February 23, 2012

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Man accused of running down officer at the State Fair is found guilty

February 21, 2012 By

Officer Tran

It took a jury less than three hours to deliver a guilty verdict today in the case of a man who was driving drunk and hit a Des Moines police officer outside the Iowa State Fair last year. Keith Terry, a North Carolina resident, now faces up to seven years in prison.

Terry was found guilty of serious injury by vehicle and driving while intoxicated. The August 19th incident left Officer Phoukham Tran with serious head and internal injuries.

Polk County Attorney John Sarcone believes the evidence in the case weighed heavily in the prosecution’s favor. “I think the verdict the jury rendered was the correct verdict given the facts and circumstances,” Sarcone said. “Certainly, Phoukham Tran, he’s a wonderful person and to see what happened to him is very upsetting because he was doing his job that night, protecting people, and he ends up almost dying as a result of what happened.”

The 52-year-old Tran spent five months in hospitals and rehabilitation centers before returning home last month. Authorities said Tran was thrown 47 feet when Terry ran a red light and struck the officer – who was directing traffic outside the fairgrounds. Breath tests showed Terry had a blood alcohol level of .264, more than three times the legal limit.

Sarcone said he wasn’t surprised Terry sought a jury trial. “Mr. Terry has a right to a jury trial like anyone charged with a criminal offense. So, he exercised that right and that’s fine,” Sarcone said. “We’re willing to try those cases and the jury came back with the proper result.”

Terry’s defense lawyer argued during the trial that the collision was an accident.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, News Tagged With:

State fair visitors seek “Stop, Drop and Roll” record

August 22, 2011 By

Hundreds of people took part in a world’s record-breaking event at the Iowa State Fair on Sunday afternoon. The fairgrounds’ grand concourse in Des Moines was filled with just over 1,500 people, all in red t-shirts, taking part in the “Stop, Drop and Roll” fire safety demonstration — the largest ever.

Iowa Hawkeyes’ sportscaster Gary Dolphin emceed as everyone simultaneously performed the maneuver you’re to go through if you’re exposed to fire. It’s expected to take a few weeks before Guinness officals verify the new world’s record. The current record involved about 600 people in Indiana.

The Iowa event had 1,519.

See the video here:www.dps.state.ia.us/commis/pib/Releases/2011/StopDropRollH264.mov

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Human Interest Tagged With:

Fair Queen finds job keeps her busy

August 20, 2011 By

2011 Iowa State Fair Queen Paris Schnepf.

It’s been a wild ride for a teenager from northwest Iowa in Des Moines this week. Radio Iowa’s Pat Curtis tells us about 2011 Iowa State Fair Queen Paris Schnepf:  2011 Queen :51

Paris Schnepf, a 17-year-old senior at Spalding Catholic High School in Granville, was crowned the 2011 Iowa State Fair Queen one week ago, beating out 100 other contestants.

Since then, the first State Fair Queen from O’Brien County has enjoyed superstar treatment – signing autographs for little kids, landing backstage passes to grandstand shows and taking in free corndogs and funnel cakes.

Schnepf is loving her time in the spotlight. “It’s so much fun. You get to see so all the odds and ends of the fair I’ve never seen before,” Schnepf said. Paris is the daughter of Richard and Sharon Schnepf. She plans to attend a four year university and pursue a career in the music business.

“My favorite thing to do is song write and compose my own songs,” Schnepf said. “I play guitar and sing. I play piano, alto saxophone and the mandolin.” Paris will return to Granville with her crown, sash and a $2,800 scholarship. She’ll also have a few duties over the next year as State Fair Queen.

That’ll include speaking engagements, attending Fair Board meetings and serving as a representative for the Iowa State Fair. Paris is on the cross country, basketball and softball teams at Spalding Catholic. She also serves on the student council and is on the National Honor Society.

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

Iowa State Fair says its grandstand different than one that collapsed in Indiana

August 15, 2011 By

This weekend’s deadly collapse of the grandstand stage at the Indiana State Fair has music lovers wondering about the safety of the Iowa State Fair stage.

The collapse in Indianapolis on Saturday night killed five people and injured more than 40. The Iowa State Fair is underway now with a host of events planned in the grandstand.

Iowa State Fair, spokeswoman, Lori Chappell, says the Des Moines stage is secure. “The big difference between the stage at the Iowa State Fair and the Indiana State Fair is, theirs is a temporary stage, aluminum riggings and very temporary in nature,” Chappell says. “Ours is a permanent stage. People have seen it out there more than 15 years. It’s well-constructed. It’s steel and wood. It’s solid.”

The country band Sugarland was about to take the stage in Indiana when 60- to 70-mile-an-hour winds hit, knocking down the structure on the crowd. No one in the band was hurt. Sugarland was supposed to play at the Iowa State Fair on Sunday night, but that show was cancelled.

