After the escape of two prisoners from Oakdale last year, the State has decided to reduce the staff. Yep. that's brains for you. Today's opinion piece in the DI points out that could be a bad idea, given the proximity to Highway 965 and the fact that one of the escaped prisoners was a murderer. I'd like to add that many of the convicted felons in Iowa (actually, I think all of them) go through there for classification into the appropriate prison. If I recall correctly, they also retain those prisoners a tad too mentally ill to play well with the other inmates for the duration of their sentences. Not exactly the kind of people I want jumping the fence and hitching a ride in the area.