earlier this afternoon she was at merle hay mall wrapping gifts for holiday shoppers. all the proceeds go to the puppy jake foundation... "our money that we get that is donated goes to the millitary veterens and providing the dogs to help them live their regular lives " the gift wrapping station will be open at merle hay mall next weekend, too. they're open from 11am to 9pm friday, 10-8 on saturday and 11- 7pm on sunday. nikki/three shot jon joins us now-- and the jon the cyclone women are on a roll jon: that's right nikki they took down iowa-- now they've got arkansas pine bluff. coming up on local 5 sports the freshman made a big impact today for the cyclones-- we'll show you who was dropping threes when we come back. " now, local 5 sports are iowa sports" jon: welcome back. the iowa state so far. they topped number 23 iowa take on arkansas pine bluff riding sterak. have three non- games left before they get into their big 12 schedule- so it's tune things up. up to hilton coliseum we go- a few points in quarter-- but bridgette from beyond the all. how about from she

present wrapping at merle hay mall https: " you're watching local 5 news midday in hd. we are iowa" : sabrina on your money now sabrina the hot new gadget for this year has been hoverboards.. but now, the u-s consumer product safety commission is investigating at least 11 reports of "hoverboard" fires in 10 states. federal probe comes as both amazon and com halted the every model and brand of hoverboard. there have been reports that certain models can burst into flames, as a result of malfunctioning batteries and plugs. but don't worry, there are a few being sold at certain retailers. sabrina: auto-maker ford is looking to give customers a ride...its piloting a ride-hailing service that could eventually be a competitor for uber. right now the service, called dynamic shuttle, allows its employees to travel throughout the ford campus in michigan. the goal is to leverage insights which could be scaled into a larger service. the program is one way the company is positioning itself in an ever-evolving automotive world. sabrina: and finally, vending machines don't have the be

temperatures will remain cold with morning lows in the single digits to 10 degrees ia 5 @ fleur i-80/35 @ merle hay i-35 @ corporate woods coming up next, david geiger report. then... a shift in a social media site's hateful speech policy... hear how the move could help quiet terrorist communication. but first... a man who once is now facing felony charges. see how sexual assault survivors the environmental protection agency's turned its attention to pesticide use and has some new rules it wants to put in place over how states certify users. the certified and training rule is intended to get stronger standards for pesticide applicators that use riskier pesticides labeled as "restricted use." its goal is to reduce harm from misapplications and the iowa department of agriculture's pesticide bureau says the rule would apply to pesticide applicators across the u.s. chief of the pesticide bureau dr. grechen paluch says, "so it'd be anyone who's going to be using restricted use pesticides on a national level and in iowa our certified pesticide applicators are ones that operate commercially and use genera

the dogs to help them live their regular lives " nikki: the gift wrapping station will be open at merle hay mall next weekend, too. they're open from 11am to 9pm friday, 10-8 on saturday and 11- 7pm on sunday. nikki: members of the local 5 news team were out at fareway friday, collecting no parishable food for those in need. many iowans helped can hunger with us all the food was donated to help iowans through the dmarc food pantry. nikki: now like we mentioned, christmas is inching closer and closer ... and for those of you who think reindeer only live in the north pole...there are a few farmers who raise reindeer right here in our state.. local 5's claire powell has the story in this week's farm to family. on jane bethard's "go in and why don't you feed" but as you follow the fence. the unusual start to appear... "they say no really are they real, i say no they're cattle we put antlers on" no that's not rudolph, that's rebecca and holly. "she's the one that wants to go visit everybody" -me in

it happened along merle hay road... near ovid avenue... around five-30. luckily, the driver and one passenger were the only people on the bus. they weren't hurt. officials say the fire apparently started in the engine. they say it's the same make as another dart bus that caught fire earlier this year. officers will be out in full they'll be watching for those not wearing seat belts, distracted drivers, and drunk drivers. in fact, troopers say one hundred people die each year from crashes involving drunk drivers. they're reminding people to either take a cab or have a clean your fire hydrant... that's the plea from firefighters following this week's snow. they say it takes time to find the hydrants, then dig them out. that's time that could be spent responding to an emergency... or times is critical, fire can grow in a matter of minutes, so if we have to spend a minute finding the hydrant clearout out around it, it adds to the fire growth and stuff like that if you're unable to clear your hydrant, firefighters suggest calling the department for assistance.

