this morning -- cleanup continues following deadly storms. plus... police dealing with protests following a prosecutor's decision. and kitten overload. and the iowa shelter needs your help finding them a home. good morning, i'm ally crutcher. jerry is off. we still have some flurries and sprinkles tracking through the kwwl viewing area this morning. that will likely continue all day. temps are holding in the mid 30s this morning with westerly winds at 10-15 mph... they will stay that same direction and speed today, although

flurries and the clouds, too, as the low takes its time leaving north america. breezy with flurries today. highs in the upper 30s to low 40s today will not change much breaking news this morning - a man hawk and part of buchanan county. we're taking a live look at i-380 at raymond road -- a few miles north of here is where the chase started. the black hawk county sheriff's office tells us man blew through a stop -- then took off when a deputy tried to pull him over. the chase eventually ended peacefully in a field. deputies took troy postel- vargason into custody.

people in the southeast are waking up to severe damage today. at least five people are dead yasmin amer has more. devastating scenes across the southeast...after a round of deadly storms. at least three tornados ripped through northern alabama, weather service. jackson county saw some of the worst damage. strong winds knocked down trees and powerlines - and no one was injured...but everywhere. itas w." bad "really officials say a tornado touched down in polk county. that state is already reeling from deadly wildfires that have

wednesday's rain provided some relief. but it's not nearly i'm yasmin amer reporting. after the storms turned deadly in alabama and tennessee -- the system moved east. in charlotte -- you can see wind blew a-c units off their bases. a semi tossed on its side like a truck -- the driver taken to the hospital with a head injury. trees down -- including one which fell on a house. the weather system brought much needed rain to the area -- which "i said, 'god, please, let us go through this. bring us out of this'." thousands of people lost power. storms also causing heavy damage in south carolina -- downed trees and power lines. homes damaged. in one town the fire chief asked

while crews looked at conditions. continuing coverage -- today the third and final candidate in the running to become u-n-i's next president visits campus. mark nook isthe current chancellor at montana state university in billings. he has ties to iowa -- he received his masters in astrophysics at iowa state u-n-i's interim president james wohkpart outlining his vision for the university -- should he get the job. he previously served as provost and says he has an understanding of the strengths within the campus. but he calls on a n narrative in higher education. to take a student, and help out in the world. and offer themselves out into the world. what kind of a respsonsibility is that?" the board of regents is expected to select the new president next week. new details this morning as prosecutors decide not to charge a police officer in the death of

police spend the night dealing with protestors. more than 1- hundred protestors took to the streets near police headquarters chanting anti- police slogans.. and demanding justice for scott. police are urging protesters to stay on the sidewalks, but many have spilled onto the streets, leading to arrests. a police officer shoots and kills a man wanted in a string of robberies. kansas city officers pulled the suspect over, and initially he followed the orders. but then, according to police, he grabbed gun. officers immediately shot the man, who died later at the hospital. no officers were hurt. it's now up to a jury to decide whether a south carolina officer is guilty of murder. jurors in the michael slager trial deliberated for about an hour last night before heading home. they're expected to continue deliberations today. fixing a phone -- and finding child porn. cedar rapids police say 33-year- old jeremy rodriguez faces charges of sexual exploitation.

when he went to pick up his phone after having it fixed. he's since posted bail. a kwwl follow-up. out of fuel -- and a total electric failure. we're learning more about a deadly plane crash -- carrying a brazilian soccer team. monday's crash killed all but six of 77 people on board.. a cedar rapids coach used to play for the team. the coach for the cedar rapids rampage began his professional career playing for the team. "i'm still in shock. i can't believe i lost 35 good friends that i played together, i worked together for like six years and this." several players on the cedar rapids rampage-- are also from brazil.

stole more than a million- dollars in gold -- in the middle of the day. the man is hanging around an armored truck. he walks off with a bucket of gold flakes worth nearly one-point-six million dollars. police now believe the man and the bucket of gold are in florida --- in either orlando or miami. nats of explosion the u-s army comes in after someone finds an explosive device -- dating back to the civil war. it's the second been found at a construction site in savannah georgia. onto the white house transition -- today, donald trump is expected to deliver on a campaign promise to save jobs. he and mike pence will travel to indiana and ohio.. trump is set to make an announcement today in indianapolis at the carrier plant. he reached a deal for the corporation to keep nearly a thousand jobs in the state. indiana senator dan coates praising donald trump... on the carrier issue i think the

