Rain is tracking into the area this morning and will stick around all day and we may even have some thunderstorms track through. We also still have some areas of fog in the north. Temperatures just continued to go up overnight, so we are now in the mid 30s to the mid 40s with the winds turning more to e east, althougg they will by tonight. But today will be hear some thunder. Highs will a couple of other systems bring our top tory this morning. Were learning more about six during a suicide bomb attack. One has ties to eastern iowa. 45yearold jospeh lemm grew up in buque couny. Detective lemm was with the nypd for 15 years serving in the bronx warrant squad. Andrew spencer introduces us to the other victims. Staff Sergeant Peter taub, the father of a joel taub father of staff sgt. His father spoke to him via skype a few weeks ago but didnt even know where he was. joel taub father of staff was in he says his son didnt sgt. Peter taub he seemed to be in pretty good spirits. I think he was a little melancholy, because he wasnt home for the holidays and missing his family. Taub and five other american soldiers died in a suicide bombing outside the Bagram Air Base in adrianna vorderbruggen, who fought fooyears against the militarys old dontsk, dont tell policy. She leaves behind a wife and a son. The family of Staff SergeantLouis Bonacasa says he called him his hero. Staff sgt. Louis bonacasa it was always a blessing to have him in my life. Vinny Bonacasa brother of staff sgt. Louis bonacasa he was cut from a different cloth. Family. He loved his country. He died doing what he wanted to included Staff Sergeant chester mcbride, a former High School Athlete from a small town in georgia. Steve Pennington stafffsgt. Compassion for others and he wanted to do well. And a detective with the nypd, National GuardTech Sergeant joseph lemm, who leaves behind a wife and two children. Andrew spencer, kwwl news. The sixth victim of the attack was Staff Sergeant michael cinco. He was from a small town in texas. Accused Colorado Planned Parenthood shooter robert dear is in court today. He faces more than one hundred felony charges related to the shooting and stand off the day three people were killed, including a police e ficer. In a Previous Court appearance dear admitted his guilt. Saying he was a warrior for the babies. Army Sergeant Bowe bergdahl rejects a plea deal. Hes charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy after his disappearrance in afghanistan in 2009. Bergdahl walked off a base and was held by the taliban for five years before being released in 2014 in exchange for five detaineessin guantanamo bay. This was his first appearance in front of a military judge. If convicted he could face life in prison. Decision 2016 coverage Hillary Clinton stopping by an Area High School. All thanks to the efforts of a few students. 3 High School Students asked clinton durin previous iowa visits to come to their school as part of a sociology class project. They started writing letters asking multiple candidates to speak at their school. But after having the opportunity to ask clinton in person. She said yes. They were at another eventnt really coming. When we started this project, would imporve our community, state and nation, so we wanted president ial candidates to coem to our town and talk about their plans for doing so. So we all wrote to different candidates. Republicans. Clinton is the first ndidate to respond to the three students. The girls say one of theeest was the support from their town. Even from registered republicans. An eastern iowa man is being featured on a popular huuting show wiih his wife. Early five years after a treestand accident puts him in a wheelchair. Kwwls Olivia Mancino tells us how he still manages to pursue his passion despite the circumstances. Do you want scrambled eggg its up to you. You make them for me meet aaron and maelyn special kind of honey moon. Aaron is a member of local union 838 and is also an avid outdoorsmen and his wife maelyn were selected to be on hunting black bears in new mexico. It was all new and it was super exciting, ive never done anything but8hunt in iowa it was five years ago. Heying took maelyn on a hunting trip in iowa. Weweboth went huuing together, and it was actually my first time up in a tree stand aaron gave eaelyn his only safety harness. Aftftr being in he tree stand for hours, he fell. The fall damaged his spinal cord. And docts only gave him a three percent chance of ever did. Fast forward five years and theyre married. Spending their honey moon in the woods of new mexico. The hosts of the shoo, they actually carried me on their just as much asasthey do physically, hunting is a more challenging task nowadays. But aaron says his can. And maelyn will continue to be right by his side. If youd like to catch the two on brotherhood outdoors, their show will premiere on january third on the sportsman channel. If youre looking to buy a home, the new year may brg new opportunities. Potential home buyers can expect credit standards to eaae rather than tighten in