jordan creek, valley west, and merle hay mall all closed at 5:00 p.m. they're going to be closed on christmas day and then re-open saturday morning. grocery stores were also mobbed today as 11th-hour shoppers picked up last-minute ingredients. i met one woman who was lucky enough to have two helpers. between crowded carts and some spirited shoppers -- >> get the carrots for the reindeer. kim: erin kuhl and her two helpers are making sure santa's reindeer won't leave their home hungry this christmas. >> wow. full. kim: they're among hundreds of people braving the crowds at the among hundreds of people braving -- they're among hundreds of people braving the crowds at the urbandale hy-vee, picking up those last-minute items. turn any corner and you'll see shoppers with lists in hand. >> it's definitely crowded, and crazy in here but everyone is in a good mood and having a good time. kim: stop at any counter -- >> >> smoked mozzerella. kim: and you'll hear a bit of christmas cheer. that contagious holiday spirit seems to make the art of dodging dozens of ca

i-235 @ 63 and i-80/35 at merle hay first on 13... a des moines extend the city's tax abatement program. but now.... council members are accusing her of putting developers ahead of taxpayers. well, she handles financing, tax syndicator for three out of the five projects that we voted on, not to mention probably some of the other projects in the past shes voted on, since 2013, since shes worked there. christine hensley works for "midwest housing equity group"... a syndication firm that handles tax credits for developers... that's why she's taking heat for sponsoring an amendment to extend the tax abatement program for multi - family housing. the program was set to expire at the end of the year for companies that hadn't started construction. but the deadline was pushed back to the end of june.. by a narrow vote of four to three monday night. hensley didn't recuse herself from the vote... and she's standing by that decision. i have a legal opinion from our conflict of interest and again, remember were voting on an amendment to the urban

jordan creek, valley west and merle hay are all open til 10 p-m today and tomorrow and 5 p-m on christmas eve. southridge will stay open til 6 p.m. on christmas eve. wal-mart is also going to be open til 8 p-m christmas eve, ready for your last-minute rush! we'll be right everything these days, even christmas. santa claus has fallen victim to some negative campaign ads. this one caught our eye-- take a listen. one day a year... that's what kris kringle calls doing his job. this scam artist has been caught with his hand in the cookie-jar of honest law abiding citizens for too long. his untracable offshore accounts worth millions, but all the irs saw last year was lumps of coal. the world needs a new symbolic spokesperson for the holidays... someone whose not a total loser, who will run the north pole like a business... going to make christmas great again. we're all going to be saying merry christmas again, that i can tell you." jack: it's all part of a campaign from a parody website-- "trump for santa dot com." brad/wxhang weather adlib: he clouds pretty much central iowa as they will toni

i-80/35 @ merle hay i-35 @ first on 13... a murderer is behind bars at a medium level security facility... and his victim's father says the punishment doesn't fit the crime. kurt paulsen lost his son... zachary... in august of last year. police say he was stabbed over 30 times near the clive greenbelt trail. stephen jonas was found guilty of second degree murder in september. jonas was sentenced to 50 years in prison... and sent to the "newton correctional facility." paulsen says he's getting off easy... when they evaluated him, i think he lied his way through that and got them to believe he was in harm. i think he got to go where he wants to go... but officials say it isn't uncommon to house a violent offender in a facility like the one in newton. they say 43 people convicted of second degree murder were incarcerated over the past 5 years. of those... 41 were placed under placed under maximum security. a des moines teenager accused of killing his grandmother is due back in court... 17 year old noah laprei pleaded "not guilty

it happened along merle hay road... near ovid avenue... around five-30. luckily, the driver and one passenger were the only people on the bus. they weren't hurt. officials say started in the engine. they say it's the same make as another dart bus that caught fire earlier this year. des moines drivers will start to see more parking tickets this winter... that's because public works officials have also started issuing tickets. before, only the police department's parking attendants could write you up. officials recommend drivers pay close attention to the city's even odd zones. while snow parking bans are in effect, they must park on the side of the street with even number addresses during even number calender days. it switches for the odd days. the snow hampered travel for hawkeyes heading to california. but that didn't stop one family, on a special mission... there's a lot of divine intervention taking part in this trip. maybe there's a reason we didn't get on that the one who's behind it as well. the henkenius family hit the road after hearing of their f