who is not even yet president of the united states is able to negotiate something that was a major issue in the campaign. senator coates did not say whether he's being considered for a post in the trump administration. we do know the co-owner of the chicago cubs -- todd ricketts -- has been named trump's pick for deputy commerce secretary. the ricketts family has had a rocky past with trump. todd was an early supporter of governor scott walker. after walker dropped out from the race, todd's mother poured millions into an anti-trump super pac. trump's choice for commerce secretary -- billionaire wilbur ross. ross is a new jersey native. he amassed a fortune that forbes estimates to be worth nearly three billion dollars. the ashes of former cuban leader fidel castro are on their way from havana -- to castro's final resting place the more-than 500-mile

route castro and his rebels took after overthrowing the government in 1959. new this morning -- too many cats... one eastern iowa humane society is starting a new program becuase they're overflowing with cats. kwwl's amanda gilbert joins us live in waterloo.. you can explain the cedar bend humane society says normally around this time of year... they start to take in less cats. but that's not the case right now... they tell me in the past 4 months they've gotten more than 1,000 cats... which is very unusual... and they don't turn any away.

so they've had to find ways to putting cages in hallways. we have seen there's been a lot of sorrounding communities your cat is also an issue, we've the cedar bend humane society is starting a new program this year to help fix this problem . they're calling it home for the holidays... asking people to it's a great way to see what it's like to have a pet.. or make sure you get along with the one you "picked out" before you ado i prgoram starts december 20th. gilbert... news 7 kwwl. the cendar bend humane society says if you don't want to adopt or foster.. they're also looking for donations its coming up on today in iowa -- crews come to the rescue of a stuck manatee. plus -- holiday gifts for the family pet -- more people

"you're watching kwwl, we've got you covered! with jerry gallagher, ally crutcher and meteorologist eileen loan. "now your storm track 7

for your forecast forecast. from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team. see the screen for your complete weather information. here is additional forecast information from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team: stormtrack7 live weather network cameras are showing the low

this morning and may catch some flurries off and on today. it will be breezy, too, but the winds will die down tonight and stay there for tomorrow. temps this morning are hovering in the mid 30s with some low 30s to the west. west winds are running mainly 10- 15 mph, although at times they are stronger. that will be the case through day, with winds weakening this evening and turning more to the northwest. our clouds are still from the same system that brought us the thunderstorms on monday but today will be mainly the back side. that keeps us under clouds and with flurries today and clouds tomorrow and even saturday. temperatures

tomorrow with 20s to the 50s stretched across the midwest. we will be through. temps only drop about the northwest. we stall in the tracks through sunday with some middle of next week. we could who sees how much snow vs rain. continues to get closer. crews rescue a manatee trapepd in storm system heads our way for the middle of next week. we could have some thursday. it is too early to updated as it continues to get crews rescue a manatee trapepd in a storm drain the animal became stuck in a 36-inch pipe.

found it. crews had to dig around the storm drain before they could lift the manatee out... it was stuck for approximately three hours. the animal is being taken to seaworld to be checked out. its still on the way this morning -- high tech gifts -- trackers and cameras -- on the top of christmas lists ... but not for no problem. you can still stream movies on

bigger stories from across the country. police have shot and killed the person they believe shot and killed a police officer. accoridng to the nbc station in seattle -- following a standoff police killed the suspect then rescued two children from the home. today donald trump heads to indiana to visit carrier corporation. trump delivered on a campaign promise -- convincing the company to stay in indiana -- instead of outsourcing jobs. naught or nice -- it seems all pets are on the good list. as brian mooar tells us -- new data shows we're being especially generous to our pets this year. pets are on santa's "nice" list this year. and consumers are shelling out big bucks for our furry friends this holiday season. "the pet category is seeing a huge surge in sales about 1.5 more sales than we saw last year" so what do pets have on their wish list? toys of course! beyond the pet store ... online

holiday your pet celebrates... or even topical toys like the "dognald". get it - dognald??? for the gift that keeps on giving... subscription boxes deliver new items each month... and what better way to treat your pet.. than with treats! consistent with the health-concious trends of humans... we're buying more organic & handcrafted foods for our pets and high-tech gifts like pet trackers and cameras are gaining popularity. ...but buy soon to save "right best time is this week or as soon as possible" all in all, our four-legged companions will see an average of 62- bucks worth in gifts under the tree. higher spending ... as more start seeing themselves as "pet parents"... instead of merely owners. "i have a 7 month lab puppy and i don't mind spoiling her... they're our fur babies!" fur babies... worth spending a "furtune" on. get it furtune? whatever. here's a cute dog in a shopping cart.

