iowa. temperatures, mild and not too far from our morning temperatures, still in the upper 30s. rain/snow mix ending around 2pm with clouds left behind. more precip chances in the 7-day plus an update on your christmas forecast next. but first here's deborah with your local news! "announcer: "now live from kcau-tv in sioux city, iowa... this is abc9 news this midday.... " " jessica ra a search is on in yankton, south dakota thihi morning...for two suspects who robbed a home at

thanks for joining i'm deborah souverain. the morning off. yankton p-d are horn...and an unknown african american male in connection to the robbery. the pair may be traveling in a 2013 black ford f- 150....with south dakota plates..that read 8-d-d 4-1-9. according to authorities...the incident happened tuesday night...in the 13-hundred block of cedar street in yankton. authorities say, the burglary began with a first attempt around 9- 30 p-m...however the homeowner was able to scare the three suspects away. an hour later....4 individuals returned...and robbed the residence at gunpoint. two suspects have already been arrested in connection to the crime. if you have information on the whereabouts of the other two suspects..call the yankton police department at 605-668-5210 deborah three counties in iowa that are being sued over

levels in iowa rivers...wants part of the lawsuit against them dismissed. drainage districts in sac... calhoun...and buena vista counties are defendants in a lawsuit by the des moines water works, the company claims water draining from ag lands...violate the federal clean water act. the lawsuit claims the farms are causing a spike in nitrates levels in the racoon and des moines rivers. defending lawyers..having filed a motion...saying that 8 of the 10 counts should be dropped... citing that the drainage districts don't have authority over private land owners. deborah friends of a spencer high athlete, who died after collapsing during a wrestling match, are coming together to remember him. austin roberts passed away fromnatural causes on saturday. . seniors on the team are sticking gether to lift ch other's spirits and honor their friend and teammate ausn roberts. coaches say that it hasn't been easy for the boys emotionally....but they are depending on one another to help

"they're together in this and nobody else knows what they're going through other. and it's of a bond in our already tight family. they've seen the from the state, the country, the world...through messagesnd things like that," said gress. teammates say stin was a kind soul....willing tohelp others.....nd able to get along with just about anyone. deborah we're learning that a service member who was killed in afanistan is orginially from our area. joseph lemm is a native of beemer, nebraska... and still has family in the wisner area. lemm was one of six air national guardsmen killed...when an attacker ramd an explosives- laden motorcycle into his patrol. the attack happened in a village near the airfield. lemm was on his third deployment...and his second in afghanistan. he leaves behind a

deborah: trump leads, he's had to continue to defend himself f from criticism. is now fending off backlash...after using a to describe 2008 election insisting...that the word is commonly used in politics. in washington with what trump had to say. blames the mainstream media for mischaracterizing the way he described hillary clinton's election loss in 2008. she was favored to wiwiand she got (b(bp). she lost, i mean she lost. term he used was but hillary clinton's campaign calls it "degrading language" and "disgusting sexist slurs." rallying in iowa, clinton called the republican frontrunner a bully. (clinton) you're looking at somebody had a lot of terrible things to say about

despite repeated trump's rhetoric... (gfx) a brand new national poll shows commanding lead in race... at 39 percrct... the last t te a republican was this dominant right befofo christmas...was 1999 wheneneorge w. bush nomination. a bodes well for (sot dowd) than a legitimate chance tbe the nominee. i think right now the odds favor him in the course of this. he has a 20, 21-point lead. but polls shows trump would likely have a harder time in a general election. something his gop rivals hope primary voters will consider. (sot bush) it's not a sign of strength to insult people with profanities. tag: that new poll out today also found half of likely republican voters think they'd have a better chance of winning the general election with someone other than trump. ba abc news, washington " deborara coming off his visit to sioux city monday nightht democratic

presidential candidate bernie made more stops in northwest yesterday, storm lake where he addressed students in a town hall style meeting at buena vista university. he aslo stopped in iowa....where a new bernie campaign office was opened. sanders is ending the year in iowa it seems... next week he has stops scheduled in muscatine, davenport, and burlington. deborah democratic frontrunner hihiary clinton is following suit with her rival...b.b touring iowa around the holidays. clinton spent part of her day in fairfield iowa yesterday... where a little girl got the democratic front runner to talk about something that hasn't tten much attention on the campaign trail. 10-year-old hannah tandy asked clinton about bullying ( hillary clinton / (d) presidential candidate ) "bullying

