FROM KCCI: Eight Iowa high schools cancel varsity football seasons in 2026. Eight Iowa high schools have canceled their varsity football seasons this fall due to safety concerns and low participation numbers. According to the Iowa High School Athletic Association, that includes Davis County in Class 2A, Central Decatur and New London in Class A, and Exira-EHK, Lone Tree, Mormon Trail, Rockford and Siouxland Christian in the eight-player division. ... READ MORE

FROM WHO-TV: Car drives into senior living complex on Des Moines’ southside. A Chevy Impala drove into a senior living complex in Des Moines’ southside Wednesday afternoon. Des Moines Fire Chief Jonathan Lund said around 4:30 p.m., a car drove into a community room of the Southridge Senior Residences, located along the 1200 block of Cummins Road, striking a load-bearing column and causing a portion of the complex to become unsafe. ... READ MORE

FROM WOI: Victim killed in Stuart shooting remembered for her kindness. A man is facing murder and attempted murder charges after a shooting in Stuart left a woman dead and an Iowa State Patrol trooper injured. Austin Reed is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Toni Elena-Ann Salazar and attempted murder of a peace officer in the shooting of Trooper Chase Carruthers. For neighbors, the shooting was personal. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE WORLD: Prices soar as Gaza smuggling booms. Officials, soldiers and middlemen are accused of cashing in. Palestinians face inflated prices for groceries and batteries, hospitals have turned to smugglers for medicine and equipment, and Israeli soldiers and other middlemen are accused of pocketing millions of dollars as the smuggling of goods restricted by Israel into the Gaza Strip has boomed, according to an Associated Press investigation based on court documents and interviews with traders, truckers and officials. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE NATION: The US national debt now stands at $40 trillion. The national debt surpassed a record $40 trillion on Wednesday, a staggering milestone as defense costs, social programs like Social Security and Medicare and interest on the burgeoning deficit make up an enormous share of federal spending. The milestone figure was recorded just five months after the U.S. hit a record $39 trillion debt in March. It reached $38 trillion five months before that, in October. ... READ MORE

FROM AROUND THE STATE: U.S. Associate Attorney General meets with Iowa officials on public safety. New federal funding could help Iowa schools spot warning signs of violence and help prosecutors crack down on fraud. Top legal officials with the U.S. Department of Justice were in Iowa discussing public safety. Officials say Iowa is one of the safest states in the country, and they say more grant funding will help keep it that way. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and U.S. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward held a roundtable with state and local law officials on public safety that was closed to the media. ... READ MORE

We are not making this up
Heinz is releasing its first-ever “Love Lid,” which lets customers control how much ketchup is squeezed out of the bottle. The customizable lid has three settings, “Like,” “Love” and “Crazy Love.”

The U.S. declared lungs unfit for human consumption in 1971, but ancient Romans loved to eat them. An Apicius recipe calls for soaking them in milk, straining, breaking two eggs inside them, plus a little salt, and mixing in a spoonful of honey before tying off, boiling and slicing. The taboo today is probably because lungs are filters trapping dust and other potentially toxic stuff. 

Deals today
• Guesthouse Tavern and Oyster (9500 University Ave., West Des Moines) offers pasta and meatball dinner specials for $22 Thursdays.
 
• High Life Lounge (200 Second St., Des Moines) has a Thursday special spaghetti and meat balls for $10.99.
 
• The Empire's (223 Fourth St., Des Moines) Thursday special is baked spaghetti for $10.
 
• Thursday is $10 kebabs and wings day at Desi Bites (3828 100th St., Urbandale). 
 
• Mariana's (1305 University Ave., Des Moines) offers pastor tacos for $2 Thursdays.
 
• Talk Shop Lounge (3357 St. Charles Road, St. Charles) has two deals Thursday: jambalaya dinner for $15, lasagna for $10.
 
• Cowboy (1234 E. Euclid Ave., Des Moines) has ribs on special today, $2.99/per rib.
 
• The False Nine Social Club (206 Fifth St., Valley Junction) has jacket potatoes on sale Thursdays for $10.
 
• The Waveland (4708 University Ave., Des Moines) has rodeo burgers and sweet corn on special today.
 
• B&B (S.E. Sixth and Hartford, Des Moines) has a Thursday special Killer's double hot Polish with fries and a soda for $12.95.
 
• Thursdays are triple decker Reuben day at Graziano Brothers (1601 S. Union St., Des Moines).
 
• Quarter pound cheeseburgers and chicken sandwiches are $3.39 each on Thursdays at Kwik Star.
 
• Striking Sparrow (1930 S.E. Sixth St., Des Moines) has a Thursday special breaded pork tenderloin with fries and soda for $12.
 
• Taco pizzas are the Thursday special at Walker's Place (475 N.E. Broadway Ave., Des Moines).
 