the near future. According to fannie mae, more lenders are easing standards. That could help`affordability in the housing market. Which has been suffering under both tight credit and a tight supply of homes for sale. The demand for craft beer has production. Production totated nearlz 79 Million Pounds this year. An eleven percent increase compared d last year. Washington state produced more than 59 Million Pounds, followed by oregon and idaho. Those three states produce about a third of the world supply. A happy, kwwl holiday follow up to tell you about this morning. Liam yung is able to spend the holidays a ahome. This was a story we first told you about on today in iowa. Liam was taken to the hospital in october with what was thought to be the flu. But his condition has gotten worse, and hes now lost his fingers and toes. But that hasnt seemed to slow him down. Kwwls brad hanson show us how christmas came early for liams family. Nats what do you wanna watch . Boof boof . Yeah its a beautiful sight for taken to the hospital a few his condition was a mysteryhis future, uncertain. chris young, liams father we didnt know if he was going things are going really well home for the holidays, they yet another unexpected twistbut this one, so much better than the last. Its one of the greatest things ever. I mean, its almost just as good as they day he was born, if not better. Its awesome. And although the gifts next to his ipadthe support is not going today alone he got a couple oft packages in the mail, some from green bay, lacrosse area. People that we dont even know, have never even met, and theyre sending him gifts and cards and its awesome knowing that theres people out there that will do as for liamssuturechris says its ssll too early to tell. Hes scheduled to go back to the hospital on the 28th, and has another surgery on the 29th. If youd like to learn how you can support liam and his family this at kwwl dot com. Its coming up on today in iowa. Strong wind gusts toppled big rigs and forced roadssto close in one part of the country. Plus. A home on the lake is sliding toward the water and no that can be done to stop it. Rain continues to track into the snow iithe forecast. Ill have the details coming up. Youre watching kwwl, weve got you covered with jerry gallagher, ally crutcher and meteorologist eileen loan. This is today in iowa. Nn your storm track 7 forecast on kwwl. From the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team. See the screen fo your from the kwwl stormtrack weatatr team rain will track through today and we may hear thunder. Snow will mix in tonight and may linger into thursday before drying out for christmas day. Rain is tracking through on stormtrack7 live Doppler Radar have some raishowing up on some of our stormtrack7 Live Weather Network cameras already. And it is mild. Temps are in the mid 30s to mid 40s already this mornng actually, we have been climbing since yesterday morning with low 30s to the northwest. Easterly winds will turn more to the west today, but until then we will have lenty of moisture streaming in as low pressure tracks northeastward. This is pulling a lot of moisture into the area and we will keep the chances of rain all day and could hear thunder. Snow could mix in this evening and into the overright with a few snow thursday. We wont see much snow accumulation, but we could end up with quite a bit of rain. Most of us with half inch to one ch amounts and could see more, especially if you get under a couple of heavy rain producers and or hear thunder. Rain willcontinue today with highs in the mid 40s to mid 50s as the winds turn to the west. Breezy conditions tonight with light rain and snow showers tracking through. Lows dropping into the mid 2020 to low 30s could cause wet surfaces to freeze and become slippery for travelers. While not as warm, it will still be mild for thursday with a few snow showers tracking through. Christmas day will be mainly dry and mild with highs in the low 40s. The next system tracks in friday night and saturday with rain and snow and the third will sunday night into monday with a lot of wind. We could see rain, snow or a mix, but it will depend on the track of the low. Parts of the country dealing with strong winds. This is the scene in lifornia winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour. Ripping up roofs and knocking over semis. No injuries were reported. The weather is expected to clear up by christmas day. Geologists and engineers are trying to figure out how to stop this house from sliding into a lake. The family wasnt there when the ssding. The ly one in the neighborhood that appears to be dropping into the water. To stop the house from sliding, but were going to make sure that no one else goes into the house. As of yesterday, the home had moved about 32inches from its garage wall. Its coming up on today in iowa. From Mass Shootings to deflategate. Well take a look at some of tt top stories of the year. Plus. People in one part of the country saw this. A bright streak shooting across the night sky. And when you