in cedar rapids, forrest saunders, kcrg-tv9 news. in cedar rapids, forrest saunders, kcrg-tv9 news. skiers in eastern iowa were happy this weekend as sundown mountain in dubuque finally opened for the season. the resort usually opens the day after thanksgiving, but warm temperatures pushed it back nearly a month. it hasn't open this late since 2001. the temperature has to be about 28 degrees to make artificial snow. the resort will have to take it day by day with the warm temperatures ahead this week. a group of area seniors is taking time out to help young people. they're packing meals for children to take home for the weekend. the hacap program is called operation bacack. kcrg-tv9's jill kasparie explains the purpose and the mission in our show you care spotlight. 9:01:41 cans? from canned goods to packages of oatmeal... 9:02:06 these`seniors from methwick -- a retirement are filling up dozens of bags. "9:14:18 they have them marked, how many goes in each bag." they have e routine down to a science. after all, they volunteer their time every other friday to help with operation bac

author george saunders. and a musical performance by joanna newsom. featuring jon batiste and stay human. and now it's time for "the late show with stephen colbert"! ( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: thank you! thanks, everybody. you know, i hope i don't have to remind you that we are all lucky to live in this country. i really do love everything about america: hot dogs. apple pie. baseball-- maybe not baseball. it's like watching grass grow with people in the way. ( laughter ) but i will say one of my favorite things about america is my constitutional right to make fun of the powerful: senators, presidents, brands that don't advertise on my show. sleep lightly, old el paso taco seasonings you picked the wrong guy to not give money to. but not everyone out there has that freedom. take turkey where, right now... ( laughter ) now just to be clear, erdogan is not a name from "lord of the rings." i know it sounds like erdogan could be aragorn's dad, but that's obviously arathorn. now, the whole thing started when doctor bilgin ciftci-- again, not a hobb

tv-9's forrest saunders live in morning. thanks a lot, forrest. the hawkeye football team is pretty used to national media attention with its nearar perfect season. but it's nothing compared to media day at the rose bowl. we'll check in with our tv-9 sports team in pasadena. up next... this morning's weather wise question. meteorologist kaj o'mara is up right after the break. joins us now. morning commute. many areas should see around an inch of snow, though some isolated 2" reports cannot be ruled out either. the ottom line is that t t commute will likely turn slick, even with minor snow accumulation. this system should be out b noon at the latest, with clouds weather is likely from thursday through at ast early monday with cooler temperatures as well. our next system of any impact isn't out there until day 6 or 7 in the e recast . have a great day!today: am snow likely high: 24-30 winds: w 5-10 alo: 27 dbq: 27 iow: 28tonight: mostly cloudy low: 13-19 winds: w 5-15 alo: 12 dbq: 17 iow: 17tomorrow: momoly cloudy high: 17-2-2 winds: w w0-20 alo: 18

kcrg-tv9's forrest saunders is live at st. luke's this morning. forrest, the room has been there now? st. luke's and ronald mcdonald house charities of eastern iowa & western illinois decided to partner and create eastern iowa's first ronald mcdonald family room at unitypoint health - st. luke's hospital. now we can provide extraordinary care and provide our families s th a comfortable respite area. a placacto recharge and rest. a place that allows families to be lives. this family room is located on the second floor of center for women's and children's health. unitypoint health - st. luke's foundation is leading a $600,000 capital campaign to renovate the existing sleep rooms and family lounge into a family-friendly and home-like environment that will provide amenities similar to those found in a traditional ronald mcdonald house, but within the walls of the hospital. in cedar rapids, forrest saunders, kcrg-tv9 news. thanks a lot forrest. a group of area seniors is taking time out to hehe young people. they're packing meals for children to take h

tv-9-9 forrest saunders. t tnks a lot forrest. a major american auto maker is bringing siri to its vehicles. and there's a new dating app that's aimed at people obsessed with all things disney. that's ahead in today's techbytes. good morning! it's ---. watch for a few patches of fog otherwise, we'll have the december sunshine. that kind of sounds s dd to say. anyways, plan on highs to be back in the 44-48 range all over the region today. the same story exists on saturday with momo clouds still on track for sunday. overall, there are no changes to the plan going forward into next week either with lots of 40s. there are no major system on the horizon, with signs of a pattern active weather. between now and then, enjoy it, and have a great weekend! today: sunny & mild high: 43-49 winds: s 5-15 alo: 45 dbq: 44 iow: 46tonight: clear low: 25-31 winds: s 5-15 alo: 29 dbq: 28 iow: 29tomorrow: mostly sunny high: 45-51 winds: s 5-15 alo: 48 dbq: 46 iow: 48tomorrow night: increasing clouds low: 32-38 winds: s 5-15 alo: 35 dbq: 31 thanks kaj.

