FROM KCCI: West Des Moines police investigate reports of shots fired on Vine Street. West Des Moines police are investigating after reports of shots were fired Sunday evening on Vine Street, with no injuries reported so far. Police say callers reported shots fired around 8:30 p.m. Authorities are searching the area and focusing on one house, and it is not considered an active shooting. ... READ MORE

FROM WHO-TV: How warm will we get Christmas day? The only precipitation chance we have to talk about during this mild week comes in the form of sprinkles on Christmas day. We’ll still see near-record highs in southern Iowa.  ... READ MORE

FROM WOI: Public records raise new questions in ex-superintendent Ian Roberts' hiring. New details are emerging about the hiring and onboarding process of former Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts, who was taken into custody by immigration enforcement officers in late September and later transferred to federal custody on gun-related charges. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: Ukraine is leveraging its powerful – and cheap – new drone killers for air defense. The icy ground crackling under their feet, members of an elite Ukrainian drone-hunting team set up for a long night. Antennas and sensors are clipped to a light stand. Monitors and controls are pulled from hard cases, and a game-changing new weapon is readied for deployment. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE NATION: Top Trump administration official defends partial release of Epstein files as Democrats cry foul. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday defended the Justice Department’s decision to release just a fraction of the Jeffrey Epstein files by the congressionally mandated deadline as necessary to protect survivors of sexual abuse by the disgraced financier. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE STATE: Firefighters battle early morning blaze in Fort Dodge. Firefighters responded early Sunday morning to a house fire in Fort Dodge. The Fort Dodge Fire Department was called to a structure fire at 1108 S. 26th St. shortly before 4:30 a.m. When crews arrived, they found smoke coming from the home. ... READ MORE

Clear Mortgage meteorology

A mild week is ahead! We’ll be close to record highs Christmas day.

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

Prime and Providence made USA Today’s "20 best steakhouses in America." We suspect Des Moines Register’s Entertainment Editor Susan Stapleton influenced this decision, and we could not appreciate it more. P&P goes the extra 6,340 miles (distance between Kobe, Japan, and Jordan Creek) for the most elite beef in the world and adds the rare touch of charcoal grilling.

Deals today 
Hy-Vee Market Grilles offer pulled pork stuffed baked potatoes on Mondays in December for $8. 

• It's catfish night at Waterfront stores. Dinners cooked any way you like it, $19.99.

• Kids eat free on Monday at Curbin' Cuisine (1325 S.W. Oralabor Road, Suite 200 Ankeny).

• It's Meat Loaf Monday at Mickey's in Yale and hot beef sandwich day at Pelican Post.

• Chuck's (3610 Sixth Ave., Des Moines) Monday special is three for $25 on all appetizers.

•  Bubba (200 10th St., Des Moines) has a Monday night sirloin dinner special for $20. 

• Kelly's Little Nipper (1701 E. Grand Ave., Des Moines) offers a "Monday grind" special grinder and fries basket for $9.50.

• Monday brings prime rib specials to both Chicago Speakeasy (1520 Euclid Ave., Des Moines) and Christopher's (2816 Beaver Ave., Des Moines).

• Trostel's Greeenbriar (Merle Hay Road, Johnston) has a Monday burger with a side and beer deal for $14.   

• Beaver Tap (4050 Urbandale Ave., Des Moines) has $8 omelets and $10 hot beef sandwiches or Mexican bowls on Mondays.

• Johnny's Italian Steakhouses have a chicken de Burgo special on Mondays before 4 p.m., $14 including beverage.
 
• Smoking Goat Pub (3015 Merle Hay Road) hosts Shelby Smokehouse Soul Food on Mondays, 5-9 p.m.
 
• G Mig's (126 Fifth St., Valley Junction) has $11 smashburgers today with a side.
 
• The Station on Ingersoll (3124 Ingersoll, Des Moines) has a Monday special Graziano grinder with a side for $12.
 
• The Continental (407 E. Fifth St., Des Moines) offers a Monday special double smashburger and shoestring fries, $12.
 
• Bad Dog Burgers include three 1/3-pound patties, six pieces of bacon, choice of cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle and onion, for $10.95 on Mondays at Kathy’s East 14th Street Tavern (3418 E. 14th St., Des Moines).
 
• Jethro's have a Monday chicken tenders and fries special, $9.95.

• Angry Goldfish (2301 S.W. Ninth St., Des Moines) has specials on chicken Parmesan and lasagna today, $15 with garlic bread and salad.

• Eastside Eddie’s (3517 E. 26th St., Des Moines) Monday  special is a burger with domestic beer, soft drink or well drink for $10.  

• Centro (1003 Locust St., Des Moines) offers half-price pizza and Peronis on Monday.

• Who's on First (810 E. First St., Ankeny) has steak night on Monday, and it's an 8-ounce filet with salad, mashed potatoes and beans for $22.95 

• Pelican Post (265 50th St., West Des Moines) has a special today on hot beef sandwiches, $10.95 all day. 

• Tito’s Lounge (3916 Urbandale Drive, Urbandale) offers all-you-can-eat wings Mondays. 

• Johnny's Hall of Fame (302 Court Ave., Des Moines) has $12 burger baskets on Mondays and Fridays.

• Urban Cellars (640 S. 50th St., West Des Moines) offers $60 wine dinners for two on Mondays including two entrees with soup or salad, a dessert and a bottle on wine. 

• Club 2000 (422 Indianola Road, Des Moines) has a burger basket with fries deal Mondays for $9. 

• Red Lobster's Monday special is lobster and shrimp scampi with a side for $20. 

• Paula's (524 Elm St., Valley Junction) has a Monday special homemade tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwich for $12.50. 

• Destination Grille (2491 E. First St., Grimes) has a Monday steak night special, sirloins and truffle fries for $18.

• Price Chopper delis offer two-piece, bone-in fried chicken dinners with two sides and a roll for $6 on Mondays. 

• Fareways have specials through Saturday on mandarins at $3.88/3-pound bag, Frenched pork loin at $5.99/pound and bone-in USDA Choice ribeye roasts at $1.99/pound.

— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com

1808: Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony given world premiere in Vienna. On Dec. 22, 1808, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67—the “Fifth Symphony”—receives its world premiere. It would soon become the world’s most recognizable piece of classical music. ... READ MORE

1956: First gorilla born in captivity. On Dec. 22, 1956, a baby gorilla named Colo enters the world at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, becoming the first-ever gorilla born in captivity. Weighing in at approximately 4 pounds, Colo, a western lowland gorilla whose name was a combination of Columbus and Ohio, was the daughter of Millie and Mac, two gorillas captured in French Cameroon, Africa, who were brought to the Columbus Zoo in 1951. Before Colo’s birth, gorillas found at zoos were caught in the wild, often by brutal means. In order to capture a gorilla when it was young and therefore still small enough to handle, hunters frequently had to kill the gorilla’s parents and other family members. ... READ MORE

1993: “Philadelphia,” the first major Hollywood movie about AIDS, opens in theaters. On Dec. 22, 1993, Philadelphia, starring the actor Tom Hanks in the first major Hollywood movie to focus on the subject of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), opens in theaters. In the film, Hanks played Andrew Beckett, a gay attorney who is unjustly fired from his job because he suffers from AIDS. Denzel Washington co-starred as Joe Miller, a homophobic personal-injury lawyer who takes on Beckett’s case and comes to terms with his own misconceptions about gay people and the disease. ... READ MORE

 www.history.com