FROM KCCI: Construction worker dies after fall at Van Meter school. A construction worker died Tuesday after a 30-foot fall while working on the campus of the Van Meter school district. Van Meter Police Chief Michael Brown said the accident happened shortly before 1 p.m. when a 33-year-old man fell from the roof of the new building construction zone, an estimated height of 30 feet. ... READ MORE

FROM WHO-TV: Des Moines chase ends in arrest of kidnapping suspect, police say. A Des Moines chase Tuesday afternoon resulted in the arrest of a kidnapping suspect police say. According to the Des Moines Police Department, just before 3:30 p.m. officers observed a reported stolen vehicle near the intersection of MLK, Jr. Parkway and Douglas Avenue. The officers attempted a traffic stop on the vehicle, but the DMPD said the vehicle sped off. ... READ MORE

FROM WOI: Des Moines Public Schools continue push for multi-million dollar bond despite Dr. Roberts scandal. It's been nearly two weeks since former superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts was arrested by ICE, stirring uncertainty in Iowa's largest school district. The controversy comes as Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) pushes for its $265 million bond referendum. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: Hundreds of hikers rescued from Mount Everest after severe snowstorm. About 900 hikers, guides and other staff who were stranded by a weekend snowstorm on the Chinese side of Mount Everest have reached safety, state media said late Tuesday. A severe storm struck the area Saturday night, cutting off access to where the hikers were staying in tents at an altitude of more than 4,900 meters (16,000 feet). ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE NATION: National Guard members from Texas are in Illinois in Trump’s latest move to send troops to cities. National Guard members from Texas were getting settled at an Army Reserve center in Illinois on Tuesday, the most visible sign yet of the Trump administration’s plan to send troops to the Chicago area despite a lawsuit and vigorous opposition from Democratic elected leaders. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE STATE: 34 candidate names not to appear on ballots due to clerical errors, Iowa Secretary of State says. National Voter Education Week opened with a warning from Iowa’s top election official: some ballots won’t list candidates’ names after multiple jurisdictions missed filing deadlines. Secretary of State Paul Pate said the cities of Andover, Galva, Jolley, Pulaski, Welton and Williamsburg, as well as the New Hampton, Oelwein and Turkey Valley school districts, failed to submit candidate paperwork on time. With just under a month until election day, Pate said his office is investigating why so many local officials missed the deadline, which he emphasized did not change. ... READ MORE

Clear Mortgage meteorology

A slow warming trend starts after a chilly start today, taking us to the low 80s again by Sunday.

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

Woebegone Wednesday
Heroin and obesity, same modus. During America’s war in Vietnam, specifically in 1970-71, an astonishing 50% of all U.S. soldiers in the country reported they had used heroin. That heroin was some of the purist and most powerful ever, and it was dirt cheap. Of that 50%, only a fourth described their use as “experimental.” The other three fourths were more serious users. When those soldiers returned to the U.S., only 10% remained users. The rest simply quit, without joining groups or seeking addiction counseling reports Wall Street Journal. 

Today, scientists and food writers are using that Vietnam War heroin history to explain obesity. Americans began a 44-year annual increase in obesity (and diabetes) rates for the same reasons that made soldiers in Nam heroin addicts — they were barraged with addictive, affordable sources of calories, aka junk foods. If there was a signal moment in obesity’s surge, it was likely 1982 when soft drinks changed their recipes to replace real sugar, which triggers a satiety factor, with high fructose corn sweeteners that do not. Serving sizes rose exponentially. Before the recipe change, most Coke was sold in 6-ounce bottles. Ten years later, most was sold in 2-liter bottles. Serving sizes at fast food joints rose exponentially, too. 

Deals today 
• Fareway is offering $5 rotisserie chicken on Wednesdays. Other days they cost about $9.

• Whatch Smokin? (Highway 17, Luther) has a brisket burnt ends special on Wednesdays. 