tv-9's forrest saunders. thanks a lot. authorities say two cedar rapids men died in a crash tv-9's forrest saunders. thanks a lot. authorities say two cedar rapids men died in a crash on interstate 80 in nebraska. the nebraska state patrol says two trucks crashed around 2:30 yesterday morning near the city of cozad. they say a semi-truck tri to exit at a reststrea, but couldn'n' and then merged back into traffic. 25 year old adrian carrillo was driving a truck and rear-ended the semi. carrillo and his passenger, 48-year-old roberto garcia-gonzales, both died in the crash. a cedar falls man faces a 1st-degree arson charge for setting a fire that damaged three vehicles and a garage. the waterloo- cedar falls courier reports nicholas kollasch is accused of setting a detached garage on fire behind 615 iowa street early thanksgiving morning. investigators say a van parked near the garage was also o ofire. flames also spread to two cars nearby. police say kollasch walked up to officers who were there and told them

tv-9's forrest saunders. thanks a lot. students at dubuque senior high school are improving their spanish skills with donated computers. laptops, along with a mobile charging cart, at the beginning of the school year. students use them for interactive games and activities that help them memorize spanish words and phrases. teachers s it means students can study at their own pace. they're also good fofo differentiation because this student needs to work on this and that student needs to work on that. you can have them working on different things at the sameime. " teachers say the dubuque school district would not have been able to afford the computers without the donation. represent towns along the mississippi river now have a plan on the agreement has several action items ground water. these include initiatives like developing a strataty for monitoring water pollutants, expanding water facilities, and installing more urban- catch basins to filter runoff before it gets to rivers. confnfence, that if action is not taken, clim

i'm also sitting down with macarthur genius,( george saunders. george-- george. >> stephen: in my opinion, he is one of the best short story writers in the world. although, i've been repeatedly assured it's not the length of the story that matters. and we'll have an amazing performance by indie rock harpist joanna newsom. ( cheers and applause ) that's my air harp. >> jon: get it! get it! pull it! pull it! get it! that was good. that was nice. >> stephen: i am telling you, folks, she is amazing. if you see only one rock-harpist this one. (band playing) oh, that over there, folks. that is jon batiste and stay human. say hi, everybody. jon,n, really-- i really like your suit tonight. >> jon: oh, yeah. >> stephen: yeah. that is nice. that's nice. it looks like you took that from the skin o o a flamboyant python. they're about to spark up this menorah, but before they do, one more thing: a british astronaut says he will run the london marathon virtually on a treadmill while in orbit. because when you're an astronaut on the international space station

tv-9's forrest saunders. thanks a lot forrest. about a dozen linn-mar preschoolers are making the world a better place this holiday season, one song at a time. jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way teachers, students and families gathered in the cafeteria at linn grove elementary for a special ccert yesterday. it's a fundraiser called art for a cause -- raising money for the american cancer society. one little boy in the class, liam, knows all about cancer. his mom has been battling breast cancer since july. " 18:8::30 it's really quitit amazing how people this little can make world-changing decisions." "he said yeah we are doing this to make my mom better, which was suchchn amazing statement t for him to make so he has been making that connection. " the preschoolers raised 348 dollars and 25 centststhe money will go towards cancer research and will help local cancer patients. it's a blast from the past. and helped give it new life. in the ultimate throwback thursday, troopererbrought back a car from watch for a few patch

supervisor mark mcneill and lee saunders down played their quick thinking, but their individual skills were key. >> jeff was talking about how calm your voice was over the radio, the quick thinking, the use of all those years of plan in realtime. >> t officials revealed for the first time how saunders got the call from the runaway train with more than 50 passengers on board. he quickly told his supervisor and the two raced to clear the track of any other trains. >> they told them to not stop at any stations so they could create spacing between the driverless train and the trains with drivers and passengers on them. >> no sign of t driver david vazquez at the state house. he faces disciplinary actions. today was all about thank yous. >> you two performed in example deduction exemplary fashion, executed appropriately. >> tgm depalo says the hearing is mover a fact-finding gathering and the labor council will report to him. but sometime soon, he'll make a decision on what discipline, if any, is called for. live at the state house, dan housely, 7 news. >>> clenching playoff spot. what a we

