that tail end for sioux city, but still heavier snow south and east. we'll have some snow for the next hour or two then mostly cloudy skies will prevail with temperatures in the low 30s. we have snow down for christmas eve but we have a chance for mix christmas day. i'll detail your in just a few minutes but first here's deborah with your local news. deborah with your local news. "announcer: "now live from kcau-tv in sioux city, iowa... this is abc9 news this midday.... " " deborah: good morning and thanks for joining us this christmas eve... i'm deborah souverain. new details this morning out of pierce nebraska

remains of two found in a torched pick up truck monday. according to the peirce county attorney's office...the bodies identified as....37- klinetobe of tilden...and his wife 33- year-old klinetobe of the two were found monday g-m-c josh. evidence indicates wife...before life. believe anyone else was involved in the incident. according to a account set-up for the family....the couple leaves behind seven children. if you would like to donate to the family....visit our website at siouxland matters out how. deborah many more injured...as nearly two dozen reported tornadoes tore through the south.. making this a devastating christmas for many families in that region. here's abc's

" "still coming right at us destruction and seven states.. including mississippi.. arkansas and tennesse... (sot-mos) lutts, tn: post office destroyed. source: male resident: "your heart just sinks. it makes you feel want to run and help and do the best you can" at least 24 reported tornadoes touching down.. ripping homes apart.. and flipping tractor trailers onto their side.. nats - "oh wow looks like it's two." terrified.. watching tornado right nats - "monster holly springs mississipi.. hit mayor of holly springs, mississippi "i'm seeing devastation that i haven't seen." parts of the town.. including a 7-year- old boy. "whether it's a death like the case of this young person or the devastation to the homes of all these people on christmas

but we will pull though." and with that vow to rebuild.. a promising sign.. in the town of clarksdale.. homes reduced to rubble.. but this christmas tree.. still standing. liz tag: their home was torn to pieces.. but the homeowner was grateful they survived. the damages are still being assesed and right now.. officials say.. all they can ask for.. are prayers. eh, abc news, ny . " and here are a few winter travel safety tips, in case you're hitting the road this weekend. always buckle up .... make sure your tire pressure is good. have at least a half a tank of gas to help prevent gas line freeze-up. never use cruise control on icy roads. watch abc9 weather reports..and let others know your route in case something happens.

idea...keep a winter weather kit in your vehicle. it should include things like...a shovel, flashlight...blank ets..water and a first-aid kit. deborah: nebraska's state economy isn't performing as well as it should...and some law makers are concerned about what that could mean for the state's budget. here's paul hughes with the details. "the state's economy is not performing as well as it has for the past few years, leaving the state budget shoho of funds. norfolk area state senator jim scheer says there will be lots of requests for funding this year - but not a lot of money. he says this will be the first time in his term in the legislature that lawmakers will be asked to modify, reduce or even eliminate programs. usually, platte county extension educator allan vyhnalek is urging tenants and landlords to talk at length about land values, cash rents and lease provisions. but - for the next week or so - vyhnalek is recommending that those talks be put on hold. he says if the topic comes up - try to schedule a time soon after the holidays to have the discussion .

deborah: family friends and fellow firefighters came together to lay sioux city's first female fire fighter to rest. a funeral mass celebrating the life of jean-ne vakul-skas was held yesterday morning at saint joseph's catholic church in sioux city. she died at home on sunday. a sioux city firefighter for 22 years before retiring... friends and coworkers say vakul-skas was a hard working mother who cared passionately about her job and her family. jean-ne was a registered nurse...who also worked at the sioux city journal for some time. she retired from the fire department on her 55th birthday in 2007 deborah: ending up in the hospital can be frustrating and expensive... especially for patients with on- going heart problems. but, now a new tool used at mercy medical center could cut down on that burden.

