FROM KCCI: CIWW to allow 1 million gallons daily for new sod watering. A policy to modify water restriction exceptions will take effect as Central Iowa Water Works customers approach the fourth week under a lawn watering ban. Starting Monday, the water utility agency said it will permit sod and turf businesses to use up to one million gallons daily to keep new grass pallets alive as they bond with the soil. Previously, freshly sodded lawns could only be watered if the grass was laid before the June 12 ban. ... READ MORE

FROM WHO-TV: Person injured during River Bend shooting dies, DMPD investigates. The Des Moines Police Department says the person injured during a shooting in the River Bend neighborhood Saturday night has died. According to DMPD, just before 9 p.m., officers were called to Ohio Street and University Avenue on reports of gunshots. One person was injured by gunfire and was transported to a Des Moines hospital by the Des Moines Fire Department. That person has since died. ... READ MORE

FROM WOI: Iowa's first agrihood set to expand with development of town center. Just south of highway G14 in Cumming, the Middlebrook town center is home to Middlebrook Lofts, which features 26 apartment units and five soon-to-be filled retail spaces. ... READ MORE

Clear Mortgage meteorology

Another great summer day ahead. Storm chances ramp back up Tuesday, with lesser chances Wednesday through Friday.

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

Back to the Biz 
Cracker Barrel, which has struggled with sales declines, last year cut dividends to plow millions of dollars into initiatives to update the brand. Since joining the chain from Taco Bell in 2023, new boss Felss Masino has pruned the number of retail goods sold, added restaurant booths and rolled out beer and wine offerings. Last week, Wall Street Journal wrote about Cracker Barrel customers who missed the old stuff, particularly the rocking chairs, and don't notice the new stuff. 

Last week, Axios reported "Iowa's $0.19 per gallon beer tax is among the lowest in the nation." Tax Foundation ranks Iowa's beer tax as 32nd lowest. That foundation is clear about their point: "The different layers of taxation on production and distribution combine to make up about 40% of the retail price of beer." 

Deals today 
 
• Smoking Goat Pub (3015 Merle Hay Road, Des Moines) hosts Shelby Smokehouse Soul Food on Mondays 5-9 p.m.
 
• Haiku (1350 31st St., Des Moines) offers free egg drop soup and crab Rangoon with lunch entrees today.
 
• G Mig's (126 Fifth St., Valley Junction) has $11 smashburgers today with a side.
 
• The Station on Ingersoll (3124 Ingersoll) has a Monday special Graziano grinder with a side for $12.
 
• The Continental (407 E. Fifth St., Des Moines) offers a Monday special double smashburger and shoestring fries - $12.

• Bad Dog Burgers include three 1/3-pound patties, six pieces of bacon, choice of cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle and onion for $10.95 on Mondays. At Kathy’s East 14th Street Tavern (3418 E. 14th St., Des Moines).
 
• Jethro's in Altoona and West Des Moines has a Monday mac and cheese special called Hog Wild this week.

• Angry Goldfish (2301 S.W. Ninth St., Des Moines) has specials on chicken Parmesan and lasagna today, $11.50 with garlic bread and salad.

• Eastside Eddie’s (3517 E. 26th St., Des Moines) Monday  special is a burger with domestic beer, soft drink or well drink for $10. Those are good, generously sized burgers.

• Centro (1003 Locust St., Des Moines) offers half-price pizza and Peronis on Monday.

• Hy Vee grilles are offering a Monday special meat loaf dinner with green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy for $8. 

• Who's on First (810 E. First St., Ankeny) has steak night on Monday, and it's an 8-ounce filet with salad, mashed potatoes and beans for $22.95 

• Pelican Post (265 50th St., West Des Moines) has a special today on hot beef sandwiches, $10.95 until 4 p.m. 

• Tito’s Lounge (3916 Urbandale Drive, Urbandale) offers all-you-can-eat wings Mondays. 

• Monday brings prime rib specials to both Chicago Speakeasy (1520 Euclid Ave., Des Moines) and Christopher’s (2816 Beaver Ave., Des Moines).

• Johnny's Hall of Fame (302 Court Ave., Des Moines) has $12 burger baskets on Mondays and Fridays.

• Urban Cellars (640 S. 50th St., West Des Moines) offers $60 wine dinners for two on Mondays including two entrees with soup or salad, a dessert and a bottle on wine. 

• Club 2000 (422 Indianola Road) has a burger basket with fries deal Mondays for $9. 

• Red Lobster's Monday special is lobster and shrimp scampi with a side for $20. 

• Paula's (524 Elm St., Valley Junction) has a Monday special homemade tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwich for $12.50. 

• Destination Grille (2491 E. First St., Grimes) has a Monday steak night special, sirloins and truffle fries for $18.

• Chuck's (3610 Sixth Ave., Des Moines) offers $14 calzone specials with up to three ingredients on Mondays. 

• Price Chopper delis offer two-piece, bone-in fried chicken dinners, with two sides and a roll, for $6 on Mondays. 

•  Fareways have specials through Saturday on cucumbers at 77 cents, zucchini at 99 cents and boneless half-pound pork chops at three for $5. 
 
— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com

1930: Preliminary work begins on the Hoover Dam. On July 7, 1930, building begins on the future site of the Hoover Dam. Over the next five years, a total of 21,000 men would work ceaselessly to produce what would be the largest dam of its time, as well as one of the largest manmade structures in the world.  ... READ MORE

1865: Mary Surratt is first woman executed by U.S. federal government. Mary Surratt is executed for her role as a conspirator in Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. She is the first woman put to death by the U.S. government. Surratt, who owned a tavern in Surrattsville (now Clinton), Maryland, had to convert her row house in Washington, D.C., into a boardinghouse as a result of financial difficulties. Located a few blocks from Ford’s Theatre, where Lincoln was murdered, this house served as the place where a group of Confederate supporters, including John Wilkes Booth, conspired to assassinate the president.  ... READ MORE

2005: Terrorists attack London transit system at rush hour. On the morning of July 7, 2005, bombs are detonated in three crowded London subways and one bus during the peak of the city’s rush hour. The synchronized suicide bombings, which were thought to be the work of al-Qaeda, killed 56 people including the bombers and injured another 700. It was the largest attack on Great Britain since World War II. No warning was given. ... READ MORE

 www.history.com