president barack obama says his plan to keep more u.s. troops in afghanistan than previously planned offers the best chance for long-term success. the president is unveiling a new plan for the u.s. to keep 55-hundred troops in afghanistan when he leaves office in 2017. he had intended to draw down to about one thousand american troops inside afghanistan by the end of next year. obama says the afghan military has made gains but is still not as strong as it needs to be. the change in strategy is based on the new reality on the ground, that the the taliban, al

present an increasing threat to the afghan military forces, who proved just a few weeks ago in kunduz that they cannot defend themselves entirely without help from the united states. there will be no cost of living increase next year for 70-million social security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees. blame the lower cost of gasoline. the adjustment is based on a government measure of inflation. because of falling gas prices, overall prices have remained the same over the past year. not counting gasoline, prices are up 1.9 percent. advocates for the elderly are disappointed. an official at a-a-r-p says the index reflects the spending patterns of workers -- not retirees -- who she says spend more of their money on health care, food and housing. the number of americans seeking unemployment aid fell last week, matching the lowest level in 42 years. analysts say it's strong evidence that employers remain confident enough in the economy

to hold onto their staffs. the labor department says weekly applications for unemployment benefits fell 7-thousand to a seasonally adjusted 255- thousand. applications also dipped to that level in july, but before that hadn't been so low since november 1973. there are signs the economy has slowed in recent weeks, but faltering businesses to cut jobs. > weather ad-lib well, the time of year has finally come where we see our first major frost/freeze threat which arrives late tonight as lows bottom out near 30 degrees. this afternoon, the main concern will be the wind and dry air which will create high outdoor fire danger for a chunk of the viewing area as gusts could top 30 miles per hour. temperatures, meanwhile will be in the middle to upper 60s this afternoon with sunshine before only reaching the 50s at their highest on friday!

carly fiorina is campaigning in northwest iowa today. the only republican woman running for president spoke at a town hall meeting in spencer late this morning. the former hewlett packard c-e-o says after years of political gridlock in washington, americans are ready for an outsider to be president. fiorina says she hears a lot of frustration from voters who think our government and political system are broken. and she says washington needs to to know where the money is going. carly fiorina / (r) presidential candidate

before her town hall meeting in spencer, fiorina spoke to high school students in spirit lake. we'll have more on her visit tonight on news four. an attorney for dennis hastert tells a federal judge that the former house speaker intends to plead guilty in a federal hush-money case. the illinois republican is charged with breaking banking laws and lying to the fbi in efforts to pay someone 3-and-a-half million to hide claims of past misconduct. his attorney did not mention any of the terms of the plea deal, including what counts hastert would plead guilty to. but he says he expects to have it done by monday. the plea deal would avert a trial and help keep any potentially embarrassing secrets quiet. the new york city woman who's been branded the "worst aunt ever" for suing her 12-year-old

she was "never comfortable" with the lawsuit and people who are villifying her have got it all wrong. jennifer connell appeared on nbc's "today" show along with her nephew, sean. four years ago, when he was eight, connell fell and broke her wrist when he jumped into her arms to greet her. she says she wanted her nephew's parents' homeowners insurance to pay her medical bills, but under connecticut law she could only sue an individual. she says it was explained to her it was just a technicality. a jury rejected her lawsuit this week. then it hit social media. "it was amazing how, you know, i walked into court that morning and walked out... all over social media and it just spun and spun and suddenly i was getting calls, 'dont' look at the internet. don't turn on the television' and it was sort of heart- breaking and really painful but also like walking into a film of someone else's life and i hadn't

for his part, nephew sean defended his aunt, saying she would never do anything to hurt him or the family. he added: "everybody was saying stuff that they didn't know." from sioux rapids.

kenzie keune. "he is starting to stay awake longer throughout the day." on august 3rd, a suv eluding police barrelled into keune's motorcycle in sturgis, south dakota. news that quickly ripped through the sioux rapids, iowa, chiropractor' s community. "devastating," said slider gilmore. "there's been a lot of tears in our community." but those tears have now turned to arms. arms willing to help the man slider gilmore calls a dear friend. gilmore was in sturgis when the accident happened. "he did not regain concious while we were there," said gilmore. but as you can see, keune is up. not quite able to walk yet, something he'll have to relearn. meanwhile, his daughter kenzie churns along in her

senior year at sioux central community school. a place that's become her second home. "i have been overwhlemed with love, joy and support within my community," said keune. her volleyball coach says kenzie's shared tears with the team. one of the many activities she's involved in that her dad asks about. but she says that's not all he asks about. "he misses seeing his patients and how much his patients really mean to him," said keune. but dr. keune meant a lot to others too. his accident brought a fellow chiropractor out of retirement to work with dr. keune's patients until he comes back home. "him doing this for our family just means so much," said keune. "it's going to be a long road to recovery but with all of the support, and optimistic guy that he is, i think that he will get back home." >> a fundraiser, will be held for keune at the sioux rapids fire a-m to one p-m. anyone who'd like to donate an item for the auction can drop it off at the fire hall. ben says cooler days are ahead who's toughest on spending? fox news did the analysis and jeb bush had the best record. billions in pork, vetoed. eight budgets, balanced. and tax cuts every single year. right to rise usa

who has the plan for jobs? jeb. tax cuts for the middle class. eliminates special loopholes. an explosion in growth and new jobs. jeb: cut taxes. grow america. right to rise usa is responsible for the content of this message. ben, things are a bit breezy out there.

central and northern siouxland

freeze warning in effect for central and western siouxland friday from 3 am until 9 am frost advisory in effect for eastern and southeastern siouxland friday from 3 am until 9 am well, the time of year has finally come where we see our first major frost/freeze threat which arrives late tonight as lows bottom out near 30 degrees. this afternoon, the main concern will be the wind and dry air which will create high outdoor fire danger for a chunk of the viewing area as gusts could top 30 miles per hour. temperatures, meanwhile will be in the middle to upper 60s this afternoon with sunshine before only reaching the 50s at their highest on friday! the 60s will return for the weekend as winds pick up again on sunday and monday before a chance of showers returns next monday night and tuesday. see graphics.

the farm and financial market numbers are on the way... and a family farm known for its fresh fruits and produce ventures into a new cash crop. marijuana. and it's harvest-time.

a washington state farmer has been growing crops for decades. his family farm grows all kinds of produce, including blueberries. and when recreational marijuana hit stores last year, he added that new crop to his production as well. and now, it's harvest time. gabe cohen reports.

