the republican presidential hopefuls... nats - and there's a change in mood... ahead of tonight's debate. -trump "please do me a favor... let me win iowa?" for the first time -- donald trump is not the clear front-runner. a new poll shows him in a statistical dead heat with doctor ben carson - nationally... followed by marco rubio... jeb bush... and carlfiorina. nats - (carson boxing dance w/ gloves) tuesday... carson also picked up the endorsement of a former u-f-c champion. - carson - i do realize that you know... it's a marathon." - matthew dowd four candidates -- lowest in the polls --will also face-off in an earlier event... and with ten on tonight's main stage - john kasich is vowing to take the gloves off. sot - kasich "i'm done being polite and listening to this nonsense." debate drama also -- behind the scenes. rand paul's advisor tweeted these photos -- comparing trump's elaborate green room to ul's. the r-n-c later changed paul's accomodations. sot - jeb bush is targeting democratic candidate - hillary clinton - in his latest ad... while marco rubio... is having a little light-hearted fun. sot -- "yeah. i know i have a debate... but i have to get this fantasy football thing right." rubio's hometown paper - the sun sentinel though... is now calling on him to resign his senate seat... saying he's missed too many

votes in washington. tonight's showdown will primarily be focused on jobs and the economy. millions tuned into the last two republican debates... that often turned heated and ugly... as we now wait to see what happens this time around. brandi hitt - abc news - boulder, colorado. " jenna: as former florida governor jeb bush prepares for tonight'sdebate, his campaign released a video targeting one of his rivals. but the target is not one of bush's republican rivals. the campaign ad hits democratic frontrunner hillary clinton. (jeb bush) " we've had six full years of tax increases, endless new regulation, vast new federal programs, eight trillion dollars borrowed and spent. and what has it gotten us? jenna: bush goes on in his ad to say the way he believes the way to bring jobs back to america is to quote "take the power out of washington and give it back to the american people". tim: the house g-o-p conference has made up it's mind

about who should be the next speaker of the house. (rep. paul ryan) " i want to thank my colleagues for bestowing onto me this great honor." tim: paul ryan, who represents wisconsin gave his regards to outgoing speaker john boehner in a press conference today announcing the nomination. ryan says tomorrow will mark a new day in the house of representatives. (rep. paul ryan) "we believe that the country is on the wrong track. we think the country is headed in the wrong direction. and we have an obligation here in the people's house to do the people's business to give this country a better way forward, to give this country an alternative. we are going to respect the people by representing the people the house is set to vote on electing a new speaker tomorrow morning jenna: sioux city is being honored for encouraging business growth... through a skilled workforce. governor terry branstad was in sioux city at the

formally announce that the city has earned the 'skilled iowa community' designation. the city completed a checklist of both business commitments and workforce certifications. the skilled iowa initiative aims to develop local economic benefits by creating more skilled employees. "sioux city is the largest city in iowa to receive this skilled iowa award, and it's a recognition that you have employers encouraging their applicants to get the national career readiness certificate and you have unemployed people that are upgrading their skills by doing this national career readiness certificate," said governor terry branstad . jenna: in order to become a skilled iowa community, sioux city had to have five percent of the local workforce become n-c-r-c certified as well as have 20- percent of the local employers commit to supporting the skilled iowa initiative in their hiring process. tim: while he was in northwest iowa governor branstad also made an announcement

recognizing home base iowa communities in sioux, o'brien, and lyon counties, saying quote: "we are proud of the home base iowa program because it allows our state the unique opportunity to make sure iowa veterans are fully employed, "these three northwest iowa counties are going above and beyond to welcome veterans to their communities." jenna: an old "sunshine state" south dakota flag that went missing from the state capital has been found. according to the south dakota attorney general, the original state flag was ruled as missing during a legislative audit. after an internal investigation, the division of criminal investigation uncovered a former secretary of state employee had it in their posession. that former employee is now expected to face criminal charges. tim: if you have a pet and have ever thought about having one of those i-d chips implanted in the animal, here's another example of how well the chips work. recently a girl from des moines was reunited with her cat lost 14

years ago. jill petticord say she never thought she'd see "ralph", again but with help from an i-d chip... theyre back together again. (jill petticord/ralph's owner)he looked at me. and kind of turned his head sideways. and his eyes perked up. and i said - oh my gosh, that's my kitty." jill is now working to get ralph back to good health. he has lost weight and fur because he was stray for so many years. tim: still to come... it's a good day to be a chocolate lover. details about national chocolate day. when we return. fred: (fred) snow flurries will be ending early tonight, but breezy, cool weather will continue. rain is coming late friday, too. see you after the break for the forecast.