to have somehow gotten easier and more widespread because of social internet. people can say something about somebody without having to look them in the eye or see them walk by, and so i think we all need to be aware of the pain and real anguish that bullying can cause." deborah: still processing clinton... busays it's something that will stick with her forever. jessica rae: a former stanton county sheriff's deputy is facing some serious charges in connection to an animal cruelty case. here's paul hughes with the details. "a former stanton county sheriff's deputy had his request for a court-appointed attorney denied tuesday in stanton county court. kirk van pelt sought to have legal representation provided to him at taxpayer expense. he's been charged with two counts of

cruel mistreatment of an animal and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child for his alleged role in the cruel mistreatment and death of a cat and opossum that occurred sometime between oct. 20 and nov. 3. nebraska's population grew modestly again this year, but it might not be enough to protect all three of the state's u.s. house seats after the 2020 census. the new u.s. census estimates released tuesday show that nebraska's population grew by 0.7 percent to 1.896 million by july 1st. the national population grew 0.8 percent to 321.4 million this year. nebraska deer hunters are having better luck this year than last. th nebraska game and parks commission has announced that as of dec.8, the deer harvest is up 11 percent from 2014. archery and muzzleloader 31st. those and more stories can be heard on news talk wjag, lite rock 97.5 and 106 kix . "

still to come...the oldest pilot in america happens to be from right here in iowa...we'll tag along as he takes flight on his 98th birthday, after this. scott: rain/snow today, more precip chances in the 7-day and updates on your christmas forecast, next.

jessica rae scott: rain turning into snow! scott: rain turning into snow on the radar. thick cloud cover and a lot of moisture with this low pressure center. rain/snow mix ending around 2p2pwith clouds

that snow changeover this afternoon, pushing east and tapering off around 2pm. clouds leftover by 5pm. clouds tonight, and passing light snow possible tomorrow, especially in the morning. partly cloudy for the rest of christmas eve. christmas day we'll increase our clouds and precipitation chances. christmas eve: 33 with a chance for some light snow. christmas day: 36 with a slight chance for afternoon snow and then a more likely chance for r mix overnight as you're heading home from holiday festivities. right now wet streets on the port neal welding company sky cam hd. visibility still low in nw iowa. temperatures, not much warmer than this morning, still in the upper 30s. winds are coming out of the north and have picked up a bit behind

around 2pm, mostly cloudy. tonight, dry with lingering clouds, 22. tomorrow, christmas eve, chance of light snow and partly cloudy, high 33. 7-day has a mix likely christmas night, light snow and windy on saturday. then we're watching a system for the start of next week that could bring more significant snow. also, if you are travelling far from siouxland today, a tornado watch is in effect for some of our southern states, so be careful if you're headed that way. and a lot of moisture with this low pressure center. rain/snow mix ending around 2pm with clouds lingering tonight. stormcast hd has that snow changeover this afternoon, pushing east and tapering off around 2pm. clouds leftover by 5pm. clouds tonight,

snow possible tomorrow, especially in the morning. partly cloudy for the rest of christmas eve. christmas day we'll increase our clouds and precipitation chances. christmas eve: 33 with a chance for some light snow. christmas day: 36 with a slight chance for afternoon snow and then a more likely chance for a mix overnight as you're heading home from holiday festivities. right now wet streets on the port neal welding company sky cam hd. visibility still low in nw iowa. temperatures, not much warmer than this morning, still in the upper 30s. winds are coming out of the north d have picked up a bit behind our front. today, rain/snow ending around 2pm, mostly cloudy. tonight, dry with lingering clouds, 22. tomorrow, christmas eve,

cloudy, high 33. 7-day has a mix likely christmas night, light snow and windy on saturday. then we're watching a system for the start of next week that could bring more significant snow. also, if you are travelling far from siouxland today,y, totornado watch is in effect for some of our southern states, so be careful if you're headed that way. jessica rae scott: be careful on those slippery roads! deborah: the oldest known

