Thanks to low gas prices. Its been the gift that keeps on giving all year. The National Average for gasoline has dropped below 2 dollars a gallon, triplea estimates drivers are saving about 550 dollars total this year. Experts attribute the current excess of crude oil and a fall in demand for the drop in fuel prices. Deborah if youve been procrastinating your Holiday Shopping, you may not be out of luck. Waiting until the last minute, could even benefit your bottom line. Mark ellwood, author bargain fever the sales this year are looking better are desperate to sell us things many stores are offering anywhere from 20 to 75 percent off already reduced prices today. Plus, because of the unseasonably warm sthe winter. Theres deep discounts on cold weather clothes and accessories. And if youve waited this long. Dont feel guilty. Only ten percent of americans have all of their Holiday Shopping done. Now, if you still need to ship gifts to your loved ones, be prepared to dig deep into your wallet. Today is the deadline for one day shipping. But it will cost you two to three times the price of regular shipping. Alternatives like amazon prime could even allow you to order last minute for a small fee. But they make up for it with yearly memberships. Deborah if youve ever been on the recieving end of a random act of kindness. However small. Big impact it can make on your outlook. Well, here at abc9. We had a secret santa come to us with an idea. He handed over three thousand dollars. And wanted us to help him give it away to strangers. So, we enlisted the help of some christmas elves from the Woodbury CountySheriffs Office. And what happened next is going to warm your heart this holiday season. Take a look woman says, holy buckets woman cries. Says, thank you so much woman shouts excitedly, thank you last thursday, armed with envelopes filled with 200 cash, each, we got to fufill an anonymous donors Christmas Wish give this money, and a little goodwill, to 15 unsuspecting siouxlanders. Deputies from the Woodbury CountySheriffs Office drove us around and helped spot some folks they could tell needed a little holiday cheer. Deputy jim mccrystal says, were just looking for people that we want to maybe things just areant going their way at this point and time, financially, and we just want to help them out as much as we can, so its great that our secret santa is in a position to donate this money. One man invited us into his home where hes caring for four children. He says its been a tough year paying the bills, and the money, is a bit of a relief. Man says, absolutely, because this has been a slow year as far was work goes; you know, ready, willing, and able to work, but the ground was soft and, you know, so work just wasnt there this year, so this is awesome. Jerry cruz, Woodbury County transport officer, says, its a lot of fun. It makes me feel good to be able to share the holiday spirit with people that [you can] make it a little bit easier everyone we met needed this money, especially this time of year. Woman says, im so overwhelmed, i cant believe it. It couldve have come at a better time for me an my kids. But, even more than that, maybe, they needed hope someone to care about them someone who understands that the holidays arent easy for everybody. Womans says, you kind of lose faith a little bit at christmas time, and this kind of gives it back a little bit. And, you never know how far a little hope can go. In sioux city, with chief photographer johnathan mack, jenna rehnstrom, abc9 news. Deborah we have no idea who our secret but he says he had a good year at work this year and he wanted to pay it forward. And, we want to say thank you for that. Deborah christmas came early for hundreds of siouxland parents. As they got to pick out gifts for their kids. For free. It was distribution day at the Salvation Army for their operation toys drive yesterday. People lined up in shifts. To pick out toys for their children. They also got to take home food baskets. A new coat, hat and mittens. Over 500 families are getting toys, including tiffany, who says this makes a huge impact during the holidays. Tiffany escobar says, im getting help with four kids. I actually have eight kids, so this means a lot to me helps me out in a lot of different ways and puts a big smile on my kids face. Deborah abc9 and bomgaars are proud partners in bringing donations for deborah still to come. Ill introduce you to mabel the hippo. Who is making her grand debut at a zoo in omaha. See this cute girl in action. Up next. Scott well have. Rain snow chances, more precip chances in the 7day, plus your christmas forecast youre watching abc9 news this morning. Jessica rae. And scott larson. And afternoon, taper off after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, high 38. Tonight, clouds linger, low 22. Tomorrow, Christmas Eve light passing snow possible, partly cloudy and cooler, high 33. Christmas day light passing snow possible in afternoon, but chance increases overnight with a 60 chance mix. Mostly cloudy, high 36. Holiday