good morning. thanks for joining us on this tuesday, december 22nd. coming up in this half hour of news 4 today... officials in northeast nebraska are investigating a car fire after human remains were found inside. also... a family and community in spencer, iowa is searching wrestler, austin roberts, collapsed and died on the mat over the weekend. we've got the latest on the story in just a minute. and after the terrorist attacks in california and paris, more people are arming themselves. more on the uptick in gun sales one siouxland county is seeing. and later, an illinois teen has loved basketball for years, but he's never seen any playing time on his high school team... until now. and the teen with autism shined on the court. his story is on the way.

foggy out there this morning. > a death investigation underway in northeast nebraska. law enforcement officials are investigating a suspicious death

the discovery came after a vehicle fire. shortly after 3 o'clock, yesterday afternoon, pierce fire and rescue responded to a vehicle on fire nine miles west of pierce. firefighters with the pierce fire department worked to extinguish the fire, and saw human remains in the cab of the pick-up. the nebraska state patrol and state fire marshall's office were called to investigate. a state patrol lieutenant said that the pick-up was in the middle of a field and they believe human remains were inside the smoldering vehicle. investigators are allowing some time for the fire to burn itself out so they can go through evidence at the scene. investigators have released the cause of a deadly fire in spencer, iowa over the weekend. firefighters responded to a trailer home at 317 w. 18th around 1:30 saturday afternoon, just off of highway 71. after putting out the flames, firefighters found the person who lived there dead. investigators say the fire was

space heater. but, they are not releasing the name of the victim. the investigation continues into a deadly fire in denison, iowa. thirty-seven-year old wendy waldemar died in the fire on 1st avenue north. her husband sufferened minor injuries. the fire marshall tells ktiv news 4 today the fire wasn't suspicious. but, they still don't know what started the blaze. sioux city fire and rescue honoring the memory of the city's first female firefighter. they posted about the passing of jeanne vakulskas on facebook yesterday. she died at her home on sunday. valulskas served from 1985 to 2007. the fire department says she was one of a kind and will be missed. their prayers are with her family. vakulskas was 63-years- old. the community of spencer, iowa continues to mourn the loss of a high school wrestler who died over the weekend. yesterday, the clay county medical examiner says the preliminary investigation shows austin roberts died of

at spencer high school. the case has been turned over to the state medical examiner. austin's father told nbc news that his son had never collapsed before and they don't understand what happened. one minute he was competing for the championship and was doing fine. the third period started and he just went down and never got back up. roberts placed eighth at state tournament last year. he planned on wrestling and playing football at iowa central community college in fort dodge. funeral arrangments have not been set yet. police say they are still looking for a second suspect in connection with a robbery and assault that terrorized a sioux city woman and her two sons earlier this month. authorities have arrested 21-year-old austin cummings of sioux city and charged him with robbery, going armed with intent, assault while participating in a felony and theft in the 2nd degree. he is scheduled to be arraigned on thursday, december 31st. police say cummings was one of two men who entered jodi blackwell's home at 26-27 south alice street, early last monday morning.

identify the second suspect at this time. lakeisha holloway will be in court today for a formal bond hearing. the 24-year old allegedly drove on the sidewalk in las vegas sunday night killing one and critically injuring dozens. her three-year old daughter was in the car at the time. officials believe they had been living in the vehicle in vegas for about a week. the child is now in protective custody. a friend of the san bernardino attackers who allegedly purchased the assault weapons used in the massacre will remain behind bars. 24-year-old enrique marquez appeared in federal court yesterday for a bail hearing. the judge said marquez did not pose a flight risk, but his alleged conspiracy to commit terrorist acts with syed farook presented a danger to the community, even though they were carried out. the case against former p-o-w bowe bergdahl heads to a courtroom today. bergdahl was charged with desertion for walking off

2009, led to his capture by the taliban. he was held for nearly five years until he was released earlier this year in a prisoner exchange. the open hearing will take place this morning at fort bragg, north carolina. no indictment in the death of sandra bland -- a woman who died this summer in texas while in police custody. at least not yet. 28-year old sandra bland was pulled over for a routine traffic stop on friday july 10th... by the morning of monday the 13th she was found dead in her jail cell. authorities say she took her own life by hanging --- a finding her family has questioned. now, after hearing more than eight hours of evidence, a waller county grand jury has declined to indict any county jail employees. there are other indictments the grand jury could consider and it will reconvene in january. in a press conference monday night special prosecutors defended the grand jury process, which has come under fire from the bland family. baltimore police officer william

again be tried in the death of freddie gray -- the young man whose neck was broken as he was transported in the back of a police van in april. gray's death a week later sparked protests and riots in baltimore. porter's first trial ended in a mistrial last week when the jury could not reach a verdict. prosecutors have decided to re-try porter ... and the new trial date will be formalized and approved at a hearing this morning. porter is the first of six officers to go to trial in connection with gray's death. you may not have to pay as much if you're caught speeding by traffic cameras on i-29. starting saturday, the penalties are as follows: if you're 11 to 15 miles over the limit, the fine will be $100. 16-20 miles above the speed limit you'll pay $125.00 and $150 for going 21 or more miles per hour over the speed limit. yesterday, a legal battle between des moines water works entered a federal courtroom. the utility is suing three counties in northwest iowa.

