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Trump signs executive order to advance pipelines Controversial Dakota Access pipeline has 34-mile stretch through Jasper County By Justin Jagler Newton Daily News President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to advance construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines. The Obama administration previously blocked both projects, citing environmental concerns. The Dakota Access pipeline cuts through 18 Iowa
counties, and almost 34 miles of the pipeline stretch across Jasper County. Trump’s a c t i o n Trump c o m e s at a time when court cases regarding landowner rights are still pending. Mingo land-
owner Kathy Holdefer, whose property is near the pipeline’s path, opposes Trump’s backing of the Energy Transfer Partners project. “Those of us who have been fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline for over two years — strengthened by the growing numbers of supporters — are unintimidated by Trump’s actions today,” Holdefer said. Holdefer said advocates for climate justice and landowner rights stand strong in solidarity, ready to continue their fight. She PIPELINE | 3A
AP Photo Anita Wells cheers as a crowd of a few hundred people attend an emergency NoDAPL rally in response to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump today that will move forward on the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines Tuesday in Seattle.
Warm weather causing issues with county roads
Newton High School’s Patterson, Sharp recognized for coach of the year awards By Justin Jagler Newton Daily News Two Newton High School athletic coaches were recognized at Monday’s school board meeting for earning coach of the year awards. Sarah Patterson was selected as the National Federation of High Schools Girls’ Swim Coach of the Year, and girls’ basketball coach Brandon Sharp was recognized for winning the Point Guard College Transformational Coach of the Year. Newton High School Activities Director Scott Garvis made the presen-
Jamee A. Pierson/Daily News A mix of wet weather and above freezing temperatures has created a muddy mess on gravel roads throughout the county. Many area school districts, including Newton, made the decision to keep buses on hard surfaces only until the roads are safe to travel on again.
Buses staying on hard surfaces due to poor conditions By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News For nearly a week, school buses for the Newton Community School District, along with many other Jasper County schools, have been running on hard surfaces only. The change is due to the large buses no longer being able to safely and efficiently travel on gravel roads throughout the county. For most of January, the region has been experiencing higher than normal temperatures. That, partnered with no snow and an ample amount of rain, has led the roads to become slimy, slippery, muddy messes and keeping the buses away from their regular routes. “The conditions have been bad — a very odd January. Usually you don’t get the freeze and then a thaw and then a second thaw again,” Jasper County Engineer Russ Stutt said. Stutt said the county is hesitant to place too much new rock on
the roads because of any potential weather event that may bring out the snow plows, pushing the newly placed rock into the ditches. Also, just getting the equipment on the roads can cause more damage than good with the current conditions. “I appreciate the school buses aren’t running on it because all of that traffic just makes it worse right now and it is hard to hold it like this,” Stutt said. NCSD Supervisor of Transportation Curt Roorda said he is seeing many of the same conditions, causing the school to have buses on hard surfaces only through Friday and possibly longer. “It’s more or less a weather thing. It is pretty much out of our control,” Roorda said. “We see it in our best interest to not run the regular routes.” The first priority of the school is the safety of the students and bus drivers. Avoiding instances where the buses could slide into a ditch or cause another vehicle to
do the same is the focus for the travel services right now, he said. “We don’t want to tear them up anymore than what they are tore up,” Roorda said. “We didn’t feel we tore them up too bad, but we could tell they weren’t going to get any better.” Stutt said a freeze would definitely help the roads and get the crews out to fix areas where they have been hardest hit. “We are hoping, the temperatures are supposed to drop back down by around Thursday and we hoping to get our equipment out at that point and get the roads back in shape again,” Stutt said. “If there are some areas that we have completely lost the frost in and they are really bad we might consider hauling some rock to those area.” For now, the school district will wait and see what the weather does to the road conditions before making any decisions to put buses back on their gravel road routes. “We will decide Monday afternoon what we will do on Tuesday,” Roorda said. Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com
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COACHES | 3A
County to increase security on its computers By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News Beefed up online security is coming to all of those who use Jasper County government computers or computer systems. A contract was approved with IP Pathways for malware and security software Tuesday by the Jasper County Board of Supervisors. Jasper County Information Systems Network Administrator Ryan Eaton presented the upgrade to the supervisors and gave several reasons why it is necessary for the county to be further protected. “Currently, we look for virus signatures based on things that have been found. They send out updates saying
to look for things,” Eaton said. “What we are missing are the current, what hasn’t been found yet viruses. This software, in addition to our current software, looks for patterns and techniques that software, malware and ransonware uses to encrypt files and warns us.” The county has been testing the new software for the past 60 days and Eaton reported in that time it found things they didn’t even know were happening. The software will be implemented on all 185 systems used by the county including everyone at the courthouse, sheriff ’s department, annex building and in the sheriff ’s vehicles.
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WHERE IT’S AT Astrograph......................5B Calendar..........................5A Classifieds......................4B
tation to the board. He said the school district is lucky to have a number of great coaches, and Patterson and Sharp are stellar examples who have done an outstanding job with Newton’s student athletes. “Sarah does an amazing job,” Garvis said. “She is one of the best coaches in the country. She not only works with the top-tier kids, but she’ll take those kids who haven’t any lick of swimming, and they’ll come out and end up scoring points for us in meets.”
Comics & Puzzles...........6A Dear Abby........................6A Local News......................2A
Obituaries.......................5A Opinion............................4A State News......................7A
XO Marriage Conference
Community Heights to host event / 2A
SECURITY | 3A
Volume No. 115 No. 174 2 sections 16 pages
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