sc fire/rescuebelieves the fire sparked when an extension chord covered a pile of clothing overheated. two children were in the basement at the start of the fire and alerted the rest to evacuate. investigators are reminding people to take extra precautions to avoid potentially deadly situations duringt winter months. "probably about a 50 foot extension chchd that was plugged into an outlet and then ran down and coiled up in a large pile of clothing" says mark aesoph, sioux city fire marshal. "extension chords are just for temporary use only. they shouldn't be left on all the time, as soon as you're done with them. unplug them" says joe rodriguez, deputy fire marhsal. tim: the home is red tagged... coming up tonight at six we'll talk with the cortez family about thier tragic situation....and explains how you can n lp them in a difficult time. tim: we now know more about monday mornings deadly accident near yankton, sd. authorities now say 30 year old ashley riibe (ree- bee) of yankton and 31 year old curtis nelson also of yankton both died in the

according to the south dakota state patrol nelson was driving on highway 50 in the wrong lane when his vehicle cocoided head on with riibe's vehicle. nelson was pronounced dead at the scene, riibe died from her injuries at a sioux falls hospital. after the initial crash, two other vehicles each struck one of the two cars involved in the fatal crash. no one in those cars was injured. tim: a former coach at north high school was sentenced today... after being found guguty of having seseal relations wiwi a sioux city student. tim: erick de leon was formerly a soccer coach and director of a program for at risk youth at north high school in sioux city. court records show he was arrested back in january for performing sex acts with a 16 year old student. earlier this year he pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation by a school employee and today, he received a five year suspended jail sentence, with a three year period of probation. de leon also must also register as a sex offender.

after more than 23 years of military service, iowa senator joni ernst is officially retired from the army national guard. ernst, who achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel, said earlier this year she would be transitioning out of the service citing her new responsibilities as a u-s senator and her desire to spend time with her family. during her time in the service ernst deployed to iraq where she served as a company commander during operation iraqi freedom. her unit was tasked with running convoys between kuwait and iraq. . tim: with just 2 months until the iowa caucuses.... several g-o-p presidential candidates hit the campaign trail in iowa yet again today .... former vernors mike huckabee jeb bush and texas senator ted cruz were all stumping in the hawkeye state. huckabee stopped in mount ayer as part of his "the huck stops here" tour while jeb bush was in waterloo holding a town hall meeting. senator cruz, while speaking at his own town hall meeting in coralville said that current g-

could never be president. "let me be very clclr i don't believe donald trump is ing to be our nominee, don't believe he's going to be our president. and i actually think the men and women in this room have something powerful to say, one of the reasons i love the state of iowa. because in iowa you have take politics seriously . " . " tim: according to recent polls trump has about 3131of the vote amamg the gop fielel his nextappearance in the e hawkeye state will come on saturday when he visits the clay count events centern spencer. tim: donald trump got some unlikely help on the campaign time from herman trying to show appeal to americans of all races. meanwhile nj g gernor chris chchstie says...he's done talking ababt donald trump. a a's lana zak hahathe latest from#washington. " llowing the endorsement of several black pastors yesterday,

georgia with herman cain, the only african american candidate running for the g-o-p presidential nomination four years ago. cain said he t t was once considered an outsid but... if you're bo here you're not an outsider trump is taking fire on several fronts...lambasted by african-american leaders for racially-provactive comments. feuding with the new york times after appearing to mock one of their reporters who is disabled. but nj governor chris christie says he done talking about trump. chririie: whatever dtdtas said for the day today, is s ite frankly nothing i have any interest in responding to still trp is making waves...saying about c-n-n sot-trump - "i won't do the debate unless they pay me 5 million dollars - all of which money goes to the wounded warriors or goes to vets. elsewhere republican candidates were discussing guns and violent crime... jeb bush making what some could see as a bold declaration in the g-o-p... bush: people who have mental issues shouldn' t be able to buy guns, while ted cruz had a

ted cruz sot, "the overwhelming majority of violent criminals are democrats." tag: jeb bush making another headline- alluding to a female v.p. saying "she would be a great partner." lz abcn, " tim: the snow may be mostly over.... but the work continues for towing companies... yesterday officials enacted a tow ban in woodbury county that extended though this morning. once the ban was lifted, tow companies around siouxland were bombarded with calls. yesterday's storm left hundereds of vehicles stranded in area ditches. tim: and hehe in sioux city, crews continue to remove snow.... and vehicle owners have until 10am tomorrow to get vehicles moved so plows can clear the street. any snowbound vehicle not moved by 10 a.m. wednesday morning could be towed at the ownere's expense. you can check

