The Dow-Jones Industrials average passed the 10,000 mark on December 12, 2003. Five members of the Newton Pacesetters, Chelsea Munoz, Paige Hansen, Jordyn Shipley, Alyssa Hagemen, and Kayla McQuiston, received Division 1 — Superior ratings at the State Drill Team Solo Competition. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac agreed to pay a civil fine of $125 million to settle federal regulators’ allegations of management misconduct and directors’ complacency, blamed for the company’s $5 billion understating of earnings which led to the ouster of four top executives. Acting on a tip from a local resident, U.S. 4th Infantry Division soldiers captured Saddam Hussein on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2003, near his hometown of Tikrit, Iraq. The former dictator and tyrant had been hiding in a narrow, one-man hole outside a safe house near one of his former palaces. He had a $25 million bounty on his head posted by the U.S. Government. School board members Jerry Sawin, Fred Chabot, and Greg Davis were pictured in the Newton Daily News receiving certificates for the completion of the advanced level of training offered by the Iowa Association of School Boards’ Academy of Board Learning Experiences.