A restored, vintage World War II era North American B-25N aircraft flew into Atlantic this (Thursday) morning. The plane is part of a pristine collection of fully operational, active aircraft and vehicles from World War II, at the Fagan Fighters WWII Museum in Granite Falls, Minnesota (http://www.fagenfighterswwiimuseum.org) The collection is owned by ethanol plant builder Ron Fagan, who was in Atlantic for a business meeting at the Elite Octane Ethanol plant currently under construction.

Ric Hanson/photos

Keith Woods who works for Fagan, Incorporated, is also connected to the Museum. He talked about the history of the type of aircraft that rumbled over Atlantic on its way to the airport. Woods says most were used for low-level strafing, but the one that came to Atlantic would also have been used on bombing missions.

The “Paper Doll,” as she is known, did not see action in World War II. He said it was built in Jan. 1945 and was used as a trainer-bomber, hence the designation TB-25. She got the name “Paper Doll,” because the nose-art in the day was typically “risque,” and the family wanted something with “reasonable” nose art. The aircraft that arrived in Atlantic has more modest nose art, that shows a woman in a red, one-piece bathing suit with a see-thru cape. The actual “Paper Doll” flew 125 missions in Europe.

The plane that came here, was built to commemorate the original “Paper Doll” and her crew, who flew those missions. The crew compliment was five or six, depending on whether the mission was for strafing or bombing. If it was equipped with a bomb sight, there were six crew members on board. Woods said the plane would have carried six, 500-pound bombs or 12m 250-pound bombs. She’s also heavily armed with .50-caliber machine guns, one in the nose, one on each side aft (waist guns), one in the tail, 2 .50-cal’s in the rotatable turret topside, and 2 each, .70-mm “Blister guns” on the forward section, under where the cockpit crew sit, on the left and right sides

The plane has two large, prop-driven Wright Cyclone R-2600 cubic inch displacement engines, with 14 cylinders each making 1,750 horsepower, each. Woods says those engines are very loud, especially on take-off, when they consume the most fuel. It burns 420 gallons of fuel per hour at take off, and while cruising consumes 165-gallons per hour. It can fly about 1,000 miles before refueling.

Bomb bay with fake bombs.

It cruises at about 230-miles per hour. This “Paper Doll” was rebuilt by nearly a dozen people in Chino, CA, over a period of about three-years. The Fagan Fighters Museum currently has 14 vintage aircraft housed in its hangars.

Give dad something he will always treasure this Father’s Day – quality time together. Take dad fishing and create memories that you can relive every time you’re together. “Fishing is a fun way to celebrate special family events,” said Joe Larscheid, chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Bureau. “Enjoy your time together in Iowa’s great outdoors without the stress of busy schedules and interruptions from mobile devices.”

Snap a picture of you and your dad fishing and enter it in the 2017 #MissionFishin Photo Contest. Find the complete contest rules at www.iowadnr.gov/missionfishin. Visit the Iowa DNR website at www.iowadnr.gov/Fishing for tips on making the most of your fishing trip this Father’s Day including what’s biting where, fishing maps and great places to fish close to home.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Officials say a northwest Iowa jury will resume considering its verdict Thursday in the murder trial of a Nebraska man accused of killing his estranged wife. Twenty-nine-year-old Rogelio Morales, of Hubbard, Nebraska, is charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors say he killed 21-year-old Margarita Morales on April 19, 2015, in his car near a Sioux City residence.

The case went to the jury Wednesday morning. Court documents say Morales told investigators a fight broke out when his wife told him she no longer wanted to be in a relationship and that she was seeing another man. Defense attorney Mike Williams said in his closing arguments that there’s no doubt Morales killed the woman but said Morales “is guilty of voluntary manslaughter, not murder.”

The Cass and Adair County Farm Bureaus are partnering with other ag organizations to put on Ag Adventure at the July 4th celebration in Massena. A highlight of the Ag Adventure is the Iowa State University “Conservation Station,” an engaging learning center that educates persons of all ages about the importance of clean water and healthy soil.

Visitors to the Conservation Station can partake in free, fun, hands-on activities and demonstrations. You can play the watershed game and learn how water flows in a watershed, as well as how all Iowans can make a difference for water quality. There’s a rainfall simulator, that shows how water can run off or infiltrate into surfaces, both in agriculture and urban environments. The water runoff and subsurface drainage is collected in jars to show how different land management choices can impact water and soil movement.

