republican presidential candidates in des moines today, a few will be noticeably absent. ten people running for president are here for the g-o-p's first "growth and opportunity party". ben carson, donald trump and john kasich will not attend. organizers say they were invited, but had scheduling conflicts and will still have booths at the event. crews spent friday putting on the finishing touches to the varied industries building at the state fair grounds... so the door can open at 10-30 this morning.

it's going to be a mixture of the typical event, but in addition it's going to be sort of a fair or festival time. so people will be up and moving around. go to each booth. kids can come dressed and go trick or treating from booth to booth. we want people to come and have a good time. we don't want them to sit there and let their feet get cold. the growth and opportunity party runs until three this afternoon. tickets are 10-dollars and you can get them at the door. the iowa gathering comes as the republican national committee decided to suspend its presidential debate with n-b-c news. r-n-c chair reince priebus said its because of the way n-b-c's sister network, c-n-b-c, handled wednesday's debate. priebus called some moderators' questions "offensive" or designed to embarrass the candidates. the r-n-c still plans to hold february 26-th. but only the conservative national review magazine is guaranteed to be part of it. n-b-c says it will try to resolve the

matter with the r-n-c. christie is still fuming over the questions asked during the debate... 06 when is see a stupid question... its a stupid thing to be asking people who are running for president of the united states christie's comments over the at a town hall meeting friday in council bluffs. republicans aren't the only ones campaigning in iowa this week. martin o'malley is back in the metro this morning... the former maryland governor will meet with voters in west des moines at the inspired ground cafe at 10-15. and hillary clinton is meeting with iowa voters next week. the former secretary of state plans to stop in coralville tuesday afternoon. then, she'll head to grinnell college tuesday night. both are set to be town hall style

events. a recent crime spree in the small jasper county city of monroe is putting neighbors on edge... " "heard on the scanner that three cars had been stolen in town. went to get in my car and low and behold my garage was empty. they took it right out from under my nose. broad daylight." tommy metzgers black cadillac is one of at least four cars stolen in the past few days. several other people had their cars burglarized. just a few blocks away, thieves took off with bryce vanwingarten's truck...and his wife's car... in the same night. "tuesday night i had worked on both of them actually and wednesday morning my wife came out to take my son to des moines and we were missing two vehicles. you gotta keep stuff locked up i guess. it does suck that it happens in a small community like this." if you know anything about the thefts, you're asked to call the monroe

police department or the jasper county sheriffs office. the number is on the bottom of your screen. the johnston school district is rethinking its training policy for bus drivers... that's after wednesday.... when a phone camera caught 61-year old robert scarborough hitting a special needs student and pushing him to the ground. scarborough is charged with assault and child endangerment. he's been with the district for two months... and had completed the required 17-hours of training. but district officials say that might not be enough. training just like a teacher would as to how to constructively work with any kind of behavior issues, what do when they see a student respectively and responsibly guide that situation back into control the district says it's also considering installing cameras on all school buses to better monitor both students and drivers.

after three months of counting, the totals are in...and the john deere classic broke records this year. i actually went back and reviewed and reviewed and kind of did my own little audit because it was a substantial increase. the golf tournament helped raise 8-point-7 million dollars for charity. that's a 40-percent increase compared to last year. the money will go to nearly 5-hundred charities. and mark your calendars... next year's john deere classic is scheduled to begin august eighth. a young boy's battle has turned into a community-wide effort in marshall county... in august... ten-year old lucas ahlbach lost his fight against cancer. he was supposed to be the grand marshal of laurels first-ever halloween celebration tonight... as channel 13's mike dasilva shows us... his inspiration carries on... "he had a wicked sense of humor 21:40:42 10 year old lucas ahlbach used that sense of humor to help him get through his two year battle with cancer...in part by getting a

the phrase "cancer sucks." 21:38:34--35 "lucas thought that was very funny." so it only makes sense that the float that's being made in his honor is based on that theme. 21:39:00--21:39:05 'he would have laughed at this the way theyre doing the suckers, and the candies and stuff so." just take a look around town and you know that this community is lucas strong. and getting ready to scare off pediatric cancer. 21:36:04 'blessed i guess you should say to have a community that i havent lived in for many years but grew up here to come together, and 50 floats, from a small town in the midwest, im sure nobody would believe it.' 21:41:12--18 'these people, they never forget you, you know and as soon as they heard that we needed them, they stepped up.' surrounded by friends she's known for decades... 21:35:24 'all of these women were in my wedding.' tiffany ahlbach's friends have gathered around her once again... this time to turn a negative into a positive. 21:38:52 oh yes and heres a shirt.' and for one of her friends...laurelween is personal.