• The Bistro at Iowa Culinary Institute is open for its fall season in Building 7 of Dees Moines Area Community College in Ankeny. Lunch will be served Wednesdays through Fridays till Dec. 5. $17 for a buffet or three course a la carte with a drink. 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. This month's buffet is Brazilian with hand carved roast beef.

• Kelly's Little Nipper (1701 E. Grand Ave., Des Moines) offers any burger with a side for $10 on Wednesdays. 

• Exile (1514 Walnut St., Des Moines) offers a $12 burger basket with fries and a beer on Wednesdays. 

• Beaver Tap (4050 Urbandale Ave., Des Moines) offers $8 French toast or pancake breakfasts and $2 tacos, $9 wraps and $10 half pounds of wings on Wednesdays. 

• Johnny's Italian Steakhouses have a chicken Madeira special on Wednesdays before 4 p.m., $15 including beverage.

• Smoking Goat Pub (3015 Merle Hay Road, Des Moines) has a $10 classic burger and beer all day. 

• Paula's (524 Elm, Valley Junction) has a Wednesday special beef stew with biscuit $13.50.

• Gilroy's (1238 8th St., West Des Moines) has all you can eat fried chicken dinners on Wednesdays, $23.99 after 5 p.m. Chris Powell  will play on the patio there from 6 p.m. tonight.

• Haiku (1315 31st St., Des Moines) lets kids 11 and younger eat free with adults on Wednesdays. Hot sour soup and eggrolls are comped today with lunch entrees.  

• 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). The Continental (407 East Fifth St., Des Moines) also has half-priced bottles on Wednesdays. 

• G Mig's (128 Fifth St., Valley Junction) offers a special two meat lasagna dinner today with salad and garlic bread for $19.25.

• 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.

• Tacos Mariana's (1305 University Ave. , Des Moines) and The Station (3124 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines) have specials on tacos today. 

• Village Inns offer free pie with entrees on Wednesdays. 

• It's lasagna day at Maxie's Supper Club (1311 Grand Ave., West Des Moines) and breaded pork tenderloin day at Eastside Eddie's (3517 E. 26th St., Des Moines).

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

• Chuck's (3610 Sixth Ave., Des Moines) offers $5 off pizza on Wednesdays.

• Curbin Cuisine (1325 S.W. Oralabor, Ankeny) has $7 gyros 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 with fries for $10.99 at Tito's Lounge (3916 N.W. Urbandale Dr, Urbandale). 

• Jethro's have $9.95 BPT sandwiches, including a side of choice, on Wednesdays.  
 
• Hy-Vee Market Grilles are offering a cheeseburger and fries  Wednesday special for $8.

• Fresh Thyme (2900 University Ave., West Des Moines) begins a week-long sale on avocados at 79 cents, raspberries or blackberries at two for $5, and Atlantic salmon filets at $8.99/pound.

 — Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com

1871: Great Chicago Fire begins. On Oct. 8, 1871, flames spark in the Chicago barn of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary, igniting a two-day blaze that kills between 200 and 300 people, destroys 17,450 buildings, leaves 100,000 homeless and causes an estimated $200 million (in 1871 dollars; more than $4 billion today) in damages.. ... READ MORE

1945: First patent filed for the microwave. On Oct. 8, 1945, Raytheon Manufacturing Company filed a patent for what's now a staple kitchen appliance in homes around the world: the microwave oven. The appliance, invented by Raytheon employee Percy Spencer, now sits in more than 90 percent of American homes. ... READ MORE

1956: The first enclosed shopping mall in the United States opens. On Oct. 8, 1956, the nation’s first enclosed shopping mall opens in a Minneapolis suburb. Southdale Mall, located in Edina, Minnesota, was created to lure shoppers during frigid winters. The concept took shape in 1952, when Donald Dayton — head of Dayton’s department store — sought a way to boost sales on cold days when shoppers typically stayed home. Dayton teamed up with Austrian-born architect Victor Gruen to develop an enclosed shopping center where stores faced inward. In this climate-controlled building full of amenities, people could shop comfortably and conveniently. ... READ MORE

 www.history.com