travel plans should run smoothly weather wise. Could be blustery saturday with snow. Were are keeping an eye on the potential for a next week. Jessica rae scott adlib deborah if the song i want and afternoon, should start to taper off after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, high 38. Tonight, clouds linger, low 22. Tomorrow, Christmas Eve light passing snow possible, partly cloudy and cooler, high 33. Christmas day light passing snow possible in afternoon, but chance increases overnight with a 60 chance mix. Mostly should run smoothly weather wise. Could be blustery saturday with snow. Were are keeping an eye on the potential for a bigger system early next week. Jessica rae scott adlib deborah if the song i want a hippopotamus for christmas, describes your holiday wish list. Prepare to get jealous. Visitors at omahas Henry Doorly Zoo are actually getting one the pygmy hippo calf. Mabel was born in october. But she finally took to the water yesterday as delighted visitors looked on. The Henry Doorly Zoo got a hippopotamus for christmas. Mabel, the two month old pygmy hippo flopped a little on the rocks before a big dive in front of visitors. The baby got some swimming lessons before coming out tuesday. christie eddie, zoo curator the water is very deep so we dont want to have a baby born on exhibit, and hippo calves actually have to learn how to swim, they dont know how to swim when they are first born, and so obviously in the wild the mother would gradually take it, you know, wading in, while we have to control our level because we dont have the rivers edge. So we do the swimming lessons in holding. Mabel was born october first, weighing 19 pounds. Just a few months old, zoo staff says shes already weighing 76 pounds. This hhungry hippo will get very very big. When shes fully grown, mabel will weigh between 350 and 600 pounds. Thats still about oneeighth the size of the common hippopotamus. Mabel will spend her time between swims and head bobs and resting on the rocks with her mother, chomel, for the next year or so. Zoo staff says after a couple of years its rare to find mother and calf together in the wild. Pygmy hippos are pretty seclusive, independent mammals. Pygmies in us zoos. Theyre considered endangered because of habitat destruction, but in her habitat today, its all smooth swimming, something that had kids like owen neilsen transfixed. amanda neilsen, visitor they were entranced, they just couldnt leave watching her swim by, waiting for her to swim by, waiting for her to swim by again. Deborah and if mabel didnt put a smile on your face. Maybe 20 sea turtles will. The turtles were rescued by volunteers from North Carolina from dangerously cold temperatures. Reporter Hannah Patrick tells us what happened. And how the hospital decided to name the little guys. nats and here comes yoda. The star wars gang is all here. Off a plane from new england. Okay. Not the real star wars cast. But Karen Beasley sea turtle rescue founder jean beasley says these 20 turtles were named after them. what else could we choose this year, but the force awakens volunteer Corda Johnson has been waiting for them for weeks. i read about it. I heard about it and was just waiting for the moment that it happens and you get a call and youre just ready and you come in. johnson and several others came in. Not because of their star wars fame. But because these turtles are in danger. coldstuns beasley says they did not get the message. that at a certain time of year you need to get out of the shallow feeding grounds, because youre going to get zapped. zapped with dangerously cold temperatures. so if the water is 36 degrees, they are going to be dropping to that eventually. then. They are stranded. they just freeze in place. thats when help comes in. there are a lot of great folks up in new england that walk the beaches looking for them. then. They are flown to facilities across the southeast with so cold. we all shift turtles around to get them the best care that we possibly can. they do run into one of the Biggest Challenges every year. keeping them with the right name with the right number with the right turtle. but by the end of the turtles stay. These volunteers hope to send this stars wars cast back to the ocean. With lightsaber power to zap off any kind danger. nats deborah when we come back. Are fashion models too thin . Well there are new calls to regulate the health of models. Ill bring you the details. Runway models. To make sure they are healthy. France just passed a law that in effect bans excessively thin models. And now Public Health experts here are urging officials do the same. Abcs reena ninan has more. They are the epitome of glamour. The models that define style and beauty. [nats fashion show] fire from critics who say that most models are dangerously thin, katherine record the modeling industry definitely encourages women often explicitly so to maintain extremely thin frames. In a new editorial Public Health experts and eating disorder professionals say the industry body standard