calhoun, and buena vista counties previously filed a motion to dismiss some of the counts in the lawsuit. yesterday, a judge heard arguments from both sides to determine if those will be dismissed or not. the utility is suing 10 drainage districts, claiming the water it receives from the raccoon river is polluted by nitrates from ag operations located upstream in those counties. des moines water works says it has spent more than one-point-five million dollars since last december to remove nitrate from the water to keep it within safe drinking limits. if you haven't finished your christmas shopping yet, you're not alone. coming up, we'll show you how you can still score some great deals. sanders: over 2 million contributions have been made to the only campaign that rejects a corrupt campaign finance system. you can't level the playing field with wall street banks

by taking their money.

ben: and i'll have your complete forecast next! >

another chance of a mix and light snow arrives late christmas day/the day after. snow also appears to be a possibility early next week. see graphics. >> the mad dash by last minute christmas shoppers is already underway... and stores aren't the only place that are going to be crowded. details from nbc's chris clackum.

paying those heavy, expedited, shipping fees" rebekah george with retail-me-not-dot-com ...says most consumers prefer doing last minute shopping "in store".. ...and a survey by the international council of shopping centers found 92-percent of them still have last minute shopping to do.. but aren't panicking. (sot/ rebekah george / retailmenot.com :46 - :54 ) "the consumer has all the information they need in the palm of their hand.. so they want to have updated sales and inventory in real time. that's something that the big box stores really need to be aware of this week." (natsound/traffic/travelers ) something else to keep in mind if shopping between now and friday... roads are going to be jammed... ...more americans than ever before...over 100 million...are traveling this week to be home for christmas. chris clackum, nbc news. >> if you do have allergies, make sure you pay attention to what you're eating, especially over the holidays. coming up next on news 4 today... in the wake of recent shootings,

gun control laws. and at least one siouxland

after recent mass shootings in the u.s., and overseas, gun control has taken center stage in the presidential campaigns. fears of potential new gun laws are often cited as driving factors for a spike in gun permit applications. as ktiv's sam curtiss reports, that's true for at least one siouxland county.

getting one," said paul barrett. some might suggest the recent san bernadino shootings is the reason for the increase. but, barrett isn't sure about that. "i don't know," said paul barrett. "i can't answer that." some people in woodbury county aren't just making calls about concealed carry licenses. they're taking action. "just in the first week of december we've had 120 applications filled out for carry permits," said major todd wieck. which is a lot. december's applications were the most in any month since february of 2014. "i think people are a litte bit more inclined to protect themselves now rather than just protecting themselves in their own home," said major todd wieck. statistics from the woodbury county sheriff's office show they were averaging 72 permits a month until this point. back at shooter's paradise paul barrett continues to field phone calls. but, he says it's nothing like the aftermath of another tragedy. "sandy hook was really a bad time," said paul barrett. "now people are thinking about it but it wasn't nothing like sandy hook." in sioux city, sam curtiss, ktiv news four. >>

year, there might be another spike when it comes to gun permits. major wieck says that could be due to permit renewals. in 2011, iowa changed to a 'shall issue' law for permits. those permits are good for five-years. following the attack in southern california, gun owners in siouxland are taking advantage of their 2nd amendment right. chase cjeka is a co-owner of american brothers in arms gun shop in sioux city. his shop has seen the impact on the store's firearm sales made by recent mass shootings that caught national attention. "it really impacts sales as far as, it really increases sales," said american brothers in arms co-owner, chase cjeka. "everybody wants to be prepared, they want to have an option of defending themselves if they have to. and, i support everybody's opinon. if you don't think we should own guns, that's your opinion and your right, and

nearly 1 in 3 americans own their own firearm. iowa's average gun ownership is just slightly above that mark. it might be the first day of winter, but the really cold weather is holding off for awhile. ben's in next with the forecast. and one boy with autism had his chance to shine on the basketball court. we'll

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with sub-freezing temperatures and a few snow flurries this morning, so watch out for a few slick spots on area roads. a few rays of sun also can't be ruled out by lunchtime today, but mostly cloudy skies will remain overhead with temperatures in the 40s and strong south winds. a cold front will move through tonight that will help pop up a few rain showers and some possible mix across mainly northwest iowa that will linger into the early morning hours tomorrow. clouds and sun will take over once this exits east before another small chance of light snow tomorrow night/thursday morning. as of now, it looks like santa's visit will be fairly quiet before another chance of a mix and light snow arrives late christmas day/the day after. snow also appears to be a

it was just another game on the schedule for a suburban illinois middle school basketball team. but the night turned out to be memorable... and emotional. ravi baichwal has the story.

fortuitous rebound, look what happened. (nats-cellphone video) (trevor school) "it was the culmination of everything in the last three years with william. he deserved it. he's a great kid." (reporter) "what does it feel like when you're holding the ball... you've got the ball?" (william lipka, 14-year-old autistic we're gonna win." (ravi baichwal, reporter) "as elm place in blue plays mundelein tonight, the squad is still buzzing about the shot that happened. the highlight of highland park - and what it means for the development of the kid who just like any other kid, simply wants to be on the team." (paul lipka, child's father) "there was parents from the other team that were rooting for him, so, it was every parent's i guess dream to have your child succeed in a tough situation." reporting from mundelein, ravi baichwal, abc 7, eyewitness news >> it's . more news and weather for you on news-4 today after the break. first though.. here's a look at some of the events on the ktiv-dot-com community calendar.

i am rose winkel from landstuhl regional medical center in landstuhl, germany. and, i would like to wish my parents, mary ellen and vincent letters a very merry christmas. i love you, hope to see you soon. tschss

welcome back and thank you for joining us on this tuesday morning. coming up.... the republican presidential candidates were back on the campaign trail yesterday. marco rubio, chris christie and jeb bush all held town hall meetings. we'll have the latest from the campaign trail in just a minute. and bernie sanders was in sioux city for the first time since this summer.

