Daily Umbrella Jan. 2: victim of New Year's Day homicide identified; $1.90 gas; what did the snowman say after losing its arm?

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Friday, Jan. 2, 2026

Good morning to you!

Welcome to the Friday mailbag where you will find some of the comments, questions and ideas sent recently by readers of this newsletter or our publications. They are edited for space and clarity.

“Your column today reminded me of my late father (Smile, Dec. 29, 2025). He was just as extroverted as I am. We’d be passing an oncoming vehicle, and he’d do the farmer wave (the one finger off the steering wheel kind), and I’d ask who that was. He’d smile at me and say, ‘I don’t know, but now he’ll be trying to figure out who I was all day!’ I still do that wave now.” - Rhonda

Just make sure you use your index finger. - Shane

“There are many places in Des Moines that fix or replace water heaters (More challenges, Dec. 30, 2025). I'd call someone else.” - JW

I am pleased to report that all is fixed and working. I never knew how much I would miss a hot shower. - Shane

“In October, I had hip replacement surgery (More challenges, Dec. 30, 2025). It went well for a few weeks. Then an infection set in. There are too many trials and tribulations to bore you with. In November, I had surgery to clean out the infection, and so I started a new set of challenges, especially a pump that gave me a 10-pound tail. The worst challenge, however, was bathing. Showers were discouraged but could be accomplished with extreme care and lots of plastic bags and tape. The point of this story is how a follow-up visit with the surgeon's PA the day before Christmas Eve produced the best Christmas present — permission to shower. Happy New Year!” - John

I am sure you were happy to be able to shower — and so were your family members. - Shane

“We had the same situation with our furnace when we lived in St. Cloud, Minnesota (More challenges, Dec. 30, 2025). This lack of heat happened on Super Bowl Sunday, and we had people over. So, you can imagine what the temp was outside. Did you ever try to get a repairman out on Super Bowl Sunday? We finally got one, and the heat was back on. We gave him some of the food we had made for the day.” - Nichola

That’s one cold party. Sounds like a good reason to do push-ups after each touchdown. - Shane

Have a fantastic Friday, and thanks for reading.

Shane Goodman
Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305
www.thedailyumbrella.com

Read more of Shane Goodman's columns here.

FROM KCCI: Des Moines police identify victim of New Year's Day homicide; man charged with murder. One person has died and another is in the hospital after two unrelated shootings early on New Year's Day in downtown Des Moines. According to the Des Moines Police Department, officers were first alerted just before 2:30 a.m. when an adult man walked into MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center with a gunshot wound that was not considered life-threatening. ... READ MORE

FROM WHO-TV: 2 injured, Bondurant barn total loss following massive blaze. Authorities say two people were injured during a massive Bondurant barn fire that resulted in a total loss. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office says around 5:30 p.m. deputies and multiple fire departments responded to a report of a fully engulfed Morton building in 9000 block of N.E. 72nd Street, north of Bondurant. ... READ MORE

FROM WOI: Iowans hit the trails on New Year's for first day hikes. All across Iowa, people rang in the New Year at their favorite state parks, taking part in a tradition known as a First Day Hike. At Ledges State Park, south of Boone, that meant a trek down Canyon Road. From old friends to furry companions, central Iowans were out in full force on a chilly New Year’s Day morning. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: A fire in a Swiss ski resort bar has left about 40 people dead. Axel Clavier felt like he was suffocating inside the Swiss Alpine bar where moments before he’d been ringing in the new year with friends and dozens of other revelers. The 16-year-old from Paris escaped the inferno, which broke out after midnight Thursday, by forcing a window open with a table. But about 40 other partygoers died, including one of Clavier’s friends, falling victim to one of the worst tragedies in Switzerland’s history. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE NATION: Rain soaks Rose Parade in California and snow squalls hit Midwest and Northeast on first day of 2026. Rain poured down on the iconic Rose Parade on Thursday for the first time in 20 years, as flood warnings and evacuation orders in Southern California joined snow squalls and frigid temperatures in the country’s midsection to mark the first day of 2026. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE STATE: Improper firework disposal leads to house fire in northwest Iowa, FD says. The Cherokee Fire Department says improper firework disposal lead to a house fire in northwest Iowa New Year’s Day. The Cherokee FD says dispatch received a call around 12:30 a.m. on reports of a structure fire along the 700 block of W Cherry Street. Upon arrival, crews found a single-family residence with fire and smoke showing from one side of the home. ... READ MORE

Clear Mortgage meteorology

Continued quiet weather today. We may see a flurry or two Saturday morning, with a dusting possible in southwest Iowa. Warming Sunday into next week!

