live in studio, vanessa peng, kcci 8 news, iowa's news leader. steve: the news at 5:00 reverse spin. , how the republicans are reacting to last night's democratic presidential debate. stacey: plus calling for , back-up. israel is activating the army to combat the latest wave of palestinian violence. who's heading to the middle east to help ease tensions. steve: and the later hungry for , more money. announcer: this is iowa's news leader. this is kcci 8 news at 5:00 with steve karlin, stacey horst, and chief meteorologist john mclaughlin. stacey: hillary clinton and bernie sanders' campaigns are both declaring last night's democratic debate a success. sanders says he's raised more than $1.3 million since the start of the debate. and social media measures show him leading google searches. more than 15 million people watched last night. that is the biggest tv audience ever for a democratic debate. steve: the democratic presidential candidates spent more time criticizing republicans last night than their counterparts on the debate stage. stacey: toda

live in clarion, vanessa peng, kcci 8 news, iowa's news leader. kevin: new information about a school board member charged with child endangerment and animal neglect. he has entered a not guilty plea to those charges. kcci told you last month marshalltown police said charged 50-year-old kendall derby because of the conditions officers found in the home she -- the home that he shared with a 13-year-old child. derby has been on the marshalltown school board since 2013. stacey: a central iowa cancer patient returned home after treatment out-of-state to find she was the victim of burglars. kcci's marcus mcintosh just back from colfax with her story new at 6:00. marcus: sandra hendrix-kennedy has lived in her colfax home for 30 years. she says the burglary made what she is going through even worse. treatment for ovarian cancer has made even routine activities like walking painful for 58-year-old sandra hendrix-kennedy. the pain intensified monday night when she came home to this. >> is devastating. it makes you sick or that the nausea and the side effe

kcci's vanessa peng has the heartwarming story from harcourt. vanessa: guys, this is what iowa nice is all about. a group of farmers coming together, using their own time, their own equipment to help out one man fighting cancer. >> it's overwhelming, it's just unbelievable. vanessa: you don't usually see this much green, and a little bit of red, out on one iowa cornfield. >> 13 combines and all 8 row because chuck had a 16 row head. vanessa: about 80 guys, some 30 semi truck drivers hauling corn. other farmers in the combine or tractor, all spending hours out in the field to harvest another man's corn, chuck gustafson's. he's a dear friend of mine i >>he's a dear friend of mine i without being a part of it. vanessa: gustafson says he's fighting esophagus cancer. he's gone through radiation, chemotherapy and surgery, and now the cancer's come back. >> we knew he could use a little help getting the corn crop out so we just thought give a few people i call. i didn't have anybody tell me no. vanessa: everyone we spoke to say it's an iowa thing, you

mark: several field fires reported today across central kcci's vanessa peng is live in story county and vanessa, there are a few things contributing to fire danger today. vanessa: mark, that's right. one of the biggest reasons is the strong winds gusting to 35 miles per hour, which is moving dry material, like corn stalks and husks, all over the place. if any of this catches an ember, it can carry it with the next gust, and spread a fire quickly. out in the field, when a farmer hasn't seen a raindrop for days, and what's left of the harvest is flying this way and that, -- >> it doesn't take much to start a fire especially with this wind, it travels really fast. vanessa: luckily, a fire at jordan uthe's corn field near boone, was contained before it got out of hand. all it took to take off was a little spark from an engine manifold. >> it's just so dry you never know. vanessa: the national weather service says monday will be the 20th straight day of no rain in des moines. the last years. 105 the lack of rain, mixed with low humidity and lots of dry material creates a toxic recipe for fir

live in ames, vanessa peng, kcci 8 news, iowa's news leader. steve: also new at 6:00, some meredith middle and des moines hoover high school students got a hands-on demonstration at what could be the future on driving. the university of iowa brought over its semi-automated research vehicle. the car has the ability to do some emergency maneuvers like automated braking, if the car needs to make a sudden stop. stacey: that is pretty cool, but it takes a win the fun driving. kurtis: it is fun to engage think years. although if you saw some of the teenagers at my house drive you would want that. look at this absolutely gorgeous shot from big creek marina. full skinning out and enjoying the still waters. temperature, 65 degrees. north-northwest winds at seven miles per hour. temperatures in the mid-60's. 11:00 p.m., 58 degrees. i think we can see a few light showers and sprinkles. we were back up into the 60's, a little bit above where we should be at this time of year. temperature at noon, 55. we did have that morning rainfall. nevada, 1800s. right