meeting and hear what he had to say to siouxland voters. and later, having food allergies is difficult. but trying to find things to eat during the holidays can be really hard. we'll give you some tips to stay healthy this year. but first ben.... wx timer @ :50 foggy note with sub-freezing temperatures and a few snow flurries this morning, so watch out for a few slick spots on area roads. a few rays of sun also can't be ruled out by lunchtime today, but mostly cloudy skies will remain overhead with temperatures in the 40s and strong south winds. a cold front will move through tonight that will help pop up a few rain showers and some possible mix across mainly northwest iowa that will linger into the early morning hours tomorrow. clouds and sun will take over once this exits east before another small chance of light snow tomorrow night/thursday morning. as of now, it looks like santa's visit will be fairly quiet before another chance of a mix and light snow arrives late christmas day/the day after. snow also appears to be a possibility early next week. see graphics.

iowa... new hampshire... tennessee... arkansas... south carolina - that's where the candidates are campaigning today. tracie potts is in washington with the latest on republicans increasingly targeting hillary clinton.

presidential candidate) "i would never kill them, but i do hate 'em." jeb bush... a frequent target of trump (sot: donald trump/ (r) presidential candidate) "his family's so ashamed." bush says: (sot: jeb bush/ (r) presidential candidate) "it's not funny anymore." (alton, new hampshire) bush, too, taking aim at clinton saying we're making the right moves against isis: (sot: jeb bush/ (r) presidential candidate) "no we're not. we're not in the right place." chris christie - who's way behind in the polls - tells new hampshire voters his party needs to focus on clinton, not each other: (sot: chris christie/ (r) presidential candidate) "i'm saving my brawling for september of 2016 because it's gonna be my job hillary rodham clinton doesn't get within 10 miles of white house." marco rubio... also drawing distinctions between democrats and republicans: (sot: marco rubio/ (r) presidential candidate) "the democratic party today is controlled by radical elements that lean to the left that want to see more control over the economy and over our lives." today, the top democrats are in iowa... where voters will decide in just six weeks. ben carson's in south carolina today... going after southern conservatives who just learned their home state candidate, lindsay graham, won't be on the ballot. i'm tracie potts in

vermont senator bernie sanders brought his presidential night. the democrat spoke to a crowd at the convention in the last few days the democrat has taken some heat after members of his campaign improperly accessed voter information compiled by hillary clinton. ktiv's matt breen sat down with yesterday and talked about the recent accusations.

voter information was wrong. "there are a number of people in the dnc that think that the leadership acted improperly," sanders said. sanders has now called for an independent investigation of data breaches dating back to the beginning of the campaign. this latest breach certainly hasn't hurt sanders' numbers. the latest iowa poll puts sanders within 5-points of hillary clinton. "i want to thank the people of iowa very much for their support," sanders said. "when we began this campaign, we weren't 5 or 10 points down, we were like 40 or 50 points down." sanders says he'll need even more support to put him on what he calls a "path to victory", and a path to the white house. "i think we have the possibility of pulling the biggest political upset in the modern history of the united states," sanders said. >> due to increased interest, the sanders campaign moved the location from the boys club of sioux city to the sioux city convention center. more than a thousand people attended the rally last night. the senator expressed how far his campaign has come.

campaign donors. supporters, many of them students, say they're in favor of his plan to make public colleges and universities free. "i've got a lot of friends who are really worried about the kind of debt they are going to be facing when they graduate," said mason calhoun, a senior at the university of south dakota. "i'm going to have a lot of student debt that i'm going to have to pay when i graduate," said taryn hogarth, a senior at the university of south dakota. "i also have a lot of friends who weren't able to go to college, just on the face because they couldn't pay for it." people at last night's event say they admire sanders' pledge to not take any money from wall street backers. sixth graders are finding a new appreciation for veterans thanks to one world war two vet's first hand account. jessica hartman from our sister station in des moines, kwwl, has the story this morning.

gordon foster grew up just outside of waverly and was drafter to the army in 1942. he was a tank commander under general patton - "the greatest general that every lived." "this is a sherman tank on

students from across the state of nebraska gathered to prepare their robots and score points with some judges. first tech challenge teams met at humphrey high school to bounce ideas off each other to get ready for state competition. lieutenant governor mike foley came out for the event and spoke to the crowd. "learning gear ratios, learning about traction, learning about leveraging, the concepts of physics and engineering, and the computer programming, using smartphones, and using a second smartphone as a remote control device to control your machine; these are all pretty advanced technology ideas that these kids are mastering at a very young age." there will be a competition on

columbus, nebraska where you can see some of these robots in action. holiday get-togethers with lots of potluck food can be dangerous for those with food allergies. coming up in healthbeat four, we'll give you some tips on how to stay safe this year. ben: and i'll have your complete

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many americans consider the holidays to be the best time of year for making special memories with friends and family, but for those with food allergies, it can be a very difficult time. erika edwards has more in healthbeat four.

unexpectedly could potentially cause a reaction so being careful is certainly important." and beware of cross contamination. all utensils and surfaces should be scrubbed clean. if you're the guest, experts recommend making the host aware of any food restrictions you might have as soon as possible. and don't dive into any unknown party dips --- without a back-up plan. (sot: dr. bj lanser pediatric allergist national jewish health - :53 - 1:00) "if you don't have your epipen or your ovucue, you shouldn't be eating because you never know what's going to be in something." you could always host the party youself -- having your guests provide non-food items -- like drinks and utensils. this way you are sure to prepare foods that are safe. >> that was erika edwards reporting. guests can also be asked to bring along craft projects that don't include food... that way they can still

a sioux city ag distributor has expansion plans. that's coming up... plus ride-sharing service "lyft" is trying to get a financial boost. and if you don't want your kids to be up so late on new year's eve, netflix may be able to help

