Transcripts For KTIV News 4 Today 20151223

The woman accused of plowing her car into pedestrians in las vegas was a poster child from turning her life around. Purpose, but theyre not sure why. As Stephanie Elam reports, shes now facing murder charges. Portland opportunities industrializati on center where she helped at risk youth. In 2012, holloway was honored for her achievements and even spoke about overcoming the odds. lakeisha holloway, crash suspect today, i am not the same scared girl i used to be, im a mature young woman whos broken many generational cycle that those before me hadnt. Being homeless and on my own taught me how to stand on my own two feet. But Police Believe holloway and her 3 yearold daughter were living out of her car since arriving in las vegas about a week before the hit and run. A test for alcohol came back negative but police say she may have been on a stimulant. michal jackson, witness at first we thought she was drunk because she was going slowly like on the curve but then when she accelerated its like butted to it seemed like thehe was a purpose to her actions. Accused Colorado Planned Parenthood shooter robert dear is will be in court today. Dear faces more than one hundred felony charges related to the shooting and stand off police say he orchestrated the one police officer. In a Previous Court appearance dear admitted his guilt. Saying he was a warrior for the babies. The Nebraska State Patrol says it found two bodies in a burned out truck near pierce, nebraska. The vehicle fire occured monday afternoon. Officials say the incident apapars to be a murder suicide. Authorities say prelimininary identification has been made on the remains and autopsies have been scheduled. The names of the two found dead wont be released until the autopsies are complete, but the state patrol says they believe the two are from northeast nebraska. Traveling this Holiday Season . If so, you might want to take steps to make sure that the grinch doesnt try to steal your stuf at home while youre away. Twenty years ago, mike nowlens house was broken into. He moved, and has since learned to keep a much closer eye on the cars that drive by his house. And strangers in the neighborhood. Sioux city police agree with nowlens precautions. Know whos in your neighborhood. If you recognize that somebodys here thats not from your neighborhood scott hatting, Sioux City Police dept. Sgt. Hatting says there are lots of ways to prevent burglaries. If youre expecting a delivery, have a neighbor keep an eye out for it. At night, keep your front porch light lit. Hatting says burglars dont want to be seen. And, during the day, make sure you lock your doors before leaving the house. Sioux city police also report a rash of car break ins, and thefts. Authorities say its a crime thats easy to prevent. First, never leave any valuables in your vehicle. The majority of thieves check the car doors to see if theyre open, so always lock your doors. And if theyre able to get into the car, thieves will rummage around so dont leave a spare key in the vehicle. Its one of those things, its a preventable crime. You know a lot of these we get there were like k we give tips when we get there, but unfortunately its too late the party were talking to. Keep those valuables hidden, said Sioux City Police officer, sgt. Scott hatting. Sergeant hatting says the easiest way to o avoid becoming a victim is to take anything valuable out of your vehicle. The Armed Robbery of a north sioux city, south dakota. Convenience store, says hes not guilty of the crime. The robbery happened back on december 1st at the Caseys General store on river drive. 25yearold mykel booth from atlanta was arrested in sioux falls. He faces several charges including first degree robbery, assault and grand theft. Investigators say he threatened people inside of the caseys with a gun before taking off with cash. Services are now set for a spencer, iowa wrestler, who collapsed during a meet over the weekend. A visitation for 18year old Austin Roberts begins at 3 00pm on sunday, december 27th, at the Spencer High School gym. Funeral services are sesefor 10 30am, on monday, december 28th, at the Spencer High School gym. It was during the championship round of saturdays spencer invitational that roberts collapsed, and never got back up. This is video of a prior match, and not the one in which roberts collapsed. Yesterday, the state medical examiner conducted an autopsy on roberts body. Results are pending the first female firefighter to join the Sioux City Fire Department is being remembered by family, and friends, as a trailblazer. Jeanne vakulskas died at her home, on sunday night, at the age of 63. Last night, family, friends and Community Members gathered at her visitation at the meyer brothers morningside chapel. They reflected on her legacy. Not only as a firefighter, but also as a mother. Mom has always been very modest about what she accomplished, said jerry plathe, vakulskas son. And i know as a young boy growing up, she was just mom. You know she wasnt this figure that i you know that i realized what she accocolished later in life. Vakulskas funeral is today at st. Joses Catholic Church in sioux city. That begins at 10 30 am. Vakulskas served with the Sioux City Fire Department from 1985 to 2007. Christmas packages on front porches are easy targets for thieves. Coming up, well show you what some companies are doing to keep your deliveries safe this year. Forecast next paris theres a lot to do on a dairy farm. Nobodys gonna do it for you. You have to get out there and do it yourself. Bernie sanders is a wellknown friend of family farms. Bernie cannot be bought out by big money. Bernies opinion cannot be purchased. Its time for our next president to get in there, roll up his sleeves, take off the gloves, take on big business, take on big money, and get the working class back to where they should be. Hes a rock. Another chance of snow coming our way from sunday night into monday and that one may be the biggest of the systems over the Delivery Companies are looking for new ways to keep packages safe from holiday thieves. Bob hansen reportsts we have boutiques like city beach