millennials are expected to spend the most on their pets this holiday. netflix users can now download several shows and movies to watch offline. the company says the feature is available on phones and tablets by updating the netflix app. there's no extra cost. the top artists and songs of 2016 -- according to spotify. drake was the most streamed artist on spotify for the second year in a row. he's also the most streamed artist of all time on spotify. rounding out the top three were justin bieber and rihanna . the most streamed song was drake's "one dance" . golfer tiger woods makes his long-awaited comeback later today in the bahamas. woods spent the last two days getting his game in shape for the hero world challenge, a select tournament that opens later today.

last year. he's had two operations on his back since then. iowa native zach johnson also scheduled to participate. you can now have the taste of dunkin' donuts coffee in your pop-tart. for the first time, pop-tarts and dunkin' donuts have teamed up to create two limited edition, coffee-inspired pop-tart flavors: frosted vanilla latte and frosted chocolate mocha. both will be available at stores nationwide beginning this month e died. it was the brainchild of a mcdonald's franchisee who decided customers wanted a bigger sandwich. he came up with the big mac in 19-67. when it became a big seller at his 47 locations in pennsylvania it was added to the chain's national menu a decades.

like christmas -- trees popping up across the country.

toms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine. i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment with breo. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. breo won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. breo opens up airways to help improve breathing for a full 24 hours. breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop breo and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. do not take breo more than prescribed. see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. ask your doctor if 24-hour breo could be a missing piece for you. see if you're eligible for

eileen loan is back with another check of your storm track seven forecast. saturday. some rain/snow showers

gets into the holiday spirit. the first family will light up the national christmas tree. this will be the obamas' final time to flip the switch on the colorado blue spruce. the holiday tradition started in 1923 under president calvin coolidge. a star studded lineup of performers will join the first family to ring in the season, including james taylor, kelly clarkson, and garth brooks... 5,4,3,2,1 go wooo! is lit up for the holidays. this year's tree will be lit and on display until january seventh. the first tree at rockefeller center was put up by construction workers in 19-31... and the

sleeping -- a police officer died in the line of duty. we're following the developments. plus -- in iowa -- a holiday decoration remembering fallen officers. and not even winter weather is stopping pipeline protestors. good morning, i'm ally crutcher. jerry is off. eastern iowa yesterday -- small flakes of snow coming down in waterloo. not enough to stick to the ground -- but let's see if that's changing anytime soon. storm track seven meteorologist eileen loan is here now with your storm track seven forecast. eileen on camera we still have some flurries and sprinkles tracking through the kwwl viewing area this morning. that will likely continue all day. temps are holding in the mid 30s this

could gust a bit higher at times. we keep the flurries and america. breezy with flurries today. highs in the upper 30s to low 40s today will not change the person suspected of killing a police officer is now dead. this all hapepning in washington state. police say they responded to a domestic violence situation -- with a suspect barricaded inside a home with a gun. the suspect shot the officer several times. after the shooting-- police were able to get adults and children out of the home. according to the nbc station in seattle -- officers killed the the home

thoughts and the prayers that are going out to us." this is the first officer to die in the line of duty in tacoma since 1997 an officer is recovering after be s reported home invasion when shots rang out. an officer and shooting suspect were both rushed to the -- the suspect was listed in critical condition. hundreds of officers from around the country are expected to attend the funeral of a a wayne state university police officer today. he was shot and killed last week as he approached a suspect on a bicycle. iowa police departments are remembering officers who died this year.

them. the tree skirt displays the names and badge numbers of the five fallen officers. this week its on display at the urbandale police department. less than a month after those officers deaths-- the u-s senate passes a bill to help the families of officers killed in the line of duty. iowa senator chuck grassley wrote the public safety officers' benefits improvement act. it's supposed to help families waiting for approval of survivor benefits. the bill now heads to the house time now is xxx. new this morning -- case dismissed. a lawsuit filed by the family of a woman killed in an eastern iowa mall will not be moving forward. alexander kozak -- a mall security guard -- shot and killed andrea farrington inside the coral ridge mall last year. farrington's family filed a lawsuit against the mall and the security company. the case had been scheduled to go to trial next year -- but has calls for transparancy. the newest member of the linn county board of supervisors is calling

officer-involved shooting case. earlier this month an officer shot jerime mitchelle following a traffic stop. a grand jury will determine whether the officer should face charges. supervior stacey walker wants a special prosecutor to present evidence to the rgand jury. "one of the things i hope everyone in the community understands is that we can admire and respect what police officers do, while holding them to very high standards. the officer who shot mitchelle a deadly shooting last year. the f-b-i says it's too soon to draw any conclusions about what led to the attack at ohio state university. but -- they say they believe the suspect may have been inspired by isis and a former al- qaeda leader. an f-b-i special agent says the investigation is on-going --and it'll take time to verify a connection to isis... "as i've said, we only believe that he may have been inspired by isil. in the past they have claimed responsibility when the

