Mayor Hansen Hosts Coffee with the Mayor

Newton Mayor Michael L. Hansen will host a Coffee with the Mayor the third Saturday of each month from 9 – 11 a.m. at the Newton Public Library located at 100 N 3rd Ave W.

2019 dates for Coffee with the Mayor are January 19, February 16, March 16, April 20...

City of Newton Recognized for Social Media Marketing

The City of Newton was recognized at the sixth annual Social Media Club Des Moines’ Hashie Awards as a finalist for Best Use of Video and Danielle Rogers, Community Marketing Manager was named Social Media Professional of the Year. The City of N...

Project Fastpitch Announces Softball Complex To Be Built In Newton

Project Fastpitch and City of Newton leaders announced a new tournament softball development located on seventy acres north of Rusty Wallace Drive across from Iowa Speedway along Interstate 80 in Newton. The development is designed to provide an amazing e...

Erin Yeager Announced as Executive Director for Newton Main Street

Newton Main Street, along with Main Street Iowa, would like to announce the hiring of Erin Yeager as the Executive Director for Newton.

Erin has been a Store Manager at two Subway locations in Grinnell for the past nine years, as well as a hairdresser at B...

Demolition Project 2019-02

Community Services staff recently received bids, and has a signed contract for, the demolition of the structures at 124 E 4th St N and 115 E 4th St N. DW Zinser Co. of Walford, Iowa will be completing asbestos abatement, lead paint abatement, and demoliti...

Newton Cares Classic Golf Tournament

On July 25th, the inaugural Newton Cares Classic was held at Westwood Golf Course. 68 golfers and 17 celebrities enjoyed the morning sign-in and reception at the Newton Club at the Iowa Speedway, a catered lunch and 18 holes of golf at Westwood, and the a...

2018-02 Asphalt Resurfacing Project

Manatts, Inc. of Brooklyn, Iowa has begun work on milling and asphalt resurfacing of several local streets throughout Newton. The project includes the removal of the old street surface, placement of a new hot-mix asphalt surface, and construction of ADA-c...

9/11 Memorial Service Reminder

The 9/11 Memorial Service will take place on Wednesday, September 11 in front of the Newton Fire Department. Please visit www.newtongov.org for more details next week.

Ladder Truck in Indiana for Repairs

Ladder 1 has been delivered to Fire Services, Inc. of St. John, Indiana for repairs to the ladder. During a recent safety inspection, the ladder was found to have structural deficiencies that needed to be repaired. This is a very specialized type of busin...

New EMT/Firefighters Start Paramedic Class

Three recently hired firefighters have started paramedic class. The course is approximately 1,200 hours in length and will take nearly a year to complete. Firefighters will experience a combination of classroom, clinical, field practicum time. This progra...

Fire Department Utilizing New Radio System

Firefighters participated in training on the new radio system in mid-August and all operations have switched to the new system. At the beginning of 2019 the Fire Department purchased radio equipment to upgrade to the new 800 megahertz system. The new radi...

New Ambulance Now In Service

 The ambulance is on the road and being utilized as the primary transfer ambulance. Ambulances are replaced on a nine-year rotation, with one ambulance being replaced every three years. This ambulance replaces a 2010 model that will be kept and u...

Fire and Police Departments Receive Children’s Bicycle Helmets for Distribution

Firefighters participated in the Hot Dogs & Helmets event on Friday, July 12. The donated helmets from organizer Joe Urias were given to the Newton Fire Department and Newton Police Department to distribute. These helmets are available free of charge ...

Firefighters Participate in Helmets and Hot Dogs Event

Those who attended engaged in activities designed to teach bicycle safety. Firefighters displayed their equipment and talked to children about the importance of safety while riding their bicycles. 

New Ambulance In Service Soon

The Newton Fire Department recently took possession of the newest vehicle for EMS services. Finishing touches like installing the radio and mobile computing equipment are in process. The ambulance is expected to be on the road within the next couple of we...

Summer Reading Wrap-Up

We had great participation in the Summer Reading Program this summer, with 587 children participating and 85 teens. Our special events were attended by 3619 children in June, July & August!  Adult Summer Registrations broke the Library&rs...

1000 Books Before Kindergarten Update

Our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program continues to grow, with 122 enrolled, and 35 children have completed the program by reaching the 1000 Book milestone! Congrats to Acelynn, who is our most recent finisher of the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten pro...

Library Choir Camp

The library hosted another successful Choir Camp at the end of Summer Reading. The camp was taught by Courtney Tabor, a Newton native, and Rachel Peter, both music major graduates from Central College. The group chose “The Day the Crayons Quit&a...

Story Time at Maytag Park

The Library and Community Services Division partnered for a Toddler Story Time before Toddler Swim at the Maytag Pool on August 9th. Around 40 participants came to the event and enjoyed songs, books, and coloring with sidewalk child on the park’...

Library Escape Room a Success!

Our Public Services Librarian, Becca Klein, created and hosted a new Escape Room during the first week of August called “History Heist: Locked in the Louvre”. The 90 attendants were zip-tied together and had to successfully escape the room by breaking the...

Meet Brainfuse!

Brainfuse is the online resource provider for career services, test prep, and software tutorials for cardholders of the Newton Public Library. One feature that sets Brainfuse apart is the live coaching and live veteran support available during most aftern...

