Shocking update on the lowlife who killed a 5-month old infant by Starbuck

On Tuesday, a criminal complaint was released to the public stating that Dana Schoen's Blood Alcohol Level was .351 at the time of the crash when his 2005 Dodge pickup killed a five-month old infant and injured three other passengers in the 2008 GMC Acadia they were riding in.

Did you know?

According to recent statistics, over 173,000 people have died from drunk driving in the US in the past ten years.

If that's not an epidemic, I don't know what is. **Update on Tuesday night: during conversations between the SMSU athletic director and Brad Bigler at the Sioux Falls hospital, Bigler reported that his wife swerved to avoid Schoen's Dodge truck once she realized he was coming into their north-bound lane. Schoen then swerved again towards the Biglers' 2008 GMC Acadia, and the collision happened. The crash happened roughly one mile away from Schoen's home located south of Starbuck along Highway 29. On Monday this week, Schoen was charged with three counts of criminal vehicular homicide or operation charges by the Pope County Attorney's office. Unofficially, I have heard that he may see anywhere from three to 10 years of jail time. Don't quote me on that, though! According to the report from the crime scene by law enforcement officials, the entire passenger side of the Biglers' GMC Acadia sport utility vehicle was torn off and laying some distance from where the vehicle landed. The infant seat holding Drake was still inside the vehicle, but just barely, dangling from the seat belt. The first person to stop at the accident scene went straight to Drake's infant seat and attempted to stabilize it as well as Drake's head. Unfortunately, the severely violent trauma sustained by the impact of the Dodge truck was too much for Drake to handle. He is now an Angel with God.

Absolutely horrific

At 9:25pm on Saturday night, Dana Schoen drove his 2005 Dodge truck with alcohol in his system and killed a five-month old infant in a north-bound vehicle on Highway 29 south of Starbuck.

The accident took place near the intersection of County Road 41 and Minnesota Highway 29. A late-model GMC Acadia swerved to avoid Schoen's southbound Dodge truck but could not avoid a head-on collision. The front seat passenger was Brad Bigler, who is the head coach of the Southwest State University Mustangs men's basketball team in Marshall. Brad's wife Heather was driving, and Heather's mother was in the back seat along with the Bigler's five-month old son Drake.

Drake died at the Glacial Ridge Health System hospital in Glenwood from injuries sustained in the crash, which took place about one mile northeast of Schoen's home. Drake was born in February on the night that his father coached the SMSU Mustangs to an upset victory over then-nationally ranked St. Cloud State University in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament. The Mustangs advanced to the NCAA Division II tournament for the third time in school history under Bigler's leadership.

Schoen, who is 38 years old, has a record of driving drunk, with two convictions with incredible BAC levels in 2000 and 2004. Those convictions, on June 26, 2000 and December 8, 2004, included BAC levels of .28 and .27, respectively.

One thing in his favor is that he didn't kill any members of my family with his incredible disrespect for the sanctity of life. I'd be out for blood if that was the case. I have no problem with God showing mercy for him, because that's up to what God decides. That's no reason we have to show mercy.

May his soul burn in hell.

Saints fall in seeding game

At New Munich on Sunday afternoon, the Elrosa Saints lost a bid for the top seed from the Stearns County League-North division for the upcoming Region 15C tournament in a 5-1 loss to the Silverstreaks.

Now 8-7 in league games this year, the Saints will be the two seed from their division in the region tournament at Richmond. Their first game is at 1:30pm on Saturday, Aug. 4 against Paynesville. The Pirates finished as runners-up in the County Line League playoffs after losing the seeding game to New London-Spicer by a 4-1 score.

Other results in SCL playoffs saw: Richmond beat Farming; Lake Henry bumped St. Martin in a nailbiter 3-2; Spring Hill bumped Meire Grove 8-4.

Click here to download a PDF of the Region 15C brackets, courtesy of the Elrosa Saints official website:
http://www.eteamz.com/elrosasaints/files/2012Region15CBracket.pdf

SCL-North Playoffs, round two!

