snowblowers, shovels, and ice melt. from october to the end of november... .... last year, cedar rapids had already received more than four inches of snow. iowa city had four inches as well. dubuque had close to 12, and

year, in all four cities... nothing! despite that, t-v nine's dave franzman reports that snow equipment businesses have found a little different way to stay busy. at this theisen's store, the snow shovels stood at attention and bags of ice melt were piled high. but in a half hour's time, only a couple of people even bothered to look. "i think i would wait for the first big snowstorm and then i would buy a snwb sot/nat retailers who sell power equipment like snowblowers say that's how a lot of people feel about getting ready for winter. some plan and buy ahead regardless of what the weather is doing. but many won't really start stocking up until they see the flakes fly. still, it's not that business was slow...until recently it was just sort of out of season. "now because of the warmer weather, the equipment coming in for repairs until about a week ago was mainly lawnmowers and leaf blowers...that sort of thing. snowblowers just weren't happening. now they are though, and there's a backlog of 200

stores typically have to make an educated guess about how much snow removal equipment they'll sell based on past years. here at the sled shed, they ordered about the same as last year. it's too early to worry about that decision yet. "you've got to remember it's only december, and we've got a lot of weeks left of snow. so if we were into january, yeah, we'd have to hold them over till next year." davis says it sometimes takes a big, wet heavy more expensive snowblowers. but even the word "snow" in a forecast will usually get some sales going. dave franzman kcrg tv9 news. the state climatologist says only five percent of iowa has seen any measurable snow yet. and that was in the far northwest corner of the state. friends and family are gathering

raise money to help a man whom police shot earlier this month. the shooting on november 1st near coe college injured jerime mitchell. he continues to recover from serious injuries. the iowa d-c-i says mitchell and cedar rapids police officer lucas jones got into some sort of struggle during a traffic stop. that's when jones shot mitchell. police have not released dash cam video of this incident. and a grand jury will decide whether jones should face charges. friends and family are hod started at five this evening. this is a live look at the event. they say it's a way to raise money for mitchell's medical care and show support for his family. linn county supervisor stacey walker will be speaking. the charlotte, north carolina officer who shot and killed an man during a call at an apartment complex will not face charges. the charlotte-

brentley vison were justified. the officer and the victim are black. the shooting on september 20th killed keith lamont scott. his family says he was unarmed, but surveillance video shows scott had a gun holstered on his right ankle. scott's family attorney says there is more to investigate in this case. "we still have real questions about the decisions that were made that day, in terms of how they confronted keith, how they reacted to the information that he had a brain escalation techniques to end this situation in a way that didn't result in keith scott's life." the family's lawyers say they haven't decided if they will pursue civil action. wildfires have now killed seven people in tennessee. and authorities say the origin of the fire was "human caused." it's burned more than 15 thousand acres and damaged 400

gatlinburg says city leaders are discussing re-opening the city later this week after the fire forced thousands of residents and tourists to evacuate. many buildings in gatlinburg have burned right down to their foundations. and people worry about what they'll find when they return to their homes. ""that's the hard part. you just don't know if it's still going to be there or not. we may go back to absolutely nothing. but we have each other, and that's all that matters. we made it out with our lives." " although rain haf tennessee's wildfire threat is far from over. firefighters have contained only about 10 percent of the fires. a student at grinnell college faces charges for starting a fire that caused some damage on campus. the charges against rafael estrada include arson and criminal mischief. estrada is 21 and from los angeles. campus police say he started a fire in a garbage can sunday

activated alarms in a building and broke windows in a residence hall. he was still in jail at last check. a doctor who prescribes the opioid fentanyl and other addictive painkillers to patients in iowa is under review in other states. illinois removed the doctor's license of dr. paul madison today. the state says he runs a cash-only pill mill in 11 states. michigan barred him from practicing last year. madison is illinois' top prescriber of a fentanyl spray killed prince and michael jackson. president obama wants to make a billion dollar commitment for states to expand access to opioid abuse treatment. he says fighting the heroin and prescription opioid epidemic is still a priority as he gets ready to leave office. congress still has to approve this new funding. the president also shared some progress that his administration has made in

disease control and prevention issuing its first ever guidelines for prescribing opioids for chronic pain. the affordable care act expanding mental health and substance disorder coverage. and better access to a medicinal treatment that helps addicts reduce their use. we're pleased to tell you that yesterday's fill the plate telethon on t-v nine was a huge success. the telethon raised money for the heritage area agency on aging and its senior meals program. that program delivers hot meals to senior congregate meal sites in seven counties here in eastern iowa. this year the telethon brought in 135-thousand dollars. that's 20-thousand more than last year. and we want to say a big thank you to all of you who donated. one area of eastern iowa says it's seeing a growing need for urgent care clinics. so finley hospitals opening its second one this year in dubuque, hoping patients get

start to december. clouds will hold tough through

the 30s with lows dipping into the 20s. our next chance for snow arrives later in the weekend on sunday. have a super day! tonight: scattered flurries. wind: w 10-20. low: 32 tomorrow: cloudy and cool. wind: w 10-15 high: 37 wind: nw 5-10. low: 30 friday: cloudy and cool. high: 36 low: 30 saturday: mostly cloudy. high: 36 low: 24 sunday: chance of snow. high: 37 low: 29 monday: mostly cloudy. high: 38 low: 28

wednesday: chance of snow. high: 37 low: 25 thursday: chance of snow. high:

