trial is underway for a man accused of beating his mother to death in cedar rapids. jury selection proceedings for 47-year-old edward cusic began this morning at the linn county courthouse. courthouse.investigators say cusic used a crow bar to beat his mother, 68-year old anita labkon, at thier home in 20-12. court documents show cusic called 9-1-1 and told the operator that he killed labkon because she threatened him with a knife.if he's convicted of first degree murder, cusic will spend the rest of his life behind bars. 3 billion dollars in sales. sales.that's how much online sale experts expect companies to make on cyber monday. monday.cbs 2 news reporter

corridor companies are getting in on the sales. shoppers today will not have to leave their desk or devices behind to snag some of the hottest deals online.but as companies collect cash on cyber monday, there's also a way your dollars can help others. others. the biggest online shopping day ever - comes after a weekend dedicated to bargain... bargain... "every year we have more and more response to the online specials that we do." after bargain. bargain."you can either pay through paypal or through our website."on cyber monday - where more than 29 million online shoppers monitor their devices for the hottest deals... deals..."you can book a seventy five minute massage for the price of an hour"hands in harmony of cedar rapids is offering online deals to relax and unplug.owner wahnita dimmer says it's the third year they've cashed in on the sales. sales. "people depend on being able to purchase things online, and for sure online purchases of gift certificates and scheduling of services has

"what if we just challenge people to give ten percent of whatever they spend over this weekend of shopping?"the cedar hills community church is asking people to use their cash for the spirit of giving. director of worship leah carolan is using the day where people are glued to their screens to promote giving tuesday - where people donate ten percent of what they spend on black friday and cyber monday to a non-profit, non-profit,for non profits this is the time of year where most of their budget comes in." as the days after doorbuster deals generate more sales and charity.. charity.."it can be a little hectic because we have clients coming and going as well, (cut to) "we have plenty of us in house that we can juggle things around and handle it." 31 percent plan to shop online today, according to a trip advisor survey.that's 11 percent more than how many shopped on black friday.steffi lee, cbs 2 news. gray thursday and black friday

deals, but small business saturday is *growing. *growing.more than 95-million people shopped at small businesses *on saturday.that's up eight percent from last year, according to one survey. it also found shoppers spent more than 16 *billion dollars on saturday, an increase of 14- percent from last year.here at home, 20-businesses in uptown marion celebrated the newer tradition.owners say, in a retail world, where most shoppers go to the big box stores--*local shops provide the best service and value. "there is the perception that because we're a small business, we're going to be more expensive than shopping online, and that's really not the case ." ."analysts say the big numbers signal a healthy economic trend.this is the fifth year for small business saturday. a new era is afoot in ames. ames.this afternoon, iowa state university introduced matt campbell as its new head football coach. coach.the 36-year old becomes the youngest coach in the five major conferences.campbell

seasons with the toldeo rockets in ohio.his nine wins this year is more than iowa state's last three seasons combined.campbell replaces paul rhoads, who was fired a week ago, but still coached the cyclones as they lost to west virginia on saturday. you'll hear from matt campbell and what he thinks about his new team, coming up a little later in sports. students at iowa's three public universities, who are muslim, want permanent places to hold prayers.the university of iowa already works with university-recognized student religious organizations to provide space.some students at iowa state university, however, say a chapel is too far from classes to allow for frequent use. a long-time cedar rapids news anchor now wants to enter the political world. world.ashley hinson released a statement overnight saying she is running, as a republican, for the iowa house district 67-seat.the seat is currently held by house speaker kraig paulsen, of hiawatha, who announced earlier this year he

election.the primary for that election will take place june seventh. the gunman who killed three people and injured several others at a planned parenthood clinic in colorado, made his first court appearance today--and in the corridor, a republican presidential candidate weighed in on the case. case.texas senator ted cruz was one of the most outspoken critics of planned parenthood over the summer, when videos were released that purported to show staff talking about selling body parts from abortions.speaking in coralville today, cruz said it's too early to tell why the man attacked the planned parenthood on friday. "this man is a deranged murderer. we don't know what his motivations were although we can see the press eagerly salivating to suggest that this particular murderer might have been a republican." republican."officers on the scene say that the shooter was saying "no more baby parts" while he was being led away in custody.robert lewis dear is being held without bond. his

iowa's first district congressman is the biggest spender on mass mailings to constituents in the house of representatives for the second straight quarter.from the start of july until the end of september in 2015, congressman rod blum spent nearly 130-thousand dollars on generic mailings that get sent out through the u-s postal service.that's up from nearly 80-thousand dollars spent last quarter. quarter.cbs 2 news reached out to blum for comment.he responded saying, in part, he believes the outreach is a better use of his budget than first class air travel or an excessive staff, and that iowans appreciate the communications. in waterloo, waterloo,voters will select a new mayor tomorrow.quentin hart and tim hurley are going head-to-head in a run-off election to replace buck clark who chose not to run for another term in office.there's also a runoff election in cedar falls.mayor john crews remains on the ballot even after announcing his retirement.dave halterman, who

election is mounting a write-in campaign against jim brown. at the iowa capitol... capitol...governor branstad is again speaking out against calls to delay the privatization of iowa's medicaid program. program.earlier today - the governor said there's no reason to push the transition back.he also said it can move forward with only three firms taking the program over instead of four, which would go along with a judge's recommendation last week.the governor says similar plans are already working fine. "those of us that are in health systems like those of us that have the state employee health plan it's a managed system and it's worked very effectively and it's worked effectively in other states and i see no reason why in iowa we can't work it effectively." effectively."governor branstad wants to begin the transition january first. new at six, six,it appeares 500-million fewer gallons of ethanol will be added to the u-s gasoline supply.the obama

