reflected today on a teammate who tragically passed away this weekend. austin robert collapsed during a wrestling "he was kind of the team," said mclaury. in a crowd that's for sure...big guy. that he was really nice, but that's because they meant it. he was probably the nicest guy i've bartley. austin roberts was a 220 pound, two-sport athletetfor spencer high school in iowa, football and

on saturday he collapsed during a wrestling tournament and died at spencer hospital of natural causes. friends, teammates and coaches say that austin was one of a kind...a person that anyone could depend on and was growing up to be a special young man. "he was always next to me in the room...next to me at the meets," said hill-anderson. "you could call him for just wanting to hang out to my car is broke, come help me," said mclaury. "it was pretty neat to see the growth that he had within just the few years that we had him. it was pretty neat to see and we're going to miss that," said pratt. spencer's wrestling team say that they will remember him for the good guy that he was and how he was able to bring positive energy to the team. "he was a good man," said bartley. "he was such a teddy bear on the inside," said hurst. "he was like the spark to the team and he's kind of what would get us all to come together and really work together as a unit," said nissen. bria: funeral

for austin, visitation will be held spencer high school's gymnasium... that will be on sunday from 3 to 5 pm. the funeral will be held on the following day at 10:30 in the morning, that will also be held in the same gymnasium. bria: the pizza hut in spencer is also donating 20 percent of it's proceeds to the roberts.s. family and a ao fund me page has been created in austin's honor to help his family pay for neral arrangements. a link to that can be found on our website at siouxland matters dot com. live in studio, bria bell abc 9 news. jenna: an update on a story we brought to you last night out of pierce nebraska... where authorities now say two bodies were found in a burning pick-up truck in rural pierce. jenna: investigators say they discovered the remains of two people in the cab of the charred pick-up truck ten miles from town. that happened yesterday afternoon, when someone rererted the truck engulfed in flames. and details surrounding the situation lead investigators to believe the situion may be a

nebraska state patrol and pierce county sheriff's office are working to determine the identities and cause of death of the two peoplele jenna: a high speed car chase through the sioux city metro kept police busy this morning. the chase began around 11 this morning, when south sioux city p-d tailed a black chevy suburban on dakota avenue traveling north, reaching speds of 60 miles per hour at some points. the chasasthen crossed the sioux city, where the vehicle sides-wiped a car before stoping near 3rd and jennings street. that's where the driver fled on foot. no word on any arrests made during the incident jenna: sioux city's first female fire fighter has passed away at the age of 63 jeanne vakulskas died in her home sunday vakulskas served on sioux city fire and rescue from 19-85 until 20-07 visitation is this evening at myer brothers morningside chapel ending at 8 o'clock tomorrow at 10:30

joseph's catholic church. jenna: three counties in iowa are being sued over high nitrate levels in iowa rivers are motioning for part of the lawsuit against them to be dismissed. drainage districts in sac calcoun and buena vista counties are defendants in a lawsuit bybyhe des moines water works, the company claims water draining from agg lands violate the federal clean water act. the lawsuit claims the farms are causing a spike in nitrates in the racoon and des moins rivers. defending lawyers say 8 of the 10 counts should be dropped citing the drainagege districts dont have authority over private land owners. jenna: coming off his visit to sioux city last night, democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders made some stops in northwest iowa sanders found himself in storm lake, where he addressed students in a town hall style meeting at buena vista university. he also was in caroll iowa, where a new bernie campaign office was opened. sanders is ending

next week he has stops scheduled in muscatine, davenport, and burlington. jenna: democratic frontrunner hillary clinton is following suit, she's also touring iowa near the holidays today clinton was in keota where she spoke critically on comments made by trump. but it wasnt all business. clinton bragged about her expecting daughter chelsea and how she's excited d r the new baby (hillary clinton/(d) presidential candidate) i'm going to be a grandparent again. i have to tell you. it's like the best news for me. it's the best club i've ever been in. in a quinnipiac poll released this morning, democrat, hillary clinton leads bernie sanders 61 percent to 30.that marks her highest national support in any poll since early november. jenna: in that same quinnipiac university poll fifty percent of american voters say they would be embarrassed if donald trump were president, according to a new . but it doesn't sese to be slowing trump's lead