Elrosa travels to New Munich for a 1:30 contest on Sunday afternoon. On the line will be the #1 playoff seed for the Region 15C tournament.

The play of the game last Sunday! Kevin Kuefler tags out Shawn Schoenberg on a 2-4 throw from catcher Steve Mueller for the 2nd out in the bottom of the 9th inning.

Belgrade/Brooten 5th-6th grade team plays at K-M-S tourney

Two clips from the third game they played in today...the bats struggled a bit today but the Jaguars played hard in every game.

The Kerkhoven tournament was a nice "extra" day of baseball for the summer youth recreation teams from Belgrade/Brooten and Elrosa's programs. Elrosa faced one of the K-M-S teams in the championship game of the 5th-6th grade division. Belgrade/Brooten's 3rd-4th grade teams played in a tournament in Murdock.

Now sights are switched to the fall football season, which is not far away!

Stearns County Fair is underway!

The fairway started to pick up with traffic as Demolition Derby time approached.

Below, part of the Stearns County Fair 4-H Sheep Show, including Erin Anderson of the Northfork Livewires 4-H Club...
 

It's been a busy week wrapping up Sinclair Lewis Days coverage in Sauk Centre and then switching gears to the Stearns County Fair, which runs through Sunday. Tomorrow (Friday), the Belgrade/Brooten and Elrosa 5th-6th grade teams travel to Kerkhoven for a tournament. The wheels keep turning...


Click on the following link to see part of the first heat of tonight's Demolition Derby in Sauk Centre:
http://saukherald.com/main.asp?SectionID=94&SubSectionID=381&NewsVideoID=136

Good luck to the B-B-E U-12 fastpitch team in the playoffs

The U-12 team (last year's 5th-6th graders) for the B-B-E Jaguars faces Sauk Centre in a pigtail round game for their division playoffs on Tuesday night this week. They square off at Minnewaska Area's fastpitch softball complex at 5:30 p.m.

Below, a clip from the Jaguars vs. Lakers regular season match up last week at the elementary diamond... 
 

Clip from yesterday's Little League action in Sauk Centre

How about that! Final score in the SCL-North opener: Elrosa 1, Spring Hill 0

The Elrosa Saints won another baseball game by shut out today when the amateur baseball team traveled to Spring Hill and picked up a 1-0 win in the Stearns County League North division opener.

Way to go, Saints!

The Saints face New Munich on the road next Sunday (at New Munich) in the winner's bracket final of the SCL-North playoffs. Today's win earned them a berth in the Region 15C tournament in August.

Spring Hill hosts Meire Grove next Sunday in the loser's bracket. The winner of that game gets the final pass to Region 15C from the SCL-North division.

More will follow later.

Whew! Elrosa Little League team blanks K-M-S

In the championship game of the six team Sinclair Lewis Days 'Support the Troops' baseball tournament, the Elrosa Saints Little League blanked Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 7-0. On Saturday in pool play, Elrosa defeated Osakis 7-3 and then beat one of the Sauk Centre teams.

More to follow tonight.

Regular season ends for the Belgrade/Brooten 5th-6th grade baseball teams

Paris Mitchell races to first base after putting the ball into play against MACCRAY last night in Brooten for the Belgrade/Brooten 5-6 grade silver team. His efforts displayed what coaches preach to kids at that age, "run it out" even if it appears to be a routine ground ball play for the defense.

The Summer Recreation season is about wrapped up for the Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Community Education activities. It's always good to get the kids outside and give them fun, learning events to take part in. Bravo to all the parents and staff members of the B-B-E district who made these activities possible!
 

 

Action from Atwater last night in the 5th-6th grade baseball league

From the sixth inning...

B-B-E girls' basketball 6th graders earns consolation title at Sauk Centre tournament

The B-B-E sixth grade girls' basketball team lost a first-round game to Eden Valley-Watkins and then defeated Minnewaska Area and Pierz to earn fifth place in today's Sinclair Lewis Days tournament in Sauk Centre.

Below, a clip from the Minnewaska game...

Video clip from Sunday's amateur baseball game in Elrosa

Matt Middendorf hit an RBI-single in the bottom of the 10th inning to tie it 3-3 against Meire Grove...

