NDN-11-27-2015

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NEWTON

WINTER OUTLOOK

Local athletes gear up for winter sports / 1B

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FRIDAY, NOV. 27, 2015 • WHERE TO GO WHEN YOU NEED TO KNOW

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Ted Cruz at Pizza Ranch on Sunday

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City continues focus on high quality of life By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News

Newton Daily News Texas senator and Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz has several Iowa townhall type events planned for this weekend in central I ow a , includCruz ing one scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Pizza Ranch in Newton. The meet-and-greet event will be followed by a trip to Tama for a similar event later Sunday afternoon. The senator also has a full schedule of events both Saturday and Monday in Iowa. This will be Cruz’s first formal campaign visit to Jasper County this year. He will be the second candidate to hold an event at Newton’s Pizza Ranch location, the other being Arkansas’ Mike Huckabee in July.

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their local library. “I don’t really see books going away,” Padilla said. “There are some who are reluctant to pick up digital things. But there are still people of all ages who say ‘I prefer a book.’” Padilla served as a director in St. John, Kan., for 13 years before coming to Newton to direct NPL in 2001. Anyone who has worked in libraries during

The city’s progress in the area of providing a high quality of life was presented to the city council in the third monthly update on the 2015-2017 strategic action plan. Providing a high quality of life is one of four essential purposes the city identified as a part of the action plan that serves as a detailed guide of what city staff are working Umstead on to further the city’s goals. “The city’s purpose is to continue to build upon the high quality of life in Newton by focusing on growing community livability, cultural and historical resources, recreational amenities and community aesthetics, in order to benefit households and draw young families to choose Newton as their home,” management analyst Natalie Umsted said. “It’s a pretty broad purpose, and you can argue that essentially anything the city is doing is working toward that purpose.” Within the overall purpose, the city has three goals to focus work. First, improving neighborhood quality is hoped to be accomplished through continued nuisance enforcement, residential neighborhood

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Jason W. Brooks/Daily News Sue Padilla is retiring after a 27-year career as a library director. The last 14 of those years have been as the director of the Newton Public Library, which will soon be run by Nicole Lindstrom.

Padilla to retire from NPL after 27 years with libraries NPL director since 2001 saw major technology leaps and bounds By Jason W. Brooks Newton Daily News Sue Padilla likes to refer to library patrons as “readers.” While there have been plenty of technology changes in libraries in Padilla’s 27-year career, the director of the Newton Public Li-

brary, said one thing that hasn’t changed is readers’ desire to find books. As she approaches retirement and prepares to hand the reins over to the new director, Nicole Lindstrom, in January, Padilla took a few moments to reflect on the nature of readers in the Newton area and their expectations of

Reservist hopes to get family-friendly veterans events going By Jason W. Brooks Newton Daily News It might seem like there are already dozens of established veterans organizations around — however, there are still many veterans causes and needs that aren’t fully met. One of those needs — at least in Jasper County — seems to be for an organization for younger veterans that holds family-friendly events. Jenna Hancock is hoping to get that kind of group going and to keep it active. The Newton-area resident and U.S. Army Reservist has started an organization called Jasper County Veterans, which isn’t affiliated with any established national entity. While well-established national and local veterans organizations do their best to include families and children, there are a few factors that make it tough for active-duty military, veterans and

Jason W. Brooks/Daily News Jenna Hancock, right, carries a flag in a recent veterans march, with her 6-year-old son, Hayden Tarpein, to her right. Hancock has started a new informal organization called Jasper County Veterans that will hold family- and veteran-friendly events and participate in charity projects.

their families to attend events. “A lot of organizations don’t gear themselves toward younger veterans,” Hancock said. “There is the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of

America, which tends to be younger veterans, but there isn’t an organization here for younger vets with children.” Hancock, whose maiden name is Barge, is a reservist with the

Army’s 348th Military Police Company, which is based in Ames. Her husband, Alfred Hancock, is currently deployed in Guatanamo Bay, Cuba, with his Army unit — the 377th

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participate in just about everything that I can.” There are also other special events where either alcohol is served, or the topic or nature of an event is either meant for adults or simply wouldn’t interest children. Hancock has a son, Hayden Tarpein, who is 6 years old. She wants to take him to more events, such as a ruck march she organized and held on Nov. 14. That event drew about 30 people, including some children close to Hayden’s age, and Hancock thanked members of American Legion Post 111 who helped execute that march. The 27-year-old reservist doesn’t intend to compete with any organization in any way. On the contrary, she plans to compliment groups such as the Legion and VFW Post 1655 in as many ways as possible, VETS | 3A

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WHERE IT’S AT Astrograph......................5B Calendar..........................5A Classifieds......................4B

Military Police Company, based in Ohio. She also has a history of military service in her family. Her brother, Jerrad, served in the Navy; her father, Murray Barge, served in the Air Force; her stepfather, Brian Kleckner, served in the National Guard, and her grandfather, Frank Dostal, served for 23 years in the Navy. Hancock said she appreciates the hard work and careful planning that has taken place for many decades with some veterans groups, and credits each one for finding a role and helping meet veterans’ needs. However, some factors make it tough to include younger vets who have young kids. “Many events tend to be held in bars, where people younger than 21 can’t attend, or need to leave at a certain hour,” she said. “It’s not any organization’s fault; it’s the law. They can’t really work around it. I go and

Comics & Puzzles...........6A Dear Abby........................6A Local News......................2A

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I-PLEDGE program at NHS

Keep alcohol, nicotine away from minors / 2A

Volume No. 114 No. 137 2 sections 22 pages

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