see news or if you have pictures or video to share. You can do that by going to our page on facebook. You can also like our page to stay up to date on breaking news [cough, cough]mike . Janet . Ugh if you can hear me. Dont even think about it. I took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. Yeah. But what about mike . He has that dry scratchy thing going on. Guess what . It works on his cough too. Cough guess what . It works on his cough too. What . Stop dont pupu me she doesnt make it only mucinex dm relieves bothwet and dry coughs for 12 hours with two medicines in one pillll start the relief. Ditch the misery. Lets end this. Ok, were here. Heres dad. Mom. The twins. Aunt alice. You didnt tell me aunt alice was coming. Of course. Dont forget grandpa. Can the test drive be over now . Maybe just head dack to the dealership . Dont you want to meet my family . Yep, totally. Its practically yours, but we still need your signature. The volkswagen sign then drive event. Zeroroue at signing, zero d dn, zero deposit, and zero first months payment on a new jetta of the bigger stories this morning. Funeral services are set for an iowa wrestler who collapsed during a meet over the weekendd 18yearold Austin Roberts was a senior at spencer high school. Visitation is sunday and his funeral will be monday, both at spencr high school gym. A woman who police say deliberately drove her car onto las vegas sidewalks is scheduled to appear in court. Police say Lakeisha Holloway intentionally hit 37 people with her car killing one person and injuring dozens. Police charged hewith one count of murder and child abuse. Marriage licenses in kentucky will no longer show the names of county clerks. The governor changed the states marriage license form, saying he wants to honor religious beliefs. This comes after county davis became a National Headline in september for refusing to issue licenses to same sex couples. More Mass Shootings. And more scandal. 2015 seems like a year of history repeating. Mary moloney looks at the National Stories that made headlines this year. This was a tragically recurring scene during 2015. Then a mass shooting at a Health Center in San Bernardino that to a College Campus in bernardino ttt Authorities SayAuthorities Say may have been president obama the threat from terrorism is real. But we journalists were killed when a gunman opened fire during their live report. And in charleston a shooting at a black church the palmetto statee voted to remove the flag from the State Capitol for the first time in 54 years. Racial tensions were not confined to charleston with black lives matter rallies happening in cities across the country protesters were outraged by the Police Killings of unarmed black men like june saw two historic of the united states. In a 63 split the court saved the Affordable Care act. A divided court also ruled that samesex couples can marry nationwide. nats while many cheered the 54 ruling some sharply disagreed. In a small Kentucky Town a clerk of the court sat behind bars for preventing her office from issuing marriage licenses. Kim davis made headlines again when she publicly announced shed had a private meeting with pope francis during his visit to the the holy father made stops in philadelphia, new york, america. A report from congress profits ahead of safety. Takata disputed the reports conclusion saying it had a number of iccuracies but the compays faulty aibags and new england rocked the sports world in flated balls o win a playoff game tom brady quarterback i feel like ive always played within the rules. meanwhile former marrthon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and aurora theater shooter james holmes were convicted in highly publicized trials. As they faced justice 2 the prison escape led to a weeks long manhunt that ended moloney reporting. Coming up tomorrow a look at some of the top political stories of the year. Upstate new york. Publicized trials. Publicized trials. As they faced justice 2 to a weeks long manhunt that ended with one inmate dead and annther back behind bars. Im mary moloney reporting. Coming up tomorrow a look at some of the top political stories of the year. Meteor from space . This streak in the sky caughh the attention of many people streak across s he night skyy the objee could be seen from as far away as bakersfield, california. Airport officials commented on the sighting saying it was too high up to type of aircraft. An official from a local planetarium said the object is either a meteor or a satellite re entering the earths atmosphere. Storm track seven meteorologist ileen loan is back with nother check offyour storm track seven forecast. Rain is likely today with some mixes with then changes to snow before tapering off on thursday. Highs will be in the mid 40s to although we stay mild inno the weekend. We have a Second System friday night into saturday with rain and snow with combination of both depending on the track of the low. Its coming up on today in iowa. An executive order is issued in one state so county clerks dont