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Man accused of sex abuse found guilty of assault By Abigail Pelzer Newton Daily News A Newton man accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl has been found guilty of assault and sentenced to 15 days in jail. Drew M. OrnOrndorff dorff, 21, was charged in October with third-degree sexual abuse, a Class C felony, for allegedly performing sex acts on the teenager
against her will following an investigation by the Newton Police Department. The victim, who lived at the same residence as Orndorff during the alleged abuse, told police she was sexually abused from May 2011 through February 2013. Witnesses said Orndorff was obsessed with the victim and was seen leaving her bedroom on at least two occasions after she had gone to bed, according to court documents. Text messages and a written letter indicate SENTENCING | 3A
Following scam, man wanted on 17 warrants arrested in Newton By Abigail Pelzer Newton Daily News A man wanted on 17 warrants for scamming homeowners on construction w o r k j o b s was arrested in Ne w t o n Tuesday morning. E d w a r d A r m - Armstrong strong, 54, of Granger, Ind., was picked up after a local resident advised the Jasper County Sheriff ’s Office about a possible scam. Armstrong allegedly identified himself to the local resident as Ed Cross, of Cross Con-
struction, and gave a bid for a pole type building. The homeowner became suspicious when the bid came in very low, but a $7,000 same-day deposit was required. The homeowner called around and found Ed Cross was renting equipment from a local business in Newton with the name of Ed Armstrong. With the Internet, the homeowner was able to locate a nationwide warrant for his arrest and called the sheriff ’s office. Armstrong was wanted for 17 total warrants, nine of which were nationwide. Warrants were found from Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Oklahoma and Ohio. ARREST | 3A
Jamee A. Pierson/Daily News North Fourth Avenue East was a large streetscape project the Public Works Department completed over the last few months to help with water drainage and snow removal.
Public Works Director highlights recent road work By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News Work accomplished by the Public Works Department in the past year and plans for future projects was presented to city council by Public Works Director Keith Laube Monday’s meeting. To begin, Laube stated the goal of the department which Laube is to maintain, improve and replace where necessary, city streets, sidewalks and infrastructure. “One of the key projects we did this summer was our Maytag
Park playground,” Laube said. The project, which he said was outstanding, had an overflow of volunteers to complete the playground ahead of schedule. It is the largest playground in the park system and was completed in July, giving ample time for children to play before the season ended. The playground project cost $92,000. Another area the department worked on was sidewalk connectivity and American with Disapbilties Act accessibility projects. At the Newton Dog Park, a paved handicap parking stall was added as well as a sidewalk to the park exercise area. A paved handicap space and an extended sidewalk were added by the soccer fields at Agnes Patterson Park. “We have a lot of fans that try
to watch their children, grandchildren play and they could get almost to the fields and never all the way without additional assistance,” Laube said. Additional sidewalks were added at East 23rd Street North and South 12th Avenue South where there had been none. ADA accessibility projects included adding 16 curb ramps to intersection corners at a cost of $95,000 for those projects. Several street projects were completed throughout the year. An overlay on North Second Avenue West gave the round in front of DMACC a much needed upgrade at a cost of $160,000. One of the most visible projects was the remodel of North Fourth ROAD WORK | 3A
Service Coordinator position approved for mental health region By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News
Jamee A. Pierson/Daily News A part-time service coordinator position was requested by Dennis Simon, pictured, and approved by the Jasper County Board of Supervisors at its Tuesday meeting.
The Jasper County Supervisors approved the creation of a permanent position for a part-time service coordinator for the mental health region on Tuesday. Following the presentation by Dennis Simon, with human resources, a hiring resolution will establish rate of pay for the position at a later meeting. “We used to have an admin position for a social worker and we did
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increase, it could turn into a full-time position. Unlike the previous administrative position, the new service coordinator will not be a director and will be supervised by Eaton and the service coordinator director. In other business, the board approved Mike Balmer to sit on the Jasper County Board of Health after he was appointed to the position at the Nov. 10 meeting. Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com.
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not replace that when she left,” Jody Eaton, community services director, said. “We have been borrowing staff from other counties and when the administrative team met a couple months ago, we discussed the staffing levels and everyone agreed that we would like to, at this point, hire an additional staff person in Jasper County.” The position has been approved by the region and will be funded by the mental health fund. At this time it is a part-time position but as case-loads
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ARK gives back in big ways
Acts of Random Kindness of The Way to host free winter pajamas, clothes give away / 2A
Volume No. 113 No. 130 2 sections 14 pages
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