FROM KCCI: Petition with 800 signatures delivered to Iowa State Patrol demanding end to ICE Task Force program. A petition with 800 signatures was delivered to the Iowa State Patrol’s Cedar Rapids office Wednesday morning, KCRG reports. It demands the state cancel its voluntary 287(g) ICE Task Force program, which allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement to delegate work to local law enforcement, like the Iowa State Patrol, who can then act as ICE agents. ... READ MORE

FROM WHO-TV: DMPD releases photos of vehicle that may be linked to deadly hit-and-run crash. Police in Des Moines are asking for help to identify a vehicle and driver that could help move the investigation into a deadly hit-and-run crash forward. The Des Moines Police Department released photos of the vehicle taken from surveillance cameras. Police say the vehicle and whoever was driving at the time could have valuable information in the death of David Molina Ramirez, 62. ... READ MORE

FROM WOI: Clive PD receives PETA award for saving duckling. A Clive police officer can add another feather to his cap after earning recognition for his "kindness and determination" when rescuing a baby duck earlier this month. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) honored the Clive Police Department with the Compassionate Police Department Award on Tuesday after officer Gage Hawk saved a duckling stuck inside a sewer drain on May 2. ... READ MORE

Clear Mortgage meteorology

Northern Iowa will see an early morning and a possible evening round of rain on a windy day today. Cooling after. Another rain chance Monday and Tuesday.

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

Des Moines Metro Opera - volunteer opportunities
To ensure another successful season, Des Moines Metro Opera needs you! Organizers are in search of a few more volunteers for the 2025 Festival Season, including:
• Ushers: Help direct patrons to their seats at the performance.
• Male Supernumerary for “The Flying Dutchman”: Assist in moving set pieces, props, while onstage in full costume during each of the opera's seven performances.
• Part-time Child Supervisors for “The Cunning Little Vixen”: Responsible for supervising child performers during rehearsals and performances between June 12 and July 20.
• Offstage Chorus Tenor for “The Flying Dutchman”: Sing in the offstage chorus for rehearsals and performances between June 9 and July 20.
• Light-walkers: Stand onstage while our lighting team focuses and adjusts cues for the upcoming production — it's a great chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at the magic of opera, and they even encourage you to bring a book for the quieter moments.
Email info@dmmo.org to sign up as a 2025 Festival volunteer. Volunteer form link:

Joust Evolution at Sleepy Hollow RenFaire
May 17-18. Iowa’s only permanent Renaissance Festival village.

Optik interactive installation comes to Cowles Commons in May
An interactive installation featuring 20 6-foot-tall gyroscope-like forms is coming to Cowles Commons through May 26. The installation invites users to manipulate the movement and reflection of light, while each unit becomes a different musical instrument. Part of Des Moines Performing Arts outdoor events free programming for families.

Final weekend for Des Moines Playhouse – Kate Goldman Family Theatre. “Alice in Wonderland.” Through May 18. 

— John Busbee, The Culture Buzz

Medicine is the softest of all sciences and nutrition is the melted margarine of medical science - case 101.

Breakfast conundrums are the current battleground for nutrition's zealots, mainly because so many people are skipping it now. Nearly a quarter of people between 20 and 39 skip breakfast, while overall 15% of U.S. adults do, according to federal data. Mostly they do this in hopes of losing weight. The Sunni wing of nutritional dogma preaches that breakfast is overloaded with calories and should be taboo. It is overloaded, if by breakfast you mean sugary pastries. But plain yogurt with berries is not. Surprisingly, or not, some of the federal studies casting doubt on breakfast’s weight-loss benefits didn’t take details like that into account according to Wall Street Journal. The Shiite wing insists that a healthy breakfast discourages late night binge eating and should be encouraged to help lose weight. Their imans add that breakfast contributes about 21% of a U.S. adult’s daily calories, but provides 42% of vitamin D and 30% of vitamin A, iron and folate, according to a committee of scientists advising the U.S. government on its next round of dietary guidelines — the much discredited food pyramid. Buddha, no zealot, had this nutritional advice: "All things in moderation, nothing in excess." In your face zealots.
 
Deals today
• Ruth's Chris (Ashworth Road at Jordan Creek Parkway) has a Thursday special with their decadent RBAR burgers going for $16. 

•  Steak specials: Sirloin steak dinners are featured specials today at Sully's Irish Pub (860 First St., West Des Moines); Front Row (9956 Swanson Blvd., Clive); Winn’s Pizza and Steakhouse (122 W. Ashland Ave., Indianola), and Hy-Vee Market Grilles. Gilroy's has both sirloin and NY strip specials. The Station on Ingersoll (3120 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines) has a ribeye special on Thursdays. 

• Thursday nights, Moroccan couscous — lemon chicken, beef keftas, five vegetables, harissa — are $17 at Purveyor (505 E. Grand Ave., Des Moines).

• Sprockets (2314 University Ave., Des Moines) offers a breaded pork tenderloin special on Thursdays for $9.99 

• Kids eat free at Scornovacca’s (1930 S.E. 14th St., Des Moines) on Thursdays

• Mariscos El Pirata (6050 S.E. 14th St., Des Moines) offers $2 off all sushi on Thursdays 

• Chuck's (3610 Sixth Ave., Des Moines) has karaoke tonight from 6 p.m.

• ShortE's BBQ (8505 Chambery Blvd., Johnston) has $1 smoked wings Thursdays.  

• Jethro's Thursday special is a pound of boneless "wings" for $8. 

• Bevy’s Tavern (1300 50th St., West Des Moines) has a special of beef stew and cornbread Thursdays for $13.   

• Amruth Indian Grill (9974 Swanson Blvd., Clive), a recent Tuesday Tout, offers an all-you-can-eat dosa (gram/rice flour crepes) buffet on Thursdays 5:30-9 p.m. $18.95.  

• Destination Grille  (2491 E. First St., Grimes) has a "Comfort Thursday" special chicken fried De Burgo, a gluten free spin on DSM's classic. $16

• The Dam Pub (2710 Beaver Ave., Des Moines) has a throwback Thursday special goulash with garlic toast.  

• The Continental, (407 E. Fifth St., Des Moines) has $7 loaded fries on Thursdays. 

• Aldi is selling mangos for 69 cents, mini avocados for $2.89/six pack and chicken wings for $2.29/pound through Tuesday. 

— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com

1800: President John Adams orders federal government to Washington, D.C. On May 15, 1800, President John Adams orders the federal government to pack up and leave Philadelphia and set up shop in the nation’s new capital in Washington, D.C. ... READ MORE

1942: Legislation creating the Women’s Army Corps becomes law. On May 15, 1942, a bill establishing a women’s corps in the U.S. Army becomes law, creating the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAACs) and granting women official military status. ... READ MORE

2009: GE finally initiates cleanup of polluted Hudson River. After decades of environmental damage and legal wrangling, General Electric finally begins its government-mandated efforts to clean the Hudson River on May 15, 2009. One of America's largest and most prestigious corporations, GE had dumped harmful chemicals into the river for years and spent a fortune trying to avoid the cleanup. ... READ MORE

 www.history.com