FROM KCCI: Sand, Lahn trade personal attacks in fiery first Iowa governor debate. Republican Zach Lahn and Democrat Rob Sand traded personal attacks over their records, backgrounds and qualifications during their first televised debate Tuesday night, setting a contentious tone for the final four weeks of Iowa's governor's race. Lahn, a businessman seeking public office for the first time, repeatedly criticized Sand's performance as state auditor and portrayed him as a career politician. Sand defended his record and challenged Lahn over his ties to Kansas, questioning whether the Republican spends enough time in Iowa to lead the state. ... READ MORE

FROM WHO-TV: Polk County leaders explore new downtown entertainment district. Leaders in Polk County are exploring the idea of turning the area around the Iowa Events Center into an entertainment district. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a plan to analyze the area around the Casey’s Center, EMC Expo Center, and Community Choice Convention Center. ... READ MORE

FROM WOI: Accused I-35 shooter faces 4 charges of attempted murder. A West Des Moines man is charged with four counts of attempted murder following Monday's I-35 shooting south of the Des Moines metro, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation announced. Iowa DCI said authorities were dispatched to a report of shots fired on northbound I-35 near the Bevington exit (56 MM) around 3:30 p.m. Monday. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE NATION: Christa Pike is awake after failed execution as her attorneys seek more information. Death row inmate Christa Pike has regained consciousness after Tennessee’s failed attempt to execute her by lethal injection last week, and her attorneys are set to head to court Wednesday to seek more information about what went wrong. Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital as executioners attempted to put her to death Sept. 30 for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. Pike is believed to be the only person to survive after lethal injection drugs were administered. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE STATE: Victims identified from fatal boating accident near Dubuque. Officials have identified the two people who died in a boating accident on the Mississippi River Saturday. Iowa DNR Conservation Officers said Saturday that the boat hit an object around 3 p.m. Saturday on Molo Slough, near the Massey Marina. Three people were ejected from the boat. The two people who were pronounced dead at the scene were identified as 62-year-old Wayne Ameskamp, of Dyersville, and 61-year-old Michael Donahue, of Bellevue. ... READ MORE

Steak de Burgo, in its original non-creamy version, is hardly unique to Des Moines. It is pretty much what Greeks in Mason City called Greek steak. The Northwestern Steak House in that town has served it by that name for more than 100 years. It is also pretty much the same thing as “bistec de tenerna” in Catalonia and Valencia and "bistec con aoili" all over the Mediterranean. 

What is unique is its name, preserved only in Iowa but carrying origins that are nearly 100 years old. During the Spanish Civil War, Catalonia and Valencia were the provincial strongholds of the Republicans. The Loyalists, who prevailed, were based out of Burgos. After their victory, “Caudillo for Life by the Grace of God” Franco ordered references to Catalan and Valencian things purged. Olive oil-based culinary dishes needed new names in Barcelona and other Republican areas. Burgos, a dairy center, was as far from Barcelona as anything, politically and culinarian. So, names, but not recipes, were changed temporarily and ironically.

The intermingling of European refugees in the Francis Avenue neighborhood brought several Republican families to Des Moines. They brought the Burgos deceit to public awareness. Both Johnny Compiano and Vic Talerico lived in the Francis Avenue hood. Those are the two men who are credited for the first steak de Burgo in Des Moines. Both were Calabrese men married to Modenese wives — open-minded magnets for the cornucopia of ideas in the melting pot of Francis Avenue.

The dish by the name “de Burgo” sprang from that north Des Moines hood. Ironically, the name “de Burgos” has not been used in Spain since Franco died in 1970. In Des Moines, it is still gospel, even when dairy products are used in a further irony.

Probably off-topic, but frightfully romantic is Burgos' most memorable feature — a creepy canopy over the main square and the riverfront of oriental plane trees, manipulated by centuries of human grafting and pollarding (a type of pruning) to look like a giant web to heaven, or hell, all winter after their leaves fall. 

Deals today
• Art Horgan, "acoustic crooner," plays free tonight at One Eleven Public House (111 East Main, Knoxville), 6-8 p.m. It is also steak night. 

• Waterfronts have an Alaskan halibut special this Wednesday. 

• Sale Barn's (Lamoni) special today is fried chicken with corn casserole.

• Paula's (Elm Street at 6th, Valley Junction) has a Wednesday Cuban sandwich special.

• Crouse Cafe (115 E. Salem, Indianola) has smoked pork chops on special today.

• G Mig's (128 Fifth St., Valley Junction) offers a Wednesday special beef braised pork cannelloni, plus salad and garlic bread for $19.25.

 • Price Choppers offer $.88/pound squashes, honeycrisps at $1.49/pound and frozen tilapia at $4.99/pound.

— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com

1913: Moving assembly line debuts at Ford factory. For the first time, Henry Ford’s entire Highland Park, Michigan automobile factory is run on a continuously moving assembly line when the chassis—the automobile’s frame—is assembled using the revolutionary industrial technique. A motor and rope pulled the chassis past workers and parts on the factory floor, cutting the man-hours required to complete one “Model T.” Within a year, further assembly line improvements reduced the time required to 93 man-minutes. The staggering increase in productivity effected by Ford’s use of the moving assembly line allowed him to drastically reduce the cost of the Model T, thereby accomplishing his dream of making the car affordable to ordinary consumers. … READ MORE

1985: Lynette Woodard becomes first female Harlem Globetrotters player. On October 7, 1985, Lynette Woodard, captain of the gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic women's basketball team in 1984, becomes the first female player for the Harlem Globetrotters. “I got chills, Woodard, 26, says of her selection. "I just shook my head and I said: ‘It’s me, I know it’s me.’” She beats out nine other finalists for the historic honor. … READ MORE

2001: U.S.-led attack on Afghanistan begins. On October 7, 2001, a U.S.-led coalition begins attacks on Taliban-controlled Afghanistan with an intense bombing campaign by American and British forces. Logistical support was provided by other nations including France, Germany, Australia and Canada and, later, troops were provided by the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance rebels. The invasion of Afghanistan was the opening salvo in the United States “war on terror” and a response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. The conflict in Afghanistan would span two decades and become the longest war in U.S. history. … READ MORE

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