> a local sioux city company is expanding. consumer supply distributing plans to build a 50-thousand square foot expansion in bridgeport west industrial park. the company is a "wholesale distibutor of ag and animal nutirion products." the vice president says after being in business for 60 years in sioux city, they look forward to staying in town. (- "we're from sioux city, all of us and we'd like very much to stay in the sioux city area. i'm glad we could work with the city council to put together a tax package that allowed us to build down here in our own business district," said david patee, consumer

the company hopes to move into the facility in the spring.

u.s. stocks posted moderate gains, recovering a small portion of the big losses recorded late last week. energy stocks continued to fall as the price of oil fell. the dow rose 122 points to close at 17,251. the nasdaq gained 46 and the s&p rose 16 points. this morning, the commerce department issues the final of three estimates of how the u.s. economy performed in the july through september quarter. in the second estimate, g-d-p expanded at an annual rate of 2.1 percent. you may want to cover your child's eyes and ears for this one. netflix is once again helping parents fool kids on new year's eve. if you don't want the kids staying up till midnight on new year's eve... no problem. netflix has launched a whole new set of new year's eve on-demand countdowns to the new year... that way, parents can let their kids

at any time. there are six countdowns, featuring favorite characters from care bears and cousins, inspector gadget, all hail king julien and more. the countdowns are available now on netflix and can be used enever you please. this holiday season, swiss food giant nestle unveiled a gold-wrapped kit kat bar. the single golden kit kat is wrapped with an extremely thin layer of gold, handcrafted by an artisan in central japan. only a limited supply of 500 of these candy bars will go on sale from december 29 with a price tag of about 16 dollars. the golden kit kat is the latest of the global chocolate brand's exotic line-up in the country. in japan they actually have about 30 different flavors of kit kats like... sweet potato, green tea, soy

the ride-hailing company lyft is trying to get a financial shot in the arm. the firm has authorized a new round of financing... trying to get a-billion dollars in new funding. some experts say that would bring lyft's market value to almost five- billion-dollars. lyft allows you to catch a ride using an app, similar to its competitor uber. lyft is linking up with three similar companies next year. that alliance will make the service available to about half of the world's population. the c-d-c is investigating five new cases of e-coli linked to chipotle restaurants. 53 illnesses in nine states have been reported since october. but officials say the new cases are a different rare type of e-coli. and it's still not clear if the five new cases are related to the original outbreak. there are no reports that any of the victims died

chipotle said it has revamped its food safety practices and it's now implementing new programs. when we come back this morning we'll have the top headlines in siouxland. and orlando bloom was denied access into india over the weekend. and the rock has added a new member to his family. it's all coming up in the

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with sub-freezing temperatures and a few snow flurries this morning, so watch out for a few slick spots on area roads. a few rays of sun also can't be ruled out by lunchtime today, but mostly cloudy skies will remain overhead with temperatures in the 40s and strong south winds. a cold front will move through tonight that will help pop up a few rain showers and some possible mix across mainly northwest iowa that will linger into the early morning hours tomorrow. clouds and sun will take over once this exits east before another small chance of light snow tomorrow night/thursday morning. as of now, it looks like santa's visit will be fairly quiet before another chance of a mix and light snow arrives late christmas day/the day after. snow also appears to be a possibility early next week. see graphics. >> > time to run down the news stories making top headlines this morning in siouxland. authorities are treating the death of a person found in a burning pickup truck near pierce, nebraska as suspicious. the truck was spotted in the middle of a field nine miles west of pierce about three 'o clock monday afternoon. after firefighters extinguished it, they found human remains inside. the nebraska state patrol and state fire marshal's office were called to investigate. bernie sanders brings his presidential campaign back to sioux city. the vermont senator spoke to a crowd at the convention center last night. the democrat has taken some heat the past week after members of his campaign improperly accessed voter information compiled by hillary clinton. sanders has apologized to clinton and fired the staffer responsible for the

interview with ktiv's matt breen, sanders said quote "it's not the way we do a campaign." sanders remains popular with democrats in iowa. the latest poll puts him within 5-points of hillary clinton. a federal judge in sioux city hears arguments in the legal battle between des moines water works and three northwest iowa counties. the utility is suing drainage districs in sac, calhoun, and buena vista counties over farm nitrates that end up in the raccoon river. des moines water works says it has spent more than one-and-a-half million dollars to remove the nitrates. the judge commented the utility seems to be the only one in the state that has a problem with it and he wondered why it hasn't been an issue before. the judge hopes to make a ruling by mid-january. christmas came early for the rock.. and orlando bloom is denied entry plus nicki minaj raves about her 'mini-me' david daniel has it all in today's hollywood minute.