21:44:56 'it does hit close to home because my son also has cancer as of this year so were hoping to raise awareness for pediatric cancer 21:45:05 and do the best we can 21:45:08 just like lucas, susie's son austin...is showing courage under fire. 21:48:36--43 'its not that hard, you just show up and get chemo, it isnt very, it isnt bad. i dont know it seems hard but i dont think it is 52 and now tiffany is doing what lucas asked her to do before he died...to raise awareness and money to fight cancer...and she has a whole community behind her supporting that cause. 21:40:45--56 'as far as laurelween goes. it shows small towns in the midwest have grown up here, to have them come and support me like they have. its just, i couldnt ask for more.' mike dasilva

the parade starts this afternoon at 3- 30. proceeds from the celebration will go to the lucas ahlbach foundation. if you would like to give, you can find a link on our website who-tv-dot-com. still ahead on today in iowa saturday as the sun sets, ghosts and goblins will come out to play. see terrace hill like you've never seen it before. why the mansion's chandeliers

kids in costumes were in full force last night as part of this year's beggar's night. and the fun continues today. we asked you to send us photos of your kiddies all dressed up on our facebook page and these are just a hand full of responses we got. pic 2 - charlotte dressed as a mermaid pic 3 - winston is dressed as "carl" from the pixar movie "up" pic 2 - charlotte dressed as a mermaid pic 3 - winston is dressed as "carl" from the pixar movie "up" pic 4 - katelyn is dressed as an

old woman we are waking up to spooky weather as showers, drizzle and clouds move through central iowa. skies will stay mainly cloudy through much of the day with highs only in the upper 50s this afternoon. skies

this afternoon and we will be that happens in central iowa tonight. the first of november will be pretty much fantastic with sunshine and a high of 70 degrees! the warm weather continues for most of the week with daytime highs in the low to

lots of sun. cooler temperatures and some rain chances return by thursday. don't forget to "fall back" tonight. we go back to standard time at 2 am sunday. ad lib toss to q&a session with

john asks "i need some advice on growing coffee trees/shrubs, indoors. i know nothing about it. educate me, please." michelle asks "when is the

seed in the fall?" gena "when

if you have a question for earl may... you can visit "who-tv-dot-com" click on the "on 13 link"... go to gardening... and you can submit your questions there. you can also submit questions on our facebook or twitter page. today in iowa

right bacorganizer's of tonight's pumpkin

recapping today's top stories...

a day of mourning in russia today... after an airliner crashed in egypt early this morning...killing more than 200 people on board. an egyptian aviation investigation team says flight 92-68 disappeared from the radar just 23 minutes after central sinai peninsula. the plane -carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members- was headed too saint petersburg, russia. about 20 ambulances rushed to recovering bodies. the egyptian prime minister says together clues into what happened. what they're learning from russian media is the pilot made a call about an emergency landing the

nearest airport due to technical issues." the russian embassy in egypt said the crash killed all the passengers on board. russia has opened a hotline for relatives, many of whom have in saint petersburg. president obama says u-s troops for the first time to help forces fighting isis. the announcement comes as an about face.. 01:11-01:33 i will not put.... inside of syria since 20-13.. obama has vowed he will not send ground troops in syria 16 different times... but yesterday, he did just the opposite... saying the u-s is

american boots on the ground in america but also would be good for syria the white house says the soldiers will serve in an advisory role. but critics aren't buying and say the president is full of broken promises. there are also concerns that the major policy shift could lead to a larger combat role for the u-s in syria. the white house says it isn't ruling out additional deployments. at least 27 people are dead after a late night explosion at a nightclub in romania. a faulty fireworks show caused the explosion and massive fire during a rock concert. witnesses say when the club's false ceiling caught fire... the whole scaffolding crashed down on people inside. crews took the dozens of injured victims to ten different hospitals in bucharest for immediate treatment. romanian officials are now investigating. the national transportation