kcrg-tv9's forrest saunders joins us live at st. luke's hospital . forrest, families are really taking advantage of this room? man, a bunch of them. but let me give you some context. the family room opened a year ago, next month. in it's first two weeks, 36 families slept in an overnight room. the ronald mcdonald room was expected to house more than 1000 families each year. it serves the pediatrics and neonatal intensive care wings here at st. luke's. the ronald mcdonald room features a shared living room, dining room and kitchen, plus three private bedrooms. families can use the space to stay close to loved ones hotel stays. coming up, we fd out how this first year went. and, how you can help this program continue to support more than 1,000 families a year. in cedar rapids, forrest saunders, kcrg-tv9 news. thanks a lot forrest. we hear politicians who talk about "visiting all 99 counties in iowa" -- but what about running a marathon in each one? dennis lee and daren schumaker are not "running for office." they're just running. in every county. john

tv-9's forrest saunders. thanks a lot. three friends involved with former lottery security worker eddie tipton's fraud scheme have somethininelse in common. a prosecutor says they hunt for bigfoot in their spare time. iowa prosecutor rob sand has asked a judge to bar any discussion of bigfoot hunting at tipton's upcoming trial. sand says such discussion could potentially prejudice the jury. tipton is accused of rigging jackpots in iowa and five other states to try to enrich himself and his friends. tipton is already serving g 10 year sentence e r two counts of fraud here in iowa. a dubuque man and his service dog are back together after the dog vanished last week. curt curiel depends on his dog, sassy, , help h h throughout this day. up until a few weeks ago, the two were homeless and lived at the dubuque rescue mission.ast they were waiting for a bus. curiel's friends at the rescue mission posted information about the missing dog on facebook. and someone found sassy and took her to the dubuque humane society. "we made all

live in cedar rapids, forrest saunders, kcrg-tv9. for many kids, seeing santa is one of the most exciting things about the holidays... but for some, the visit requires plenty of planning... and often... time. hear how lindale mall is working to help make the experience run smoothly for those with special needs, next on kcrg-tv9. " " as the holiday season picks up, area malls and stores. that can turn a seemingly easy visit with santa claus into a long line... with impatient kids.. this includes families with kids who may be touched by special needs. kcrg9's brady smith was at lindale mall's "caring santa," an event that aims to make that trip a bit easier. the waseen family's three daughters are excited to see santa.for their oldest daughter audrey, communicating with kris kringle is a bit more challenging. but her excitement is her smile in this picture. "she loves to cuddle, she loves dancing and being around people." "she was diagnosed with autism when she was 3. she's non-verbal, but she has a little nova chat. it's a little tabl

tv-9's forrest saunders. forrest, thanks about 230 preschool students are in the holiday spirit this morning. yesterday they enjoyed games, snacks, and crafts in cedar rapids at "snacks with santa," which t-v nine some of our employees led stations, which included igloo building, a bounce house and some snacks. the kids also met santa claus, and each walked away with a stuffed animal, a book and coloring books. tonight, cedar rapids will turn on the holiday spirit with the downtown christmas tree. crews brought the tree into the city on monday and put up the lights. they'll turn on the lights tonight at 5-30. that's on mays island in cedar rapids. in the wake of another mass shooting, the country's politicians are debating over how to prevent more shootings in the future. and gun sales are skyrocketing as some americans are worried about their safety and tighter gun laws. but right now, here's a look at today's it's ---. watch for a few patches of fog otherwise, we'll have temperatures soar under the december

tv-9's forrest saunders. thanks a lot. principals and school leaders in cedar rapids are hoping to close the student achievement gap. they met yesterday for the at the district headquarters. the district defines equity as improving instruction for all students. and the summit was a way for school leaders tshare thr best practiti for helping on goals, such as closing the student achievement gap. for example, the iowa assessments show 49% of african-american students in the district's elementary schls are not at grade level for reading. that's more than double the rate of white students behind in reading. "so we want to push those top students and accelerate the bottom students within that gap. that was an interesting part of the equity summit process because every building has a different goal that's specific to their building." the district will hold equity summits like this twice each h hool year, and it's planning f f the next one to be in may or june. in a tv-9 follow-up this morning.. parents who use a child care servi

tv-9's forrest saunders. thanks a lot a dubuque man and his servicic together after the dog vanished last week. curt curiel has multiple sclerosis and depends on his dog, sassy, to help him throughout this day. up until a few weeks ago, the two were hoholess and lived atathe dubuque rescue mission. last they were waiting for a bus. curiel's friends at the rescue mission posted missing dog on fafabook. and someone found sassy and took her to the dubuque society. "we made all the connections and turned out the dog that was here, belong to curt, so we did what we could to help them find each other and be reunited. " staff at the dubuque rescue mission have now pooled their money to pay for sassy's vaccines, a micro chip, and shelter fees. curiel and sasas have also found a place of their own to stay in dubuque. those going to pasadena, california for the rose bowl will have to deal with tight security at the game and the tournament of roses parade. non-visible security measures will be in place along the parade

