Newton
Serving Newton & Jasper County Since 1902
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Friday, January 24, 2014 OBITUARIES Jerry E. Allspach, 65 Myrna L. Collins , 55 Edwin McKinney, 61
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Newton, Iowa
Callaghan to provide update on district’s recently approved early retirement program By Ty Rushing Daily News Staff Writer
Local
American History Essay Contest Page 2A
Ty Rushing/Daily News The Newton Senior High School Speech Team will be competing in district competition Saturday at Pleasantville High School in Pleasantville. The team will have members competing in ensemble acting, radio broadcast, improv, TV news, musical theatre, short film and readers theatre. A number of speech team members are pictured here along with coaches Cara Schwarz and Will Edgar and volunteer Niki Hivley.
Medical examiner in Olea trial points to blunt force injuries as cause of death
Education
Berg to get new playground Page 8A
By Bob Eschliman Daily News Editor
Sports
Toreadors edge Card swimmers Page 1B
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Comics & Puzzles Page 6A Dear Abby Page 6A Opinion Page 4A Obituaries Page 3A Police Page 3A Our 112th Year No. 174
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Iowa Donor Network. She said she had not previously experienced such damage from the organ donation process before. Cavalier also noted the bleeding would be consistent with Kaiden being grabbed or held tightly. She also testified she removed the child’s brain and spinal cord for testing by Dr. Patricia Kirby, a neuropathologist at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. The child’s eyes were also removed and sent to UIHC for testing by Dr. Nasreen Syed, an ophthalmic pathologist. Cavalier said she made her medical determination as to the cause of Kaiden’s death based upon her own examination as well as reports supplied to her following Kirby’s and Syed’s own testing. Both Kirby and Syed are expected to testify later in the trial. Cavalier is expected to undergo cross examination by Olea’s attorneys Friday morning. Thursday’s testimony was dominated by medical experts and doctors who examined Kaiden, who testified on the state’s behalf, as well. TRIAL See Page 5A
SCHOOL BOARD See Page 7A
Fischer reports on RSVP to city council By Zach Johnson Daily News Staff Writer Denice Fischer, director of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, presented a report Monday to the Newton City Council on what RSVP accomplished in 2013 and what RSVP has planned for 2014. In 2013, Jasper County RSVP had 62 active volunteers. The volunteers accumulated 4,832 hours of community service, which was a 33 percent increase from 2012. RSVP had a reading assistance program for 74 children in Newton, Baxter and Prairie City elementary schools. RSVP held its tax assistance program, which provided service to 439 clients. The program prepared 788 returns, totaling $571,425. RSVP assisted 26 low-income clients with rent reimbursement in the amounts of $250 to $1,000. Ninety-nine eligible clients were taken to vital appointments, including doctor, dentist and eye doctor, for a total of 591 rides. Local nonprofits received more than 1,200 hours assistance thanks to RSVP. COUNCIL See Page 7A
Baxter man served as radiation control monitor in U.S. Navy
Classifieds Page 3B
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During testimony Thursday afternoon in the first-degree murder trial of Joseph Olea, Iowa Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Michelle Cavalier said the 26-year-old Newton man’s 6-month old son died as a result of blunt force injuries of the head and neck. The mechanism of those injuries, she testified, was likely the result of a “significant rotational force,” combined with slamming, throwing or shaking. She also noted the injuries the infant suffered would have resulted in symptoms “very quickly” after the act that caused the injuries. During her testimony under direct examination by Jasper County Attorney Mike Jacobsen, Cavalier said she performed the autopsy on Olea’s son two days after his death. She explained what an autopsy is and the process she followed in her examination of the child’s body. Jurors were shown photographs from throughout the autopsy, showing areas Cavalier said were “consistent with bruising” inside Kaiden Olea’s body. She
also noted that her examination found bleeding on the brain as well as yellowing of the child’s spinal cord, which would be consistent with tissue that had been bruised but was healing. She also testified that toxicological testing, cultures taken from the child’s body and metabolic testing all indicated there were no underlying medical conditions that could have resulted in his injuries. She said a blood coagulation study conducted on the child also showed no sign of a medical condition that could result in Kaiden’s condition. Cavalier noted Kaiden’s brain was “very swollen,” and that she discovered “diffuse bleeding” that was indicative of “severe forces.” Although she said it is impossible to say how or when the bruising and bleeding occurred, she said the injuries were likely the result of the child’s head hitting an object, or vice versa. She also noted there was some bleeding in the soft tissues near the first and second ribs on both sides of the child’s body. The bones were not broken, and the bleeding could have been the result when his organs were harvested by the
Superintendent Bob Callaghan will provide the Newton Community School District Board of Education with an update on the district’s voluntary early retirement program at Monday’s meeting at Berg Elementary School. The board approved the measure during the Jan. 13 meeting, and letters already have been sent to the district employees who qualify for the program. Both Callaghan and the board insisted the program is a budgetary tool and not Callaghan a way to force out senior staff. “They don’t have to retire unless it’s their choice to retire,” board member Nat Clark said at that meeting. “Early retirement is nothing but, if you’re considering it, here’s something to help you make the decision. If it’s not the decision you’re ready to make, then by all means, keep teaching until the end of time.” One key item for the meeting will be setting the district’s 2014-15 school calendar. The board will have input on this measure from the School Improvement Advisory Committee. SIAC had recently been debating
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Leo Draegert of Baxter doesn’t think there was anything exciting about his service in the United States Navy. After all, it only involved working with nuclear submarines, certifying other servicemen for hitting their lifetime radiation allowance and working as a radiation control monitor. Leo enlisted a few weeks after graduating from Marshalltown High School in 1964. “It was the best chance for me to get started in my life, to make a career for myself,” he said.
“I also knew that I was going to end up getting drafted before long, so this let me have a little more choice in what I’d do.” Leo had negotiated to receive training as a machinery repair man to help build a life for himself once he was out of
the service. Upon completion of basic training, rather than being assigned to “A” School, he served a six-month tour out of Long Beach, Calif., on the USS DeHaven, a Fletcher Class destroyer. Because he hadn’t received his machine repair training yet, he was limited in what he could do. At the end of the six months, the DeHaven was assigned a new duty: the bombardment of Vietnam. “When you get on a ship and stay there for a while, it becomes your DRAEGERT See Page 5A