(Clarinda, Iowa) – Officials with a precision ball bearing manufacturer based in Japan, have announced their facility in Clarinda will be closing at the end of March, 2025. Thursday’s news about the closing of the NSK–AKS plant means the loss of 54 jobs associated with the plant, according to the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, website.

Clarinda’s AKS plant primarily manufactures ball bearing components for the automotive and industrial markets. Company officials say many of the markets served by AKS have moved offshore, thereby reducing the manufacturing demand for domestically-produced products.

Clarinda NKS plant (Photo from the company’s website)

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – A Shenandoah man was sentenced today to seven years in federal prison for receipt of child pornography.

According to public court documents, 34-year-old Evaristo Hernandez Flores Carnes uploaded images and videos containing child sex abuse material to a social media application. Law enforcement executed search warrant at Carnes’s residence and seized a cell phone that was later found to contain images and videos of child sex abuse material.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Carnes will be required to serve a five-year term 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 the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), DCI Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Shenandoah Police Department, and Federal Bureau of Investigations.

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.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – Two Council Bluffs men were sentenced for their roles in conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl in the Council Bluffs metropolitan area:

• Douglas Marqueis Louis, 45, was sentenced on August 28, 2024, to a 210-month prison term; and
• Nikolas Alan Koebel, 27, was sentenced on September 20, 2024, to a 100-month prison term.

According to public court documents, in December 2023 during a search warrant a Louis’s Council Bluffs residence, law enforcement located more than three pounds of methamphetamine, more than one pound of marijuana, more than an ounce and a half of cocaine, and more than $13,000 cash. Some of the cash at Louis’s residence came from a controlled purchase of fentanyl that law enforcement made from Koebel. In total, law enforcement arranged six controlled purchases of fentanyl from Koebel.

After completing their terms of imprisonment, Louis and Koebel will each be required to serve a five-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – A man from Cass County (IA) was sentenced today (Friday) to 14 years in federal prison for possessing a distribution quantity of methamphetamine.

According to public court documents, 38-year-old Derek Allen McDermott, of Atlantic, was found in possession of distribution quantities of meth during two traffic stops in October 2023 and December 2023. McDermott has two state convictions for possession with intent to deliver meth.

Derek Allen McDermott (Pott. Co. Jail photo from 3-4-24)

After completing his term of imprisonment, McDermott will be required to serve a five-year term 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 the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, and the Iowa State Patrol.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – A Council Bluffs man was sentenced on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, to 8 years (96 months) in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a felon.

According to public court documents, Marshon Lamarr Johanson, 30, shot his dog after it reportedly bit him. In August 2024, Council Bluffs Animal Control went to Johanson’s house to check on the welfare of the dog. Johanson was uncooperative. The Council Bluffs Police Department returned a few days later with a search warrant. The dog was found dead in the basement. A Ruger handgun and loaded magazine were found in the bedroom of the residence. Johanson was convicted of animal torture in the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County and sentenced to a 75-day suspended prison term.

In 2015, Johanson was convicted of burglary and aggravated robbery in Texas, and, in 2022, Johanson was convicted of two felony assault charges in the Nebraska District Court for Douglas County. As a result, Johanson is prohibited from possessing firearms.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Johanson will be required to serve a three-year term 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 Animal Control, the Council Bluffs Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

(Radio Iowa) – After push-back from residents who raise AND race homing pigeons, the Storm Lake City Council has hit pause on a proposal that would have allowed no more than 10 pigeons to be kept at a single property. At a city council meeting this week, a woman told the council her family sometimes has up to 80 pigeons.

The family’s racing pigeons are banded and she said the birds spend most of their day in the coop.

Storm Lake officials say they’ve fielded complaints about the family’s pigeons flying around the neighborhood. Storm Lake’s mayor says the council may convene a working group to make changes in the proposed ordinance that’s been tabled. The policy would have set time limits on when pigeons could be released in Storm Lake for exercise or for racing. The sport of pigeon racing started in Belgium in the 19th century and became popular in Great Britain and other parts of Europe. The American Pigeon Racing Union says there are 700 clubs around the country, with races for the birds that are between 100 and 600 miles.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s bumper crop of buzzing cicadas this year may lead to a population boom in another, much-smaller insect known as the oak leaf itch mite. St. Louis-area entomologist Tad Yankoski says the mites are tiny, but there are many, many millions of them emerging in Missouri, and Iowa could be next.