tv-9's forrest saunders. thanks three friends involved with former lottery security worker eddie tipton's fraud scheme have something else in common. a prosecutor says they hunt for bigfoot in their spare time. iowa prosecutor rob sand has asked a judge to bar any discussion of bigfoot hunting at tipton's upcoming trial. nd says such h scussion could potentially prejudice the jury. tipton is accused of rigging jackpots in iowa and five other states to try to enrich himself and his friends. tipton is already serving a 10 year sentence for two counts of fraud hererin iowa. a dubuque man and his service dog are back together after the dog vanished last week. curt curiel has multiple sclerosis and depends on his dog, sassy, to lp him throughout thth day. up until a few weeks ago, the two were homeless and lived at the dubuque rescue mission. last week, sassy disappeared while they were waiting for a bus. curiel's friends at the rescue mission posted information about the missing dog on facebook. and someone found

tv9's forrest saunders joins us from the newly- renovated area. forrest, these are the first changes to greene ago. it was originally known as green square park, but now is called just green square. this is theheirst major renovation in 32 years. the big features, a water feature that's a bit more than just a fountain. a new statue. and new design that clears a path from the city's library and museum. the city removed about 20 trees that were old and in declining health. a dubuque man faces drug charges after he reported an attempted burglary at his home. police say 21-year-old austin lovett called them friday night to his home in the 700 block of university avenue, saying someone had tried to break in. while officers were searching for a suspect inside, they saw marijuana stems and seeds and later found two grams of the drug. officers later arrested lovett on a charge of possessing a controlled substance. a worthington man went to the hospital sunday after his handgun went off, while he was checking traps. it happened around 9 o'clock yesterday m

in cedar falls, forrest saunders, kcrg-tv9 news. chris martin says he and his family are expectingo move back in june once the home's renovations are complete. meteorologist britley ritz joins us again. we wish you a merry christmas! a few of us to the north got their wish of a white christmas. mostly cloudy skies will stick around through the evening and overerght hours. travel conditions remain decent across most of eastern iowa, so if you are traveling on this christmas evening, you should be just fine. keep an eye out for bridges and overpasses for a few slick early tomorrow morning we bring in the small chance of a shower or snowflake, better chances f f rain or snow showerer arrive tomorrow late morning and afternoon. looking ahead into next week, we brg in the chanan of snow, to make if feel and look more like winter. cleanup is continuing in communities from arkansas to michigan after a series of rare december tornadoes. the national weather service has now confirmed at least 24 tornadoes touched groununin recent days. the t

that's brent saunders, president and ceo of allergan. charitable trust owns it. we are holding it. count me a believer, too. "mad money's" back after the break. your clever momos won't stop the cold and flu. but t sinfecting with lysol can. because lysol wipes and spray are approved to kill more types of germs than clorox. including those that can make you sick. for a healthy home this cold and flu season... red 9797set! red 97! did you say 97? yes. you know, that reminds me of geico's 97% customer satisfaction rating. 97%? helped by geico's fast and friendly claims service. huh... ohoheah, baby. geico's as fast and friendly as it gets. woo! round! starting w wh randy in kentucky. randy? >> caller: how you doing, buddy, a question about my air stock, ars, own it had 13 years. >> you know, it's made -- it's done a lot of good stuff in the cable industry. now i, myself, have found that this is a company with inconsistent quarter bus it is in the swewe spot. i would not trade it right now. i would own t let's go to brad in massachusetts. brad? >> caller: jim, booyah from boston. >> bo

kcrg-tv9's forrest saunders joins us. forrest, toxic shock syndrome is rare. is that why providers sometimes see the symptoms and think it's something else? the symptoms are a lot like the flu. that's one of the reasons professor patrick schlievert says people think menstrual tss is rarer than it is. he estimates as many as 10,000 women get the illness each year. he says menstrual tss is caused by a strain of staph bacteria that a percentage of women have in their bodies. when those women have their period, the bacteria grows. schlievert says the bacteria will create a poison if it's given oxygen. and that oxygen can come from absorbent tampons. the more absorbent, the more oxygen, the more poison. if left untreated, tss can be deadly. " what's happening, fluid is leaving the blood vessels. you don't pump blood, when you don't have blood in the blood organ shutdown. that is what leads to death." schlievert says that manufacturer s are making less absorbent products these days. tss severity has decreased over the years. but, prevalence is still a problem. he wa

