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.

Robert Taylor's truck

Murder suspect Robert Taylor

Authorities in southern Iowa are on the lookout for a man suspected in a homicide case. Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety say the Ringgold County Communications Center in Mount Ayr received a 9-1-1 call just after 2-a.m. from 2339 – 280th Street in Mt. Ayr.  A juvenile inside the home called and reported a domestic altercation between 40-year old Robert Taylor,  and 45-year old Lori Yeager.  The responding deputies found Lori Yeager dead inside the home, the victim of an apparent homicide. Robert Taylor left the residence, and is actively being sought by authorities.

Officials say Taylor has an active arrest warrant on a charge of Murder in the First Degree.  He was last seen driving a copper (burnt orange) 2008 Ford F350 Super Duty truck with Iowa license 981 RZD.  Taylor is considered armed and dangerous.  Anyone with information concerning Taylor’s whereabouts is asked to call 911 immediately or the Ringgold County Sheriff’s Office at (641) 464-3921.

The Atlantic Police Department says one person suffered minor injuries during a collision Thursday evening at the intersection of 6th and Chestnut Streets. Officials say vehicles driven by Alisha Muzzy, of Elk Horn, and Christopher Crespo, of Atlantic, collided after Muzzy failed to stop for a red light at the intersection. The accident happened at around 6:40-p.m., Thursday. Muzzy was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital for treatment of her injuries. She was also cited for Failure to Obey a Traffic Signal. Damage from the crash amounted to $5,000.

Republican Congressman Tom Latham says he’s the “Clear choice” to represent the 3rd District in southern and southwest Iowa this November, against incumbent Democrat Representative Leonard Boswell. Latham told KJAN News it’ll “probably the clearest choice anybody’s had in a Congressional race, because of Boswell’s vote to approve bills which influenced the country’s debt crisis. He says Boswell supported the Wall Street bailout, stimulus spending,  Cap and Trade, the Presidents health care bill (commonly referred to as “Obamacare,” and Dodd-Frank, which Latham says will have an impact on local, small banks in rural communities, in a very negative way. Latham says he opposed all of those bills.

Latham says the government needs to cut spending. The Obama administration’s stimulus bill, he says, cost the country $1-trillion, and failed to deliver on benefitting the economy as promised. Latham says Boswell has sided with Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and continues “In lock-step” with the administration in making poor decisions on how to get the economy moving. Latham says he’s attended over 550 town hall meetings, listening to Iowans, and working on ways to prevent Washington “from dumping on us, here,” as far as coming up with regulations that hurt the local economy and impede business growth.

And, while advertising during the caucuses in Iowa were negative, and often featured personal attacks by the candidates, Latham says he won’t go down that path, unless he’s attacked. Latham says he has always “Run for an office, rather than against somebody.” He says he’s tried to tell Iowans why he wants to serve them and represent them in Washington, and talk about issues. He says during the last campaign, Boswell did not run one positive ad. Latham says “The idea of politics of personal destruction is ridiculous, because it doesn’t do anybody any good, and doesn’t let people know who you are, and what you stand for.” He says his ads will be issued-based, but he will reserve the option to respond appropriately, if he’s attacked on a personal level.