cooking. food blogger alice choi from hip foodie mom shows us how to put together a beautiful charcuterie board.dzalice: dza lot of people are intimidated by these, but literally you just pick everything up from the store and it's all about just arranging it on a board.dzpam: dzokay.dzalice: dzyou do want to stick to like different types of meat, different textures. we have cheese here, again, like a hard cheese, soft cheese.dzpam: dzso the key is different textures, shapes, colors - trying to mix it all up.dzalice: dzyes, absolutely. trying to mix it up and then you

places so you kind of see pops of color in different places. that's it.dzpam: dzpart of it is the arranging and the presentation.. it's an art project.dzalice: dzyes, and i feel like when you work with quality ingredients, like good food, it's not hard to make it pretty.dzpam: dzit's beautiful.dzpam on cam: dzfor more ideas to make mom's life easier, check out momseveryday .com. for the second time this year, opening a new urgent care clinic. this one will be on university avenue near hartig drug. and it's opening next week. the hospital says it's filling an urgent need for urgent care clinics in that community. kcrg-tv9's katie wiedemann is live at the new clinic. katie, why open another urgent

demanded it. dubuque patients were traveling to places like waterloo and cedar rapids, just to be seen for things like a sore throat or sprained ankle. and they say they're hoping this will help put a dent in the demand for that kind of care. when unity point finley opened this urgent care clinic back in august, they expected to see a drop in the number of patients visiting the emergency room. but they didn't. they say there has been such a pent-up demand for patients to get quick care for non- hospital says more patients want urgent care because it takes too long for them to get into their primary care doctor. they say one reason doctors are swamped is because of the affordable care act. many more people are eligible to go to the doctor, so they do. another reason is because many young adult patients would rather see a doctor at an urgent care clinic. "they don't have a regular doctor for when they do become ill, in this community, their choices were very limited. now that we have two urgent cares,

brandon says even with this additional clinic there will still be a need for better access to urgent care. so he says they plan to hire more doctors and physician's assistants to help patients get in and out of her faster. live in dubuque, katie wiedemann, kcrg t-v nine news. today is the last day to nominate someone for t-v nine's annual "nine who care." t-v nine and our show you care spos nine outstanding volunteers. if you want to nominate someone, go to kcrg dot com slash care. iowa's congressiona l delegation is hoping to get federal funding for the cedar rapids flood protection project. the project is already approved, but there was no funding included for it. that's

that would make the cedar rapids flood project a reality. this effort comes after cedar rapids... .... escaped major damage in september from the second highest crest ever recorded on the cedar river. time is running out to get federal funding for the project. kcrg t-v nine's samantha-jo roth reports from our washington d-c bureau on what iowa lawmakers are doing. lawmakers are racing to finish a major water infrastructure bill. that includes provisions for sen. joni ernst @ :08-:13"we would like to see the water resource development act bill passed, we are hopeful that we can get that done in the lame duck session." iowa senator joni ernst says she is in constant communication with the army corps of engineers.pu shing to get this project on the radar before it's too late. sen. joni ernst :25-:28"we would much rather be proactive and prevent damage than try and get those recovery dollars after the fact." representative dave loebsack says the iowa delegation has to get creative to secure funding for the project. rep.

forward with other things that we need to try to do to make sure that funding appens. whether that's changing how the corps of engineers determines the priorities or whatever the case may be." in 2014.congres s approved the cedar rapids flood project.. which would build permanent flood walls along the cedar river to prevent flooding. but the obama administration never included the project in its budget. congressman rod blum says he's confident that will change with a new administration. rep. rod blum @ 1:06-1:11"president- elect trump taking office republican administration , i'm very hopeful that we can get that cedar rapids floodwall project funded." samantha-jo roth, @samanthajoroth @ 1:13-1:25 "it's not only funding for cedar rapids that is tied up in the water projects bill, also at stake, aid for flint michigan residents poisoned by contaminated water. lawmakers tell me they are optimistic a deal will come together at the end of this week. in washington, sjr reporting." now here's a look at some of what you'll see at 5:30 on a-b-c. world news tonight with david

through the south -- the night of terror across the region. houses leveled. and how are the storms affecting the wildfires blazing in tennessee? coming up. hear how people are rallying around loved ones of a man paralyzed in a officer-involved shooting in cedar rapids. and the relatively mild weather has slowed the sales of some businesses in eastern iowa.

equipment businesses to see slow sales. the state climatologist says only five percent of iowa has seen any measurable snow yet. businesses are making up for the low sales by fixing fall equipment like lawnmowers and le let's go back to joe now for a final look at tonight's forecast. scattered flurries come to an end overnight bringing a gray and seasonable start to december. clouds will hold tough through saturday. highs also remain consistent in the 30s with lows dipping into the 20s. our next chance for snow arrives later in the weekend on sunday. have a super day! tonight: scattered flurries. wind: w 10-20. low: 32 tomorrow: cloudy and cool.

thank you for joining us for kcrg-tv9 news at 5. now we go to new york for abc's breaking news as we come on the air tonight. the deadly tornadoes. the watches late today across several states. more than two dozen twisters in 24 hours. in atlanta, the sirens. the system stretching from the south to the northeast. also, the state of emergency at this hour. seven dead. the wildfires out of control. fueled by the winds. families racing to get out. plane crash. tonight, what we have just learned. what the pilot said moments before the crash. inside the meeting. the dinner with president-elect donald trump and mitt romney. and we have new reporting tonight, the post that could be given to sarah palin. the house explosion. the mother of three, the family dog crawling out from the debris. and an abc news exclusive tonight. the mystery mom who vanished, the husband breaking his silence right here.