tv-9's forrest saunders is live at linn county public health this morning. forrest, there's good nns about this year's shot compared to last year's? that's right, nicole. according to the cdc this year's vaccine is expected to be around 60 percent effective, up from a aund 20 percent last year. "flu season" in the united ` states can begin as early as october and last as late as may. dudung this time, flu vivises are circulating at higher levels in the u.s. population. an annual is the best way to reduce the chances that you will get seasonal flu and spread it to others. when more people get vaccinated against the flu, less flu can spread through that community.flu vaccination should begin soon after vaccine becomes available, if possible by october. however, as long as flu viruses are circulating, vaccination should continue to be offered throughout the flu season, even in j juary or lalar. while seasonal iiluenza outbreaks can happen as early as october, during most seasons influenza activity peaks in january or later. since it takes about two weeks after

live in the newsroom, forrest saunders, kcrg -tv9 news. the family of moe sed has set his funeral arrangements for this weekend. family and friends can attend a visitation sunday afternoon at waterloo's first united methodist church. and his funeral will be the next morning at first baptist church of waterloo. yesterday would have been sed's 19th birthday. the teen disappeared on october 22nd while riding his bike. a trapper found his body in the cedar river near gilbertville on sunday, december 6th. there's still been no word on what caused his death. a man faces a first degree murder charge after police say he shot and killed his girlfriend, who is from waterloo. 51 year old michelle key died sunday in hampton, iowa. officers responded to 621 1st street northeast around 5:45 that night for a suicidal person. police say they found key's body and arrested her boyfriend, 60 year old ronald rand. when you see news, call newsline nine. that number is 319-365-9999. you can also send pictures and videos to newsroom at kcrg dot com. thirteen can

bernie saunders campaign su his own party in u.s. disstrict court toy. sanders team is accusing democratic par from accessing own voter data and party did cut off access but after hillary clinton campaign accused sanders of selling millions of voter information in the clinton valt in the dnc database and the accusation was called outrageous. according to "abc news" "washington post" po clinton has support of nearly 60% of rej steered democrats and saunders trails clinton with 28 percentage point and former maryland mar t ho oaley exists iningle dij sglits they'll meet at 8 tomorrow if a debate ht bid "abc news" you can see it here on chapel 6. >>> retail chain rt haa bulls e on greater cenr city philadelphia. the company confirms to "action news" tonight iwill takeover whole foods on 2800 blockf pennsylvania avenue when that supermarket relocates to a larger space under construction larger space under construction. this july tg plans to on two other stores twelveth th and chestnut and 19 and chestnut. >> the new star wars mie is out 28 yours. light safee

tv-9's forrest saunders, thanks a lot forrest. tonight is a big night for college basketball fans in ioa. the cy-hawk series continues tonight as the seven and two hawkeyes travel to ames to take on the undefeated cyclones at hilton coliseum. tipoff is at 6:30. you canatch all the action on e-s-p-n two. and we'll have a full recap of highlights tonigig on the tv-9 news at 10. some harry potter fans are going to be pretty jealous of se university of iowa students. the author of the famous wizarding series had a special delivery for them. but the students say they wanttmore. up next... this morning's weather wise question. first alert storm team meteorologist kaj o'mara joins us now. plan on a mild, breezy day out going well into the 50s. the warm front pushing through this morning will be replaced by a cold front by mid-afternoon. in any event, highs should be hit around the lunch hour with widespread mid-50s likely. tonight into tomorrow, dry weather is anticipated with temperatures still well above normal. our storm system impact

tv-9's forrest saunders, thanks a lot forrest. you can now pay parking tickets in cedar rapids by helping people in need. until december 23rd, you can donate items like baby wipes, laundry soap, and blankets to benefit horizons, the willis dady shelter, and waypoint. each donated item has a price attached to it, and adding those items together can cover parking fines up to 100 dollars. for more information go to our website, kcrg dot com. if you're looking to fly to your holiday destination, you might have an added treat. a popular airline is debuting some unique on- flight snacks. flooding is making roads near seattle, washington -- with plan on a mild, breezy day out there with highs going well into the 50s. the warm front pushing through this morning will be replaced by a cold front by mid-afternoon. in any event, highs should be hit around the lunch hour with widespread mid-50s likely. tonight into tomorrow, dry weather is anticipated with temperatures still well above normal. our storm system is still on track to impact easte