safety board has started its investigation into the boeing florida airport on thursday. n-t-s-b officials will remain on site through the weekend. dynamic air flight 405 was take-off for venezuela when the plane went up in smoke. all 101 people on board evacuated safely on emergency slides. fire rescue treated two dozen people, but officials say only one suffered serious injuries. according to the n-t-s-b, the engine and wing are damaged, but the plane's interior is fine. "i went out earlier, and of course, the left engine was fire damaged, the left wing is fire damaged. one interesting thing is that, going inside the cabin, you can't tell there was a fire inside. there's no soot damage, fire damage, or anything inside the cabin." airport officials gave

weekend. but they say some have chosen not to fly again at all. two people are dead and at least one other is missing.... after massive amounts of rain caused historic flooding across central and south texas. chris pollone has more. in san marcos, texas, flood water rose so quickly it surrounded a school with teachers and students still inside... police evacuated everyone to another, dryer school using an armored military vehicle. scenes like this playing out across texas, especially in the busy i-35 corridor between austin and san antonio. "after last weekend's rain saturated the soils, it didn't take a lot to fire things up, and that's what we saw this morning." part of austin saw six inches of rain in an hour... one neighborhood recorded more than 14 inches total... more rain than it got in the entire month of may. it caught many drivers off guard... a passerby helped this woman escape from danger. "i quickly rolled down the

window and pulled myself out." on the day before halloween, the flash floods sent pumpkins floating in the streets. a suspected tornado dropped a large trailer on a hotel roof in floresville. and a lightning strike took out weather radar in brownsville... the town of wimberley, devastated by flooding in may... hit hard again. "this is the second time it's happened to us. it's almost unbelievable." devastating... and the rain isn't over yet. chris pollone, nbc news. nearly 800 prisoners in iowa will walk free this weekend -- in the largest federal convict release ever. the u.s. sentencing commission year to reduce prison sentences of federal drug felons an average of 18-percent. it's target date, november 1st. will be released -- and more than 40- thousand more could be let go early over the next several sentence reductions, they say their top community.

"the first question the judge asks himself is if i release this person now or shorten the sentence now, will he be a greater danger to the community and the statistics say very clearly no." nationwide, texas will get the highest number of those released followed by florida and iowa. a newton veteran who served in the vietnam war now has his long overdue medals. congressman dave loebsack presented robert swan with several awards yesterday... including the purple heart and bronze star for his service in vietnam. authorities initially told swan's mother that he had been killed in mine. instead... swan was thrown mountain. swan survived the fall... and spent months trying to get back to his unit. he was eventually located by the vietnamese army and taken to a hospital where he rejoined the u-s military. still ahead on today in iowa saturday. fans are "lonely no more"...

when you can spend your night singing along to rob thomas. plus all the other events you

good morning, it's another great weekend to get out and enjoy des moines and the metro. catch the final outdoor downtown farmers market of the season! and grab farm fresh food and handmade products from more than 200 vendors. it's going on now until noon. check out hair-raising experiments and visual illusions during spooky science at the science center of iowa. and do it all while trick or treating your way through the building. enjoy this family friendly event from 10 a-m to five tonight. it's free for members and tickets start at 8 dollars. finally, listen to the sounds one of modern musics most successful artists, rob thomas, as he hits the stage during his tour 'the great unknown.' he's performing at the des moines civic center tonight at 7-30. tickets start at 39 dollars and 50 cents. remember, there are a thousand ways to enjoy des moines and the metro. to find out how, check out our

we are waking up to spooky weather as showers, drizzle and clouds move we are waking up to spooky weather as showers, drizzle and clouds move through central iowa. skies will stay mainly cloudy through much of the day with highs only in the upper 50s this afternoon. skies will clear late this afternoon and we will be dry for any trick or treating that happens in central iowa tonight. the first of november will be

fantastic with sunshine and a high of 70 degrees! the warm weather continues for most of the week with daytime highs in the low to mid 70s and lots of sun. cooler temperatures and some rain chances return by thursday. don't forget to "fall back" tonight. we go back to standard

next on today in iowa saturday. are you brave enough to walk through the haunted forest? it's your last chance to experience the scary sights and sounds at sleepy hollow. and the new attractions the park has in store for you tonight. "the hawkeyes are tuning out that top ten talk and looking

