siouxland communities, so stay tuned if you have travel plans. temperatures are in the 30s. your planner shows partly cloloy skies and areas of fogtonight. the temperature will be 37 at 2 am, 38 at 6 am, and 40 at 10 am. i'll be back in a few minutes with a look at the wintry weather coming on thankgiving. it's time for local news that matters! "you are to punish them but i don't think you want to bury them. " why some believe there should be a change in sentencing guidelines. a part of sioux city's past... is about together another go. what's in store for this old building. "it's a family project" "nats of signing" a group of iowans hope their governor will give syrian refugees a second chance. tim: good evening and

thank you for joining us tonight im tim seaman jenna:and d jenna rehnstrom america represents roughly 5 percent of the worlds population and 25 percent of its prisoners. tim: covercrowded state and federal prisons are costing taxpayers around 6.4 billion dollars. tim: many of those prisoners serve drug related sentences and are on what are called mandatory minimums. it's a conceptdeveloped in the70's....during the so called "war o o drugs". with crack and cocain sweeping across the nation .. putting away offenders ... even on small drug charges ... was a priority. jenna: these minimums are still used today. but as overcrowding continues....there is a call for change ...and it originates in iowa. abc9's lukas voss has the story. lukas:s: tim and jenna ... there is indeed a

to adjust minimum sentences. the goal.... relieving overcrowded prisons and helping offenders reintegrate into society. representing that change is iowa senator chuck grassley . he is one of many who say there are a lot of reasons why that change should happen now. " " nats: hammer strikes down music v: when the final word is spoken in court. around 50 percent of the criminals sentenced in iowa are considered low level and non violent offenders ... but that doesn't protect them from serving long term prison sentences. in part because of what are called mandatory minimums. lukas set: these mandatory minimums require judges to setence offenders to prison terms often without consideration of cirumstances. it's a system many refer to as "one size fits all" laws and a a "quick fix solution". terms iowa senator chuck grassley wants to change. sot: "for the first time, we are cutting back on mandatory minimus so that they may apply more fairly. the change is part of a bi-partisan effort led by grassley .. the chairman of the senate judiciary committee introduced the sentencing reform and corrections act of 2015 in october. an important part of that act is to give more discretion to judges ... something that's bebe lacking for the past 20 years. sot:t: "when

whether it's state or federal typically judges are required to impose those they don't have any discretion they can't take a person or aset of circumstances and interpret that to find a sentence that is less imposing. iowa prisons are at 113 percent capacity and the department of corrections is estimating that the state's inmate population will rise by 39 percent in 10 years. many inmates sent there are on minimum setences. sot: "theheare not workininthey are resultltg in way to mananpeople in prison. people that don't need to be there. people where an alternative sentence would work." woodbury county sheriff dave drew worked in drug law enforcement throughout his career. most cases effected by minimum sentences are drug related to him reducing minimum sentences doesn't mean that criminals are being let go ... but that they are part of working system. sot: you are to punish them ... but you don't want to bury them. make somebodydyware of the prprlems they have cauaud and change their behavior and bring them back to society thats what the criminal justice system should be doing. and i don't think we are getting there when we are sentencing someone to 20 30 years in prison. and there is a lot of concern that it might even have the opposit effect sot: "a person who might not be so inclined to commit offense who has a mandatory minimum sentence imposed. under some cicumstance requiring them to spent that extra time in jail and not be

eliegible for parol might can make them more apy to commit more crimes." music: the issue is now part of a discussion nationwide and a topic of everyday conversation in washington as iowa is at centerstage for change. lukas:

committe will intoruduce the criminal justice rererm bill in earar december before the christmas break. he then hopes to have a descision when session resumes in january. and speaking to several members of t legislature across iowa ... they have all indicated that there needs to be change and they are hopeful ... 2016 will be the year. reporting live in studio ... lukas voss abc9 news. tim on cam: protestors took to the streets in chicago tonight after the police department released disturbing dashboard video showing the shooting of a 17- year-old man. laquan mcdonald was shot 16 times by officer jason van dyke, who is now charged with first-degree murder. authorities say van dyke confronted mcdonald-- who was armed with a 3-inch knife-- on october 20th of last year. according to the cook county state's s torney-- the officer shot the teen while he lie on the ground after previously being hit by gunfire " " " we hold our police officers to a high standard. and obviously this case jason van dyke

violated the standard so professionalism that comes with being a police officer, but also basic moral standards that bind our community together." until today, vandyke still worked for the police department in a "limited duty position." the police superintendent now says van dyke is no longer being paid by the police department. jenna: a group of iowans gathered to take their concerns about syrain refugees right to the governor's office today in des moines. according to the partment of human services, no syrian refugees have ever resettled here in iowa... and they have never moved here after settling in another state. still, there's a possibility the federal government will want to place syrian refugees in the future, and some iowans want our doors to be open. amanda krenz brings us more.. the point of this protest was to be peaceful, not political. still, you can read the e gns and see these people have a clear message for governor branstad, don't stop syrian refugees from resettling in iowa. samantha 10:09 it really just hits me in the pill of my soul, mkaes my blood boil,