steve: just one accident up on merle hay road, just south of aurora northbound. it is causing problems on that heavily traveled access road in the city of des moines. other than that, everything across the city looks pretty good. checking out the drive times, the west is at seven. east is at six. that is pretty good for a friday afternoon. stacey: a push to save the home to iowa's heirlooms, our top story at 6:00. rose: these planters at the state historical museum are actually catching water dripping from the ceiling. i'm rose heaphy. and i'm going to talk to you renovation plan. cynthia: i'm cynthia fodor. dupont pioneer in johnston is pulling the plug on hundreds of jobs the company planned to create in iowa and is cutting its workforce nationally. i'll have details. tony: less than 24 hours until the big four classic, and the how do you stop a guy who can >> oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! >> that was mind-blowingly amazing. i laughed, i cried, i screamed at the screen, and i can't wait to watch it again tomorrow. steve: "star wars: the force awakens" is blo

the premiere at flix brewhouse at merle hay mall got a special treat during their wait. take a look. jack: a fully fuctioning r-2-d-2 made his way to the new brewery slash movie theater. he's one of the few characters who's in every one of the star wars movies. and did you know -- in the original star wars movie, an actor actually hid inside r-2 d-2. jack: local 5 meteorologist out at jordan creek mall where fans were waiting all day long for the movie to start. we talked to some die-hard fans about the first time they remember watching star wars. my first memory of star wars was falling asleep right after darth vader came in that first scene at the drive in so i was about 4 or 5 then so to be able to share kind of that same experince with the kids this time is kind of cool jack: look for more from sam and other fans tomorrow morning on good morning iowa. jack: every where you go nowadays, you're sure to find star wars themed products. from toys, to clothing and even fruit. but one waukee man looked past those products in the store and made his own special star wars them

mark: another busy, packed night here at merle hay roadmall. here is the crowd for the remaining four shows tonight, we found out there are "star wars" fans who get dressed up. and then, there are fans who spend three years of their lives building a droid. >> there's no words to describe how wonderful it was. mark: it sounds like a religious experience. >> the action, the force. [laughter] mark: for some, the "star wars" franchise has been a lifelong experience. matt curtis saw the first "star wars" when he was six weeks old. matt: i think i was in a car seat, tucked underneath the seats, but i was actually there. mark: but for all the spectacle surrouding the latest installment -- >> i will finish what you started. mark: no costumed fanatic in the lobby at flix brewhouse could compare -- >> it's amazing, absolutley amazing. mark: to this. >> and the guy who made it made it handmade. i've seen one made out of legos, but not one that can move around. mark: as soon as this robot rolled in, the smartphones whipped out. >> that takes some skill and

merle hay first on 13... to storm the court... or not to storm the court... that is the question on fans' minds this celebrations left two people hurt.. after iowa state won the big cy - hawk showdown last night. we have friends that go to iowa and their favorite thing is say football but we just say wait until basketball season comes and we will blow you out of the water. but the cyclones didn't blow the hawkeyes out of the water when they met at hilton coliseum.... the game came down to seconds... monte just 9 seconds to go. the hawks tried to retaliate... but fell short. final score... 83 - 82. the win sent fans into a frenzy... resulting in collateral damage. an usher was knocked over... injured his knee... and had to be taken away by ambulance. i was standing there and the students run over the top of me. and then i got knocked into the basketball backboard. the students were really friendly they just wanted des moines register columnist randy peterson was also hurt. he was pushed to the ground as fans rushed the court... and broke his leg. the iowa stat

the bus caught fire on merle hay road near ovid avenue. it appears the fire started near the engine . dart says it's the same make and series as another dart bus that caught fire earlier this year. tonight...the driver and one passenger were the only ones on the bus they weren't hurt. des moines police need your helping in finding a grinch who stole a family's christmas. the family's home surveillance system caught the thief in action. they show the man and the black vehicle police are trying to find. police believe the suspect followed a mail truck to the home in the 24- hundred block of east 33rd street. the man then stole the items off the front steps after the mail carrier left. inside the boxes were presents for the kids who live in the home. if you have any information on the case contact des moines this year des moines drivers can expect to see more parking tickets during snow events. that's because... beginning this week.... public works officials also started issuing parking citations. before... only parking attendants with the de

santa will hold a fully accessible meet and greet with kids at the ramada tropics resort on merle hay road ... just off i-80 ... on saturday. you can find details online at special- santa-event-dot-com. clouds will move back in overnight into friday morning as winds begin to die santa-event-dot-com. clouds will move back in overnight into friday morning down. friday looks mainly cloudy with highs in the 50s. this weekend is going to be wet with rain starting to move across the state by saturday night. on sunday, a strong storm system will pass through the midwest, bringing heavy rain to central and eastern iowa. an inch or rain will be possible, especially in eastern iowa where the highest totals will be possible. temperatures will remain in the 40s to start next week, but will dip back into the 30s by this time next week. the cyclones are going for three biggest upset in cy-hawk history. we'll take you live to it's been a one-sided rivalry of late. the iowa state cyclones have beaten the hawkeyes on the hardwood two years in a row ... and five of the last six years. for the 69th time