is hazardous and encouraging problems like eating disorders and body dysmorphia. They write . Runway models are, by definition and professional necessity, starving to death. They are urging the us to regulate and set a standard bmi a working model must meet. Just last week, france passed such a law requiring models to have a doctors note proving that they are healthy. Katherine record Harvard School of Public Health we have statistics such as 70 of adolescents report that they define the ideal body image as what they see in magazines, fashion magazines. Record says that the average model who makes it big on the International Stage has a bmi of 14 which is 2 points below the World Health Organizations definition of starvation. She wants the Us Administration to require all models to have a bmi of 18 and above. Katherine record Harvard School of Public Health 170745 a bmi of 14 or below is not naturally skinny. You are at great risk at any time of day for cardiac arrest. For good morning america, reena ninan, abc news, new york deborah Elisa Deborah and elisa are chatting about fashion models. Deborah and elisa are chatting about fashion models. Deborah and elisa are chatting about fashion models. Deborah and elisa are chatting about fashion models. Scott deborah and elisa are chatting about fashion models. Deborah and Elisa Deborah and elisa are chatting about and afternoon, should start to taper off after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, high 38. Tonight, clouds linger, low 22. Tomorrow, Christmas Eve light passing snow possible, partly cloudy and cooler, high 33. Christmas day light passing snow possible in afternoon, but chance increases overnight with a 60 chance mix. Mostly cloudy, high 36. Holiday travel plans should run smoothly weather wise. Could be blustery saturday the potential for a bigger system early next week. Scott heres a quick check outside on one of our iowa dot traffic cams here at. Many folks still waking up and starting their workday. Please drive safely everyone. Deborah thanks elisa. A tech giant is teaming up with an America Car Company to make a selfdriving vehicle. Abcs reena ninan nine an and Kendis Gibson have the details. In todays techbytes, google teaming u with ford. Online reports claim that the two companies have been in talks with the goal of creating a new selfdriving car. A deal could be announced as early as next month. Just in time for the holidays, several new Family Friendly game titles rolling out for google chromecast, including speed boat paradise and hasbros monopoly here and now. Theres also yahtzee blitz. They are available for download at the chromecast apps store. The robotic reindeer are the work of boston dynamics. Note it takes three to pull the slgh, not eight. Guess this means rudolph, youre out of a job. And thankfully mrs. Claus is hun ere. Those are you techbytes. Have a great day, everyone. Still not feeling well . No. You know when i got sick my mom useto make me chicken noodle soup. Aw, ok. Campbells chicken noodle soup. There when no one else is. Campbells. Made for real, real life. Just head arnd the corner to walgreens when youre searching for that perfectct little something. Walgens has great gifts like toys, beauty gift sets, and photo gifts, and its all just a hop, skip, and a bark away. Right now, save 50 americans will serve for their holiday dinner. But how about Something Different . Howard is here with a recipe that will make your family run to the table. With christmas dinner right around the corner, now is the time you should be thinking about what to serve. How about going all out youre not familiar with how to cook one, let me show you. And its really simple. We start by picking up a standing rib roast. I suggest getting it boneless, which makes it a whole lot easier when it comes to carving. As for the size, the rule of thumb is about three quarters of a pound per person. Now, to give this lots of flavor, we rub it with a mixture of kosher salts, coarsely ground pepper, thyme, as well as some garlic and onion powder. Just make sure you place it on a rack fat side up. This way, the drippings will help keep it nice and moist. Okay, into a hot oven itll go to seal in its juices. And after a bit, turn down the oven so it cooks low and slow. It takes about 20, 25 minutes per pound for medium rare. And once its done, tent it with foil and let it rest for about 15 minutes. This keeps it juicy. While its resting, well deglaze the pan with a bit of red wine and some beef broth. What you end up with is slice after slice of pure heaven. After one bite, youll know why this is one of my favorites. I hope youll go online, and get the recipe for our roasted prime rib of beef so you can share one of my family traditions with your family and friends. Im howard in the mr. Food test kitchen, where to say ooh its so good. Deborah coming up. The war of words between Hillary Clinton and donald trump continues to heat up. Ill bring you the latest on the grudge between the two front runners. After the break. Scott rain