vanessa peng, kcci 8 news, iowa's news leader. stacey: there has been no measurable rainfall in the past 20 days in des moines. the national weather service says that has only happened 5 times in the last 105 years. and the dry sometimes windy weather is making conditions ripe for fire danger. 12 of iowa's 99 counties have already put a burn ban in place. that means it's illegal to do any outdoor burning in those areas. but despite the lack of rain, the latest drought monitor map shows only far northeast and southeast iowa are dealing with a shortage of ground moisture. mark: that's check in with kurtis gertz and find out we might get that rain. kurtis: we have that red flag warning until 7:00. the reason that expires at 7:00 is less wind and the relative these are updating by the minute. winds gusting less than 22 miles an hour. but we are still getting gusts in the low-to-mid 20's especially in western and southwestern iowa. 75 in des moines. normal highs this time of year, 62. carol, 79 degrees. it is going to be generally dry

kcci's vanessa peng joins us ames. vanessa: mollie, as you can see this house is a total loss. we are just on the north side of burnside and you can see the fire investigators are just combing through the scene. they are trying to find out what happened here. the owner is kirk kelley. he's lehigh fire chief's. he tells me he believes the fire started right at the front door. any look up around 3:00 in the morning when he heard loud banks in the closet. he welcomed his wife and then ran to the back of the house to pick up his two young kids. once they were out of the house he went back in to rescue his for them. this is the second tragedy to hit the lehigh fire department within about two weeks. last monday, cody frazier, a lehigh firefighter lost his home in a fire in rural lehigh. both of these fires are under investigation. we will update you tonight at 5:00 and 6:00. live in burnside, vanessa peng, kcci 8 news, iowa's news leader. mollie: thank you for that update. in central iowa, for students at cross roads park elementary today is all about creativity. fine arts day bring

in clarion, vanessa peng, kcci 8 news, iowa's news leader. stacey: just minutes ago, kcci obtained a letter sent out to parents by superintendent bob olsen. the letter says, in part, he confirms three students were expelled for the remainer of the academic year. but he added that he can't share any more information because of state and federal law concerning student privacy. a pleasant hill man is in the polk county jail, charged with two counts of lascivious acts with a child. court documents show 18-year-old kyle calvert used a social media app to communicate with someone he knew was a minor. calvert asked the victim to perform sex acts with other young children and record it. his bond is set at $40,000. kevin: we are still waiting to hear about the future of a para-educator in grinnell accused of making racist comments in front of two students. grinnell-newburg school district is telling kcci news he met twice this morning with the parents making the accusations. he says the investigation is not concluded, but he hopes to have a decision o

vanessa: it took these guys about 5 hours to complete 500 acres. near harcourt, vanessa peng. eric: that is fast work. gustafson's friends say he's the one who normally steps up to help a neighbor in need so it's elizabeth: coming up on the next two hours of kcci, boil order. a warning for some ames residents this morning. what you need to know to make sure your water is safe. and budget battle. a big deal met overnight on capitol hill, that could help avoid a government shutdown, all eric: right now at 5:00, interstate shut down. why officers were forced to close part of i-35 overnight, and what you need to know for your commute this morning. >> i've never seen anything so nasty looking, so sick. elizabeth: and caught on camera. a south carolina school officer is in hot water this morning, after cell phone video shows him drag a student out of her seat. what classmates say started the ordeal. eric: and they're heading to the world series. a preview of tonight's game one between the mets and the royals.

