Winter weather advisory for knox, cedar, aelope, pierce, holt, clay sd , yankton, and lincoln counties this morning rain mixing with some snow and perhaps some sleet is moving across the viewing area this morning, so be sure to plan for a longer morning commute in anticipation of slick if not snowcovered roads and low visibilities. It will be east of the viewing area by arrund on today leleving us with indy anan cold weather with quite a few clouds overhead. See graphics. Wx timer 40 sioux city is trying to make it easier to navigate rail traffic through town. Last week we told you about a proposed plan to build a viaduct over it would begin at floyd boulevard and end east of the intersection of 18th street and steuben street. Once the viaduct is completed, the existing crossing would permanently close. The 11th street crossing would could also be closed, which is causing controversy among Business Owners. Ktivs tommie clark visited those owners and has more on how the proposed project would affect them. Train honking. The Business Owners say theyve been told the city might also look into closing 28th street instead of 11th street at the crossing. Sioux city officials will consider lowering fines for drivers ught speeding by Traffic Cameras posted on i29. On monday, the city council will discuss whether to reduce the fine from 168 dollars to 100. The assistant City Attorney says the fine applies to drivers caught going 11 to 15 mph over the posted speed limit. The proposal applies only to speed cameras along i29 and not the citys redlight cameras posted around town. No injuries were reported when n crashed into a house in spirit lake, iowa. The Dickinson CountySheriffs Office says 23yearold Jamie Leckband was driving when she failed to stop at a stop sign. The vehicle kept going and collided with a house. No one was home at the time. Leckband was charged with operating while intoxicated. Is is her third offense. The federaraaviation administration is investigating after a small plane landed on the roof of a south georgia home. Two people were onboard the plane when it landed tuesday morning. Neither one was hurt. The plane had taken off from jajasonvilles airport and was headed for Hilton Head International airport in georgia when it apparently started have difficulties. Investigators have not said what brought the plane down. Weather is to blame for a deadly crash in northwest iowa. It happened yesterday morning at about 7 15 one mile east of sibley. The Osceola CountySheriffs Office says 33yearold patrick webb from sibley was killed. Investigators say webb lost control of his pickup on an icy overpass on highway 60. Of a semi driven by y ward wood of north sioux city, south dakota. Wood was not hurt. The dixon county Sheriffs Office is investigating a house explosion in northeast nebraska. It happened late monday night in the community of newcastle. The homeowner samuel livingsten was able to escape without getting hurt. Ththincident is under investigation by the nebraska fire marshall. Federal educution Officials Say iowa and nebraska have the Top High SchoolGraduation Rates in the country. Iowa ranked frist among all states with a Graduation Rate of ninety point five percent for the 2013 to 2014 school year. Nebraska came in second with eightynine point seven percent for the same period. The national High School Graduation rate is eighty two point three percent, which is up from the previous year. The Education Department says the National Rate is at the highest level since states adopted a uniform way of calculating their data five years ago. A former massachusett S High School student charged with guilty of rape and murder. Philip chism was 14years old when he raped, robbed and murdered 24yeyeold Colleen Ritzer in 2013. The defense argued chism was not guilty because he suffered from severe psychological issues. Prosecutors proved that chism was in full control of himself duriri the time of the crcres. Chism could be sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 15 to 25 years on the murder charge. He could also be sentenced to life for the aggravated rape and robbery charges with parole eligibility in 15 years. The sentencing date has not ben set. Federal authorities in los angeles have determined that a threat against Los Angeles County schools tuesday was not credible. The threat prompted School Officials to close nearly 12hundred schools as a precaution. A similar threat was received in new york city, buauthorities there concluded it to be a hoax. Los angeles mayor, Eric Garcetti announced last night that the threat was not credible, but that people some have used words that i think are probably inappropriate like hoax and other things. Whether its criminal mischief or its somebody testing vulnerabilities of multiple cities, we still do not know enough to say definitively, said los angeles mayor, Eric Garcetti. Schools in los angeles will be open again today. The Obama Administration will announce changes to the terror alert system today. Earlier this week Homeland Security secretary jeh johnson said the new alert system would better inform the public about threats to the United States. To help brighten t t holidays for local kids, one anonymous siouxland donor went above and beyond. Oh yeah last week, a donor surprised each girl at girls inc of sioux city with a bike. More than 115 bikes, along with helmets and locks were given away. Yesterday, it was the boys turn for a holiday surprise. 