seatbelts might have saved the lives of two eastern iowa police officers in a weekend crash. plus... a lack of communication. an eastern iowa city working to make sure firefighters are in the loop with changes to their department. and from n-f-l star to farmer. coming up -- the story of a man who walked away from a multi-million dollar career to give back to his community. good morning, i'm ally crutcher. and i'm jerry gallagher. rain -- hail -- thunderstorms -- severe weather rips through iowa. in hardin county -- a tornado touched down in radcliffe. this just one of six reports of tornadoes yesterday in iowa. people say they heard gusty winds and loud booms. after the storms passed -- they found fences broken... power lines knocked down... and tree branches were all over the place. with all the kids and you know, counting heads, probably 30

might have been still been cracked open. we were just out looking at hail, i mean, its the coolest thing ever, its hail. its frozen water from the sky." thankfully -- no reports of any injuries. let's check on your weather now with storm track 7 meteorologist rachael peart. good morning. eileen on camera from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team. see the screen for your complete weather information.

information from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team: behind the cold front yesterday, today will be mild in comparison. partly cloudy skies will continue through daytime hours. highs today will be above average in the mid 40s to the north and low 50s to the south. winds could be a little breezy at times but for the most part won't be an issue. tonight, additional clouds begin to track in ahead of a accumulation by sunrise on wednesday. wednesday brings the potential for a light rain/snow mix across eastern iowa. the best chance we dry out late week as high pressure tracks in but sunshine we're following breaking news this morning. the left lane is blocked on highway 20 right now due to a crash. you're getting a live look this morning out of waterloo right now. at this point -- no word if anyone is injured at this point.

continuing coverage into a deadly crash over the weekend... this morning -- we're taking a closer look at the damage. this is the squad car involved in the crash off of i-380 in cedar rapids. the officers were on the scene of a different crash when a car hit the back and side of this vehicle. police say both officers were wearing their seatbelts -- leaving them with only minor injuries. they both have been treated and released from the police say matrell watson and kaitlyn hall were inside the vehicle that hit the squad car. both were from cedar rapids. kaitlyn's family says she was three months pregnant at the time of the accident -- and also leaves behind a two-year-old daughter. continuing coverage -- it's up to a judge to decide whether a former substitute teacher is guilty. mary beth haglin is charged with sexual exploitation by a school employee. she was a substitute teacher at cedar rapids washington high

by jury and instead a judge is reviewing the case.. after numerous interviews with iowa and national media -- a felony charge was filed. but those interviews are not being included in the case, so the judge will only decide on an aggravated misdemeanor charge which carries a maximum of two years in prison. the cause of a thanksgiving day fire -- could remain a mystery. it happened at the iowa gold distributing building in central city. it burned for several ur that firefighter is still recovering. an investigator tells us the fire will most likely be officially listed as undetermined -- because of the destruction the fire caused. farmers work hard to save their 250 cows when a dairy barn catches fire. the birker family farm in benton county burned over the weekend. they plan to rebuild. any cows. everything is stable, we got the cows moved to different farms, and they're along, so it'll look totally

the cause of the fire. they believe it might be electrical-related. digging deeper this morning... after growing concern... some answers. one eastern iowa fire station is working to improve communication kwwl's amanda gilbert joins us live in cedar falls... you can explain. i spoke with the president of the cedar falls firefighters association, jim cook. he says some cedar falls firefighters have been

decisions are being made that affect schilling left.... firefighters media released information. try to bring things to the council, or to our mayor or to the department head, we can have them pointing fingers at each other. somebody has to say i made this decision, and it was on my recommendation." cook says he and cedar falls mayor brown are working together to make a they met last week... both meeting.. they believe communication will improve between the firefighters and the city... it just may take some time. live in cedar falls... amanda gilbert... news 7 kwwl. the city expects to have a new fire chief named in the next few weeks.

country remembering fidel castro.. as jay gray tells us -- chairs.. have replaced cars.. along the passeo that borders the plaza de la revelucion.. cuban president raul castro -- gather later today for a special tribute to his brother.. fidel.. "we all feel very sad with the hearts and our minds." yesterday.. lines stretched in all directions.. for hours.. and for as far as you could see.. thousands waiting for a chance tle memorial.. a few seconds.. a final.. emotional.. goodbye.. "you see soldiers crying, old ladies crying, men crying even the guard those guards were trying to hide their tears but they just can't." tears.. that come with concern here.. even though he was no longer "el presidente".. castro's death.. leaves many in

that will most surely be influenced by the country's controversial past.. jay gray - nbc news - havana. a public funeral will be held near across the world -- mixed feelings on castro's death. jason streit owns the lost cuban restaurant with his brother in downtown cedar rapids. his grandfather was part of the counter-revolution and had to followed.