• Sale Barn Cafe (Lamoni) is offering chicken fried steak specials today.
 
• Liver and onions are today's special at Crouse Cafe (115 E. Salem, Indianola).
 
•  AJ's (Prairie Meadows) has an 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.
 
• Chelsie's Courtyard Diner (100 MLK, Des Moines) has buck burgers Thursdays. $1!
 
• Istanbul Grill Cafe & Bakery (3281 100th St., Urbandale) has a Thursday special of $11.99 for a döner wrap with fries as well as $5 off döner plate which comes with Turkish salad and your choice of rice or bulgur. 
 
•  Turkey club melt on garlic focaccia with fries for $12.99 are a Thursday special at Club 2000. 
 
• Maxie's (1311 Grand Ave., West Des Moines) Thursday special for $20.95 is half a fried chicken with potato, side of spaghetti, and a salad. Lunch and dinner.
 
• Mullets Norwalk offers two, two-topping pizzas for $20 on Thursdays, 4 p.m. to close.
 
• Buzzard Billy's (615 Third St., Des Moines) has $2 off appetizers on Thursdays.
 
• Whatcha Smokin? (Highway 17, Luther) has a pork belly burnt ends special on Thursdays.
 
• Beaver Tap (4050 Urbandale Ave., Des Moines) offers $10 country fried breakfasts and $9 tenderloins or shrimp/fish tacos on Thursdays.
 
• Ruth's Chris (Ashworth Road at Jordan Creek Parkway) has a Thursday special with their decadent RBAR burgers and fries going for $16.
 
• Steak Nights: Sirloin steak dinners are featured specials today at Johnny's Italian Steakhouses (before 4 p.m.), Sully's Irish Pub (860 First St., West Des Moines); Front Row (9956 Swanson Blvd., Clive); Winn’s Pizza and Steakhouse (122 W. Ashland Ave., Indianola); and Hy-Vee Market Grilles. The Station on Ingersoll (3120 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines) has a $12 ribeye sandwich special on Thursdays. Gilroy's (1238 Eighth St., West Des Moines) offers ribeyes and sirloins only on Thursdays after 5 p.m.
 
• Mullets has a Thursday pizza special — buy one large specialty pizza and get a free 14-inch two-topping pizza.
 
• Kids eat free at Scorno’s Pizza & Pasta (1930 S.E. 14th St., Des Moines) on Thursdays with every $15 order.
 
• ShortE's BBQ (8505 Chambery Blvd., Johnston) has $1 smoked wings Thursdays.
 
• Jethro's Thursday special is a pound of boneless "wings" for $8.
 
• Bevy’s Tavern (1300 50th St., West Des Moines) has a special of beef stew and cornbread Thursdays for $13.
 
• Destination Grille (2491 E. First St., Grimes) has a "Comfort Thursday" special chicken fried De Burgo, a gluten free spin on DSM's classic. $16
 
• The Dam Pub (2710 Beaver Ave., Des Moines) has a throwback Thursday special goulash with garlic toast.
 
• The Continental (407 E. Fifth St., Des Moines) has $7 loaded fries on Thursdays.
 
• Buffalo Wild Wings offers two orders for the price of one Thursdays on orders of six, 10 and 15 boneless wings.

• Price Choppers have sales through Monday on bone-in pork chops at $1.99/pound, Kandy melons at $1.99 and frozen tilapia fillets at $4.49/pound.

• Aldi stores have sales through Tuesday on peaches at $1.39/pound, chicken wings at $1.69/pound, and avocados at $.59.

• Fresh Thyme (2800 University Ave., West Des Moines) is running a sale through Sunday on lobster tails at $5.99 and through Tuesday on Coho salmon fillets at $5.99/pound and ahi or swordfish steaks at $10.99/pound.

— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com

1619: First enslaved Africans arrive in Jamestown, setting the stage for slavery in North America. On or about Aug. 20, 1619, “20 and odd” Angolans, kidnapped by the Portuguese, arrive in the British colony of Virginia and are then bought by English colonists. The exact date is not definitively known (a letter from the time identified the ship's arrival coming in "the latter part of August"), but this date has been chosen by many to mark the arrival of the enslaved Africans in the New World—beginning two and a half centuries of slavery in North America. … READ MORE

1945: 17-year-old becomes youngest to hit MLB home run. On Aug. 20, 1945, 11 days after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, Brooklyn Dodgers utility player Tommy Brown homers to drive in his team's only run in an 11-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. It seems insignificant, aside from the fact that, at 17 years old, Brown remains the youngest player to homer in a Major League Baseball game, a feat unlikely to be duplicated. … READ MORE

1975: Viking 1 launched to Mars. Viking 1, an unmanned U.S. planetary probe, is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a mission to Mars. … READ MORE

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