Big chunk of that was lost on dillinger using the citys credit card to buy personal items. Meanwhile an understaffed Des Moines Fire Department just learned it was denied a federal grant. It would have added more than a dozen firefighters. Channel 13s Jodi Whitworth has been following this issue for many months. And this could have alleviated some problems. As we know the local Firefighters Union has been very vocal about the departments leadership and staffing issue. And des moines fire chief says all that attention may have swayed femas decision making. 5 58 there is an element politically that can impact the grant. Its not a part of the merit of the applications process and i wouldnt be able to point to anything there. I think thats the reality of these processes. Just as we are aware of politics so are those that are giving the awards phoner john tekippe besides the chiefs speculation. The fema grant did require the departments to make clear how the grant would have impacted them. If accepted it would have added 15 more firefighters to the department. Those extra bodies would have been able to fully staff all front line vehicles currently the department has 280 personelle. However by the end of the year there will be 14 open positions and the department will undergo the recruitment process. The president of the local Firefighters Union says hes disappointed of the grants outcome. But glad department is finally taking notice of the staffing issue. 463827 well continue to do our job. Its tough sometimes but you it tells us that its tough all over the United States when we didnt get a grant like that cause there are get the grant, that did need it if the departments chooses to hire more staff. It will have to go through the councils budget process and be hasnt a worker suffered life threatening injuries in an explosion at a manufacturing plant in sac county last night. The 911 calls came in from proliant in lytton around six oclock. Officials say 34yearold earl moore and 32yearold manuel ruiz of ohio were welding a seam in a tank at the time of the explosion. Authorities say moores injuries are life threatening. Ruizs received serious injuries. A third worker. Dana boom of lake view. Was treated and released from the hospital. Investigators spent much of the day at the plant. Looking for the cause of the explosion. A mother and her 11yearold daughter died in a crash near newton. It happened at around 1230 yesterday afternoon. State troopers say 14yearold Bryneisha Watkins was driving with an instructional permit. Her mother sabrina and two sisters 13yearold natasha and 11 yearold nataija were riding with ther. Officials say the teen lost control passing a semi along i80 and rolled into the ditch. The law allows 14yearolds to drive with a permit as long as a Family Member over the age of 21 is riding in the passenger seat. Passengers are allowed as long as they have safety belts. Anytime, any place anywhere, doesnt matter the day of the week or conditions. We just need to wear seatbelts and watch out for distracted driving because theres so many things these days that distract drivers from paying attention. There were 5 fatalities on iowa highways yesterday. That included one in pella, and two in webster city. It brings the total this year to 285. Troopers point out thats five fewer than this time last year. A boone man has been found guilty of Second Degree murder for a deadly shooting nearly two years ago. Leigh lepon was originally charged with first degree murder in the death of devlin lockman. Lockman was shot to death in ames in december of 2013. At first. Officials said the shooting was accidental. Lepon was charged months the man accused of murdering a waukee man earlier this month. Waived his preliminary hearing today. Brendan mcguinness is accused of shooting gino risola. Police say the shooting occurred as risola and his wife returned to their home on carefree lane. Mcguinness is scheduled to enter a plea november 25th. A sevenhour Police Operation yielded several arrests near paris this morning. It targeted the mastermind of last weeks deadly attacks that killed 129 people. Amateur video show heavy gunfire at an Apartment Building outside paris. Officials say as the raid began, a woman in the building blew up a suicide vest. Two officers were hurt. Officials say they arrested several people. But the mastermind was not one of them. Law enforcement agencies in the us are on alert. The concerns were evident overnight when two planes traveling from the us to paris were diverted because of bomb threats. One took off from la. The other from dulles outside of washington dc. Stepped up security is clearly visible in major u. S. Cities including new york and washington. A new urgency following the paris terror attacks and the recent threat by isis to attack the nations capitol. The challenge we have now since 9 11 is that we know, we know that the intelligence and Law Enforcement community , if they get specific threats they will act and they will act immediately its the unknown, its the unknown that is the real challenge right now not knowing when and where an attack might happen has Law Enforcement on edge and travelers one week before thanksgiving cautiously aware. Its a little nerve racking but i think its safe. We expected there would be additional security precautions so that is why we are here so early. Vigilance on display tuesday night when two air france flights from the us to paris were forced to make unscheduled landings following phoned in bomb threats. Were pretty much at a heightened level all the time now at this point. And so people are vigilant. Authorities searched both planes. No explosives were found. The incidents serve as a warning to the traveling public now gets ready for the busies Holiday Travel week of the year. Jay gray nbc chicago. If youre flying next week. Its a good idea to plan ahead and go extra early. That will give you time to deal with the crowds and the stepped up security. Theres good news for those planning to drive to their thanksgiving destinations. Gas prices around the area have begun to drop below the twodollar mark. Its what analyst expected due to the change over from summer to winter blends. The National Average for regular is about 215 right now. Thats significantly less than last years 280 per gallon. Triple a says 90perent of the predicted 47million thanksgiving traveler will travel by road next week. Political insiders discussed some pocketbook issues in Downtown Des Moines today. Politico hosted a panel on the economy and the election. It featured Campaign Strategists and advisers. The politico caucus offered a variety perspectives on the national debt. Their polls show that Republican Voters are most concerned about growth. While democrats are focused on income inequality. 