(Council Bluffs, Iowa) -An official with the Union Pacific Railroad has provided KJAN News with an update concerning a train derailment in Council Bluffs. According to Mike Jaixen, Senior Manager – U.P. Corporate Communications – said that ” At approximately 5:30 p.m. Saturday [afternoon], about a dozen empty rail cars derailed in our Council Bluffs, Iowa yard. There were no injuries or contents released. Union Pacific crews are currently working to resolve the issue. One crossing, at 14th Avenue, remains blocked; we hope to clear this crossing by early this [Sunday] afternoon.”

Police officers in Council Bluffs were on routine patrol when they discovered the derailed railcars in the area north of 14th Ave. and S. 15th St. The intersections of S. 12th St. and 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 14th, and 16th Avenues, as well as S. 16th St. and 23rd Ave., were all blocked due to the derailed train covering those intersections.

Union Pacific official had not requested assistance from the police department as of the latest report, and no police resources were deployed to the incident.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources report that at around 1-p.m. today (May 27, 2023), a boat operated by 31-year-old Jeffrey Mattison, of Cedar Rapids, collided with a bridge piling on the Cedar River, upstream from Ellis Park in Cedar Rapids, located in Linn County, Iowa.

Mattison was non-responsive and immediately transported to the University of Iowa hospital by helicopter. The cause of the collision is unknown at this time.

The Department of Natural Resources is currently investigating the incident. The Linn County Sheriff, Linn County Conservation Board, and the Cedar Rapids Fire Department assisted with the response.

(Radio Iowa) –  For the fourth time in her record-setting career, Iowa-born astronaut Peggy Whitson is now onboard the International Space Station, this time as the first female commander of a private space mission. During a question-and-answer session with Texas elementary schoolers, Whitson urged the students to challenge themselves to do things they don’t know how to do, saying, “if you fail at something, you learn something from it and you’ll be better the next time.”

The 63-year-old from Beaconsfield talked with the kids about the wide array of scientific experiments they’re conducting, as well as changes she’s noticing about the orbiting station, and how easy it is to adapt to microgravity.

Prior to this mission, Whitson held the record for spending a total of 665 days in space, more than any other U.S. astronaut, and she’s adding to the total on this 12-day trip. She and her three crewmates are scheduled to return home next week.