The Conservation Station is sponsored by the Water Rocks! and Learning Farms programs. The Station is one of just 10 stations that make up this year’s Ag Adventure, which allows attendees to meet local farmers and learn about agriculture through hands-on experiences. The event was successfully hosted last year in Greenfield, and moves to Massena this year.

The site will open immediately after the 4-p.m. 4th of July parade in Massena and remain open until 7-p.m. Many of the popular stations will feature live animals. Participants will be treated to home-made ice cream, once they’ve completed the adventure.

For more information, check out “Who’s your IA Farmer” on Facebook, or contact the Adair or Cass County Farm Bureau offices.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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AMES, Iowa (AP) – A jury has convicted an Ames woman of voluntary manslaughter for killing her husband. The Story County jury returned the verdict Wednesday against 36-year-old Candace Cummings in the second day of deliberations. Cummings was charged with first-degree murder for killing 36-year-old Harland “Jesse” Cummings. Prosecutors say she shot him as he slept.

Her sentencing is scheduled for July 17. Candace Cummings told investigators she killed her husband because of stress in their marriage and the years of abuse she’d suffered at his hands.

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst’s (R-IA) regional directors will hold traveling office hours throughout the month of July in all 99 counties in Iowa. Representatives from Senator Ernst’s office will be available in counties throughout the state to assist Iowans with problems or questions about eligibility involving issues like Social Security, veterans’ benefits, military affairs, passports, immigration issues, and other federal programs. The Senator herself will NOT be at the traveling office hours.

If you are unable to attend the traveling office hours and are seeking assistance with federal agencies, please visit Ernst.Senate.Gov to contact one of her offices or submit a casework request.

Locally, Ernst’s traveling office will be held in the following counties, dates/times/places…

Adair County: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM, Adair County Courthouse Jury Room (400 Public Square, Greenfield, IA)

Adams County: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM, Corning Public Library (603 9th Street, Corning, IA)

Audubon County: Tuesday, July 25, 2017, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM, Audubon Public Library (401 North Park Place, Audubon, IA)

Cass County: Thursday, July 13, 2017, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM, Atlantic Public Library Community Room (507 Poplar Street, Atlantic, IA)

Guthrie County: Wednesday, July 5, 2017, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM, Guthrie County Courthouse Public Meeting Room (200 North 5th Street, Guthrie Center, IA)

Montgomery County: Thursday, July 13, 2017, 12:30 PM – 1:30 pm, Montgomery County Extension Office Suite #2 (400 Bridge Street, Red Oak, IA)

Pottawattamie County: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM, Walnut City Hall (229 Antique City Drive, Walnut, IA).

Shelby County: Tuesday, July 25, 2017, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM, Harlan Public Library (718 Court Street, Harlan, IA)

A complete list of all upcoming dates can be found here:https://www.ernst.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/traveling-office-hours

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have been searching for the driver of a car that crashed into a family burial site that sits in the middle of a West Des Moines roundabout. The Des Moines Register reports police were dispatched to Huston Cemetery around 3:30 a.m. Saturday. The driver had abandoned the car, which had damaged the fence, landscaping and some headstones before coming to rest.

Huston Cemetery is named for James B. Huston, patriarch of one of the first families to settle in Dallas County. The city website says the first two people buried there were former slave girls with the last name of Harper who “died on their way to freedom.”

The once rural site has been overtaken by West Des Moines’ expansion. The city now owns the parcel.

A coin collection lost to a Sioux City man for 47 years is back with its owner thanks to the Iowa Treasure Hunt. The collection started by John Potash and his father was turned over to the state treasurer’s office as unclaimed property in the form of safe deposit box contents almost 15 years ago. That was after the original bank changed owners and no rent had been paid on the deposit box for some years. Potash found the lost property by searching the state treasurer’s website,

Potash says he had given up on ever finding the coin collection, until one night when he couldn’t sleep and he went to the Iowa Treasure Hunt website and found his name a couple of times. “And it said ‘contents of safe deposit box’ and I got excited,” Potash says, “not so much for the monetary value — this is like reuniting with my father.”

Potash’s own son Elliot was also on the list and received a check for previously unclaimed funds totaling 398 dollars. State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald says many other Iowans can find cash and items waiting for them if they check the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt website.

Fitzgerald says everyone should check their name because there are thousands of dollars that could be returned to people. More than 33 million dollars in unclaimed property is turned over to the treasurer’s department each year. Fitzgerald says the state is able to return about 60 per cent of it by getting a name and address from residents. The website is GreatIowaTreasureHunt.gov.

(Radio Iowa)