23 08 45 how is the next president going to handle an economy that is growing, but is not growing that quickly, and is not growing for everybody. How is the next candidate going to handle that. How is the next president going to appeal to voters here in iowa on these issues were able to combine both the politics and policy at events like this the politico caucus includes members from the four early voting states. Iowa, new hampshire, South Carolina and nevada. Kids across the state will participate in a mock caucus tomorrow. Its part of a new initiative by democrats. Republicans. And the iowa secretary of states office. The mock caucus has taken place in polk county in the past. But this year. Its being expanded to about 2dozen counties. 16 of the president ial candidates have agreed to send a video message for the kids. The secretary of state will tally the votes and put the results online. Rick santorum is among the candidates who submitted a video for the kids. Hes in eastern iowa tonight. Earlier today. He paused to talk with us for our second iowa forum. Next, dave price breaks down santorums views on healthcare. Plus, this old barn has seen better days. But one local family decided to spruce it up. The figure they painted on the side. And the inspiration behind the project. Plus. Its an exhibit that will give iowa kids a new angle on learning. Where you can find the fun. And we just held our second iowa forum this afternoon. It was a quick change of plans as we had scheduled bobby jindal for the event. But yesterday afternoon jindal dropped out of the president ial race. As a result. Another gop candidate jumped at the chance to fill jindals spot. Rick santorum joined us from eastern iowa in between campaign stops. Political director dave price moderated the iowa forum. Dave todays forum was all about health . The former senator hit on a variety of topics from fda the former senator hit on a variety of topics from fda reforms. To caring for terminally ill patients. And dealing with obesity in america. The senator also took a look at the changes to school lunch programs. In 2012 usda mandated its an act championed by first Lady Michelle obama. Now schools must consider calories and levels of things like sodium and sugars. Its part of the effort to battle Childhood Obesity in the us. 16 21 14 i can tell you as a father of 7 telling you kids you have to eat this because its healthy for you it might be a better way to do that. Melt in your mouth and no flavor. 16 21 38 there are all sorts of things you can do as nutritionist better and to inform parents on how to present and serve healthy meals. 16 21 55 i have real problems with government tomorrow well take our iowa forums on the road to dmacc in newton to meet with donald trump. Its going to be a full house. And jeb bush leadership means youve got to be all in. Its not about yappin. Its not about talking. Its about doing. I know how to do this because i was privileged to serve in florida for eight years. And we turned the systems upside down that werent working. 1. 3 million new jobs were created. We cut taxes every year. Income rose in peoples pockets. People were lifted out of poverty. Children started to learn. As president of the United States, i pledge to you that i will solve problems. Announcer right to rise usa is responsible for the you know we are used to see barn quilts on barns across the state. But this art. Is a little different. What inspired this black and white painting. And where youll find americas never been a country of quitters. Its not who we are. We face our problems headon. With americanmade clean energy, we can end our dependence on foreign oil. Spark new innovation. And create millions of new jobs. Solving our Climate Crisis starts with 50 clean energy by 2030. So, what are we waiting for . But the art on this barn isnt a design. Its a face. Staring back at you. If youve been on highway 175 near dayton, you may have noticed the face. Some think its abraham lincoln. Or ringo starr. But neither is correct. A print of an artist named heri latrouse lautrec that was made by a pop artist named peter max, just noticed it it was that face which des moines artist Curt Peterson thought would be good to paint on his familys barn just east of dayton. He knew about the portrait of the french artist, and thought it would look nice on the old barn. The barn is owned by his mother joan peterson. So a bunch of Family Members made a sunday afternoon project with two cans of black paint. After it was done, we walked out by the highway, and it was just amazing, we couldnt believe wed all done it in one day, and had some much fun. unfortunately, the barn got some wind damage last week. But Curt Peterson says he knows this is a temporary work. As one day the aging barn will fall down. A new exhibit takes a new angle on learning at the Science Center of iowa. The geometry play ground features the gyroid. Its a climbing structure which gives kids a feel for how angles and arcs can make fun play spaces. Museum in san francisco. The geometry playground is here through next may. I owe about 68,000. I owe 44,000 in student loans. My plan, the new college compact, says you should not have to borrow money to pay tuition if you go to a Public College or university. And you ought to be able to refinance student debt. And i dont believe the federal government should be making a profit off of lending to young people who are borrowing to be able to get their education. We have got to make college affordable