boutique, we have convenient stores, we have mobile phone stores, we have delis. Ups just started the nationwide program in san diego four months ago. Its about convenience and safety. sot summer abuzahrah, store owner unfortunately we have those holiday crooks that want to go t and take other peoples packages. repepter stand up bob hansen ups isnt the only one whos coming up with alternative methods of sticking your package on your front doorstep. A few years back amazon started delivering packages to special lockers set up in local businesses like 7eleven. With more and more online shoppers, porch theft could become a bigger problem every year. Every Delivery Company is fighting to keep their boxes out of the hands of opportunistic thieves. For summer, becoming an access point is not only a chance to help the neighborhood but also to drum up some business. sot summer abuzahrah, store owner we have found so far that one in five shoppers will actually circulate the store and make a purchase for themselves or for that was bob hansen reporting. Some schools are on christmas break right now but well show you one school that is still in session. And these students are helping santas helpers bring joy to the the countdown to christmas is in full swing, getting ready. Courtney reagan has an inside look at a side of the preps you may not have seen before. Oldest, but not the only santa school in the country. Owners holly and tom valent have experience on n eir side, starting with the scscols founder. sot tom valent, charles w. W. Howard santa school dean charlieieas actually the technical director on the original miracle on 34th street as far as what santa should be and what he should do. Founded in 1937 with a handful of trainees this years class numbers 130 students, and theres a wait list every year. The school now packs the learnings of st. Nick into 45 hours over 3 days. sot lowell hendricks, santa student its a calling. Anyone can put on a red suit and beard but they cant all be santa clauses. Now lets be clear these are santas helpers because everyone knows theres only one santa claus. And his helpers arent just supporting the man in the big red suit, but an entire economy around the business of santa too. Santa School Starts around 400, a good custom suit can cost around 25 hundred dont forget the boots, the gloves, the beard. A fake one with wig can run 15 h hdred. But grooming a real beard costs 100 a month. Clients pay santa anywhere from 30 to a couple hundred dollars a hour, but for many its not about the money. sot santa student Warren Mahaffey nsanta claus 11 00 11 paid . Ughhh cookies, milk all kinds of cookies, its fantastic rsanta school 2 14 54 46ish the most rewarding is when you see the look in the childrens eyes santa brings happiness and hope to children and families, but he also brings in traffic, and in some cases revenue, for malls and others like indoor Amusement Park Iplay America. sot Jessica Schwartz Iplay America Sales Marketing vp i think that maybe about 1015 of our holiday business is derived from the fact that we have santa here reporter stand up Courtney Reagan santa visits are evolving like this dreamplace experience by disneys dreamworks. It has 5 rooms and Interactive Digital screens where kids of all ages come to make memories with santa, something you cant do online. Noerr programs runs dreamplace, providing the photographer and santas staff, with contracts at many of americas malls employing over 4,000 people this year. And the santa business is booming. Noerrs sales have grown by 50 since 2010. Today could be a cold and wet day. T. J. Springers in next with the details. And one woman is celebrating her 95th birthday under the golden arches. Why the Fast Food Restaurant for the festivities . It was a few days early. But still a Big Birthday Party for a ryland woman at a mcdonalds restaurant. E woman is turning 9 9 years old on christmtm day. Ananas Sarah Gisriel found out, the party took place at t mcdonalds for a reason. Combined bthday party and celebration of 20 years of employment with the company. Mark levine owns four mcdonalds in the hagerstown area and says harriett is a customer favorite and a hardworking employee. S mark levine restaur ant owner 35 37 quick she catches when we should be better. As a brand, we are responsible for the american public. We are responsible for our brand, and harriett is the spokesman. If ronald ever fell down, im putting Harriett Clopper up there. Harriett was hired in 1995 and has seen thousands of employees come through the system, but that hasnt stopped her from learning or teaching. S Harriett Clopper no super i tried to teach them what i know. Age doesnt slow down harriett who works eight hours a week as a customer greeter and is known as one of the biggest assets to the location. S mark levine restaur ant owner 1 061 13 she never misses a day of work. Shes here before, shes here after if could get a thousand Harriett Cloppers, i would be further ahead. And whats ext for harriett . She says shes pacing herself. S Harriett Clopper no super i cant say day today. Day to day at this point. Loyal customers of the Sharpsburg Mcdonalds hope to have another 20 years of harriett smiles and service. natural sound now is the best time to ask for a raise. its. But were back in just a moment with more news and weather for you on news4 today. First though. Heres a look at some of the events on the ktivdotcom community calendar. Welcome back and thanks for joining us on this wednesday morning. Coming up in this half hour. Continues on the campaign trail. Several president ial hopefuls, including hillary clinton, appeared to take shots at donald trump. The latest on the candidates from washington in a minute. And several people volunteered their time yesterday. The Salvation Army held their annual event. They provided several families with special christmas gifts. Well take yououhere in a little bit. And later, the light that comes from devices like your cell phone or tablet can be harmful to young eyes. Well show you some ways that you can help protect them in healthbeat four. But first tj on on the outdoor weather patio with a preview of what