Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board today (Tuesday) released a report on their investigation into the April 17th train crash in southwest Iowa that claimed two lives. The crash, during which an eastbound Burlington Northern Sante Fe coal train operated by Engineer Tom Anderson and Conductor Patricia Hyatt, both of Creston and both of whom were 48-years old, collided with the rear end of a standing BNSF maintenance of way equipment train near Red Oak, happened just before seven-a.m. The two crew members on the locomotive of the maintenance of way equipment train were not injured.

Officials say during the crash, the event recorder and forward facing video camera on the leading locomotive of the coal train were damaged in the collision and subsequent fire. Both recorders were retrieved and are being analyzed at the NTSB’s lab in Washington, DC. The video camera was too badly damaged to retrieve data.

A preliminary review of the locomotive event recorder data indicates that just before the collision, train speed increased and the throttle was decreased as the train reached the top of a hill west of the accident site. The data also indicates that the speed at impact was 23 mph and that the emergency brakes were not applied before impact.

During the on-scene investigation, NTSB investigators tested the signal system and the undamaged coal cars. The equipment satisfactorily met test criteria. Trains in this area operate on wayside signal indications visible to the crew. Signal system data indicate that the last signal encountered by the coal train was set at “restricting.” This indication

required that the train be prepared to stop short of another train.

The crew of the struck train reported that visibility at the time of the collision was good. Investigators conducted sight distance observations under similar daylight and weather conditions. The observers were able to identify the standing train about 1,376 feet from the point of collision.

As the investigation continues, investigators will review personnel, maintenance and various other records. In addition, crew cell phone records have been subpoenaed and will be reviewed by investigators. The NTSB says it has also formed a work group which will examine the crash performance of the leading locomotive where crew members were fatally injured.

Veterans of the Vietnam War who may be suffering from the effects of Agent Orange are being encouraged to sign-up for the “Agent Orange Registry,” at your local county veteran’s affairs office. Dan Gannon, with the Iowa Commission of Veteran’s Affairs says the registry enables you to receive a health check-up at no cost. Gannon says you’ll be checked for at least 18 different cancers and diseases.

Agent Orange was an herbicide and defoliant used in the jungles of Vietnam, to remove the dense plant growth and deprive enemy guerrillas of their cover. The chemicals were applied at 13 times as high as the legal USDA limit.

The mixture of 2-4-D and 2-4-5-T contained an extremely toxic Dioxin compound that was later proven to have caused birth defects in children and other maladies. Gannon says recent studies show Diabetes Type 2, Parkinson’s Disease, various types of soft cells cancers, respiratory diseases and other conditions that develop over time.

Gannon, who was a Marine platoon leader in Vietnam from 1969-1970, says he wasn’t diagnosed a form of cancer until 2003. The only reason he found out he had cancer, was because his employer required a physical exam.

He says Vietnam Vets don’t need to file a claim to have a thorough examination. He says the Agent Orange Registry exam can be requested, and performed at, any V-A Hospital.

Even if you have been denied a claim for treatment or examination based on your suspicion Agent Orange may have caused an illness, Gannon says you should sign-up for the Registry. He says you served your country, and the country owes its veterans a lot.

He adds that if you can prove you were in Vietnam “Boots on the ground,” you are entitled to compensation in the form of medical care. For more information, go to the U-S Department of Veteran’s Affairs Website at www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/registry.asp

Officials with the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic said today (Tuesday), that the Emergency Department Entrance at CCMH will be relocated effective May 4th, at 7-am. All traffic – private vehicles and ambulances – taking patients to the Emergency Department will need to use the south entrance off 10th Street, which used to be marked as Ambulance Only. Signs will be posted to direct traffic to the new Emergency Department entrance.

The ED Entrance is moving to a temporary location on the south end of the building where it will remain for about 18 months until the hospital addition, which includes a new Emergency Department, is completed. There will be signs inside the building to direct patients from the new entrance to the ED Admissions area. The actual Emergency Department and Admissions have not moved, but patients will be approaching from a different direction than before. The current ED entrance on the east side of the building will be unavailable due to the construction of the addition.

There will be very limited parking at the temporary entrance, so only vehicles bringing a patient for emergency care will be able to park at this entrance. Other people coming to the ED, either to check on an emergency patient or register for same day surgery, should continue to drive around the north end of the building to the East Entrance.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – May 2, 2011 – Road construction work will cause lane restrictions in both directions of Interstate 29 from one mile south of the junction with U.S. 34 near Pacific Junction to just north of the rest areas in Mills County beginning May 9, weather permitting, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Council Bluffs construction office.

