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September auction set for Newton Manufacturing building By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News The former Newton Manufacturing Building is going up for auction in September. Hilco Real Estate Agency announced Thursday the building, located at 1205 First Ave. E., will be on the auction block on Sept. 12 with a low minimum bid of $225,000 required. “We’ve been working with the real estate firm out of Chicago that has it listed for quite some time,” Newton Development Corporation Executive Director Frank Liebl said. “We had shown it to a couple of people early on, and I think the situation now is at the point where they need to close the books on this property.” Newton Manufacturing declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2015 and the company was purchased by HALO Branded Solutions of Sterling, Ill., not long after. It had gone from, according to former president Mancil Laidig, having annual sales of $83 million, with 167 employees and approximately 700 independent salespeople in 2000 to $26.2 million in sales, 59 employees and about 400 salespeople for the 12 months ending March 31, 2015. The office building was previously offered for sale at $695,000. It is an expansive office building that sits on a corner lot on First Avenue offering high exposure and visibility on a main route through Newton. The property features significant office and storage space, multiple loading doors, abundant parking and excess land for expansion or future development. Totaling approximately 37,000 square feet, the building sits on an estimated 3.78 acres AUCTION | 3A
Jamee A. Pierson/Daily News The former Newton Manufacturing Building, which has been empty for a little more than two years, will go up for auction in September, Hilco Real Estate Agency announced Thursday.
David Dolmage/Daily News Bob O’Brien leaves his handprint on the hood of Joey Gase’s car during an organ donation event in Newton. Next to his handprint Bob O’Brien writes a message to his son Brendan, who was killed by a drunk driver in 2013, at an organ donation event in Newton.
Racing to Donate
A grieving father continues his son’s legacy By David Dolmage Newton Daily News
T
he work makes it easier — handing out the Dilly Bars, talking to people, getting the message out. There isn’t a day that goes by that Bob O’Brien doesn’t think about his son, and sometimes the work is all he has. Brendan O’Brien was struck and killed by a drunk driver while walking home from a church function on April 23, 2013, and when the doctors told Bob O’Brien that there was no brain activity, he made the choice to take Brendan off life support. It was the choice Bob O’Brien made next that changed his life and lives of eight other people. He agreed to donate Brendan’s organs, so suddenly people all around the country started to get phone calls. An 8 year old girl got a new heart,
two different fathers got each of Brendan’s kidneys, his pancreas went to someone else, as well as both of his eyes. Eight different people got a second chance at life, and so did Bob O’Brien. After agreeing to donate his son’s organs, O’Brien has become a passionate advocate for organ donation, giving away free ice cream on the anniversary of his son’s death, at the Dairy Queen he owns along with bracelets and information that educates people about the importance of organ donation. “This is my way of dealing with the grief, he was my only son, and when I lost him I lost all of my children, and all of my family,” O’Brien said, wiping away a tear. He’s tried to give speeches, to talk about his experience, and how important it is to become a donor, but it’s too hard. He’ll get choked up every time he thinks about his son. It’s easier to talk
By Kayla Langmaid Newton Daily News Thousands of dogs are cuddling up with a blanket, playing with their favorite squeaky toy and are not going hungry all thanks to the local organization, Paws n’ A Blanket. The non-profit works to reach rescue pups locally and nationwide. The organization held a Community Impact fund raising event Thursday night at Pizza
Ranch in Newton. Carol Breckenridge and her husband Phil, of Colfax, launched the organization in 2013 after rescuing a handful of dachshunds. Carol said the couple currently own five love-able furry friends. “The whole idea (for the organization) came about as I was getting in their closet, they have their own closets full of blankets and dog beds — all of these things fell out and on top of me,” Carol
said. “At first you’re kind of annoyed, and then it dawned on me, if all dogs were this spoiled, then there would be no more puppy mills or homeless dogs.” Carol said her dogs love to burrow in blankets and it makes them feel warm and protected. “I just feel like a blanket for a dog who is waiting on its forever home is a simple thing, why not make them feel comfortable,” Carol said. That following winter, the couple went shopping and bought 120 PAWS | 3A
Jamee A. Pierson/Daily News Fans lined the streets of Newton to get a look at the hauler parade on Thursday evening. The parade saw dozens of semi’s make their way through Newton to kick off the race weekend at Iowa Speedway in Newton. See more photos on page 9A.
LOCAL
WHERE IT’S AT Astrograph......................5B Calendar..........................5A Classifieds......................4B
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DONATION | 3A
Keep on truckin’
Paws n’ A Blanket reaches thousands of dogs Local organization holds fundraiser at Pizza Ranch
about the process, what happens to the organs and why it’s so important that people who need them can get them. “This is my way of helping,” O’Brien said. It was earlier this month that O’Brien got a call, asking if he’d like to have his son’s picture on a race car. Joey Gase, a driver in Nascar’s Xfinity series was someone who knew exactly where O’Brien was coming from. In April of 2011, his mother suffered a sudden brain aneurysm. When doctors asked if the family was willing to donate his mother’s organs, Gase went home to get her driver’s license. Even though she’d never told her son, she’d checked yes on the box for organ donation. “She couldn’t continue her life, but she had an opportunity to help others continue theirs,” Gase said.
Comics & Puzzles...........6A Dear Abby........................6A Local Sports......................1B
Obituaries.......................5A Opinion............................4A State News......................7A
City begins sewer expansion
Work begins at East 12th Street North / 3A
Volume No. 116 No. 48 2 sections 14 pages
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