Newton
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Tuesday, July 1, 2014 OBITUARIES
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Newton, Iowa
Storm tears through Newton
Ernest Franklin Bell, 75 INSIDE TODAY
Local
Ladies Night Out at Hy-Vee Page 2A
Zach Johnson/Daily News Monday’s storm took down limbs and trees all around Newton. Clockwise from above is storm damage at East Fourth Street North, 126 E. Fifth St. S., 200 block of West Fourth Street South near Hunter Mansion, South 11th Avenue West at Maytag Park and South Eighth Avenue East. Newton Fire Chief Jarrod Wellik said his department took 12 to 14 calls Monday, but there were no serious injuries or damage reported.
80 mph winds take down trees; no injuries reported
Sports
By Ty Rushing Daily News Senior Staff Writer
50 laps added to Indy race at Iowa Speedway Page 7A
Agriculture
USDA approves pig virus vaccine Page 12A
Weather
Wednesday
High 67 Low 53
Thursday
High 74 Low 56 Weather Almanac
Monday, July 1 High 82 Low 63 1.45 inch of rain
Storm damage is present all over Newton, particularly in the southern portions of the city, as everything from flash flood warnings to tornado watches, fires and thunderstorms were reported Monday Reports indicated wind gusts as high as 80 mph struck Newton. The storm began around 1 p.m., and, according to the National Weather Service on Monday, Jasper County was under tornado watch until 6 p.m. and a flash flood warning until 9 p.m. Newton Fire Chief Jarrod Wellik said his department took around 12 to 14 calls Monday and that it had been a couple of years since they dealt with so much activity during a storm event. Wellik said he feels his firefighters responded well to the situation. “They did a good job. They were able to manage. Fortunately, most of the calls were just down power lines and so on. It was just more of protective measures. That was good, in the fact that we didn’t have any major fires or anything during that time,” Wellik said. One of the earliest reported fires took place
Ben Schuff/Daily News
in the 100 block of East 19th Street South, when a downed power line struck a tree. Newton police officers and firefighters blocked off portions of the block until crews from Alliant Energy could resolve the issue with the line. Another incident took place on South Eighth Avenue East near Newton Senior High School, where a large tree fell and took down a power line, causing portions of that area to lose power. STORM See Page 5A
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Thomas charged with burglary, 15 counts of forgery
Police Page 3A
By Daily News Staff
Our 113th Year No. 31
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A Newton man has been charged with third-degree burglary and 15 counts of forgery for allegedly stealing and writing checks totaling more than $1,600 on his mother’s bank account. Cody D. Thomas, 44, is
scheduled to appear in court at 9 a.m. Wednesday on the Class D felony charges. He was arrested Thursday following an investigation by authorities into a complaint received from his mother June 7. At that time, she told police her bank, Advantage Credit Union, had contacted her about numerous checks be-
ing written on her account. She checked her storage unit and determined it had been broken into with the previous month and her checks had been stolen. She also told police she recognized the handwriting on the checks as her son’s. Thomas voluntarily came to the police department on June
12 for an interview and openly admitted to breaking into his mother’s storage shed using a crow bar and stealing a book of her checks, according to court documents. He also admitted to writing several checks THOMAS See Page 5A