jeb bush was a very strong governor, probably the strongest governor in the history of the state of florida. he was a young guy and i think there were some folks in the legislature that thought they might be able to run over him. that didn't happen. one tax cut wasn't enough- he had to do more. it wasn't enough to have 15,000 kids with school choice in florida, he wanted to have 100,000 kids. if he didn't like a project, it was going to be vetoed. it didn't matter if you were a republican. it didn't matter if you were his best friend. he said: 'this is where we're going, this is how we're going to reform state government...' every politician comes in talking about making change, and generally there's not much change. but governor bush made a lot of changes. he got the nickname veto corleone. if he saw something in the budget that he thought violated his conservative principles, you could guarantee it was gonna get whacked. he vetoed a bunch of my stuff and i was the senate president. the message to washington, d.c.,

is 'get ready...' because there will be change. right to rise usa is responsiblefor the content of this message. welcome back to today in iowa

james from sleepy hollow sports catch the many halloween events they are

i'll tell you when that was, and how to move it out of the way, sunday night. --------------------- what could possibly bug a hawkeye fan about an 8-0 record? the world series lead. teams with that advantage have

won nine-straight titles. but the series goes to new york. and it looks like the mets are about to cut the royals lead in half. mets royals the night game against minnesota will be iowa's first sell-out. according, to the u-of-i ticket office, there are still 78-hundred tickets available for the maryland game. the hawkeyes are ranked 10th, the noise. iowa-maryland. 2:30 on favorite.

now, the cyclones must regroup resurgent longhorns. john sears bringin it. iowa state and texas lock horns saturday night. here are the professional, and fan picks. everyone on the hawkeye-train. why not? call it, hopeful thinking or whatever... i'm the only one going with iowa state on the upset. john

sears remains perfect. the rest of us have missed at least one game, and that includes our viewers voting at whotv.com it's still a memorable friday for valley's john raridon. raridon becomes the third tiger offensive lineman named to a u-s army all-american game. raridon is in good company. 90 of the nations best are selected. next season raridon will be a husker. raridon and the valley tigers with a tough 2nd round game against no. 7 waukee. more monday matchups,

centennial and johnston move their kickoff time up 30 minutes from 8:30 to 8 o'clock. number 5 van meter hosting the madrid tigers, john sears will be live

look, i know you're a cow and all. and you may not know what i'm talking about, but, uh. the yogurt made from your milk, is delicious.

packed house. most of the republican presidential hopefuls are in des moines today. the g-o-p event happening for the first time. and the three candidates you

despite the packed field of republican presidential candidates in des moines today, a few will be noticeably absent. ten people running for president are here for the g-o-p's first "growth and opportunity party". ben carson, donald trump and john kasich will not attend. invited, but had scheduling conflicts and event. crews spent friday putting on the finishing touches to the varied industries building at the state fair grounds... so the door can open at 10-30 this morning. it's going to be a mixture of addition it's going to be sort of a fair or festival time. so people will be up and moving around. go to each booth. kids can come dressed and go trick or treating

from booth to booth. we want people to come and have a good time. we don't want them to sit there and let their feet get cold. the growth and opportunity party runs until three this afternoon. tickets are 10-dollars and you can get them at the door. the iowa gathering comes as the republican national committee decided to suspend its presidential debate with n-b-c news. r-n-c chair reince priebus said its because of the way n-b-c's sister network, c-n-b-c, handled wednesday's debate. priebus called some moderators' questions "offensive" or designed to embarrass the candidates. the r-n-c still plans to hold the debate in houston on february 26-th. but only the conservative national review magazine is guaranteed to be part of it. resolve the matter with the r-n-c. new jersey governor chris the

06 when is see a stupid question... its a stupid thing to be asking people who are running for president of the united states christie's comments over the debate controversy drew applause at a town hall meeting friday in council bluffs. republicans aren't the only ones campaigning in iowa this week. martin o'malley is back in the metro this morning... the former maryland governor des moines at the inspired ground cafe at 10-15. and hillary clinton is meeting with iowa voters next week. the former secretary of state tuesday afternoon. then, she'll head to grinnell college tuesday night. both are set to be town hall style events. several presidential campaigns will be represented at the annual latino

the event at the holiday inn off of fleur is a kickoff to the group's statewide caucus outreach campaign....encouraging up to 10- thousand latinos to attend caucus night. members of the clinton, sanders, o-malley and bush campaigns will share ways their candidate is reaching out to latinos and addressing issues important to that community. a recent crime spree in the small jasper county city of monroe is putting neighbors on edge... " "heard on the scanner that three cars had been stolen in town. went to get in my car and low and behold my garage was empty. they took it right out from under my nose. broad daylight." tommy metzgers black cadillac is one of at least four cars stolen in the past few days. several other people had their cars burglarized. just a few blocks away, thieves took off with bryce vanwingarten's truck...and his wife's car... in the same night. "tuesday night i had worked on

