a sioux city family who lost their home in a fire is king out for the first time. "we are all hurting for austin and his family " a community is in shock following the sudden death of a student athlete. "he is becoming isis' best recruiter democratic presidential candidates went after donald trump during their final debate of the year... now the g-o-p front runner is hitting back. deborah: good evening and thanks for joining usus. i'm deborah souverain. tonight for the first time.. a sioux city family whose home went up in flames jus one day before thanksgiving...is

abc 9's bria bell was with the family earlier and has more... the palmersheim (palmer-shy-mm) family says having one another helps throughout the rebuilding process, but one of the toughest things that they have had to deal with so far is the loss of their beloved dog joey. "you wake up one day and everything's changed, your whole life," said mike palersheim. the palmersheim family is greatful to be alive, but their lives have completely taken an unexpected turn during what's suppose to be a time filled with love, laughter, and holiday cheer. the day before thanksgiving, their house caught on fire. the damage has been detremential, but they say nothing is worse than losing a pet that you considered a furry family member. "you know, you come by here and expect to see him looking out of the window and it's been rough...but the kids don't remember life without him and it's been hard," said stephanie palersheim. stephanie and her family are now living in a relatives home for the time being at least until they can get back on their feet. "still living out of boxes pretty much, like living out of suitcases. we've got piles here and there just sorting through everything day by day," said mike palersheim. a go fund me page has been created to help the palmersheims durg this trying time. they say the money and support that they've received is helpful. "we're geeting some support from family friends that don't live in the area and it all helps, everything helps," said mike palersheim. a link to the family's go fund me account

siouxland matters dot com. in studio, bria bell abc 9 news. deborah: trtric news out ofofpencer, iowa, whwhe a high school wrestler who collapsed on the mat last night has died. austin roberts passed away at spencer hospital over night. according to school officials....robert s, a 220-pound wrestler, was rushed to the emergency room...after collasping on the mat during spencer high's invitational tragic news out of spencer, iowa, where a high school wrestler who collapsed on the mat last night has died. austin roberts passed away at spencer hospital over night. according to school officials....robert s, a 220-pound wrestler, was rushed to the emergency room...after collasping on the mat during spencer high's invitational wrestling tournament. the school's

community is in grief over roberts' sudden passing. "not only was austin accomplished hlete, austin was a a good kid and a good clasase and the type of student that wouldn't hurt a flea but was a fierce eompetitor as well. we are a hurting for austin and his family and for his classmates a for the staff that had an opportunity to work with him and we are just doing what we can to help everybody got through this tough time," said terry hemann, spencer community schools superintendent. deborah: hemann says the cause of death is not yet known.... and the school district is unaware of any pre-existing conditions that may have contributed toaustin's death. a go-fund me account set up to help the roberts family has raised over 13 thousand dollars. if you would like to help, visit our website siouxland- matters-dot-com. deborah: last night during the final democratic debate of the year the candidates discussed a lot of topics..including their opinions on

donald trump firing back. is in washington with more. " (abc this week) sot - donald trump / (r) presidential candidate "knowing the clintons and knowing hillary, but there's no -- there's nobody -- she just made it up. i mean she made it up. it was a sound bite." on abc's thiweek, donald trump attacked democratic frontrunner hillary clinton for this explosive allegation. sot - hillary clinton / (d) presidential candidate "he is becoming isis' best recruiter. they are going to people showing videos of donald trump insulting islam and muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists." both the white house and terror experts say there's no hard evidence i is is using videos of trump to recruit. today, the clinton campaign clariried thth the former secretary of state was not referencing a specific video? last night, trump tweeted "hillary clinton lied." (abc this week) sot - donald trump / (r) presidential candidate "i've been right on more than anybody else has been right." (abc this week) sot - stephanopoulos: "are you sure you want to go -- are you sure you want to go down that road? the fact checkers have called you out on

statements than any other candidate." trump: "oh, i'll go down that road. and, you know, people maybe call me out, but they turn out to be wrong." democratic contder sen. bernie sanders argued on this week that trump deliberately misleads . (abc this week) s ot - sen. bernie sanders / (d) presidential ate "i say this straightforwardly -- i think you have a pathological liar there. trump was the biggest target in the democrats new hampshire debate -- the only g-o-p candidate called out by name. but even his fellow republicans are taking aim at their frontrunner. (abc this week) sot - gov. chris christie / (r) presidential candidate "i was in new jersey on september 11th and thousands of people simply were not celebrating in jersey city." candidates attacking withinnd across party lines - as primary voters and caucus-goers get closer to making a decision. devividwyer, abc news, washington. " deborah: bernie sanders will be right here in sioux city tomorrow...but there has been a change of venue for his visit. bernie sanders' town hall meeting is now being held at the sioux city convention center on fourth street.

