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Tuesday, May 6, 2014
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Newton, Iowa
Red Pride Community Service Day ready for launch Wednesday
OBITUARIES Thomas Duane Gilpin, 53
By Ty Rushing Daily News Senior Staff Writer
INSIDE TODAY
Local
Westendorf to join WP color guard
In Newton, having “Red Pride” is about more than supporting athletics. It also involves giving back to and being proud of your community. On Wednesday, starting at 11:30 a.m., students from Newton Senior High School will be placed in various parts of
town, performing volunteer work as a part of “Red Pride Community Service Day.” RPCSD is an annual event done in conjunction with NHS and local businesses and organizations to use the students as a work force for the greater good of improving Newton. This year will be the sixth year RPCSD has been held and there is a list of nearly 40 ser-
vice projects that will be performed. Some of the listed projects include clean-ups around Newton, painting a “Welcome to Newton” mural on a barn east of Iowa Speedway Drive, planting flowers downtown and collecting plastic bags at Newton Sanitary Landfill. RED PRIDE See Page 5A
Daily News File Photo Volunteers helping create the mural that now sits on the outside of the Capitol II Theatre during last year’s “Red Pride Community Service Day.” On Wednesday, RPCSD kicks off again, and there are more than 40 projects lined up.
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New company to oversee operations of NewCare
Agriculture USDA drought program
Special to the Daily News
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Sports
NEWCARE See Page 5A
Russian women learn about leadership, business
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Weather
By Kate Malott Daily News Staff Writer
Wednesday
High 84 Low 66
Thursday
High 71 Low 53 Weather Almanac
Monday, May 5 High 68 Low 47 No Precipitation Also: Astrograph Page 5B
Throughout the last week, a group of women from Russia have been in Newton for a program to promote mutual understanding between women entrepreneurs and their Iowa counterparts. The group includes Yevgenia Goloshchanova, a proprietor at a gourmet Italian deli; Yelena Lyakh, the deputy executive director at Tolyatti City Economic Development Agency; Tatyana Shikanova, CEO of a laundry and domestic services agency; and Lyubov Zarubitskaya, proprietor of an accounting agency along with facilitator Olga Tikhonova. Hosted by Organization Promoting Everlasting Neighbors, the group’s intent is to explore public and private partnerships that support entrepreneurs and encourage regional economic development. “Our primary goal is sharing our experiences, to find something from our American counterparts, new ideas for our business development, creating per-
sonal contacts, getting to know people and keep in touch with people,” Yevgenia said. The delegates have had a productive time here, learning about roles of women in business, leadership and community partnerships. After arriving on Wednesday, they spoke with Frank Liebl and Kim Didier at the Newton Development Corporation followed by a welcome potluck with OPEN friends. Thursday, the women learned about state government and female entrepreneurship in Des Moines, visiting the State Capital, Iowa Economic Development Authority and with female business owners in the East Village. “Spending time with the Russian delegation reminds me that when people from rival countries come together in a spirit of mutual understanding, political tensions often give way to friendship,” OPEN board member Tom Hoover, who was the guide on Thursday, said. DELEGATION See Page 5A
Council passes new housing incentives
Classifieds Page 4B
By Zach Johnson Daily News Staff Writer
Comics & Puzzles Page 6A Dear Abby Page 6A Opinion Page 4A Obituaries Page 3A Police Page 3A Our 112th Year No. 246
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COUNCIL See Page 5A
Kate Malott/Daily News Pictured (from left) are Olga Tikhonova, Yevgenia Goloshchanova, Lyubov Zarubitskaya, Tatyana Shikanova and Yelena Lyakh sit on a couch in Uncle Nancy’s on Friday. The Russian women are visiting for a week as part of OPEN to learn more about women in leadership and business.
Cardinal girls are LHC champs
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home; agreement for the City of Newton to cover the utility and interest costs of the improvements for up to a 12-month period beginning 12 months after the completion of the home and the commencement of marketing efforts, as evidenced by the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy and the presence of a ‘for sale’ sign on the property. The cost coverage period would end upon the sale of the property, the occupancy of the property for a rental, or after 12 months, whichever is soonest. In order to access the builder incentives, the
Effective today, Jasper County Health Ventures will assume operations of NewCare Health Services, a medical clinic located at 315 W. Third St. N. in Newton. A new limited-liability company, JCHV is a joint venture between Skiff Medical Center and Newton Clinic. Although Newton Clinic will oversee the day-to-day management of the business, NewCare will continue to operate as NewCare Health Services and those staff members who are retained will be employees of JCHV rather than Newton Clinic or Skiff. This change is necessary to ensure that NewCare, which was established in 2012 by Red Rock Health Ventures, can continue serving a growing number of patients and benefit from improved management. “The costs of starting a new business were substantially higher than the original owners anticipated,” Skiff CEO Steve Long said. “Therefore, even though they had strong volume growth, it was not quick enough to offset the initial start-up costs. Given this, they were approaching a decision point which would have led to the closure of the clinic.” Mark Thayer, administrator of Newton Clinic, stressed that the clinic being on the verge of shutting down was in no way a reflection of its employees. “That clinic is staffed by dedicated, compassionate medical providers,” he said. Rather than allowing the community to lose NewCare and its providers, Long said that Skiff welcomed the partnership with Newton Clinic to retain this asset. “This decision was explicitly made to stabilize the local medical community,” Thayer said. “Several clinics in Newton have closed in the past few years due to retirements, legal issues and, in the recent case of Kid Care M.D., the tragic loss of Dr. Ruth Spierenburg. This emphasized to us the potential negative consequences of losing additional providers.” One of the main goals of JCHV will be to establish within NewCare the same consistent procedures that benefit patients at Newton Clinic, including Saturday hours, vaccination schedules, appointment slots, employee scheduling and more. “Mark is a phenomenal clinic administrator backed by excellent physicians and staff,” Long said. “Meanwhile, NewCare is a beautiful, state-of-the-art facility with its own set of skilled providers. This association means that community members will continue to have a choice in health care, without having to travel elsewhere.” “While assuming management of NewCare, we will continue to provide
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The Newton City Council has passed a resolution that will offer new incentives on new houses built in Newton for both the buyer and the builder. During the previous council meeting, on April 21, Newton Director of Finance and Development Bryan Friedman discussed a new housing initiative incentive for 2014. The incentives have been finalized and approved by the council with a unanimous vote. The incentives will go to the first 40 singlefamily homes constructed in Newton this year, not including properties in
Fountain Hills Estates, First Addition. A $10,000 incentive will be provided to the buyer of the home, subject to the following rules: • the incentive is provided at the time and place of closing on the permanent financing of the home; • the improvements (exclusive of land value) must be valued at least at $160,000, as evidenced by an appraisal or assessment; • the construction of the home must be fully complete, as evidenced by the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy by the City of Newton. The builders will receive the following incentives: waiving of building permit fees for constructing the