america.you're watching kcrg-tv9. now, from your 24 hour news source, this is ??? . friends of the university of iowa student k kled in a bus crash say she was a caring person. they are trying to raise money in her honor. some residential candidates are spendjng the last days of 2015 campaigning in iowa. onondemocrat - behind ininhe polls - - ys he's glad he held an event in a snowstorm... hawkeye fans are counting down the days to the rose bowl. but one eastern iowa family is looking forward to an event before the big game. good wednesday mornini! its 430 on december 30th. last couple days of 2015. here is a live look at

alert forecast, kaj... plan on snow to overspread the area during the morning commute. many areas should see around an inch of snow, though some isolated 2" reports cannot be ruled out either. the bottom line is that the commute will likely turn slick, even with minor snow accumulation. this sysyem should be out byy noon at the latest, with clouds holding on the rest of the day. quiet weather is likely from thursday through at least early monday with cooler temperatures as well. our next system of any impact isn't out there until day 6 or 7 in the forecast . have a great day!today: am snow likely high: 24-30 winds: w 5-10 alo: 27 dbq: 27 iow: 28tonight: mostly clcldy low: 13-19 iow: 17tomorrow: mostly cloudy high: 17-23 iow: 22tomorrow night: partly cloudy low: 39 winds: w 5-15 alo: 5 dbq: 8 iow: 9 thanks kaj. family and fends are remembering a 21-year-old university of iowa student who died earliererhis week. nicole underwood was killed during a bus crash in chicago on monday.

control on interstate 55 early monday morning. the bus hit a ccstruction sign. police say the driver told them he swerved to avoid a pickup that moved into the bus's lane. four others had non life- threatening injuries. underwood wasastudying social work and on track to graduate in may. she planned to continue her education and attend graduate school. friends say she was traveling to chicago to celebrate new year's eve th friends and her boyfriend. they described her as caring and charismatic. 07:07:54 "i can't tell you how many times i would be upset and she would show up at my door with care packages, like fuzzy socks, and all of my favorite things. i've never had a f fend like at." underwood'd'loved ones in des moines are hoping to raise enough money to create a $1$1000 scholarship for human services students in her honor. waterloo police are

someoneiring a gun at a group of people. happened around 2:3:3 yesterery afternoon in the 500 block of elm street. police say the initial report was that someone fired several times at the group. but they don't know of any police found a small amount of blood and several s sll casings. a waterloo man will spend almost 5 years in federal prison. 23-year-old dameon harris was convicted of being a felon and a drug user in possession of a fifiarm. waterloo police say the charges stem from an april incident where he tried to hide a gun before officers arrived. harris is one of seven people arrested in* waterloo as part of the depapament of justice's "project safe neighborhood s." this is video from a news conference announcing those arrests. they stem from six incidents this past spring, one of them deadly. the goal is to try to stop people who cannot have a waterloo. in a tv-9 follow-up this morning.. family, friends, and litary service members will honor an airman killed in

today. air national guard sergeant joseph lemm was 1 of 6 u-s service people who diedn a suicide bombing on december 21st. he was 45. sgt. lemm was born in dubuque, attended high school in nebraska and was a new york city police detective. about 50 people close to him left on a s yesterday for his funeral. the service will be helelat st. patrick's cathedral in new york city. sgt. joseph lemm is survived by his wife and their 2 children. republican presidential candidate marco rubio says national security would be his top priority if he's elected. the florida senator made several stops in eastern iowa yesterday, including one at the waterloo center for the arts. he told dozozs of supporters that the government's number 1 job is to keep americans safe. rubio said he would beef up theilitary to help fight terrorism. he also ld voters that he would undo many of president obama's actions. new jersey governor chris

voters in iowa today hoping to wi them over for the republicapresidential nomination. yesterday he made several stops in eastern iowa. one of those was at iowa city's hamburg inn #2 -- a traditional stop for those campaigning. he was critical of president oba's recent efforts to fight climate change. christie also quesesoned the governing experience of many of his opponents, both republicans and democrats. he says too many of them are vying for a positio they are not prepared for. "now, we e ve candidates for president like e llary clinton, who comes from the senate, and marco rubio and ted cruz and rand ul who are from thed& senate, all who have never had an executive job in their lives." at that event, christie also talked about his desire to create more accountabilit y for colleges and universities. christie also stopped in cedar rapids yesterday. he spoke to a crowded room at the fieldhouse last night out president obama's failures. christie says the president doesn't understand the american people. "the american people are anxious about terrorism