pilot in the united states is from right here in iowa, and he spent his birthday doing what he loves, of course...flying. ernie smith turned 98 yesterday...and took to the skies to celebrate. smith's first pilot's license proudly hangs on the wall of the red oak, iowa airport.....it's dated september 15th, 1942. smith says he plans to continue flying on his b- day...even when he turns 100. jessica rae: after the break...if you're looking for something other ham to serve on christmas, you're in luck! howard and the mr. food test kitchen are something special after the break. jessica rae: turkey or ham is

holiday dinner... but how about something different? howard is here with a recipe that will make your family run to the table.

dinner right around the corner, now is the time you should be thinking about what to serve. how about going all out and serving prime rib? and just in case you're not familiar with how to cook one, let me show you. and it's really simple. we start by picking up a standing rib roast. i suggest getting it boneless, which makes it a whole lot easier when it comes to carving. as for the size, the rule of thumb is about three quarters of a pound per pepeon. now, to gigi this lots of flavor, we rub it with a mixture of kosher salts, coarsely ground pepper, thyme, as well as some garlic and onion powder. just make sure you place it on a rack fat side up. this way, the drippings will help keep it nice and moist. okay, into a hot ov it'll go to seal in its' juices. and after a bit, turn down the oven so it cooks low and slow. it takes about 20, 25 minutes per pound for medium rare. and once it's done, tent it with foil and let it rest for about 15 minutes. this keeps it juicy. while it's resting, we'll

a bit of red wine and some beef broth. what you end up with is slice after slice of pure heaven. after one bite, you'll know why this is one of my favorites. i hope you'll go online, and get the recipe for our 'roasted prime rib of beef' so you can share one of my family traditions with your family and friends. i'm howard in the mr. food test kitchen, where today, we unveiled a special way for you to say "ooh it's s good"." jessica rae: coming up after the break... we teamed up with an anonoymous donor and local law enforcement to help bring christmas cheer to some needy siouxlanders. the details, when we return. deborah

on the recieving end of a random act of kindness... however small... you know what a big impact it can make on your outlook. well, here at abc9...

santa come to us with an idea. he handed over three thousand dollars... and wanted us to help him give it away to strangers. so, we enlisted the help of some christmas elves from the woodbury county sheriff's office... and what happened next is going to warm your heart this holiday season. take a look woman says, "holy buckets!" woman cries... says, "thank you so much!" woman shouts excitedly, "thank you!" last thursday, armed with envelopes filled with $200 cash, each, we got to fufilllln anonymous donor's christmas wish: give this money, and a little goodwill, to 15 unsuspecting siouxlanders. deputies from the woodbury county sheriff's office drove us around and helped spot some folks they could tell needed a little holiday cheer. deputy jim mccrystal says, "we're just looking for people that we want to

them, and again, maybe things just arean't going their way at this point and time, financially, and we just nt to help them out as much as we can, so it's great that our secret santa is in a position to donate this money." one man invited us into his he where he's caring for four children. he says it's been a tough year the money, is a bit of man says, "absolutely, because this has been a slow year as far was work goes; you and able to work, but the ground was soft and, you know, there this year, so jerry cruz, woodbury county says, "it's a lot of fun. it makes me feel share the holiday that [you can] make it feeling." everyone we met

especially this time of year... woman says, "i'm so overwhelmed, i can't believit. it could've have come at a better time for me an my kids." but, even more than that, maybe, they have come at a better time for me an my kids." but, even more than that, maybe, they needed hope - someone to care about them - someone who understands that the holidays aren't easy for everybody. womans says, "you kind of lose faith a little bit at christmas time, and this kind of gives it back a little bit." and, you never know how far a little hope can go. in sioux city, with chief photographer jenna rehnstrom, abc9 news. scott's up next of our forecast.

deborah: expect a rare

scott: tonight, dry with tomorrow,

snow and partly cloudy, high 33. 7-day has a mix likely christmas night, on saturday. then system for the start could bring more significant snow. also, if you are siouxland today, a tornado watch is in effect for some of our southern states, so be careful if you're headed that way.