DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The sign up period to get benefits under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul kicks off Saturday. The second enrollment period to get benefits starts Nov. 15 and runs through Feb. 15. A poorly functioning website and public confusion caused problems during the first enrollment period, but officials are hopeful things will run more smoothly this time.

Just over 29,000 people signed up for health insurance in Iowa using the federal insurance marketplace during the first enrollment period.  The health care law was designed to reduce the number of people without health insurance, both through an expansion of Medicaid and with new health care marketplaces where people can shop for private coverage and apply for government aid to pay premiums.

Flames that engulfed a home just south of Red Oak Thursday night could be seen up to a mile away. According to fire officials, the two-story structure owned by Duane Barkman, sustained an estimated $60,000 damage, but no one was hurt. .

According to Red Oak Fire Chief James Blount, the blaze at 2359 Highway 48 was reported at around 6:30 p.m. The first crews to arrive saw flames shooting from the roof on the north side of the home, prompting a call for mutual aid from Elliott, Essex and Stanton.

Efforts by firefighters kept the flames from spreading to the main portion of the house. The damage was primarily contained to an attached garage and living area. An investigation into the cause of the blaze was underway, but Blount said it did not appear to be suspicious.

Attorneys in the case of an Oakland man charged with the first-degree murder of a rural Cass County woman have filed motions for another continuance in the case. Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber and defense attorney Eric John Nelson filed their requests with the court Thursday, in the trial for 63-year old Robert A. Reynolds. Reynolds has plead not guilty to the murder charge. His trial was scheduled to begin Nov. 18th. A pre-trial conference is slated for 9:30-a.m. Monday.  If a continuance is granted by the court, it would be the sixth time the proceedings have been delayed.

Authorities say during the early morning hours of April 9th, 2014, Reynolds shot to death in his home, 64-year old Patricia Kinkade-Dorsey, a resident of rural Cass County.

During an interview with law enforcement, Reynolds allegedly admitted he and Kinkade-Dorsey had a verbal dispute inside his residence, and that he then left the area to locate a firearm which he allegedly used to fatally shoot Kinkade-Dorsey.

Three other people in the home at the time the incident occurred were not injured

A man from Union County was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home, following an incident of domestic violence. Creston Police say 29-year old Christopher Claybaker, of Creston, was taken into custody at around 4:30-p.m. on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault by Strangulation. Claybaker was being held in the Union County Jail while awaiting a bond hearing.

The Creston P-D reports also, a property located in the 100 block of south Sumner Street was vandalized. The homeowner reported on Nov. 3rd, that ceilings, walls, doors, flooring and lighting fixtures were damaged. The loss was estimated at $20,000.

And, on Thursday, the Creston P-D took a report of theft from a resident of a local apartment complex. The resident said someone entered the apartment at 219 north Maple Street and took an X-Box 360. The loss was estimated at $300.