FROM KCCI: Des Moines City Council approves towing contract amid debate. The Des Moines City Council approved a new towing contract with Crow Tow amid debate over customer service and regulatory concerns. Crow Tow will continue to be the official towing service for the city, but some council members expressed a desire for improved customer service from the company. Mayor Connie Boesen acknowledged the general dislike for being towed during the discussion of a new $300,000 towing contract with Crow Tow. ... READ MORE

FROM WHO-TV: Iowa man accused of setting house on fire, killing cats. An Orient man has been accused of intentionally setting his house on fire, resulting in the deaths of his cats. On Feb. 12, the Adair County Dispatch Center received a 911 call reporting that a house in the 400 block of E Division Street in Orient was on fire. According to court documents, when firefighters from the Orient and Greenfield fire departments arrived, they found the home engulfed in flames and the fire spreading into the yard, threatening nearby properties. ... READ MORE

FROM WOI: Starts Right Here's at-risk youth housing project to be finished by this August. Founder of Starts Right Here Will Keeps said he kept seeing young people in Des Moines becoming homeless, living out of their cars, hopping from places to stay and not showing up to school. That's when he decided it was time to do something about it. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: Zelenskyy says Putin has ‘not broken’ Ukrainians as country marks 4 years of Russia’s all-out war. More than a dozen senior European officials were in the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday in a show of support on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine — a grim milestone in a war that has killed tens of thousands of people and put European leaders on edge about the scale of Moscow’s ambitions on the continent. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE NATION: Northeast US digs out from brutal snowstorm that disrupted flights and canceled school. Neighbors, government workers and a powerful railroad snow-clearing machine nicknamed “Darth Vader” scrambled to dig out much of the northeastern United States from a brutal and — in some areas — record-breaking storm that blanketed the region with snow and resulted in thousands of flight cancellations. But as the snow moved northward and tapered off in other areas Tuesday, forecasters warned that another storm could be right around the corner. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE STATE: Iowa deputies catch man when he tries to return tractor he stole amid snowstorm, sheriff says. A northeast Iowa man is facing charges after law enforcement claims he stole a tractor to pull his minivan out of the ditch in the middle of a snowstorm last week and tried to flee from deputies when he attempted to return the tractor. Guttenberg resident Timothy Schmitt, 31, is charged with third-degree burglary and aggravated misdemeanor operation without owner’s consent, according to the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office. ... READ MORE

Clear Mortgage meteorology

Fluctuating temperatures as rain turning into snow is possible for Wednesday.

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

Chocolate Walk does West Glen Town Center Friday, Feb. 27, 5-9 p.m. Admission includes 10 drink tickets for sample cocktails at 10 top restaurants and bars, plus chocolate dessert samples at participating retail stores. Most of the hosts are going all out on cocktails. For instance, Anna Dolce’s Anna’s Secret combines Stoli vanilla vodka with orange and dark chocolate liqueurs with cream; Tonic’s Chocolate Old Fashioned uses chocolate bitters and crème de cacao with bourbon and simple syrup; El Fogon’s Cacao Ancestral mixes mezcal with chocolate liqueur and cacao chilate, which includes cacao and horchata. Altogether, there are 17 specialty cocktails available plus a shuttle bus. $25 in advance, $35 at the event.

Deals today
• Striking Sparrow (1930 S.E. Sixth St.) has a $12 double smash with fries and soda every Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
 
• All pizza are half priced at Maggie's Rumble Room (1432 Second Ave., Des Moines) 5-9 p.m. on Tuesdays.
 
• Country fried steak is today's special at Crouse Cafe  (115 E. Salem, Indianola).
 
• Sale Barn Cafe (Lamoni) has a special on birria tacos today.
 
• It's steak night at Grand Junction (1970 Grand Ave., West Des Moines). Steak, salad and potato $13.99. 
 
• Guesthouse Tavern and Oyster (9500 University, West Des Moines) offers fried chicken dinner special on Tuesdays, $17-23, plus half-priced whiskey pours.
 
• Curbin' Cuisine (1325 S.W. Oralabor Road, Suite 200, Ankeny) offers a cheeseburger and fries for $7.99 today.
 
• Mullet’s Norwalk offers a free kids meal per adult meal on Tuesdays 4 p.m. to close.
 
• Mickey's Irish Pub (50 S.E. Laurel St., Waukee) has a special $7 half-pound burger with a side all day Tuesday. 
 
• Kelly's Little Nipper (1701 E. Grand Ave., Des Moines) offers a "Tendy's Tuesday" pork tenderloin basket with a drink for $11.50.
 
• The Station on Ingersoll (3124 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines) has a Tuesday special pork tenderloin with a side for $10.
 
• Eastside Eddie's (3517 E. 26th St., Des Moines) has a Tuesday special cheeseburger with fries, tots or salad and a drink for $10.
 
• Beaver Tap (4050 Urbandale Ave., Des Moines) offers $7 breakfasts and $8 burgers Tuesdays.
 
• Pelican Post (265 50th St., West Des Moines) offers a special smashburger with cheese, fries and a draft beer for $10 on Tuesdays.
 
• Johnny's Italian Steakhouses have a beef stroganoff special on Tuesdays, $14 including beverage.
 
• Smoking Goat Pub (3015 Merle Hay Road, Des Moines) hosts 222 BBQ today from 5-9 p.m.
 
• Baklava is half priced Tuesdays at Istanbul Cafe and Bakery (3281 100th, Urbandale). 
 
• Red Robin stores are featuring a $10 cheeseburger with an "endless side" on Tuesdays.
 
• Jethro's Tuesday special is 2 pounds of bone-in smoked wings for the price of one. 
• Paula's (524 Elm St., Valley Junction) runs a Tuesday special hot beef sandwich for $13.50. 

• Kids meals are half price till 2 p.m. today at Machine Shed (11151 Hickman Road, Urbandale).  

• Taco Tuesday brings serious discounts to La Familia (1610 Sixth Ave., Des Moines), all Taco John's, all Abelardo's, all Fernando’s, Malo (900 Mulberry St., Des Moines), Beaver Tap (4050 Urbandale Ave., Des Moines), Club 2000 (422 Indianola Road, Des Moines), The Continental (407 E. Fifth St., Des Moines), Gilroy's (1238 Eighth St., West Des Moines), Jack's Place Grill & Bar, (6112 S.W. Ninth St., Des Moines) and both Faustino's. 

• Hy-Vees offer $5 tenderloins on Tuesdays. 

 Today is beef and noodles day at Maxie's Supper Club (1311 Grand Ave., West Des Moines).

— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com

1836: Alamo defenders call for help. On Feb. 24, 1836, in San Antonio, Texas, Colonel William Travis issues a call for help on behalf of the Texan troops defending the Alamo, an old Spanish mission and fortress under siege by the Mexican army. … READ MORE

1988: Supreme Court defends right to satirize public figures. The U.S. Supreme Court votes 8-0 to overturn the $200,000 settlement awarded to the Reverend Jerry Falwell for his emotional distress at being parodied in Hustler, a pornographic magazine. … READ MORE

1991: Gulf War ground offensive begins. After six weeks of intensive bombing against Iraq and its armed forces, U.S.-led coalition forces launch a ground invasion of Kuwait and Iraq. … READ MORE

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