seen the dead bodies, killed by radical jihadist terrorists. they've seen dead parisians and they've seen dead americans. and they are nervous because, for the first time in years, they don't believe that their govevement is protecting them." in the recent cnn - orc poll, christie ranks in the middle of the pack with about 4 and a half percent. the g-o-p predential field is down to a dozen people. former new york governor george pataki ended his bid for president last night. he made the announcement in a video posted on social media. "1:20 tonight is the end of my journey for the white house as i suspend my campaign.. i'm confident we can elect the right person.. someone who will bring us together. someone who will understand that politicians including the president must be the people's servant nonothe master " pataki was a long shot in te crowded field. he never made the main stage in any of the g-o-p debates. and he only received around one

on the democratic side, martin o'malley has made plenty of iowa stop-- but without the boost in the e lls. yet he said he'e' glad he did hold an event in tama during the storms on monday -- despite the low turnout. on monday, 1 person showed up to an eve the former maryland governor. in the one-on-o-o conversation with o'malley, they discussed a range of topics, from the syrian refugee crisis to cutting incarceration rates. o'maey said the voter showed up because he was still unsure who to s sport. even though christmas has come and gone, you may still see those iconic holiday red kettles outside stores. that's because the johnson county salvatiwn army's give hope toy campaign is still trying to raise money. kcrg-tv9's forrest saunders is live this morning at the johnson county salvation army in iowa city. forrest, they still have a quite of bit of money to raise to reach their goal? that's right chris and nicole, but they still have some time to make it up. the

raise 325 thousand dollars by january 31st. so far, the red kettle campaign has raised 270 thousand dollars. that means they still have 5555housand dollars leftfto go. organizers say this funraising campaign is especially important because the money raised for this event accounts for 60 percent of the year's budget. to help boost donations the salvation army is starting the big ten kettle club this week. the university of iowa community credit union started the campaign with a large donation. so if any other companies want to be a part of the club, they just need to donate at least 10 thousand dollars. the salvation army will recognize these club members at an annual meeting in february. and coming up next half hour, i wille talking to patricia smith with the saation army aboutt these fundraising goals. back to you guys on the desk.

employees at the eastern iowa airportrthink they are over the peak of travelers for this week. airport officials told tv-9 yesterday may have been one of the busiest travel days of the year. yesterday, an extra 13 charter flights left bound for the three thousand passengers to the airport's total. the airport director says they'll tally up the numbers later to see if the airport set a single day record. although fans had to wait in long lines, they were happy fliers. " this is great, everything was so organized your own checkout lane and your own line coming through. easy as can be so it's great " some passengers were worried that monday's airline delays and cancellatitis would carry over. but most of the charter flights left on time. the iowa donor network is looking forward to the

parade because itl feature a few local families. the organization will honor 3 people whoo have felt the impact of organ donation or transplant in the "donate life rose parade float." people will see a photo of thu solon man russ gerdin carried by his daughter. russ receieid a liver transplant following a struggle with liver cancer. " 4:07:22 it'll just mean great memories of my dad and great memories of the bale he fought, and it'll be a gd time to reflect on all the good things that happened and were able to happen. he gogoto see five more andkids born aftereris transplant and spend some time with the new grandkids." the family says the transplant granted d ss 5 more years of life. the iowa donor network works with other donor organizations around the nation for this float. they want to honor those families whose loved ones have donated and to let

abouou the need for organ donors. the tournament of roses parade will air live from pasadena at 10 a-m friday. you can see it right here on kcrg tv 9 . and we understand the donate lifefeose parade float will be about halfway through the lineup of floats. a teenager who usehis wealthy upbriging as a defense against vehicular homicide is on his w w back to the u-s. mexican authorities found him and his mother after police say he violated his probation. but right now/ here's a look at today's opening farm markets. good morning! it's ---. plan on snow to overspread the