fred: (fred) the hd radar shows a mix of light rain and snow north of highway 20. accumulation is not expected. the port neal welding company skycam hd

time lapse shows mostly cloudy skies today, and we had a few snowflakes from time to time. 51 was our high today after a low of 41. the king's pointe skycam hd shows plenty of clouds in storm lake. the allergy report shows low overall pollen levels. 43 is our sioux ty temperature. local temperatures are 30s north and 40s south. wind chchls are in the 20s and 30s mainly. winds are northwest at around 20 mph with gusts as high as 40 mph. we're seeing some slightly lower visibilty around spencer. the satellite and radar shows a big low pressure system to our east. we are on the western edge of the systst, so the

end soon. the stormcast hd shows windy conditions taming down only a bit tonight. tomorrow, high pressure will bring chilly sunshine, but winds will stay breezy. rain chances are friday night. many of us will see 0.25" to 0.33". your forecast tonight is

for a low of 36. skies will be partly cloudy and winds will gust to 30 mph. tomorrow, the high will be 49 with partly cloudy skies and winds gusting to 25 miles per hour. the 7-day shows a cold night tomorrow night and chance of showers friday. fred: tim:

jenna: do you love chocolate? you're in luck. today is national chocolate day! go ahead and satisfy your sweet tooth with some sweet, unsweetened...mil k or white chocolate my personal

favorite is white chocolate, but you can't go wrong- chocolate goes wtih just about anything tim: although calling chocolate a health food is a bit of a stretch. it does contain flavonols which do have some health benefits, such as warding off cardio- vascular disease and also may help to improve memory. when we return, marriage is it good o obad for your health? details in today's

for the soul. but new research now points to what it might mean for your heart. with more, here's dr. timothy johnson. "marriage? it brings us together. and it just might be what saves our lives after heart surgery. that's what researchers at the university of pennyslvania found in a surprising new finding out today. the researchers? looking at survey data of over 1,500 americans who had undergone heart surgery? finding that patients who were divorced, separated, or widowed had a nearly 40 percent greater risk of dying or developing a significant disability within two years, compared to patients who were married. it's a difference that could mean a great deal. heart disease is now the number one killer in the united states. and as more americans undergo open-heart surgery, doctors have been trying to learn more about how to reduce death and disability. as for why tying the knot might help?p? nobody really knows. but the researchers say the extra social support from a spouse might influence patients to seek better care and select better hospitals.

which just goes to show that sometimes love can help mend a broken heart. with this medical minute i'm dr. timothy johnson. " after the break... as the holiday season approaches, we'll have some tips on how you can get an edge on seasonal employment.

season gets closer, retailers begin to boost their staffing ranks. but the economy, the employment rate, and changes in consumer habits have prompted some changes in where to find those jobs this year. karin caifa (prono: kay-fuh) explains, in our consumer watch. "amanda mcclements gives thought to your holiday shopping before you