both of them actually and wednesday morning my wife came out to take my son missing two vehicles. you gotta keep stuff locked up i guess. it does suck that it happens in a small community like this." if you know anything about the thefts, you're asked to call the monroe police department or the jasper county sheriffs office. the number is on the bottom of your screen. the johnston school district is rethinking its training policy for bus drivers... that's after wednesday.... when a phone camera caught 61-year old special needs student and pushing him to the ground. scarborough is charged with assault and child endangerment. two required 17-hours of training. but district officials say that might not be enough. bus drivers go through that training just like a teacher would as to how to constructively work with any kind of behavior issues, getting out of line and to

and responsibly guide that situation back into control the district says it's also on all school buses to better monitor both students and drivers. after three months of counting, john deere classic broke records this year. i actually went back and reviewed and reviewed and kind of did my own little audit because it was a substantial increase. the golf tournament helped raise 8-point-7 million dollars for charity. that's a 40-percent increase compared to last year. the money will go to nearly 5-hundred charities. and mark your calendars... next year's john deere classic is scheduled to begin august eighth. a young boy's battle has turned into a community-wide effort in marshall county... in august... ten-year old lucas ahlbach lost his fight against cancer. he was supposed to be the grand marshal of laurels first-ever halloween celebration tonight...

as channel 13's mike dasilva shows us... his inspiration carries on... "he had a wicked sense of humor 10 year old lucas ahlbach used that sense of humor to help him get through his two year battle with cancer...in part by getting a kick out of the phrase "cancer sucks." "lucas thought that was very funny."so it only makes sense that the float that's being made in his honor is based on that theme. 'he would have laughed at this the way theyre doing the suckers, and the candies and stuff so."just take a look around town and you know that this community is lucas strong. and getting ready to scare off pediatric cancer. 'blessed i guess you should say to have a community that i havent lived in for many years but grew up here to come together, and 50 floats, from a small town in the midwest, im sure nobody would believe it.'

'these people, they never forget you, you know and as soon as they heard that we needed them, they stepped up.'surrounded by friends she's known for decades... 'all of these women were in my wedding.' tiffany ahlbach's friends have again... this time to turn a negative into a oh yes and heres a shirt.'and for one of her friends...laurelween is personal. 'it does hit close to home because my son also has cancer as of this year so for pediatric cancer and do the best we can just like lucas, susie's son austin...is showing courage under fire. 'its not that hard, you just show up and get chemo, it isnt very, it isnt bad. i dont know it seems hard but i dont think it is 52and now tiffany is doing what lucas asked her to do before he died...to raise awareness and money to fight cancer...and she has a whole community behind her supporting that cause. 'as far as laurelween goes. it shows small towns in the midwest are amazing. im so lucky to have grown up here, to have them come and support me like they have. its just, i

news the parade starts this afternoon at 3- 30. proceeds from the celebration will go to the lucas ahlbach foundation. if you would like to give, you can find a link on our website who-tv-dot-com. today is the final day of the downtown farmers market. it's been a good year for the market. about 25-thousand people made the trip downtown each saturday. organizers attribute the high the cooperative weather. not one day was canceled or delayed because of rain or severe weather. still ahead on today in iowa saturday. it's not a party without chex mix. our fareway expert is back to help you become the hostess with mostest. her halloween twist on a festive

dear future, sailed through that diaper stage, learned to walk, and i'm reading like a third-grader. but now it's time to go out into the world. and from what i hear, it's not all toys and games out there. will you look out for me, future?

if you think we can grow our economy while ignoring climate change, think again. america's most innovative companies are already moving to clean energy using existing technology to improve their bottom line. now we need a plan to help businesses and families across america to save money on electricity and create millions of new jobs. it all starts with 50% clean energy by 2030. so, what are we waiting for? kids in costumes were in full force last night as part of this year's beggar's night. and the fun continues today. we asked you to send us photos of your kiddies all dressed up on our facebook page and these are just a hand full of responses we got. our first photo is our own

little brooklyn as yoda and her dad as chewbacca and scarlet is dressed as his bride laney is dressed as gene simmons