morning commute. many areas should see around an inch of snow, though some isolated 2" reports cannot be ruled out either. the bottom line is that the commute will likely turn slick, , en with minor snow accumulation. this system should be out by noon at the latest, with clouds holding on/the rest of the day. quiet weather is likely from thursday through at least early monday with cooler temperatures as well. our next system of any

until day 6 or 7 in the forecast . have a great day!today: am snow likely high: 24-30 winds: w 5-10 alo: 27 dbq: 27 iow: 28tonight: mostly cloudy low: 13-19 winds: w 5-15 alo: 12 dbq: 17 iow: 17tomorrow:: mostly cloudy high: 17-23 winds: w 10-20 alo: 18 dbq: 20 iow: 22tomorrow night: partly cloudy low: 3-9 winds: w 5-15 alo: 5 dbq: 8 iow: 9

thousands of people across the

the force as the new star wars movie continues to break records. 11 billion dollars in less than 2 weeks. more on that coming up in

with his mother is headed home. authorities beleleve ethan and tonya couch ran out of the country after a posting on social media showed couch violating his probation. now, some of the victim's families are hoping this time, both mother and son will face e nishment.

ethan couch - the teenager whose "affluenza" defense helped him avoid jail time-- is expected back in the the u-s wednesday.he was apprehended mondada puerto vallarta, mexico...along with his mother tonya, after the pair went missing from texas in mid-december. "they are in the process of being, , have been already, deported to the united states so that they are available for the us marshall service" they disappeared after video was posted online th showed him apparently violating the terms of s probation -- a sentence he ceived after bing convicted of intoxication manslslghter. the case ... now infamomo, after his lawyerersaid he suffered from "affluenza" -- essentially being a rich kid with no limits. his sentence for the drunk driving crash that killed four people -- ten years probation with no jail time. an attorney for the victim's families said they believe both mother and son deserve punishment. "i ththk it's particularlyy satisfying to the families that indeed, it appears that his mother tonya may have committed a crime and may finally be held accountable as well." tonya couch faces charge

carries a sentence of two to ten years in jail. as for her son, authorities don't know yet how they will proceed against him. at the moment, the most severe punishment he faces is 120 days in jail. i'm kim hutchersoreporting. even though the snow is not an issue todain iowa, people across the country are aling with the severe weweher. along rising rivers, volunteers armed with sandbags are fighting time, and many rivers haven't crested yet. there were white out snow conditionsn the northeast d midwest made travel is nearly impossible - by road or by air. 850 cots were set-up at o'hare airport overnight. thousands of passengers across the country are stranded. now for a quick chehe on your weather with meteorologist kaj o'mara. stay with tv9. it's . now, one last look at this

plan on snow to overspread the morning commute. many areas should see around an inch of snow, though some isolated 2" reports cannot be ruled out either. the bottom line is that the commute will likely turn slick, even with minor snow accumulation. t ts system should be out by nono at the test, with the day. quiet weather is likely from thursday with cooler temperatures as well. our next system of any impact isn't out there until day 6 or 7 in the forecast . have a great day!today: am snow likely high: 24-30 winds: w 5-10 alo: 27 dbq: iow: 28tonight: mostly cloudy low: 13-19 winds: w 5-1-1alo: 12 dbq: 17 iow: 17tomorroro mostly cloudy high: 17-23 winds: w 10-20 alo: 18 dbq: 20 iow: 22tomorrow night: partly cloudy low: 3-9 winds: w 5-15 alo: 5 dbq: 8 iow: 9

morning's america's money. good morning. toppppg "america's money" -- gas prices stall sflp right now, they're hoving around the national average of $2 a gallon after bumping a fraction of a penny in the past couple of days. still, new year's travevers will y the lowest prices in seven years. no complaints in hollywood, where the force is still strong. >> the doe mes box office has passed 11 billion there are this year the h hhest ever. a big reason of course is the "star wars: the force awakens" from our parents company. >> it's brought in about $600 million in less than two weeks. pretty good. and hollywood's box office champion in 1930 shirley temple will be the subject of legends of hollywood stamp. >> star trek will also be featated celebrating the tv

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