"abc news" "washington post" poll clinton has support of nearly 60% of rej steered democrats and saunders trails clinton with 28 percentage point and former maryland mar tip ho o'maley exists in single dij sglits they'll meet at 8 tomorrow if a debate host bid "abc news" you can see it here on chapel 6. >>> retail chain target has a bulls eye on greater center city philadelphia. the company confirms to "action news" tonight it will takeover whole foods on 2800 block of pennsylvania avenue when that supermarket relocates to a larger space under constructio construction. this july target plans to on two other stores twelveth th and chestnut and 19 and chestnut. >> the new star wars movie is out 28 yours. light safeers beat magic wandz. they called in 57 million easily surfacing high barred of part one and part two the disney company says it's on pace for more than 100 million today which would beat single day record. "the force awakens" took the biggest december movie of all time beating "the hobb its"if less than 24 hours. next tarring net its sight best opening weekend currently held by j

. >> the mistake set off a count down in the operation center, dispatcher lee saunders got the first call. >> i looked up and for a split second i went blank, how is that train moving. >> a question there was no time to answer, saunders had to stop the run away train before it hit an on coming train. >> people's lives are at stake. >> he cut the power to the track, the train was slow to a stop. it did in time to avoid disaster. >> if there was a little chair in the room you realize, okay, that train is now stopped, you know, emergency is averted. >> reporter: now the union says vazquez has been cooperating and has a good record with the t, his lawyer did not comment after the hearing. live at the t operation center, lauren wbz lisa and i will am back to you. >> lauren, thank you. first hike in ten years. >>> we are going to have a closer look how this will impact your money. >>> plus a room with a view, the new way you can catch a game at fenway. >>> and we are continue to go following breaking news, philip chism convicted of first degree murder and aggravated rape of his high school

(sheriff kevin stukenholtz/ saunders county sheriff's dept.) they were attempting to turn the van around, they missed their turn, so they were turning around on 109, and a southbound passenger vehicle collided with them. jessica rae: unfortunately, a firefighter directing traffic in the area was struck by a car. thankfully his injuries were not life-threatening. jessica rae: have saved the home of a lawton family last night. when the home owner at 408 east maple street went to get the mail... she was greeted by a wall of smoke. a car in the family's garage was on fire. neighbors noticed the flames and came running with a garden hose and fire extinguishers. turns out their ndy work kept the fire from sprereing to the garara and 3- bedroom home. "quick thinking of the neighbors and the home owners to put a garden hose on it and a couple of fire extinguishers. they had it knocked down enough to when we got here, we still had some fire but it was easi to knock out and there was no damage to the house" says kory eyres, lawton fire chief. jessica rae

in cedar falls, forrest saunders, kcrg-tv9 news. chris martin says he and his family are expecting to move back in june once the renovations to the home are complete. several dozen senenrs in the iowa city area enjoyed a warm, holiday meal on christmas. elder services and the optimist club of coralville sved meals to people at the iowa city- jojoson county senior center. many of those who attended live in the ecumenical towers senior housing complex. the menu included many traditional holiday foods like ham, sweet potato casserole, spinach salad and fruit pie. "00:09:55 especially on holidays, we try to make it a home meal. even though you're not around your family, you feel like you can eat your sweet potatoes, your ham, your corn. it may not be recipes like at to get you good comfort food home meals." volunteers also delivered meals those who weren't able to m me the senior meal. two churches in cedar rapids also teamed up to provide meals to people on the holiday. saint mark's united methodt church and saint paul's united methodi

kcrg-tv9's forrest saunders joins us at the desk this morning. forrest, cedar rapids and linn health received the federal grant in the summer of 2013. that's right brady. but there are only seven months left before the city has to return any unused grant money. the grant aims to prevent childhood lead poisong. the city says a home is more likely to have lead-based paint if it was built before 1978, which is referred to as the "danger zone." so far, crews have only finished working on 20 homes. they have enough federal funding for to that within the next seven months. a cedar rapids couple come and baby only a few months old. 14:13:15 " it's not scary anymore now that they are going to be taking care of it and abating it. if we see any more chipping or anything like that we can call and the city will come take care that too." the money covers inspection costs, nd relocation assistance during repairs. the city says they do have some properties in the works right now. families who apply have to meet financial guidelines and need to have children in

