NDN-6-5-2015

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NEWTON

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Newton Trap Team competes at state competitions / 1B

DAILY NEWS newtondailynews.com

FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2015 • WHERE TO GO WHEN YOU NEED TO KNOW

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Downtown design open house Tuesday By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News

Bergman house sold, will be restored as residence By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News After months of uncertainty about its future, the August Bergman House has a new owner and she has big plans for the 100-year-old structure. Lila Arrowood of Des Moines purchased the historic house and plans to restore it and make it her home. “I’ve had my eye on this house for 20 years,” Arrowood said. “I didn’t want to see it torn down and I wanted to do something to save it, so I bought it.” Arrowood purchased it for a family project. She has six children who live throughout the U.S. and wanted a place for everyone to be able to come home and enjoy the holidays. With the family numbering more than 100, she needed a place that could hold everyone comfortably. “I am going to live here

eventually and it will be a family retreat. We will have a place for Christmas and holidays,” Arrowood said. The City of Newton was originally approached by the Newton Historical Society and a group that had formed to “Save the Bergman” to purchase the house in late 2014. After several presentations by the group, the city council decided against purchasing the home in February, citing major problems with the funding for the historical society to eventually purchase the house from the city to the ultimate disposition of the property. The council felt that it was in the best interest of the community to encourage the private sector to assume responsibility of the historic house which, only a few months later, has hapJamee A. Pierson/Daily News pened. With plans to restore what she can and repair the rest, the new BERGMAN | 3A

Jasper County shows high immunization levels Newton Daily News The Iowa Department of Public Health has released the 2014 Immunization Annual Report, which provides multiple immunization coverage rates for individual counties and the state. According to the report, Jasper County has an immunization rate of 66 percent for 2-yearold children, compared to the overall state rate of 69 percent. The immunization rate of adolescents 13 to 15 years of age is 33 percent, compared to the state rate of 45 percent. “We’re pleased with Jasper County’s high immunization rate, but we can do better for promoting healthy children within the specific age groupings and re-

porting when immunizations are given,” said Jasper County Public Health Director Tammy Stapp. “Vaccine-preventable diseases, once common 40 years ago, are now rare due to the development of new vaccines and achievement of high immunization rates. Even with our high immunization rate, we must remain diligent in our efforts to promote vaccines by providing sound science based-education.” Local public health agencies perform annual audits of immunization records for children in licensed child care centers, and kindergarten through 12th grade students enrolled in public, private and parochial schools. IMMUNIZATION | 3A

owner of the August Bergman house, Lila Arrowood, saved a historic house that had a very uncertain future.

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Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com

Teachers union contracts up for board approval By Jason W. Brooks Newton Daily News There are only a handful of annual items on the agenda for Monday’s Newton Community School District board of education meeting. At the meeting, set for 6:30 p.m. in the Emerson Hough building’s conference room, the board’s main items concern the next two-year cycle of contracts with the Newton Community Education Association. Many Newton teachers are members of that association, and three-year contracts between the district and the union, created in 2012, are about to end. The board, along with Superintendent

Jason W. Brooks/Daily News Newton Community School District board of education members Nat Clark, left, and Bill Perrenoud look over their notes at a recent meeting. The board is set to meet Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the Emerson Hough conference room, and it is set to vote on contracts with the Newton Community Education Association.

Bob Callaghan, has been negotiating the next set of contracts with the NCEA in closed sessions, per state law. The district’s final labor costs

for fiscal 2016, which begins July 1, 2015, will be affected by the final salary and benefits packages in its contracts with NCEA.

When Callaghan announced staffing reductions and 2015-16 school year assignments SCHOOL | 3A

FEATURE

WHERE IT’S AT Astrograph......................5B Calendar..........................5A Classifieds......................4B

The public is invited to a community open house for the Downtown Historic Preservation Design Guidelines and Streetscape Master Plan from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers at city hall. The Newton Historic Preservation Commission and Newton Main Street are partnering to promote and come up with a plan for the downtown district. “If you have ideas for the Newton downtown, that would be the time to come and share those thoughts and ideas with the rest of the community,” Director of Planning and Zoning Erin Chambers said. A short presentation will begin at 6:20 p.m. with live polling taking place at that time as well. The display will also be present June 13 at the celebration of Newton’s historic downtown being listing on the National Register of Historic Places taking place at the Jasper County Courthouse. The Historic Preservation Commission works to promote the educational, cultural, economic and general welfare of the public through the recognition, enhancement and potential perpetuation of sites and districts of historical and cultural significance. Newton Main Street was developed with the goal economic development within the context of historic preservation. It’s design goal is to utilize appropriate design concepts so the visual quality of the commercial district (buildings, signs, window displays, landscaping and environment) is enhanced.

Comics & Puzzles...........6A Dear Abby........................6A Local News......................2A

Obituaries.......................5A Opinion............................4A State News......................7A

Standing desks for students

Class takes initiative to improve learning / 2A

Volume No. 114 No. 13 2 sections 22 pages

Thank you Darin Swarts of Kellogg for subscribing to the Newton Daily News. To subscribe, call 641-792-5320 or visit newtondailynews.com.


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