daughter, jasmine. this is the rock's first child with girlfriend of almost a decade, lauren hashian. the actor also has a 14 year old daughter from a previous marriage. an unexpected turn of events for actor orlando bloom after flying in to india's capital bloom was reportedly set to visit delhi to promote tourism but was denied entry and sent back to great britain because he did not havea valid visa. bloom was eventually granted legal entry the next day. nicki minaj's childhood will be chronicled in a new television series - and the cast has already been selected! the 33-year-old took to instagram over the weekend to gush about ariana neal, the 11-year- old selected to play a young minaj in the upcoming abc family series titled, " nicki". >> still to come in our third half hour of news 4 today.... one high schooler with autism had his chance to shine on the court. and several high school teams were squeezing in basketball

we'll have highlights from match ups from around siouxland in the

good morning. it's 6 a-m on tuesday, december 22nd. authorities call it suspicious: human remains found in a pickup truck on fire in the middle of a field in northeast nebraska. we'll have the latest in a moment. also... a family and community in spencer, iowa is searching for answers after a young wrestler, austin roberts, collapsed and died on the mat over the weekend. we've got the latest on the story in just a minute. and after the terrorist attacks in california and paris, more people are arming themselves. more on the uptick in gun sales one siouxland county is seeing. and later, an illinois teen has loved basketball for years, but he's never seen

on his middle school team... until now. and the teen with autism shined on the court. his story is on the way. but first, here's ben. foggy out there this morning.

authorities are treating the death of a person found in a burning pickup truck near pierce, nebraska as suspicious. the truck was spotted burning in the middle of a field nine miles west of pierce about three 'o clock monday afternoon. after firefighters extinguished it, they found human remains inside. the nebraska state patrol and state fire marshal's office were called to investigate. investigators have released the cause of a deadly fire in spencer, iowa over the weekend. firefighters responded to a fire at a trailer home at 317 w. 18th around 1:30 saturday afternoon, just off of highway 71. after putting out the flames, firefighters found the person who lived there dead. investigators say the fire was caused by flammable items located too close to a space heater. but, they are not releasing the name of the victim. the investigation continues into a deadly fire in denison, iowa. thirty-seven-year old wendy waldemar died in the fire on 1st avenue north. her husband sufferened minor injuries. the fire marshall tells ktiv

suspicious. but, they still don't know what started the blaze. the community of spencer, iowa continues to mourn the loss of a high school wrestler who died over the weekend. yesterday, the clay county medical examiner says the preliminary shows austin roberts died of natural causes. he was a senior at spencer high school. the case has been turned over to the state medical examiner. austin's father told nbc news that his son had never collapsed before and they don't understand what happened. one minute he was competing for the championship and was doing fine. the third period started and he just went down and never got back up. roberts placed eighth at state tournament last year. he planned on wrestling and playing football at iowa central community college in fort dodge. been set yet. police say they are still looking for a second suspect in connection with a robbery and assault that terrorized a sioux city woman and her two sons in their own home earlier this month. authorities have arrested 21-year-old austin cummings of sioux city and

going armed with intent, assault while participating in a felony and theft in the 2nd degree. he is scheduled to be arraigned on thursday, december 31st. police say cummings was one of two men who entered jodi blackwell's home at 26-27 south alice street. police say they are looking for the second suspect, but they are not releasing that person's name at this time. lakeisha holloway will be in court today for a formal bond hearing. the 24-year old allegedly drove on the sidewalk in las vegas sunday night killing one and critically injuring dozens. her three-year old daughter was in the car at the time. officials believe they had been living in the vehicle in vegas for about a week. the child is now in protective custody. a friend of the san bernardino attackers who allegedly purchased the assault weapons used in the massacre will remain behind bars. 24-year-old enrique marquez appeared in federal court yesterday for a bail hearing. the judge said marquez did not pose a flight risk, but his alleged conspiracy to

presented a danger to the community, even though they were never carried out. the case against former p-o-w bowe bergdahl heads to a courtroom today. bergdahl was charged with desertion for walking off his army post in afghanistan in 2009, which led to his capture by the taliban. he was held for nearly five years until he was released earlier this year in a prisoner exchange. the open hearing will take place this morning at fort bragg, north carolina. no indictment in the death of sandra bland -- a woman who died this summer in texas while in police custody. at least not yet. 28-year old sandra bland was pulled over for a routine traffic stop on friday july 10th... by the morning of monday the 13th she was found dead in her jail cell. authorities say she took her own life by hanging --- a finding her family has questioned. now, after hearing more than eight hours of evidence, a waller county grand jury has declined to indict any county jail employees. there are other indictments the

will reconvene in january. in a press conference monday night special prosecutors defended the grand jury process, which has come under fire from the bland family. baltimore police officer william porter will once again be tried in the death of freddie gray -- the young man whose neck was broken as he was transported in the back of a police van in april. gray's death a week later sparked protests and riots in baltimore. porter's first trial ended in a mistrial last week when the jury could not reach a verdict. prosecutors have decided to re-try porter ... and the new trial date will be formalized and approved at a hearing this morning. porter is the first of six officers to go to trial in connection with gray's death. you may not have to pay as much if you're caught speeding by traffic cameras on i-29. starting saturday, the penalties are as follows: if you're 11 to 15 miles over the limit, the fine will be $100. 16-20 miles above the speed limit you'll pay $125.00 and $150 for going 21 or more miles per hour over the speed limit.

moines water works and siouxland drainage districts entered a federal courtroom yesterday. attorneys defending the drainage districts in sac, calhoun, and buena vista counties previously filed a motion to dismiss some of the counts in the lawsuit. yesterday, a judge heard arguments from both sides to determine if those will be dismissed or not. the utility is suing 10 drainage districts, claiming the water it receives from the raccoon river is polluted by nitrates from ag operations upstream. des moines water works says it has spent more than a million and a half dollars since last december to remove nitrates from the water to keep it safe for drinking. the judge said the utility seems to be the only one in the state that has a problem with it and he wondered why it hasn't been an issue before. the judge hopes to make a ruling by mid-january. in the wake of recent shootings, there's a lot of talk of more gun control laws. and at least one siouxland county has seen an increase in gun permits. we'll show you how people are reacting to the recent violence. and i'll have your complete