More scenes from the Bonanza Valley Days baseball tournament

Jayden Miller fires a strikeout for the Belgrade/Brooten team against K-M-S on Friday morning...


And here's a link to my photo album at the Sauk Centre Herald from events on Saturday, including the Miss Brooten Pageant:
http://saukherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1502355&CategoryID=69413&ListSubAlbums=0

Elrosa Saints win 15-inning game

Austin Imdieke gets a high five from Steve Mueller after crossing home plate with the game-winning run today against Meire Grove. Mueller, B-B-E Class of 1995, is one of the team's veteran players, while Imdieke is in his first year on the Saints roster as a member of the B-B-E Class of 2013.

It took 15 innings, but the Elrosa Saints ultimately won a crucial game to end the regular season today over visiting Meire Grove.

With the game tied 2-2 at the end of nine innings, the game went into overtime as both teams displayed multiple great defensive plays to keep the action going. In the bottom of the 15th, Jonathan Olmscheid hit a high, arcing shot to left field that landed over the reach of Tanner Klaphake for an RBI-single. Pinch runner Austin Imdieke crossed home plate and the game was over.

Final score: Elrosa 4, Meire Grove 3.

Here's the photo gallery from the game (150+ photos):  http://saukherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1502619&CategoryID=69415&ListSubAlbums=0

Divisional playoff information will be posted later tonight. That picture will be drawn up tonight at a Stearns County League meeting. Stay tuned.

**Here's the playoff seeding for the SCL-North:
1 - Spring Hill
2 - New Munich
3 - Meire Grove
4 - Elrosa

In a coin flip for third place, Meire Grove got the nod over Elrosa. The Grovers face New Munich in the opening round next Sunday, while the Saints travel to Spring Hill in their division playoff opener.

 This Elrosa Saints amateur baseball update is brought to you by the proud support of:

New royalty crowned at Miss Brooten Pageant tonight

Click on the link to read the brief story with all the details at the Sauk Centre Herald website: http://www.saukherald.com/main.asp?SectionID=12&SubSectionID=49&ArticleID=14287

Here's the link to the video from the cornation:
http://www.saukherald.com/main.asp?SectionID=94&SubSectionID=381&NewsVideoID=128

(Herald video clip) Action from the Gary Fauskee Memorial Old-Timers tournament this afternoon

Here's the link: http://saukherald.com/main.asp?SectionID=94&SubSectionID=381&NewsVideoID=127

Click on this other link to read the full obituary for the late Gary Fauskee as published in the July 27, 2011 issue of the West Central Tribune: http://www.wctrib.com/event/article/id/83639

He is missed by everyone who knew him, especially his family.

Bonanza Valley Days is underway; Miss Brooten Coronation is tonight

A Brooten Fire Department squad is shown battling Glenwood in the semifinals; Brooten won to earn a face off with Sedan in the championship.

The Gary Fauskee Memorial Old-Timers Softball Tournament was a smashing success and drew an overwhelming crowd of players, friends and family to the Quisberg Park diamond this afternoon.

The Miss Brooten Coronation is tonight at 7:00. At 4:00 this afternoon a kiddie tractor pull was held on Main Street in front of the KaDe Shack. Photos and video from that will be posted later.

It's safe to say that the 2012 Bonanza Valley Days is going to draw another typically large crowd to Brooten, as it always does. The Grand Parade is Sunday afternoon at 1:30pm.
 

Don't miss out on the Boy Scout Troop 66 fundraiser on Sunday!

Musical entertainment at the Brooten Pavilion on Friday night

The Steffl Sisters, sponsored by Custom Duct and Lakeside Foods.


...and here's a link to a photo gallery from the Firemen's Chicken Feed at the City Park: http://saukherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1502213&CategoryID=69413&ListSubAlbums=0

Bonanza Valley Days baseball tournament brings plenty of action for the first day of the three-day weekend

Action between Elrosa's 3rd-4th grade team against Sauk Centre earlier this morning...

