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Friends in Hope reaches a fork in the road Members discuss joining forces with Neighbors Helping Neighbors By David Dolmage Newton Daily News Facing an uncertain future, Friends in Hope, a loose organization of community volunteers who work with needy residents, is considering aligning itself with Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a homeless advocacy group that has begun meeting in Newton. Linda Curtis-Stolper, the director of Friends in Hope, said she isn’t sure what direction the
group will take in the future, but the need for the services that Friends in Hope provides still remains. “Goodness knows the problem is not declining, we’ve been called to do what we can to help,” Curtis-Stolper said. Attendance at Friends in Hope’s monthly meetings, held on the first Wednesday of the month, have been in decline since the group’s founders Robyn Taylor and Marilyn Terlouw,
stepped away from the group. There are 18 names on the Friends in Hope email list, which Curtis-Stolper considers the group roster, but only four members were present at Wednesday’s meeting. The group’s checking account has a balance of less than $100, and Curtis-Stolper said she’d been forced to turn down several requests to provide motel rooms in the past month. “I don’t know whether or not interest is declining or simply transferring, or if it’s just part of HOPE | 8A
David Dolmage/Daily News Newton resident Gary Martin listens as Friends in Hope director Linda Curtis-Stolper talks during the monthly meeting of FIH. Facing declining interest the group is considering a merger with Neighbors Helping Neighbors, another local advocacy group for Newton’s needy.
Room to Grow
Arson suspected in Newton apartment fire Six rescued from the building Newton Daily News
Submitted Image This artist’s rendering shows the new Van Maannen Electric office building. It will be two stories with almost 12,500 square feet. An attached warehouse will also be constructed at more than 60,000 square feet.
Van Maanen Electric expanding with new headquarters By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News Signs of growth are popping up in the Newton again with Van Maanen Electric moving its corporate headquarters to a new, larger location. The move will see the company leaving its longtime location at 627 N. 19th Ave. E. to space south of Walmart on Iowa Speedway Drive. Van Maanen President Nathan Van Maanen said the move marks the business’s expansion and for future growth. The new location will have a two-story office building totaling almost 12,500 square feet and an attached warehouse at more than 60,000 square feet. The added space will house the approximately 140 employees who
Arson is suspected in an early morning apartment fire in Newton in which six people were rescued. The Newton Fire Department is conducting
work at Van Maanen and allow space to grow. “This is roughly about double the space that we currently have,” Van Maanen said. While there was no significant
timing attached to the move, Van Maanen said they do expect for the new location to be ready in early fall 2018. VAN MAANEN | 3A
FIRE | 3A
Bookworms
Teachers, PTA team up to promote reading with Literacy Night By David Dolmage Newton Daily News
Jamee A. Pierson/Daily News Work is underway at the new location for Van Maanen Electric. The company will be moving from its current location at 627 N. 19th Ave. E. to a space about double the size on land south of Walmart on Iowa Speedway Drive.
an investigation and asking for the public’s help for information about the fire that started in the entryway of the Meadowbrook Apartments on East 12th Street North. At 3:43 a.m. a resident of the apartment heard the smoke detector going off in the hallway, and when he opened the door and saw smoke another resident called 911, Knoll
Colter Shaw couldn’t wait to get back to school Thursday night. Shaw, 7, who is a second-grader at Woodrow Wilson Elementary, begged his parents to come back to the school’s annual Literacy Night. He just had to find out what book he and his classmates would be reading this fall.
“I got to eat some pancakes, see my friends, and win some stuff,” Shaw said, cradling an armful of books as he stood in the hallway at Woodrow Wilson. When the teachers and staff at Woodrow Wilson Elementary held their first Literacy Night last year, the event was such a success they decided to expand it this LITERACY | 3A
NHS students to present dinner theater production By David Dolmage Newton Daily News Even though she’s out of her comfort zone, Allison Bollhoefer is having a blast. As Eleanor VanHuesen Ballhoefer, a junior at Newton High School, plays the lead role in the school’s fall production of “Dinner at Eight, Dead by Nine.” The production represents a host of new challenges for drama students at the high school. “This really pushed me out of my comfort zone, it’s a new level of theatre,” Ballhoefer
said. The production, a “clever comedy mystery” will be
presented as a dinner theater production. Students will serve guests a pasta dinner during the production, even as they’re reciting their lines. Director Meldina Worthington said she’s excited to stage this production, it’s the first time students have attempted to do a dinner theater. “It’s exactly David Dolmage/Daily News Newton High School senior Natalie Camp, in the role like ‘Clue,’ but of Maggie, performs during a rehearsal for Dinner at this time we Eight, Dead by Nine, a dinner theatre production. know it’s in the
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Nine” has been challenging at times, but it’s been her favorite production so far. “On stage, you see the lights but you don’t see the people, here you’re right up next to them, it’s a shocking experience,” Ballhoefer said. Not only will students be getting out of their comfort zone while they interact with the audience, they’ll also be taking their show on the road. The schedule includes performances at two local assisted living facilities, Park Centre PLAY | 3A
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dining room,” Worthington said. It’s also the third play that students have staged this year, following their doubleheader Halloween production. Despite the heavy workload, Ballhoefer said she and the rest of the cast are excited about the production because it represents a totally new approach to the theater for students. Instead of standing on the stage, students are playing “in the round” and will be surrounded by the audience during the play. Ballhoefer said working on “Dinner at Eight, Dead by
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Competency hearing granted
Newton man charged with sx abuse / 7A
Volume No. 116 No. 120 2 sections 16 pages
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