we are waking up to spooky weather as showers, drizzle and clouds move through central iowa. skies will stay mainly cloudy through much of the day with highs only in the upper 50s this afternoon. skies will clear late this afternoon and we will be dry for any trick or treating that happens in central iowa tonight. the first of november will be pretty much fantastic with sunshine and a high of 70 degrees! the warm weather continues for most of the week with daytime highs in the low to mid 70s and lots of sun. cooler temperatures and some rain chances return by thursday. don't forget to "fall back" tonight. we go back to standard

after the break... it's time to get a little fancy with

frosting. how to impress your guests with home- made cookies and make the party pleasers satisfy the stomach and the

welcome back to today in iowa saturday. i'm joined now by brooke mickelson. she is a local cookie decorator and she's here to show us some fun ways to spice up your

welcome back to today in iowa saturday. i', joined by whitey packebush for another centsable health. this time we're talking about halloween party treats. what do you have for us? we are making a pumpkin chex mix. you can make it in a microwave or a crock pot. it smells really good if you want to host it. six cups of assorted chex. you can use whatever you

can also use sunflower seeds. they are rich in fiber. some dried cranberries i use 50 percent less sugar. some pecans. for the liquid we have some melted butter. we are also adding canned pumpkin, brown sugar, a little vanilla, and pumpkin pie

ingredients. you can microwave gets soft. then let it cool for some wax paper. for for 2 hours but of course mix it. you can do it in your oven but i always

good and nice colors. this is the finished product. you can make more, make less. you can find the recipe on fareway website. or you can email whitney at centsable health at fareway stores dot com. we'll be back right after

a day of mourning in russia today... after an airliner crashed in egypt early this morning...killing

more than 200 people on board. an egyptian aviation investigation team says flight 92-68 disappeared from the radar just 23 minutes after takeoff.... and went down in the central sinai peninsula. the plane -carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members- was headed too saint petersburg, russia. about 20 ambulances rushed to the crash site and are now recovering bodies. the egyptian prime minister says officials are trying to piece together clues into what happened. what they're learning from russian media is the pilot made a call about an emergency landing the issues." the russian embassy in egypt said the crash killed all the passengers on board. russia has opened a hotline for relatives, many of whom have in saint petersburg. president obama says u-s troops will be on the ground in syria for the first time to help forces fighting isis. the announcement comes as an about

i will not put.... inside of syria since 20-13.. obama has vowed he syria 16 different times... but yesterday, he did just the opposite... saying the u-s is deploying 50-special forces soldiers. 01:03-01:10 american boots on the ground in syria would not only be good for america but also would be good for syria the white house says the soldiers will serve in an advisory role. but critics aren't buying and say the president is full of broken promises. there are also concerns that the major policy shift could lead to a larger combat role for the u-s

in syria. the white house says it isn't ruling out additional deployments. at least 27 people are dead after a late night explosion at a nightclub in romania. a faulty fireworks show caused during a the club's false ceiling caught fire... the whole scaffolding crashed down on people inside. crews took the dozens of injured victims to ten different hospitals in bucharest for immediate treatment. romanian officials are now investigating. the national transportation safety board has started its investigation into the boeing 7-67 that caught fire at a florida airport on thursday. n-t-s-b officials will remain on site through the weekend. dynamic air flight 405 was approaching the runway to take-off for venezuela when the plane went up in smoke. all 101 people on board evacuated safely on emergency slides. fire rescue treated two dozen

people, but officials say only one suffered serious injuries. according to the n-t-s-b, the engine and wing are damaged, but the plane's interior is fine. airport officials gave passengers the option to fly to caracas this weekend. but they say some have chosen not to fly again at all. two people are dead and at least one other is missing.... after massive amounts of rain caused historic flooding across central and south texas. chris pollone has more. in san marcos, texas, flood water rose so quickly it surrounded a school with teachers and students still inside... police evacuated everyone to another, dryer school using an armored military vehicle. scenes like this playing out across texas, especially in the busy i-35 corridor between austin and san antonio. "after last weekend's rain saturated the soils, it didn't take a lot to fire things up, and that's what we saw this morning." part of austin saw six inches of rain in an hour...

