FROM KCCI: Navy veteran from Iowa wins $3 million lottery prize in Veterans Day drawing. A central Iowa man narrowly missed out on a $900 million jackpot late last year, but his consolation prize is a pretty good one. Previous video above: $3 million lottery ticket sold in central Iowa remains unclaimed after a month. Jaime Zavala, of Norwalk, claimed his prize Tuesday at the Iowa Lottery office in Clive. A Navy veteran, he had a ticket worth $3 million from a Mega Millions drawing on Veterans Day 2025. ... READ MORE

FROM WHO-TV: Flu cases surge in Iowa, vaccine effectiveness questioned. Flu cases have been on the rise across Iowa, with a spike coming earlier and harder than medical experts expected. Janelle Turner, Communicable Disease Nurse at Polk County Public Health, said this year’s flu vaccine targeted a “slightly different” variation of the flu than what is dominant this year. ... READ MORE

FROM WOI: DART denies city of Bondurant’s request to provide only paratransit services. The Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) Commission denied the city of Bondurant's request to provide only paratransit services, Bondurant Mayor Doug Elrod announced Tuesday. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: NASA sends 4 astronauts back to Earth in Mexican president tells Trump that US intervention against cartels is ‘unnecessary’. Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said she had “a very good conversation” with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday and that their two governments will continue working together on security issues without the need for U.S. intervention against drug cartels. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE NATION: Fear and anger spread after another immigration shooting in Minneapolis. A federal officer shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis after being attacked with a shovel and broom handle, further heightening the sense of fear and anger radiating across the city a week after an immigration agent fatally shot a woman in the head. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE STATE: Court Docs: Former Central Iowa police chief charged with double-billing two cities. Former police chief William Daggett is accused of billing two Central Iowa cities for work during the same hours on the same day, court records show. Daggett, 48, was charged last week by the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation after a 2025 state audit allegedly found he was knowingly paid tens of thousands of dollars for hours he did not work. Daggett was charged with First Degree Theft, a Class C Felony, and Felonious Misconduct in Office, a Class D Felony. He turned himself in in Clarke County on Thursday. ... READ MORE

Clear Mortgage meteorology

Temps will be around normal today and Friday. Flurries are possible today and light snow Friday. Light snow is also possible on Sunday.

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

The Pill is here. It's not what it used to be.
Pfizer's CEO predicted $150-200 billion annual sales for their new "pill generation" of weight loss drugs. They average $150 a month but are expected go lower. One out of eight Americans now take weight loss drugs by injection. (Fox Business) 

National Restaurant Association announced "trends for 2026." They include: local sourcing, comfort foods going global, value menus, smash burgers, clearer menu labeling, allergen-friendly options, dye and additive-free foods, more add-on proteins, more compost-ready and reusable packaging.

Deals today
• Sale Barn Cafe (Lamoni) is offering hot beef sandwich specials today.

•  Liver and onions is today's special at Crouse Cafe (115 E. Salem, Indianola).

•  AJ's (Prairie Meadows) has a new early bird menu on Wednesday and Thursday from 4-6 p.m. Half pound burgers with frites $15, pasta and chicken dinners, $20-22, seafood and steak dinners, $27-30. Prime rib dinners for $30 all night. 

• Guesthouse Tavern and Oyster (9500 University, West Des Moine) offers spaghetti dinners with 8-ounce meatballs and salad for $22 on Wednesdays.

• Chelsea's Courtyard (100 MLK) has buck burgers Thursdays. $1!

• Istanbul Grill Cafe & Bakery (3281 100th St., Urbandale) has a Thursday special of $11.99 for a döner wrap with fries as well as $5 off döner plate which comes with Turkish salad and your choice of rice or bulgur. 

•  Hot beef sandwiches are a Thursday special at Club 2000. 

• Maxie's (1311 Grand Ave., West Des Moines) Thursday special for $20.95 is half a fried chicken with potato, side of spaghetti, and a salad. Lunch and dinner.

• Mullets Norwalk offers two, two-topping pizzas for $20 on Thursdays, 4 p.m. to close.

• Buzzard Billy's (615 Third St., Des Moines) has $2 off appetizers on Thursdays.

• Whatcha Smokin? (Highway 17, Luther) has a pork belly burnt ends special on Thursdays.

• Beaver Tap (4050 Urbandale Ave., Des Moines) offers $10 country fried breakfasts and $9 tenderloins or shrimp/fish tacos on Thursdays.

• Ruth's Chris (Ashworth Road at Jordan Creek Parkway) has a Thursday special with their decadent RBAR burgers and fries going for $16.

• Steak Nights: Sirloin steak dinners are featured specials today at Johnny's Italian Steakhouses (before 4 p.m.); 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. The Station on Ingersoll (3120 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines) has a ribeye special on Thursdays. Gilroy's (1238 Eighth St., West Des Moines) offers ribeyes and sirloins only on Thursdays after 5 p.m.

• Mullets has a Thursday pizza special: buy one large specialty pizza and get a free 14-inch two-topping pizza.

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

• 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.

• 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 stores haves sales through Tuesday on mandarins at $2.69/3-pound bag, mangos at 75 cents and short ribs at $7.29/pound.

• Fresh Thyme (2800 University Ave., West Des Moines) is running a sale through Sunday on top sirloin at $7.29/pound and snow crab clusters at $10.99/pound and through Tuesday on bone-in ribeyes at $14.99/pound. 

— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com

Des Moines Performing Arts
"Six: The Musical." Jan. 13-18.

AUDITIONS: Des Moines Playhouse. "Crazy for You." Jan. 19. 
 
Des Moines Performing Arts. Charlie Berens: The Lost and Found Tour. Jan. 24.

Beaverdale Books at Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden. Beronda L. Montgomery. "When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy." Wednesday, Jan. 21, 6:30 p.m.

Beaverdale Books. Grant Faulkner. ”something out there in the distance." Friday, Jan. 23, 6:30 p.m.

Kate Goldman Family Series show continues
The Des Moines Playhouse Kate Goldman Family Series presents "Red Riding Hood: Both Sides of the Story" through Jan. 25.

Dome After Dark. 6-10 p.m. Friday, Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden. Breathe in all that lovely, humid oxygenated air every Friday through March 27, before honest-to-goodness spring returns to Iowa. 

— John Busbee, The Culture Buzz

1777: Vermont declares independence from colony of New York. Having recognized the need for their territory to assert its independence from both Britain and New York and remove themselves from the war they were waging against each other, a convention of future Vermonters assembles in Westminster and declares independence from the crown of Great Britain and the colony of New York on Jan. 15, 1777. The convention’s delegates included Vermont’s future governor, Thomas Chittenden, and Ira Allen, who would become known as the “father” of the University of Vermont. … READ MORE

1968: The Jeanette Rankin Brigade: 5,000 women march against Vietnam War. On Jan. 15, 1968, an 87-year-old Jeannette Rankin leads 5,000 women—nicknamed the "Jeannette Rankin Brigade"—in a march in Washington, D.C. against the Vietnam War. The march is a capstone of Rankin's long career as a suffragist, pacifist and the first woman elected to U.S. Congress. … READ MORE

2001: Wikipedia launches. Less than a year after the unsuccessful launch of Nupedia—an online free encyclopedia—its successor, Wikipedia, goes live on Jan. 15, 2001. As of January 2024, Wikipedia has more some 6.8 million articles in more than 300 languages. … READ MORE

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