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DAILY NEWS WEDNESDAY, FEB. 8, 2017 • WHERE TO GO WHEN YOU NEED TO KNOW
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County to invest in new radio equipment for sheriff’s office
Ambulance rates to increase 1.2 percent By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News A 1.2 percent increase to the ambulance service rate is now in effect for the City of Newton. The city council approved the increase Monday based on a yearly review of the fee schedule. “The Newton Fire DeWellik partment provides ambulance service for a fee to the citizens and visitors of Newton,” interim city administrator Jarrod Wellik said. “Each year the fee schedule is reviewed and revised based on increases or decreases to the Medicare fee schedule.” The Center for Medicare Services released the fee schedule at the first of the year wooing a 1.2 percent increase. Wellmark is the largest insurance provider that reimburses the department for ambulance services and its current rate schedule is based on a factor of 1.7 times the established Medicare rates. The charges for the NFD ambulance services are based on 1.75 times the established Medicare rates, which is factor set by city council in 2012. The current Basic Life Support Non-Emergency rate is $369 with the increase bringing to the charges to $373. The expected Wellmark reimbursement is estimated at $360 and the Medicare reimbursement is set at $213.25. For Basic Life Support Emergency services the rate increased to $597, up from $590 previously. The expected Wellmark reimbursement is estimated at $576 and the Medicare reimbursement is set at $341.20.
By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News
The tribe has led protests that drew hundreds and at times thousands of people who dubbed themselves “water protectors” to an encampment near the crossing. ETP says the pipeline is safe. Details of the tribe’s legal challenge to the Army’s decision were still being worked out, attorney Jan Hasselman said. But tribal Chairman Dave Archambault said the tribe is “undaunted” by the Army’s decision. Even if the pipeline is finished and begins operating, he said, the tribe will push to get it shut down. An assessment conducted last year determined the crossing would not have a significant impact on the environment.
More than $600,000 will be spent to secure new radio equipment for the Jasper County Sheriff ’s Office to bring the department in line with high quality communication systems throughout the state. The Jasper County Board of Supervisors approved a contract with RACOM during its regular Tuesday meeting Halferty following a presentation by Sheriff John Halferty and Lt. Brad Schutts. “There is one piece of equipment fire, police and EMS use every day on every call and that is communications through the radio,” Halferty said. “We don’t always use all of the other special equipment, so we want to have a system that is going to be efficient, safe and work.” The purchase includes 71 mobile and portable radios, radio infrastructure, installation and maintenance for RACOM’s 700/800 MHz P25 trunking network. Halferty said they selected RACOM because the digital radio coverage was specifically tailored to the needs of local first responders, it will work seamlessly with neighbors such as Marshall and Polk County who also use RACOM for P25 communications ,and they had a business model that gives region wide coverage when required. The new system will replace a dated system that has been in place for several decades. “Some of the equipment, the radios are between 10 and 15 years old, so they are at end of life. Some
PIPELINE | 3A
RADIOS | 3A
AP Photo This file photo, shows a section of the Dakota Access Pipeline under construction near the town of St. Anthony in Morton County, N.D. The Army has notified Congress Tuesday that it will allow the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline to cross under a Missouri River reservoir in North Dakota, completing the four-state project to move North Dakota oil to Illinois. The Army intends to allow the crossing under Lake Oahe as early as Wednesday. The crossing is the final big chunk of work on the pipeline.
Army to allow completion of Dakota Access oil pipeline BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Army said Tuesday that it will allow the $3.8 billion Dakota Access oil pipeline to cross under a Missouri River reservoir in North Dakota, clearing the way for completion of the disputed four-state project. However, construction could still be delayed because the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which has led opposition, said it would fight the latest development in court. The Army intends to cancel further environmental study and allow the Lake Oahe crossing as early as Wednesday, according to court documents the Justice Department filed that include letters to members of Congress from Deputy Assistant Army Secretary Paul Cramer.
AMBULANCE | 3A
MORE INSIDE Get a look at the timeline for the Dakota Access Pipeline • See Page 8A
The stretch under Lake Oahe is the final big chunk of work on the 1,200-mile pipeline that would carry North Dakota oil through the Dakotas and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois. Developer Energy Transfer Partners had hoped to have the pipeline operating by the end of 2016, but construction has been stalled while the Army Corps of Engineers and the Dallas-based company battled in court over the crossing. The Standing Rock Sioux, whose reservation is just downstream from the crossing, fears a leak would pollute its drinking water.
Berg Middle School prepares for Saturday’s performance By Justin Jagler Newton Daily News Berg Middle School’s theater students will be presenting two plays on Saturday at the Newton High School Center for Performance. The show starts at 7 p.m. and admission is free. The kids will be performing “12 Dancing Princesses” and “Seven Nasty Princesses.” The show will last a little more than an hour. Melinda Worthington, middle school and high school drama coach, said students have been working on the performance since Jan. 2. She hopes the community will show support for their work. “They’ve worked really hard to get this show together,” Worthington said. “They’re doing an excellent job. We would love to have a nice-sized audience, so
that they can perform before them.” The theater students have been practicing five days a week after school to prepare. Worthington is directing operations, but she is aided by high school students who the drama coach said serve as very helpful assistant directors. This week, the middle schoolers are practicing on the high school stage to get a feel for the lights, sound and set pieces. Worthington took over middle school drama coaching in the late 1990s and also started a summer children’s theater in Newton around the same time. “In that program, we performed small plays. We did puppet theater. We did musical theater. We did different THEATER | 3A
Justin Jagler/Daily News Theater students from Berg Middle School pose in costume on the stage at Newton High School during Monday’s rehearsal.
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Sacred Heart’s Mardi Gras
Annual event planned at local church / 2A
Volume No. 115 No. 183 2 sections 14 pages
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