have to put their name on marriage licenses. A truck carrying mooe than 2 housand piglets overturns sending hundreds of pigs into the interstate. Those stories and more in our next Funeral Services are set for an iowa wrestler who collapsed over the weekend. Plus. A skier is nearly hit by a falling drre as he was kiing down the hill. And an eastern iowa girl saves her money for more than a year so she can buy gifts for veterans this liday season. That story coming up. Good morning, im ally crutcher. Jerry has the day off. Storm track seven meteorologist eileen loan is here forecast. Rain is tracking into the area this morning aad will stick around all day and we may even have some thunderstorms track through. We also still have some areas of fog in the north. Temperatures just continued to go up overnigigt, so we are now in the mid 30s to the mid 40s with the winds turning more to the east, although they will eventually turn to the west. Rain will continue to track through and then snow will mix by tonight. But today will be liquid with about an inch in some aras, our top story this morning. Ts one of the busiest travel times of the year. But this year its busier than ever before. According to trip advisor. 33 percent of people will traveling for the christmas holiday. And 56 perrnt of those traraeling plan on driviig. Kwwls Amanda Gilbert has more be this holiday season. We have not been seeing a lot of this snow . The corner its a nice sight to see. Yeah the kids will be coming home. Last t ear i had to get through snow to get to them. I does make a difference not having to worry about the snow with them traveling distance because we got some from colorado. According to trip advisor. 41 percent of people say december holidays are the most stressfull. And te moss stressfull part of holidd travel the weather. But not this year. I dont care whether we have a been hard to get in the christmas. As they said on the news earlier. Mud butts this winter. Instead of snow boots. Becuase its gonna be rainy and stuff. Some tips to make your Holiday Travel less stressful. Travel during off peak hours and load your winter. Insteadof snow boott. Some tips to make your Holiday Travel less stressful. Travel during off peak hours and load your Favorite Music onnto your smaat phone or tablet. Meantime the Cedar Falls City Council has approved plans for three roundabouts along universty avenue. The details on the first phase of the plan were approved 6 to one. The phase also approves replacements for some storm and sanitary sewers. Some people say roundabouts are t the answer for university avenue. But others from the cedar lls city council disaaee. Itno longer a state highway traffic doesnt support having according to the existing traffic and anticipated traffic in the coming years so i think weve got the right de3ign. The estimated cost on 14. 5 million dollars. They hope to begin construction by nenet spring. Morning. Neral services are set for an iowa wrestler who collapsed during a meet over the weekend. 18yearold Austin Roberts was a senior at spencer high school. Visitation is sunday and his the spencer high schoolym. An body. Resslts are pending further investigation. A woman who police say deliberately drove her car onto las vegas sidewalks is scheduled to appear in court. Police say Lakeisha Holloway intentionally hit 37 people with her car killing one person and injuring dozens. Police charged her with one count of murder and child abuse. Her three year old son was in the car with her at the time of today, leaders of the group black lives matter are planning to protest inside the mall of america. Mall officials had asked a judge to ban the group from holding a but the motion was struck down. The judge did stress mall of did have the right to impose authority over people inside the mall. Mall Officials Say theyre pleased with the courts ruling and hope protesters follow the law. This ruling is a very clear message to not only the three law and there will be consequences if you come and break the law any protesters detained today trespassing. A truck on its way to iowa carrying more than twothousand piglets overturns on the highway. Take a look at the truck on its side in North Carolina. Animal control officers working to contain the piglets as crews put the truck back up right. Authorities say some of the pigs were seriously injured in the crash. Marriagaglicenses in entucky will no longer show the names of county clerks. The governor changed the states marriage license form, saying he wants to honor religious beliefs. Kim davis became a national refusing to issue licenses to same sex couples. Decision 2016 coverage this morning. Weee hearing from Hillary Clinton. After donald trump called her a liar. Trump blames the media. Still, his numbers are strong. But if he falls, ted cruz is waiting in the wings. Trtrie potts has the latest om washington. Its important to stand up to after Donald Trumps crude and president ial bid. This morning, trumps tweeting that the biased media incorrectly defined his words. But clintons not