were personally forced to flee from cuba and so for that reason they feel happy to see the man that caused that to pass away but in cuba you do have this next generation that all they've ever known is communism and castro." he hopes to see basic rights such as freedom of speech given to his family still living in cuba. castro's more interest in american travel to cuba-- but visiting the island nation is complicated. u.s. tourism to cuba is still illegal. americans need to fit one of twelve "authorized travel" categories to go -- from athletic competitions to visiting family. flooding possible -- because of a beaver family's new home. a family of beavers moved into a dam near a kentucky mall. they're causing water to back up in the creek and ditches around it.

flood -- or sinkholes in the mall's parking lot. trappers are working to gather up the beavers and release them somewhere else. "the whole idea is that these now where it starts to level out and the ditches get shallower starts to back up in the peoples yards, in basements and garages and homes and everything else." "there's no reason to destroy it's expected to take about a week to move them accepting housing vouchers -- it seems the idea of making the concept mandatory -- may not happen. last night the dubuque city council discussed housing vouchers -- often called section eight vouchers. one idea floated in the city was making it mandatory for landlords to accept them --

some landlords filed a petition against the idea... about our property rights as criteria not the city's or somebody elses criteria." the council was not scheduled to vote last night according to our coverage pa -- the council may move forward with providing incentives to encourage people to participate -- instead of making it mandatory. an n-f-l star, earning millions on the gridiron. but at the height of his career, he left it all behind... for a life on the farm. kevin tibbles tells us how he's stirs.... c300 - iso) jason brown is big... football player big... old-- that was the same age-- that my older brother was-- when he was killed serving' our

examination-- of my life (c300 iso / 5d wide ) brown... ... walked away from a 37 million dollar contract... and hung up his cleats... jb: i wear a size 16 shoe... and he wore a size 14 shoe...and to deeply religious and devoted serve... but instead of the military... jason brown bought a farm... kevin tibbles: when i tell people that i farm'... volunteer nats to kids:

we have a list of names and we share because sharing is caring. volunteer hug and lining up in the dirt ....alongside the volunteers on harvest day.... the former football player... who who used to snap the ball in front of millions from the line of scrimmage "first fruit card 1" volunteer: this is the most wonderful thing you could possibly do what? that's just some-- some kid from the country that could his life right now. if he can do it, i can do it." for this mountain of a man... helping those less fortt kevin tibbles, nbc news, louisburg, north carolina.

iowa.... getting around some of our country's largest cities could be much more difficult today. plus... no permit -- no hugs. this man gives out free hugs -- but now he's facing a fine for doing it. those stories plus the forecast

stand back, ya hear! he holidays. "now your storm track 7 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: behind the cold front yesterday, today will be mild in comparison. partly cloudy skies will continue through daytime hours. highs today will be above average in the mid 40s to the north and low 50s to the south. winds could be a little breezy at times but for the most part won't be an issue. additional clouds begin to track in ahead of a weather-maker that could bring a few flurries overnight...there most likely will not be any accumulation by sunrise on wednesday. wednesday brings the potential for a light rain/snow mix across eastern iowa. the best chance would be in our northern counties but won't rule out seeing a mix toward the south. temperatures tomorrow will be cooler - low 40s for all.

but sunshine might not return until friday. behind the cold front yesterday, today will be mild in comparison. partly cloudy skies will continue through daytime hours. highs today will be above average in the mid 40s to the north and low 50s to the south. winds could be a little breezy at times but for the most part won't be an issue. tonight, additional clouds begin to track in ahead of a weather-maker that could bring a few flurries overnight...there most likely will n any accumulation by sunrise on wednesday. wednesday brings the potential for a light rain/snow mix across eastern iowa. the best chance would be in our northern counties but won't rule out seeing a mix toward the south. temperatures tomorrow will be cooler - low 40s for all. we dry out late week as high pressure tracks in but sunshine might not return until friday. behind the cold

mild in comparison. partly cloudy skies will continue through daytime hours. highs today will be above average in the mid 40s to the north and low 50s to the south. winds could be a little breezy at times but for the most part won't be an issue. tonight, additional clouds begin to track in ahead of a weather-maker that could bring a few flurries overnight...there most likely will not be any accumulation by sunrise on wednesday. wednesday brings the potential iowa. the best chance would be in our northern counties but won't rule out seeing a mix toward the south. temperatures tomorrow will be cooler - low 40s for all. we dry out late week as high pressure tracks in but sunshine might not return until friday. behind the cold front yesterday, today will be mild in comparison. partly cloudy skies