policy at sioux city dot org. tim: tonight marks the final public meeting concerning the fate of sioux city's 5 swimming pools. begining at 7 o'clock tonight in city hall, the public can voice it's opinion and discuss recommendations recently made by a city pools committee. the committee favors closing leeds and cook pools after 2016.... with leif erikson and lewis pools close at a later date. splash pads would eventually replace the pools. tim: the numbers are in and it was a stellar year for the food bank of siouxland's backpack program. with the help of area businesses this year's fundraiser totals nearly 75 thousand dollars. all of that money goes directly to the food bank of siouxland and helps provide nutritious meals for school children who otherwise may not get a weekend meal. tim: and just a quick note, due to weather, monday's special olympics clinic with naia volleyball athletes was

event is now rescheduled for tomorrow morning, , from 9:30 to 11am at the tyson events center. over 75 regional special olympians will participate in activities with naia volleyball athletes from all over the country. it's a great event and it's nice that it could be rescscduled. still to come... new research suggests that more women than previously thought should have c-sections. we'll explain why, after this. fred: (fred) the snow will end, but the wind will not. there is sunshine ahead, though! your forecast is next!

fred: jenna: tim: (tim) fred, how much more snow is coming? (fred)

fred: (fred) a winter weather advisory remains in effect only in the west until 6 pm. other warnings and advisories have been canceled. the hd radar shows light snow continuing over much of the area. road conditions are much improved today. it was a november to remember! we had record november total precipitation of 4.55" and it was the 3rd snowiest november on record at 12.5"! wow! the popo neal welding company skycam hd shows a snowy scene from the ho

low and 32 the high today. here is the king's pointe skycam hd in storm lake. we have 32 and light snowown sioux city. cal temperatures are in the 20s and 30s. wind chills are in the teens and 20s. winds are building in from the northwest at 15 miles per hour. that's helping to blow the snow around. visibility is less than 5 miles, and only 0.25 milelein spencer. theheadar shows snow still rotating around the low pressure system. the stormcast hd shows that snow continuing into early tomorrow,

tonight is for up to 1" of snow and breezy winds. tomorrow, look for blustery conditions and a high of 33. the 7-day shows no more snow after tonight. highs will be in the 30s! tonight's'ssk fred prize is 4 tickets to q102's birthday bash featuring echosmith and andy grammer! to enter, email a weather question to fhexom@kcautv.c om or enter on our abc9 news facebook page. fred: jenna: other warnings and advisories have been canceled. the hd radar shows light

area. road conditions are much improved today. itit was a november t t remember! we had record november total precipitation of 4.55" and it was the 3rd snowiest november on record at 12.5"! wow! the port neal welding company skycam hd shows a snowy scene from the ho chunk centre in sioux city. 23 was the low and 32 the high today. here is the king's pointe skycam hd in storm lake. we have 32 and light snow in sioux city. local temperatures are in the 20s and 30s. wind chills are in the teens and 20s. winds are building in from the northwest at 15 miles per hour. that's helping to blow the snow around. visibility is less than 5 miles, and only 0.25 miles in spencer. the radar shows snow still rotating around the low pressure system. the stormcast hd shoho that snow continuing into (fred) you bet! tim: new research suggests that more women than previously thought should have c-sections. with more, here's

" aving a baby on the way? it's an exciting time, but one that might be filled with confusion as well. and for many expecting couples, whether or not a c- section is appropriate? is one of the most confusing questions of all. to help answer the confusing questions of all. to help answer the question of how many women should be having c- sections? researchers at harvard and stanford looked at birth data between 2005 and 2012 from around the world? their conclusion -- that a c-section rate of about 19 percent...that's 19 out of 100 live births? might be the magic number when it comes to preserving the lives of new moms and their babies. it's a figure that goes against current w-h-o guidelines? which recommend that counies should not exceed c-section rates of ten to fifteen percent. in the u-s of course, the rate is already far higher. here, about one in three births is by c- section. so when should you consider a c- section? the best way to determine this is to talk with

important conversation? that will ensure that you are taking the course of action that is right for you. with this medical minute? i'm dr. timothy johnson . " tim: reports from around the country suggest that a popular christmas gift this year may be more dangerous that previously thought. we'll take a look at that, after the

