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Marble Rock lottery winner has faced lots of recent adversity (audio)

April 26, 2010 By
Richard Koenigsfeld speaks with the media while holding a picture of his family.

Richard Koenigsfeld speaks with the media while holding a picture of his family.

A northern Iowa man is celebrating a run of good luck after a heartbreaking few months. 

Fifty-eight-year-old Richard Koenigsfeld of Marble Rock stopped by Iowa Lottery headquarters in Des Moines today  to claim a one-million dollar prize in the “Lifetime Riches” instant scratch game. Koenigsfeld’s wife Dian — who he referred to as “mom” — died of cancer in March.

Their 27-year-old son Gabe was killed in a construction accident last November.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

Libertarians nominate statewide candidates for ’10

April 26, 2010 By

The Libertarian Party held its state convention this weekend and nominated a slate of candidates in statewide races for governor, lieutenant governor and the U.S. Senate.

Forty-four-year-old Eric Cooper of Ames is the Libertarian Party’s nominee for governor.  Cooper says it’s time for a much smaller and vastly more limited government. He says government should be focused only matters that require a “use of force” — protecting people from body and property crimes, enforcing contracts when there’s a dispute and providing “public goods” the free market cannot provide, like roads.  

“But very little else does require force,” he says. “And having government perform any activities other than the limited set that require force is foolish because the govenrment’s a monopoly and like all monopolies it has very little incentive to please its customers and very little incentive to be cost effective.” 

Cooper, who is an Iowa State University psychology professor, admits he won’t be elected governor. ”I am a third-party candidate and as such I don’t have the money to compete with the Republicans and the Democrats,” Cooper says. “My goals are two in this election. Number one:  I want to start a real dialogue with my fellow Iowans about the notion of smaller government, a dialogue that I think the major parties have been very reluctant to have.”

Cooper’s second goal is to garner at least two percent of the vote in November so the Libertarian Party can gain “major party status” in Iowa.  Cooper’s ultimate goal, though, is to have Libertarian candidates win about 10 percent of the vote in each election.  He argues that will force Republicans and Democrats to adopt key Libertarian priorities as their own.

“This has been done in American history. The Populists did in the 1890s.  The Socialists did it in (the second decade of the 20th century),” Cooper says.  “They got everything they wanted without winning elections and we can do it, too.”

Cooper’s lieutenant governor/runningmate is 30-year-old Nick Weltha of Des Moines, an administrator in the Iowa Judicial Branch. Forty-six-year-old John Heiderscheit of Bettendorf if the party’s nominee for the U.S. Senate. In addition, Libertarian candidates are running for congress in Iowa’s first and second districts which are currently represented by Congressmen Bruce Braley and Dave Loebsack.

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Iowa National Guard soldiers will soon deploy on ag mission to Afghanistan

April 26, 2010 By

A team of around 60 Iowa National Guard soldiers is moving into final preparations to deploy on a year-long mission to Afghanistan. Iowa Guard Colonel Craig Bargfrede will lead the agricultural development team that’ll help rebuild the country’s agricultural system.

He says they will look at projects that are sustainable for the future and will work in a province in the northeastern part of Afghanistan, known as Kunar province. Bargfrede says guardmembers with an ag background were asked to volunteer, and then they chose the members of the team from the group.

“This is truly a unique effort, in that this is the first ever deployment from the Iowa National Guard that is a joint deployment — meaning that we have both Army and air guard members from Iowa on this team,” Bargfrede says. The team members have been getting some training from Iowa State University on the specific types of crops used in Afghanistan.

He says I.S.U. will provided “reach back” capability, so if they have questions on projects, they can reach back to Iowa State and get questions answered. Bargfrede says the Iowa soldiers will replace a team from California that take up the projects they started.

Bargefrede says the projects range from animal husbandry type projects, to crops to irrigation, to marketing and storage of the various crops and produce.

He says in many cases the crops grown by the Afghans are for their own use. Bargefrede says they want to create an ability for the Afghans to be able to export products and and make money on them. Iowa National Guard Sergeant Major, Robert Reedy, has been overseeing the initial training.