open at 6. sanders' campaign organizers say the venue changed due to overwhelming turnout projections. deborah breaking a bottle over the ships susie buffett - daughter of berkshire hathaway chairman, warren buffett - helped christen the u-s-s omaha today. about 500 people, including 20 nebraskans, attended the pier-side ceremony. the event took place at the austal u-s-a shipyard in mobile alabama. the u.s.s. omaha is the fourth ship to be christened at the facility. deborah if you're e e of the lucky fans headed to california to watch the hawkeyes in the rose bowl.. we have details on a party you won't want to miss. the battleship u- s-s iowa in los angeles, california , is helping celebrate the hawkeyes in a big way. a free pep rally is being held at the historic

place on thursday the 31st....from noon until five...and it's free for all iowans. hawkeye apparel is encouraged. for more information visit their webiste, pacific battleshipipot- com. deborah christmas came early at the gas pump this year.... the national average has dropped to two dollars a gallon, according to triple-a. it hasn't been that low since 20-09... plus more than two-thirds of gas stations are selling gas for less than 2 dollars a gallon...that according to the information service. one industry analyst says he expects low prices to last into at least january. deborah: more about a lottery investigation involving an iowa man. investigators say started with one insider from iowa, who is accused of and now, authorities ar looking into extended to states. abc's clayton

" it's lottery scam prosecutors say took a game of chance? and removed the "chance". nats - lotto video / announcer / "if you match all five numbers and the hot ball, you win the jackpot.t. eddie tipton? ? former security director at t e multi state lottery association? is now accused of hacking computers so they'd pick his winning numbers. prosecutors say tipton asked people he knew...including his brother... to help collect jackpots in colorado? wisconsin and now... oklahoma. sot - sot - david jobes / iowa division of criminal investigation / those three together totaled about eight million dollars. investigators say they're now scrutinizing games (gfx map) in as many as thirty seven states and territories. sot - david jobes / iowa division of criminal investigation / we're looking into any jackpot that could be associated with eddie tipton across the country. in september tipton was convicted of scamming the iowa lottery. prosecutors say this surveillance video shows him in disguise buying a ticket that won 16- point-five-million dollars. nats - 18:49:19 courtroom / we, the jury, find the defendant edward

tipton is appealing that conviction. (gfx) but he still faces trial on the newer multi-state cases. his attorney says "there has been no evidence that mr. tipton did anything to tamper with any of the computers." in the meantime lottery officials are beefing upupecurity? nats - -ottery employee / "each of us have a unique 6 digit t de to get inside this room" ? to convince the public: games worth twenty-billion dollars in revenue to the states? can be trusted. sot - thomas miller / fmr. iowa deputy attorney general / "if people don't trust the honesty of the system, particpation in the lottery is going to dwindle and be jeopardized." deborah: tipton's trial for the latest charges begins in january... if convicted... he could face twenty five years in prison. deborah: when we come back... did the latest star wars movie break the box office record? we'll find out after the break. fred: (fred) a cloudy night is ahead, then our weather wi turn cooler tomorrow. rain and snow chances are in the 7-day forecast after the break. stay with us!

dear future, sailed through that diaper stage, learned to walk, and i'm reading like a third-grader. but now it's time to go out into the world.

it's not all toys and games out there. will you look out for me, future? you can ride my new bike. movie has the force on its side... at least in the box office. as pamela brown reports... the movie broke some all-time records in its opening weekend. " star wars awakens to the biggest box office opening - in history! the newest

million dollars this weekend - in the u-s and canada alone, the sci-fi franchise continues its legacy of being an opening weekend hit - the first star wars film also had the highest weekend debut back in 1977. the force awakens flew past current record holder jurassic world. natsot (movie) but it's no surprise - fans werer anticipating t t movie well before its arrival.standing in line for hours - even days for tickets! (mos's/butted sots): "i started on dec 5th" "i put in about 26 hours on friday" "3 days now and i got here at 5am this morning" one couple even marked it as their own special day (natsot/wedding): "i now pronounce you husband and wife - may your love last longer than a stlax digestion".kiss the white house got in on the action too - sharing the stage with a storm trooper at friday's press briefing and president obama ended his last press conference of the year with this. (obama/no font): "ok everybody - i gotta get to star wars" and it's not just the box office - the e rce awakens was also a hit with critics - scoring near perfect on rottentomatoes.com so what will director j-j abrams think about all this? (j.j. abrams, director): "success for me, it's just going to be if people go and like the film and if kids go and see themselves in the movie and people

they leave the theater than when they got there, and the number is the number." thousands of star wars fans gathered in los angeles to break a different type of record. the group attempted to break the record for the world's largest lightsaber battle in a 24 hour period. those numbers are being combined with some from other weekend battles in san francisco, seattle and san diego. the previous record of seven- thousand lightsabers was set at comicon in san diego. organizers say record- setter.com will determine if they broke the record

