(Radio Iowa) – An Iowan is now the holder of the “Order of the Gray Dragon” recognizing the person with the earliest entry date into the U-S Nuclear Weapons Program. Navy veteran Robert Mowry was given the award by the Navy Nuclear Weapons Association after the previous Dragon died. He told K-C-R-G T-V he didn’t know what he was getting into.

“I went into Special Weapons Unit 1233 in January 1953 from boot camp. Had no idea what a special weapons was. Gun that shoots around the corner? What? Had no idea,” he says. Mowry’s job was to inspect the atomic bombs, and he did it for five days a week for two-and-a-half years. He was never able to tell anyone about his service until 1996 with the repeal of the Nuclear Radiation and Secrecy Agreements Act. The president of the Navy Nuclear Weapons Association, Kris Hobbs, tells K-C-R-G T-V that those who worked on nuclear weapons are a dying breed.

“There’s a lot of stuff that’s going on here that they’ve received… radiation exposure and so forth—that the V-A is not recognizing it a lot. So it’s good for us to recognize the oldest one here,” Hobbs says. Mowry watched 17 atomic bombs explode in the Marshall Islands.  “You heard the sound wave come across….watch the mushroom cloud rise and disperse and see if it was going to flow over you,” Mowry says.

Robert Mowry. (KCRG TV)

Mowry is still here, grateful that so many friends and family came to celebrate his service.  “What I did was very unusual. There aren’t many people that did what I did…I’m very proud, very proud of my service,” Mowry says.

Mowry was presented the award this past weekend in Williamsburg,

(Radio Iowa) – (as previously reported) Four people were injured and one of them died after an EF-2 tornado tore through a good portion of Pottawattamie County. County Public Relations Manager Craig Carlsen says the town of Minden was the hardest hit.

“The conditions inside Minden are still very unsafe. We’ve got homes that are in the middle of roads, we’ve got, you know, a lot of debris to clean up and so we’re currently limiting access to Minden to residents only for the safety concerns, Carlsen says. Carlsen says they are working toward improving access. “We hope to open it up to more outside volunteers you know as things are cleaned up to a little bit more appropriate you know level,” he says.

Pottawattamie County tornado Friday. (photo courtesy of Terry Torneten)

Carlsen says the early warnings issued by the National Weather Service and the media–including a tornado emergency declared for Minden–prevented more storm casualties. “We really are blessed that it wasn’t worse to be honest with you as far as you know physical injury. To have just four storm related injuries given the amount of physical damage that came through our area and all of southwest Iowa really it’s pretty amazing,” Carlsen says. A curfew remains in effect in Minden from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. until further notice.

Carlsen says one of the biggest challenges facing response and recovery efforts is the influx of resources that haven’t been requested. “There’s no communicated need for food water or emergency housing we’re very grateful for that,” he says. “But as that is the case officials are currently you know asking that any donation currently is in monetary form to help those impacted.” Five communities were hit by the tornado, including western portions of Council Bluffs, northeast of Crescent, east of McClelland, southwest of Treynor and Minden. Approximately 300 homes or businesses in the county were damaged or destroyed, including 48 alone in Minden.

Donations can be made to the Southwest Iowa Emergency Relief Fund at givewesterniowa.org.

(Radio Iowa) – Emergency responders are stretched thin after Friday’s severe storms spun off at least 17 tornadoes in Iowa, damaging dozens of homes and claiming a life in Minden. Josh Murray, communications director for the American Red Cross – Nebraska-Iowa Region, says it was a massive storm system that left a tremendous amount of damage in its wake, in multiple counties.

“All the way from into Nebraska and all the way across through the Des Moines area and a little bit into eastern Iowa, so it’s been busy,” Murray says. “The focus right now is on getting some connections made with those who have been affected, getting them some relief supplies, cleanup supplies, and then setting up some casework that’ll help them get on the road to recovery, so, what are their needs going forward and how can we support those.”

(Red Cross photo)

The agency’s big white vans are known as emergency response vehicles, or ERVs, and they’ve all been deployed across the region. “We’ve been creative by using other vehicles that we have,” Murray says. “We have some vans and things like that we’ve loaded up supplies in to get people around. All of our emergency response vehicles are activated and out there but we’re getting creative and using all our vehicles as much as we can and making sure we can get to where we need to be.”

Many of the Red Cross emergency shelters that were opened in Nebraska and Iowa over the weekend have already closed. Murray says that’s a good thing as they’re designed to provide immediate relief for those who’ve lost their homes, and help them transition to something more permanent. For Iowans who’d like to help with the relief effort, Murray says there are several avenues.”Go to redcross.org/donate and make a donation. That would help us. That’s really the best way for us to address the needs,” Murray says. “Different areas need different things so instead of providing goods or something that might not be what that area needs, the financial donations allow us to be more flexible with what we need to address, what someone needs in this location compared to another location.”

Some Iowans may want to become more involved in helping their neighbors to bounce back from this — and future — disasters. “If you want to volunteer, you can sign up. I can’t guarantee you’ll be able to help this time, but you will be ready next time,” Murray says. “We have our trained volunteers out helping right now, but definitely, this will happen again and we’ll need more volunteers, so it’s definitely a good opportunity to consider where you can help for the next time.”

Donations can also be made over the phone by calling 1-800-HELP NOW.

(Radio Iowa) – Four people were injured and one of them died after an E-F-2 tornado tore through a good portion of Pottawattamie County. Pottawattamie County Public Relations Manager Craig Carlsen says the town of Minden was the hardest hit. “The conditions inside Minden are still very unsafe. We’ve got homes that are in the middle of roads, we’ve got a lot of debris to clean up and so we’re currently limiting access to Minden to residents only for the safety concerns, Carlsen says. Carlsen says they are working toward improving access. “We hope to open it up to more outside volunteers you know as things are cleaned up to a little bit more appropriate you know level,” he says.

Carlsen says the early warnings issued by the National Weather Service and the media–including a tornado emergency declared for Minden–prevented more storm casualties. “We really are blessed that it wasn’t worse to be honest with you as far as you know physical injury. To have just four storm-related injuries given the amount of physical damage that came through our area and all of southwest Iowa really it’s pretty amazing,” Carlsen says. A curfew remains in effect in Minden from 10 p-m until 6 a-m until further notice. Carlsen says one of the biggest challenges facing response and recovery efforts is the influx of resources that haven’t been requested. “There’s no communicated need for food water or emergency housing we’re very grateful for that,” he says. “But as that is the case officials are currently you know asking that any donation currently is in monetary form to help those impacted.”

Five communities were hit by the tornado, including western portions of Council Bluffs, northeast of Crescent, east of McClelland, southwest of Treynor and Minden. Approximately 300 homes or businesses in the county were damaged or destroyed, including 48 alone in Minden. Donations can be made to the Southwest Iowa Emergency Relief Fund at givewesterniowa.org.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – A Council Bluffs man was sentenced April 16, 2024, to 108 months in prison for Receipt of Child Pornography. According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, 20-year-old Ivan Dean Joslin pled guilty to Receipt of Child Pornography. In May 2023, Joslin met a thirteen-year-old minor in Council Bluffs, Iowa and exchanged phone numbers.  At his request, Joslin received over the internet sexually explicit images and videos of the minor.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Joslin is required to serve six years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by Council Bluffs Police Department.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc. / For information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the resources tab.