secretary of defense. plus... love the valley. an effort to show people returning home for the holidays -- all the good things in eastern iowa. and no money as a reward for information -- but you could get free cake for the rest of your life. here's a live look at our good morning it's 6 a-m -- today is . good morning, i'm ally crutcher. jerry has the day off. we still have plenty of clouds out there this morning and we will keep them much of the day. temps haven't changed much from the last few days... we are still in northwesterly winds at 5 to 10 mph this morning and through the day. we will keep mainly cloudy skies today, although there may be a few more holes in them than yesterday.. however, we won't

pattern starting saturday night... i'll have more coming up in a few minutes. onto the white house transition -- president-elect donald trump announces his pick for secretary of defense. trump will nominate marine corps general, james mattis to lead the defense department. trump referred to mattis by his nickname "mad dog" ... -- president-elect donald trump announces his pick for secretary of defense. trump will nominate marine corps general, james mattis to lead the defense department. trump referred to mattis by his nickname "mad dog" ... describing him as "a true general's general." mattis retired in 2013 after serving as the commander of the u-s central command.. trump made the announcement during his rally in ohio. it's his post election "thank you" tour. the stop is expected to be one

that trump won on election night. in his speech, trump thanked his ohio supporters.. boasted about his victory.. and returned to familiar campaign themes... we are going to bring our common ground and we will get the job done properly, we'll get it done properly." earlier yesterday trump visited the carrier plant in indianapolis -- where he announced he struck a deal with the company to keep a thousand manufacturi j the u-s.. but -- not everyone in the company received good news. a united technologies plant -- the parent company of carrier, will shut down -- and as many as 700 jobs will be lost. those jobs will be going to mexico. the plant is in huntington, indiana - about 100 miles from indianapolis. down the road from trump's event, employees of the huntington plant carried signs that say, "what about our jobs in huntington?" continuing coverage -- the search for u-n-i's next leader is almost over-- with the third

iowa state university with his master's degree in astro-physics. he's the chancellor at montana state university in billings. he says he's excited to be back -- and says there's more to a "first is their educational goals, that's why they're here. we also have to help them meet all of their professional goals. get them ready for their job and help them with their transition into their career." the board of regents hopes to make a decisi the use of a controversial book can continue in the dubuque school district. more than 100 people showing up to a committee meeting as they discussed the book "the perks of those who spoke defended the book and the right for it to be taught... me was just the fact of how much book, and realized they have issues and they're not alone, and i think that's a

spoken, the woman who originally brought the complaint forward, got up to withdraw it. the committee still officially had to vote, though, and unanimously agreed to allow the book. a school district in virginia considering banning classic novels - after a parent filed a complaint about racial slurs used in the books. adventures of huckleberry finn, "i don't want to see it happen because if you start with one racial i pretty soon you'll be burning books left and right." both books are classics read in classrooms across the country. five years in prison for receiving child porn. forrest rindels -- of waterloo -- entered a guilty plea earlier this year. he must also pay a one-thousand dollar fine and serve a seven-year supervised release. a former iowa businessman will

than one-million dollars to lincoln savings bank in waterloo. freese was indicted in 20-13 while living in brazil -- he returned to the u-s this year. he says he ran into financial trouble after buying brazilian land to farm. authorities say freese overstated assets when applying for bank loans. a seven year old dies after a school van is involved in a crash. investigators in texas say the van stopped to pick up children when it was rear-ended by a pick-truck. 11 others were injured. all are listed in fair condition. the cause of the crash is being investigated, but tpolice believe the sun may have blinded the truck driver as it came over a hill. four middle school students and two adults hurt when a private school bus crashes through a wall near a home. this happening in florida. police say a car did not stop at a stop sign and the bus swerved to avoid hitting it, but ending up crashing into a concrete wall. all six people hurt have minor