we can expect today. Were hearing from hillary clinton. After donald trump called her a liar and made some crude references to her. Were hearing from hillary clinton. After donald trump called her a liar and made some crude references to her. Trump blames the media. His numbers are still strong. But if he falls, ted cruz is waiting in the wings. Tracie potts is in washington with the latest. Bid. This morning, trumps tweeting that the biased media incorrectly defined his words. But clintons not the only one targeting him sot Bernie Sanders d president ial candidate 28 34 it is so easy for billionaire cowards like trump to pick on poor people. Polls are mixed. A new reuters poll this morning shows trump with triple the support of number two ben carson. sot dr. Ben carson r president ial candidate 41 46 some people have expressed concern that i would quite because my numbers have gone down, im not a quitter. But quinnipiac puts him just four points ahead of ted cruz. sot ted cruz . R president ial candidate 50 58 people are waking up there is an awakening and spirit of revival sweeping this country. That quinnipiac poll found half the country would be embarrassed for trump to be president. But in that poll nearly six in ten republicans say they may not stick with the candidate theyre currently supporting. Im tracie potts in washington, now back to you. Republican president ial candidate Rick Santorum will round out 2015 with a visit to northwest iowa. The former pennsylvania senator will make two stops on december 30th. The first stop is a meet just north of holstein, iowa. The event starts at noon. Santorum is expected to talk ababt his prolife stance, as well as his views on the economy, radical islam and immigration. Republican marco rubio will campaign in sioux city next tuesday night. The Rubio Campaign says the florida senator will outline his vision for a new American Century at the holiday inn, on gordon drive, at 6 45, on tuesday, december 29th. The holidays are a time to give back to the community. Ktivs tiffany lane shows us how one siouxland organization, and its donors, are providing families with gifts for christmas. Gather together around the table on Christmas Day, major von the salvation su for many families here, they the same without the kind donations one. Its been hard this year, said kayla waite, a resident of sioux city. My husband was injured and so were struggling a little bit. And its nice to have people that help and so my kids will have a good christmas. A three Year Old Girl maybe, parents chose gifts for their children from all types of toys that were donated by tristate residents and organizations. The Salvation Army also purchased food from its red kettle donations. It shows that a lot of people care and you know they like to help out the ones, when youre down and out, you need an extra hand helping you, said steve hanner, a sioux city resident. A message that leaves positive cheer during this time of giving. Thank you. Merry christmas. In sioux city, tiffany lane, ktiv news 4. For anyone interested in helping out families for the holidays, you can still army at their red kettle locations until christmas eve. They can be found outside siouxland walmarts, Fareway Stores and hobby lobby among others. There were dozens of volunteers from the community at the annual Salvation Army event. There were volunteers from thompson electric company, the Woodbury County Sheriffs Office and Keller Williams among others. There was also help from the sioux city explorers and their mascot slider. Volunteers say it was important for them to help out, especially during this time of year. Woodbury county will soon be making some big upgrades to its Emergency Services department. And Cf Industries is helping make it happen. It presented a check for 37 thousand dollars to the board of supervisors last night. The donation will be put toward three projects. It will pay for keynote speakers to come to both fire and ems conferences this spring. 14thousanddollars will go to the Regional Hazardous Material Team vehicle at sioux city fire rescue. And 22thousand will be used to purchase anhydrous ammonia detectors for each of the Fire Departments in Woodbury County that dont already have them. Of money we have to ask for from the tax payers. It gives us new, modern equipment to work with and in the case of the safety speakers, its an opportunity to come back and re emphasize how important safety is for everything we do, said Woodbury County director of Emergency Services, gary brown. The board was also presented with a thousanddollar check from performance contractors. That money will be used to upgrade facilities at the Climbing Hill Public Safety center. The light from devices like your cellphone or tablet can have damaging effects on young eyes. Coming up in healthbeat four, well show you how you can help protect them. Ben and ill have your High Pressure briefly builds in but exits quickly out ahead of our next weather makeer. A system is expected to move out of the four Corners Region towards us on Christmas Day and yet again, gives us a chance of that mix of rain and snow during the day. As conditions cool, we could see some light snow from friday night into saturday. Then our more active weather pattern continues with another chance of snow coming our way from sunday night into monday and that one may be the biggest of the many of us can remember a time in our lives when we didnt have cellphones and computers inches from our eyes. But our childrens generation has been staring at these screens since birth. The blue light from those screens can be dangerous for growing eyes, heres Haley Hernandez with healthbeat four. Kiddos. nats but staring into led televisions, computers, tablets and cellphones can cause problems. sot dr. Bridgitte shen lee, optometrist especially from birth to age three, the crystal lens in their eyes are not fully developed. So it causes a lot more damage. The American Academy of pediatrics advises limiting children older than 2 to a maximum of two hours a day on media devices. But even optometrist dr. Bridgitte shen lee mom of two girls, says in todays age limiting exposure isnt