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morning hours tomorrow. clouds and sun will take over once this exits east before another small chance of light snow tomorrow night/thursday morning. as of now, it looks like santa's visit will be fairly quiet before another chance of a mix and light snow arrives late christmas day/the day after. snow also appears to be a possibility early next week. see graphics. >> after recent mass shootings in the u.s., and overseas, gun control has taken center stage in the presidential campaigns. concerns of potential new gun laws are often cited as driving factors for a spike in gun permit applications. as ktiv's sam curtiss reports, that's true for at least one siouxland county.

they're taking action. "just in the first week of december we've had 120 applications filled out for carry permits," said major todd wieck. which is a lot. december's applications were the most in any month since february of 2014. "i think people are a litte bit more inclined to protect themselves now rather than just protecting themselves in their own home," said major todd wieck. statistics from the woodbury county sheriff's office show they were averaging 72 permits a month until this point. back at shooter's paradise paul barrett but, he says it's nothing like tragedy. "sandy hook was really a bad people are thinking about it but it wasn't nothing like sandy hook." in sioux city, sam curtiss, ktiv news four. >> as we prepare to start a new year, there might be another spike when it comes to

that could be due to permit renewals. in 2011, iowa changed to a 'shall issue' law for permits. those permits are good for five-years. following the attack in southern california, gun owners in siouxland are taking advantage of their 2nd amendment right. chase is a co-owner of american brothers in arms gun shop in sioux city. his shop has seen the impact on firearm sales made by recent mass shootings that caught national attention. as, it really increases sales," said american brothers in arms "everybody wants to be prepared, they want to have an option of defending themselves if they have to. and, i support think we should own guns, that's your my right to own one." nearly 1 in 3 americans own their own firearm. iowa's average gun ownership is just slightly above that mark. sgt. bluff lutton took on west last night. we'll have highlights from their game. and the undefeated south sioux city girls hosted omaha mercy. we'll have the details in the

announcer: one candidate tough enough to take on the bully... jeb bush: donald, you're not going to be able to insult your way to the presidency. that's not going to happen. (applause) announcer: one candidate tough enough to take on isis. jeb will destroy isis... and keep america safe. jeb bush: the united states should not delay in leading a global coalition to take out isis with overwhelming force. announcer: tested and proven leadership matters. jeb bush.

> before the holiday break comes -- a lot of high school teams were getting in one more game on monday. ktiv's brad pautsch has more in the sports fource morning wrap.

sbl grabs the early lead. chris kroll had a pair of early three's and the warriors were up by five. west cuts into that lead. noah mcwell has his shot blocked -- but stays with it and gets the reverse layin to fall. wolverines down 33-30 at the half. it stays tight. darius moore with the nice spin move for 2 -- west led by five going to the fourth quarter. but the warriors pull it out. 6-6 jackson wright gets the hoop and hack -- jacob shultz gets the game- winner with a second left and sbl edges west 74-72. the south sioux city girls -- undefeated and ranked 10th by the omaha world herald, hosting omaha mercy. the cardinals were up big in the second half -- sydney hirsch drops in the corner 3 -- south sioux leads 63-17. now on the break -- bricelyn comstock leaves it for mary-beth rasmussen -- south sioux up by 49. everyone played in this one -- haley fritza drains the 3 to push the lead to 50. how about one more? freshman mckenna sims drops in 3 more and south sioux goes to 7 and 0 with a 75-26 win. in the new iowa boys basketball poll -- sioux city east is receiving votes in class 4a after a 7-1 start. iowa city west replaces valley in the top spot. in 3a, bishop heelan falls to seventh after losing to east. moc-floyd valley is tied for ninth, while spirit lake and spencer are getting votes.

western christian is a unanimous number-1 pick in class 2a. pocahontas area, laurens-marathon moves in at number-10. undefeated ridge view and sioux center get votes. in 1a, ikm-manning moves up to fourth. boyden-hull falls to sixth after their first loss. south o'brien is 8th -- but lost to remsen st. mary's tonight. gt/ra, ar-we-va and mv-ao all get votes. see the entire poll at ktiv-dot-com i'm brad pautsch with the sports fource morning wrap. >> it might be the first day of winter, but the really cold weather is holding off for awhile. ben's in next with the forecast. plus, it's day 11 of our 12 days of holiday trivia.

one boy with autism had his chance to shine on the basketball court. we'll share his story with you,

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linger into the early morning hours tomorrow. clouds and sun will take over once this exits east before another small chance of light snow tomorrow night/thursday morning. as of now, it looks like santa's visit will be fairly quiet before another chance of a mix and light snow arrives late christmas day/the day after. snow also appears to be a possibility early next week. see graphics. >> friday was national ugly sweater day, and we celebrated it by wearing ugly sweaters here at news 4 today. but since ben had the day off, he wanted to get in on the fun and show off his sweater, too. last week, we were sporting

closet that benefit the crossroads women's and children's shelter. today, we're

it's time for today's 12 days of holiday trivia question. today is day 11. here's our current scoreboard. i have 10 points sarah has 7 and ben has 5. each day we play for a player at home. here's who we're playing for today. i'm playing for kim devall from sioux city.

remsen, iowa. i'm playing for joyce vanbuskirk of le mars, iowa. so let's get to it... here's news four today producer kaitlyn kinney with today's question. thanks guys. if you get the question correct, your players win a 20 dollar gift card to a step in thyme florals. if you get the question wrong, your at home players win a 10 dollar gift card to the floral shop. alright. here is today's question... "jingle bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung american christmas songs. what was the songs original title? (a) "oh what fun" (b) "one horse open sleigh" (c) "jingle, jingle" (d) "christmas jingle" and you can play from home. give us your answers on the facebook page. al and sarah?