miles per hour -- weaving in an out of traffic -- and streaming it all live on facebook. according to rhose island state police -- the driver lost control of the car, hit a dump truck and critical condition -- and if he recovers -- will likely face charges. former pro- football running back joe mcknight has been killed. authorities say he and another driver had some sort of mcknight got out of his car, and the other driver shot him. the sheriff says the shooter waited for police to arrive... mr. mcknight, as most of you know, was a football star at john curtis who went on to have an incredible football career at the university of southern california and also went on to play in the nfl

face. thousands line the street to see the procession carrying the ashes of fidel castro. the procession has been slowly making its way east since tueday, through some of the island's oldest cities that were founded in the early 1500s. cubans have poured onto the streets to bid their final farewell to castro. the procession is expected to reach castro's final resting place on saturday. a kwwl follow-up. months later -- a bar still not open. riley's on first avenue in cedar rapids caught fire in september. the bar next door -- moose mcduffy's -- thought they would re-open within a week-- deeper than it seemed. demolition-- nats of demo one--despite this fire next door-- they never saw coming. "we thought we just had a little

mcduffy's unrecognizable today-- nats of demo as they have not welcomed customers for months-- "we have had to remove our celing, all of our insulation, side walls, floor has to be closing--what will end up being around five months-is certainly a hit--but they say nat of demo customers-- something keeping staff positive about the future. "we are planning on having a great grand opening." right now -- moose mcduffy's

riley's is also being worked on and has been offering their menu at a business down the street. a sweet reward after a bakery is vandalized. the owners believe someone used a b-b gun to shatter the florida shop's large picture glass window. instead of offering money for information leading to an arrest, the bakery owners are offering a free cake each month for life. this is something you don't see every day.. a police mug shot that includes a big red bird. it's owner in oregon left the bird in a ree during his court hearing -- but ended up in jail for violating the terms of his release agreements. expressing concern for his feathered friend, a security deputy, also worried about the bird's safety and well-being, decided to allow it inside. one of the deputy's friends agreed to care for the bird. new this morning -- coasters of home.. . you might notice something new at businesses in the cedar valley

about this new project. the greater cedar valley alliance and chamber... teamed up with a cedar falls artist. valley. the coasters are unique.. they're designed to remind people home for the holidays that they can be succesful and happy here in the cedar valley.. they don't coasters while in town... .and get them to start talking all about, you know the quality of people, the community. all the opportunities that you can have by just staying and living and growing here." danny laudick with the cedar valley alliance and chamber came up with the idea.. he asked artist scotty russel to design the coasters. they just started distributing them

designs handed out through new years. live in cedar falls... amanda gilbert... news 7 kwwl. the first coaster has the saying "be who you want to be" on it. these coasters were all handed out to businesses for free. its coming up on today in iowa -- bell ringing his way towards a world record. plus -- seats used to keep kids safe -- could end their lives. "you're watching kwwl, we've got you covered! with

let's go to storm track seven

7 weather team. see the screen here is additional forecast information from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team: stormtrack7 live weather network cameras will keep showing mainly cloudy skies today... and tomorrow with some snow tracking in saturday night with rain and snow on sunday. we are still over the last couple of days... and pretty much the same to the west, although a few 20s show up here and there. winds are mainly west to northwest at 5-10 mph and will stay there today and into tonight. we are still pestered by the system that has been week... it will finally start to track away from us today with another weak system tracking in for tomorrow night... that will bring some snow to the area saturday night with some rain mixing in on sunday as temperatures warm up. we will be pretty static today and tomorrow with 30s and 40s over

the kwwl viewing area today with highs in the mid 30s to low 40s and northwest winds at 5-10 mph. tonight we drop to the low to mid 20s with northwest winds and mostly cloudy skies. more clouds on saturday with winds turning to the southwest... highs in the mid 30s to low 40s again. snow showers track through saturday night with rain and snow sunday. we could see around an inch of snow before it melts as highs climb into the low 40s. we stay dry and mild on confidence is low about who will sure is that it will be breezy for the system and cold by the

books. a missouri man is attempting to break the world record he needs to go for more than 150 hours straight. he's allowed short breaks if he needs them. his mission began monday and he "little tired, maybe, but i'm hanging in there. i'm good. hurting a little bit, but i'm okay. like i said, we're almost at the end or it seems like we've made a turn in this, so that's good."

