who nearly died after getting hit by a car, is making a truly miraculous recovery.... communicating with smiles and thumbs up. we check back in with young leighton pullin... leighton, nearly killed after being hit by a car. it happened in waterloo back in october. leighton didn't look both ways when hero and was hit by a truck... the seven- year-old was rushed to iowa city and has been recovering ever since. today - the family inviting kwwl's lauren moss into leighton's hospital room - to check in on his recovery. and this little boy's strength honestly brought me to tears. he was moved from university of iowa hospitals and clinics to covenant's rehab center.. where his smile and thumbs up...are worth a thousand words.

leighton pullin's family in means so much more. i said if you know this is grandma give me a thumbs up, and he went like this and i said if you love me, give me thumbs work and i did and got here as soon as i could. it's a sign his family has been praying for. leighton has been unresponsive for weeks, suffering a fractured skull and brain damage after being hit by truck.. miracle this is a miracle, we never thought we would see this would ever come out of the way he was. now look at him.. "hit it back to me...oh wow, that's a spike." his doctors and nurses at covenant's rehab center, are helping him move, and communicate with his hands. "grab the orange one.." there's a long road ahead-leighton strong..that's

hard each and every day.. "it is a miracle we put it in god's hands, i cant tell you what it feels like, it's wonderful. one thumb at a time. says he loves super heroes. i asked him about it today and got kwwl. as you can imagine, his medical expenses have been a lot on the family- a family friend is asking for christmas gifts to send to leighton..with super-heros at the top of his list.

start out the week -- here's the week. information. here is additional forecast flurries with temperatures dropping into the low 30s. scattered light rain/snow showers are expected wednesday with the higher chances the closer you are to thursday and friday are mostly cloudy while saturday and sunday will be partly cloudy. high temperatures are in the upper 30s and low 40s. we are tracking the chance for showing a large storm impacting eastern iowa wednesday and thursday next week. obviously this far out for any details. we will continue to track the potential for a midwest...again this is for wednesday and thursday...at this point. there will most likely be timing adjustments and storm track adjustments in the days to come. stay tuned for later dropping into the low 30s. scattered light rain/snow showers are expected wednesday with the higher chances the closer you are to the ia/mn state line. we go back to flurries wednesday night. thursday and friday are mostly temperatures are in the upper 30s and low 40s. we are tracking the chance for u-v sufferes some injuries after her brakes go out and she crashes right into an area business. kwwl's shirley descorbeth live in dubuque with more.

the driver crashed into the front door of mulgrew's tavern...shattering the glass, and some of the bricks around it. people there tell me they're just grateful...because it could've been much worse. a startling morning for dubuque. "it kinda shook the building, i thought something had fallen off montgomery avenue when her brakes o of traffic...crashing into mulgrew's. jim petsche who lives cannon going off. woke me up out of seven people inside at the time...some having breakfast. "glass went all the way to the as for the driver... "she was limping, she was

letting this crash stop business. they're cleaning up the mess, getting things back to normal...especially for this weekend." mulgrew's a part of the neighborhoood for many years. they're having a celebration for their 95th anniversay this saturday. many here -- just thankful this crash wasn't worse. tonight. people will now just have to use the back door in order to enter the business. in dubuque -- shirley descirbeth -- news 7 kwwl. a busy morning for first responders in the tri-states area. the julien dubuque bridge shuts down after a five-car crash. multiple ambulances on the

hospital. police say the injuries were not life-threatening. the bridge is now back open, tonight. two people are seriously hurt, after a crash that involved a semi. this happening this morning south of hudson on highway 63. those with the black hawk county sheriff's office say a car tried to pass a semi, when the driver lost control and hit a truck going the other way. both the driver in the car and the driver in the truck were takento a missouri man is in custody - facing drunk driving charges, accused of hitting a waterloo police squad car with his car. it happened on highway 20 at ansborough avenue. waterloo officer mark nissen's car was hit head on this morning. investigators say he had his lights and sirens on at the time, but was hit by