always a realistic solution. sot dr. Bridgitte shen lee, optometrist what we eye care providers would like to add to that, when the children are on digital devices, its important for them to wear eye protection. nats this new eye protection can be worn as a coating on glasses and sunglasses with or without a prescription. sot dr. Bridgitte shen lee, optometrist they can continue to do what theyre going to do, you can get a pair of glasses like this, put on to block that harmful blue light. Shen lee said some shades of blue, like we see at t nighttime, are beneficial becaususthey help us sleep, but the glare from screens is at the dangerous end of the colol spectrum, where she suspects te rays can lead to macular degeneration, the second leading cause of insurance partially covers the coating as an upgrade, like antiglare or uv protection. There are also Companies Like gunnar that sell glasses to protect from digital eye strain for about 50 dollars. Still to come this morning. A decision on the south dakota portion of the keystone xl pipeline could be made as soon as next month. And mcdonalds might be adding a cheesy favorite to their kids menu. Well have the details after the break. State regulators could make a decision as early as next month on whether to again approve the south dakota portion of the keystone xl pipeline. The state Public Utilities commission denied requests to throw out the pipeline project. Opponents argued that president november. An attorney for transcanada corp. Says transcanada remains committed to the project, which president. The Commission Chairman says the panel could decide on the stocks rose for a second day yesterday, helped by a stabilization in crude oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial average rose 166 points to 17,417. The nasdaq composite rose 32 points to 5,001. And the s p 500 rose 18 points to 2,039. Energy stocks were gainers as oil prices rose. Mining and materials stocks were also up. Most Financial Markets are expected to trade in a narrow range through the end of the year as traders take time off and the flow of economom leases slows down ovov the holiday period. Owowrs of older model fofo sedans should check to see if their vehicle is part of a recall issued by the car company yesterday. Crown victorias and mercury grand marquis manufactured from 2003 to 2005 are being recalled to fix a problem with headlights. Several drivers have reported sudden failures from their headlight system. Dealers will replace the lighting control module at no cost to owners. Owners will be notified about the recall starting the week of jan. 18. Those with headlight some 10percent of Holiday Shoppers wait until at least december 23 rd to buy last gifts. Thats according to the National Retail federation. The National Coffeehouse chain says its prepping for record starbucks card purchases on christmas eve. Last year, some two andahalf million starbucks cardrdwere purchased on december 24th. That means roughly 17 hundred cards per minute went out the door mcdonalds may soon be adding a love. Its macaroni and cheese. The fast food chain is trying out the popular comfort food at some locations in ohio. According to mcdonalds, its made with real cheese. One serving has 190 calories, which is about the same as a 4 piece chicken mcnuggets meal. Weather after the break. And well have todays top headlines in siouxland. Plus nicholas cage is returning some expensive bones. And Jerry Seinfeld will be grabbing coffee with a special guest. Thats next in the hollywood minute. Time for a look at the news stories making headlines this morning in siouxland. Sioux citys first female fififighter will be laid to rest today. Jeanne vakulskas served with the department from 1985 until 2007. She died at her home on sunday at the age of 63. A visitation was held last night where friends and family remembered vakulskas as a trailblazer. But her son says she was always very modest about what she accomplished. Her funeral is scheduled for 1030 this morning at st. Josephs Catholic Church. Cf industries makes a 37 thousand dollar donation to help upgrade Woodbury County Emergency Services. The donation will be put toward three projects keynote speakers for the fire and ems conferences in the spring, the Regional Hazardous Material Team vehicle and anhydrous ammonia detectors for every Fire Department in the county that doesnt already have one. Cf presented the check to theheoard of s servisors last night. Hundreds of siouxland families will enjoy a christmas meal and army and a lot of generous siouxlanders. ThSalvation Army provided food for 540 families on tuesday. There were also toys for more than onethousand children, donated by siouxlanders and organizations. Volunteers helped hand out the food and gifts, including folks from the Woodbury County Sheriffs Office, the sioux city explorers and Keller Williams realty. Nicolas cage returns a stolen dinosaur skull. And Quentin Tarantino gets his star on the walk of fame. Plus Jerry Seinfield grabs coffee with the president. David daniel has todays hollywood minute. Fame. Samuel l. Jackson was just one of the many famous faces attending the ceremony. Nat pop season 7 of Jerry Seinfelds comedians in cars getting coffee premieres in one week, and his first guest wiwi be none her than the commandnd in chief. Presidenenobamas appearance will mark the first noncomedian guest on the show. For hollywood minute, im david daniel. Still to c me this morning on news 4 today. If youre looking for an easy snack to serve on Christmas Day, weve got you covered. Well head to the kitchen to make coconut snowballs in todays centsable health. And Bishop Heelan took on lawtonbronson last night. Weve got the highlights coming up in the sports fource morning good morning. Thanks for joining us on this december 23. Weve got a lot headed your way in this half hour of news 4 today. Coming up. The driver accused of killing one person and injuring several more after plowing down pedestrians on a las vegas sidewalk goes to court for the first time today. And dont let the grinch ruin your christmas. This time of year, Law Enforcement sees more home and car break ins. As theives