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Tuesday, January 21, 2014
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Newton, Iowa
March trial date set in federal court for Sanders
OBITUARIES Rhonda Emery, 53 Donald Messick, 93 Arless D. Smith, 79
By Daily News Staff
INSIDE TODAY
Entertainment
A Sully man charged with attacking his wife last month was officially indicted on a federal firearms violation last week in connection with the Dec. 28 incident. William “Billy” Sanders, 40, was indicted last week on a single charge of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. During his
arraignment Friday, federal magistrate Ross A. Walters set a trial date for March 3. Walters also ordered Sanders be bound over for trial. The judge also set Feb. 18 as the date to file motions for continuance and to declare if any plea negotiations are underway. Should Sanders be convicted on the charge, he will be forced to for-
Sanders feit the weapons and ammunition found in his home in December.
‘Spirit of Uganda’ at Civic Center
Those include: • a Stevens 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, • a H&R 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, • a Marlin Model 40 .22 caliber long rifle, and • a Springfield XD 9 mm pistol, and ammunition for the guns. Judge Walters set Feb. 18 as both the filing date on any motions to continue the trial and to advise on any plea ne-
gotiations. Sanders also faces a number of state charges related to the December incident. He is charged with willful injury resulting in serious injury, a Class C felony; intimidation with a dangerous weapon, a Class C felony; and false imprisonment. A habitual offender “sentence enhancer” was added to the trial information, as well.
Chambers updates Newton City Council on Comprehensive Plan
Page 2A
By Zach Johnson Daily News Staff Writer
Sports
Hawk wrestlers have solid day Page 7A
Agriculture
Baxter FFA alumni group fundraiser Page 12A
Weather
Zach Johnson/Daily News Thomas Jefferson Elementary School kindergarten students Sebastian Sorenson and Kiearra Hicks carried the “I have a dream globe” into Monday’s school-wide assembly to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The globe was done as a collaborative project between Paula Lureman’s third-grade class and Megan McLennan’s kindergarten class.
TJ Elementary turns MLK Day into monthlong learning activity By Ty Rushing Daily News Staff Writer When the Newton Community School District Board of Education voted to have school on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Superintendent Bob Callaghan had a vision of what students should be doing that day. Callaghan wanted each building to have some sort of tribute to Dr. King, and he wanted students to learn more about the man himself. Each building had unique activities and lesson plans to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy and accomplishments. Students and staff at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School decided to take it one step further and dedicated the whole month toward learning more about MLK. “In honor of MLK, we’ve tried our best to teach as much as we can about his life, while he was alive, to our students,” Principal Lisa Sharp said. “On the announcements every morning, we have a fact about him. Each classroom has done some activities that are appropriate for its grade level.” “Our third graders have watched the ‘I have a dream’ speech,” Sharp continued. “It was quite interesting hearing their comments afterwards.
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They would go, ‘Wow, that’s not fair. Why do people think like that?’ And they were pretty disgusted by the things that they learned through that video too.” Another activity the third-grade students did was writing their own “I have a dream” speeches. “I have a dream that it won’t matter if you are a girl or a boy, or are a black person or even white like me. It would (matter) what your character is,” Patricia Baker, a student in 3F, wrote in her essay. “Come on. people. The children are watching the violence. Think of the children.” The third-grade essays are hung up in the hallways of TJ, and Sharp was also very impressed by what her students wrote and discussed with regard to how differently people were treated during the Civil Rights era. “It’s impressive to see our young kids thinking along the lines of being disgusted with that kind of thinking,” Sharp said. “They are color blind, and not only color blind, but they are also so accepting of each other.” “We’ve done such a good job of trying to teach kids empathy and show
Rushing headlines Aurora Heights MLK assembly
Dear Abby Page 6A
By Zach Johnson Daily News Staff Writer
Opinion Page 4A
Aurora Heights Elementary School kicked off the third and final district-wide learning day of the year with a celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day — which is usually marked as a day off for students — and invited Newton Daily News Reporter Ty Rushing to be the keynote speaker of the celebration.
Obituaries Page 3A Police Page 3A Our 112th Year No. 171
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MLK See Page 5A
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Zach Johnson/Daily News Newton Daily News reporter Ty Rushing gives a speech during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day assembly at Aurora Heights Elementary School.
RUSHING See Page 5A
Erin Chambers, director of Newton Planing and Zoning, presented a report on the Comprehensive Plan to update the Newton City Council on Monday night. “The unique structure of the Comprehensive Plan is an actual checklist of things to do,” Chambers said. “The list provides 150 things to do that lead us to the goal, many of which we have begun via the City of Newton, community non-profit businesses and organizations, business owners, or just ordinary local citizens.” Chambers highlighted Newton’s efforts, which began in early November, to be a part of the Main Street program. She also highlighted how Main Street took a bus of 30 citizens to present to the Main Street Iowa Executive Board at the Iowa Economic Development Authority to plead the case for Newton to become a Main Street Community. “Main Street hopes to hear the outcome of the process by the end of January,” Chambers said. The next step in implementing the city Comprehensive Plan is the Way-finding Signage Project. Specifications for the project are underway. The signage design coordinates with the branding and logo effort to be unveiled on Feb. 11. “The next step will be to develop the actual bid package,” Chambers said.“We are hopeful by the time the weather breaks we can get into construction mode, so we can get the project underway by the end of fiscal year.” The city is required to work with the Iowa DOT on the signs located on First Avenue and Highway 14. “This is always a difficult road to navigate, but we’re trying to work through that,” Chambers said. Another step in implementing the city’s Comprehensive Plan is the creation of a Downtown Historic District. “We are pleased to announce Akay Consulting submitted a draft nomination form for the Newton Downtown Historic District to the State Historic Preservation Office for review,” Chambers said. “So we are on track with the CLG branch which provided Newton the funding source. We anticipate that the Newton downtown will be on the National Register in September of this year.” Chambers reminded the council to mark their calendars to be at DMACC at 5 p.m. Feb. 11 for the community rally to unveil the new Community Branding and Marketing Plan. “Natalie Umsted, our management analyst, has been a key staff person on that project as well as many other city staff people, COUNCIL See Page 5A
Zach Johnson/Daily News Noreen Otto, Craig Trotter and Steve Mullan discuss the presentation on the update of the Comprehensive Plan