kettle" contest for the salvation army. tomorrow -- you can visit kristin rogers at the coralville walmart from ten in the morning until two in the afternoon. its still to come on today in iowa -- whose in charge of the holiday budget -- it depends who you ask. plus -- lords a leaping and a partridge in a pear tree. buying them all will cost you more this

y24zwy y12fy the average age of a homeless person is 9 years old. my dream is to help kids living on the streets with education. charles what's up man? -whoa! how can we help? -ah man! wait, is that a basketball player? yes! -wow! my heart's about to jump out my chest man. charles you ought to be proud man. i'm just extremely grateful they were here agement- that's something that these kids are going to remember for a lifetime. did you see his big old feet? look. whoa. here's a look at some of our

when a truck crashed through the store -- were his coworkers. three people died and the driver -- plus one other person -- had to be taken to the hospital. today -- people in tennessee will get their first chance to return to their homes and businesses to see if wildfires left anything behind. eleven people have died in the fires and hundreds of homes and businesses have damage. and president elect donald trump makes a suprise announcement while taking his victory lap. during his first major public appearance since election day -- trump announced he'll be offering the job of defense secretary to retired marine corps general james mattis. a consumer alert this morning. thousands of baby bath seats and chairs are being recalled due to a drowning hazard. the recall involves all lexibook baby bath seats and chairs intended for children six months of age and up. the product fails to meet federal safety standards and can tip over while a baby is in it, posing a drowning hazard.

you have one - stop using it and contact the website your bought it from for a full refund. this morning the bureau of labor statistics will release job numbers for the month of november economists rpedict the report will show at least 175-thousand jobs were added last month... but the figure could top 200-thousand. who's in charge of all that the holiday shopping? him... or her? a recent study finds there's a massive divide between how men and women think they spend money. the survey found 68 percent of is primarily responsible for their household's holiday shopping. however... just 30 percent of men said that a woman is in charge of it. blame the turtle doves. buying the 12 days of christmas will cost you 233- dollars more than last year. the price of turtles doves alone went up 85- dollars. if you bought all the first listed,

thousand dollars. president barack obama and the first family light the national christmas tree for the final time. the first couple and daughter sasha took the stage to light the tree. the ceremony was filled with musical performances and president obama delivered his final christmas message. "i just want to express what an generosity and how our family has been awed by america's goodness. night before christmas" to the crowd. four legged heroes return home. thirteen retired bomb detection dogs took their first steps on american soil in houston after a long military tour in kuwait. they've spent the past few years serving their nation and keeping our troops safe. now... the pups are getting ready for a well-deserved life of rest and relaxation. an organization hopes to have

its coming up -- santa gets a makeover at one

check of your storm track seven forecast. mostly cloudy today and tomorrow with highs in the mid 30s to low week. forget the red suit -- this

and a sweater a mall in portland, oregon giving santa a makeover this holday season. he's being called "hipster santa" he's got tattoos, piercings and a man bun! this is probably a bit different than the st house. it's a tree made of 600 tons of carved sand. the tree stands 35-feet tall! let's just hope mother nature holds out and doesn't ruin the

into an iowa store. plus -- officers are honored for saving a man's life after he collapes. and -- showing off the opportunities available in eastern iowa. your coaster has a message for you. i'm ally crutcher storm track seven meteorologist eileen loan is

eileen on camera we still have plenty of clouds out there this morning and we will keep them much of the day. temps haven't changed much from the last few days... we are northwesterly winds at 5 to 10 mph this morning and through the day. we will keep mainly cloudy skies today, although there may be a few more much... highs will only be in the mid 30s to low 40s. not much changes tomorrow, but we do get into an active weather pattern starting saturday night... i'll have more coming up in a big story this morning -- focused people in pella remembering the three people killed and two hurt when a car crashed into the town's walmart.