coming in from around the

year's hottest new toys is not only dangerous for those who ride it incorrectly, but also might pose a fire risk. abc's gio benitez has more on problems people are having with hoverboards they're purchasing online. " they're one of the hottest gifts this holiday season but could they pose a threat of fire? one lousiana family - now allegeing that their home was destroyed by a hoverboard gone up in flames jessica horne: both wheels it was like a firework, i seen sparks flying and before i could yell the house is on fire the middle part of the board that would go in between your feet it just went poof. hayden: it was hard to put it out, because it was pretty big, it caught flames fast the local authorities now investigating the cause of the fire - but this is not the first allegation of smoking hover boards - timothy cade of guls shore, al posting this video to youtube of his hoverboard on fire - saying that just

purchasing the board it went up in smoke both hoverboards were sold on amazon dot com - through vendors - abc news has reached out to their manufactorers for statements, but have not heard back (((check with hallie))) fire isn't the only potential danger people have reported about these hot new items - the consumer product safefe commission says it's received eight reports of emergency room treated injuries related to hoverboards in just the last three months. social media sites are packed with so called "hoverboard fails". like this worker, wiping out. nats -guy falls flat on back teenager xavier (x- ay-vee-uhr) terrell made a youtube video of his first hoverboard ride. sot - "uh i scarred up my knee" sot xavier: (18:35:02) "i was s rprised. i didndn think i'd get injured that badly." brandy giddings told our washington dc affiliate wjla tv she tore the ligaments in her left ankle trying to get off one of two family hoverboards. sot brandy giddings - "it almost runs over you if you step off the front so that's a really dangerous way to do it ." " tim:

purchase one of these devices, experts suggest wearing a helmet, and even wrist and kneeeeads. and if yououe a beginner, consider having someone spot you. tim: after the break... we'll have a special guest in studio to tell us more about this year's upcoming festival of trees auction at the ho-chunk center.

an annual event beginning the monday before thanksgiving and ending the thursday following t- giving. it is held in the atrium of ho- chunk centre, sioux city, ia. holiday trees, wreaths & items up for charity auction to benefit a local non- profit. this year's

support group. opening night will be nov 23rd beginning at 615. the live auction will be on dec 3rd beginning at 630. the e rd annual feststal of trees is more than a festive holiday exhibit. for the members of this year's selected charity, siouxland autism support group, it will mean more funding for group events. "(the donation) will give us room to come up with other ways we can helplphe kids and ththr families," said julie case, the group's executive director. from now until thursday, guests can browse the 69 trees -- some traditional and others eccentric -- on display in the

fourth st. local businesses, , clubs and organizations decorate trees that the public can bid on. since the original festival of trees in 1993, more than $330,000 has been raised for 23 local charities, said festival director thomas molstad. a silent auction is underway until thursday's 6:15 p.m. live auction at the ho-chunk centre. prior to the auction, the local blue zones committee will be offering a festival of trees walk at 6 p.m. to

wreaths from the second-level skywalk. molstad said selecting the yearly charity recipient is anything but an easy task. "there are so many great charities out there. it makes it difficult to make a selection a lot of the time," said molstad. case said she's grateful her organization will receive this year' donation, which will which pay for such upcoming grououactivities as movies, zoo visits and more. the group helps families with h children on the autism spectrum enjoy everyday activities without worrying about negative reactions to their child's behavior. "if you have a child with autism, you don't know how they are going to deal with an activity. then it's like, do you want to pay $8 a person and your kid can't handle it and you have to leave?" case said. regardless of a child's behavior at these group events, case said they won't feel unwelcome. "we tell (group members): we have seen it all, our kids have done it all, and if they haven't, they are going to," said case, who became involved with the support group in 1999 after her son, christian, was diagnosed with autism. case wants the public to get past the idea of just knowing about autism. the world has been made aware, she said. "we like to show people that we're just normal people, but our kid has some issues that we're trying to work through," case said. "we don't necessarily need awareness, we need acceptance." " tim: fred's back next th a final check of our forecast.

your forecast for tonight is for up to 1" of snow and breezy winds. tomorrow, look for blustery conditions and a high of 33. the 7-day shows no more snow after tonight. highs will be in the 30s! tonight's ask fred prize is 4 tickets to q102's birthday bash featuring echosmith and andy grammer! to enter, email a weather question to fhexom@kcautv.c om or enter on our abc9 news facebook page.