look for things to take. A reminder for everyone out there this Holiday Season. And kids arent the only ones who go to school. Special facilities train santas many helpers to bring joy to others this Holiday Season. ll take you to santa school in a bit. Weve also got todods holiday trtria question. But firir, heres tj in for ben this the woman accused of plowing her vegas makes her first t urt appearance today. Policeceay she hit the crowd on purpose, but theyre not sure why. As Stephanie Elam reports, shes now facing murder charges. In 2012, holloway was honored for her achievements and even spoke about overcoming the odds. lakeisha holloway, crash suspect today, i am not the same scared girl i used to be, im a mature young woman whos broken many generational cycle that those before me hadnt. Being homeless and on my own taught me how to stand on my own two feet. But Police Believe holloway and her 3 yearold daughter were living out of her car since arriving in las vegas about a week before the hit and run. A test for alcohol came back negative but police say she may have been on a stimulant. michal jaakson, witness at first we thought she as drunk becauue she was going slowly like on the curve but ththn when she accelerated its like butted to it seemed like there was a purpose to her actions. Accused Colorado Planned Parenthood shooter robert dear is will be in court today. Dear faces more than one hundred shooting and stand off police say he orchestrated the day after thanksgiving thahakilled ththe People Including One Police officer. In a Previous Court appearance dear admitted his guilt. Saying he was a warrior for the babies. New information is out from the Nebraska State Patrol after it found two bodies in a burned out truck near pierce, nebraska. Officials say the incident appears to be a murder suicide. The vehicle fire happened monday afternoon. Authorities say prelimininary identification has been made on the remains and autopsies have been scheduled. The names of the two found dead wont be released until the autopsies are complete, but the state patrol says they believe the two are from northeast nebraska. Traveling this Holiday Season . If so, you might want to take steps to make sure that the grinch doesnt try to steal your stuf at home while youre away. Twenty years ago, mike nowlens house was broken into. He moved, and has since learned to keep a much closer eye on the cars that drive by his house. And strangers in the neighborhood. Know whos in your neighborhood. If you recognize that somebodys here thats not from your neighborhood be a good witness, said sgt. Scott hatting, Sioux City Police dept. Sgt. Hatting says there are lots of ways to prevent burglaries. If youre expecting a delivery, have a neighbor keep an eye out for it. At night, keep your front porch light lit. Hatting says burglars dont want to be seen. And, during the day, make e re you lock your doors before leaving the house. Sioux city police also report a rash of car break ins, and thefts. Authorities say its a crime thats easy to prevent. First, never leave any valuables in your vehicle. The majority of thieves check the car doors to see if theyre open, so always lock your doors. And if theyre able to get into the car, thieves will often rummage around so dont leave a spare key in the vehicle. Its one of those things, its a preventable crime. You know a lot of these we get there were like k we give tips when we get there, but unfortunately its too late the party were talking to. Keep those valuables hidden, said Sioux City Police officer, sgt. Scott hatting. Hatting says the easiest way to avoid becoming a ctim is to take anything valuable out of your vehicle. Sioux citys first female firefighter will be laid to rest today. Jeanne vakulskas served with the department from 1985 until 2007. She died at her home on sunday at the age of 63. A visitation was held last night where friends and family remembered vakulskas as a trailblazer. But her son has a different take. Mom has always been very modest about what she accomplished, said jerry plathe, vakulskas son. And i know as a young boy growing up, she was just mom. You know she wasnt thth figure at i you know that i iealized what she accomplished later in life. Her funeral is scheduled for 1030 this morning at st. Josephs Catholic Church. When we come back. Well head over to the ktiv kitchen for a holiday dessert in todays centsable health. And ill have your complete if youre hosting christmas dinner this year, you might be trying to come up with an easy snack to serve everyone after the meal. Ktivs Sheila Brummer is with Fareway Foods dietician whitney packebush tohows us a simple holiday dessert in todays centsable health. Coconut so much, in just about any form. So, of course i love this dessert. It is, obviously, very heavy on the coconut. S no comment. W ok. So what i did was ppt all of my ingredients in a food processsr, so to saveeyou from, you know, hearing the noise of that, im just going to run through what i put in my food processor. S alright. W so, i do a mix of raw, natural coconut, and a little bit of sweetened coconut. I found that i need the sweetened coconut just for texture, but i like the raw coconut because i add a little bit of maple syrup to sweeten it up, and it has about half the calories of the sweetened. S oh it does . Wow. W so i can really control my it needs a little bit of the sweetened right. I put some coconut oil in there. And this does come as a solid, as you can, obviously its not spilling out. And you want to keep it in the solid form when you put it in the food processor. So dont melt it and then put it in the food processor, this is another great binder thats going to keep our snowballs. S and youre hharing all about coconuuoil. I mean, people even put this ootheir skin, right . Yes, people are going ccazy for coconut oil, so if you have some around your house, i didnt have great place to throw it in this recipe because it ties in perfectly. Add a little vanilla and some coconut milk, and this is what the coconut milk looks like. If you dont want to go buy a can of coconut milk, and you have any kind of almond milk, or soy milk, and