pullback today, delivering a blow to the corn industry. this is a volatile time for renewable fuels, as the issue takes a bigger role in the on-going presidential campaigns.farm-state lawmakers are worried about how the e-p-a move could affect rural economies. if you traveled during the thanksgiving holiday you know gas prices are low. low.gas buddy confirms it, saying average prices across iowa are down two cents during the past week, averaging 2-05 a gallon.that number is lower in the eastern part of the state and higher in the west. overall, it's 70 cents lower than a year ago. ago.to find the cheapest prices in your area go to cbs 2 iowa dot com and click gas gauge. there's a big christmas tree up in downtown cedar rapids right now, but you'll have to wait a bit to see it aglow. aglow.city crews cut the 35-foot colorado spruce from the yard of the anderson family on the southwest side. it's now set up on mays island. those involved say everyone chips in to help spread the holiday cheer. "it's mainly volunteer effort.

city forestry staff actually did the fitting of the choker and they actually cut the tree, parks' staff are helping to put lights on and stabilize it right now..." now..."the city tree got lights strung on it today, but they won't be turned on until friday night at 5-30. still ahead tonight, on the cbs 2 news at six, big game, big honors. honors.the iowa hawkeye football player now celebrating his title as freshman of the week, as iowa

at the first world conference on climate change, the challenge seemed insurmountable. but today, as world leaders come together in paris, the solutions are clear. with a real commitment to clean energy, we can tackle the climate crisis, end our dependence on oil from foreign countries,

but none of it will happen unless america leads. so, what are we waiting for? cbs 2 this morning, it's that time of year, and holiday festivities have already begun. begun.we're taking a closer look at an annual celebration of chirstmas, right here in the corridor.that's tomorrow

((kelly))this is the time cbs 2 news wants to congratulate kevin linquist from cedar rapids.he won our grid-iron getaway.that means kevin receives two tickets to watch the iowa hawkeyes take on michigan state at the big ten championship in indianapolis this weekend.he also wins a hundred dollars and a hotel stay.congratulatio ns, kevin!make sure to watch the big game over on our sister station, fox 28, this saturday at seven.now, here's zach... and coming up and coming up in sports sportsthere's a new man in ames -- why matt campbell is ready to bring greatness to the gridiron at iowa state -- next on cbs 2. 2."cbs 2 news connects with you.call us at 1-800-222-kgan email us at news at cbs 2 iowa dot comconnect with us on facebook at facebook/kgan cbs 2.

it's my pleasure to introduce our new head football coach... matt campbell... (clapping clapping clapping) and with that, the matt campbell era in ames is underway -- jamie pollard offically introduced the the new head football coach this afternoon -- ending a search,

cambpell comes to iowa state after 4 years at toldeo -- last year his rockets came to jack trice, after that game he told his wife he could see himself coaching there someday -- it's come full circle for campbell and he's ready to be great. in life... change is inevitable...change happens... but greatness is a choice... from this day forward... every decision that i make... will be strained to bring greatness... i'm truly honored to be a cyclone... and i'm truly honored and humbled to be the head football coach here... the big question now is who is matt campbell -- well he's winner, he's won 35 games in 4 years at toledo, he's offensive minded, which is key inorder to compete in the big 12 -- his rockets averaged 31 points per game while being balanced on offense -- and he can recruit -- so on paper, cambell looks like the total package. the hawkeyes are busying

title game saturday against the spartans but that didn't stop the conference from handing out their awards -- today the defense gets the honors -- tomorrow it's the offense and it was a no brainer for the tatum -- woodson defensive back of the year -- who else but desmond king -- the dude has been a ball hawk all year - - king leads the nation in interceptions with 8, he was the only hawkeye to tabbed first team all big 10. before the conference released their season honors -- iowa defensive end parker hesse was named the big 10's freshman of the week for his pick 6 and 6 tackle performance against nebraska on black friday -- hesse is the 6th hawk to receive weekly honors this season. like the big 10 --- the missouri valley released their confernece honors -- and northern iowa took home a bunch -- deiondre' hall was named the conference's defensive player of the year -- after leading the valley with 6 interceptions -- his teammate, aaron baliey took homethe newcomer of the year award -- to go along with that, 14 panthers landed on --

panthers found themselves on the first-team headlined by their defense. former panther -- david johnson's -- stock is about to go up in arizona -- due to injuries he's the only healthy running back on the cardinals roster, meaning he could make his first n-f-l start on sunday -- niether andre ellington nor chris johnson have been ruled out, but one things for sure -- there will be more sightings of number 31 on the field against the rams. we will be right back to take

thanks for watching your cbs 2 news at six. "entertainment tonight" is up next.we hope you'll join us tonight at ten.

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switch to u.s. cellular and get 50% more data than verizon and at&t. plus $400 per line. see ya soon. gwen caught face timing blake. hollywood's holiday weekend hookups. who got married? who's pregnant? >> plus, why is amy schumer letting it all hang out? >> it's what's coming up right now. >> on "entertainment tonight." >> everything is about to drop. so let's get a shot of it. >> is schumer the next pinup? we have the making of the calendar which amy calls sexy

>> i was the one that didn't get