Newton
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Daily News
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
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Newton, Iowa
School board proud of district-wide focused learning on Veterans Day
OBITUARIES Mannie R. Hennon, 79 Marge VanStock, 84 INSIDE TODAY
By Zach Johnson Daily News Staff Writer
Local
Board donates to food pantry Page 2A
Above and Below: Zach Johnson/Daily News. Bottom: Bob Eschliman/Daily News Above: Thomas Jefferson students celebrated Veterans Day during a ceremony open to the public Monday. Students sang patriotic songs honoring the men and women from all branches of the armed services. Below: Two Newton veterans stand during the gun salute held during the Post 1655 Veterans of Foreign War celebration. Bottom: Doug Bishop and retired Army command sergeant major Gary Barrett spoke during a Veterans Day ceremony at DMACC.
Community celebrates its troops on Veterans Day
Community
Five generations gather for photo
By Zach Johnson Daily News Staff Writer
Page 5A
Sports
Hurt starts for NW Red Raiders Page 7A
Weather
Wednesday
High 46 Low 28
Thursday
High 47 Low 29 Weather Almanac
Mon., Nov. 11 High 42 Low 10 Trace of snow Also: Astrograph Page 5B Classifieds Page 4B Comics & Puzzles Page 6A Dear Abby Page 6A Opinion Page 4A Obituaries Page 3A Police Page 3A Our 111th Year No. 1??
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On a brisk and cold Veterans Day, students at Thomas Jefferson Elementary and Des Moines Area Community College-Newton, as well as Newton’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1655 held commemorative events. At their event, Thomas Jefferson students performed a number of songs for the veterans of the community and their relatives who were in attendance. They also assembled a wall as a background for their assembly, which honored 65 veterans who were related to the students. A number of veterans were invited to take part in the ceremony by Julie Francisco, who coordinated the assembly. She said the students had been practicing the songs for weeks at morning announcements. “I was very impressed with how the assembly went and with the response from relatives, but as well as our community veterans,” she said. The VFW held its own celebration that included a presentation of colors and the laying of commemorative wreaths in honor of the veterans. U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack was the keynote speaker at the event. The congressman, who has not personally served, gave a heartfelt speech about why veterans affairs are still a personal matter to him. He is the brother and father of veterans. Loebsack’s brother served in Vietnam, and he has children who are currently serving. The theme of his speech was about doing more for our troops outside of Veterans Day. He urged the crowd to put pressure on not only him, but other politicians as well. He spoke of his journey with veterans and how he has always felt humbled by the response of veterans. The event closed with an outdoor gun salute to the vets. In the afternoon, many of the same veterans and family members attended a VETERANS See Page 5A
The Newton Board of Education praised the school district Monday night for its second district-wide focus learning effort. Superintendent Bob Callaghan expressed his impressions of the district-wide learning and celebration of Veterans Day, which was the second part of a focused learning project for schools. The project began with honoring the victims of 9/11 and will conclude with another learning event on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. “The school district did a fantastic job with the focused learning for Veterans Day,” Superintendent Bob Callaghan said. He made a special note of the celebration at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. The school honored 65 veterans on a wall that was used as the background for the assembly. All the students joined in singing patriotic songs lead by teacher Julie Francisco. “The students have been preparing all month for this event. Since I’m not the music teacher, we practiced over the intercom,” Francisco said. Berg Middle School students wore red, white and blue to honor the veterans. The complete celebration used many forms of technology for the students to gain a better understanding to the true meaning of Veterans Day. At 11 a.m., the fifth and sixth grade students replicated the changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. The Board of Education was proud of the celebrations and the learning of the true meaning of Veterans Day.
IRS warns of scam Special to the Daily News The Internal Revenue Service is warning consumers about a sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers, including recent immigrants, throughout the country. Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and must pay it promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. If victims refuse to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. In many cases, the caller becomes hostile and insulting. “This scam has hit taxpayers in nearly every state in the country. We want to educate taxpayers so they can help protect themselves. Rest assured, we do not and will not ask for credit card numbers over the phone, nor request a pre-paid debit card or wire transfer,” said IRS Acting Commissioner Danny Werfel. “If someone unexpectedly calls claiming to be from the IRS and threatens police arrest, deportation or license revocation if you don’t pay immediately, that is a sign that it really isn’t the IRS calling.” Werfel noted that the first IRS contact with taxpayers on a tax issue is likely to occur via mail. Anyone who has been targeted by this scam should contact the Federal Trade Commission and use their “FTC Complaint Assistant” at FTC. gov. Add “IRS Telephone Scam” to the comments of the complaint. The Newton Police Department has not been made aware of anyone in Newton being targeted by the scam but wants to remind local citizens to always be suspicious of anybody who calls or texts asking for personal information. Never give credit card, bank or Social Security information over the phone unless you initiated the call in the first place. If the caller says that they are representing a local business or the IRS, as in this case, it is always best to contact that local business or the IRS to verify the validity of the request.