NEWTON
POINT PLATEAU
Garrett Sturtz hits 1,000 point mark / 1B
DAILY NEWS WEDNESDAY, NOV. 29, 2017 • WHERE TO GO WHEN YOU NEED TO KNOW
newtondailynews.com
HIGH
48 34 LOW
Facebook.com/newtondailynews
@newtondnews
Supervisors still at odds over annex building By Jamee A. PIerson Newton Daily News Tension was high once again on Tuesday during a discussion of the Jasper County Annex building at the board of supervisors meeting. Supervisors Joe Brock and Doug Cupples went back and forth on the future of the building, the way business is being conducted by board members and possible locations for the Jasper County Public Health
Department, which is currently housed in the basement of the annex building. The catalyst for the most recent brush up was a move Cupples made by looking at a building to temporarily house the JCHD. According to Cupples, he, supervisor Denny Carpenter and JCHD director Becky Pryor all viewed the location. “A temporary spot was brought to my attention. It is a logical spot,” Cupples said. “It is very affordable, cost wise. For
me to bring that to your attention and share it with you, you should take that as information and go further and look at it. I think that just makes sense, Joe.” Brock, who has not yet seen the location, said the board needs to start working as a cohesive unit and not as separate individuals. Carpenter, who was present at the meeting, did not voice any opinions about the situation. ANNEX | 3A
Jamee A. Pierson/Daily News Supervisors Doug Cupples, left, and Joe Brock continue discussions on the Jasper County Annex Building at its Tuesday meeting.
‘Souper Bowl’
Community rallies for family displaced by house fire By Kayla Singletary Newton Daily News
Republicans, Democrats work together to fight hunger in Jasper County
The community is rallying around a Newton family who lost everything in a house fire Sunday morning. As the family of four works to put the pieces back together, several churches and individuals have stepped up to initiate donations. Around 6:50 a.m., the Newton Fire Department responded to a house fire at 607 E. 12th St. S. Fire Marshal Mike Knoll said the family, Andy DeRaad and Allie Van Zee and their two 7-year-old boys, were out of town at the time of the fire. The fire is believed to have started from an electrical outlet in a bedroom, according to Knoll. He described the fire as a total loss for the family after they worked two and a half hours to put out the flames. The Newton Church of The Way and Grace Church are both accepting donations for the family. Pastor Dan Hayton of Grace Church said the boys attend the Wednesday Night Live program at the church. FIRE | 3A
By David Dolmage Newton Daily News
A
t a time when Americans are more divided than ever the chairs of Jasper County’s Republican and Democratic parties have formed an unlikely alliance. Working together to combat hunger in Jasper County, the two groups will hold their first ever “Souper Bowl” at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Salvation Army, 301 N. Second Ave. E., Newton. Thad Nearmyer, chair of the Jasper County Republican party, said “even though we may not agree on everything, we’re still friends and neighbors and we want to show America how it can be done.” The idea first came to Nearmyer from an article that he read in the Newton Daily News. As he watched members of the Jasper County Democratic Party rally in support of the victims of the Charlottesville riots he realized this was an issue his party could get behind as well. “Republicans care about this too, why didn’t they ask us to join them,” Nearmyer wondered. “That got me thinking, I started talking to people in the community about what we could we do to interact with them.” Nearmyer and Michelle Smith, the chair of the Jasper County Democrats couldn’t be more different.
NPL to launch mysterious escape room Team spots open By Kayla Singletary Newton Daily News
celebrity judges who’ll be at the event. Smith said she’s glad they’ve created an event they can both get behind, and with a critical election for the governor’s office looming, she’s worried it might be awhile before they’ll be able to do it again. “It’s not an election season for a few months, but soon it’ll start getting heated,” Smith said. “You have to build relationships with people on the other side, when something comes up you’re more likely to sit down and have a conversation with them, you’ve got that common ground.”
For two days next month the Newton Public Library will transform into an interactive escape room where participants will have to rely solely on brain power. For the first time, the library staff has created a room full of clues, puzzles, a scavenger hunt and riddles. Public services librarian Rebecca Klein said she and other staff members wanted to bring the idea to the library because of the activity’s growing popularity in Des Moines Klein and surrounding areas. Staff began inventing the room last month following several months of planning. “The escape rooms have been a really popular source of informative entertainment,” Klein said. “I have seen other libraries that are picking up the trend and we wanted to try it.” Participants are encouraged to sign up in groups of four to six people for the activity from 1 to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6 and 7. Drop-ins will be allowed if there is enough time, according to Klein. The escape room is a physical adventure game in which players solve a series of puzzles and riddles using clues, hints and strategies to complete the objectives at hand. Players are
SOUP | 3A
ESCAPE | 3A
David Dolmage/Daily News Jasper County Republican Party Chair Thad Nearmyer and Jasper County Democratic Party Chair Michelle Smith engage in a friendly game of tug of war over their favorite soup. This weekend both parties will come together to raise money and awareness in the fight against hunger in Jasper County.
Despite those nagging differences, both of them wanted to come together to support the county. As it turns out, both Nearmyer and Smith had a mutual friend, Rep. Wes Breckenridge, D-Newton. Breckenridge and Nearmyer were high school classmates, and it was Breckenridge that made the initial introductions. After Nearmyer and Smith got together, it wasn’t long before they starting brainstorming for ideas to hold an event that would appeal to both parties. After hearing that local food pantries were running dangerously low on supplies at the end of the summer both decid-
ed they wanted to throw their support behind the Salvation Army and collect donations for its food pantry. “We don’t want anyone in the county to be hungry,” Smith said. The co-sponsored event, which will take place Saturday, will feature a chili cook-off, a contest to see who can build a larger structure from donated items and for the grand finale a chance to throw a pie in the face of the county chairs for charity. Nearmyer’s already planning to make his famous chili, which he claims is “the best ever” in hopes of winning an award from one of several
LOCAL
WHERE IT’S AT Astrograph......................5B Calendar..........................5A Classifieds......................4B
$1.00
7
98213 00008
4
Comics & Puzzles...........6A Dear Abby........................6A Local Sports......................1B
Obituaries.......................5A Opinion............................4A State News......................7A
Christmas Open House
Museum event is Saturday / 5A
Volume No. 116 No. 137 2 sections 18 pages
Thank you Sheryl Carter of Sully for subscribing to the Newton Daily News. To subscribe, call 641-792-5320 or visit newtondailynews.com.