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

The 2025 results: CITYVIEW's Best of Des Moines®

Best Local Photographer

1. Chris Pose

2. Pic Your House

3. Belma Photography

See all of the results

Eat more seafood
Americans don't eat enough fish and seafood. Less than 10% of us consume the 26 pounds a year and twice a week servings that are recommended by almost all health guardians. Fish and seafood are an amazing source of omega 3s essential for brain and heart health.
So, to combat this national deficiency, Daily Umbrella resolves this winter to encourage more fish consumption via a weekly local discovery, at least through Lent's kickoff. This week's find - crab cakes, like these at Centro with arugula/red pepper salad and lemon aioli, and priced at $19.99.

Weekend deals
• Machine Shed (11151 Hickman, Urbandale) offers smoked prime rib on Saturday only. Whatcha Smokin? (Luther) offers smoked Dino beef ribs on Saturday only.

• Saturday is wine sampling day at Graziano Brothers.

• ShortE's BBQ (8805 Chambery Blvd., Johnston) offers 20% discounts to first responders and military on Friday and Saturday. They have a Friday special pulled pork sandwich, fries and fountain drink for $12.

• Amruth (9974 Swanson Blvd., Clive) has 20 dishes on their new Saturday and Sunday buffet, noon to 4 p.m. Of course, there will be dosas.

• Waterfront stores' Saturday special includes cocktail shrimp or raw oysters on the half shell for half price until 4 p.m.

• Guesthouse Tavern and Oyster (9500 University, West Des Moines) offers surf and turf specials Fridays and $33 prime rib dinners Saturdays.

• Gilroy's (1238 Eighth St., West Des Moines) does Saturday and Sunday brunch buffets for $24.99 for adults. Kids 6 and younger eat free.

• The Station on Ingersoll (3124 Ingersoll Ave.) has a chef's choice "meatloaf meltdown" for this Friday's special.

• Rube's steakhouses offer a prime sirloin special on Sundays only, $29.

• Beaver Tap (4050 Urbandale Ave., Des Moines) offers $9 Philly cheesesteaks or hot honey chicken plus $8 biscuit and gravy breakfasts on Fridays.

• Smoking Goat Pub (3015 Merle Hay Road, Des Moines) offers walleye or steak dinner specials tonight and karaoke after 9 p.m. They have a 10 for $10 wings deal on Sundays.

• Jethro's Sunday special is burger baskets with fries for $9.95. Fridays they have open faced turkey sandwiches with mashed potatoes and gravy for $12.

• G Mig's has Friday prime rib dinners with baked potatoes and asparagus for $32 or walleye Florentine dinner for $28. Saturday's special is pot roast dinner for $18.50.

• Heavenly Asian (225 Fifth St., Valley Junction) has an all-day Friday sale on orange chicken served with soup, crab Rangoon, egg roll and rice, $14, available for dine-in and phone carry-out.

• Destination Grille (2491 E. First St., Grimes) has a $40 prime rib dinner special Friday and Saturday.

• Court Avenue Brewing Company (309 Court Ave., Des Moines) hosts Saturday and Sunday breakfast buffets for $23.99.

• Aldi stores have sales through Tuesday on navel oranges at $2.99/4-pound bag, wagyu ground beef at $4.99/pound and russet potatoes at $3.25/10-pound bag.

• Fareways have specials through Saturday on bone-in rib roast at $17.99/pound, sweet potatoes at 58 cents/pound and mandarins at $3.88/3-pound bag.

