Sheriff’s Officials in Page County say a College Springs man was arrested Friday morning on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault, an aggravated misdemeanor. 34-year old Ricky Dean Peterson was taken into custody at around 10:20-a.m., following an investigation into a complaint about domestic abuse at a residence in the 900 block of School Street in College Springs.  Peterson was being held in the Page County Jail without bond,  until he appears before a magistrate.

The suspect in this morning’s murder near Mount Ayr is apparently dead. According to scanner traffic, the suspect’s vehicle was discovered on Interstate 29 northbound in Fremont County, near mile marker 8. The Medical Examiner on scene has identified the victim in the vehicle as 40-year old Robert Taylor, who apparently died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.Taylor was wanted for first-degree murder in connection with the shooting of 45-year old Lori Yeager.

The scene is being cordoned-off until investigators with the Iowa DCI can arrive.  Additional details will be released as they become available.

The Iowa Department of Transportation reports Interstate 80 near Avoca is now open, following a crash between a vehicle and a semi. A woman in her 20’s reportedly died at the scene of the crash, which happened when her westbound vehicle crossed the median and hit an eastbound semi head-on. The woman’s name, and other details about the crash have not yet been released. The accident had closed I-80 eastbound completely, and blocked one land of I-80 westbound, at the Avoca exit. More details about the crash when it becomes available.

A collision between a semi and a car has Interstate 80 eastbound and one lane of I-80 westbound blocked near the Shelby exit.  The interstate is closed from Exit 34 to 40.  Follow local detour or use alternate route if possible.  No other details are currently available.

The National Transportation Safety Board, Thursday, issued two safety recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) related to five rear-end collisions in which crewmembers failed to operate their trains at the required restricted speed. One of the crashes happened on April 17th, 2011, near Red Oak. The trains’ conductor Patricia “Trish” Hyatt and Engineer Tom Anderson, both of Creston, died in the crash. They were both 48 years old. A similar incident which occurred the following month in Mineral Springs, NC, also resulted in crewmember fatalities. Both are still under investigation by the NTSB.

All five of the NTSB’s recommendations focus on the need for railroads to  disseminate information related to these accidents to their employees, and to emphasize the need for crewmembers to operate trains in accordance with restricted speed operating rules. The other freight train accidents happened last year in Low Moor, Virginia, DeWitt, New York, and in DeKalb, Indiana. Four of the five accidents occurred on railroad lines over which Amtrak passenger trains operate. 

Because the accidents occurred on different railroads and under different circumstances, the NTSB said it was concerned that non-compliance with restricted speed requirements may be an issue affecting a broad segment of the U.S. railroad industry. Signal systems provide for the safe separation between trains. However, officials say there are times when trains are authorized to occupy the same sections of track. In these cases, safe train operations rely solely on crewmember compliance with the railroad’s restricted speed requirements. Typically, the requirements include “being prepared to stop within one-half the range of vision.” Complete understanding of and strict compliance with restricted speed requirements are absolutely mandatory to prevent catastrophic train collisions. 

(The safety recommendation letters may be found here: http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety_recs.html)

A Brayton teen escaped injury during a rollover accident that occurred Thursday night, about a mile south of Exira. The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office says 16-year old Cody Ray Juelsgaard was traveling south on Kingbird Avenue, at around 7:15-p.m., when he lost control of a 1998 Chevy pickup he was driving as he was negotiating a curve in the road. The vehicle began to drift to the right before it entered the west ditch and flipped onto its roof, causing about $3,000 damage.