(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) – Iowa hunters will get a second chance to bring home a deer with a new season. The D-N-R’s, Tyler Harms, says they’re calling it the excess tag January season. “That season will be implemented in counties that have unsold county antlerless licenses available on January 10th,” Harms says. He says the season will help them achieve the goal of the antlerless season. “Every county in the state has a county antlerless license quota, and it’s those licenses that that we allocate primarily for population management of deer in those counties,” he says. Harms says it can be a good extra chance for hunters to get a deer.

“I encourage hunters to take advantage of that opportunity if they were interested,” Harms says. “It is a limited method of take season — so only centerfire rifles, calibers to 223 to 500 are allowed for use during that season. So that is something to consider.” Harms says you can easily find out online where you can hunt. “We do have information on our website as well on as on the go outdoors Iowa app where hunters can monitor the remaining licenses available on January 10th. So, come that day, they should be able to go online and see which counties have licenses remaining and whether or not they want to try to obtain any of those licenses,” according to Harms.

The second regular shotgun deer season wrapped up on December 18th.

(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.

(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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – A crash Sunday morning on the northeast side of Des Moines resulted in fatal injuries to the driver of a Hyundai Sonata. According to the Iowa State Patrol, the car driven by 54-year-old Anthony Marco Mullenberg, of Des Moines, was traveling east on I-80 at around 2:11-a.m., near mile marker 140, when it drove off the road and rear-ended an unoccupied 2020 International semi, which was parked on the shoulder.

Mullenberg died at the scene. He was wearing a seat belt.

(Radio Iowa) – The Internal Revenue Service is looking to hire more workers to fill positions to meet the demand of the upcoming tax season. I-R-S Christopher Miller says it’s a good opportunity. “The I-R-S is seeking hundreds of new employees across the country, including in Iowa to fill a customer service positions, and various other positions, Miller says. He says they are particularly looking for employees to staff their Taxpayer Assistance Centers across the country.

“In Iowa, the IRS operates five Taxpayer Assistance Centers, where taxpayers go to get help — in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Sioux, city and Waterloo. And we hope to have those offices staffed as fully as possible for the upcoming filing season,” Miller says. Miller says they offer comprehensive training for all employees.

“You do not have to be a tax expert to work at the I-R-S. We have all sorts of positions available at all levels of experience. In addition to face to face representatives and people to help on the phone, the I-R-S is also working to hire additional people throughout the agency, not just in taxpayer service areas, but in information technology,” he says. Miller encourages anyone who is interested to check out the I-R-S jobs.

“You can learn more about open positions at the I-R-S by going to www.jobs.irs.gov. Or you can go to USA jobs.gov to look for positions at the I-R-S and throughout federal government. Miller says offers a variety of benefits to its employees, including flexible work positions.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest on Friday of 30-year-old Jamie Gene Neville of Red Oak on a charge of Driving While Barred. Neville was arrested at 5:12 p.m. in the 400 block of Sunset Avenue in Red Oak on Friday. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $2,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – While some Iowans’ homes will be visited by a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer tomorrow (Saturday) night, it’s hoped there’s also -not- a visit on Sunday from a fire truck. Andrea Vaspis, public education director for the National Fire Protection Association, says if you’re trying to add some holiday ambience to the room by lighting a few candles, do so with caution.

December is the peak time of year for candle fires and studies find almost three of every five December home fires are started by candles.

Christmas Day is also one of the top three days of the year for home cooking fires, but she says lighting candles may only increase the risk of a disaster.

Christmas tree fires don’t happen often, but when they do, they tend to be serious. An association report finds, on average, one of every 52 reported home fires that began with a Christmas tree resulted in a death, compared to an average of one death per 135 total reported home fires.