FROM KCCI: Des Moines police investigate death reported in downtown alley near parking garage. Police in Des Moines are investigating a death reported Tuesday evening in the downtown area. According to a statement from the Des Moines Police Department, officers and Des Moines Fire Department rescue crews were dispatched just after 7:30 p.m. to the 200 block of 5th Avenue. Emergency responders were called to an alley east of a parking garage after receiving a report of an injured person. ... READ MORE

FROM WHO-TV: Judge orders discovery in Kristin Ramsey’s case for 2011 murder of Ashley Okland. A district judge has issued a ruling about discovery in the case of Kristin Ramsey, the woman accused of killing realtor Ashley Okland in West Des Moines in 2011. Ramsey, 53, was arrested in March on a charge of first-degree murder in Okland’s death. The realtor was found shot to death in the West Des Moines model townhome where she had been working on April 8, 2011. Despite nearly a thousand tips to law enforcement over the years following the murder, no arrests were made until Ramsey’s. ... READ MORE

FROM WOI: Woman dies after crash with dump truck. A woman has died from her injuries after a Sunday afternoon crash near Bondurant , the Polk County Sheriff's Office said on Tuesday. Samantha Moore, 19, from Ankeny was flown to an area hospital after the car she was driving crashed with a dump truck at the intersection of NE 56th Street and NE 94th Avenue. A passenger in her car was also taken to a local hospital in serious condition, officials said. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: China’s top envoy meets with Iran’s in Beijing as Trump pauses US effort in the Strait. U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday evening he was pausing the U.S. effort to guide stranded vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz to allow time for a deal to end the Iran war, but that the American forces’ blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE NATION: Takeaways from Indiana, Ohio and Michigan: Trump’s flex pays off and Democrats win special election. Elections in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan on Tuesday reinforced a picture that’s becoming increasingly clear — while President Donald Trump still dominates the Republican Party, Democrats seem to have the momentum ahead of November’s midterm elections. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE STATE: Over half a million dollars spent so far to rebuild Monona County fairgrounds after arson fire. The Monona County Fairground board of directors is working to rebuild what was lost in a fire earlier this year as the county fair approaches. Around 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 28, reports started coming in about a fire at the Monona County Fairgrounds. When crews arrived, they found flames had consumed the grandstand. ... READ MORE

Woebegone Wednesday 
Two more relics of Americana have disappeared in Des Moines this year. Price Chopper ended its practice of offering peanuts in the shell, salted and not, from self serve barrels. They were popular in all supermarkets till the mid 1950s and a standard at Mom and Pop grocery stores, particularly in the South where the peanut barrel rivaled the cracker barrel for attention of shoppers.

Speaking of Cracker Barrel, which employs cracker barrels only as a nostalgic memorial, the Clive store no longer offers chicken on the bone, except on Sundays. All their once-famous fried chicken offers are now made with boneless breast meat. 

Some things don't change. Fox Business reported that vanilla remains the most popular ice cream flavor in America, and it is not losing any market share. Chocolate is second; cookies and cream is third.  

Deals today
• The False Nine Social Club (206 Fifth St., Valley Junction) has hamburgers for $7 on Wednesdays.
 
• B&B Grocery, Meat and Deli (2001 S.E. Sixth St., Des Moines) has Philly cheesesteak on special today.
 
• Waterfont's Wednesday special this week is fresh Alaskan halibut.  
 
• Crouse Cafe (115 E. Salem, Indianola) offers pulled pork as today's special. 
 
• Waveland Cafe (4708 University Ave., Des Moines) offers a wiener Wednesday special today. 
 
• Today is fried chicken day at Sale Barn Cafe (Lamoni).
 
• Wednesdays are Chicago Italian beef sandwich day at Graziano Brothers (1601 S. Union St., Des Moines).
 
•  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. 
 
• Hy-Vees offer chicken and noodles dinners for $5 on Wednesdays.
 
• Guesthouse Tavern and Oyster (9500 University, West Des Moine) offers Walleye Wednesday with dinners $21.
 
• Jack’s Place (6112 S.W. Ninth, Des Moines) has 10 wings for $10 Wednesdays.
 
• Wednesday at Short E's BBQ (8805 Chambray Blvd., Johnston) the special is ribs - $15 full racks, $10 half racks and $5 off rib dinners.
 
• Whatcha Smokin? (Highway 17, Luther) has a brisket burnt ends special on Wednesdays.
 
• 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.
 
• Club 2000 (422 Indianola Road, Des Moines) offers 10 wings for $10 on Wednesdays and steak night, too.
 
• Smoking Goat Pub (3015 Merle Hay Road, Des Moines) has a $10 classic burger and beer all day. 
 
• Gilroy's (1238 Eighth St., West Des Moines) has all you can eat fried chicken dinners on Wednesdays, $23.99 after 5 p.m. 
 
• 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. It's also hot beef sandwich day at Chicago Speakeasy (1520 Euclid Ave.) where the gravy is made with pan drippings.
 
• Wine bottles are half price on Wednesdays at Trostel's Greenbriar (5910 Merle Hay Road, Johnston), Table 128 (220 S.W. Ninth, Des Moines) and The Continental (407 E. Fifth St., Des Moines). 
 
• G Mig's (128 Fifth St., Valley Junction) offers a Wednesday special meat and cheese lasagna, plus 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, 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).
 
• Chuck's (3610 Sixth Ave., Des Moines) offers $5 off pizza 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, flatbreads are $10 at Tito's Lounge (3916 N.W. Urbandale Drive, Urbandale). 
 
• Jethro's have $9.95 breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches, including a side of choice, on Wednesdays.  
 
• The Station on Ingersoll (3124 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines) has a Wednesday special of chopped cheeseburger with a side for $12.

• Price Choppers have sales through Monday on boneless chicken breasts at $2.99/pound; cantaloupes, two for $5; and strawberries and blueberries, two pints for $5.

— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com

1937: The Hindenburg disaster. The airship Hindenburg, the largest dirigible ever built and the pride of Nazi Germany, bursts into flames upon touching its mooring mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36 passengers and crew-members, on May 6, 1937. … READ MORE

1955: West Germany joins NATO. Ten years after the Nazis were defeated in World War II, West Germany formally joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a mutual defense group aimed at containing Soviet expansion in Europe. This action marked the final step of West Germany’s integration into the Western European defense system. … READ MORE

1994: English Channel tunnel opens. In a May 6, 1994 ceremony presided over by England’s Queen Elizabeth II and French President Francois Mitterrand, a rail tunnel under the English Channel is officially opened, connecting Britain and the European mainland for the first time since the Ice Age. … READ MORE

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