in iowa.... the bird flu impacted a number of iowa farms last year. and now -- iowa's ag secretary is asking for money to prevent another outbreak. plus... nothing comes for free -- even free hugs come at a cost. stay with k-w-w-l, we've got you

leaders for

for 5-hundred- thousand dollars. that money would be used to train farmers in the event there's another outbreak. last year -- the bird flu killed 48- million birds nationwide -- half of that was in iowa alone. uber drivers on strike. according to the group "fight for 16" -- uber drivers around the country are expected to strike today to push for a 15-dollar minimum wage. uber has said in the past -- drivers in its top 20 u-s markets actually average more than 19-dollars an hour. but drivers complain of accounting for expenses like gas, repairs and insurance. uber does operate in some iowa cities -- but its unclear strike. eastern iowa is getting a new place to shop for groceries. trader joe's grocery store will be opening in coralville's iowa river landing district. it's on track to open next year. right now -- des moines is the only city in iowa that has a trader joes -- but the company has more than

want to give out free hugs -- better get a permit! a man's been wearing a t-shirt reading "free hugs" and offering them to people at subway stations in canada. last week -- he said a transit officer asked him to show a permit for his activity. he didn't have one -- so then he was fined. this very station and i met a sharing that great moment with her, and she was talking to me what was happening to her at that moment, so it wasn't something bad." the city's transportation authority later withdrew the fine and issued a warning instead. but the man is still warned to stop offering free hugs in the

storm track seven meteorologist eileen loan has your storm track

the left lane is blocked on highway 20 right now due to a crash.

now. at this point -- no word if anyone is injured at this point. stay with kwwl as we learn more information. eileen loan is back with another check of your storm track seven

got you covered. this is today in iowa." now on today in iowa: tornadoes... in late november in eastern iowa. our storm track seven team tracked it all. plus we are following breaking news overnight. a plane carrying a soccer team in south america crashes... and there

and the trump transition team says -- expect a number of very important announcements today. good morning, i'm ally crutcher. and i'm jerry gallagher. storm track seven meteorologist eileen loan is here now with your storm track seven forecast. eileen on camera behind the cold front yesterday, today will be mild in comparison. partly cloudy skies will continue through daytime hours. highs today will be above average in the mid 40s to the north and low 50s to the south. winds could be a little breezy at times but for the most part won't be an issue. tonight, additional clouds begin to track in ahead of a weather-maker that could bring a few flurries

most likely will not be any accumulation by sunrise on wednesday. wednesday brings the potential for a light rain/snow mix across eastern iowa. the best chance would be in our northern counties but days from december and we're talking about tornadoes. severe weather rolled through eastern iowa yesterday. this video was sent to us from a viewer near parkersburg, with a funnel forming above butler county. butler county emergency management says -- fortunately -- the county escaped with very little damage. some roof damage, a small shed blown off its foundation and some tree limbs down. more video -- this out of grundy

of tornadoes yesterday in iowa. it's unusual for this time of year... but certainly has happened before. 41 tornadoes in iowa during the month of november since 1980. the storms also brought hail -- here are a few pictures of the build-up sent to us from the parkersburg area. as the storms moved through -- we received many pictures and a lot of video from you. thank you for that. whenever you see news - or if you have pictures or video to share many of you did yesterday. some eastern iowa firefighters are working with their city to improve a concern they've had for many years... the president of the cedar falls firefighters association says for years.... firefighters have felt like they were left out of important decisions made about them... they've asked the mayor... the council and department heads why ... but they weren't getting a clear in the right direction. when moments like this happen... the cedar falls

firefighters recently found out from the media... who the finalists for their next fire south main street might be where their new public safety building would be." jim- head of firefighter union "those are fairly momentous things tha happen within a fire department's life. a new building and a new chief. and to find out from the media, that just demonstrates that there's a disconnect between our leaders and the staff of the department." recognizing a need to improve communication between the city and the firefighters. ., mayor brown recently cedar falls fire union. mayor: what they do is so important, and we need them to be there when they do their this.. .we need to improve this... it's for the health of the city and our citizens." and there should be more meetings in the future... slowly... "there is a culture in every organization.. and culture takes