probably even regular dairy milk would work just fine. You just need a little bit of moisture for this recipe. S and this was the lite coconut stuff that you used. W and use the lite kind to save the calories. And then i put all of that in a food processor, and this is what i was left with. And you do want it to be a little sticky so you can see when i press it down it kind of stays where im pressing it. Because we are going to form these into little balls. So, all im going to do is take a teaspoon to a tablespoon kind of depending on the size, and, with clean hands of course, form these into whatever size i want, and then once you have these all the way made, pop these in the freezer or the refrigerator, i prefer the freezer, and then you can top these with chocolate, so then you really do have that mounds candy bar. You can definitely leave them just like this, but i like the chocolate, really more than anything to help hold them together. So, i have a couple different ways over in front of you. S do you ever try to add more moisture to try aad make them hold together more, or is it ok if theyre kind of flaky . W it is ok if theyre kind of flaky. Asasong as you trow them in he freezer, they should hold together really well, and i cover mine, some i do completely covered, some i do a dab. It is completely so, however you want to go about it, they do taste like a mounds candy bar, and they are delicious, and only about 100 calories per coconut. S not bad. Alright well, whitney thank you so much. Merry christmas to you. W thank you. S if youd like more information about todays coconut snowballs, go to ktiv. Com and click on the news link. Several siouxland teams were on the Court Last Night for one last game before christmas. And iowa faced Tennessee Tech last night. Well have the highlights from both of those games in the tuesday was the laststhance for many siouxland basketball teams to play before the holiday break. Ktivs brad pautsch has more in the sports fource morning wrap. Later crusaders running the floor Deandre Burnside e with a couple nice moves perfect left handed finish off the glass burnside led all scorers with 27 points and helps lift Bishop Heelan over lawton bronson, 8461. Just a few miles down highway 20, woodry central hosting spirit lake. Early in the 1st clay baldwin nowhere to go on the baseline kicks to Brent Bormann on the perimeter knocks down the triple wildcats out to a 5 point lead. A little later Frankie Ramos gets the feed from ryan kriener splits two defenders and banks it in were tied. 2nd quarter bormann heating up from downtown gets another triple to go but the wildcats unable to stop spirit lake on the other end. Senior billy brown wide open from the wing buries it spirit lake takes care of Woodbury Central on the road, 7153. Coach steve prohm and the clones had a 7point lead at the half. 2nd half the lead went as high as 13. Deonte burton with the bounce pass finds monte morris for the reverse lay in. Morris finished with 16. Just over two minutes left cincy up 1 troy kopain hits at the top of the key for the three. Bearcats up 4. Under 20 seconds left, iowa state down one Georges Niang connects with abdel nader in the corner for the three iowa state takes the 8179 lead. Cincy has a chance to tie or win the 3 is no good the rebound is off too but one last chance is just off and iowa state holds on to win 81 79. The 83 hawkeyes getting 84 Tennessee Tech. Iowa scoring at will in the first half mike gesell to Jarrod Uthoff for the dropin. Gesell had 10 assists. Get it to the hot hand Adam Woodbury feeds uthoff for the 3 from the top of the key. He finished with 13 points. Woody in a giving mood he finds Anthony Clemmons under the bucket for 2 easy points clemmons had 11. Iowa playing good d gesell picks off the pass he takes it all the way the other way for the stuff the hawks blow out the Golden Eagles 8563. For more go to ktiv. Com. Im brad pautsch with the sports fource morning wrap. A little wet out there this morning. But some areas of siouxland could be seeing some of the white stuff. T. J. s in next with his forecast. And many schools are on christmas break right now. But well take you to one school that is still in session. And theyre helping santas helpers bring joy to the Holiday Season. Paris theres a lot to do on dairy farm. Nodys gonna do it for you. You have to get out there and do it yourself. Bernie sanders is a wellknown friend of family farms. Bernie cannot be bought out by big money. Bernies opinion cannot be purchased. Its time for our next president to get in there, roll up his sleeves, take off the gloves, and take on wall street, take on big business, take on big money, and get the working class back to where they should be. Hes a rock. Its time for todays 12 days of holiday trivia today is the last day of trivia. Al has 11 points. I have 7 and ben has 6. Each day we play for a player at home. Heres who were playing for today. Im playing for bob popken from akron, iowa. Im playing for Lacey Hacecky of mission hill, south dakota. Im playing for kris meis from cushing, iowa. So lets get to it. Heres our morning show producer Kaitlyn Kinney with todays question. Thanks guys. If you get the question correct, your players win a 20 dollar gift card to a step in thyme florals. If you get the question wrong, your at home players win a 10 dollar gift card to the floral shop. Alright. Here is todays question. What is the e aditional name of the official White House Christmas tree . a the lincoln tree b the blue room tree d the tree of america and you can play from home. Give us your answers on the facebook page. And sarah . Thanks, kaitlyn. Christsts is two days away, and busy getting ready. Courtney reagan has in inside look at a side of the preps you may not have seen before only santa school in the country. Owners holly and tom valent have experience on their side, starting with the schools founder. sot tom valent, charles w. Howard santa school dean charlie was actually the technical director on the original miracle on 34th street as far as what santa should be and what he should do. Founded in 1937 with a handful of trainees this years class numbers 130 