the only one targeting him it is so easy for billionaire cowards like trump to pick on poor people. Polls are mixed. A with triple the support of number two ben some people have expressed cococern that i w wuld quite because my numbers have gone down, im not a quitter. But quinnipiac puts him just four points ahead of ted cruz. People are waking up there is an awakening and spirit of revival sweeping this country. That quinnipiac poll found half the country would be six in ten republicans say they may not stick with the candidate theyre currently supporting. Washington. Trump tweeted overnight the medias blowing this out of proportion. At a rally last night, hillary coming from the republican side meanspirited. And on the ggp side, marco rubio says his age doesnt mean hes not prepared to face down Foreign Policy challengers. Like Vladimir Putin. Rubio called the russian president a thug and gangster during a New Hampshire town hall. He took an donald trump by saying he wouldnt like it if putin threw praises his own way. Senator rubio says hell ring coldeyed reality to us Foreign Policy. Know who Vladimir Putin is what hes all about. Ive called dont think hes offended by that by the way. After being criticized in recent weeks for keeping a relatively Light Campaign schedule, rubio has been holding multiple events, and taking more questions, in both iowa and new hehe nearly hit by a drooe falling out of the sky. You can see the four time defending World Champion skiing down the mountain a drone comes flying out of skier by a matter of seconds. He says he was so focused on his run he didnt even find out about the crash until he made it all the way down the hill. Two complete replicas of the famous Wright Brothers flyer are about to be packed up and sent their first flight took place in North Carolina back in 1903. The Wright Brothers even spent the planes being built now are full scale models and technically could fly. A civil rights activist in dubuque will now beemembered, thanks to the dubuque city council. The Council Voted to rename the Multicultural Family center to the ruby sutton building. Sutton was an instrumental figure in dubuque during the civil rights movement. She died earlier this year. Rubys daughter lynn says its a big honor. That her memory will always more. But its just a symbol of quiet about what she did, but she still got the job done. The building will officially be renamed early next year during a dedication ceremony. Iowas population is growing but is still behind the national rate. New estimates show iowas population grew poii five percent t tis year. The National Population grew point eight percent. Iowa is still 30th in population among the states. A seat in congress because the states population grew more slowly than other states. A 7yearold saved all of her allowance money for more than a year to buy gifts for veterans how she wanted to show them theyre appreciated. A small girl, with a big cg jonathan and you know picking up leaves outside. Doing chores for allowance money, not to spend on herself, but for those who serve our country isabel gathered one hundred handsoaps, that play patriotic songs. nats of music gifts she hopes bring joy to veterans this holiday Rogers Isabel plans to take the gifts from cedar rapids to the love, isabel to show her appreciation. cg Isabel Westercamp they protect our service and they sacrifice for our freedom. Her love written on one card at a time and attached to soap, in hopes of brightening the day of many wwo have served. So far isabel has delivered 25 1hundred gifts. Isabels father tells us two of her great grandfathers and her great grandma served in world war two. Now to a story weve been following this holiday season. Check out what got donated to the Salvation Army of waterloo cedar falls. Seven gold liberty coins, a silver double eagle, and a coin from mexico minted in 1944. Its coming up on today in iowa. This is a scene rigigt out of looney tunes. To rob a store. Plus. Teenage parents get a visit from santa claus who gives kids a christmas to remember. Rain continuus to track into the kwwl viewing area. While we will mainly have rain today, there is snow in the forecast. Ill have the details coming p. Youre watching kwwl, weve got you covered with now your storm track 7 forecast on kwwl. From the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather weather information. Praised as one of americas best mayors who governed as a pragmatist. Bernie sanders passed more amendments in a Republican Congress cracked the gridlock with john mccain to strengthen veterans healthcare. Bernie sanders. A consistent, principled, and effective leader. Building a future to believe in. From the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team rain will track through today and we may hear thunder. Snow will mix in tonight and may drying out for through on stormtrack7 live Doppler Radar and we have some rain showing up on stormtrack7 Live Weather Network cameras already. And it is mild. Temps are in the mid 30s to mid 40s already this morning