the pastor believes the entire "this is the christmas season and that's what makes this you. it's a tragedy." people also prayed for the driver of the pickup truck involved. the truck drove through the meat and grocery entrance of the store. people who work at the store say two of those killed -- were truck was traveling very fast crash... "we heard a large boom sound, wal-mart, saw people leaving the announced please evacuate the building over the loud-speaker and saw people coming out of the building and standing around outside." the driver and another person had

have no reason to believe the driver crashed into the store intentionally. today marks one year since a married couple opened fire at a holiday party in san bernardino, california fourteen people died and 21 got hurt. the suspects later killed in a shootout with police. a number of events being held today -- starting with a memorial bike ride this morning and ending with a community gathering tonight. a funeral is held for the man who drove his car into a crowd before stabbing several people state university earlier this week. a campus police officer shot and killed him. the f-b-i is looking into whether he was inspired by isis and a former al-qaida leader. hundreds honor a fallen tacoma washington police officer. he was shot and killed wednesday night responding to a domestic violence call. representatives from a number of other law enforcement offices in attendance to show their solidarity. police say the shooter was killed by police early thursday morning after a nearly 12- hour

children as human shields. a kwwl follow-up. days turn into months. still - a bar not able to open following a fire. moose mcduffy's is still working to overcome heavy smoke damage from this fire--which started next door at riley's cafe back in september. the bar had far more damage than originally thought. they're working to rebuild and hope to open by mid february.... "we've had to remove our the only thing we were actually ar they orginally thought they'd be closed a few days -- now its looking more like five months. eleven people now reported dead following the wildfires in tennessee. more than 14- thousand residents and tourists had to evacuate the city after the wildfires spread

dozens of homes and businesses. firefighters there taking this well-deserved rest. they'd been working for about 30 straight hours before this happened. all of these fire- fighters returned home without injury. a salvage yeard catches fire in wisconsin. the owner says six employees were on site when the fire broke out, but none of them were hurt. he says they'll time now is xxx. five thousand dollars worth a damage after a car hits a cow in eastern iowa. it happened on monday night in fayette county -- along 210th street west of hawkeye. the sheriff's office there says a 24-year-old woman hit the cow while driving west bound. the woman and her two passengers were not hurt. the third one in a month. another deadly officer-involved shooting in kansas city this week. police say they stopped a man

he allegedly grabbed for his own gun during his arrest -- leading officers to shoot him. a 14 year old boy charged with murdering his mother and younger brother. according to a criminal complaint, the boy called 9-1-1 and initially told dispatchers his father shot them. the pennsylvania boy later changed his story, and told troopers he took the gun from the top of the refrigerator. he also allegedly told troopers if his father would have been home, he would have shot him as well. and area. to have two individuals their home while they're sleeping is traumatic." authorities say the investigation is continuing and they have not determined a motive. nearly a dozen people were taken hostage durign a robbery attempt at a florida bank. deputies say the suspect made several threats to the hostages... including pointing a gun at

who were hiding in the building helped the swat team enter the building. thankfully, no one got hurt. the mayor of the brazilian city home to the soccer team involved in monday's tragic plane crash visited the colombia crash site yesterday. he said he went to the area "to get the survivors," four of whom are brazilian, and to "get the bodies" and bring them back to brazil. the brazilian team was headed to the finals of a prestigious south american soccer tournament. zz walk on the moon, is recovering at a new zealand hospital after being evacuated from the south pole. the former nasa astronaut was visiting antarctica as a tourist when he got sick. the tour company said he had treatment. aldrin is 86 years old. continuing coverage -- ace hardware on the defense -- denying its banning sales to pipeline protestors. it comes following rumors