kcci's vanessa peng shows us why they're selling so fast. vanessa: nine years ago it took hubbell realty five years to sell a complete group of townhomes here in downtown des moines, but now the market's made a complete flip and they've been selling townhomes even before they've poured the crews are working hard to build townhouses that have already been spoken for. >> it's a great problem to have. vanessa: hubbell realty has sold all 27 of its high end townhomes at the artisan row development at 16th and grand. >> what we hear is as soon as you see something you better be putting down an offer. it's just a really tight market right now. vanessa darcy lane was one of : the first people to stake her claim. >> i just wanted to live right in the middle of it. vanessa: lane tells us she works downtown and she can't wait to live near entertainment and restaurants, she tells us there aren't a lot of options downtown for a homebuyer. >> i think there are a lot of rentals available but i wasn't finding so much in terms of something to buy. vanessa t

in ames, vanessa peng, kcci 8 news. elizabeth: still ahead on kcci speaker candidate. the representative that said he what he wants to change first. >> this is iowa's news leader. this is kcci 8 news this morning with eric hanson, elizabeth klinge, meteorologist kurtis gertz and right now coverage with shaina humphries. metinka: good morning. you're waking up to another warm start with temperatures in the 50's. above the average highs today. 56 degrees in sioux city. here in des moines, we are sitting at 65. we have that south wind, that will be switching over to the northwest. a few showers today. grab the umbrella just in case. the temperatures are still trending downward over the next several days. by the end of the weekend, it is going to feel like october with temperatures back in the 50's. we have a cooling trend and chances of rain in your 8-day forecast. shaina: the u.s. house of representatives may have found a new speaker. wisconsin congressman paul ryan says he will make a decision in the next week. he told house republicans he is willing to serve as speaker

vanessa peng has the story. vanessa: texas christian university flew abby faber and her family to tonight's nationally televised game in fort worth, texas with a 6:30 kickoff. as you can see, abby faber has the horned frog spirit. she even has the fingers down. qn this picture, her mom jenny faber sent us, you can see she is ready for a very special game. tcu flew abby and her family down for the game against the west virginia mountaineers. a special treat, after this photo went viral, making the 7-year-old and tcu quarterback trevone boykin famous. the heartwarming moment caught by a fort worth star-telegram photographer shows boykin kneeling down to say hello to abby. she was iowa state's kid captain for the game and was on th field for a coin toss. abby was born 10 weeks early and has battled cerebral palsy since she was 3. mom tells us they had a fabulous time. they met tcu coach gary patterson, were out on the field after the 1st quarter, and abby was featured in a video shown on the big screen. they fly ba

vanessa peng explains outnumbers new effort assists. vanessa: uber drivers use smartphones defined passengers. now their phones can help find missing children. >> this will help and cannot hurt. vanessa: they are teaming up with the national center for missing and it's the children -- missing and exploited children. >> we know they are out on the road route iowa -- throughout iowa. >> there are a lot of drivers out there, the company is growing. before long there will be more uber drivers and my enforcement. vanessa: they operate in four cities in iowa. >> it gets the word out there quickly. >> i think it's a great idea, with people using it. elizabeth: this effort started out as a pilot program in colorado. eric: an iowan's 15 minutes of fame. >> we will be able to save more lives with this. elizabeth: lifesaving equipment, >> this is iowa's news leader. this is kcci 8 news this morning. with eric hanson, elizabeth klinge, meteorologist kurtis gertz, and right-now coverage with shaina humphries. jason: good thursday morning, 4:40 1, 50

stacey: a nurse saves a lot of lives of a family by going the our vanessa peng is live. vanessa: stacey, tammie zieser says she was just doing her job. but what she ended up doing was save four lives. zieser is a maxwell nurse with mary greeley medical center 's first nurse call center. it's a free health care advice telephone service. thursday morning, jennifer smith had called into the call center, saying her entire family was sick. during the call, zieser told smith to call 911. but when zieser called her back and no one answered, she called police dispatch. smith and her three young kids were unconscious by the time paramedics arrived, suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. they were taken to the hospital, thanks to zieser's call. tammie: if you are going to call somebody back, you give them 10 minutes for anything to go on. and i thought i had waited 10 minutes, but i only waited 6. and when i called back, it went to her voicemail immediately. she did not pick up, and there's no busy signal. that's when i got really worried. vanessa: as you can see, the family as

