The good

It’s time to put our rivalries aside. Fans of the Hawkeyes, Cyclones and Panthers are uniting under a new challenge, as the head coaches from each team work together to recruit mentors for Iowa’s youth in the “Coaches Mentoring Challenge.” The challenge serves to inspire new mentors to join during this football season, and 57 local coaches have already accepted. More than 553 Iowans have signed up, and more than 3,000 youth are in need of a mentor. New mentor applications are being taken through Nov. 30. The winner will be announced the week of Dec. 7. This serves as a great chance to band together as Iowans, no matter which team you support and bring home a win for our state and our kids. Go to www.volunteeriowa.org to learn more.

Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds are calling on Des Moines-area residents and all Iowans to join in a one-kilometer Healthiest State Walk coming up on Wednesday, Oct. 3, as one part of an effort to become the healthiest state in the nation. More than 291,000 Iowans from each county participated in the Healthiest State Initiative’s “Start Somewhere” walk in 2011. This year, many organized Healthiest State Walks will be held at noon on Oct. 3 but are encouraged to make it an all-day effort. Walkers can sign up for the event and find or create a local, organized walk at www.iowahealthieststate.com.

The bad

Here’s a tip: Don’t steal credit cards. If you do, at least don’t try to use it to make a purchase at a bar from the bartender the card belongs to. Such common sense was totally lost on 53-year-old David Weber of Miami Beach, Fla., when he allegedly broke into what he thought was a random car in a parking garage to steal what he thought would be a random credit card to fund his night of drinking. Fate worked its magic, as Weber later walked into The Clevelander to buy a drink. The bartender called police, and Weber was charged with credit card theft and fraud. Sometimes crime just doesn’t pay.

A Centerville mother has been charged with trying to kill her child on two separate occasions, according to news reports. Police said Kristina Kennedy-Maroney, 23, is charged with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of child endangerment after an ongoing investigation led cops to believe Kennedy-Maroney attempted to kill her then 6-month-old child in September 2009. She admitted to an investigator that she held her child’s face under water in the bathtub, and during another incident, she held a pillow over the child’s face in attempts to kill the baby because it would not stop crying and because her fiance would not help her with the child. Kennedy-Maroney is being held in the Appanoose County Jail awaiting trial.

The ugly

We’ve all fantasized about it, but you’d have to be either crazy or exceptionally pissed off to actually burn down the home of your in-law. Lesley Duckworth, 32, recently copped a plea in Polk County courts for allegedly setting fire to the basement of her mother-in-law’s Des Moines home. According to news sources, police were called to the house by Christenia Duckworth, 75, who owned the home where her son and daughter-in-law were also living. She claimed Leslie hit her in the back of the head after she asked Lesley to leave the house. Lesley did leave, but not until she allegedly set fire to the house, causing $20,000 in damages. She was charged with first-degree arson but pled guilty to a lesser sentence of arson in the second degree. She remains in Polk County Jail.

Jackie Chan may be able to make any object into a deadly weapon, but so can the occasional crazy ex-girlfriend. Florida resident, Brandon Fleming, was at his house with his 2-year-old son, when his ex-girlfriend, Jadian Hatfield, allegedly showed up with two men to take the boy. Fleming reportedly heard his son scream and ran to find Hatfield pulling him out the window, heading for a car. Fleming ran outside to pull his son from the car when his baby-mama pulled off Fleming’s own prosthetic leg and beat him with it. Then she reportedly whipped out a shotgun and took off with their son. Police caught up to her a short time later. She’s charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, domestic violence, battery, interfering with the custody of a minor and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. CV