kcrg-tv9's forrest saunders has been looking into what happened during this morning's flight. he joins us live this midday from the eastern iowa airport. forrest... it's been a long day for passengers on board 760. they expected to be here at the eastern iowa airport around 8:00 this morning. instead, they're waiting for a ride in chattanooga. tired travelers on the tarmac. that's what you see in these viewer photos after allegiant air 760 was forced to land about an hour and a half into the flight. passengers report they had to leave the plane with all their belongings and wait it out, stuck in chattanooga, tennessee. for some, it's been frustrating. "very. we've been gone for a week and i kept thinking, 'we're almost home, we're almost home'." passengers tami and her daughter mya were headed home to the montezuma area after a dance event in florida.while facetiming us from the chattanooga airport, tami little over a half hour into the flight. "we heard a crazy sound underneath us. it kind of sounded like when your tires come out for landing. we weren't anywhere near where we

kcrg-tv9's forrest saunders joins us at the desk this morning. forrest, cedar rapids and linn countntpublic health received the federal grant in the summer of 2013. months left before t`e city has to return any unused grant momoy. the grant ms to prevent childhood lead poisoning. the city says a home is more likely to have lead-based paint if it was built before 1978, which is referred to as the "danger zone." so far, crews have only finished working on 20 homes. they have enough federal funding for 125 homes, and sti hope to get to that within the next seven months. a cedar rapids couple is preparing for city crews to come and remove the lead paint with a baby only a few months old. 14:13:15 " it's not scary anymore now that they are going to be taking care of it and abating it. if we see any more chipping or anything like that we can call and the city will come take care of that too." the money covers inspection costs, improvement costs, healthy homes assessments, and relocation assistance during repairs. the city says they do have some propert

kcrg-tv9's forrest saunders joins me at the desk this morning. forrest, this program worked pretty well? forget the fine lived up to it's name. but if you really want to get a sense of how well it worked, look at this. what your looking at is a massive pile of blankets, kids clothes, hygiene products and a lot of other stuff. in all, more than 27- hundred dollars worth of donated stuff for people in need. all of that is equal to 237 forgiven tickets. here's how it worked. from november 23rd to december 23rd, if you had a parking ticket, you'd donate an equal amount of goods and the citation would disappear. for instance, a seven dollar ticket becomes seven dollars of help. organizers think they'll do it again next year. " i think so. i think that this was successful enough program. we also wanted to display our strong community partnerships. i think it's something that we will entertain again in the future. " the items donated went to three different nonprofits. the willis dady emergency shelter, waypoint and horizons, a family service. this isn'

tv-9's forrest saunders is live in the newsroom this morning. forrest, are school administrators seeing any sign of this letting up? not yet. ui officials say afafer talking with the state medical experts, they don't think this outbreak has peaked yet. that likely won't happen until sometime after christmas break. cases at the u u are the highest they've been since a large outbreak in 2006, when they reached a couple hundred. this year, to fight back, the school offered free vaccinations in november to those under 25. about 48-hundred students got a third measles, mumps and rubella shot at eight clinics spread out across campus. so far, u-i officials said the effort hasn't slowed instead, more and more are getting sick. " one of the basic concerns for a college student, it takes them out of commission for at least five days. the students that we are seeing a a actually pretty sick. some o othem are out for six or seven days. " ui officials expect case numbers will drop dramatically in the next few weeks. that's not because the outbreak has peake

tv-9's forrest saunders reports. this cellphone video shows what nate pierce and his fe woke up to, wedneneay morning. tough to see, but that's a car being yanked out of meyers lake. "heard the sirens and stuff like that. came outside. i didn't really know what was going on. come to find out there was a carr in the water."ththt convertible took a wild ride to get there. evansdale police said it all started here, the sometime before 3:00 a.m. an offer spotted the car, thought it looked suspicious and headed over to talk with the driver who seemed intoxicated. "they made contact. they had conversation. went to gehim out to do some sobriety tests and he decided he was leaving."and leaving fast. the chief says the 3 3 to 40 year old man took off doing 60 to 70 on 25 mile per hour residential streets. he decided to take his convertible off road, neararake avevend south evans roadad coming down this little dirt path, and into someone's lawn. "the car came down this way. it spun around and ended up going backwards, into the

kcrg-tv9's forrest saunders joins us live from the cedar rapids newsroom. forrest, toxic shock syndrome is rare. is that why providers sometimes see the symptoms and think it's something else? the symptoms are a lot like the flu. that's one of the reasons professor patrick schlievert says people think menstrual he estimates as many as 10,000 women get the illness each year. he says menstrual tss is caused by a strain of staph bacteria that a percentage of women have in their bodies. when those women have their period, the bacteria grows. schlievert says the bacteria will create a poison if it's absorbent tampons. the more absorbent, the more oxygen, the more poison. if left untreated, tss can be deadly. " what's happening, fluid is leaving the blood vessels. you don't pump blood, when you don't have blood in the blood vessels. then you start having organ shutdown. that is what leads to death." schlievert says that manufacturer s are making less absorbent products these days. tss severity has decreased over the years. but, prevalence is still a problem. he w

