Last weekend I went to the Kingdom of Riverssance Festival in Sioux City and learned all about jousting.

I’d always wondered about jousting and, not being a huge fan of Renaissance festivals, was looking for something that interested me.

Writing a story is much easier that way.

Here are a few snapshots I took while reporting the story.

Grant Lolley, a South Dakota native and part-time knight, and Katie the Belgian mare take a break from giving horse rides during Riverssance.

Douglas, a percheron, is one of four “war horses” that Warhorse Productions of Sarasota, Fla., brought in to do jousting shows.

For those of you who asked, I’ve got bad news about Bubbles the bird-napped parrot.

Authorities looked, but recently said they have not found the white umbrella cockatoo stolen about one year ago from her cage in rural Sioux City.

Her owner believed the suspect or suspects had seen the bird at the house, which also contains a pet store called Zimmerman’s Pets.

If anyone knows where the bird is, they can still call the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office at 712)-546-8191.

Surprisingly, parrots appear to be a hot item to steal.

I wonder if she was taken by the same person who stole Gordo, a parrot who skateboards, from a cage in front of his California home in March.

Or Hercules, a parrot stolen a few years ago from a California pet store where he reigned as the official mascot.

But it isn’t all bad news. The New York Post reports Franklin, an 18-year-old African Gray, was returned in 2007 by street peddlers who had unwittingly bought the stolen bird.

Officials say Sioux City’s most famous yellow Labrador is still on the loose tonight, despite rampant rumors of his capture.

Jake, Councilman Aaron Rochester’s dog, has been missing since he was stolen Sunday from Sioux City Animal Control.

Jake was being held there on doggie death row after being ruled vicious for biting a neighbor in front of his house.

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The saga of Jake, Sioux City Councilman Aaron Rochester’s dog, gets more twisted by the day.

The yellow Labrador ran into trouble with the law in June after biting somebody in front of his house, then became the poster pup for a vicious animal ordinance that supporters of other breeds (pit bulls) have complained about since its inception.

Rochester and his family went through the city’s various processes with the dog, whose vicious designation was upheld, and Jake was sent to the dog version of death row at Sioux City Animal Control.

As many of you may already know, on Sunday somebody busted him out of jail. Today, the Journal is reporting Rochester says he sold Jake for $1  just before he was stolen.

You can’t make this stuff up.
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There’s been some interesting things in the Sioux City police log lately, dealing with a wide variety of situations – alcohol, pets, trampolines, flowers and, of course, petty crime of all kind.

None of them were big enough to warrant a story, at least not according to the information I received, but I thought you might find them interesting.

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For years, volunteers have placed approximately 3,000 American flags at the graves of veterans in Mount Hope, Port Huron Allied Veterans and Lakeside cemeteries in Port Huron, Mich.

For the first time anyone can remember (and I once talked to a woman who’d been placing flags for 75 years), someone — or something — was stealing those flags from graves in a section of the Mount Hope Cemetery.

Ruthlessly ripping them right off the pole.

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Here in the Siouxland, we know wind.

It causes tornados, damage from straight-line winds and sometimes blows semi tractor-trailer rigs over while they’re rolling down the highway.

But have you ever heard of a random gust of wind strong enough to blow away a family pet?

That’s what people say happened in suburban Detroit, Mich., where an elderly woman was heartbroken after her tiny Chihuahua, Tinker Bell, was blown away on Saturday.

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A Sioux City man charged with drunk driving had an unsual — and painful — excuse for not completing field sobriety tests.

According to court documents, Alfred James Nelson, 24, was intoxicated when he tried to flee police in his 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee at 1:13 a.m. on April 6.

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Pit bulls are on the receiving end of a lot of bad press and breed bans, but a much smaller dog is suspected of attacking someone Monday in Sioux City.

According to the Sioux City police log, offiers were called to the 2100 block of Jones Street for a report that a 6-year-old child was bitten at least twice by the neighbor’s dog.

No, it wasn’t a pit bull…or a doberman, rottweiler or bulldog.

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Some disturbing news is surfacing about the poor condition of 170 horses owned by a well-known horse breeder.

Blogs first reported that rescue groups were claiming to have rescued emaciated, lice-infested horses — either owned or formerly owned by Ernie Paragallo — from a kill lot awaiting shipment to a slaughterhouse.

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