🌱 Man Charged After Toddler Wanders Off + City Seeks Repayment

Happy Monday, Des Moines! Let's get you all caught up to start today off on an informed note.

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First, today's weather:

Partly sunny. High: 44 Low: 29.

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Here are the top 3 stories in Des Moines today:

1. A man was arrested this weekend after his toddler wandered off while he was sleeping. The West Des Moines Police Department responded to a report of a small child walking down the road in only a shirt and diapers around 5 p.m. Friday, but officers could not locate the child's parents after searching for over three hours. The Iowa Department of Human Services took emergency custody of the child for the evening, and the child's father has been charged with child endangerment. (theperrynews.com)
2. The city of Des Moines is seeking $1.6 million in unpaid costs for the construction of an underpass connecting two parks. The underpass, known as the Ruan Connector, links Gray's Lake Park and Water Works Park and was completed in 2020 with money from a public-private partnership between the city and the Des Moines Water Works Foundation. The foundation's former executive director, Sam Carrell, says the nonprofit intended to pay back money that was fronted by the city but fell on hard times during the pandemic. The city has not yet committed to an amount it would be willing to forgive. (KCCI Des Moines)
3. An Ankeny woman has survived after a car crashed into her living room and exploded, setting her house on fire. The woman says she lost everything to the smoke and water damage, and the townhouse was gutted after the crash last Monday. Police are still investigating what happened leading up to the crash and are looking for the driver. (Free: KCCI; Subscription: Des Moines Register)

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Today in Des Moines:

• The Des Moines Curling Club Christmas Curl At MidAmerican Energy Company RecPlex (7:00 PM)

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From my notebook:

• The US National Weather Service announced that the city of Des Moines might see its first subzero temperatures of this winter season next Wednesday. (Facebook)
• The $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope took flight on Christmas morning for a high-stakes mission that scientists say will peer deeper into the universe's 13.8 billion-year history than ever before. (Facebook)
• The Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden is hosting a Winter Break event Monday that includes pop-up activities such as gnome in the dome, the Jurassic Terrariums Drop-in program, and the Jungle Safari Winter Break Day camp. (Facebook)

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You're all caught up for today! See you tomorrow for your next update.

— Katarina Betterton

About me: Katarina loves to read and write. Her hobbies include cooking her grandmother's recipes, learning new languages, and crafting. She and her husband live with their mutt, Ledger, and Shiba Inu, Mikasa, who are both way too cute for their own good.