enforcement was asking ace hardware not to sell any material that coule be used at the camps where pipeline protestors are gathering. ace says it has not banned any sales. the pipeline would run through four states including iowa but the biggest protests have been in north dakota. more iowa police officers wearing body cameras. in the past week 26 body cameras have hit the streets in marshalltown. the department will have the cameras activated on all calls, traffic stops and other encounters with the public in marshalltown. police tre is being used as evidence. officers receive life-saver awards for this rescue. a man collapsed in the t-s-a line at the miami airport in october. as other passengers scrambled to try and help him, four miami-dade police officers rushed in. they assessed him, performed c-p-r and used a defibrillator machine to get his heart every day... they don't even it they're saving lives because of their training... i was basically surrounded by angels

doctor last week. i should've been dead and i'm still here and it's only because of them." one of the officers said he's happy they could be there to onto the white house transition -- an unexpected announcement from president-elect donald trump. a spokesman said there would be until next week -- but trump let one slip during a rally last night. tracie potts tells us who it is... and why his confirmation could be tougher than the rest. "we are going to appoint mad don't tell anybody." a surprise announcement during president iran, retired marine general james mattis faces an uphill battle for confirmation --

only been retired three years. thousand carrier manufacturing jobs not moving to mexico. "companies are not going to without consequences, not gonna happen." to save ours also." "we feel like we've been forgotten." after last night's rally... today it's back to work on the transition. the secretary of state

know what is best for growing the uni community. first on the list -- neil theobald former president of temple provost and current interim president jim wohlpart. and mark nook chancellor at montana state university candidates give a different or wise or passionate about uni. that is kind of the choices."

new this morning... this holiday season... a reminder of what the cedar valley is all about. an artist teamed up with the cedar valley alliance and chamber for a new project. kwwl's amanda gilbert joins us live in cedar falls -- good morning amanda. an artist in the cedar valley teamed up whi remind people coming home this december what opporunities and life is like here when stopping in pump haus for a drink... or for time with friends.. you might notice a small change. small... but special. "that's awesome, they're cool" new coasters with artwork on them... artwork reminding people home for the holidays why the cedar valley is so great. "when people see this it kind of sparks that

quality of people, the community, all the opportunities that you can have by just staying, living and growing here." local artist scotty russell desinged the coasters. "the second coaster concept is more about stop complaining and spend more time living, so it was more of just a collage of some of the opportunities you can do around here." it's a project started by danny laudick with the cedar valley out at businesses throughout the cedar valley.. free of charge. "i'll take all 200, thanks man, fantastic, ok sweet, and then in the next round we'll bring "i'm proud to be here, i have creativity in this community." coasters of home... "i love it" " cool" there are three different coaster designs.

live in cedar falls... amanda gilbert... news 7 kwwl. this is part of the chamber's live the valley iniative -- which promotes job opportunities and the quality of life in the cedar valley. its coming up -- video shows the moments a tornado passes by a school. plus -- a popular tourist destination has a new look. the forecast from storm track next. "you're watching kwwl, we've got you covered! with

the butterburger is made of just three cuts of fresh midwest beef. nothing more, nothing less. so we got the sirloin, the chuck and the plate. no fillers; that's it. all prized cuts, all well-marbled for richness and flavor. 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.

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

for your complete weather information. here is additional forecast information from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team: stormtrack7 live weather network cameras will keep showing mainly cloudy skies today... and tomorrow with some snow tracking in saturday night with rain and snow on sunday. we are still in the mid 30s this morning... we haven't changed much over the last couple of days... and pretty much the same to the west, although a few 20s show up here and there. winds are mainly west to northwest at 5-10 mph and will stay there today and into tonight. we are in us today with another weak system tracking in for tomorrow night... that will bring some snow to the area saturday night with some rain mixing in on sunday as temperatures warm up. we will be pretty static today and tomorrow with 30s and 40s over most of the midwest both days. mostly cloudy skies rule the kwwl viewing area today with highs in the mid 30s to low 40s and northwest northwest winds and mostly cloudy skies. more clouds on saturday with winds turning to the southwest... highs in the mid 30s to low 40s again. snow showers track through saturday night