225 bikes were donated by the same anonymous about 75 thousand dollars. Unlike other donations the boys club has received in the past, this donation is special. This was a really interesting donation because it was completely unsolicited, said boys club of sioux citys chief professional officer eldon benson. Someone called us and they had decided that this is something that they wanted to do for the kids of sioux city. A lot of our kids come from lowincome families, so to be able to have this kind of Christmas Gift item for them is something thats really special. To go with their new wheels, each kid also received a bike lock and a voucher for a helmet. Christmas trees are everywhere right now. Straight ahead, well show you how one company has become the top seller of the holiday item. Forecast next few clouds overhead. The wind will continue to be brisk both tonight and tomorrow as a few peeks of sun return, but a brighter day will be had on friday as temperatures remain near 30 degrees. Well be much closer to 40 over the weekend with some decent sunshine before clouds return, buttild weatherr sticks around early next week. In the meantime, safe travels th morning see graphics. Its time to deck the halls and get in the holiday spirit that includes picking out the perfect tree. Courtney reagan takes a look at how one retailer has made a market in Christmas Trees and become the number one seller of the christmas staple along the way. Ones. And more are bought at chain retailers like home depot and lowes, than anywhere else. sot freddy lang, home depot live goods merchant were the number 1 seller of Christmas Trees in the country last year we sold about 2 point 8 Million Trees, which is a lot of trees and we expect to surpass 3 Million Trees this year reporter stand up Courtney Reagan it takes just 2 days or less between the time that trees are harvested here in the blue Ridge Mountains at sextov farms before theyre ailable at Home Depot Stores between North Carolina and florida. And live Christmas Trees are just part of home depots quest to capitalize on all things festive. In the past decade, its holiday merchandise assortment has grown fivefold to more than 45hundred products. And while home depots big season is the spring, holiday merchandise is critical to success in the fourth quarter. sot kelie charles, Home Depot Holiday merchant . In 2014 for example we outpaced the companys fourth qtr comps we can move the needle for the entire company in terms of sales and profit a holiday wish home depot is that was Courtney Reagan en we come back. Her story made national news. One special new york 8 Year Old Girl asked for christmas cards this year. But what she got was something even better. Stay tuned. Its a dream come true for an 8yearold new york girl. After being badly burned and losing her family in a house fire, the young lady is getting a special present. Jessica layton has the story. About to be fulfilled. Safyre terry was overjoyed to see her best friend zach. Then stunned when he and the folks from baking memories for kids gave her the news. Its the latest grant gesture that started out with safyres sisile request for christmas cards. She wanted a little comfort on the heals of terrible years. Safyre survived a suspected arson that killed her father, sister and two brothers. Leaving her with burns on three quarters of her body since safyres wish went viral, shes received nearlyly00thousand cards frfr arouou the world and more e an 4 thousand packages. And nowow the trip of a lifetime. Overcome with emotion, safyres aunt liz dolder has kept the trip a secret for months. Shell never forget the day she got the news. It was just what she needed, during one safyres worst days in the hospital. And the number of friends who showed up for the announcement monday was overwhelming. s Jessica Layton reporting1 221 36 the family yard was set up for a birthday party. They are celebrating safyres twin cousins 8th birthdhd today. So time and for the first time in a long time this family finally has something to look forward to. s liz dolder safyres aunt1 371 44 finally go and just have fun. Just have fun, oh my god. Just for a whole week. I can relax. She may want to relax. But this little girl is on the go. And t tres one person safyre cant wait to see cinderella after so much trauma, so much pain princess safyre may get weve seen a lot of rain the last few days. And its turning to snow in some parts of siouxland. What can we expect for totoys forecast . Bens in next to tell us. And a happy reunion for a family who thought theyd never see stickck around earlylynext week. In the meantime, safe travels the happy reunion between a family and service dog is all caught on camera. The nbc affiliate inin lexington, kentucky was s interviewing jason and Carolyn Cooper about their lost dog, radar. Minutes later, as the cameras were rolling, the coopers prayers were answered. Reporter patrick price has the story. Reunited after almost four days apart. Natsts i got him. S jason cooper radar s owner 43 46 oh my god. I never expected to see him. Nats hi buddy crying in tears, the coopers were whole again as a family. S jason cooper radar s owner 50 57 i had hope, but i was afraid. This is the m mt amazing thing. I just cant b bieve it. S Carolyn Cooper radar s owner 581 02 i guess somebody had the right place in their heart and put him back over there. But this dog isnt just a service dog or a family pet. Radar was a lifeline for madeline and her sister sophia both suffering from a terminal genetic disorder. S jason