vanessa: vanessa peng, kcci 8 news, iowa's news leader. kevin: you can find the books online at amazon.com. if you like a direct link, check out our website kcci.com. ,stacey: lots of fun today at the blank park zoo. it was the night eyes of event. kcci a proud sponsor of the event featuring plenty of sweet treats. it features magical characters. it continues tomorrow from 5:30 until 8:00 and saturday and sunday from 1:00 until 8:00. kevin: lot of gorgeousness out there. frank: a perfect night to be outside. thankfully, at 5:00 and 6:00 i got to be out at night eyes and that was a lot of fun. this was the gang tonight. it was the last night for bocce ball. tonight was the tournament. grandma and grandpa a little bit. it was a lot of fun. they had a great night. i'm glad to see the sick -- i'm glad the season is over and i don't have to get beat anymore. still, a great night to be outside playing bocce ball. 71 in des moines, 70 14 ottumwa. still a very nice fall day across the state. the winds a little gusty. audubon and webster city about

in ames, vanessa peng, kcci 8 news, iowa's news leader. steve: a des moines teacher goes way above and beyond to help her students learn. walnut street school kindergarten teacher, kara pulley, raised $2000 to outfit her whole class with ball chairs. recent studies show that allowing kids to move around during the day actually helps improve focus, which can lead to higher grades. mrs. pulley says her students are indeed now more focused and engaged. she has even noticed improvement in their posture. stacey: i think we could use some chairs like that. kurtis: the bosses watching the 70 degrees out there. it is very mild for this time of year. we did have some rain today. two hundredths of an inch. again, beautiful. 69 at 7:00 p.m.. 10:00 p.m. temperature this time high. noon, 70 degrees. 3:00 p.m., 74. super doppler 8, we will stay dry in the metro. some thunder showers on a line from cedar rapids to iowa city. it is now cruising through marengo and williamsburg. picking up on the university of iowa campus. you can see lightning tracker str

i'm vanessa peng, i'll show you how his community, here in ames, bike for long.tt2watx#@n4 p bt`n3' tt2watx#@n4 p "a`n#+d tt2watx#@n4 p bm`n( h tt4watx#@n4 r dzlq k hard, and you do your part, you should be able to get ahead and stay ahead. but the republicans... they want to go back to letting the super wealthy call the shots. they don't stand up for equal pay for women. they don't support paid family leave. they don't even really support refinancing student debt. we've got to get this economy working for the vast majority of americans, not just for those at the top. that's what i intend to do as president. steve: today in the buzz, challenged by james corden. stacey: did you see this today? late late show host james corden visited the ellen show and invited her to be the only non-singer he would ever have for his carpool karoke. >> you got skills, so what i'm saying is there is no one else on the planet, artist -- you the only non singer we would ever do it with. >> ok, well let me think about that. maybe you can give me a ride home one day and i'll do it while i'm in the car. >> sure why

kcci's vanessa peng has more. vanessa: an alleged hazing incident here at clarion-goldfield-dows high school has exposed a rash of alleged incidents. police chief steve terhark tells us a group of three older football players would grab a into a room at the school, hold him down, and use their fingers to assault him. >> after every incident, they said that it was initiation your , freshman initiation. vanessa: what happened here is part of a disturbing national trend in high schools. >> it was like the most disgusting thing i've ever heard of. you know there's a lot of sick stuff, but come on, to do that to a kid? it's going to scar him for life. vanessa: terhark says the alleged hazing incidents would happen in between classes. football players, two seniors and one junior, would randomly pull freshman into rooms and assault them. terhark says the victims weren't specifically targeted. if the suspects saw a freshman player without any witnesses around, they would assault him. terhark says two weeks ago an incident

kcci's vanessa peng shows us why they're selling so fast. vanessa: nine years ago, it took hubbell realty five years to sell a complete group of townhomes here in downtown des moines, but now the market's made a complete flip and they've been selling townhomes even before they've poured the concerete. crews are working hard to build townhouses that have already been spoken for. >> it's a great problem to have . vanessa: hubbell realty has sold all twenty seven of its high end townhomes at the artisan row development at 16th and grand. you see something you better be putting down an offer because it's just a really tight market right now. vanessa: darcy lane was one of the first people to stake her claim. lane tells us she works downtown and she can't wait to live near entertainment and restaurants. she tells us there aren't a lot of options downtown for a homebuyer. >> there are a lot of, i think, rentals available, but i wasn't finding so much in terms of something to buy. vanessa: the unit sold from $300,000 to $350,000 each. tina hadden w