built for quite a while, so that culture needed to be changed a little bit. it's going to take some time." amanda gilbert reporting. firefighters want to see more direct contact between the city and the department. when the city... the council... or department heads make important reach out to the firefighters. mayor brown says the next cedar falls fire chief should be chosen sometime in december. breaking news this morning: a plane carrying a soccer team from brazil has crashed. 81 people were on the flight that went down in colombia. five people survived. everyone else died in that crash. the team was on its way to a regional tournament. no word yet on what went wrong,

continuing coverage this morning: students go back to class this morning at ohio state after emergency? caller: hi, i'm at ohio state, right outside of watts hall and there is a guy who crashed his car into a bunch of people and ran out with a knife chasing down people." 11 were hurt -- including one person who has critical injuries. a campus police officer shot and killed the suspect. the attacker -- an ohio state student -- posted a rant bef he wrote on what appears to be his facebook page -- that he reached a boiling point -- and made a reference to a lone wolf attack. the killer was a somali refugee who lived in pakistan before coming to the u-s as a legal permanent resident two years ago. investigators are searching his apartment. f-b-i agents have been seen walking in and out with bags of potential evidence. ohio's governor says the university will be stronger -- having learned a lot from what happened. to the people that run security here, they will even up their

outstanding and heroic performance on the part of our first responders." he says it's not just the students who go there now who are dealing with this. he says anyone who has ever been linked to ohio state has been affected by what happened. this is video of a prayer vigil held for the victims. police say one of their officers was on the scene within a minute yesterday and killed the attacker -- a man wanted by police dies after being shot by an off-duty officer. police say the officer was shopping in a store in illinois -- when he saw the suspect. the officer later shot him but the suspect was still able to get into a car and drive away. he crashed about a mile down the street -- and then died. we don't know why the man was wanted by police. heading to court today -- the bus driver accused in that deadly crash last week in tennessee. johnthony walker faces several

hospital. investigators say they found no drugs or alcohol in his system -- and at this point -- it's still unclear why he was not on his regular route when the bus crashed. today, jury selection picks up in south carolina in the case against dylann roof. he's accused of killing nine people inside a church. the judge says roof is competent to stand trial. a judge also says roof can represent himself in court -- as his own attorney. wildfires are forcing people out of their homes -- and also away from a popular tourist spot. burning around gatlinburg, tennessee. several roads and trails through great smoky mountain national park have been closed. wind gusts keep bringing down trees -- which is helping the fires to spread rapidly. this week, a memorial will open for 19 firefighters who lost their lives fighting a wildfire in arizona. the yarnell hill fire three years ago -- was the deadliest for firefighters in 80 years. doctors are stumped about a

three people died and five others got sick after eating the same thanksgiving meal in california. church volunteers made the meal -- and it was served at an "we're interviewing people that we know are ill and we're also trying to find people who might have been...had some symptoms but maybe didn't seek any healthcare...so kind of we're trying to get the word out to people who attended that to let us know if they were ill." four others have been released. rescue crews find a couple that disappeared over the weekend. they went for a drive in the were stuck in the snow... "we weren't planning on being burthn e tire, burn the tire day. but they showed up, and we're just like, 'we're so glad to be out of there.' i just want to

both were checked out by doctors and are going to be ok. transition. we're expecting more announcements today from the trump transition team. plus mitt romney's back for a second meeting today. tracie potts also has the latest on a possible recount in some states. "there will be a number of very important announcements tomorrow." those announcemeto congressman tom price as secretary of health and human services. he's an orthopedic surgeon, and he's been the republicans' point person to rewrite the affordable care act. tennessee senator bob corker is among seven people scheduled to meet with the trump team today. he's emerged as a viable contender for secretary of state, as insiders clash over mitt romney for that job. romney's in new york for a second meeting with the president elect today. meantime the recount is on in wisconsin. "i'm confident that the

win." it's going to cost three and a half million dollars. green party candidate jill stein - who requested the recount - says they raised the money overnight. "almost 140,000 donors have stood up to say, 'we deserve an election system that we can have confidence in.'" but experts tell nbc recounts in wisconsin, michigan and pennsylvania are unnecessary. "it was very clear that fraud was not widespread. that it was not happening as a result of this." pennsylvania republicans say the recount is "totally and completely without merit." michigan republicans a clinton to publicly ask jill stein to call it off. i'm tracie potts in washington, now back to you. trump also spent an hour yesterday with retired general david patraeus -- another contender -- for secretary of state. the flight log for a university president is getting a second look.