snow before it melts as highs climb into the low 40s. we stay dry and mild on middle of the week. there is still no consistency between models or even model runs, so confidence is low about who will see what type of precip. we will have a chance of rain and snow for the system and cold by the end of the week. turning to the southwest... highs in the mid 30s to low 40s again. snow showers track through saturday night with rain and snow sunday. we could see around an inch of snow before it melts as highs climb into the low 40s. we stay dry and mild on monday before the next, stronger, system tracks in for the middle of the week. there is still no consistency between models or even model runs, so confidence is low about who will see what type of precip. we will have a for the system

security video from a school ow one tornado in atlanta. at least one tree was caught toppling on camera. the national weather service investigating other possible tornadoes wednesday in georgia. niagara falls is looking a lot brighter. a new four- million dollar l-e-d lighting system projects from ontario across the river and onto both the falls. americans, canadians, and visitors from all around the world can now enjoy these dancing,

changes may be coming to your chocolate. remember 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

z24zwz z12fz y24zwy y12fy here's a look at some of our bigger stories this morning. an employee of the walmart store in pella says two of the people killed when a truck crashed through

-- plus one other person -- had to be taken to the hospital. today -- people in tennessee will get their first chance to return to their homes and businesses to see if wildfires left anything behind. eleven people have died in the fires and hundreds of homes and businesses have damage. and president elect donald trump makes a suprise announcement while taking his victory lap. during his first major public appearance since election day -- trump announced he'll be offering the job of defense secretary to retired marine corps general wells fargo could be forced to face its victims of fake accounts in court. lawmakers introducing a bill which would prevent wells fargo from using fine print buried in customer agreements to prevent class action lawsuits. regulators say there were as many as two million fake checking and credit card accounts. the bank has admitted some customers had their credit scores damaged, while others were hit by unwarranted fines. all it takes is a single search warrant and federal agents can

computers and cell phones. a bipartisan group of senators tried to stop the rule from taking effect, but republican senate leaders denied their requests for a vote. the justice department says the updated rule is needed to help them investigate and track down cyber criminals. in the coming months -- 120 iowans will be out of a job. transamerica announcing its closing offices around the country and eliminating eight hundred jobs in an effort to cut costs. the company's location in cedar rapids location will stay open but with 120 fewer employees. cedar rapids police officers holding their coffee with a cop at the hy-vee on johnson avenue "the real intimiate conversations are are usually centered around the kitchen table and if you can sit at a kitchen table, a dining room table over a cup of coffee, you need." in january--there are plans to

law enforcement. chocolate with less sugar but the same taste -- sounds too good to be true. nestle claims they've found a way. the chocolate maker says by hollowing out sugar particles, it can reduce the chocolate's sugar content by as much as 40-percent. nestle is applying for a patent... and plans to start rolling out products containing the new sugar in 2018. we're wrapping up today in iowa with the forecast from storm track seven meteorologist eileen loan

forecast mostly cloudy today and tomorrow with highs in the mid 30s to low 40s. snow showers possible saturday night with rain/snow on sunday. a larger system tracks in for the middle of the week. still too many questions to pin down

the week. thanks for joining us, the today show is next and we'll be back ??ow is next and we'll be back ?? good morning. he's back. president-elect trump switch es into campaign mode. >> we did have a lot of fun fighting hillary, dt >> things get ugly between top aides for trump and hillary clinton. >> i would rather lose than win the way you guys did. >> no, you wouldn't. >> it went downhill from there. >> road rage? a former nfl player shot and killed in an altercation near new orleans. the 54-year-old suspect stayed at the scene and is in custody being questioned by police right now. south pole rescue. new imasge of buzz aldrin recovering in a hospital after