so far there's no evidence that anyone else helped the suspect in the attack. kidnapped, held for a week, then dropped off in a spot 150 miles from where she was taken. investigators are still looking for the suspects. the woman was missing for three weeks until investifators found her along an interstate in california thanksgiving morning. "we still do not have a motive a abduction." she is speaking with authorities who are calling her cooperative and courageous. at least seven people are dead as wilfires burn popular resort towns in tennessee. more than 4- hundred buildings "i've been in sevier county 63 close to this in this county, never, and i don't expect to see

trees and power lines are down - still blocking firefighters from some areas. once his team -- forever in his heart. earlier this week a plane carrying a brazilian soccer team crashed in colombia. the pilot told air traffic control the plane ran out of fuel -- and was in electric failure. only six of the 77 people on survived. kwwl's kristin rogers spoke to people in eastern iowa -- with connections to the team but it hit very close to

"they gave me the opportunity rapids rampage--alongside head coach hewerton moreira who is also from brazil-- "we have a game in the east families back home--but feels prayer--can help from thousands of miles away. "the guys they left but they help them." several players on the cedar

continuing coverage -- cold temperatures haven't stopped thousands of protesters. they're still looking to stop the construction of the dakota access pipeline. north dakota's governor ordered them to leave immediately for "the governor issued his with genocide. and our lawyers said they're backing off." protesters have been asked to leave by sunday or they could be arrested. here in iowa -- pipeline protesters went to the iowa utilities board -- where some have been demanding a meeting. two of those people got arrested for blocking a door to a conference room. those two have also been fasting for ten days as part of their

not good for any of us, and that we have a responsibility to right thing ." despite arrests -- the two say their fast will continue. they plan to go back to the iowa utilities board until they get a meeting. opening pushed back to january or february. the university of iowa stead family children's hospital will no longer open december 10th. the multi-million dollar hospital be u a national organization warns of a "harmful precedent" if a book is banned in dubuque schools. a new committee in the dubuque district is discussing if the book "the perks of being a wallflower" is appropriate for students. according to our coverage partners at the telegraph herald -- the organization says it may force teachers to second-guess their reading material. the committee will meet again in december to talk about it.

kentucky are now designated safe areas for people in l-g-b-t-q community the "safe harbor" program is modeled after one started by seattle police in 20-14. police say they're for victims of any crime, but are especially a refuge to victims of assault or harassment. "the store employees will be trained to immediately call the police and to allow the victim of that crime to stay in the store until police arrive." louisville is the first city outside of seattle to adopt the program. on to the white house transition... today president elect donald trump takes a break from interviewing potential cabinet members. as tracie potts tells us 00 he's headed to the midwest on a thank you tourincludes a stop fulfill a campaign promise. "they started talking and being happy that they would be able to maintain their jobs, their homes and be able to take care of their families once again."

president yet and he's figured out how to save 1,000 jobs." "i'm hoping every ceo in confirmations. "we're gonna be nominees continues. critics call it a cabinet full of insiders. but so far, no word on which of four candidates will be offered secretary of state. a transition spokesman

wisconsin is about to start recounting millions of ballots from the presidential election. planning has been underway for days -- but all of the pieces for the recount really began to fall into place in the final hours. 440-thousand ballots will go through scanning machines... "they all get hand reveiwed before they get sent into the machine make sure if they get 130 people will be on hand each day -- paid for by the jill stein campaign. its coming up on today in yet -- but when it hits - iowa crews are ready plus - a home for the holidays.

seven meteorologist eileen loan

forecast on kwwl." let's go to storm track seven meteorologist eileen loan now for

7 weather team. see the screen for your complete weather information. here is additional forecast information from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team: stormtrack7 live weather network cameras are showing the low clouds out there this morning and may catch some flurries off and on today. it will be breezy, too, but the winds will die down tonight and stay there for tomorrow. temps this morning are hovering in the mid 30s with some low 30s to the west. west winds are running mainly 10- 15 mph, although at times they are stronger. that will be the case through the rest of the day, with winds weakening this evening and turning more to th that brought us the thunderstorms on monday but today will be mainly the back side. that keeps us under clouds and with flurries today and clouds tomorrow and even saturday. temperatures won't change too much between today and tomorrow with 20s to the 50s stretched across the midwest. we will be in the upper 30s to low 40s today with west winds at 10-20 mph with flurries tracking through. temps only drop about 10 degrees tonight with cloudy skies and winds at 5-10 mph from the northwest. we stall in the mid 30s to low 40s tomorrow with some breaks in the clouds for