heat for his personal use of school planes. steven leath is being audited by the board of regents after a hard landing of an i-s-u plane following a vacation. leath initially didn't believe the log was public record -- but later gave over the log to be reviewed. today, the public will get a chance to meet the first finalist in the running to be u-n-i's next president. neil theobald served as president of temple from 20-12 until august of this year. he'll visit campus today. afternoon -- beginning at 2-30 in the old central ballroom of maucker union. there are three finalists -- each will visit campus this week. the second finalist will be announced this morning. the board of regents meets next week to pick the new president. the holiday season comes with a big gift for the university of iowa college of medicine. the roy j carver charitable trust is giving 45-million dollars to the university in order to create a neuroscience center within the college of medicine. the university of iowa has also

permanent renaming of the new institute when the regents meet next week. the college of medicine is named after roy j and lucille a carver. love can team -- even the wildest of hearts. and even when the groom's name is "wild bill". a world war two veteran has tied the knot the age of 91. he met his bride at the armed forces retirement home in mississippi, where they both live. paradise as i am going to get on this earth." find love. the time now is a long, cold night for football fans -- waiting to get their hands on a plus -- making christmas brighter from military families all over the u-s. these stories and the storm track seven forecast from rachael pert

stand back, ya hear!

[music] no, no, no, no, people are both soft and strong... yey! which is why our products are too.

"now your storm track 7 forecast on kwwl." let's go to storm track seven meteorologist eileen loan now 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: behind the cold front yesterday, today will be mild in comparison. partly cloudy skies will continue through daytime hours. highs today will be above average in the mid 40s to the north and low 50s to the south. winds could be a little breezy at

most part won't be an issue. tonight, additional clouds begin to track in ahead of a weather-maker that could bring a few flurries overnight...there most likely will not be any accumulation by sunrise on wednesday. wednesday brings the potential for a light rain/snow mix across eastern iowa. the best chance would be in our northern counties but toward the south. temperatures tomorrow will be cooler - low 40s for all. we dry out late week as high pressure tracks in but sunshine might not return until friday. behind the cold front yesterday, today will be mild in comparison. partly cloudy skies will continue through daytime hours.

today will be above average in the mid 40s to the north and low 50s to the south. winds could be a little breezy at times but for the most part won't be an issue. tonight, additional clouds begin to track in ahead of a weather-maker that could bring a few flurries overnight...there most likely will not be any accumulation by sunrise on wednesday. for a light rain/snow mix across eastern iowa. the best chance would be in our northern counties but won't rule out seeing a mix

cooler - low 40s for all. we dry out late week as high pressure tracks in we're continuing to follow breaking a crash happening on highway 20 in waterloo. you're getting a live look this morning out of waterloo right now. we have a crew on the way. at this point -- no word if anyone is injured at this point. stay with kwwl as we learn more

it's hard to wrap this christmas gift -- but the delivery will still be a big surprise for many families all over the country. plus the panthers are getting ready for post-season play. the u-n-i volleyball team is

this week, the panther

nc- double-a tournament. this is the 20th time the panthers have made it in the history of their program. uni finished 24 and 9 and rebounded from a slow start. they began the season 6 and 5. uni plays creighton thursday afternoon in lawrence, kansas. the two teams met earlier this year with the blue jays winning in straight sets. neither michigan nor ohio state is in the big ten championship game. it's penn state against wisconsin on saturday. penn state students are camping out for tickets. football game since i was six months old, so this is really, really exciting!" the badgers and nittany lions play at seven on saturday night in indianapolis. holiday cheer is being spread to soldiers -- one tree at a time. christmas tree farms are teaming up with fed-ex to put on trees

shipped out to military families all over the u-s. they'll be delivered to more than 60 military bases. it's you're watching today in iowa on k-

check of your storm track seven forecast. here's a live look outside at , there's another hour of today in iowa coming up right here on

now on today in iowa... strong storms move through eastern iowa -- we're tracking down damage. plus...a lack of communication. an iowa city working to make sure firefighters are in the and traveling to cuba -- interest could spike after fidel castro's death -- but there are still restrictions in place. good morning, i'm ally crutcher and i'm jerry gallagher. unseasonably warm throughout the month -- we see tornados in iowa -- in november. funnel clouds and tornadoes. parkersburg -- which saw an ef-5 tornado back in 2008 -- held its breath as a funnel cloud passed through town. this time -- a shed blown off roof damage. in radcliffe -- that's in hardin county -- people say they heard gusty winds and loud booms.