i don't want any other person to ever go tv9's forrest saunders with that story. kailee is doing much better. her hands and feet are peeling, which is a common side effect. she also has some memory loss from when she was sick. but doctors expect she'll make a full recovery. a lot of december rain could create a big problem later this winter. freezing temperatures mixed with high lake levels are a dangerous combination. and protestors shut down america's largest mall and part of a major airport. meteorologist kaj o'mara updates our temperatures coming up in your first alert forecast. the iowa hawkeyes are getting ready to smell the roses. the football team is about to take off to pasadena for the rose bowl. the presidential race, and g-o-p candidates are trying to put an end to gifts for the children! christmas just got a little brighter for kids spending the holidays in the hospital. you're watching kcrg-tv9. now, from your 24 hour news source, this is kcrg-tv9 news at midday. this midday, the iowa hawkeyes are about to leave for pasadena, california for the rose

tv-9's forrest saunders is live this morning at the salvation army. what is the group doing to help reach its goal? our give hope today holiday is $325,000. we have raised just under $270,000 leaving just about $55,000 to go. our campaign ends on january y , 2016 so we have just a month left to raise the needed. the funds raised in our holiday campaign account for over 60% of our annual budget. to assist with meeting our goal, and in the hopes of exceeding it, we are launching the big ten golden kettle club this wee the university of iowa a mmunity credit union started our 2015 campaign with a $10,000 gift and we are now looking for 9 other companies or private individuals to join the uicccc and become a aig ten golden kettle club member with a $10,000 gift. we will be recognizing these donors at our volunteer preciation/annual meeting in february with a special presentation and will continue to lift them up throughout 2016. we have teared down this program and will also be recognizing silver shield bronzu bell gifts beginning at $500. chris and nicol

tv-9's forrest saunders says the group is currently behind on its goal. seniors dahmie steel and brandie horton both have big dreams for the future.dahmie is leaning toward architecture or nursing, brandie law or journalism. both know iowa has some fine schools. but they also want to keep their out of state options on the table. dahmie's mother actually insists on it. "i'm very terrified of leaving my mom, but she definitely wants me to get out. i do want to get out for myself and see what the world has to offer me,"trouble is, checking out a bunch of country isn't cheap. that's where the iowa college tour comes in. "the primary purpose of iowa college tour is give students of color, primarily from cedar rapids, iowa city area the opportunity to visit, tour and experience colleges all around the country."this will be the third year the program has operated. it gives groups of at least 30 area seniors a trip to about ten schools in a week during spring. this year, the kids are heading south touring places like florida state, albany state or north carolina

tv-9's forrest saunders is live at linn county public health this morning. forrest, i hear you're going to show us how easy it is to get the vaccine? that's right, nicole. according to the cdc this year's vaccine is expected to be around 60 percent effective, up from around 20 percent last year. "flu season" in the united states can begin as early as october and last as late as may. during this time, flu viruses are circulating at higher levels in the u.s. population. an annual seasonal flu vaccine is the best way to reduce the chances that you will get seasonal flu and spread it to others. when flu, less flu can spread through that community.flu vaccination should begin soon after vaccine becomes available, if possible by october. however, as long as flu viruses are circulating, vaccination should continue to be offered throughout the flu season, even in january or later. while seasonal influenza outbreaks can happen as early as october, during most seasons influenza activity peaks in january or later. since it takes about two weeks after vaccination for an

tv9's forrest saunders joins us from the newly- forrest, these are the first changes to greene square in more than 30 years... nicole, back to you. a dubuque man faces drug chargesesfter he reported an attempted burglary at his home. police say 21-year-old austin lovett called them friday night to his home in the 700 block of university avenue, saying someone had tried to break in. while officers were searching for a suspect inside, they saw marijuanstems and seeds and drug. officers later arrested lovett on a charge of possessing a controlled substance. a worthington man went to the hospital sunday after his handgun went off, while he e s checking traps. it happened around 9 o'clock yesterday morning about four miles north of hopkinton. authorities say 51-year- old carey ahlers junior was & trying to load his handgun when it went off and a bullet struck him in the leg. first responders took him to a nearby hospital. he is expected to be ok. the waterlwo school district may talk about finalizizg a formal bond issusu today for a vote in february. the waterloo- cedar falls courier repor