Traffic in this work zone will be restricted to one lane in each direction. Also, a 16-foot width lane restriction will be in place.

The project is expected to be completed in early December.

(DOT Press Release)

The CAM Community School District has approved applying to the Iowa Department of Education for permission to begin the 2011-2012 school year on August 17th, 2011.  Approval of the application to the D-E is necessary if districts wish to begin classes prior to September 1st. 

The D-E’s policy says classroom days for students can begin no sooner than the week in which Sept. 1 falls.  If Sept. 1 falls on Sunday, then classes may begin during the previous week, but the Department of Education has authority to grant an earlier start to classes based on the completion of the request for early start as part of the spring Basic Educational Data Survey (BEDS). Regardless of when classes start, all students in Iowa must attend 180 days of classes, with the exception of Seniors, who are required to attend 175 days. 

In other business, the CAM Board approved a fire safety project which Superintendent Steve Pelzer says will cost a total of $30,000. Pelzer says the project will correct some deficiencies in the fire warning system at the high school, and make some needed improvements. The fire panel would be repaired, smoke detectors replaced and strobe units installed in the classrooms, among other things. 

The Board also approved an agreement with the Cass County Educational Opportunity Center for the 2011-2012 school year. In his report to the Board, High School Prinicipal Dominic Giegerich said there will be some changes to the curriculum for the coming school year, including those will create a required junior English course. He says it will teach the components of composition to all students. In the past, the required courses stopped after the sophomore year.

“Mr. G” as he’s known, says also the requirement for oral communications will be eliminated and folded into the English class, along with grammatical coursework and literature. 

Superintendent Steve Pelzer says the move would eliminate the need to share a teacher with another district, and will serve to increase the amount of reading and writing the students will be required to do.

DES MOINES, IOWA – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today (Monday) announced that his staff assistant Kevin Condon will hold a meeting in Atlantic on Friday, May 6th to listen to constituents’ views on a wide variety of issues. Residents can express their opinions about current legislative issues or seek assistance if they are having problems with a federal agency.

The meeting will take place from 2:30-3:30 PM Friday, at the Chamber of Commerce Office, which is located at 102 Chestnut Street, in Atlantic.

(Press Release)

Washington, DC – Congressman Steve King and Senators Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin wrote to the United States Postal Service today (Monday), to ask that the Postal Service make public the details of the Area Mail Processing (AMP) Study that is being used by the Postal Service to weigh a move of Sioux City’s mail processing operations to Sioux Falls. The Congressman and Senators also asked that the Postal Service hold an additional public meeting once the AMP is released in order to give Sioux City’s residents and community and business leaders the opportunity to offer informed input about the AMP study, its data, and its conclusions.

The letter from the Congressman and Senators responds to an April 22nd letter to the elected officials from Marie Therese Dominguez, United States Postal Service Vice President of Government Relations and Public Policy. In her letter, Vice President Dominguez offered to meet with the Congressman and Senators to explain the methodology and findings of the Sioux City AMP study rather than release a copy of the study as they had requested.

Statement of Congressman Steve King: “The Siouxland Community cannot be expected to offer constructive input regarding the proposed consolidation of mail processing operations if they are not given any information about the rationale being used by the Postal Service to justify this move. Hundreds of concerned residents showed up at a town hall last week hoping to find out some details about the AMP study, but all they got was a lot of general talk about the Postal Service’s need to cut costs and maximize efficiencies. I am certain that Sioux City’s residents and community and business leaders can help the Postal Service come up with a rational proposal to cut costs and maximize efficiency in mail processing in northwest Iowa. To do so, however, they must have access to the facts, figures, and data.”

Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley: “The public meeting wasn’t much more than window dressing by the Postal Service. If the Postal Service is sincere about wanting public input, it needs to be open and forthcoming about the rationale behind its proposal. Otherwise, there’s nothing specific for the public to comment on and, in the end, the Postal Service won’t have considered public input in a very meaningful way.”

Statement of Senator Tom Harkin: “Absent further details from the Postal Service regarding how it derived its supposed savings from the closure of the AMP, closure of the AMP would be irresponsible, costing Sioux City critical jobs and threatening to delay to delivery of mail to Iowans. Given recent job losses elsewhere in Sioux City, and the resulting economic impact, the Postal Service’s attitude of “trust us” just isn’t good enough. I’m proud of Sioux City’s efforts to maintain the processing facility and to find reasonable ways to bring down costs without threatening the livelihood of dozens of Sioux City residents. At the first public meeting in Sioux City on the possible AMP closure, my office specifically requested a second meeting following the release of the study. This remains the proper course of action and I will continue to press the Postal Service for this public meeting.”