he was taken to the black hawk county jail - while officer nissen was taken tot he hospital with minor injuries. tonight we are hearing from loved ones of a man--killed in a car accident in cedar rapids. it happened over the weekend--killing two people when the car they were in crashed into a police s-u-v-- 22-year-old kaitlyn hall and 21-year old martrell watson were pronounced dead at the scene. watson was driving the car when they lost control and hit five-year- old daughter. kwwl's kristin rogers speaking with loved ones of martrell today . kristin martrell loved his family and friends-- and he loved his 5-year-old daughter...who still doesn't know he has died. take a look at a photo of watson's

this was taken at five-year-old marianah's preschool graduation. watson moved in with the taylor family when he was just 13 years old. in fact, martrell shares a now five- year-old daughter with mariya taylor. the family now trying to "she loves him a lot you know they're young but he was a good dad to her he went to you know a love that was easy to see around i'm told he had promised marianah a princess car for christmas-- the family plans to get her that car-- live in cedar rapids--kristin rogers--news 7 kwwl. there is a candlelight vigil planned for martrells families and friends on thursday-- those details are on our website kwwl dot com. coming up on kwwl -- remembering the legacy of one of iowa's most storied high school football

the university of northern iowa campus in cedar falls tonight -- the school is nearing the selection of its next president after naming a handful of finalists. more from campus is coming up next. also on the way -- your full forecast with storm track seven chief meteorologist mark schnackenberg. here's the radar across the area right now. "this is kwwl news at six. with ron steele, amanda goodman, storm track seven chief meteorologist mark

"now your storm track 7 forecast on kwwl." let's go to storm track seven chief meteorologist mark schnackenberg now for your forecast tonight. from the kwwl stormtrack 7 weather team. see the screen for your complete weather information. here is additional forecast information from the kwwl

flurries with temperatures dropping into the low 30s. scattered light rain/snow showers are expected wednesday with the higher chances the closer you are to the ia/mn state line. we go back to flurries wednesday night. thursday and friday are mostly cloudy while saturday and sunday will be partly cloudy. high temperatures are in the model guidance has been showing a large storm impacting eastern iowa wednesday and thursday next large winter storm to have travel impacts on the midwest...again this is for wednesday and thursday...at this point. there will most likely be timing adjustments and storm track adjustments t clouds tonight produce a few scattered light rain/snow showers are expected wednesday with the higher chances the closer you are to the ia/mn state line. we go back cloudy while saturday and sunday will be partly cloudy. high temperatures are in the upper 30s and low 40s. we are tracking the chance for rain monday then dry tuesday. model guidance has been thursday next week. obviously this far out for travel impacts on the midwest...again this is for wednesday and thursday...at this point. there will most likely be timing adjustments and storm track adjustments in the days to come.

dropping into the low 30s. with the higher chances the closer you are to the ia/mn state line. we go back cloudy while saturday and sunday will be partly cloudy. high temperatures are in the upper 30s and low 40s. we are tracking the chance for rain monday then dry tuesday. model guidance has been thursday next week. obviously this far out for any details. we will continue to track the potential for a midwest...again this is for wednesday and thursday...at this point. there will most likely be timing adjustments and storm track adjustments in the days to come. stay tuned for later updates. come. stay tuned for later dropping into the low 30s. scattered light rain/snow showers are expected wednesday with the higher chances the closer you are to thursday and friday are mostly 30s and low 40s. we are tracking showing a large storm impacting eastern iowa wednesday and thursday next week. obviously this far out for wednesday and thursday...at this point. there will most likely be timing adjustments and storm track adjustments in the days to come.

will be partly cloudy. high rain monday then dry tuesday. model guidance has been showing a large storm impacting eastern iowa wednesday and thursday next week. obviously this far out for any details. we will continue impacts on the midwest...again this is for wednesday and thursday...at this point. there will most likely be timing adjustments and storm track adjustments in the days to come. stay tuned for later updates. string of severe weather getting some official results tonight -- with four confirmed tornados touching the ground throughout iowa. we received viewer videos of several of the funnel clouds as they approached the ground -- this is

also creating funnel clouds and an eventual touch downs in grundy center, radcliffe and montezuma. as you heard mark say -- all were e-f zero tornados. continuing coverage now... the search for uni's next president continues. with just three finalists left-each making a stop at the university. first of three finalists-neil theobald made a visit to campus faculty. kwwl's elizabeth amanieh is live at uni as the board narrows in on these finalists. . elizabeth. ron -- the board of regents promised transparency in its search for the next president. and this is just one of the ways they say they're following suit- making sure students, faculty