actually, we have been climbing since yesterday morning with low 30s to the the west today, but until then we will have plenty of moisture streaming as low pressure tracks northeastward. This is pulling a lot of moisture into the area and we will keep the chances of rain all day and could hear could mix in this evening and into the overnighthtwith a few snow showers into thursday. We wont see much snow accumulation, but we could end up with quite a bit of rain. Escially if you get under a mid 40s to mid 50s as the wiids turn to the west. Breezy become slippery for travelers. Christmas day will be mainly dry its coming up on today in iowa. A coyote walks into an airportt. Thii isnt the setup of a bad joke, but rather a real occurrence at an International Airport this week. Plus. A sixyear old has she wont forget. A surprise from her father. Youre watching kwwl. Weve got you covered in alta vista, frederika, martelle, and all of eastern iowa. [cough, cough] mike . Janet . Cough if you can hear me. Dont even think about it. I took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. Yeah. But what about mike . He has that dry scratchy thing going on. Guess what . It works on his cough too. Cough gueswhat . It works on his cough too. What . Stop nt pull me spoiler alert she doesnt make it only mucinex dm relieves bothwet and dry coughs for 12 hours with two medicines in one pill. Start the relief. Ditch the misese. Carolina airport. Check this out. Security cameras captured footage of the animal running around by the security checkpoints for passengers. The tsa says the coyote entered the terminal through the baggage area no one came in contact with the animal and no one was injured. Security officers subdued the animal with a taser. A thief in russia was easily busted by police after hanging around the crime scene for too long. The man tried to get into the shop through a hole in the roof but got stuck. Police officers arrived at the scene after an alarm went off and found a pair of legs dangling to not hang around. Mcdonalds may soon be adding a new menu item that both kids and adults are sure to love. Its macaroni and cheese. The fast food chain is trying out the popular comfort food at some locations in ohio. According to mcdonalds, its made with real cheese. Mcdonalds has been trying out several new menu items in recent months, as a way to boost sales. Some Holiday Christmas lights to show shot on a drone here in eastern iowa. Its the heheping services for northeast iowa drive through lights display in decorah. The display benefits helping services for northeast iowa. It provides a number of programs and services for clients in the area. You may recall a michigan mayor challenged iowa citys mayor to a friendly wager. The loser of the iowamichigan state Football Game would have to fly the opposing teams flag at city hall for 24 hours. Since the hawkeyes unfortunately lost to the spartans, the city hall in iowa city paid their dues by flying the spartans flag. The bet, theyll make up for ii by cheering extra loud for the hawkeyes when they play stanford in the rose bowl. Santa claus made an early stop to deliver some much needed gifts. Those presents going to an Area High School where the students are also moms and dads. Teen parents from the Alternative Learning Center received much needed gifts from santa. The center is a High School Program thats part of the Dubuque Community school district. The teen parents got gifts such as diapers, clothes and educational toys for their children. Despite the challenges of being a teen parent theyre motivated to stay in school. If i can show her that i can gifts were given to nineteen students children. The long wait to see her father ended for an iowa kindergartener. During a School Assembly the little girl helped sing about what they were thankful for. And when the military came up. A surprise was waiting. We celebrate out military. We all celebrate yeah all celebrate being a surprise in the classroom to the whole school. Its youre watching today in iowa on happy holidays from space check this out astronauts aboard the International Space station are wishing everyone down below on christmas is traditionally a time for friends and families to earth sixteen times on christmas day, and sending all our good wishes to everybody back down on beautiful planet after finishing their holiday greeting, the astronauts rolled into a somersault, showing what its like to spend the holidays in zero gravity space. Eileen loan is back with another check of your storm track seven forecast. Rain is likely today with some thunder. Most seeing half to an inch of rain, may get half an inch of snow tonight as rain mixes with then changes to snow before tapering off on thursday. Highs will be in the mid 40s to mid 50s today with cooler temps tomorrow, although we stay mild into the both depending on the track of the low. Were taking a live look at a giraffecam. You heard that right. This is autumn, an 8yearold giraffe relaxing inside her barn in greenville, south carolina. Iowa coming up right here on