workers at the lot on merle hay road say they've already sold two-thirds of their stock. families stopped by to pick out their perfect tree from the pop-up forest. shoppers say it's all about finding the right look. jennifer: basically, you want like the type of tree that looks perfect. like the cut-out cookies, you can make sugar cookies and stuff. todd: we know what that looks like. boy scout troops 43 and 96 help run the stand. the organization receives part of the proceeds. now, to check in with jason eight-day forecast. jason: yeah, we are talking christmas -- it doesn't look anything like that outside right now. keep your christmas spirit going. eventually, we have to get more snow. for now, it is nice out. we have a few clouds roaming about out there. that will be the case as we head overnight, picking up a few showers early on tomorrow morning. once we take those out of here, things are going to warm up nicely. 46 by 3 p.m. clouds break into the afternoon hours, we should still have some sunshine to end our day. you can see the system drawing in the cloud cover, t

while heading down merle hay road, a dart bus caught fire. the bus was heading south when someone the driver, making them aware of the flames. only one other person was on board, and no injuries have been reported. police think the fire started in the angine. elias: and despite the recent cold weather, des moines parks and rec says that the ice on at ponds in three neighborhood parks is not safe for ice skating. city officials have red flagged greenwood park pond, macrae park pond, and witmer park pond, indicating the ice depth is not at a safe level. once the ice is thick enough, parks and rec will place a green flag at each location indicating the pond is safe for skating. elias: we're back with meterologist sam schreier... sam: (sam adlibs) sam: weather adlib: today is going to be a are looking partly cloudy today with sam: weather adlib: cold but snow free day across iowa. we are looking partly cloudy today with highs only in the mid 20s through the afternoon. tonight when everyone is celebrating new years eve it will be a very cold night

while heading down merle hay road, a dart bus caught fire. the bus was heading south when someone flagged down the driver, making them aware of the flames. only one other person was on board, and no injuries have been reported. police think the fire started in the angine. elias:: life serve blood center says its blood supply has dipped to a critically low level. they say it's mostly due to the recent winter weather -- which cancelled blood drives this weekend. it's estimated nearly 325 units of blood were lost from those cancellations -- leaving the shelves pretty bare. impacted it so severly that we have less than a one day supply this is very rare this does not happen unless we have a signficant storm on top of the holiday season which is exactly what happened and its caused our blodd supply to drop to critically low levels elias: to put it in perspective -- life serve normally has about a three to five day supply of blood. that goes to help more than 110 hospitals in iowa, nebraska and south dakota. here's a look at the different blood typ

valley west mall and merle hay road all will be open -- merle shaina: i know you are keeping a close eye on the weather. some snow might move in. jason: yes, we have a good chance and not a moment too soon. finally seeing it make an appearance to the west into omaha, you can see the batch of fluffy stuff pushing eastward. through the morning hours, we will eventually be seeing that accumulate. if you are driving anywhere, check the road conditions because we could see snow-covered roads or at least slush covered roads. a winter weather advisory is out for western and central portions of the state from 8:00 in the morning until 6:00 p.m. this evening we will see snow pile up but it will not be that much and it will be fairly short-lived and robust by around 2-3 inches that continues to move eastward. as it does we will pick up snow through the late morning to mild temperature wise, wind will feel like the low 20's for most of the day. be sure to bundle up if you are going out and take a scraper with you. you may have to scrape snow off your windshield. this moves out into the evening

i-35/80 at merle hay road. no problems with re-freezing or anything like that, temperatures are 26. self. dad: no? culligan man: no. anncr: leave it to the experts. with a culligan whole-house water softening system, you get better water, and service you can actually count on. dad: hey, culligan man. culligan man: hey! dad: this is great! if you're doing everything right but find it harder and harder to get by, you're not alone. while our people work longer hours for lower wages, almost all new income goes to the top 1%. my plan -- make wall street banks and the ultrarich provide living wages for working people, ensure equal pay for women. i'm bernie sanders. i approve this message because together, we can make a political revolution and create an economy and democracy that works for all e you can actually count on. this is kcci 8 news this morning. with eric hanson, elizabeth gertz, and right-now coverage with shaina humphries. metinka: grab the warm coats. it is really cold especially in the western half of t

