complete the training as soon as possible.
With a Cyber Security Grant of $160,000, the county has upgraded security measures to prevent future cyber attacks.
The grant funds were used to purchase a server, cloud storage, desktop computers, firewall protection, update software, and other security measures to protect the county from future attacks.
Lawrence County’s computer network was attacked in February 2020 affecting multiple critical systems in all county offices.
In other business:
Veterans Affairs Officer Brad Bough thanked the commissioners for their support for Veterans of Lawrence County. The Veterans will be honored on Veteran’s Day this Thursday.
Bough will be attending an event at the American Legion on Thursday at 11 a.m.
Bedford Middle School students will also be honoring local veterans in a closed event at 1 p.m. Local World War II Veteran T/Sgt. James Lee Hutchinson will be the guest speaker.
Golden Corral, which normally offers veterans a free meal on Veteran’s Day is closed due to renovations, but the owner Ronnie Nubbie is offering veterans an opportunity to come in and pick up a gift card for their free meals once the restaurant reopens.
Highway crews are busy cutting brush and mowing and getting ready for the snow to fly.
Work is also being completed on Bridge 121 over Indian Creek on Williams Silverville Road. The repairs to this bridge are being performed by the contractors at no cost to the county.
Commissioners also signed their last paper contracts with the Indiana Department of Transportation accepting the Community Crossing funds to complete work on Bridge 172 on Slaughterhouse Road, to execute the county’s bridge inspections. Community Crossing funds will also be used to repair Bridge 138 on Oolitic Road. The total cost to replace the deck is estimated at $750,000.
After today all INDOT contracts will be signed electronically. The commissioners passed an ordinance this morning allowing the president of the commissioners to sign those electronic documents after they are approved by the commissioners.
Attorney Dave Smith opened highway bids. The county received two for asphalt, one for fuel, two for oil, and five for stone. Those bids were taken under advisement.
Sheriff Mike Branham reported the jail was at 97 percent capacity this morning with 174 inmates.
“Two years ago at this same time we were at 150 inmates,” said Sheriff Branham.
Today there were 134 males, 40 females, 1 Level 6 felon, 15 Department of Correction holds, and one parole hold.
Eleven inmates graduated with four different certifications from the Skills for Success program, a manufacturing training boot camp that provides both classroom and hands-on learning for entry-level work.
The program originally was created through Purdue University’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership to provide manufacturing training to all demographics, customizing the curriculum to what employers and managers specifically wanted. The program is a manufacturing training boot camp that provides both classroom and hands-on learning for entry-level work. Its classes cover subjects such as workplace etiquette, Occupational Safety and Health Administration certification, and blueprint reading.
The program is offered at no cost to the inmates.
Joe Timbrook, Director of Career Development at the Lawrence County Workforce Coalition is overseeing the project.
Sheriff Branham hopes to hold two more classes before the end of the year.
“Currently we have 19 females interested in taking the class and will also have another class for the males,” he added.