Here's the link to the photo gallery from today's baseball action: http://saukherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1501892&CategoryID=69413&ListSubAlbums=0

Brought to you by the proud support of: 
 

B-B-E Babe Ruth pounds Renville County West 20-4 to wrap up regular season

Adrian Belden pitching vs. RCW on Thursday night.

This B-B-E summer recreation update is brought to you by the proud support of:

Bonanza Valley Days is this weekend!

 

On Friday, the Bonanza Valley Days youth baseball tournament kicks off a full three days of events in Brooten. Games start at 9:00am and will be held at Quisberg Park, the elementary diamond and also John Sprank Park.

Bonanza Valley Days starts Friday! Click on the poster to see the full schedule of events

The Elrosa Saints lost a close battle to New Munich on the home diamond on Sunday to fall back to .500 in the Stearns County League North standings at 6-6 (third).

New Munich and Meire Grove are tied for second place at 7-5, and the Grovers visit Elrosa next Sunday for the last game of the regular season.

If Lake Henry knocks off New Munich next Sunday and the Saints beat the Grovers, it would force a three-way tie for second in the league standings. With New Munich beating Elrosa twice this season, they would hold the tiebreaker in that respect over the Saints, but if the Saints and Grovers end up at 7-6 each it may go to a coin flip to decide who gets the #3 seed.

Speaking of baseball, the Elrosa Saints Legion team hosts Meire Grove tomorrow night at 6:30pm.

The Elrosa Saints Little League team holds fifth place at 5-3 in the 11-team SCL standings.

An open house is this Saturday for a new dairy barn in rural Brooten

In a story I wrote about 2006 B-B-E graduate Shaina Kirckof's new dairy barn, I mistakenly said the open house is "Friday, July 7" when in fact it's "Saturday, July 7". Above is a poster I spotted at Jim's Grocery in Brooten to help promote the open house. Kirckof's youngest sibling, Daniel Kirckof, was a 3-sport Jaguar athlete and a 2011 graduate of B-B-E and is hoping to return home after college to help operate the family's dairy operation.

Happy Fourth of July! Come out to Terrace to celebrate

A "family fun night" is in store at Terrace on the Fourth of July, with a picnic beginning at 5:00pm at the Terrace Mill followed by family-friendly games at 6:30pm. Coffee and lemonade will be provided at the picnic.

Games at 6:30 include wheelbarrow races, three-legged races, shoe toss, sack races, turtle races, water balloon toss and an egg toss.

Also, be sure to mark your calendars for later in July when the Terrace Mill Theater Company presents the Children's Workshop I performance of Aesop's Musical Foibles directed by Julie Lloyd of Sedan.

Elrosa shuts out St. Martin, inches over .500

Steve Mueller was welcomed home after scoring against St. Martin tonight.

The Elrosa Saints improved to 6-5 in the Stearns County League North with a 3-0 win over St. Martin tonight on the eve of Independence Day. The game-winning run came across home plate in the bottom of the sixth inning when Pat Illies scored on Steve Mueller's RBI-double for a 1-0 lead. Brady Weller pitched the complete-game shut out in nine innings of work on the mound.

The Martins fall to 2-9 in the SCL-South standings.

Elrosa hosts New Munich in a battle for third place in the SCL-North division on Sunday at 1:30pm. The Silverstreaks are also 6-5 in the league standings. Division playoffs are a little over two weeks away.  

Pat Illies scores in the sixth inning in this video clip...  

This Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team update is brought to you by the proud support of:

Ethan Vogt is shown pitching while earning his final strikeout of the ninth inning today against Roscoe. He struck out the side.

The Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team earned a playoff berth with a 3-2 ten-inning win over visiting Roscoe today in a Stearns County League game. The Saints, now 5-5 in the Stearns County League-North division, host St. Martin this Tuesday night at 8:00pm on the eve of Independence Day.

Video from the game in the bottom of the 8th inning...Gumby was walked on one out to load up the bases...
 

Scores around the Stearns County League on July 1:
Spring Hill 14, Meire Grove 4 (7 innings)
Lake Henry 12, Farming 2 (Josh Roelike got the win on the mound)