snow today, more precip chances in 7day, plus christmas forecast happy wednesday rain mixing with snow this morning and afternoon, should start to taper off after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, high 38. Tonight, clouds linger, low 22. Tomorrow, Christmas Eve light passing snow high 33. Christmas day light passing snow possible in afternoon, but chance increases overnight with a 60 chance mix. Mostly cloudy, high 36. Holiday travel pns should run smoothly weather wise. Could be blustery saturday with snow. Were are keeping an eye on the potential for a bigger system early next week. Jessica rae snow this morning and afternoon, should start to taper off after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, high 38. Tonight, clouds linger, low 22. Tomorrow, possible, partly cloudy and cooler, high 33. Christmas day light passing snow possible in afternoon, but chance increases overnight with a 60 chance mix. Mostly cloudy, high 36. Holiday travel plans should run smoothly weather wise. Could be blustery saturday with snow. Were are keeping an eye on the potential for a bigger system early next week. Snow this morning and afternoon, should start to taper off after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, high 38. Tonight, clouds Christmas Eve light passing snow possible, partly cloudy and cooler, high 33. Christmas day light passing snow possible in afternoon, but chance increases overnight with a 60 chance mix. Mostly cloudy, high 36. Holiday travel plans should run smoothly weather wise. Could be blustery saturday with snow. Were are keeping an eye on the potential for a the preview of a general election matchup between donald trump and Hillary Clinton the billionaire went on a twitter rant to explain what he really meant when he used a sexually derogatory term while attacking clinton. Abcs Kenneth Moton has the latest. Donald trump fired back at the media overnight for his use of a vulgar term to describe Hillary Clintons 2008 loss. Trump she was favored to win and she got schlonged beep she lost, i mean she lost. That bleeped word refers to the male anatomy. On urban dictionary, its described as a sexually degrading act. Last night, trump tweeted saying he meant clinton got beaten badly in the 2008 race. He then blamed the media. Clinton thats why its important to stand up to bullies wherever they are clinton didnt respond directly to trump during her iowa rally. But Bernie Sanders did. Sanders donald trump is very for him to deal with i dont know what his relationship with women has been in his life but he has discovered that women go to the bathroom. Sanders. Making light of trumps attack on clinton after her bathroom break during the abc news democratic debate. Its not the first time trumps comments have insulted women. His public battles with fox news host meghan kelly and gop rival Carly Fiorina made headlines earlier this year. Donna brazile sot its the mark of a man who i believe has no respect for women whatsoever. His reaction to being challenged by a woman is to attack her with coarse, vulgar and metro kept police busy yesterday morning. The chase began around 11 am. When South Sioux City pd tailed a black chevy dakota avenue traveling north. Reaching speds of 60 Miles Per Hour at some points. The chase then crossed the bridge over to sioux city. Where the vehicle sideswiped a car before stoping near 3rd and jennings street. Thats where the driver fled on foot. No word on any arrests made during the incident Deborah Austin roberts was a senior on Spencer High Schools wrestling team and passed away from Natural Causes on saturday. Some of austins teammates took time to share their memories and to celebrate a young man who they describe as a brother. Seniors on the team are sticking together to lift each others spirits in honor of friend and teammate Austin Roberts. Coaches say that it hasnt been easy for the boys emotionally, but they are depending on one another to help ease the pain. Theyre together in this and nobody else knows what theyre going through other than each created a little bit of a bond in our already tight family. Theyve seen the support thats come from the state, the country, the world. Through messages and things like that, said gress. Teammates say austin was a kind soul, willing to help others and able to get along with just about anyone. Services for austin will begin sunday with a visitation in the Spencer High School gym. Thats sunday from 3 to 5 pm. His funeral will be held monday at 1030 in the morning, also at the high school. An overwhelming amount of people have already shown their support for Austin Roberts family, donating to a go fund me page set up in their honor. Over 44 thousand dollars has been raised by over 850 different people and organizations across the midwest. Many of those coming from fellow wrestling groups and programs. If youre interested, we have a link to the page at siouxland matters dot com. Deborah were learning more about a disturbibng discovery in rural northeast nebraska. Authorities have