and who could be their next neil theobald-the first of three uni presidential finalists speaking to faculty and stuff. outlining his vision for the university. "you look at race, you look at educational attainment, there is wide disparity in terms of higher education." calling on a need for recruiting a diverse student body, restructuring admission practices and revisiting how standardized test sc cameron fagen agrees with. "it's just that everybody needs an equal opportunity to succeed and education is the way that they can do that. among his core principles-theobald emphasizing shared governance as essential to a univeristy's success. which he used to explain summer. "this summer i was directed to hire an individual to an open dean search without faculty input. i consulted with the provost who was strongly opposed to the appointment. i

which as i mentioned earlier, i have found to be essential in operating a university." kwwl obtained a copy of the letter that was sent out to the temple community by the board of trustees which gave a different explanation. "the discovery of a $22 million deficit in the university's financial budget ultimately were the responsibility of president theobald and that he must be held accountable." the second finalist-who was named today is uni's interim president james wohlpart - he'll speak with students and faculty tomorrow. the board has just one more

amanieh, news 7 kwwl. the board of regents say they expect to select a final candidate in december. coming up... it's a big awards day on the grid-iron as several hawkeyes and panthers pick up plus -- a local football legend passes away -- mark woodley has more on the death of former waterloo east stand-out jerry

jerry moses senior was larger than life in the cedar valley -- the longtime waterloo resident and east high football legend has died at the age of 65 -- moses was a part of east high's

streak in the late 60's and early 70's -- he ran for 56 touchdowns and was twice named a first team all-state running back before moving on to iowa state under head coach johnny majors -- his cyclone career was cut short by injuries -- but moses later returned to iowa state and earned his degree in 1984 -- two of his sons j-j and milan both also starred for the trojans and cyclones -- services for jerry moses are pending -- a pair of current iowa hawkeyes honors today -- jaleel johnson earned the nod at defensive tackle after leading the hawks with 10 tackles for loss -- including a very key safety in the win over michigan -- desmond king is the honoree at defensive back after picking up 53 tackles -- a pair of interceptions -- and a pick six this season -- offensive awards will be announced tomorrow -- the future looks bright for the uni football team as the panthers put five players on the missouri valley's all-newcomer team -- offensively jalen rima and

for 11-hundred all purpose yards -- rima finished with 4 touchdowns -- including one each on a punt and kickoff return -- allen was second on uni in receiving yards with 341 while averaging better than 15 yards per catch -- defensively -- hezekiah applegate -- malcolm washington and elijah campbell rounded out the panther picks -- tiger woods is back on the practice range and appears to be ready to go for his first competitive round set to play in this weekend's hero world challenge in the bahamas -- and says he's feeling good -- he appears to be practicing with a familiar face -- that of couse screen -- in the recent absence -- tiger has fallen to 898 in the world -- an all-time career low -- stick around -- we'll be right

the holiday spirit. that's right -- the green bay packers have selected their christmas tree for lambeau field. check out this thirty-five foot tall spruce tree -- which is being taken from a green bay yard across town to the home of the packers as they push for a playoff spot

for one of the owners -- the 30- year-old tree has been in his life since he was in first grade -- but he's now happy to see it go. "my grandma heard about it and she just submitted it. and then the guys from miron stopped by a few times to check it out and they told us that we were selected." the tree will serve as the centerpiece for the 11th annual festival of lights at lambeau on saturday. 10-thousand lights and decorations will be going onto the tree. thank you for joining us for the k-w-w-l news at six. we'll see you back here at ten

our favorite holiday tradition is back. both: we could be your secret santa! atwhe wwin... ...youin w our secret santas have given away over $1 million in cash and prizes to lucky "wheel" watchers. and you could be next. have your spin id ready. the sears secret santa sweepstakes continues tonight. wheel. of... fortune! ladies and gentlemen, here are the stars of america's game -- pat sajak and vanna white! thank you, jim. thanks, everybody. getting a jump on christmas here with our secret santa. gotta go. hi, good to see you all. each team should have one of those devices in their hot little hands.