"cardio mems"... a tiny device, about the size of a quarter. it's implanted into the pulmonary artery, and once there, it tracks the health of patients in heart failure. george davis is already seeing success with the device after about a month...and his doctor is pleased with how it's helping them stay on top of his condition. dr. jerome pierson says, "i'm old school, so i'm kind of skeptical, so i told george before we put his in, 'we're going to see how this works for him,' and hopefully, we've improved george's lifestyle and given him a better quality of life, as well." deborah: with the device... dr. pierson is able to keep a close eye on george's fluid levels through the information that is transmitted directly to their computers. deborah there are many ways to receive scholarships for college... but a local high school senior has involved his friends, family, and a good amount of blood. henry haafke is up for a 750 dollar scholarship. all he has to do is gather 50 people or more to donate blood....

center created in an attempt to save more lives. although he could win money for school, henry says he feels like he's also making an impact. "it makes me feel like i've done something to accomplish it. it's always good for money for college too," said haafke. "our scholarship program is something that we just love to have because not only does it help us meet our needs for the community...the community's blood supple needs, but it's also giving college students and hihg school students like henri a chance to get experience in event planning, leadership, recruitment...just so many things," said deroine. deborah: henry was able to hit his target goal getting 52 people to get out and donate fantastic work henry! deborah: several hot spots for family fun will either be closed or under special holiday hours over the next few days. the long lines family rec center's gym will remain open for the holiday break... but with special hours on christmas and new years eve.

on christmas day. and the climbing wall will be closed during the holidays but it will have extended hours from the 28th through the 30th. ' today...the sioux city art center will be closing at 4-pm... and will close at 6 on new years eve the art center is closed all day on christmas and new years day. the i-b-p ice center will also have some adjustments to their holiday schedule, they'll be open today from one to three p-m. and closed on christmas day... opening back up on the 26th. the holidays also mean that there are some adjustments to the garbage pick-up schedule in town as well. on christmas and new years day...there will be no garbage, yard... waste or recycling pick- ups. those pick-up dates will be delayed one day. those looking to dispose of their trees will be able to do so during the first two weeks of january. trees will need to be cut into 4 foot lengths with all decorations removed deborah: still to come...

birthday. find out how old the great great grandmother is... after the break. scott: snow today, christmas forecast with rain/snow chances! " " jessica rae scott:

scott: creating slick roads

from an abc9 employee. winter weather advisory in effect for our southeastern counties. snow is pushing east fast on radar, darker blue with the heavier snow south. bigger picture you can see how fast the system scooted in and it's almost on it's way out. stormcast hd has us on it's backside by noon, quickly moving east, just clouds by 3 o'clock. partly cloudy tonight makes for great sleigh conditions for santa. he should have no problems getting around tonight. tomorrow, mostly cloudy, but dry christmas day, rain/snow likely christmas night into saturday morning. it will be windy too! clouds thin, 24 degrees when we ring in christmas. white streets on the sky cam. 31 early is our standing high so far. visibility not great, but blowing snow isn't the issue, low clouds causing problems.temperatu res in the upper 20s. winds calm. today, 31 with that snow. 1-2" sux, more se. tonight, 22 and partly cloudy.

mix lingers in saturday on 7-day with gusty winds. cooler next week. jessica rae scott: deborah: visitors to the columbus zoo in ohio helped celebrate the birthday of colo... the oldest gorilla living in a zoo. visitors to the columbus zoo in ohio helped celebrate the birthday of colo... along i-29, where we got this picture from an abc9 employee. winter weather advisory in effect for our southeastern counties. snow is pushing east fast on radar, darker blue with the heavier snow south. bigger picture you can see how fast the system scooted in and it's almost on it's way out. stormcast hd has us on it's backside by noon, quickly moving east, just clouds by 3 o'clock. partly cloudy tonight makes for great sleigh conditions for santa. he should have no problems getting around tonight. tomorrow, mostly cloudy, but dry christmas day, rain/snow likely christmas night into saturday morning. it

degrees when we ring in christmas. white streets on the sky cam. 31 early is our standing high so far. visibility not great, but blowing snow isn't the issue, low clouds causing problems.temperatu res in the upper 20s. winds calm. today, 31 with that snow. 1-2" sux, more se. tonight, 22 and partly cloudy. tomorrow, mostly cloudy with mix late. mix lingers in saturday on 7-day with gusty winds. cooler next week. jessica rae scott: deborah: visitors to the columbus zoo in ohio helped celebrate the birthday of colo... the oldest gorilla living in a zoo.