salt & sundry owner) we really start in the summer. crunching numbers, getting our inventory estimates together, and placing larger orders. the owner of washington's salt and sundry boutiques has been preparing for the holiday rush for months. that includes staffing. the strategy, similar for large chains like the container store, where holiday items are already on the sales floor. washington, d-c area director cynthia michitsch says the hiring process started in september. we have a lot of seasonal employees who like to come back and return with us every year, and then we take a look at what we project to have in business for the holiday season. so from there, we determine how many employees we need for the business. overall, retailers have determined they need to hire at roughly the same levels, as last year. outplacement firm challenger, gray and christmas expects retailers to add 755,000 seasonal employees to payrolls. (john challenger, challenger, gray & christmas ceo) even though the economy has grown, we don't expect to see big changes in the total hiring. another good strong year, but probably similar to where we were last year in terms of total hiring. the drop in the nation's unemployment rate means stores are already well- staffed, but also that fewer americans may be looking for part- time holiday jobs. and a shift in consumer habits, is changing where to find them. e-commerce giant amazon will boost holiday hiring by 25 percent over last year, to 100,000 new positions. that's more than -- -- macy's plans s r 85,000. -- target -- 70,000 -- wal-mart - 606000 -- and kohl's -- 69,000 looks like you're in good shape with your holiday set so far. at this kohl's store in central new jersey, district manager tom peake says seasonal hires may work in roles in distirbution centers, or other areas that support online orders. (tom peake, kohl's district manager, central jersey) obviously it is our busiest time of the year, so we are looking for flexibility with hours. they would be working on the holidays, nights and weekends. flexibility in scheduling and

flexibility in roles -- qualities sought by retailers large and small, as they gear up for their busiest season of all. for consumer watch, i'm karin caifa. " tim:

beloved adults in schools... aren't teachers. a resource officer from davenport iowa is retiring aer 21 years patrolling the halls of his school. gretta patrick tells us why saying goodbye might not be so easy. "after 21 years of serving as resource ofofcer at davenport's central high school, corporal martin lopez is retiring... he says interacting withtudents is the thing he'll miss most... nats - martin: causing a problem?why? boy - we were roasting each other martin: oh man! but he's leaving with plenty of stories... martin lopez: we've had everything from, and i wasn't here the day of it, but we had a kid bring a gun into school, this was probobly 15 years ago... to kids that come intoxicated, fighting, i mean just,

serious that we can't overcome." principal scott mc- kissick says the martin's absence will certainly leave a hole... scott: he's really, really had an imprint on central and our student body, he's touched a lot of lives, both students and staff." mc-kissick says martin has a way of dealing with students... and the bonds he's formed with generations of students and teachers will be remembered for years to come.... martin: "i treat people the way i wanted to be treated d en i wasn't a police officer, so that's what kind of got me going here." gretta: although he will be dearly missed by all, officer lopez is looking forward to avoiding g e harsh midwestern winter and s snding the next few months in arizona. gretta patrick, local four news at five. " tim: fred's back next with a final check of our forecast.

announcement coming out of norfolk bringing in a 125 million dollar project to the area. abc9's bribell digs into the details tonight. tim: plus. abc9's rachel ramos takes a look at siouxlands latest entreprenuership . galactic stream. how they are innovating in television

technology. that's tonight at six (fred) your forecast tonight is for a low of 36. skies will be partly cloudy and winds will@dust to 30 mph. tomorrow, the high will be 49 with partly cloudy skies and winds gusting to 25 miles per hour. the 7-day shows a cold night tomorrow night and chance of shshers friday late in the day. the halloween weekend looks pretty nice.

tonight, the breaking developments. the f-16s scrambd. the military's runaway blim floating over america. >> it's going down. >> knocking out power to tens of thousands, drifting over schools. $175 million spent on that balloon. we're on the scene with the new warning at this hour. breaking developments in the case of the classroom takedown. the community outraged tonight. parents divided over who is really to blame. and this evening, the officer seen smiling before he was firere his new statement. the high stakes showdown amid dropping poll numbers. donald trump saying to iowa voters, what are you doing to me? the big debate, and trump now says, he's ready. the dangerous commute at this hour. the storm stretching 1,200 miles, blinding rain, up and down the east coast. a rough night ahead. and the first lady and the prince.

and the moment that had them speechless. gli good evening. and we begin tonight with the concern. f-16s scrambled up and down the coast when a military blimp broke free, tearing loose, floating away. this is what it looks like, a giant high tech air ship. 240 feet long. 175 million in your tax money. this is what it looked like flflting over a school.. later, spotttt floatatg over a neighborhood, crashing through power lines, knocking out power. and here's the path it took. breaking away from the aberdeen proving grounds in maryland, floating across pennsylvania and coming down in motherland township. abc's lindsey davis on the scene tonight, and many asking, how does a military blimp break free in the first place? >> reporter: for hours today, a mystete. just where was the $175 million

military blimp?