it's just an inhumane act. samantha thomas organized this rally, as a way to support refugee rights, which they say are simply human rights. samantha 9:49 we need to focus on the greater good of humanity and all people. ordered alalstate agencies to halt any work on syrian resettlements immediately sarah 16:17 it hits home because my mother was a refugee from the vietnawar and high school we hav ea lot of refugees from myanmar, several african countries, hits home, personal to me. the protesters made their way up to the governor's formal office where they handed over a letter asking the governor to reconsider his decision to stop state services for syrian refugees. they hope he'll read it, maybe even take some time to meet with them about what they feel is more than refugee services... but a humanitarian issue. whitney 13:49 we disagree withthe way he handleed the situation and we think fear mongering is the opposite of what we need to be doing. jenna: even though

have the power to stop syrian refugees from coming to iowa if the u-s state department sends them here, he can limit what state services they get like education and help with employment. tim: a new quinnipiac poll released today shows one republican presidential candidate making big gains with likely iowa caucus goers. tim: although donald trump is maintaining his lead, g-o-p rival ted cruz is more than doubling his support, jumping to 23 per-cent approval in iowa, while recent favorite ben carson dropped 10 percent among caucus goers. marco rubio is the only other republican candidate polling in the double digits jenna: an iconic building in sioux city will be home to a new business. the former sioux tools building on floyd blvd now has a local owner, who is planning to bring it back to life in a special way,. mark schuett who grew up in a small town not too far from sioux city is the owner of

american natural processors, he purchased the former sioux tools building around march of this yr and is in the process of rennovating it to look as similar as it did in the early 20's. " " "part of what we wanted to do was actually restore it back to what i'm going to call its glory days in the 20's and get it to look like that and to be able to use it to do our processing," said schuett. mark's company is american natural processors incorporated, a business that produces grain, protein concentrates, oil and more. he says that the motivation to purchase the building was not only because of family, but the chance to preserve history. mark plans on hosting an open house when the building is completely updated for locals and former employees who worked in the building years ago. tim: are you a black friday spper ? stores like walmart plan to open doors at 6pm on thanksgiving day. and this year walmart is offering a "designated one hour guarentee line" promises to send shoppers home with items of their choice at a

even if the item is not in stock, stores say they'll get it before christmas for a later pick up. "ian tell you that it is going to be a great black friday. we are going to have over one million tvs, over ten million pairs of pajamas and over 15 million movies that we will have ready for our black friday event, said van matre. wal mart will also be price matching items as long as you have a competitor's ad for an identical product. the major retailer says that they will have more casers and associates on duty to make the event run more smoothly for customers. jenna: this holiday's hottest new toy... may turn out to be a nightmare for parents. they're called "bunchems", build-able little toys that kids can create into whatever they want by stacking and sticking them together. but, they're also creating big problems with posts like this going around online afterhe bunchems bece tangled in some children's hair. now, the company that makes bunchems is adding to its warning label. the company president says, "bunchems are

only inteded to be adhered to other bunchems.... we've recently changed the color of the warning to make it even more identifiable when opening the package." and after the break well take a look at gueniss world record holding feline stay tuned (fred) tonight's ask fred question is "what is the coldest thankgiving on record?" the answer, and your wintry thanksgiving forecast, after the break. stay with us! " " tim:

he's guinness book of world records' oldest living cat. jennifer wade intrododes us to cordurur. " " meet corduroy a furry feline that loves naps, hunting for mice, and cuddling. (ashley okura, corduroy's owner) " he was my buddy and i would carry him like a baby and flip him over." he may look like your average cat, but there is something not so ordinary about ts

corduroy's o oer) "he's guinss world records oldest living cat" ashley picked out corduroy when he was just a kitten, and she was 6 years old. (ashley okura, corduroy's owner) "i was so excited i could hardly contain myself, the 20 minute drive to redmond felt like forever" corduroy was the pick of the litter. (ashley okura, corduroy's owner) "he was very fluffy so that was exciting" and he has been her companion ever since. now 26, or 1 1 in cat years corduroy is still going strong. (ashley okura, corduroy's owner) "i think corduroy has good genes, typicallcats live until they're 15 years old" corduroys' brother, batman, was also adopted by the family and lived until 19. (ashley okura, corduroy's owner) "i really think the key to his longevity is i've allows allowed him to be a cat. we've kept his claws and i think that really has helped him out. it's allowewehim to go outside and defend himself and also hunt" ashley hopes corduroy's long life will encourage people to stop declawing their cats. she says she is honored to have the world's oldest cat and enjoys sharing him with the world. (ashley okura, corduroy's owner) "i'm just really lucky to have him in my life now and i hope he continues to do well and will live for a lot longer" tim: corduroy will

soon be featured in "national geographic" and "catster" magazine. (tim) fred, how bad does it look thursdsd? (fred) ice changing to snow could cause me challenging avel. 2 line super: fred hexom fhexom@kcautv.c om (fred) a winter storm watch has been

