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Cash mob to occur Tuesday in Newton By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News Grab a $20 bill and head downtown Tuesday for the inaugural downtown cash mob. Newton Main Street’s promotions committee is organizing the event that will hopefully give a boost to one lucky downtown business by bringing an influx of sales over the lunch hour. The cash mob consists of a group pledging to each spend $20 at a specific time and place. Those who would like to participate are asked to meet at noon in front of the Chamber of Commerce, 133 First Ave. W. At 12:15 p.m., the promotions committee will draw the name of a district retailer and the group will go to that retailer and spend their $20. “The mob should bring a nice boost in sales for a Tuesday afternoon,” Main Street board member Leisa Zylstra said. “But we also wanted to show our support for district businesses and use this to remind the community to look local first before the start of the holiday shopping season.” CASH MOB | 3A
Jason W. Brooks/Daily News Newton Correctional Facility Warden Terry Mapes said Thursday the facility’s medium-security will soon take over a sex-offender treatment program that has been at a Mount Pleasant facility for many years. He said there will be a minimal effect on the number of employees at the facility, other than a few new specialized counseling positions, and the number of offenders housed at Newton will remain about the same.
Sex-offender program to be added at Newton prison Presence will not impact public safety or numbers, warden says By Jason W. Brooks Newton Daily News
File Photo Amanda Coffelt, of Newton, window shops at Aleya Salon on the north side of the Newton downtown square. A cash mob will occur at noon Tuesday downtown to support small businesses.
A sex-offender program addition to the Newton Correctional Facility won’t impact either public safety or the number of inmates or staff at any Iowa facility, officials say. About 200 inmates are scheduled to be slowly moved from a Mount Pleasant medium-security correctional facility the Newton’s medium-security equivalent over the next eight to 10 months. Newton has been selected as the new home for a specialized sex-offender treatment program, as Newton’s building design and cell configurations make it a more suitable facility for the program. Warden Terry Mapes said Thursday he sees the move as a positive step for his facility. “This is an opportunity to show how we can serve the (Iowa) Department (of Correc-
tions),” Mapes said. “It’s not going to happen overnight, but it will benefit everyone involved.” Mapes and Department of Corrections Assistant Director Fred Scaletta both told the Newton Daily News there is no change to the impact on public safety, as Newton and other medium-security facilities have housed sex offenders for many years. Offender locations are based on many factors, Scaletta said. The only change, according to Mapes, will be having more sex offenders among his 1,300 inmates than his facility has now, and the personnel who deal with that population. Mapes said he has some vacant positions among his specially trained counseling staff, and positions could be added to his staff as the treatment program is moved. Scaletta said the move should have virtually no impact on the number of employees at both
Bond plans to be discussed Monday Designs will also be presented Oct. 29 By Jason W. Brooks Newton Daily News A pair of upcoming public meetings should help determine many details regarding the planning of the new Berg Complex. Monday, the Newton Community School District board of education is scheduled to hold a special general-purpose board work session to discuss a number of topics, including the ongoing preparations for a Feb. 2 bond election. The bond will help pay for a reconstruction of the Berg Complex, which is being re-designed with the help of an advisory committee. The work session is set for 6:30 p.m. Monday in the Emerson Hough conference room. The public can attend, but cannot pro-
Jason W. Brooks/Daily News About 30 people who are serving on the Berg School Complex bond advisory committee met Tuesday with Dave Briden, standing, of the Des Moines-area design firm Frevert, Ramsey and Kobes.
vide input, and the board will not take any action at the meeting. One of the items on Monday’s agenda is a presentation on public Relation issues related to bond
referendum elections from Leigh McGivern, the owner of Basicleigh Communications. NCSD | 3A
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Council to consider Iowa Speedway agreement By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News A public hearing for changes to the development agreement between the City of Newton and the Iowa Speedway will be held at the Monday meeting. The original development agreement was amended in 2013 to facilitate the sale of the property to NASCAR and the proposed changes are on the agenda due to changes with valuations and taxes. The original amendment change in 2013
lowered the minimum assessed valuation from $40 million to $20 million, and added in a $4 ticket surcharge to replace the lost tax revenue. One element of the new amendment would be to grant one year of property tax rebates. When the 2013 agreement was approved, it was thought that lowering the minimum assessed valuation would allow the 2014 valuation to be lowered to the low $20 million range. That COUNCIL | 3A
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the Newton and Mount Pleasant facilities. There are no plans to move, for example, large numbers of corrections officers or any other staff. “If we end up eliminating any staff positions at Mount Pleasant, those employees would certainly be accommodated if they wanted to go to any of our other facilities,” Scaletta said. Scaletta said the Mount Pleasant facility, which is far less secure than Newton’s medium-security site, will be converted into an all-minimum-security facility. Its residents won’t necessarily come from Newton, he said, but adjustments will be made to keep all facility numbers close to current levels. Mapes said his medium-security facility has one-, twoand three-person cells. It’s a multi-level facility, he said, but there is much less need to go up or down stairs than there is at Mount Pleasant, which was built as a psychiatric hospital. “Our cell environment is better suited for offenders who have limited mobility,” Mapes
Comics & Puzzles...........6A Dear Abby........................6A Local News......................2A
Obituaries.......................5A Opinion............................4A State News......................7A
Berg anti-bullying campaign
Middle school students address issue / 2A
Volume No. 114 No. 108 2 sections 16 pages
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