revealed that the remains of two people were found in a truck near pierce. Authorities got the call after a vehicle was spotted on fire in a field about 10 miles outside of town monday afternoon. After putting out the fire, investigators say they discovered the remains of two people in the cab of the charred pickup truck. Investigators are now working to determine their identities and cause of death. Pierce county sheriff Rick Eberhart says, the scene was processed and now its a current investigation and an autopsy will be performed sometime today on the two sets of remains that were found in the vehicle. Deborah according to a state patrol believes that the deaths may have been a murder suicide. Authorities say they are waiting on the results of the autopsies to positively identify the bodies and confirm the exact cause of death. Deborah coming up in sports. High school teams wrapped up their preholiday season last night. Well head to hinton and lawton coming up after the break. Scott rain snow today, more precip chances, plus university recently released the results of its annual farm Land Value Survey. For more on this. We are joined as always by Dennis Morris from kl em radio. Good morning dennis. What did the Land Value Survey show . Dennis good morning deborah. Well, the survey actually showed that the average price of farmland in iowa had declined nearly four percent across the state. Now, that may not be all that surprising, given the fact that Agricultural Commodity prices and farm income are however, melissa orourke, a Farm Management specialist with Iowa State University extension and outreach says the surprise is how little the Farmland Values did go down. Orourke1 36 outcue than the 3. 9 percent. as said when you talk about a surprise, the one surprise that might have been in that was that it wasnt quite as much as some people were expecting. You know, last year in 2014, the isu Land Value Survey showed an eight pointnine percent decrease in Farmland Values. And as you point out, i think everyone is well aware, we got these decreases in farm income, and so, some of our prognosticators were expecting a larger decrease than the three pointnine percent 3. 9 . Dennis orourke says the average price of land per acre across the state was listed at 7,633 per acre. However, many counties in northwest iowa saw an increase in the northwest iowa Crop Reporting district, had land values average 9,685 per acre, which translates to a pointseven . 7 percent increase. Orourke says Obrien County leads the way. sot orourke3 33 outcue some bright spots. as said yeah, Obrien County actually saw a one pointsixnine 1. 69 percent increase, going from 10,699 to 10,881. Osceola county also had a little bit of an increase for the same amount at one pointsixnine 1. 69 percent. Plymouth county had a little bit of a decrease at two pointohseven 2. 07 percent. Woodbury county had close to a four percent decrease. But at least for some of those northwest iowa counties, there are some bright spots. Dennis the Iowa State UniversityFarm Management specialist says land value remained statistically steady and unchanged dropping only five dollars and acre from the 10,817 an acre in 2014 to 10,813 an acre in 2015. Deborah dennis, so which iowa county has the highest land value . Dennis deborah, for several years that title has belonged to scott county which is where davenport is located, next to the mississippi river. Scott county still ranks as the top county with an average Farmland Value at 10,918 per acre. Deborah thank you dennis, and may you have a Merry Christmas. Dennis thank you deborah, and i hope you have a Merry Christmas too. Last night of High School Basketball before the christmas break and hinton continued a unique yearly tradition. Heres chris with the details. Natcrowd cheering chris palmquistgood morning everybody Taylor University in indiana is best known for the silent night tradition, when fans are silent until the team scores its tenth point of the game and then erupt. For the fourth straight year, hinton, as you just saw, has done the same. Lets head back up there now for the action on the court. Hinton hosting akron westfield. Were scoreless a couple of minutes in but what a start here. Jay small gets the steal and the slam, blackhawks take the lead. But wyatt heyl responds immediately. He connects from later on, the allard twin connection pays off. Austin gets the steal and the outlet ahead to aaron for the layup, westerners within two. But logan jurgensmeier, we saw this play earlier. Hoop and the hack. The crowd gets into it at that point and hinton runs away from there. They cruise, 7538. And in the girls game earlier on the same court. Late in the third. Bailey davis with the outlet ahead to brynn van eldik. The westerners take the 3433 lead. Then in the fourth. Davis, finds ann hedlund all alone under the basket. Adub stretches the lead to four. But back come the blackhawks. Kailey burke. The states leading scorer, gets it to go on the weak side. Then nice ball Laura Brighton for the