from an abc9 employee. winter weather advisory in effect for our southeastern counties. snow is pushing east fast on radar, darker blue with the heavier snow south. bigger picture you can see how fast the system scooted in and it's almost on it's way out. stormcast hd has us on it's backside by noon, quickly moving east, just clouds by 3 o'clock. partly cloudy tonight makes for great sleigh conditions for santa. he should have no problems getting around tonight. tomorrow, mostly cloudy, but dry christmas day, rain/snow likely christmas night into saturday morning. it will be windy too! clouds thin, 24 degrees when we ring in christmas. white streets on the sky cam. 31 early is our standing high so far. visibility not great, but blowing snow isn't the issue, low clouds causing problems.temperatu res in the upper 20s. winds calm. today, 31 with that snow. 1-2" sux, more se. tonight, 22 and partly cloudy. tomorrow, mostly cloudy with mix late. mix lingers in saturday on 7-day with gusty winds. cooler next week. jessica rae scott: deborah: visitors to the columbus zoo in ohio helped celebrate the birthdayayf colo... the oldest gorilla living in a zoo.

colo." colo turned 59 years old...and was the first gorilla born in a zoo. colo has nearly gorilla born in a zoo. colo has nearly doubled the life expectancy of female gorillas living in a zoo... and shows no signs of slowing down. caretakers say the great-great grandmother is in fantastic health and has no serious issues... except for a touch of arthritis. colo has an extensive family tree with three children, 16 grandchildren, ten-great grand- children, and three great-great grand-children. jessica rae: after the break... instead of putting out milk and cookies for santa this year... how about cake. stay tuned to find out more.

for a christmas eve treat? well look no further... howard has a recipe that may become a holiday tradition for your family! "can you believe it? tonight is christmas eve. hopefully by now, most of your gifts are wrapped, and you've started cooking so you'll be able to enjoy the next couple of days. and if you're looking for something that everyone can nibble on, before or after church or tomorrow morning, we've got a monkey monkeyround when it comes to taste. we start by cutting a refridgerated buttermilk biscuits into quarters. we drizzle them with some melted butter, and sprinkle them with a sugar nutmeg mixture. this goes into a bunt pan, and we pour on some store bought or homemade eggnog that we've mixed with a little sugar. while it's baking, we whisk together some more eggnog with a bit of rum extract and some powdered sugar. when it comes out of the oven,

can't be soon enough, we'll drizzle this over it after turning it onto a everyone can pull it bite, you get the rich combined with the buttermilk in the biscuit. i hope you'll go online and get the recipe for our eggnog monkey bread. and no worries, you still have plenty of time to pick up the few things you need for this. we'd like to personally wish you a holiday filled with good health, great food, and of course, lots of "ooh it's so good"." deborah: coming up... we'll have some holiday christmas critters in studio that you might want to add to your christmas list. stick around, we'll be right

the sioux city animal adoption

---and if you are interested in adopting one of these cuties for yourself or someone else...you can contact the sioux city animal adoption and rescue center....at (712) 279 69-68. thank you chris...... the sioux city animal adoption and rescue center. ---and if you are interested in adopting one of yourself or

else...you can contact the sioux city animal adoption and rescue center....at (712) 279 69-68. thank you chris...... the sioux city animal adoption and rescue center. ---and if you are interested in adopting one of these cuties for yourself or someone else...you can contact the sioux city animal adoption and rescue center....at (712) 279 69-68. thank you chris...... deborah: elisa will rejoin us for a final check of our forecast. stay with us. jessica rae:

today. "today, queen latifah is here to discuss

that hit her close to home. she has a wake-up call for women everywhere. then, we're going to find out how the age of your heart can be older, or younger than your chronological age. and, we're going to meet a woman who has a heart in the truest sense. she's a heroic teacher who's quick thinking saved her entire during the sandy hook tragedy. now she speaks out for the first time." jessica rae: again that's coming up today on dr. oz at 4 on abc9. deborah well elisa... rudolph and the might not have to christmas. elisa: why is that? deborah: well elisa... its all thanks to these robotic reindeer. three of the robots are seen pulling santa's sleigh in this youtube video. pulling santa's sleigh in this youtube video. they are called "spot bots" and are designed by a company named boston dynamics. jessica rae scott: