Newton
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Daily News
Friday, July 11, 2014
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Pilot Flying J Truck Driver Challenge
INSIDE TODAY
Newton, Iowa
vote Monday A could bring SAMs program to two Newton schools By Ty Rushing Daily News Senior Staff Writer
Local
Summer Reading Program at library Page 2A
Sports
Peters going for three-peat tonight
Zach Johnson/Daily News Before the Indy Car series race Saturday, the transport drivers of many Indy teams came to the Hawkeye Stages and Newton Convention & Visitors Bureau parking lot to compete in the Pilot Flying J Truck Challenge on Thursday afternoon. The drivers — including Wayne Selman, a transport driver for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing — had to use the skills they use everyday to compete in the challenge. They navigated between cones and even performed a tire check. Newton was the final location in the four-challenge series, with the drivers competing for a $1,000 challenge prize and a $30,000 series prize for the overall winner. Winners will be announced next week.
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No. 1 Iowa rock band set for Thunder Nite’s performance By Zach Johnson Daily News Staff Writer Tonight, Gimikk — the No. 1 rock band in the state of Iowa, according to ReverbNation — will take the stage for the July Thunder Nites. “We have been together for 10 years and have been through multiple changes in our band members,” Gimikk drummer Josh Tilton said. “So this ranking is especially special to us because it speaks to how great
Sports
Cards bow out of regional play Page 1B
Weather
and loyal our fans have been for the past 10 years.” This is the second trip to Newton for Gimikk. They played at Fred Maytag Bowl in 2007. “It was great to play at the bowl,” Gimikk Bass player James Brinker said. Weekend Pit Stop Executive Director Libbie Marshall scouts all the bands for Thunder Nites. During one of the Zoo Brew events at Blank Park Zoo, Libbie knew she wanted Gimikk for Thun-
der Nites. “These guys are amazing,” Libbie said. “I remember after introducing myself to the band, the performance kept building and I knew I wanted them to perform in Newton.” The band members all agreed they feed off of the crowd, allowing the band to build on that energy and give an intense performance. THUNDER NITES See Page 3A
Saturday
High 83 Low 64
Iowa Main Street offers retailers strategies By Zach Johnson Daily News Staff Writer
Sunday
High 85 Low 61 Weather Almanac
Thurs., July 10 High 81 Low 62 No Precipitation Also: Astrograph Page 5B Calendar Page 3A
Comics & Puzzles Page 6A
By Ty Rushing Daily News Senior Staff Writer
Dear Abby Page 6A
In 1944, it had been five years since the second World War began — three years since the U.S. joined the conflict — and Dean Ward was entering his last year at what was then just called Newton High School. Dean, like a number of his classmates, felt it was his civic duty to join America’s war effort. He said that he and four of his NHS classmates decided to try and enlist in the U.S. Navy together. “I couldn’t pass the vision test. They went and I didn’t,” Dean said. While he didn’t get to
Opinion Page 4A Obituaries Page 3A Police Page 3A Our 113th Year No. 38
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ing special events held in downtown. “Special events are amazing opportunities to let people know you’re open and what you have to offer,” Terry said. “If you’re closed, you miss out on a lot of opportunities.” “Some events are focused on just bringing people to downtown, so many participants of the event don’t have a chance to shop, but they do look around,” Terry continued. “I have found throughout many Main Street communities the biggest retail days are the morning after a special event.”
SCHOOL See Page 5A
NHS Class of ‘44 member Dean Ward reflects on military service
Classifieds Page 4B
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Iowa Main Street hosted a public meeting this week about the future of Newton Main Street promotion committee. The meeting took place at Bridgehouse Coffee Company and was well attended by local business owners and citizens of Newton. “We had 20 business owners represented during the meeting,” Newton Main Street Executive Director Andrew Bassman said. The promotion committee is responsible for plan-
ning events to increase the image of the “Main Street” district. The type of events discussed at the meeting covered retail, special and cultural events. Iowa Main Street Promotion Specialist Terry Buschkamp pointed out some of the successful events done throughout the multiple Main Street communities. “The focus should be doing what works,” Buschkamp said. “It’s better doing a few things great rather than doing a lot of things not so great.” Terry pointed out many strategies downtown retailers can implement dur-
It appears the Newton Community School District is potentially moving forward with implementing a School Administration Manager program at its two lower-elementary buildings. At Monday’s board of education meeting, the board will vote on whether or not to approve two contracts that have been extended to fill the positions. The district offered Joe Bartello the SAMs position at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School and Mike Moran Berg Elementary’s opening. Bartello is currently an instructional coach in the district and serves students at the Aurora Heights and Woodrow Wilson campuses. Moran is an English/language arts teacher at Newton Senior High School and has aided in administrative duties there in the past. During the June 23 board meeting, Superintendent Bob Callaghan expressed a number of reasons he supported this program, including the fact that this would allow the district to develop its future leaders from within. He also mentioned that by going this route, the district would experience a significant cost savings compared to last school year. If approved, the two SAMs would be in lieu of having an assistant principal at Berg and an instructional coach at each building. Callaghan estimated those three salaries last year ran around $252,000, and that two SAMs would cost between $125,000 to $140,000. The plan for the program is for the SAM to handle a majority of the noninstructional duties for Thomas Jefferson principal Lisa Sharp and Berg principal Jolene Comer. In theory, this would allow them to focus more on the academic aspect of their jobs. According to the district’s job posting of the two SAM positions, the SAMs would manage activities, coordinate building facilities and transportation needs, handle minor disciplinary measures and handle non-instructional student supervision. Also at the June 23 meeting, NCSD Associate Director of Elementary Services Jim Gilbert said the district would continue to use the instructional coach model at its upper-elementary level buildings. He added that at the end of the school year, they would compare the data from both methods to gauge the effectiveness of each. School security was a dominant topic of the last board meeting as well in light of the recent incidents involving David LaVera, who was present
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serve with his classmates, Dean was undeterred by this and eventually found another way to serve his county with military service. WARD See Page 5A
Ty Rushing/Daily News Dean Ward, 88, has kept detailed records on his military service — his first stint began in World War II and his second was at the beginning of the Korean Conflict. He has maps of places he’s visited, his personnel record, multiple souvenirs and a vivid memory of even the smallest moments.