students, and theres a wait list every year. The school now packs the learnings of st. Nick into 45 hours over 3 days. sot lowell hendricks, santa student its a calling. Anyone can put on a red suit and beerd but they cant alllbe santa clauues. Now lets be clear these aae santas helpers because everyonon knows theres only ne santa claus. And his helpersrsarent just supporting the man in the big red suit, but an entire economy around the business of santa too. Santa School Starts around 400, a good custom suit can cost around 25 hundred dollars. And dont forget the boots, the gloves, the beard. A fake one with wig can run 15 hundred. But grooming a real beard costs 100 a month. Clients pay santa anywhere from 30 to a couple hundred its not about the money. sot santa student Warren Mahaffey nsanta claus 11 00 11 paid . Ughhh cookies, milk all kinds of cookies, its fantastic rsanta school 2 14 54 46ish the most rewarding is when you see the look in the childrens eyes santa brings happiness and hope to children and families, but he also brings in traffic, and in some cases revenue, for malls park Iplay America. soo Jessica Schwartz ippay america Sales Marketingngvp of ur holiday business is derived from the here reporter stand up Courtney Reagan santa visits are evolving like this dreamplace experience by disneys dreamworks. It has 5 rooms and Interactive Digital screens where kids of all ages come to make memories with santa, something you cant do online. Noerr programs runs dreamplace, providing the photographer and santas staff, with contracts at many of americas malls employing over 4,000 people this year. And the santa business is booming. Noerrs sales have grown by 50 since 2010. Time for a break. Were back with our fourth half hour of news 4 today. First though. Heres a look at some of the evenen on the ktivdotcom community calendar. Announcer one candidate tough enough to take on the bully. Jeb bush donald, youre not going to be able to insult your way to the presidency. Thats not going to happen. applause announcer one candidate tough enough to take on isis. Jeb will destroy isis. And keep america safe. Jeb bush the United States should not delay to take out isis with overwhelming force. Announcer tested and proven leadership matters. B bush. Right to rise usa is responsible for the content of this message. Welcome back and thanks for joining us on this wednesday morning. Coming up in this half hour. The president ial candidates war of words continues on the campaign trail. Several president ial hopefuls, including hillary clinton, appeared to take shots at donald trump. The latest on the candidates from and several people volunteered their time yesterday. The Salvation Army held their annual event. They provided several families with special christmas gifts. Well take you there in a little bit. And in whats trending, its still a little early to open christmas presents. But some zoo animals in poland got to open theirs a few days before christmas. And its unbelievably cute. Well also answer todays last 12 days of holiday trivia question. But first tj is on the outdoor weather patio. A little misty out there this morning. Were hearing from hillary clinton. After donald trump called heb a liar and made some crude references to her. Trump blames the media. His numbers are still strong. But if he falls, ted cruz is waiting in the wings. Tracie potts is in washington with the latest. They are and why we shouldnt let anybody bully his way into the presidency. Thats hillary clinton. After Donald Trumps crude and explicit references to bathroom break at saturday nights debate and her 2008 failed president ial bid. This morning, trumps tweeting that the biased media incorrectly defined his words. But clintons not the only one targeting him sot Bernie Sanders d president ial candidate 28 34 it is so easy for billionaire cowards like trump to pick on poor people. Polls are mixed. A new reuters poll this morning shows trump with triple the support of number two ben carson. sot dr. Ben carson r president ial candidate 41 46 some people have expressed concern that i would quite because my numbers have gone down, im not a quitter. But quinnipiac puts him just four points ahead of ted cruz. sot ted cruz r president ial candidate 50 58 people are waking up there is an awakening and spirit of revival sweeping this country. That quinnipiac poll found half the country would be embarrassed for trump to be president. But in that poll nearly six in ten republicans say they may not stick with theheandidate theyre currently suppppting. Im tracie potts in washington, the holidays are a time to give back to the community. Ktivs tiffany lane shows us how one siouxland organization, and its donors, are providing families with gifts for christmas. Purchased food from its red kettle donations. It shows that a lot of people care and you know they like to help out the ones, when youre down and out, you need an extra hand helping you, said steve hanner, a sioux city resident. A message that leaves positive cheer during this time of giving. Thank you. Merry christmas. In sioux city, tiffany lane, ktiv news 4. For anyone interested in helping you can still donate to the Salvation Army at their red kettle locations until christmas eve. Woodbury county will soon be making some big upgrades to its Emergency Services department. And Cf Industries is helping make it happen. It presented a check for 37 thousand dollars to the board of supervisors last night. The donation will be put toward three projects. It will pay for keynote speakers to come to both fire and ems conferences this spring. 