deborah/elisa (fred) we have some fairly major changes to the forecast for this week. elisa elisa raffa eraffa@kcautv.co m (fred) the port neal welding company skycam hd shows the fog and mist from the ho chunk centre in sioux city. the high today was anexcellent 46, perfect for walking the dodo the low has been 29. in sioux city, we have 30 degrees. local temperatures are in the 20s and 30s. winds are northwest at 10 to 15 miles per hour. that wind is producing wind chills of 20 in sioux city and just 12 in o'neill. relative humidity is as high of 100 percent, and as result, we are startingo see some fog. it will linger overnight. midwest temperatures show

can expect a definite cooler feel to the y tomorrow. the satellite and radar cover, but little shows cooler weather tomorrrow, then a sharp warmup tuesday before rain early wednesday. the forecast for tonight is for cloudy skies andnd breezy winds witit patchy fog. the low will be 24. tomorrowow look for a high of 32 with mostly cloudy skies, the 7-day shows upper 40s tuesday, then rain and snow chance of snow of rain on christmas day friday, then a good chance of mixed precipitation with rain, snow, and possibly ice on saturday. sunday will be sunny and the first day winter, otherwise known as the winter solstice. this means that the sun is shining most brightly south of the equator, as far away from us as it ever goes. after tomorrow, it wil start moving back north again, so our (we will have e re daylight). deborah/elela (deborah) thanks, fred. (fred) you bet. deborah: when we come back...the nebraska volleyball team

volleyball team returned home with a natatnal championshsh. alex has the details on their title

earlier in the newscast, spencer senior wrestler austin roberts passed away last night. i wanted to take this opportunity to send our thoughts and prayers to austin's family and the spencer community. if you want to reach out and assist the roberts' family, a go-fund-me has been created to offset medical and funeral expenses. you can find that link on our website....siouxlala dmatters.com or on our abc9 facebook page. alex over the last ten years, nebraska basketball is 81-8 in non-conference home games. tonight, the huskers had samford on their

like another easy win right? not so fast. the bulldogs are 7-3 this season...coached by former standout scott 1st half andrew white forces the turnover... and gets the feed from shavon jam...he had 17 but samford held a late lead....under three minutes..to tai webster for three...huskers within five... == then shavon would hit a three soon after shields had a game high 25 points to go along with 7 rebounds.... == andrew white and shields comine for 42 points..... no one else could really get anything going huskers shoot 43 69-58 huskers, the nebraska volleyball team won their fourth national championship last of texas. returned home to looking at championship run, they finished the season with 16 straight wins, a story-book ending to their magical 2015 season. picture anything. i game at a time, set at a time. after what

unreal. i dont think it has really settled yet that we won the whole thing. it's so cool to be a part of this." congrats against to nebraska. well-deserved nationalal championship. alex for the second time this season, northern iowa took down a national powerhouse. the panthers upset fifth- ranked iowa state last night, capping a great day of action at the big four classic. with saturday's win, northern valley conference team in 50 years to win two games teamin the same season. uni upset number one north carolina in late november. paul jesperson points against the performance in the state capitol. "just a great game to be a part of . really proud of our guys to find a way to hold three or four teams in the country. these guys and there teammates were able to do

prove that we can play with anybody.i know coach believes in the guys in the locker room. whatever game we are in, we are never out of it, it doesn't matter the opponent." "everybody is down. i'm down. i want to win, i want to win every game. none of us have lost a lot of games. but i understand that we cant go nuts and this. its not my personality. we have to go to work and be ready for cincinnatti." uni visits hawaii this week. iowa a state has a road test at cincinatti on tuesday. as for the hawkeyes......iowa beat drake by six in the opening game of the big four classic, their fifth straight win over the bulldogs. fran mccaffery's bunch blocked a school record 14 shots, leading the hawks to their 8th win of the season. iowa hosts tennessee tech on tuesday. baseball fanin the area know this name....former

standout damek tomscha hosted a hitting clinic today over in morningside. along with heelan alums david kerian and paul jacobson, tomscha, who plays in the phillies organization, led hitting drills for a number of young baseball players. once in those very shoes, damek was excid to give back to his community. "it's s st something that i have wanted to do. 's a goooo opportunity for kids to come back and for to put on. i just hope they take out a few little hitting tips that will help them become better hitters and better baseball players. its a tough game, its a failure game and there are going to be ups and downs and struggles and hopefully, they realize that." tomscha currently plays for the class-a lakewood blueclaws in the philadelphia phillies organization. we will hear more from the trio of guys who hosted this clinic later this week.

deborah

have a few days to enter our christmas tree contest! all you have to do is message jessica rae on facebook... or email her your pictures at (jrae@kcautv.com ) and your pictures will air live on our newscast... the winner will receive 4 tickets announced tuesday morning. (fred) the forecast for tonight is for cloudy skies and breezy winds with patchy fog. the low will be 24. tomorrow, with mostly cloudy skies, the 7-day shows upper 40s tuesday, then rain wednesday, and chance of snow thursday, a chance of rain on christmas day friday, then a mixed precipitation with rain, snow, and possibly ice on saturday. sunday ll be sunny and

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