it was just another game on the schedule for a suburban illinois middle school basketball team. but the night turned out to be memorable... and emotional. ravi baichwal has the story.

highland park's elm place middle school basketball team. (trevor kahn, coach, elm place middle) "he's my right hand man. anything i need, i go to him." yesterday, coach trevor kahn and co-coach john whitehead made good on a long-standing promise. (reporter) "how surprised was he to be actually getting in a game?" (trevor kahn, coach, elm place middle school) "shocked. shocked. the question was: 'are you sure i'm playing?' for the next four hours of the school day." and on a set play, with a fortuitous rebound, look what happened. (nats-cellphone video) (trevor kahn, coach, elm place middle school) "it was the culmination of everything in the last three years with william. he deserved it. he's a great kid." (reporter) "what does it feel like when you're holding the ball... you've got the ball?" (william lipka, 14-year-old autistic student/team manager) "like we're gonna win." (ravi baichwal, reporter) "as elm tonight, the squad is still buzzing about the shot that happened. the highlight of means for the development of the kid who just like any other kid, simply wants to be on the team." (paul lipka, child's father) "there was parents from the other team that were rooting for him, so, it was every parent's i guess dream to have your child succeed in a tough situation." reporting from mundelein, ravi baichwal, abc 7, eyewitness news >> time for a break. we're back with our fourth half hour of news 4 today. first though.. here's a look at

ktiv-dot-com community calendar.

squadron in ramstein, germany. reaching out to all our friends and family in sioux city, iowa. merry christmas! end music >> welcome back and thanks for joining us on this tuesday morning. coming up.... the republican presidential candidates are back on the campaign trail trying to gain voters. marco rubio, chris christie and jeb bush all held town hall meetings. we'll have the latest from the campaign trail in just a minute. and bernie sanders was in sioux city for the first time since this summer. we'll take you to his town hall meeting and hear what he had to say to siouxland voters. and later, we're sporting our ugly christmas sweaters today. but we'll show you some people in georgia who put on their sweaters to get some exercise. that's coming up in what's trending. let's see if we can spot ben on the weather patio... because it's a foggy morning in siouxland.

wx timer @ :50 many will start the day on a foggy note with sub-freezing temperatures and a few snow flurries this morning, so watch out for a few slick spots on area roads. a few rays of sun also can't be ruled out by lunchtime today, but mostly cloudy skies will remain overhead with temperatures in the 40s and strong south winds. a cold front will move through tonight that will help pop up a few rain showers and some possible mix across mainly northwest iowa that will linger into the early morning hours tomorrow. clouds and sun will take over once this exits east before another small chance of light snow tomorrow night/thursday morning. as of now, it looks like santa's visit will be fairly quiet before another chance of a mix and light snow arrives late christmas day/the day after. snow also appears to be a possibility early next week. see graphics. >> iowa... new hampshire... tennessee... arkansas... south carolina -

campaigning today. tracie potts is in washington with the latest from republicans, increasingly targeting hillary clinton.

the right moves against isis: (sot: jeb bush/ (r) presidential candidate) "no we're not. we're not in the right place." chris christie - who's way behind in the polls - tells new hampshire voters his party needs to focus on clinton, not each other: (sot: chris christie/ (r) presidential candidate) "i'm saving my brawling for september of 2016 because it's gonna be my job hillary rodham clinton doesn't get within 10 miles of white house." marco rubio... also drawing distinctions between democrats and republicans: (sot: marco rubio/ (r) presidential candidate) "the democratic party today is controlled by radical elements that lean to the left that want to see more control over the economy and over our lives." today, the top democrats are in iowa... where voters will decide in just six weeks. ben carson's in south carolina today... going after southern conservatives who just learned their home state candidate, lindsay graham, won't be on the ballot. i'm tracie potts in washington, now back to you. >> vermont senator bernie sanders brought his presidential campaign back to sioux city last night. the democrat spoke to a crowd at the convention center. in the last few days, sanders has taken some heat after members of his campaign improperly accessed voter information compiled by hillary clinton. ktiv's matt breen sat down with sanders and talked about the breach.

presidential candidate. "the problem would not have happened in the dnc's vendor had done their job properly." the staffer responsible for the breach has been fired. two others were suspended. and, sanders, himself, has apologized to hillary clinton and his supporters. "it's not the way we do a campaign," sanders said. but, sanders said the dnc's move to then suspend the campaign's access to their own voter information was wrong. "there are a number of people in the dnc that think that the leadership acted improperly," sanders said. sanders has now called for an independent investigation of data breaches dating back to the beginning of the campaign. this latest breach certainly hasn't hurt sanders' numbers. the latest iowa poll puts sanders within 5-points of hillary clinton. "i want to thank the people of iowa very much for their support," sanders said. "when we began this campaign, we weren't 5 or 10 points down, we were like 40 or 50 points down." sanders says he'll need even more support to put him on what he calls a "path to victory", and a path to the white house. "i think we have the possibility of pulling the biggest political upset in the modern history of the united states," sanders said. >> due to increased interest, the

campaign moved the location from the boys club of sioux city to the sioux city convention center. more than a thousand people attended the rally last night. the senator expressed how far his campaign has come. they now have 2 point 3 million campaign donors. supporters, many of them students, say they're in favor of his plan to make public colleges and universities free. "i've got a lot of friends who are really worried about the kind of debt they are going to be facing when they graduate," said mason calhoun, a senior at the university of south dakota. "i'm going to have a lot of student debt that i'm going to have to pay when i graduate," said taryn hogarth, a senior at the university of south dakota. "i also have a lot of friends who weren't able to go to college, just on the face because they couldn't pay for it." people at last night's event say they admire sanders' pledge to not take any money from wall street backers. sixth graders in evansdale, iowa are finding a new appreciation for veterans thanks to one world war two vet's first hand account.