long two. With 13 seconds to play but van eldik, picks off the inbounds pass and lays it home. Akronwestfield wins it 4541. Down to lawton. The eagles hosting seventh ranked heelan in a non conference tilt. And in the fourth, the crusaders up big. Wesley myers, with the nice finish inside. Heelan up 75 39. But the eagles fight til the final forecast. Scott good morning and happy wednesday rain mixing with snow this morning and afternoon, should start to taper off after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, high 38. Tonight, clouds linger, low 22. Tomorrow, Christmas Eve light passing snow possible, partly cloudy and cooler, high 33. Christmas day light passing chance increases overnight with a 60 chance mix. Mostly cloudy, high 36. Holiday travel plans should run smoothly weather wise. Could be blustery saturday with snow. Were are keeping an eye on the potential for a we surpised unsuspecting siouxlaners with holiday cheer. And cash. Thanks to our secret santa plus heres what you can expect coming up on gma deborah families after he came to us with an idea. Take the three thousand dollars cash he gave us. And give it out to people who might need a little help. So, last week, we with the Woodbury CountySheriffs Office. Handing out in envelopes containing two hundred dollars the reactions were priceless and we know the money went to some folks who could really use some good cheer season. Woman says, greatful, very greatful. We have four kids here and jeez, this is wonerful, guys, thank you. Young mom says, weve been struggling with bills and having to see if were going to have enough to buy presents for each one of them, so its a really big blessing. We have no idea who our secret santa is. But he says he had a good year at work this year and he wanted to pay it forward. And, we want to deborah a former homeless man and his beloved dog are together again after the dog ran away. The Dubuque Humane Society and friends at the Dubuque Rescue Mission helped reunite the pair. Theyre making sure the two dont get separated again. Katie wiedemann has the story. Curt recently fell on to some hard times. His wife was placed in a nursing home and he became homeless. So when his companion vanished from a bus stop, curt was devastated. But someone did. A Good Samaritan found sassy and took her to the Dubuque Humane Society. Meanwhile, curts friends at the rescue Mission Posted information on facebook about this missing dog. That post was shared more than 300 times. Staff at the Humane Society saw the post and made the connection. Again. After learning of curts circumstances, the staff pooled their money to cover all the costs. And brought sassy and curt back together. Deborah some last minute gift ideas now. Start whining and crying. Curt recently fell on to some hard times. His wife was placed in a nursing home and he became homeless. So when his yes, some people do that. The nebraska Humane Society hosted a Holiday Party for dogs in their shelter yesterday. Complete with easy to make presents. Spread Peanut Butter in boxes, wrapped them, and gave them to the animals in the kennels. Organizers came up with the idea when thinking of inexpensive ways to keep dogs from chewing up furniture while theyre stuck inside during the holidays. Christmas came early for orangutans at the erie zoo in pennsylvania. Zoo Officials Say the presents for primates event is not only fun for the animals, but good exercise too. They use the instincts they would use in the wild, searching for tasty treats hidden in brightly colored wrapped boxes. Emily Antolik erie zoo they love Animal Crackers and trail mix and fruit and oat bars thats what youll be seeing today. Deborah after the orangutans find the food, they play with the boxes and paper, sometimes using it to build nests. Jessica rae scott adlib scott erie zoo in pennsylvania. Zoo Officials Say the presents for primates event is good exercise too. Good morning and happy wednesday rain mixing with snow this morning and afternoon, should start to taper off after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, high 38. Tonight, clouds linger, low 22. Tomorrow, Christmas Eve light passing snow possible, partly cloudy and cooler, high 33. Christmas day light passing snow possible in afternoon, but chance increases overnight with a 60 chance mix. Mostly cloudy, high 36. Holiday travel plans should run smoothly weather blustery saturday with snow. Were are keeping an eye on the potential for a bigger system early next week. Snow this morning and afternoon, should start to taper off after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, high 38. Tonight, clouds linger, low 22. Tomorrow, Christmas Eve light passing snow possible, partly cloudy and cooler, high 33. Christmas day light passing snow possible in afternoon, but chance increases overnight with a 60 chance mix. Mostly cloudy, high 36. Holiday travel plans should run smoothly weather wise. Could be blustery saturday with snow. Were are keeping an eye on the potential for a bigger system early next week