one neighborhood recorded more than 14 inches total... more rain than it got in the entire month of may. it caught many drivers off guard... a passerby helped this woman escape from danger. "i quickly rolled down the window and pulled myself out." on the day before halloween, the flash floods sent pumpkins floating in the streets. a suspected tornado dropped a large trailer on a hotel roof in floresville. and a lightning strike took out weather radar in brownsville... the town of wimberley, devastated by flooding in may... hit hard again. "this is the second time it's happened to us. it's almost unbelievable." devastating... and the rain isn't over yet. chris pollone, nbc news. nearly 800 prisoners in iowa will walk free this weekend -- in the largest federal convict release ever. the u.s. sentencing commission amended federal guidelines last year to reduce prison sentences of federal drug felons an average of 18-percent. it's target date, november 1st. about 66-hundred federal inmates

be released -- and more than 40- thousand more could be let go early over the next several years. for judges deciding sentence reductions, they say their top priority is safety of the community. "the first question the judge asks himself is if i release this person now or shorten the sentence now, will he be a greater danger to the community and the statistics say very clearly no." nationwide, texas will get the highest number of those released followed by florida and iowa. still ahead on today in iowa saturday. halloween isn't the only holiday this weekend. honor loved ones today in this popular latino celebration. where you can enjoy traditional

if you think we can grow our economy while ignoring climate change, think again. america's most innovative companies are already moving to clean energy using existing technology to improve their bottom line. now we need a plan to help businesses and families across america to save money on electricity and create millions of new jobs. it all starts with 50% clean energy by 2030. so, what are we waiting for? kids in costumes were in full

night. and the fun continues today. we asked you to send us photos of your kiddies all dressed up on our facebook page and these are just a hand full of responses we got. megan reuther's kids are dressed as elsa, a banana and superman the cunningham family dressed as the cast of aladdin trinitee is dressed as a cupcake and jaydee

we are waking up to spooky weather as showers, drizzle and clouds move through central iowa. skies will stay mainly cloudy through much of the day with highs only in the upper 50s this afternoon. skies will clear late this afternoon and we will be dry for any trick or treating that happens in central iowa tonight. the first of november will be pretty much fantastic with sunshine and a high of 70 degrees! the warm

continues for most of the week mid 70s and lots of sun. cooler temperatures and some rain chances return by thursday. don't forget to "fall back" tonight. we go back to standard

i'm joined now by gary mckay. he is one of the co-chairs of the des moines art center's day of the dead

ad lib sports tease dear future, please help. the present is kind of a scary place. i have no money, no job, no clothes. i feel completely helpless. but i hear good things about you, future.

and books and music.

the royals jumped out to a 2-0 world series lead. teams with that advantage have won nine-straight titles. but the series goes to new york. and it looks like the mets are about to cut the royals lead in half. mets royals the night game against minnesota will be iowa's first sell-out. according, to the u-of-i ticket office, there are still 78-hundred tickets available for the maryland game. the hawkeyes are ranked 10th, but not they're listening to the noise. iowa-maryland. 2:30 on saturday. hawks are a 17 point

favorite. they're listening to the noise. iowa-maryland. 2:30 on saturday. hawks are a 17 point favorite. paul rhoads and mark mangino couldn't make it work. now, the

find a way to be the resurgent longhorns. john sears bringin it. iowa state and texas lock horns saturday night. here are the professional, and fan picks. everyone on the hawkeye-train. why not? call it, hopeful thinking or whatever... i'm the only one going with iowa state on the upset. john sears remains perfect. the rest of us have missed at least one game, and that includes our viewers voting at whotv.com it's still a memorable friday

for valley's john raridon. raridon becomes the third tiger offensive lineman named to a u-s army all-american game. raridon is in good company. 90 of the nations best are selected. next season raridon will be a husker. raridon and the valley tigers with a tough 2nd round game against no. 7 waukee. more monday matchups, centennial and johnston move their kickoff time up 30 minutes from 8:30 to 8 o'clock. number 5 van meter hosting the be live there defending champs play southeast polk at williams stadium. with today in iowa saturday, i'm michael admire. aha!

weee! slurp. mmmmmm. cinnamon. milk. cinna-milk. cinnamon toast crunch. crunch! crave those crazy squares.

and most beggar night events

asked you to send photos of your kids decked out in costumes on our of our responses. jannay's dog haley is here as a cute little pumpkin quaid is a tractor bostyn is dressed as sadness from the pixar movie inside out and our own aaron shaffer's son lincoln dressed as a "mad"

- ruff-ruff. - tweet. - and dave. [song] - ruff-ruff tweet and dave what a wonderful way to spend your day with ruff-ruff tweet and dave what a fun day here we go yay ruff-ruff tweet and dave the spin again will take us on another great adventure