vanessa: vanessa peng, kcci 8 news, iowa's news leader. elizabeth: you can buy the books online at amazon, and if you would like direct links, check out our website, kcci.com. eric: here is a live look at i-235 and mlk junior parkway. waking up to 44 degrees, pretty chilly compared to the last few days. whole >> the weather is never more than five minutes away. only on "kcci 8 news this morning." jason: happy friday morning, 4:51. temperatures in the upper 30's if you are off to the north, otherwise low to mid 40's in central iowa. most of us will be dropping into the mid-to upper 30's range, those who have not already. with the wind factored in, seeing upper 20's for windchill temperatures. no we are going to start to work in quite a bit of sunshine once the sun rises. it is shaping up to be an ok day, just chilly, downright cold for some. 44 is what we are starting off with across the metro, dropping to 39 degrees. we keep the skies clear and the sunshine will not help us to warm up at all. we only top out at 55 degrees for our high temp

kcci's vanessa peng is just back from iowa falls with a story you'll only see on kcci. vanessa: kevin, if tammie zeiser hadn't gone the extra mile, an iowa falls family might not be alive today. tammie: hi, it is so good to see you. jennifer: it's so good to see you. vanessa: just hours ago, tammie zeiser didn't know if jennifer smith and her three young kids were alive or not. zeiser and smith first met a day ago -- on the phone. tammie: thank you for calling first nurse. this is tammie. vanessa: zeiser is a maxwell registered nurse. she works for the mary greeley medical center first nurse call center, a free health care help line. it was just before 3:00 early thursday morning when smith called. smith's husband lucas was working overnight and wouldn't be home until 7:00. smith called to say everyone was sick. tammie: do you have a gas furnance? jennifer: yeah. tammie: ok, you may have some poisining going on if everybody is sick all of a sudden. jennifer: ok. tammie: so you need to call 911. can you do that? vanessa: at the same time, lucas smith was texting his wife

live in clarion, vanessa peng, steve: new at 5:00 a pleasant , hill man is now in the polk county jail charged with 2 counts of lascivious acts with a child. court documents show that 18-year-old kyle calvert used a social media app to communicate with someone he knew was a minor. calvert asked the victim to perform sex acts with other young children and record it. his bond is set at $40,000. stacey: the south carolina deputy who slammed a student on the floor and tossed her several feet is out of a job. kevin cooney is following that right now. kevin: stacy, this is deputy benfield's. -- deputy been fields. he has been fired after this video of a violent arrest quickly went viral and sparked national outrage. the richland county sheriff says the student was being disruptive and refused to leave the classroom. but he says what happened with the deputy was not acceptable. >> it continues to upset me when i see that video. it's the fact that he picked that student up, and he threw the student across the room. thatats not a proper technique and it should not be used in law enforcement. ke

live in clarion, vanessa peng, kcci 8 news, iowa's news leader. steve: new information in a serious car-versus-pedestrian crash that shut down interstate 35 in west des moines for hours overnight. it happened right after 11:00 monday night just south of mills civic parkway. police say a driver got out of his car after he was in an accident. he was walking in the travel-portion of i-35 when he was hit by another vehicle. the driver of that vehicle stopped immediately. no charges are expected. the pedestrian was taken to a area hospital for treatment. police have not released his identity. stacey: new at 5:00 authorities , say a man stole a pick-up truck, then led them on a high speed chase. 33-year-old andrew jensen faces the truck was reported stolen from the jefferson hy-vee around 9:00 monday night. two hours later, perry police reported finding the truck at a kum & go. officers chased the truck, using stop stakes on highway -- using stop sticks on highway 169. jensen got out and ran into a field before being arrested. the case remains under inv

kcci's vanessa peng is live in our ames bureau to show us why he says he's angry and sad. it's new at 6:00. vanessa: doctor sahai says the whole hiring process was a sham. and he wants the board of regents to be more transparent. bruce harreld will become the university of iowa's president on november 2, despite an uproar from students and faculty about his appointment and lack of higher education experience. the iowa board of regents unanimously voted for harreld, a former ibm executive. dr. sahai: we may have dropped the ball. vanessa: webster city doctor sabhash sahai is an iowa regent. he's speaking out about how the search for harreld was conducted. dr. sahai: i was angry, and i was sad. vanessa: sahai is calling for changes. dr. sahai: i only had 20 minutes with each candidate, which is not enough for such a big job. so i told the board people that i want more information next time. vanessa: he says his biggest gripe is with some controversial private meetings held between harreld and five board members. dr. sahai: some of these meetings happened before the decision