Unlike mosquitoes, these weensy mites don’t seek people out, but he says if they find you, you’ll know it.

Those mite bites can leave annoying welts that might persist for days or even weeks.

Cicadas (Photo by Ginny Mitchell at Iowa State University’s Insect Zoo)

Cicadas can grow one to two inches in length, and they’re insect giants compared to these mites.

Iowa saw emergence’s of both the 13- and 17-year cicada broods this spring, with large populations in both northeast and southeast Iowa.

[Council Bluffs, Iowa] – Persons impacted by April storms and June flooding in Pottawattamie County now have access to enhanced capabilities within the Iowa Disaster Case Advocacy Program (DCA). The DCA program addresses serious needs related to disaster-related hardship, injury, or adverse conditions. Disaster case advocates work with clients to create a disaster recovery plan and provide guidance, advice, and referrals to obtain a service or resource. There is no cost for this service or to connect with available resources.

Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management has approved this local request for enhanced support to residents impacted by disaster. “Our state partners are providing experienced case management staff that can provide support and guidance for those struggling through the recovery process,” said Doug Reed, Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Director. Reed says, ” This is a valuable resource for anyone impacted that still has needs or feels lost in the process; take advantage of this free service.”

Impacted residents in Pottawattamie County can start applying for this program now. In the near future, announcements will be made where you can also visit a DCA Specialist and other resources in person.

How to Apply for the Disaster Case Advocacy Program
· Call 515-675-1884
· Online at https://homelandsecurity.iowa.gov/disasters/individual-disaster-assistance-programs#disaster-case-advocacy-dca

Eligibility
· No income restrictions and there in no cost to the individual
· Household has disaster related needs that represent a burden that is unable to be resolved
· Household members are citizens or legally residing in the United States

For more information on disaster-related programs and resources available to Iowans, visit DisasterRecovery.iowa.gov.

Online Resource and Information Links
Pottawattamie County Emergency Management

Share Iowa Emergency Relief Resources

Iowa Disaster Case Advocacy Program

Iowa Disaster Unemployment Assistance

Iowa Legal Aid Disaster Relief Project

USDA Rural Development Disaster Assistance

Disaster Recovery Farm Interest Program

Flood Cleanup Resources

Health & Human Services Disaster Assistance

Iowa Disaster Housing Programs

Get connected to assistance for your ongoing and long-term disaster recovery needs by completing the online
Pottawattamie County Needs Assessment Survey.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson says she understands the angst TikTok users have about the looming U-S ban of the app, but Hinson says the law congress passed gives Chinese-owned TikTok a way to keep operating in the U-S. “That bill recognizes and puts into place, I think, a very fair path that allows them to make the right decision here, to divest their spy tool on millions of Americans’ phones,” Hinson says, “and they can sell it to an American company, they can sell it to a country that’s not one of our adversaries, but that’s what has to happen.” If TikTok doesn’t those steps, the nationwide ban on the app is set to take effect January 19th. TikTok has sued, arguing the right to free expression outweighs other concerns. The U-S Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. heard the case this week. Hinson, a Republican from Marion, is a member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

“I’ve had many conversations with folks in the district who are concerned about having a platform to get out and get their message across,” Hinson says. “I feel that. I’m one of those who uses lots of platforms to get my message across, but what I think is important is we have to balance making sure we have that avenue in a private company with national security threats.” Hinson says TikTok already exhibited concerning tactics in its lobbying effort before congress voted on it this spring. “We saw what they did when they mobilized that app…They wouldn’t even let you log in unless you called your representative,” Hinson said. “What if, on Election Day, they say to all their millions of users, ‘Oh, you know what? We’ve received word that elections are cancelled today. Stay Home.’ This could be a tool that they could use for election interference, not mention to mention a tool that they are using to control the algorithm and what people are seeing.”

170 million Americans are on TikTok, including former President Donald Trump. Trump, who owns Truth Social — a social media platform, has said it’s important to maintain TikTok as a competitor of Facebook. In mid-2020, Trump called for banning TikTok in the U-S, but this spring Trump said a ban is not necessary because national security and data security issues can be resolved if TikTok’s U-S managers cut ties with its Chinese owner. In December of 2022, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds banned state agencies from using TikTok due to the national security risk.