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Iowa’s senator-elect Ernst ready to get to work The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The campaign may be over, but Senator-elect J o n i Ernst said she is just getting started. T h e recentl y elected Republican was Ernst out in Washington this week. She’s meeting her future colleagues, hiring staffers and seeking advice from longtime Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley. She’s also planning to visit every county in Iowa next year. “There are people that will believe anything they see on television or they read in the paper and they won’t do a fact check, so I think it’s important that I get out and meet with as many people across Iowa as possible and let them know we’re not going to agree on every issue, but I do care what their thoughts are,” Ernst said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press, referring to Democratic efforts to paint her policies as too conservative for the politically moderate state. Ernst, 44, scored a decisive victory in November, helping the GOP take control of
the Senate. She started the race as a relatively unknown state senator but soared to national stardom, promoting her farm upbringing and role as a lieutenant colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard. Looking ahead, Ernst said she hopes to serve on either the armed services or agriculture committees. She plans to focus on issues she addressed during the campaign, like changes to the tax code. She also said she wants to work on preventing sexual assault in the military but wasn’t sure if legislation was needed. “If we can get a control or get this under control without legislation, I think that’s better,” Ernst said, referring to recent changes made in the military to try to curb sexual assaults. Ernst said she did not support legislation from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, which would overhaul the military justice system, saying it would have an effect on how the military deals with other unrelated crimes. Gillibrand is seeking a vote on that bill before the end of the year. Even though Ernst is a freshman, she does enjoy some special attention as a senator from the early voting state of Iowa.
Jamee A. Pierson/Daily News A volunteer board will take its case to save the August Bergman House to the Newton City Council Monday asking for a temporary investment to help with vital repairs.
Community rallies to ‘Save the Bergman’ August Bergman House looking for investment from city council By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News A volunteer board has been established to help save the August Bergman House and will be presenting its case to the Newton City Council at its Monday meeting. The house, 629 First Ave. E., has been through several owners in recent years. Currently owned by NYA Partners after its purchase in Dec. 2013, it has begun to fall into disrepair. The board will be asking the council to make a temporary investment in the building to help
prevent it from deteriorating beyond repair or potentially being scrapped out and leveled. “What we are hoping for is they will purchase the building and hold it for short term,” said Ken Barthelman, a member of the board. He said there is a leak in the roof along with additional expensive repairs, which led the past owners to sell. The upkeep became too much to handle and they were not able to repair the problems. The board has already taken action to save the house by providing heat to the property to re-
City council to consider zoning change By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News The Newton City Council on Monday will consider a recommendation from the planning and zoning commission to allow an indoor family fun center to open in a light industrial district in Newton. I Believe, Inc. is working to establish a family fun center in Newton, however, zoning regulations require the city to approve the business as a permitted use within the industrial district. The family fun center could include batting cages, bouncing houses and party areas. Currently, I Believe, Inc. is looking at property located at 1503 N. 13th Ave. E., formerly the Marsh building. If the language is changed, it will apply to all properties in the light industrial district, not just the
Jamee A. Pierson/Daily News After interest from I Believe, Inc., the planning and zoning commission brought a change in zoning to the city council to allow an indoor family fun centers to reside in the light industrial district in Newton.
property I Believe is interested in. In other business, several members of the community are up for appointment to various boards and commissions at the meeting. Jack Topp will be appointed to the Building Trades Board, Beverly
L. Rossow to the Zoning Board of Adjustment and Jeremy Berndt and Joshua Cantu to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Each of these appointments would end Dec. 31, 2017. A new property is up for purchase for the
D&D Program; 1008 E. Eighth St. N. is in the light industrial district and near previous properties that the program has purchased earlier this year. The purchase price for the property is $20,500. COUNCIL | 3A
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Iowa felon voting task force met once The Associated Press IOWA CITY — A task force created to fix errors in Iowa’s database of ineligible felon voters met just once for two hours, failing to resolve a problem that has disenfranchised at least a dozen people, records show. Secretary of State Matt Schultz formed the group in April after finding 12 cases in which errors on the 50,000name list resulted in the wrongful rejection of ballots from non-felons or people who had their voting rights restored. Schultz said the panel would develop a “longterm solution to fix inaccuracies contained in the state’s felon file.” More than four months passed before the group held its first and only meeting Aug.
29, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press under the public records law. “If we get done early, so be it,” then-Secretary of State general counsel Charlie Smithson emailed members before the meeting, scheduled for four hours. Smithson defended the task force’s work, saying the meeting got government agencies talking to each other and led to incremental progress on short-term solutions. The group is expected to disband without producing a report. “I don’t know that this group had the authority or power to come up with a long-term fix,” Smithson said. Secretary of Stateelect Paul Pate, who VOTING | 3A
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duce potential damages over the winter. Its future plans include setting up a nonprofit to raise funds, find a temporary owner to purchase the building while funds are being raised, winterize and mothball the building to prevent further damage and eventually purchase the building. Future funds raised would be used for restoration. “It is kind of a three step process. Get it purchased, get immediate repairs made and after the city is paid back, start restoration,” Barthelman said. The house was built in 1909 for August Bergman and was designed by Proudfood & Bird, one of Iowa’s preeminent architectural firms at the turn of the century.
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Keeping up with the code
Aurora Heights receives STEM award / 2A
Volume No. 113 No. 146 2 sections 16 pages
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