eric: allegations out of -- vanessa peng explains. finesse are: a day after we broke out a hazing incident at clarion goldfield dows high school, residents are divided. >> i don't understand why people would do that. vanessa: it involved older football players grabbing your players and assaulting them. police say it happened after school and before football practice in a review the locker room. the students, one senior and two juniors face hazing and assault charges. the students involved are 18-year-old seth pille, 17-year-old michael shaver, and 16-year-old tristan muse. according to a complaint, pille did intentionally engaged in an act force activity which endanger the physical health or safety of the student. we went to town to hear from residents and some didn't want to talk. >> i have no comment. i don't want to get involved. >> others are calling for justice. >> i disagree with hazing entirely. i think that maybe something for college but not high school. -- under 18, but it was a coach, what would they really do about it. don

kcci's vanessa peng reports from story county. vanessa: out in the field when a farmer hasn't seen raindrop for days and what's left of the harvest is flying this way and that. >> it doesn't take much to start a fire, especially with this wind. it travels really fast. vanessa: luckily a fire at jordan uthe's corn field near boone was contained before it got out of hand. all it took to take off was a little spark from an engine manifold. >> it's just so dry you never know. vanessa: the national weather service says monday will be the 20th straight day of no rain in des moines. that has only happened five times in the last 100 5 -- in the last 105 years. the lack of rain mixed with low humidity and lots of dry material creates a toxic recipe for fires. >> if you have a bearing go bad or a belt gets to dragging. something creates a spark, and as dry as the conditions are it wouldn't take much of a spark to ignite a fire. vanessa: uthe's field fire was one of many firefighters fought on monday. you can see in this video how quickly th

in burnside, vanessa peng, kcci 8 news, iowa's news leader. kevin: this actually is the third fire within the lehigh fire department this year. in april, another firefighter's house burned to the ground in an electrical fire. by the way, vanessa tells us this morning's fire is the second house fire the kelley family has dealt with. four years ago, they lost everything in a fire at their old house. stacey: the jury has gone home for the weekend without a verdict in the pete polson attempted murder trial. but before they got the case, the jury heard sometimes contradictory testimony on the stand. kcci's kim st. onge is live at the polk county courthouse. kim: polson testified again today in his own defense, sticking by his story that he shooting from november 17 of last year. but as soon as he got off the witness stand, the prosecution found a way to refute what he said. polson told jurors he requested a drug test a few days after the arrest. because he says he wasn't feeling well after injecting methamphetamine six hours before the shooting. pe

kevin: kcci's vanessa peng has an update from just outside lehigh in the small town of burnside. where these fires happened less than a month apart from each other. vanessa: guys, that's right. a fire ripped through this house early friday morning. we're on the northside of burnside here. this house is lehigh fire chief kirk kelley's house. he lost everything in the fire, just like what happened to lehigh firefighter cody frazier early last week. chief kelley: it's like, when is

vanessa peng has the story from iowa falls. >> hi, it is so good to see you, it's so good to see you. vanessa: just hours ago, tammie zeiser, didn't know if jennifer smith and her three young kids were alive or not. zeiser and smith first met a day ago, on the phone. >> thank you for calling first nurse. this is tammie. vanessa: zeiser is a maxwell registered nurse. she works for the mary greeley medical center first nurse call center, a free health care helpline. it was just before 3:00 early thursday morning. smith's husband lucas was working overnight and wouldn't be home until 7:00. smith called to say everyone was sick. >> do you have a gas furnance? >> yes. >> ok, you may have some poisoning going on if everybody is sick all of a sudden. ok, so you need to call 911. can you do that? vanessa: at the same time lucas smith was texting his wife, checking to make sure everything was ok. he didn't hear back. he was debating whether or not he should call jennifer. >> i don't know if i would have called or continued to call or called 911 or would i have been, yup, they went to sleep. va