FROM KCCI: Child rescued from body of water near Altoona Hy-Vee. A young child was pulled from a pond in Altoona on Tuesday afternoon. The Altoona Police Department says officers were called to the Hy-Vee at 108 8th St. S.W. for a missing young child at about 3:20 p.m. About 45 minutes later, the child was found in a nearby body of water. ... READ MORE

FROM WHO-TV: Victim in downtown Des Moines federal courthouse shooting has died. An employee who suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the new federal courthouse in Des Moines has died. At around 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the Des Moines Police Department responded to a report of a shooting with a victim at the new courthouse located at 111 Locust Street. According to police, the victim was an employee at the courthouse and suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. ... READ MORE

FROM WOI: Bill restricting cellphone use in classrooms heads to Gov. Reynolds' desk. A bill that would restrict the use of cellphones in Iowa classrooms is just one step away from becoming law. The Iowa House approved an amendment to House File 782 on Tuesday, voting 92-4 to send the amended legislation to Gov. Kim Reynolds' desk for her signature. The approval comes as the House originally passed the bill in March, only for it to be amended and passed in the Senate. ... READ MORE

Clear Mortgage meteorology

Milder weather on the way. Occasional light rain chances during the first half of the day today and on Thursday. The weekend looks nice.

For help with pre-approvals or refinancing, get in touch with Originating Branch Manager Carrie Hansen at carrie.mortgage.

Woebegone Wednesday
 Vietnamese shrimp have become poster children of the trade wars. Peter Navarro, embattled hard-core Senior White House Counsel, uses them to illustrate "non-tariff cheating barriers." He thinks Vietnam, which holds the third largest trade surplus with the U.S., is dumping cheap shrimp on the U.S. market. Louisiana fishermen agree. Personally, I am stuffing frozen shrimp into my freezer. (See deals today below.) 

Garbage foods go literal. Just this year, at least a dozen companies’ products have been flagged as potentially containing what regulators often call “foreign objects,” according to notices posted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. That usually means metal, rubber and bits of permanent markers. (WSJ)

Deals today
• Table 128 (220 S.W. Ninth St., Des Moines) has a weekly special on coq au vin, wine braised chicken stew.  

• Noah's will host Italian-American Cultural Center of Iowa's first "Cicchetti Night" event, April 9, 5-8 p.m. Cicchetti are Venice's version of charcuterie boards, with more emphasis on seafood. $60. Buy tickets here.  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cicchetti-night-tickets-1243682932129

• Wednesdays bring steak night to Club 2000 (422 Indianola Road, Des Moines). Steaks are cooked to order with salad, potato and bread, $14.99.

• Angry Goldfish (2301 S.W. Ninth St., Des Moines) offers hot beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes and gravy for $11.50 on Wednesday. 

• Curbin' Cuisine (1325 S.W. Oralabor Road, Ankeny) offers traditional gyros for $7 Wednesdays. 

• Wine bottles are half price on Wednesdays at Trostel's Greenbriar (5910 Merle Hay Road, Johnston). 

• Barntown's (9500 S.E. University Ave., West Des Moines) Wednesday specials are a pound of chicken tenders with fries and two sauces for $11.99, plus $13 core pitchers of beer.

• Wednesday is Biryani Festival at Chowrastha (5910 Ashworth Road, West Des Moines). Buy two and a third is free.

• Kids eat free with every paying adult on Wednesdays at Chuck’s (3610 Sixth Ave., Des Moines).

• It's cavatelli night at Eastside Eddie's (3517 E. 26th St., Des Moines), served with garlic bread for $10.

• Bordanaro's (6108 S.W. Ninth St., Des Moines) has a Wednesday-Thursday only special on carryout pizza. They start at $6.50 for a 10-inch cheese pie. Each ingredient added is an extra charge, but this pretty much adds up to half-price pies.

• It's lasagna night at Maxie's Supper Club (1311 Grand Ave., West Des Moines).

• Panka Peruvian (2708 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines) has live jazz Wednesday. 

• Gilroy's (1238 Eighth St., West Des Moines) has fried chicken specials tonight.  

• Flying Mango (4345 Hickman Road, Des Moines) has prime rib night on Wednesdays.

• Kwik Stars' Wednesday special is eight pieces of fried chicken for $10. Their fried chicken is ridiculously good for a convenience store.  

• On Wednesdays you can get any burger, wrap or sandwich with fries for $9.99 at Tito's Lounge (3916 N.W. Urbandale Drive, Urbandale). 

• Day Ashworth plays Stuffed Olive at 6 tonight and Nola Jazz Duo is at Louie’s Wine Dive at the same time.  

• Jethro's have $9.99 breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches, including  side of choice, on Wednesdays. 

• Sugardale bacon is on sale for $2.99/pound, first of the season California strawberries at $2.50/quart, and frozen catfish nuggets for $2.49/pound at Price Choppers through Monday.

• Fresh Thyme (2900 University Ave., West Des Moines) begins a week-long sale on jumbo 16-20 frozen shrimp at $4.99/pound, lobster tails at $3.99 each and boneless legs of lamb at $7.49/pound today.  

— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com

1865: Robert E. Lee surrenders. In the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865, Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 Confederate troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War. Forced to abandon the Confederate capital of Richmond, blocked from joining the surviving Confederate force in North Carolina, and harassed constantly by Union cavalry, Lee had no other option. ... READ MORE

1886: Ulysses S. Grant arrested for speeding in his horse buggy, newspaper reports. On April 9, 1866, exactly one year after Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House—and decades before police officers would be pulling over speeding cars—the National Intelligencer reports that Ulysses S. Grant, Lieutenant General of the U.S. Army, had been pulled over for speeding in his horse buggy in Washington, D.C. ... READ MORE

1959: NASA introduces America’s first astronauts. On April 9, 1959, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) introduces America’s first astronauts to the press: Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper Jr., John H. Glenn Jr., Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Walter Schirra Jr., Alan Shepard Jr. and Donald Slayton. The seven men, all military test pilots, were carefully selected from a group of 32 candidates to take part in Project Mercury, America’s first manned space program. NASA planned to begin manned orbital flights in 1961. ... READ MORE

 www.history.com