"this is our i502 grow haha on this acre we grow legal cannabis it is the most delicious fruity smell" walser joined the pot industry in its infancy. : steve walser, buddy boy farm) "i was like oh it's legal, it's another crop its a potentially profitable crop and it's an interesting thing to grow"! we've just learned as we went along. it's still a little strange to me that you can do this haha" today his weed venture"! buddy boy farms"! grows about 1500 plants"! one of the five biggest grows in washington. ( steve walser, buddy boy farm) "it's been an interesting ride because it's been so much more work than expected." and it won't slow down soon. ( steve walser, buddy boy farm) "well today is one of the first days of harvest." so 40 employees are hard at work. ( steve walser, buddy boy farm) "oh it's gonna busy. were gonna be so busy the next month." because prepping the pot takes time and patience" ( aaron raddas, employee) "i just hope it goes smooth." luckily folks like aaron raddas aren't too antsy. (sot: aaron raddas, employee) "i love my job." he's been part of this growing industry for a year. ( aaron raddas, employee) "it's the best job i've ever had." (gabe cohen) "and this production itself is growing. from 1500 lbs of pot produced last year to as much as 2500 projected this year" (steve walser, buddy boy farm)

"it's a lot of pot, yeah" though perhaps not too much to handle. ( steve walser, buddy boy farm) "you'll see, we're ready to go." >> > stocks are moving higher as investors respond to some positive earnings surprises, including one from citigroup, which reported better profits for the third quarter than analysts were expecting. still ahead on news four at noon... he was scheduled to be put down.

but this quadraplegic dog had an army of friends he didn't even know he had. now---four airplane flights and countless hours and miles later, he's getting a new lease on

here's a live look at west lake okoboji from okoboji skycam... meth is a huge problem in the state of iowa, but now a

highly concentrated form of the state. iowa senator chuck grassley says he wants to change that. lauren moss has more on the new concern for lawmakers and enforcers.

problem to take on , considering the amount of meth labs here in iowa have decreased in recent years. "it's a major problem esp because of the money thats involved with the tand also more than likely we see weapons involved with the seizure of this cash and drugs." so now senator chuck grassley wants to help..he wants to keep this form of meth in mexico and ultimately out of iowa. see what kinda impact he can start bringing to the legislature..and to see things about maybe the different effects with the meth problem across the border because it's gotten so large. >> that was lauren moss reporting. senator grassley discussed the issue with a panel of government, law enforcement and addiction treatment officials in iowa. a one-year-old paraplegic dog's life has been saved thanks to a team of animal lovers. the pooch was flown from texas all the way to eastern iowa to start his new life. kristin rogers has the story.

a moment many worked together to see happen, as king was scheduled to be put to sleep... "had a home in texas and got hit by a car, and he lost use of his back half." that's when last hope saw an online plea to help save king.... it took four different volunteer pilots from pilots n paws to get king here, pilot's with the group use their own personal airplanes and gas, to help save dogs... (cg: jim bordoni/ pilots n paws) "i said because it's kind of costly to operate the airplane i'd do one a month and i usually do four or five, i have a hard time saying no so." (cg: kristin rogers) "even though jim has helped save over 400 dogs, he refuses to call himself a hero." (cg: jim bordoni) "no the heroes are the fosters, the shelters, and the rescues, those are the people. they do all the work, i said i'm just a taxi cab i got the easy part." jim is referring to groups like last hope, who save around 50 dogs a month from being euthanized. (cg: jon biegen/ last hope

animal rescue)"after you know you see it on paper, and you see those, you see a picture, you know you have the ability to help, but when it actually becomes real and you've got him in your arms it feels real and you know that's where it;s most rewarding." thanks to the effort of many, one-year-old king, should have many years ahead of him. >> that was kristin rogers reporting from iowa city. critter crusaders in cedar rapids plans to help with king's medical bills. there are also plans to get him a wheelchair, so he will able to get around more easily.

around siouxland. if you're looking for some unique treasures we've got just the thing for you down at the sioux city pierce mansion museum. here to tell us a little bit about the antique and book sale. don, thanks for being here. you bet. it's coming up on october 16th and 17th. friday we'll be open from 5 to 8 and saturday from 10 to 3. we've got several antiques from the sioux city area, also some books and also some recent books if people want to change their reading inventory they can come in and pick up some books at bargain prices. people will be able to find all different kinds of treasures too. you brought a few of those with you today. one is an ice cream bowl from the fairmount creamery that was located across the street from where the hard rock is at third and water, down by the bridge. the other is from the chicago house hotel and billiard parlor, they claimed it was the largest billiard parlor in iowa back in the day. that was located where the sioux city

convention center is today. of course vintage books you'll be able to find. how's the money going to be used that's raised from the book sale? we're using the money from this to help us with our maintenance and preservation of the building. it's an old building, it has many issues so we try to stay on top of that as best we can. it's a really neat old building so you've got to check it out. you can do that by going to the antique and book sale, friday october 16th and saturday october 17th. for more information you can call 712-279-1674. thanks for joining us for around siouxland. >>