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Monday, Sept. 8, 2014
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Newton, Iowa
Sheriff’s office looking to upgrade 911 system
Missing
By Ty Rushing Daily News Senior Staff Writer
MONARCHS
Abigail Pelzer/Daily News Isaiah Conner, 2, of Clive, sits atop his father’s shoulders as their family searched for monarch butterflies during a tagging event Saturday at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge.
Decline in butterfly species evident at local tagging event By Abigail Pelzer Daily Daily News Editor
Contact Senior Staff Writer Ty Rushing at (641) 7923121 ext. 6532 or at trushing@newtondailynews.com.
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RAIRIE CITY — Amid a push to grant the monarch butterfly endangered species protection, the rapid decline of the monarch population was evident at a tagging event Saturday at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge. Despite nearly 100 volunteers readied with butterfly nets who trudged through the prairie for more than an hour, just nine monarchs were tagged. The monarch species, which experienced a population drop of more than 90 percent over the past two decades, will soon make a 3,000-mile trek south to Mexico during its annual fall migration. Brianna Patrick, a park ranger at the ref-
The emergency response services at the Jasper County Law Enforcement Center could soon undergo a significant upgrade. At Tuesday’s meeting of the Jasper County Board of Supervisors, representatives from CenturyLink will present a resolution on upgrading the Jasper County Sheriff ’s Office to the Viper P911 system. According to the system’s developers, Viper makes handling emergency calls easier, is more efficient, automatically distributes calls to the correct department and has remote deployment capabilities. The contract is for $115,819.25, with close to $76,000 going toward the product itself and remainder toward installation. If it is approved, the county would have to put $23,163.85 down at signing, $57,909.62 upon delivery and $34,745.77 on the date of acceptance. In other business, the Secondary Roads Department is looking to acquire a motorgrader, which is a piece of construction equipment used in the construction and maintenance of dirt and gravel roads. Secondary Roads received three bids on the project. Des Moines-based Murphy Tractor & Equipment Company offered the lowest bid at $203,904, however, Altoonabased Ziegler Cat presented two higher bids, but they both have higher buy back clauses.
Ike’s Family Fun
Abigail Pelzer/Daily News Tenlea Turner, an intern at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City, reaches for one of two monarchs captured in her group during a tagging event Saturday.
uge, said the numbers were disappointing. “Just three years ago we were tagging more than 100 monarchs during this event,” Patrick said. “Last year we had 14, this year we had nine.”
In response to the monarch decline the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge is adding milkweed seed into its mixes to encourage the habitat on the federally protected land. “They have to have
milkweed to live,” Patrick said. “That’s where they live, that’s where they lay their eggs and that’s what their caterpillar’s eat.” MONARCHS See Page 5A
Kate Malott/Daily News Ashley Selders, of Newton, plays a ring toss game for a chance at a two-liter bottle of pop Saturday afternoon at the Ike’s Family Fun Day. Free games were played at the Izaak Walton League throughout the day.
New look, better drainage for curb south of Skiff By Jamee A. Pierson Daily News Staff Writer
Jamee A. Pierson/Daily News On North Fourth Avenue East from First Street to East Fourth Street, crews have been working to correct the street and update the curb for better drainage.
For nearly a month crews have been working on reshaping the street as well as making the curbs more aesthetically pleasing on North Fourth Avenue East from First Street to East Fourth Street. When complete, the south curb line will match the north curb line and rain water will flow more directly to
the storm drains, instead of pooling. “To correct the drainage problem, we’re crowning the street and the south curb line is moving north about six feet and that will allow for a grass strip between the curb and the sidewalk,” said Keith Laube, Public Works director. The street was in a “W” shape and has parallel parking along both the north
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Book Trader/Tan America owner Cheryl Hansen is celebrating 15 years at the store, but she said not a lot has changed, even given the economic and social changes of the world. | 8A
Yesterday
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ROADWORK See Page 5A
Book Trader/Tan America celebrating 15 years
Today
Local News • 2A Obituaries • 3A
and south sides of the street. When it rained, people that were parking there would often times have to step in large pools of water when exiting their car. “(The city is ) reshaping it so the water drains from the center of the street to the curb. We did a little bit with the linement so the water drains to the storm
Police Blotter • 3A Opinion • 4A
Comics & Puzzles • 6A Dear Abby • 6A
Astrograph • 5B Classifieds • 4B
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Volume No. 113 No. 78 2 sections, 14 pages