students from across the state of nebraska students from across the state of nebraska gathered to prepare their robots and score points with some judges. first tech challenge teams met at humphrey high school to bounce ideas off each other to get ready for state competition. lieutenant governor mike foley came out for the event and spoke to the crowd. "learning gear ratios, learning about traction, learning about leveraging, the concepts of physics and engineering, and the computer programming, using smartphones, and using a second smartphone as a remote control device to control your machine; these are all pretty advanced technology ideas that these kids are mastering at a very young

there will be a competition on january 23rd in columbus, nebraska where you can see some of these robots in action. you've seen our ugly sweaters, but coming up in what's trending.... we'll show you some people who donned their festive getups to get some exercise.

> > dozens of runners donned their ugliest attire for some holiday- themed exercise. the ugly sweater run was held in atlanta's piedmont park saturday. from tutus to onsies... folks proudly displayed their christmas worst. that's

don't forget to take a guess at this morning's 12 days of holiday trivia question. "jingle bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung american christmas songs. what was the songs original title? (a) "oh what fun" (b) "one horse open sleigh" (c) "jingle, jingle" (d) "christmas jingle" and be sure to weigh on what you think the answer is on the facebook page. after the break... hillary clinton will soon be a grandmother again. plus..."in the heart of the sea" cast and director were in london

the clinton family will be getting a little bigger next year. chelsea clinton is expecting her second child. she and husband marc mezvinsky already have a daughter charlotte, who is 15-months old. clinton made the announcement on twitter monday, writing; "next summer, charlotte is going to be a big sister! feeling very blessed & grateful this holiday season." the cast and director of "in the heart of the sea" gathered in london to promote the movie. the movie is based on a non-fiction book of the same name, which tells the story of the sinking of an american whaling ship. director ron howard said he was inspired to tell the story because of its "surprising" elements "mixed with what's kind of traditional and classic." tuesday sarah- pop singer meghan trainor is 22 al- rhythm-and-blues singer

sarah- sen. ted cruz, r- texas, is 45 al- actor ralph fiennes is 53 sarah- former abc news anchor diane sawyer is 70 al- baseball hall-of-famer steve carlton is 71 >

more business to take care of

trivia question... we'll also rundown of the top stories in siouxland. and artists from around the world have created beautiful ice sculptures. we'll show you more, after the

have your next burger with a side of awesome. the one-of-a-kind, creamy blend of sweet and tangy. miracle whip and proud of it. at kraft we start with quality ingredients. all expertly blended to make our mayo. so you can take whatever you're making from good to amazing. t for twenty years. something is wrong with our healthcare system and it needs to be fixed. then, it was about health reform and getting eight million kids covered. now, it's about stopping republicans from repealing obamacare, and taking on insurance companies to bring down drug prices. i'm not going to let any family be deprived of healthcare. i'm not going to let the republicans rip up obamacare and throw it away.

headlines this morning in siouxland. authorities are treating the death of a person found in a burning pickup truck near pierce, nebraska as suspicious. the truck was spotted in the middle of a field nine miles west of pierce about three 'o clock monday afternoon. after firefighters extinguished it, they found human remains inside. the nebraska state patrol and state fire marshal's office were called to investigate. bernie sanders brings his presidential campaign back to sioux city. the vermont senator spoke to a crowd at the convention center

taken some heat the past week after members of his campaign improperly accessed voter information compiled by hillary clinton. sanders has apologized to clinton and fired the staffer responsible for the breach. in a one-on-one interview with ktiv's matt breen, sanders said, "it's not the way we do a campaign." sanders remains popular with democrats in iowa. the latest poll puts him within 5-points of hillary clinton. a federal judge in sioux city hears arguments in the legal battle between des moines water works and three northwest iowa counties. the utility is suing drainage districs in sac, calhoun, and buena vista counties over farm nitrates that end up in the raccoon river. des moines water works says it has spent more than one-and-a-half million dollars to remove the nitrates. the judge commented the utility seems to be the only one in the state that has a problem with it and he wondered why it hasn't been an issue before. the judge hopes to make a ruling by mid-january.

friction between the frontrunners. plus.. the gun business is booming. a look at why firearms are topping holiday wish lists across the country this year. also ahead.. straight from broadway.. "the illusionists" will work their magic in studio 1-a. and.. giada de laurentiis shows us how to cook for a holiday crowd with some italian flare. those stories and more when we get started here on today. >> a breathtaking, but temporary, art exhibit in germany celebrates the beauty of winter. for three weeks, international artists from ten countries have carved, cut and formed figures and objects made of sand and ice for the arabian nights sculpture festival near berlin. the artists worked with more than 300 tons of ice,

the festival will run until the end of october next year. time to answer today's 12 days of holiday trivia question. today is day 11. here's our current scoreboard. i have 10 points sarah has 7 and ben has 5. let's go to our morning show producer kaitlyn kinney. ok, kaitlyn, read us the question one more time. "jingle bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung american christmas songs. what was the songs original title? (a) "oh what fun" (b) "one horse open sleigh" (c) "jingle, jingle"

today's answer is "b", "one horse open sleigh". the song was originally intended