“The equipment for the band was on the stage when all of this happened and so they are without equipment,” Chappell says. “Even if it was not damaged, they can’t get to it because the investigation is underway. There’s no access to that stage area. Beyond that, the band witnessing such a tragedy…I’m sure they’re in a state of recovery as well.”

Refunds are being offered for people who had tickets to Sunday night’s show. There’s racing at the Iowa State Fair tonight. The next concert at the grandstand is scheduled for Tuesday night with the Doobie Brothers and Kansas. See the video from the Indiana fair here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRkdwrmzYXg&feature=share

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

New law allows “craft beers” at Iowa State Fair

August 13, 2011 By

Beer enthusiasts are enjoying one of the new attractions at this year’s Iowa State Fair.

The Iowa Craft Beer Tent features 13 breweries from around the state and 36 different beers on tap. Scott Carlson, who co-owns the Court Avenue Brewery in Des Moines, helped set up the tent on the fairgrounds.

“It’s been a long time coming for Iowa to actually have the state’s breweries represented at the State Fair,” Carlson said. The Iowa Craft Beer Tent is located a short distance from the Iowa Wine Tasting tent. Carlson credits a change in Iowa law a couple years ago for the boom in new breweries in the state.

The law adjustment allowed Iowa beer makers to begin brewing varieties with higher alcohol content. Carlson says that gave Iowa breweries the ability to better compete on the national level.

“When we had to be under five or six percent (alcohol content), we could only make about a third of the styles across the country. Now we can make almost all (the beer styles),” Carlson said.

“So, all of the sudden, folks that were into brewing and wanted to compete across borders can now compete with Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska, Missouri and the rest of the country.”

Each of the 13 Iowa breweries featured in the Iowa Craft Beer Tent brought several different styles of beer. Carlson says fairgoers can test everything from lighter drafts to beers with “very high” alcohol content. “So if somebody is a brand new craft beer drinker, they’ll be able to try a beer that may be palatable to them for the very first time,” Carlson said.

“We have some malty beers, some very hoppy beers, some lower alcohol beers and some higher alcohol beers. So, when that fairgoer comes, they can really get an idea of what we have to offer.” There are a couple options for fairgoers who make a beer purchase at the Iowa Craft Beer Tent and both cost $7.

Those options involve one 16 ounce beer or a five ounce cup that can be used to sample three different varieties of beer. There’s also Iowa brewed root beer for sale. Brewery representatives are presenting seminars in the tent at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. each day during the fair. Musical acts from Iowa are also featured nightly on the Iowa Craft Beer Tent stage.

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With: ,

Special butter sculpture draws crowd at the Iowa State Fair

August 11, 2011 By

People gather around to see the special butter sculpture at the Iowa State Fair.

A massive sculpture made of more than 1,200 pounds of butter was unveiled this morning as part of the opening ceremonies for the 2011 Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. It’s located in the Ag Building near the famous life-sized butter cow which has now been part of the Fair for 100 years.

The Fair’s “butter cow lady,” Sarah Pratt, also created the surprise sculpture which includes a cow and a young boy teaching a calf to nurse. It’s placed on a turntable so the entire sculpture rotates 360 degrees.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Agriculture, Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

Secret butter sculpture to be unveiled as Iowa State Fair opens

August 11, 2011 By

"Butter Cow Lady" Sarah Pratt

A well-kept secret will finally be revealed this morning shortly after the opening ceremonies for the 2011 Iowa State Fair. A large sculpture made of butter will be unveiled at 9 a.m. along with the usual butter cow display.

Sarah Pratt of Norwalk has been the Fair’s “butter cow lady” since 2006. She’s refused to give any hints as to what she’s created in addition to the cow, but she told Radio Iowa it’s the biggest butter sculpture she’s ever made. “It’s probably the biggest in the sense of how much butter it’s taking. I’m guessing close to 1,250 pounds of butter,” Pratt said.

This year mark’s the 100th anniversary of the famous butter cow being part of the Iowa State Fair. The cow is often accompanied by another butter sculpture, but this is the first year it’s been kept as a secret until the first day of the Fair.

Pratt admits she’s struggled with the project, mostly because she’s using some different butter. “It hasn’t been quite as worked as the other butter I’ve had for seven years, so it’s been a little bit of a challenge to get that into a more clay-like substance,” Pratt said. “It’s slowed me down a little bit, but without that extra butter, I would not be able to complete the project.”

Pratt’s putting a lot of work into this year’s butter sculptures. She started three weeks ago, working up to eight hours or more a day – six to seven days a week. That work is done in a cooler that stays at a temperature of 42-degrees. Any colder, Pratt says, and the butter gets too hard to mold. Any warmer, it melts.

The 34-year-old Pratt learned the craft of butter sculpting from Norma “Duffy” Lyon – who served as the Iowa State Fair’s “butter cow lady” for 45 years. Lyon died of a stroke in June of this year at the age of 81.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Human Interest Tagged With:
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