FROM KCCI: Dazzling photos of Tuesday night's northern lights in Iowa. Iowa’s night sky put on a rare and breathtaking show on Tuesday, as the northern lights shimmered from horizon to horizon. KCCI viewers captured the spectacle in stunning photos, with ribbons of green, pink, and violet dancing above barns, small towns, and city skylines alike. ... READ MORE

FROM WHO-TV: 125-year-old military documents found inside candy box at Iowa chocolate shop. The owners of a chocolate shop in Marshalltown are now searching for the family of a veteran whose military documents were found inside of an old chocolate box. On Monday, Aimee Deimerley-Snyder found a vintage chocolate box in storage at Lillie Mae Chocolates in Marshalltown. The shop has been a community staple since 1939, and was moving next door to a larger space. ... READ MORE

FROM WOI: Gas leak at Ankeny hardware store resolved. An Ankeny neighborhood was evacuated Tuesday afternoon after a gas leak began during the repair of an underground, large storage tank. Around 2:35 p.m. Wednesday, the Ankeny Fire Department responded to a gas leak at an Ace Hardware located at 3020 S.W. Oralabor Road. ... READ MORE

Meet “The Monkeys,” definitely not to be confused with the 1960s rock band — unless they start playing "I’m a Believer" mid-race! These daring women, sporting their distinctive monkey hats, braved the 2025 Living History Farms Race on a cold, rainy and snowy day. Photo by Paul Houston

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: Russia makes gains in southern Ukraine as it expands front-line attacks. The Russian army overran three settlements in the southern Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, Kyiv’s top military commander said Wednesday, as Moscow’s forces expand their efforts to capture more Ukrainian territory. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE NATION: A historic shutdown is nearly over. It leaves no winners and much frustration. The longest government shutdown in history could conclude as soon as Wednesday, Day 43, with almost no one happy with the final result. Democrats didn’t get the heath insurance provisions they demanded added to the spending deal. And Republicans, who control the levers of power in Washington, didn’t escape blame, according to polls and some state and local elections that went poorly for them. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE STATE: 19-year-old sentenced to probation for Iowa City bar fight stabbings. A 19-year-old was sentenced to probation in connection to an Iowa City bar fight that resulted in three stabbings in 2023. In 2023, Christopher Torres, of Iowa City, was charged with two counts of willful injury causing serious injury and one count of willful injury causing bodily injury. ... READ MORE

Clear Mortgage meteorology

Warming trend through the week. The next chance of rain comes Monday.

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

Deals today 
• This week's Wednesday night special at Waterfront stores is American red snapper.

• Curbin' Cuisine (1325 S.W. Oralabor Road, Suite 200, Ankeny) offers $7 gyros today. 

• Kids eat free on Wednesday at Short E's BBQ (8805 Chambray Blvd., Johnston).

• Fareway is offering $5 rotisserie chicken on Wednesdays. Other days they cost about $9.

• Whatcha Smokin? (Highway 17, Luther) has a brisket burnt ends special on Wednesdays. 

• The Bistro at Iowa Culinary Institute is open for its fall season in Building 7 of Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny. Lunch will be served Wednesdays through Fridays till Dec. 5. $17 for a buffet or three course a la carte with a drink. 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

• 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. 

• Smoking Goat Pub (3015 Merle Hay Road, Des Moines) has a $10 classic burger and beer all day. 

• Paula's (524 Elm, Valley Junction) has a Wednesday special beef stew with biscuit $13.50.

• 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. 

• Wine bottles are half price on Wednesdays at Trostel's Greenbriar (5910 Merle Hay Road, Johnston). The Continental (407 E. Fifth St., Des Moines) also has half-priced bottles on Wednesdays. 

• G Mig's (128 Fifth St., Valley Junction) offers a Wednesday special lasagna dinner 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 Avenue) and The Station (3124 Ingersoll) 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.).

• Panka Peruvian (2708 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines) has live jazz Wednesday. 

• 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. 

• On Wednesdays, you can get any burger with fries for $10.99 at Tito's Lounge (3916 N.W. Urbandale Drive, Urbandale). 

• Jethro's have $9.95 BPT sandwiches, including a side of choice, on Wednesdays.  
 
• Hy-Vee Market Grilles are offering a cheeseburger and fries  Wednesday special for $8.

• Fresh Thyme (2900 University Ave., West Des Moines) begins a week-long sale on avocados at 79 cents, raspberries or blackberries at two for $5, and Atlantic salmon filets at $8.99/pound.

— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com

1799: First recorded meteor shower in North America. On Nov. 12, 1799, Andrew Ellicott, an early American astronomer, witnesses the Leonids meteor shower from a ship off the Florida Keys. Ellicott wrote in his journal that the “whole heaven appeared as if illuminated with sky rockets, flying in an infinity of directions, and I was in constant expectation of some of them falling on the vessel. They continued until put out by the light of the sun after day break.” Ellicott’s journal entry is the first known record of a meteor shower in North America. ... READ MORE

1954: Ellis Island closes. On Nov. 12, 1954, Ellis Island, the gateway to America, shuts it doors after processing more than 12 million immigrants since opening in 1892. Today, tens of millions of Americans can trace their roots through Ellis Island, located in New York Harbor off the New Jersey coast and named for merchant Samuel Ellis, who owned the land in the 1770s. ... READ MORE

1979: Jimmy Carter shuts down oil imports from Iran. On Nov. 12, 1979, President Jimmy Carter responds to a potential threat to national security by stopping the importation of petroleum from Iran. ... READ MORE

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