Very Hungry Caterpillar 50th Anniversary

The picnic was in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Eric Carle’s beloved book! The kid’s had an exciting snack - the ate what the caterpillar ate in the book! They got to eat one slice of salami, one slice of watermelon, a piece of cher...

Drones in the Library

Erikson is an Emmy Award-winning journalist; an advisor for the Women and Drones organization, and an FAA certified remote pilot. Attendees learned about the many ways drones are impacting our lives in agriculture, search and rescue, commerce, and more. A...

Kindness Rocks at Maytag Park

The programs combined had 320 participants! There are multiple websites claiming they began the Kindness Rock Project but all stem back to spreading kindness in either an inspirational message or beautiful painting on a rock that is placed strategically o...

Feel the Cosmos

Attendees learned about Braille and the planets with different sensory items.

Newton Library Receives Accreditation from the State Library of Iowa

The State Library of Iowa has announced that the Newton Public Library has met the conditions for state accreditation as outlined in “In Service to Iowa: Public Library Standards Sixth Edition.”

Achieving accreditation requires a signif...

SROs Ready for School Year

Officer Julie Britton and Officer Tom McDonnell are ready for the 2019/2020 school year to begin. This is the first year that the Police Department will have two SROs assigned to the NCSD. Officer Britton is assigned primarily to the Newton High School, W...

Self Defense Course at YMCA

The Newton YMCA and the Police Department recently partnered to offer a women’s self-defense course. This was the 2nd time the two organizations have partnered to offer this opportunity and it continues to be a well-attended event. The class was...

Discover Hope Meal

The Police Department recently provided and served a meal to over 65 community members at Discover Hope during the organizations Tuesday night service. Discover Hope is a community-based recovery organization for those struggling with addiction. Members o...

Grant Update

Newton Wal-Mart recently awarded the Newton Police Department with a $2500 Local Community Grant for the purchase of traffic safety equipment to be used at public events to educate community members about the dangers of drunk driving and distracted drivin...

Newton Walmart Awards NPD with a $2500 Grant

Newton Walmart recently awarded the Newton Police Department with a $2500 Local Community Grant for the purchase of traffic safety equipment to be used at public events to educate community members about the dangers of drunk driving and distracted driving...

New SRO Selected for Middle School

Officer McDonnell has been with the Newton Police Department since 2015 and is currently assigned to an evening patrol shift. 

He has served as a field training officer, firearms instructor, chemical munitions instructor, tactical team member, and...

Helmets and Hot Dogs Event

Parents as Teachers and MOJO Cycling hosted this free community event that included a bike rodeo, a safety course, story walk, hot dogs, chips and free children’s bike helmets. The event was a great opportunity to reinforce safety while bicyclin...

Fireworks Calls for Service

From June 1 – July 12 the department responded to 124 fireworks calls and issued nine citations for violations. The number of fireworks calls is down slightly from 2018 when the department responded to 142 calls and issued seven citations.&n...

Traffic Safety Project

The project took place between the hours of 1 to 4 p.m., resulting in 20 traffic stops on motorists. During the project, officers issued 35 citations and warnings for violations of the Iowa Traffic Code. These violations included 18 seat belt citations an...

Downtown Traffic Signal Improvement Project Update (9/17/19)

The contractor intends to begin work on the W 2nd St intersection on Thursday, September 19. Motorists and pedestrians are advised to use caution in the area during the project and are asked to follow posted traffic control devices and signs.

The Downtown ...

Northwest Downtown Parking Lot Reconstruction to Begin September 3

TK Concrete will start construction on the northwest parking lot (located at W 3rd St N & N 2nd Ave W) in downtown Newton beginning on September 3. The parking lot, adjacent alleys and on-street parking stalls will be closed to allow for reconstructio...

Newton Sanitary Landfill Leachate Line Cleaning

The Newton Sanitary Landfill operates as a landfill by receiving a permit from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. One of the requirements of the permit is the leachate lines need cleaning every three years. Operationally we should wash one-third of...

Public Works Operations Street Crews Rebuilding Storm Sewers

The street crews have been actively working on rebuilding storm sewer catch basins all around the city. Due to aging infrastructure, the storm sewers and the designed structures are falling apart at a steady pace. The street crews encounter storm sewers t...

Water Pollution Control Update

Water Pollution Control staff is tasked not only with the maintenance of the collection system and the process equipment but also with the upkeep of plant buildings and grounds. In this photo, the staff is seen pouring the concrete floor for a new effluen...

Parks Operations Update - Trail Reconstruction

Staff is completing a few sections of hike and bike trail repairs at Agnes Patterson Park. There is a much larger hike & bike trail reconstruction project being placed out to bid for contract work, to be completed yet this year.

Parks Operations Update - Storm Sewer at Westwood Golf Course

Staff is also currently working on improving storm water drainage area at Westwood Golf Course. Park operations are installing a new storm sewer. Some damaged sections of cart paths caused by storm water will get replaced as part of this project.

Parks Operations Update - Tree Work

Parks operations staff are always busy with tree work. Work ranges from pruning to clean up from storm damage, dead tree removal, stump removal, mulching, and planting new trees. The two trees pictured are hazards, so they have been removed at Westwood Go...

Downtown Traffic Signal Improvement Project

The Downtown Traffic Signal Improvement Project is scheduled to start on Wednesday, August 14. During this time, traffic signal and sidewalk improvements will be made along 1^st Avenue between W 4^th St and E 4^th St. Questions on this project should be dire...