 Fire/EMS
Fire/EMS A-Shift crews responded to a rural shed fire near Emma Creek Road and West First Street overnight Thursday. One shed was fully involved on arrival, but an adjacent barn was protected by crews and remained standing and mostly unharmed. Fighting fire can be extremely difficult in -1 degree temperatures, and crews did face water supply challenges with the valves frozen on an assisting water tender. No injuries resulted from the fire, and the cause is under investigation. Thank you to Hesston Fire/EMS, Walton Fire Department, Halstead Fire/EMS, and Sedgwick Fire-Rescue for assisting.
 Communications
Happy Government Communicators Day!
Today, we celebrate the Communications Department’s work to keep Newton residents informed — whether it’s about street closures, public safety, commission updates, utility info, or local events.
Please welcome Sara Kelly, our new Communications Coordinator! She’s joining Director of Communications Erin McDaniel and is ready to "cone-nect" with you, keep everyone in the loop, and help educate the community on how our City departments function behind the scenes, from public safety to public works and everything in between.
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Engineering & Project Updates
- Already in 2025, Engineering staff are reviewing 5 new plats, all in different stages of completion. We have had 9 new housing starts already in 2025 as well.
- We held a pre-construction meeting this week for the South Spencer paving project. Work is scheduled to begin in March.
- Four new environmental control cases were started this week, and two final letters sent.
- We issued building permits this week for several commercial projects:
- 419 N. Main to replace windows and doors using a facade improvements grant (value $88,794).
- Norm's Coffee Bar, 613 N. Main, second floor improvements (value $77,381).
- Harvey County, 215 S. Pine (value $1.877 million).
 Another Winter Storm
The City’s Public works crews have had a busy 2025 so far! Staff started 12-hour shifts on Monday evening of the President’s Day holiday and have worked around the clock to keep the snow route open. Starting Wednesday, the daytime crew focused on spreading salt to try to get some melt of the snowpack with traffic and a little sunshine. The night shift hauled snow out of downtown and kept drifting locations opened for morning commuters. The crews are all looking forward to next week's warm-up!
Newton Rec Commission
- The Railer Field press box construction is nearing completion! Windows and doors are still needed, and NRC staff will paint the structure once completed. They hope to get everything completed before the first softball games in late March, but winter weather has delayed the project.
- The cables for the new batting cages at Railer Field have been installed. NRC will finish up the new improvement once the weather breaks. Newton High School starts practice on March 3.
Upcoming Events
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Murder at the Manor mystery dinner theater, 5:30 p.m. March 1 at the Warkentin House. Fundraiser tickets available online.
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NHS Spring Musical "Cinderella," March 7-9 at Newton High School.
- Third Thursday, 5-8 p.m. March 20 in downtown Newton.
See all of the upcoming events at our Community Events listing on Choose-Newton.com.
Meetings & Reminders:
- 5:30 p.m. Feb. 25 – City Commission work session on policies
- 7 p.m. Feb. 25 – City Commission meeting
- 6 p.m. March 3 – Planning Commission meeting
- 7:30 a.m. March 6 – City Commission agenda review
- 7 p.m. March 11 – City Commission meeting
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