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Wednesday, July 16, 2014
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Newton, Iowa
Poker run for breast cancer set for Saturday
Check out today’s Advertiser for a preview of the Jasper County Fair! INSIDE TODAY
Special to the Daily News
Local News MAT members show off skills Page 2A
Ty Rushing/Daily News Newton Community School District Superintendent Bob Callaghan points to where the new AT&T cell phone tower will be built just southeast of Newton Senior High School. School Board president Andy Elbert and board vice-president Sheri Benson also are pictured.
Sports
Cards claim victory on senior night Page 7A
District, AT&T come to cell phone tower agreement after three years By Ty Rushing Daily News Senior Staff Writer
Religion
Jehovah’s Witnesses remodel Page 12A
Weather
Thursday
High 76 Low 57
“Did you bring the champagne (now) that we finally sealed the deal?” No one could blame Newton Community School District Board of Education member Donna Cook for wanting to celebrate after the board finally approved a lease agreement with AT&T to build a cell phone tower on district land. The district and AT&T had engaged in negotiations off and on for the past three years on the issue before Monday’s vote made the deal official. Superintendent Bob Callaghan was an integral part of negotiating with AT&T representative Steve Ward to get the contract approved. In February, the board voted to end
talks between the district and the company after having to cancel a final vote on the tower in back to back meetings. Then in April, Callaghan said Ward apologized for the way past negotiations went and asked him to approach the board about reopening talks. At the April 28 meeting, the board agreed to renew talks with the company. Terms of the lease dictate: AT&T would rent 2,800 square feet from the district; the district has the right to approve construction drawings before any work takes place; the lease is for five years with four five-year renewals and an option to terminate after nine years; the district will get $1,000 a month, a 3-percent annual increase in that amount; and AT&T will pay up to
$7,000 in legal fees. One issue that held up the last round of negotiations was subletting space on the tower. If AT&T allowed another carrier space on the tower, the district would receive $400 or 25 percent of that amount, whichever is greater. An AT&T representative said the tower could hold four or five other companies. “We feel that Mr. Ward has gone above and beyond after we had our initial issues,” Callaghan said. The tower would be located just southeast of Newton Senior High School. It would be enclosed by a fence, have 24 hour monitoring and once construction begins, it could be completed in 45 to 60 days according to Ward. BOARD See Page 5A
The first annual Friends of Mine “Ride 4 Time” Poker Run, which will benefit women who cannot afford mammograms, is set for Saturday. While undergoing treatments for breast cancer in 2012 and 2013, Newton resident Kari Tiffany became aware of a program offered by Skiff Medical Center and the Marshalltown Medical and Surgical Center that assists women who cannot afford mammograms. She inspired a group of close friends to support the program with a poker run for breast cancer. Cadillac Jack’s in Baxter has donated the use of its patio for the festivities following the ride, and a barbecue with all the fixins’ (donations accepted) is planned. Several local businesses also have donated prizes and items for a raffle, and the cost of the event is $10 per person or $15 per couple. Fifty percent of the proceeds will benefit the cause, and the other 50 percent will be awarded to the winner of the Poker Run. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. at Cadillac Jack’s in Baxter. The poker run begins at 12:30 p.m. and will include stops at Haverhill Social Club in Haverhill, Laurels Pour Bar in Laurel, The Road Hog in State Center, Uncle Bucks & Boyd in Rhodes and then back to Cadillac Jack’s in Baxter, where the Charley Horse Band will be rocking the house starting at 6 p.m. Winners of the poker run will be announced, and raffle gifts will be distributed throughout the evening. The event will be held rain or shine, and all are invited, even if they don’t ride, to attend the after party at Cadillac Jack’s and support the cause. For more information, visit the Facebook “Ride 4 Time” page or call Sharon Mabie at (641) 275-0576. To donate directly to the hospitals, or to the MMSC Foundation Prevent Program, contact Penny Stewart at Skiff Medical Center at (641) 792-4043 or Valerie Ruff at the Marshalltown hospital at (641) 754-5005. T-shirts will be available the day of the ride for $15 each or by calling Renae Mabie at (515) 473-4366 or by visiting Facebook.
Friday
High 78 Low 60
Lightning strike at law enforcement center was a direct hit
Weather Almanac
By Ty Rushing Daily News Senior Staff Writer
Tues., July 15
Jasper County Sheriff John Halferty said a private consulting firm confirmed the lightning strike that hit the Jasper County Law Enforcement Center a few weeks ago was a direct hit. “It actually burned one of the ground lugs off of one of the tower legs. Obviously, we are still finding some things. Up to several months out, you can have something working right after the strike and then three to six months out, you can have a failure,” Halferty said. Halferty’s comments came during Tuesday’s meeting of the Jasper County Board of Supervisors. He told the board they were working on getting everything back in order and were currently taking bids on the matter. His biggest concern from the strike damage was the center’s “datalink” located on the emergency operations side of the facility. “That datalink runs our video court, so that for security reasons we don’t have to take inmates to the courthouse for initials. The judge can do it over the TV basically,” he said. “It is also our link to allow us to talk and communicate with Skiff hospital. It is also a link for the
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Newton Public Safety building … where we can send information to the police department and fire department.” Halferty estimated repairing the datalink could be $30,000 to $40,000. He said insurance will cover the damages, but they may need to borrow funds from the county to pay for repairs until that money flows in unless they can make a deal with the companies making repairs. He also indicated there is no estimate yet on the total cost of repairing everything, and he previously estimated it could be in the $100,000 range. The tower the lightning struck is 96 feet tall, and Halferty said this incident also slowed the virtualization project his office was undergoing with Jasper County’s IT Department. In addition to updating the board on that matter, Halferty received approval for a number of others items: • His 2013-2014 fiscal year report was approved. Halferty’s office had $725,988.02 in receipts and $729,143.94 in disbursements. • In his more recent quarterly report, his office had $191,668.20 in receipts and $193,379.53 in disbursements. • The amended version of the previous quarterly report was
Submitted Photo The Jasper County Law Enforcement Center suffered damage in a number of areas after a lightning strike a few weeks ago. The county’s IT department capture this photo of the damage that a circuit board took from the strike.
approved and showed the office taking in $159,101.77 and disbursing $146,635.27. This was a $400 difference due to an accounting error from the previously approved version. • Vance Weltha and Amy Baldus were approved as reserve deputies. • Ryan Engle was previously approved by the board to start work as sheriff ’s deputy on July 6, and the board officially appointed him at Tuesday’s meeting. In other business: • Jasper County Recorder Nancy Parrott office’s June report was approved. According
to the report, her office collected $19,883.49 for the month. She said her office had a 25 percent increase in collections for the month with most of it relating to real estate. • Larry Ryan of the Jasper County Planning and Zoning office said his office has seen a number of increased inspections which helped contribute to the higher real estate figure. The county will purchase a final pass compactor, a tool in road maintenance and construction, from Parkman, Wyo.based Bulldogger Services Inc. for $27,900.