14thousanddollars will go to the regional at sioux city fire rescue. And 22thousand will be used to purchase anhydrous ammonia detectors for each of the Fire Departments in Woodbury County that dont already have them. It helps us. It helps reduce the amount of money we have to ask for from the tax payers. It gives us new, modern equipment to work with and in the case of the safety speakers, its an opportunity to come back and re emphasize how important safety is for everything we do, said Woodbury County director of Emergency Services, gary brown. The board was also presented with a thousanddollar check frfr performance contractors. That money will be useseto upgrade facilities at e Climbing Hill Public Safety ceceer. Its not christmas just yet, but some animals at a zoo in poland got to open their presents a little early this year. Whats trending is after the break. And ill have your complete with the chance of a wintry mix of precipitation thorughghost of ththmorning as a low prereure Center Passes to our south. Depending on how cool the mix linger into the afternoon. Once that system moves out, things stay pretty quiet through our christmas eve. High pressure briefly builds in but exits quickly out ahead of our next weather makeer. A system is expected to move out of the four Corners Region towards us on Christmas Day and yet again, gives us a chance of that mix of rain and snow during the day. As conditions cool, we could see some light snow from friday night into saturday. Then our more active weather pattern continues with another chance of snow coming our way from sunday night into monday and that one may be the biggest of the systems over the next 7 days. Christmas came early for some zoo animals in poland this week. Zoo creatures of all shapes and sizes were given gifts to unwrap. Special treats hidden in wrapping made for some holiday fun in many of the exhibits. The presents are all part of an Enrichment Program that is carefully that the creatures would use if living in the wild. Dont forget to take a guess at this mornings 12 days of holiday trivia question. What is the aditional name of the official White House Christmas tree . a the lincoln tree b the blue room tree c the National Tree d the tree of america and be sure to weigh on what you think the answer is on the facebook page. The only trans am to survive a smoky and the bandit film is being sold. Plus. Bill cosby is filing a lawsuit against one of the only trans am to survive the filming of smokey and the bandit will go up for auction early next year. The car, owned by Burt Reynolds until a year ago, was used for promotion and didnt appear in the 1977 movie or its sequels. It fetched 450 thousanddollars at auction last year. The barrettjackson auction house says the other four 1977 pontiacs were so damaged in filming that they y re destroyed. The surviving car hadnt been driven in nearly 30 years, so the current owner ordered a full restoration. Bill cosby has filed a lawsuit against supermodel beverly johnson. Hes alleging she lied when she drugged and tried to rape her at his new york home in the 19eighties. Cosbys lawsuit says johnson joined other women making accusations against him to revive her waning career and to help sell copies of her memoir. More than 40 women have come forward to publicly accuse cosby of assaulting them over four decades, usually saying he drugged them first. No criminal charges have been filed against cosby. Wednesday al rock singer Eddie Vedder Pearl jam is 51 sarah actress susan lucci is 69 alalactorcomedian harryryhearer is 72 our pic of the day comes from sheldon, iowa. East Elementary School has its own elf on a shelf. Or rather elf on the principal Jason Groendyke is getting into the Christmas Spirit by y pervising from the roof. Hes making sure all the boys and girls are good this year. To see your photo on pic of the day, you can email it to us at ktivnews ktiv. Com or you can post it to our facebook page. The morning as a low pressure Center Passes to our south. Depending on how Cool Temperatures stay, we m see the mix linger into the afternoon. Once that system moves out, things stay prett quiet through our christmas eve. The answer to todays 12 days of holiday trivia question is still to come. When we come back well have the top stories in siouxland. And a group of people in peru gathered to make some fancy ngerbread houses. They look have your next burger with a side of awesome. The oneofakind, creamy blend of sweet and tangy. Miracle whip and proud of it. At kraft we start with quality ingredients. All expertly blended to make our mayo. So you can take whatever youre making time for a look at the news stories making headlines this morning in siouxland. Sioux citys first female firefighter will be laid to rest today. Jeanne vakulskas served with the department from 1985 until 2007. She died at her home on sunday at the age of 63. A visitation was held last night where friends and family remembered her as a trailblazer. But her son says she was always very modest about what she accomplplhed. Her funeral is scheduled for 1030 this morning at st. Josephs Catholic Church. Cf industries makes a 37 thousand dollar donation to help upgrade Woodbury County Emergency Services. The donation will be put toward three projects keynote speakers for the fire and ems conferences in the spring, the Regional Hazardous Material Team vehicle and anhydrous ammonia detectors for each Fire Departments in the county that doesnt already have one. Board of supervisors last night. Hundreds of siouxland families will enjoy a christmas meal and presents under the tree this year thanks to the Salvation Army and a lot of generous siouxlanders. The Salvation Army provided food for 540 families yesterday. There were also toys for more than onethousand children, donated by siouxlanders and organizations. Volunteers h hped hand out the food and gifts, including folks frfr the Woodbury County Sheriffs Office and the sioux city explorers. Young peruvian chefs came together to build a village entirely out of gingerbread and icing. The project aims to raise money for a spanish non profit organization, that is raising funds for syrian refugees. The young participants joined the project through a class led by wellknown peruvian chef juan carlos lopez, who hoped that the project would help encourage people to be generous this christmas. Time to answer todays 12 days heres a look at our scoreboard. Al has 11 points. I have 7 and ben has 6. Lets go to our morning show producer Kaitlyn Kinney. Ok, kaitlyn, read us the question one more time. What is the traditional name of the official white house chririmas tree . a the lincoln tree c the National Tree d the tree of america todays answer is b, the blue