March 28, 2024

Bishop to update supervisors on vet memorial

The new Jasper County Veterans Memorial Complex was dedicated on July 4, however, it wasn’t 100 percent finished.

Doug Bishop, county treasurer and head of the committee that developed the memorial, will update the Jasper County Board of Supervisors at its Tuesday meeting on what steps remain to complete the project.

The complex lies on the east lawn of the Jasper County Courthouse and there are two main phases to it.

One portion of the memorial has 702 bricks, with the names of veterans who live in or are from Jasper County, placed on six walls. Among those bricks are 98 red bricks representing the veterans who gave all in the line of duty.

The second large phase is a memorial rock, similar to the Freedom Rock project, that was recently painted as a tribute to all the men and women that have served according to its artist, Penny Christensen.

At this meeting, Bishop will talk about establishing a perpetual care fund to maintain the memorial, lighting the three flags poles adjacent to the memorial, parking on that east side of the courthouse and future memorial dedications.

Bishop will also address some of the additions to the memorial since the dedication ceremony. Since that time, a granite cornerstone was donated by Newton Grand Masonic Lodge No. 59 A.F. & A.M. and two black granite columns were added that feature sculpted bronze eagles.

In other business:

• Jasper County Sheriff John Halferty could soon only have one vacant deputy position in his office. The board will vote on whether or not to accept a hiring resolution for Nick Aldrich to fill one of two openings during Tuesday’s meeting.

Aldrich was approved as a certified candidate for the position in July by both the board and the Jasper County Civil Service Commission. According to his Facebook page, Aldrich is a Jasper County native and attended classes at Newton Senior High School.

• The board will also take action on a matter that has been part of a growing movement in the state and Newton. Craig Immerfall, of Iowa Workforce Development, will petition the board to implement the National Career Readiness Certificate into the county’s hiring practices.

The NCRC test is one of the key components in IWD helping cities and counties in Iowa become a Skilled Iowa Community. As of January, the City of Newton was meeting three out of four of the metrics to become a Skilled Iowa Community and as of June there are nine communities in the state that meet that designation.

• A road vacating public hearing will be held at 9:30 a.m. The road the county is seeking to vacate is a portion of South 112th Avenue West, which was requested by the adjacent landowners in the area.

Contact Senior Staff Writer Ty Rushing at (641) 792-3121 ext. 6532 or at trushing@newtondailynews.com.