• Whole Foods (4100 University Ave., West Des Moines) offers $1 oysters on Fridays with good selection and free shucking.

• Hy-Vee offers $7 take-n-bake Mia Italian pizza pies for $7 through Jan. 2.

• Aldi stores haves sales through Tuesday on blueberries at $2.49/pint, chicken wings at $2.19/pound, navel oranges at $2.49/4-pound bag and briskets at $6.99/pound.

• Fresh Thyme (2800 University Ave., West Des Moines) is running a sale on pork loin roasts for $1.99/pound, limit of two, boneless legs of lamb for $8.99/pound and jumbo dry sea scallop pieces for $10.99/pound through Tuesday.

• Price Chopper stores have sales through Monday on cherries or strawberries at $2.99/pound, frozen catfish filets for $6.49/pound, and navel oranges at $2.99/3-pound bag.

• Hy-Vee stores have sales through Jan. 4 on Dungeness crab clusters at $16.99/ pound, whole American lobsters at $13.99 each, golden king crab legs at 49.98/pound, and, through Monday, on standard East Coast oysters at $19.99/pound.

Music 

El Toreado Mexican Bar & Grill on EP True has live music from The Juan and Only on Friday from 6 p.m... Davina & the Vagabonds play Ingersoll Dinner Theater at 5:30 p.m. Friday and at noon (dinner at noon, show at 2 p.m.) Saturday and Sunday… Courtney Krause plays Big Grove Brewery at 6 p.m. Sunday... Taylor King plays Cabaret Sports Bar & Grille, Ankeny at 8 p.m.... Andy Classen / Tanner Taylor Duo plays Louie’s Wine Dive at 5 p.m. Sunday... Night Like This plays Mickey's Irish Pub, Waukee, at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com

Featured in the current issue of CITYVIEW

FEATURE STORY
Respite — Places that restore our resilience

Special to CITYVIEW

We reached out to the staff of Iowa Architect, the official magazine of The American Institute of Architects, Iowa Chapter, and requested permission to reprint portions of their cover story, Respite: Places That Restore Our Resilience, from their summer 2025 edition. In it, they featured projects by Iowa architects that truly do offer respite and that are places that restore our resilience. We appreciated the projects and the stories, and we thought you would, too. ...

Featured home for sale

Post listings here for $50. Contact jolene@iowalivingmagazines.com for details.

$549,900

1400 N.W. Linda Lane
Waukee, IA 50263

Sage Homes presents the Hawthorn plan in Waukee with 2,573 square feet of finished living space! This home offers 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and a 3 car garage. Come see the quality finishes you've come to expect with Sage Homes. Soft close drawers and doors in the kitchen, a hidden pantry, pull-out trash cabinet, full height backsplash, and a gas range are some of the features of this well-appointed kitchen. ...

See the listing here.

See more homes for sale

SOLD: Featured commercial real estate transaction

2505 WEDGEWOOD ROAD, DES MOINES
SALE DATE: 2025-08-04
SALE PRICE: $490,000
SELLER: FLATTERY PROPERTIES LLC
BUYER: FOLEY BUILDING LLC
ACRES: 0.715
SQUARE FEET: 2,640

More transactions

Featured in the current
issue of Bondurant Living magazine

Handmade for the holidays
Residents share the joy of gifts from the heart.

By Rachel Harrington

The quilt from a beloved aunt. Knitted sweaters from Grandma. A child’s table and chairs crafted in a relative’s workshop. A personalized ornament. Handmade gifts are unique, but, more than that, they are gifts of time spent in the crafting, imagination in their design and love in their giving.

Gifts of unique light
It is not just anywhere that you can find a lamp custom-made from a bottle. Scott Rose and his family recently relocated to Bondurant from Georgia. While living in Georgia, they started visiting distilleries such as Four Roses and Buffalo Trace. His daughter attended school in Georgetown, Kentucky, so they would visit craft stores while in town and began to notice lamps made from bourbon bottles. The lamps were approximately $150 to $200, and Rose told himself that he could probably make lamps like those. For the past three years, Rose has proven himself right. ...

