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Oregon schools seeks support for 3.95 mills By Kelly J. Kaczala Press News Editor kkaczala@presspublications.com
Winter sunrise
Sunrise creates a picturesque winter landscape at Maumee Bay State Park. Much of the area’s snow will melt with warmer temperatures predicted for the upcoming week. (Photo by Maggi Dandar maggidandarphotography.com)
East Toledo ties
Innocence project considers case The Kansas City-based Midwest Innocence Project is considering the case of convicted child molester Danny Wyatt Newton. A former Air Force sergeant, Airman Basic Newton, an East Toledo native and 1995 Waite High School graduate, is currently serving a 25-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He and his family insist on his innocence and blame the military justice system for making errors leading to his conviction. AB Newton was found guilty by a jury of enlisted military personnel of attempted sodomy upon a child under 12 years of age, conspiracy to obstruct justice, indecent liberties, and sodomy upon a child under 12 years of age during a general court martial proceeding convened at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, on December 21, 2010. The victim was his then-eight-year-old stepdaughter. In addition to his prison sentence, Newton received a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and re-
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That’s really hard for me to accept because it’s one of my friends who I know didn’t do this.
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By J. Patrick Eaken Press Staff Writer news@presspublications.com
duction in rank to E-1. Newton has maintained his innocence since the ordeal began in 2008. In August after his military appeals were exhausted, Newton filed a writ to have his pleadings heard in the U.S. Supreme Court, but the court declined to distribute the case to conference. The writ referred to constitutional issues relating to how the military court and military police handled evidence and other issues. The next recourse seemed to be taking the case to the innocence project network.
“We’ve been looking into the innocence project for some time, but the issue was he had to complete his appeals before they would even consider it,” said Virginia Beach (Va.) Master Police Officer Allen Perry, who is helping Newton with legal research. “Once that was done, it was a three to six month wait for them to review the initial application because they review thousands of these things. Just the fact that they have reviewed it and accepted it is a huge boon to us.” The Midwest Innocence Project is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the investigation, litigation and exoneration of wrongfully convicted men and women in a five-state region. The MIP was founded a decade ago through the University of MissouriKansas City School of Law and is part of the National Innocence Network. The MIP claims recent independent studies conservatively estimate that between two and five percent of all inmates in America were falsely convicted, with some estimates reaching up to seven percent. The MIP adds that after a conviction, it takes roughly seven to ten years for an inContinued on page 2
The Oregon school board plans to ask voters in the fall to pass a 3.95-mill levy to fund school operations. The levy is less than the 5.9 mill levies that voters have previously defeated, most recently in the General Election last November. “We are in need of a levy,” Superintendent Dr. Lonny Rivera said at a recent school board meeting. “This district, over eight years ago, started with a 5.9 trajectory – it failed. A few years later, another 5.9 attempt – it failed. And then, just this past November, a 5.9 – and it failed.” He noted that the vote counts in the previous elections were not even close. “The failures were not close. They were very large,” he said. “Truth be told, and I want this to be very clear, we need a 5.9 levy. But our community seems to be telling us that a 5.9 is not happening.” Rivera said voters may find a smaller levy amount more palatable to support. “The idea of a 3.95 was something that we looked into. It’s not a cure-all for our district. We have some other things that are looming on the horizon that we’re hoping for that will help us maintain what we’re doing for kids. We have some industry that’s moving in that we’re very excited about that will start generating tax monies in 2017. We’re hoping that that will help. And we’re hoping that other spinoffs will come and help supplement what it is that we need to function,” he said. “Some people will say, `You must not need money. You’re dropping from a 5.9 to a 3.95,” he added. “I can tell you with all honesty, in all sincerity, we do need a 5.9, but I have to have something to run the district. We’ve made some cuts through attrition. There’s programs that no longer exist. We started this trajectory way back eight years ago, by removing things that we can live without, so we’re doing a slow bleed.” If there is another levy defeat in the district, more cuts are on the way, he said. “The things I have to look at to recommend to the board are things I hold very sacred and very dear to my heart. If we fail in November, then there’s going to have to Continued on page 4
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