issued for the southern part of the map, including harrison county and omaha/council bluffs, on thursday. the threat will be for ice changing to snow. thth watch may be expanded, sstay tuned. the port neal welding company skycam hd shows the scene in downtown sioux city from the ho chunk centre. our high today reached 51 after a low of 27. the king's pointe skycam hd shows the winter scene in storrm lake. 37 is our temperature in sioux city. the wind is east/southeast at 9 mph. around siouxland, temperaturesesre in the 30s.s.elative humidity is quite high, espeically across the northeast--as high as 100 percent in storm lake. as a result, we could see areas of fog tonight. right now, though, visibility is fine at 8-10 miles across the map. the stormcast hd shows fog tonight, drizzle tomorrow, and then thursday's weather will be an icy mix of rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow in the morning changing to snow in n the afternoon. the ice forecast shows up to 0.1" to 0.2" of an inch of ice in the south d east. the snow forecast shows 0.5" to 1.0" of

highway 20 and 1.0" to 2.0" of snow north of highway 20. your forecast tonight is for partly cloudy skies and areas of fog. the low will be 34. tomorrow, the high will be 45 with areas of f f and areas of drizzlelethe 7-day forecast shows ice and snow thursday and a high of 33. we'll see a gradual cooldown afterward, with a high o& just 27 saturday. monday will bring another chance of snow. tonight's ask fred question is "what is the coldest thankgiving on record?" the answer is that the coldest high was 8 degrees on november 28, 1985, while the coldest low was -5 o o november 30, 1905.our winner is deb b rusche via facebook. deb wins 4 world tour buffets at the hard rock casino! to enter, email your weather question to fhexom@kcautv.c om or enter on facebook under our

thanks, fred. (fred) you bet.

catholic was in search of its first state football champipiship since 2012. we'll have the action from lincoln up ahead. tim plus dordt and morningside met up on the court find out who's heading into thanksgiving on a high note after the break.

wednesday nights, but with the thanksgiving holiday just around the corner, tuesday night became basketball night. here in sioux city, dordt made the trip down 75 to take on morningside. we'll start with women's action...mustangs up 43-40 at the half. but then they find their rhythm in the third...lexi ackerman, ahead to madison braun.n.she connects to double the lead. check out jessica tietz working on the low- block...she fights for the offensive rebound and gets the putback to open up a double- digit lead. that sets up the deep game...downtown madi braun...she drained four triples tonight as the e ad up to 18.

then taylor bahensky gets in on the fun from outside...mo^nings ide shot 52 percent from range for the game. with just a minute remaining in the quarter, abby chapman, hits the first and only field goal in the third for the defenders. morningside pulls away for the 84-59 win. we pick up the men's gamemearly... brody van ginkel, comes around and drives the lanan for a pair of s team-high 22, stangs take the lead. but the defenders answer right back...alec henrickson has a wide open path to the rack...dordt back on top. back on the other end...brody egger, fires from the line, no go, but he'll get it back and turns out, he just needed to step out...the three falls to open up a 4 point lead. dordt, continues to get to the rim...leighton sampson this time with the easy lay in to cut the lead to two. the stangs, out on the fast break now...van ginkel wyatt mounts. head to overtime and the stangs

head into thanksgivivi with a win, 85-83. elsewhere in the gpac, the northwestern women continue to play good basketball. the red raiders upset number 7 briar cliff, 77- 64...that's the chargers first loss of the season. in the men's game though, #9 bcu got some revenge with a 104-81 win in the bultman center. chris: when it comes to nebraska high school football, no program can beat norfolk catholic's 9 state championships. today the knights were back in lincoln for the first time since 2012, looking to get to double digits. the second seeded knights taking on top seed columbus scotus in the class c1 title game. in the first...baeley pelster, takes it in from 7 yards out...the shamrocks go u u 7-0 after thth extra point. ininhe second, scotus up 13...but myles vrbka hits matt miller for 17 yards and 6 points...knights cut the lead in half. later in the quarter...david engelhaupt, muscles his way in from 15 yards out...norfolk catholic takes the lead but they'd

trail 19-14 at the break. in the third...shamrocks up 8 and they add to it...jake bobo-from 53 yards ay--that's a nebrasas state championship record...scotus goes up double- digits. but the knights had some fight in them...vrbka with the fake and he throws it back to engelhaupt...we saw the strength earlier, now we see the speed...90 yards--that's a c-1 record and they get within 5. norfrfk catholic with one final drive here, but engelhaupt, gets stripped and scotus recovers...they hand norfolk catholic its first loss of the year, 32-27. e've had alot of success down here winning this game also, it just didn't happen today cause we played a good football team and i think give them credit in the things they've done but we

had more mistakes then we typically make as a team. no coach coach to lose but there's a time when you have to man up and you have to say we did what we did and we got beat and so i feel very good about our kids and what we've done." in the class c2 championship, oakland craig, fresh off an upset of battle creek can't pull off another stunner. aquinas catholic wins its 4th title in the last 5 years...36-7 the final from memorial stadium. chris:

tly cloudy skies and areas of fog. the low will be 34. tomorrow, the high will be 45 with areas of fog and areas of drizzle. the 7-day forecast shows ice and snowowhursday and a a gh of 33. we'll see a gradual cooldown afterward, with a high of just 27 saturday. monday will bring another chance of snow.