merle hay road and valley west mall will also be open under the same hours. everyone is reopening on saturday, december 26 to serve customers for returns or exchanges. from jordan creek town center, emmy victor, kcci 8 news iowa's news leader. shaina: tracking some snow, some santa. jason: i cannot believe that we can continue to see this man trek across the world. it takes a special kind of gps system. i am not willing to give away all the gps -- all the secrets just yet. he is tracking his way through is kind of cool to see some of those. we have snow continuing to push its way in, eastern nebraska. some of the heavier stuff just west of nebraska -- west of omaha. we have a winter weather is advisory -- winter weather advisory. it goes from 8:00 in the morning through 6:00 p.m. this evening so if you have travel plans, know that is where the heaviest snow will be, two to three inches. could see an inch or so and the metro. a closer look at the system that is making its way in. northern portions of missouri have a mix, otherwise rain and kansas city. the sys

traffic is starting to pick up at 35/80 and merle hay road. give yourself a few hey! this holiday, u.s. cellular's giving you 15 gigs of data for just $70! but i wanted a pony. [ gasps ] you're getting data. pony-sized data? u.s. cellular sized data. 15 gigs of good, strong data you can actually use because it works in the middle of anywhere. i'd like $100! you're getting $400 in promo cards! switch to u.s. cellular and get 15 gigs of data for just $70. plus $400 in promo cards. morning. with eric hanson, elizabeth klinge, meteorologist kurtis gertz, and right-now coverage with shaina humphries. metinka: you are waking up to a quiet start to the toys for tots tuesday. quiet weather across iowa but to the west there is another system bringing snow to denver and cheyenne. they should stay to the northwest and all the watch boxes are aligned along the path. it will go through nebraska and western minnesota. whether will stay quiet here although it is cool, grab a warmer coat. you are traveling into western or west central iowa, watch for fog. otherwise it will be fairly

we want to get you a look at 35/80 and merle hay road. traffic is picking up but no it will probably be light as paris: there's a lot to do on a dairy farm. nobody's gonna do it for you. you have to get out there and do it yourself. bernie sanders is a well-known friend of family farms. bernie cannot be bought out by big money. it's time for our next president to get in there, roll up his sleeves, take off the gloves, and take on wall street, take on big business, take on big money, and get the working class back to where they should be. he's a rock. frank: welcome back. the first full day of winter. it will not feel like winter at all today, wake up temperatures around the average highs. des moines checks out it 30. 27 and fort dodge. locked in with clouds this morning, we might have sunshine is afternoon. all in all i think mainly cloudy. 47 in des moines, 48 in a,. 40's to the north. waterloo and mason city could be close to 50. make sure you bundle your kids up. by lunchtime, low 40's. by the time you pick him up at 47. elizabeth: tha

this is at merle hay road. you may needhey! this holiday, u.s. cellular's giving you 15 gigs of data for just $70! but i wanted a pony. [ gasps ] you're getting data. pony-sized data? u.s. cellular sized data. 15 gigs of good, strong data you can actually use because it works in the middle of anywhere. i'd like $100! you're getting $400 in promo cards! yes! switch to u.s. cellular and get 15 gigs of data for just $70. >> this is iowa's news leader. this is kcci 8 news this morning with eric hanson, elizabeth klinge, meteorologist kurtis gertz and right now coverage with shaina humphries. elizabeth: welcome back. the metro wasn't the only part of iowa that saw flooding monday. check out this photo from one of our ulocal viewers in rockwell city. and here's another one of flooding at a park in blairsburg in hamilton county. thanks to denise morgan for sending that in. eric: and check out how much water was in this backyard in bradgate. that is a backyard, not a lake. if you have any flood photos page at kcci.com. just so much water out there, metin

workers at the lot on merle hay road say they've already sold two-thirds of their stock. families stopped by to pick out their perfect tree from the pop-up forest. shoppers say it's all about finding the right look. >> basically you want the type of tree that looks perfect like the cutout cookies you can make sugar cookies and stuff. boy scout troops 43 and 96 help run the stand. the organization receives part of the proceeds. still to come on kcci, the holiday gift that's practically flying of the shelves. there is a little concerned where a hazard problem is coming into play. why it's still being sold. plus. how a new christmas light the serious frank: good sunday morning, welcome back, time is 7:40, look at the radar out there. we are getting soaked in some parts of the state down to the south around creston, lamoni, bedford. moving through their this money. back toward oskaloosa. in des moines, we might pick up on a couple sprinkles and that is is. that line starts to dissipate off to the north. the rain trend is mainly for southern iowa this morning. 30% chance of ra