Weekly fuel report

The price of regular unleaded gasoline fell 4 cents from last week's price and is currently averaging $2.38 across Iowa according to AAA. Prices are down 38 cents from a year ago. The national average on Wednesday was $2.84, down 2 cents from last week’s price.

Retail diesel prices in Iowa fell 1 cent this week with a statewide average of $3.30. One year ago, diesel prices averaged $3.28 in Iowa.
The current Iowa diesel price is 27 cents lower than the national average of $3.57.

Natural gas prices were down 41 cents at the Henry Hub reporting site and are currently priced at $3.77 MMbtu.

Propane prices averaged $1.58 per gallon in Iowa.

Home heating oil prices had a statewide average of $2.81 per gallon.

Cheapest gas in the metro. www.gasbuddy.com

Maverik in Ankeny (Corporate Woods Drive) - $1.90

Sam's Club in Ankeny (4625 S.E. Delaware Ave.) - $1.90

Caseys stores in Ankeny - $1.91

FROM ESPN: Oregon defense stifles Texas Tech as Ducks reach CFP semifinals. After coach Dan Lanning said his defense did not play up to its standard in its first playoff game, the Oregon Ducks unleashed a postseason performance that had not been seen in more than a century. ... READ MORE

FROM SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Alabama’s loss to Indiana in the Rose Bowl wasn’t just ugly — it was a historic beatdown. Indiana thoroughly dominated Alabama in the Rose Bowl on Thursday and, in the process, handed the Crimson Tide a historic defeat. The No. 1 Hoosiers hammered Kalen DeBoer’s squad 38–3 in Pasadena, besting the No. 9 Tide in every phase of the game for 60 minutes. It was the kind of loss you don’t see Alabama suffer very often. In fact, it hadn’t happened in a long time. ... READ MORE

FROM YAHOO SPORTS: Ole Miss hits field goal with 6 seconds left to win Sugar Bowl thriller over Georgia. Ole Miss authored an incredible 39-34 Sugar Bowl victory thanks to a 47-yard a game-winning field goal by Lucas Carneiro with six seconds left. Carneiro’s kick came after No. 3 Georgia tied the game with less than a minute remaining on a short field goal by Peyton Woodring. ... READ MORE

1974: President Nixon signs national speed limit into law. On Jan. 2, 1974, President Richard M. Nixon signs the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act, setting a new national maximum speed limit. ... READ MORE

1980: U.S.-Russia detente ends. On Jan. 2, 1980, in a strong reaction to the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter asks the Senate to postpone action on the SALT II nuclear weapons treaty and recalls the U.S. ambassador to Moscow. These actions sent a message that the age of detente and the friendlier diplomatic and economic relations that were established between the United States and Soviet Union during President Richard Nixon’s administration (1969-74) had ended. ... READ MORE

2006: 13 coal miners are trapped in Sago Mine disaster; 12 die. An explosion rocks the Sago Mine in Sago, West Virginia on Jan. 2, 2006. 13 coal miners were trapped, and all but one eventually died. The tragedy, exacerbated by false reports that 12 of the miners had been rescued, brought scrutiny upon the media, the company that owned the mine and the administration of then-president George W. Bush. ... READ MORE

www.history.com

Birthdays and notables

Happy birthday, Sue Fidler and Amy Welp!

These celebrities were born on this date: Shelley Hennig, Bryson Tiller, Ben Hardy, Jilly Anais, Claire Rosinkranz, Taye Diggs, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Dax Shepard, Fernando Tatís Jr, Cuba Gooding Jr, Kate Bosworth, Alden Richards

SUBMIT: Send your local birthday greetings and congratulatory notes to: tammy@iowalivingmagazines.com

The answer to the last riddle: What’s the worst part of jogging on New Year’s Eve? The ice spilling out of your glass!

Today's riddle: What did the snowman say after losing its arm?

Have a guess? Email tammy@iowalivingmagazines.com

To advertise in the Daily Umbrella or CITYVIEW, contact:

Mary Fowler
Account Executive
515-953-4822 x311
c: 641-485-0555
mary@dmcityview.com

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