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DAILY NEWS THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017 • WHERE TO GO WHEN YOU NEED TO KNOW
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Homicide investigation yields no arrests By Kayla Langmaid Newton Daily News
File Photo Kim Balmer, left, and Carmen Shangarapu, right, work in the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office dispatch center in 2015. Jasper County dispatchers handle more than 38,000 calls for service each year and are responsible for communicating with, paging and documenting calls for all fire, EMS and law enforcement services. Dispatchers are being recognized this week during National Public Safety Telecommunicator week.
Jasper County dispatchers recognized National Public Safety Telecommunicator week By Kayla Langmaid Newton Daily News Jasper County dispatchers are being recognized this month during National Public Safety Telecommunicator week. The second full week of April, dispatchers are celebrated as an invaluable part of emergency response teams. Jasper County dispatchers handle more than 38,000 calls for service each year and are responsible for communicating with, paging and documenting calls for all fire, EMS and law enforcement services. “They are our prime communication resource, they are basically the quarterback that calls the plays and puts people where
they need to be so to speak,” said Lt. Brad Shutts who oversees Jasper County’s dispatch center as part of his duties. “Without them we couldn’t operate from the initial call to the final unit and back in service they are a huge part of how we operate.” According to Sheriff John Halferty, updated technology that assists dispatchers includes, GPS, Emergency Medical Dispatch, Tiered Emergency Asset Management System (TEAMS) and internal systems that aid in efficiently locating and documenting critical information. Emergency medical dispatch software allows dispatchers to ask a series of questions that allow them to determine a proper emergency response and type of
EMS resources needed during medical events. TEAMS cards are pre-planned resources that are paged based upon the severity of a fire or EMS incident. The priorities are labeled by “alarms.” The higher the alarm request, the more resources are requested. TEAMS allows fire and EMS to have resources available more efficiently and in acceptable timeframes. GPS allows dispatchers and law enforcement officers to see where other officers are at, and allows for marking locations including major events or disabled motorists. In order to enhance the safety and security of our law enforcement officers, GPS allows for real time locations in the event the officer is unable to radio for help, or during high speed pursuits, Halferty said. Shutts said most of the time there are two people during the DISPATCH | 3A
A month-long investigation into the suspicious death of a Newton man has yielded no arrests after the 61-yearold was found dead inside of Berber his rural home. Jasper County Sheriff John Halferty said the sheriff ’s office and Iowa Division of Criminal are continuing to investigate the Jose Ramirez Berber
homicide that occurred March 6. “We continue to ask the public to report any information they might have concerning the case,” Halferty said. “We have received information and continue to follow up on those leads. Information has been received through Crime Stoppers and by citizens contacting the sheriff ’s office with information concerning the case.” Berber was found deceased after officials received a 911 call to 4252 Maple Street in reference to an unresponsive individual. BERBER | 3A
NCSD budget, tax rate approved for 2018 By Justin Jagler Newton Daily News Next year’s Newton Community School District budget was approved by the school board at its regular meeting Monday. Board members had been discussing the fiscal year 2018 certified budget for weeks, and Monday’s approval was essentially a formality. The board was already familiar with the details. The total budget for 2018 requires about $73.1 million. The general fund will account for more than $31 million of that total and looks similar to this year’s budget. The disparity between the total budget and general fund comes down mostly to costs associ-
ated with the new Berg building. It is important to note, said Superintendent Bob Callaghan, the funding sources for student support services and the new middle school are completely separate. “The facilities are paid for out of a different funding source than the educational commitments to staff and curriculum,” Callaghan said. Next year’s budget features a property tax rate of $15.74 per $1,000 of taxable valuation. The Iowa Department of Management reserves the right the make slight adjustments to the tax rate, said Director of Business Services Gayle Isaac. BUDGET | 3A
Agnes Patterson Park to receive upgrade By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News To begin to address concerns brought forth by Newton Little League, a vault restroom will be placed at Agnes Patterson Park. Newton City Council approved the bathroom, taking the first step to give those at the baseball field closer access to a restroom facility. “Right now with the cold weather, the plumbed bathrooms are shut off so there are no bathroom facilities to use,” public works director Keith Laube said. “That is the advantage of the vault toilet because even when little league is out practicing in the spring, there would be a restroom available. Also, we have walkers around the arboretum and it would accessible to them.” An ADA modern vault re-
stroom will be placed on the west side of the main park driveway between the east two ballfields. This location is northwest of the Arboretum parking lot and accessible to those at the park and baseball fields. The city has found that recently installed pre-cast concrete vault restrooms at Woodland and Maytag Parks require minimal long-term maintenance, have been good for parks with vandalism potential and allow for yearround usage. CXT, Inc. of Spokane, Wash. submitted the lowest bid at $18,485. The restroom is to be installed by June 30, to enable use during the Fourth of July activities and planned Little League tournaments to be held in July. The restroom will be paid for using funds
from the building maintenance line item in the 20162017 Park budget. Little League representative Matt Holmes spoke to the council about continued concerns the organization has with the bathroom situation, especially with future plans to host tournaments on the fields. “We had addressed concerns to the park board that last year we had the privileged of holding the little league all stars tournament,” Holmes said. “They had very little access to bathrooms around. There was one down in between the girls softball fields that was open but when had elderly, handicap people play, there was not an easily accessible bathroom.” UPGRADE | 3A
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WHERE IT’S AT Astrograph......................5B Calendar..........................5A Classifieds......................4B
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Jamee A. Pierson/Daily News A vault restroom, similar to the one currently at Maytag Park, is set to be installed at Agnes Patterson Park this summer. The restroom will give closer access to those using the baseball field and be available year-round for walkers on the hike and bike trail.
Comics & Puzzles...........6A Dear Abby........................6A Local Sports......................1B
Obituaries.......................5A Opinion............................4A State News......................7A
NASCAR Rookies get a test run
Speedway hosts event next weekend / 1B
Volume No. 115 No. 229 2 sections 14 pages
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