sunday with some rain and/or snow showers expected, but a large storm system heads our way for the middle of next week. we could have some rain/snow showers tuesday with the main system wednesday and thursday. it is too early to tell the exact track of the system and that will make a be a concern, too. we will watch that very carefully and keep you updated as it continues to get cloudy skies and winds at 5-10 mph from the northwest. we stall in the mid 30s to low 40s tomorrow with some breaks in the clouds for the afternoon. asy sunday with some rain and/or for the middle of next week. we could have some rain/snow showers tuesday with the main system wednesday and thursday. it is too early to tell the much snow vs rain. wind will be a concern, too. we will watch that very carefully and keep you updated as it continues to get

tanks are full -- blades are sharp -- and workers have enough salt for iowa roads. "we've had a few farmers with drainage issues, we've been able to go out and do, because things aren't frozen, and we've been able to go out and get those drainage issues taken care of. where, in the past years, we haven't been able to do that this late in the year." the d-o-t plows are equipped with g-p-s devices so you can track where they've plowed.

catches fire and explodes. an employee tried to use a fire extinguisher -- but as you can see, the flames were too intense. a volunteer fire crew arrived soon after and put out the fire. luckily -- no one was hurt. its coming up -- toys and toys and toys for iowa tots. plus -- too many kittens, not enough homes. a live look at the cedar bend humane society right now -- they need your help.

eastern iowa humane society is asking for help taking care of a growing population. kwwl's amanda gilbert joins us live in waterloo.. you're at the cedar bend humane society. ally... taking a look around.. you might notice some cages along the side of this room here in the cedar most of the cages... filled with cats.. the cages are one way the cendar bend humane society is making room for the large number of cats they've taken in.. in the past 4 months. they're getting around 250 cats per month right now.. which is very unusual . the humane society's starting a new program this month... calling it home for the holidays.. asking " if somebody can take animals that are already on our adoption floor, and take them into their home as a temporary

because right now this is all we have room for." if you can't foster or donate.. the humane society is also asking for donations... they make sure all their cats ready for adoption have their necessary shots and are spayed or so financially.. it's getting harder and harder to take care of all the cats coming to them. live in waterloo... amanda gilbert... news 7 kwwl. the humane society also reminds people to spay and neuture their pets. they believe people may not be -- one reason they're seeing so many kittens.

dave prescott flying in to the cedar valley from new york. the iowa native brought st. patrick catholic school students with him to buy 10-thousand dollars worth of toys for toys for tots. i grew up in this area when deere was having a lot of rough times my dad was laid off several times, so i definitely to have acess to toys, you know cause it's all about the kids. he says every child deserves to morning.. an act of kindness from one group of students to another. students in solon knitting scarves which will go to low-income second graders. they're doing it to honor the second graders killed at sandy hook elementary. students have knitted more than 700 scarves since september "it's crazy because last year i thought that was the most we going to be a lot and then this whole room now is filled with scarves. we had to use another room because we ran out of room in this one." scarves will be donated to

city, waterloo, and des moines. we're wrapping up today in iowa with the forecast from storm track seven [ tower pinging ] [ whistling ] we've got a problem, friend. half off any smartphone for anyone who switches? blem? the naughty list shouldn't get deals! yeah, but anyone who switches gets half off of any smartphone. even these? yeah, any smartphone. call the big guy! [ bell dings ] santa? no, jingles. [ knuckles crack ] [ spits ] ooo. ouch. [ neck cracks ] [ darien ] switch and get half off any smartphone.

marv, go make us a plate. 30. 1. we'll literally die of hunger freaky fast 1 bingo!

the butterburger is made of just

sirloin, the chuck and the plate. no fillers; that's it. all prized cuts, all well-marbled for richness and flavor. this is where those three wonderful cuts of beef come together. you can just tell that blend is working in there. and we sear them, and that seals in the juices of the burger. it doesn't get any better than that. and that's the culver's butterburger. welcome to delicious! forecast. breezy with flurries today, mostly cloudy tomorrow and saturday. some rain/snow showers sunday with a bigger system tracking in for the middle of next week. thanks for joining us, the today show is next and we'll be back

good morning. nature's fury. the death toll rises to seven in the devastating tennessee wildfires, as new tornadoes rip through the south overnight. now, more than 30 days. breaking overnight. a police officer shot called to a home in washington state. the suspect barricade insid ae home for hours. victory lap. president-elect trump, kicking off his thank you tour, in indiana and ohio. as his top cabinet picks get called out for bailouts and wall street. and lit. >> three, two, one.