He says the team if from all over the state and the last few months they have really been focusing on building the team. Reedy says they have just completed the first phase of the Yellow Ribbon pre-mobilization plan, which helps explain the mobilization to the soldiers and their families. Reedy says while they are going on an agriculture mission, they are still soldiers and have to be prepared to protect themselves.

“We all know that Afghanistan is a very dangerous place and we bring a very robust security force with us from our M-P company here in Des Moines,” Reedy says. He says the training also focuses on the basic soldier tasks so they can protect themselves, and will also train to use the equipment in Afghanistan. The team will leave Iowa the end of June for additional training and then expects to be in Afghanistan by August.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Military Tagged With:

Missing eastern Iowa mushroom hunter found

April 26, 2010 By

An eastern Iowa man was found safe on Sunday after he disappeared while hunting mushrooms the previous night. At about 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Linn County authorities were called out to rural Springville on the report of a missing person.

Seventy-one-year-old David Stoneking went mushroom hunting south of his home and had not returned. Family, friends and emergency workers searched the area until about 4 a.m. Sunday, then postponed the search until daylight. The hunt resumed at about 7 a.m. and Stoneking was finally found in a field southwest of his home almost two hours later. Stoneking was in good condition and returned home.

Sheriff’s deputies say Stoneking told them he knew he had wandered off his property and was lost. He was cold and soaking wet and decided to cut open and sleep inside a hay bale. Stoneking had not taken his cell phone because it was raining and he didn’t want it to get wet.

By Roger King, KOEL, Oelwein

Filed Under: Human Interest

Jury sides with inmate in case against Scott County jail

April 26, 2010 By

A federal jury is siding with an inmate in her lawsuit against Scott County and its jail. The suit was filed by Lillian Slater, who went to jail January 25, 2006, on a bad check charge.

Slater says she was denied medical attention one day later when her sickle cell anemia flared up. In addition, she was confined by jail staff to a restraining chair on two occasions that day for a total of seven hours. The jury ordered Scott County to pay $35,000 for pain and suffering because officers used excessive force.

Two corrections officers also must pay $3,500 each. The Quad-City Times reports that defense lawyers called Slater a drug seeker who used manipulative behavior in an attempt to avoid being detained.

By Phil Roberts, Davenport

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

New buildings at Western Iowa scout camp dedicated

April 26, 2010 By

A ceremony was held over the weekend at the Boy Scout camp in western Iowa where a tornado killed four scouts in 2008. The tornado killed three Omaha boys and 14-year-old Aaron Eilerts of Eagle Grove, Iowa, in addition to injuring nearly 50 other boys and adult leaders and leveling much of the Little Sioux Scout Ranch.

The ceremony on Saturday was to dedicate several of the buildings at the Harrison County camp that have been rebuilt, all through volunteer labor and with donated supplies. It includes a storm shelter that can reportedly withstand winds up to 250 miles an hour.

The camp’s new ranger says he’s confident the new shelter will keep scouts safe, but he adds that he hopes it’s never put to the test by another twister.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Human Interest

Drake Relays director pleased with event

April 26, 2010 By

The 101st Drake Relays wrapped up Saturday afternoon. Saturday’s 45 straight sellout crowd avoided bad weather until the very end when the meet was suspended for about an hour by a storm that rolled through Des Moines. The meet featured more than a dozen new records and a lot of highlights according to Relay director Brian Brown.

He says the Lolo Jones race, and the men’s hurdle race, along with some of the high school performances. Brown felt the meet ran smoothly despite some issues with the weather on Friday and late Saturday. Brown says it’s a testament to the people working the relays, as they are able to make some decisions in bad weather to keep things running well.

Fans won’t have to wait long to see many of the competitors, again, as Drake Stadium will host the U.S. National championships in June. Brown says many of the elite athletes will make the junior nationals. Brown says it won’t be long until the planning begins for next year’s Drake Relays, as they start work immediately to get things going.

By John Martenson KGRN Grinnell

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,
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