The Iowa Aviation Museum/Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame, in Greenfield, has announced Dr. Burns M. Byram and Philip Larry Turner are the 2020 inductees into the Hall of Fame. Biographies are included below. Nominations to the Hall of Fame are made by the public and selection is made by independent judges. Neither the Board nor employees of the Iowa Aviation Museum make nominations or selections.

Burns Maxwell Byram II was born June 1, 1924, near Chariton. After graduation from Toledo High School in 1942, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and participated in 30 missions over France and Germany during WWII as a B-24 navigator/bombardier. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Iowa in 1951. He and his family moved to Marengo where he began medical practice and was instrumental in establishing the hospital. He was named Family Physician of the Year in Iowa in 1961. After obtaining his private pilot’s license in 1954, he attained multiple ratings and acquired several aircraft including a P-51 Mustang, Tangerine.

Dr. Byram became a FAA Airman Medical Examiner and was a member of numerous aviation and professional organizations. He became known in Iowa as the “flying physician.” On June 4, 1978, Dr. Byram was killed, when a P-51 he was ferrying for a friend from Guatemala to the United States, crashed in Mexico. After funeral services at Marengo, his ashes were brought to Spring Hill Cemetery in Lucas County. His tombstone bears the image of a P-51 Mustang.

Philip Larry Turner was born in 1938 at Red Oak and grew up on a farm near Elliott. After graduation from Stennett High School, he attended Iowa State University and University of Nebraska, Omaha. After graduation, he enlisted in the US Marine Corps. He soloed in a T-34 on April 24, 1963 and began rotor wing training, ending with a helicopter solo in a Bell TH-13M on March 5, 1964. He was also trained to fly the Sikorsky UH-34D helicopter that he would eventually fly in Vietnam. He earned his Wings of Gold on April 28, 1964, and was deployed to Vietnam in August 1965.

First Lieutenant Turner flew Sikorsky UH-34D helicopters with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron Three Six Two, “The Ugly Angels,” until December 1966. He was shot down 8 times and awarded 29 Air Medals and a Purple Heart. In July 1967, he retired from the military and moved his family to Elliott. He began Turner Copter Services, Inc. doing crop spraying and later offered heavy-lift operations with a helicopter similar to the one he flew in Vietnam. In 1977, he purchased a Sikorsky S-58J. He did hundreds of jobs lifting equipment all over the Midwest, used his helicopters to transport entertainers and politicians, and flew into local hospitals as Santa Claus to visit sick children.

Larry’s flying continued until 2013 at an Ugly Angel Reunion in Oklahoma when he piloted for the last time in a refurbished Sikorsky UH-34D helicopter that he had flown in Vietnam. Larry Turner logged more than 20,000 flight hours in multiple aircraft and donated time and money to refurbish helicopters to be displayed in museums.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ Wednesday press conference on COVID-19. We will have live audio on KJAN as well with the presser set to begin at approximately 11:00 a.m.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines school officials will join with Drake University to build a $19.5 million stadium for high school and middle school sports. The city’s school board unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday to pay $15 million for construction costs, using sales tax revenue. Drake will donate land, pay remaining costs and be responsible for maintaining the stadium. It will be built near the university’s basketball arena. The 4,000-seat stadium will be the home field for four of the district’s five high school football teams and will be home for all of the district’s soccer teams. It also will be available for other school uses and middle school football and soccer games. Drake also will use the field for its soccer teams.

(Updated) – The Cass County Landfill and Recycling Center have issued a statement with regard to improper recycling in Lewis. The statement says “Over the last few months, we have seen a disturbing problem when we empty the recycling containers located in Lewis. An abundance of trash (That in no way could be confused as recyclable material) has been found in the bins. The most grotesque material” they said, “Has been human/animal feces and used toilet paper.” Landfill Manager Brandi Mericle says it’s been very frustrating.

When trash and biohazardous material is mixed in with the legitimate recycling, the entire load is contaminated and is landfilled. The bins are for RECYCLABLE MATERIAL ONLY. Brandi says it’s not just a problem in Lewis.

If trash and hazardous waste continues to show up in [The Lewis recycling containers, Mericle says the landfill “We will pull these bins from the Lewis Community. This is a drastic action that we would rather avoid, so we are asking for your help.” Another problem area is in the northwest corner of the Atlantic Shopping Plaza, where continued dumping of trash outside the bins puts that location at risk of being removed.

Brandi says people have asked why cameras can’t be installed to catch the violators.

(She said because that’s private property, the landfill has no right to set up cameras.)

It would be up to the property owner to install security cameras if they chose to do so. The only solution for Atlantic, she says, would be for the City to find a permanent location for the bins.

Mericle says if people are confused about what is recyclable material, call her office at 712-243-1991. And, please report illegal dumping to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office at 712-243-2206. Fines for the offense can range from $625 to as much as $3,000.

The Creston Police Department reports two people were arrested on drug charges, Monday morning. 30-year old Tonya Tindle, and 34-year old Michael Walton, both of Creston, were taken into custody at their residence at around 9-a.m. Tindle faces a Possession of Paraphernalia charge. She was released from the Law Enforcement Center on a Summons to Appear. Walton was charged with of Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd or Subsequent. He was being held in the Union County Jail on a $5000 Bond.

Late Tuesday morning, 36-year old Travis Woollums, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Union County Warrant for Theft in the 2nd Degree. He was released from the Union County Jail on a $5000 bond. And Tuesday afternoon, 29-year old Samuel McKinney, of Eldora, was arrested in Creston on two Hardin County Warrants for the charges of Failure to Appear on the original charge of Failure to Maintain Control, and, Operating While Under the Influence 3rd Offense. McKinney was released from the Union County Jail on $5,300 bond.