that trump has 28 percent support. sen. ted cruz is gaining on him and now has 24 percent trump told his supporters that the other candidates wish they didn't have to compete against him. ask jeb bush if he enjoys running against trump, seriously ask him. in all fairness ask lindsay graham did he enjoy running against trump? ask perry. ask bobby jindal. ask all of these guys that have gone out, do they enjoying running against trump? they don't enjoy it." trump is planning a trip to council bluffs soon. he'll be stopping there exactly one week from today for a campaign rally. jenna: christmas came early for hundreds of siouxland parents today as they got to pick out gifts for their kids... for free. it was distribution day at the salvation army for their operation toys drive. people lined up in shifts to come in and pick out toys for their children. they also got to take home food baskets and a new coat, hat and mittens.

including tiffany, who says this makes a huge impact during the holidays. tiffany escobar says, "i'm getting he with four kids. i actually have eight kids, so this means a lot to me - helps me out in a lot of different ways and puts a big smile on my kids' face." jenna: abc9 and bomgaars are proud to partner to help bring in donations for operation toys each year. jenna: an anonymous donor is helping brighten the holidays for several siouxland families after he came to us with an idea. take the three- thousand dollars cash he gave us... and give it out to people who might need a little help. so, last week, we drove around with the woodbury county sheriff's office... handing out in envelopes containing two hundred dollars each. the reactions were priceless and we k kw the money wewe to some folks who could really use some good cheer this holiday season.

greatful, very greatful. we have four kids here and jeez, this is wonerful, guys, thank you." young mom says, "we've been struggling with bills and having to see if we're going to have enough to buy presents for each one of them, so it's a really big blessssg." see morereactions coming up in our full "operation secret santa" story tonight at 10. coming up ... a man down on hihi luck is reunited with an old frfrnd. this hearararming story later on in the show (fred) cooler weather will bring rain and snow chances this week, while a bigger storm is possible next week. see you after the break for details!

mostly cloudy skies

late. fred hexom fhexom@kcautv.c om (fred) the port neal welding company skycam hd shows mostly cloudy skies from the ho chunk centre in downtown sioux city. the high today was 47 and the low 28. sioux city has 40 degrees, with a dew point of 32 indicating more moisture in the air than previous days and the promise of a warmer overnight low. local temperatures are in

the south at 10 to 20 miles per hour, most wind chills are in the 30s. the northeast is an exception, where it feels much cooler in spencer and estherville. the satellite and radar shows only disorganized rain and snow to our west, but that is

low pressure will be developing over colorado tonight, and by 5 am tomorrow morning, we will see rain showers. rain will continue through the morning and into the afternoon, with cool air on the western edge of the system changing some of the rain over to snow. only a dusting of snow is expected, and with highs above freezing, most of it will probably melt. then, our active weather pattern continins thursday, as another

us a chance of light snow. another disturbance will have snow in western nebraska by friday morning, and this piece of energy will provide siouxland a chance of rain and snow friday. your forecast for tonight is for a low of 35 with rain late. totorrow, look for rain and snow plus breezy winds. the high will be 38. the 7-day shows yet another chance of mixed precipitation saturday, before we get a break sunday. monday, we have another chance of snow. this system may be more substantial, with the potential for accumulating snow. cooler temperatures will arrive next week. tonight's ask fred prize is 4 tickets to see the muskies vs. sioux falls on january 2. to enter, email a weather question to fhexom@kcautv.c om or post on our abc9 news facebook page. jenna/tim/fred (jenna) thanks, fred. (fred) you bet. still to come... a

united after some tough circumstances. how they found

his beloved dog are together again after the dog ran away. the dubuque humane society and friends at the dubuque rescue mission helped reunite the pair. they're making sure thehewo don't get separated again. katie wiedemann has the story. " curt recently fell on to some hard times. his wife was placed in a nursing home and he became homeless. so whehehis companann vanished from a bus stop, curt was devastated. but someone did. a good samaritan found sassy and took her to the dubuque humane society.

