(Bridgewater, Iowa) – Fire devastated the home of a Bridgewater man, Friday night, but no one was injured. According to his social media posts, Douglas M. Miller said the fire started in seconds. He escaped with just his coat, keys and wallet. He was able to obtain accommodations thanks to Traveler’s Guest House, friends and family.

The same day the fire started, Miller had purchased an extra heater to provide adequate heating for him and his 11-year-old son Hunter. His electric scooter that he must use when he is outside his house was also destroyed.

Photo from the Doug Miller GoFundMe page

According to a GoFundMe account set up by his sister, Deb Benton Gevock, Doug Miller is an RN and has served his community in this manner for 20 years. He hasn’t been able to work in two years and is awaiting hip surgery this summer.

(Undated)  — Last week on KJAN, we told you about some area students who were nominated by Senator Joni Ernst to U-S Service Academies. On Thursday, U-S Sen. Chuck Grassley nominated 32 Iowa students to be considered for appointments to the U.S. service academies. In our area, the following were nominated for the 2023-24 School Year, to the:

United States Air Force Academy

Pierce Johnson – Oakland

Kaiden Krajicek – Denison

Clara Tiegland – Council Bluffs

Kellen Vlahoulis – Sioux City

(Radio Iowa) – Unions that represent rail workers are lobbying for a state law that would limit the length of trains. Chris Smith is state legislative director for the SMART-T-D Union which represents transportation workers.  “Longer trains lead to more accidents, are more unsafe, they lead to more blocked crossings and, for our small communities in Iowa, that could be a life or death situation of if your house is on fire or your grandma or child is having a medical issue, then that ambulance could not get to you on time,” Smith says. “Luckily we haven’t had lots of occurrences of that in our state, but we do have lots of occurrences of blocked crossings.”

A federal report found the length of trains increased 25 percent between 2008 and 2017. There is currently no limit in state or federal law on how long a train can be. “My opinion is when these laws came out, railroads weren’t running three- and four-mile-long trains,” Smith says. A bill to set 85-hundred feet — or one-point-six miles — as the maximum train length cleared initial review in the 2022 Iowa Legislature. Smith says he and others will be back at the statehouse next year, lobbying for action.

“We’re going to be working on legislation to limit train length in the state of Iowa to help protect its citizens and to be at the forefront in Iowa and the United States to get this done,” Smith says, “because I think Iowans understand that we need to protect our people.” Smith, who is from Tama, has worked as a Union Pacific conductor and engineer for nearly 18 years. A spokesman for one of the country’s largest railroads says trains of all lengths have been safely operated for years and longer trains maximize resources and reduce fuel and labor costs. According to the Iowa D-O-T, 18 different private railroad companies ship freight through the state.

“The railroad industry for Iowa is big,” Smith says, “with ethanol and grain and coal that comes through a few of our power plants, etc.” And railroad traffic through Iowa may increase soon with the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern. Some officials and residents in cities along the route have expressed concern about the increase in the NUMBER of trains as well as the increase in the LENGTH of trains.

(Radio Iowa) – If you got an ugly Christmas sweater, something in the wrong size or a duplicate item as a gift, ’tis now the season for returns and lines at customer service counters are long. Margo Riekes, spokeswoman for the Better Business Bureau, offers Iowans a few tips to keep the line moving smoothly.  “Be patient because all of the sales employees, especially the first few days after Christmas, are overwhelmed with all the returns,” Riekes says.

“If you’re patient, you’re more likely to get some action.” Standing in line for 45 minutes may try your patience, but she says to consider what it must be like to be the person hearing peoples’ complaints all day long.

“The customer who’s trying to return the gift should always be calm and polite when trying to do so,” Riekes says. “People will be much more willing to help them.” When returning an item, make sure to keep it in the original packaging and in like-new condition. “Do not take the tags off the things because once the tags are off, it’s probably impossible to return them,” she says. If the gift giver was thinking far enough ahead to enclose a gift receipt in your wrapped box, it will make the process infinitely easier.

(Shenandoah, Iowa) – Police in Shenandoah were dispatched Sunday night to a residence in the 900 block of W. Valley Avenue, for a report of an intoxicated female causing a disturbance. Following an investigation, Officers arrested 47-year-old Kimberly Ann Smith, of Shenandoah, for Domestic Abuse/Simple Assault – 1st offense. She was taken into custody at around 9-p.m. and transported to the Page County Jail, where Smith was being held without bond.