cooper radar s owner 1 121 15 watching over our daughters. Watching over madeline before she passed away. Then they moved to kentucky to start a new life after their two daughterpassed away. Radar was the only physical memory left. S Carolyn Cooper radar s owner 1 231 27 hes one of the only souls who has the same memories and experiences we do. Just in time for radars yearly Christmas Tree ornament and his own presents under the tree. He says this evening, im home its. More news and weather for you on news4 today after the break. First though. Heres a look at some of the events on the welcome back and thanks for joining us this morning. Coming up. The republican president ial candidates squared off in their final debate of the year. The showdown was focused on National Security with plenty of clashes among the gop rivals fighting to upstage donald trump. The latest from washington. And former vermont governor howard dean made a stop in sioux city yesterday. Hes endorsing Hillary Clinton. Well take you there in a minute. And traveling during the holidays can be stressful for everyone. But its even harder for the elderly. Well show you some for them. But first ben. Anticipation of slick if not snowcovered roads and low visibilities. It will be east of the viewing area by around noon today leaving us with windy and cold weather with quite a few clouds overhead. See graphics. This morning were tracking reaction to last nights republican president ial debate. If you missed it or didnt stay up late to watch the end you may have missed the News Donald Trump party, no matter what. Tracie potts is in washington with reaction this morning. This country illegally now . sot rand paul r president ial candidate 49 54 hes the weakest of all the candidates on immigration. Hes te one for an open border leaving us defenseless. sot Carly Fiorina r president ial candidate 55 57 this is why the nation is fed up with the political class. sot Chris Christie r president ial candidate 58 1 02 if your eyes are glazed overr like mine this is what its like to be on the floor of the s. Senate. Islam, isis and terror were the most discussed topics on facebook during the debate. sot john kasich r president ial candidate 1 071 14 we need to have a coalition that will stand for nothing less than the total destruction of isis. This morning, kasich heads to iowa the caucuses, now just 46 days away. Interesting the candidate who got the most twitter followers during the debate . Bernie sanders a democrat. Im tracie potts in wassington, now back to you. Former vermont governor howard dean campaigned for Hillary Clinton in sioux city on tuesday. At a private house party, dean gave supporters two main reasons to vote for clinton, her Decision Making skills and her experience. First, is she makes decision based on facac, not based on political reason or emotional reason and that is really important because when you are president , you better care what the facts are and the second is she has been in the fight for working people, for middle class people for a dean ran for the democratic nomination for president in 2004. Hes also served as chairman of the Democratic National committee. Last night, nebrasas state senator jim schchr announced his campaign for reelection in 2016. Senator scheer will soon be completing his first 4 year term. He also served on the district 3 nebraska board of education. Education, roads and taxes are issues that scheer looks to address in the final year of his first term, and he says hell continue working on them for another 4 years if he wins re electio with the session starting the 6th of january and i will be in lincoln pretty much full time between january 6th and february 15th i just wanted the district to know; one, how appreciative i am to be able to represent them, and two, i do intend on asking them for the pleasureo represent them again. The deadline for an incumbent senator to declare candidacy scheer said he wanted no confusion on whether he was running. Right now, no one else has entered the race. Secretary of state john kerry and his russian counterpart say that a group of Foreign Ministers will meet at the United Nations on friday to discuss a political transition in warravaged syria. Kerry met with russisi president vladimir putut at the kremlin yesterday to try to narrow gaps in the american and russian approaches to the crisis in syria. After the meeting kerry said that the us and russia see the conflict as fundamentally very similar. Millions around the world watched d front of television and computer screens yesterday as a russian soyuz spacecraft blasted off from kazakhstan. The spacecraft carrying british astronaut tim peake, us nasa astronaut Timothy Kopra and russian astronaut yuri malenchenko, successfully arrived at the International Space station about six hours after liftoff. Peake is britains first publicly funded british astronaut and the first briton to visit the iss. Retiring from nbc. The famous and fabled forecaster, stepped down after 65 years with the network. Spending 35 of them on the today show. Al roker helped scott sign off for the last time yesterday, with willard being his wacky self. I dont know where all this retirement i said im expiring not retiring. Im gonna a i said youd Better Change the locks on that door. Ive retired twice before you know. Al roker presented scott with a radio he found in an antique shop. He said roker has been his second dad and he loves him very much yesterday, some of the ktiv crew had a chance