rescue mission posted information on facebook about this missing dog. that post was shared more than 300 times. staff at the humane and made the connection. after learning of curt's circumstances, the staff pooled their money to cover all the costs. and curt back better word, it was amazing. "> " coming up in

women kicked off a full day of basketball earlier this afternoon. highlights from hilton up ahead. plus...the hawkeyes leave for pasadena on thursday. we'll check in with the team before they head west when we

following their big ten championship game loss and finals week, the iowa hawkeyes are back to work preparing for the rose bowl on new year's day. today, they met with the media before leaving for california on christmas eve. alex giaimo has more on the excitement in iowa city. alex giaimo--"well it's getting closer and closer till the hawkeyes take off for pasadena. while they are in california they'llbe plenty of rose bowl activities not only for the fans but for the players as well. they have a special trip to disneyland scheduled on their itinerary and while they are very excited for those stivities they know they have to finina lance between work and play.

game, espcecially this bowl, you're always going to play an outstanding opponent that's the case so we've got to get our preparation done and play the kind of football that's representative of the kind of football we've played this season." c.j. beathard--"we are going to enjoy the week and the attraction and that stuff but we are out there for one reason and that reason is to win a football game." cole fisher--"personally disneyland so that interereing to see but you know at the same time we are going there for one reason and that's to win the football game so. just as long as you keep that in mind. you can have fun on the side but just remember you have one main job while your down there." george kittle--"i haven't been to california in n ke 15 years sosot will be really ieresting. i'm really looking forward to our trip to disneyland so i think that will be really fun." matt vandeberg--"it's just the game i mean everything about going to california is going to be exciting you know whether it be disneyland or going to anything else but the game is obviously going to be the main attraction." alex giaimo--"and the entire hawkeye football team will be taking off for pasadena on

they'll be there doing tons of activities, especially football activities, all the way up until the first which is game day on friday. in iowa city, with your hawkeye headquarters report. i'm alex giaimo." chris: across the area, it's an incredibly full day of college basketball. nearly every regional d-1 men's and women's teams are in action today, including the iowa state women who wrapped up their non conference schedule this afternoon. isu hosting northern arizona. second quarter...jadda buckley kicks it out to emily durr for the triple...cyclones up 9. but northern arizona came ready to play...they lead it by 1 until buckley drives again and kicks it out to bridge carleton...her only field goal of the game puts isu up 2. then the clones work it inside...seanna johnson...two of her sixteen, but isu only up one at the break. in the third...buckley with another of her 10 assists today...this time to bryanna (bre-ah- na) fernstrom who had the game of her career with 23 poin, 13 boards and a school record nine block.

the second half, 79-63. elsewhere in women's basketball, dordt's mycah hulst was named the gpac player of the week today. hulst set a school record with 25 rebounds against concordia, breaking the previous mark set in 1977. she also had 20 points in the game against the bulldogs, notching her 8th double double of the year. hulst, a senior, averages 12 and a half rebounds a game, good enough for sixth in the naia. and speaking of a gpac, here's a quick update on the standings as we head into the holiday break. on the women's side, dakota wesleyan and morningside have identical 6-1 marks in conference play, followed by hastings and briar cliff. northwestern is 7th at 4-3 and dordt is 11th at 1-7 in gpac play. on the men's side, briar cliff was picked as the favorite and they're at the top of the standings, a half a game up on dakota wesleyan. dordt, not far off the pace at 5-3 with northwestern and morningside both at 2-4 in the conference. how about some bowl game

comes from... mercy medical center. remsen st. mary's high school students visited the hospital today to sing christmas carols to patients and staff. if you're like to submit a facebook fan photo, just post it on our abc-9 facebook page. jenna: a rare sight is expected overhead this christmas... and no, we're not talking about santa claus. nasa says the last full moon of the year will appear on christmas day. its peak should happen just after five a-m our time. the rare sight is called a full cold moon because it shows up during the beginning of winter. a full moon hasn't appeared on christmas day since 19-77. and it won't happen again for

jenna/tim/chris/fred: (fred) your forecast for tonight is for a low of 35 with rain late. tomorr, look for rain and snow plus breezy winds. the high will be 38. the 7-day shows yet another chance of mixed precipitation saturday, before we get a break sunday. monday, we have another chance of snow. this system may be more substantial, with the potential for accumulating snow. cooler temperatures will arrive next week.