WCBI NEWS AT SIX - Friday, December 25th, 2020

Columbus police department need your help locating the people who allegedly shot into the mcdonald's in east columbus early this morning.

One employee suffered minor injuries.

Police say the suspects were driving a black chrysler 300 with dark tinted windows and decorative rims. police chief fred shelton says the shooting happened after the customer complained in some way about the payment for the food.

Shelton says the customer then drove out of the line and proceeded to shoot into the side of the restaurant.

The shots broke out some glass, and the employee was struck.

Police say the suspects' vehicle contained three black male occupants and one black female occupant.

Police are not sure which suspect fired the shots.

If you have any information about this incident please call columbus police or crimestoppers.

As christmas dawned in nashville, tennessee, an enormous explosion rocked the city, sending several people to the hospital and causing extensive damage to the area.

As elise preston reports from new york, investigators believe it was deliberate.

The explosion shook the heart of downtown nashville& unleashing giant flames and a cloud of black smoke... leaving a path of charred debris, shattered glass, and ruptured water lines.

22:59 it looks like a bomb went off on second ave.

An explosion.

As officers swarmed to the scene - police said this was ?not?

An accident.

:42 we do believe the explosion was an intentional act shortly before the blast, police had received reports of shots fired.

15:05 as officers responded they encountered an rv that had a recording saying a potential bomb would detonate within 15 minutes.

Officers upon hearing that decided to evacuate the buildings nearby minutes later, the r-v exploded, knocking an officer to the ground.

The nashville fbi is now heading the investigation... and says it has investigative leads - but also asked the public for tips.

17:21 this is our city, too.

We live here, we work here.

And we're putting everything we have into finding who was responsible for what's happened here today.

Nashville police tweeted this photo of the r-v as it arrived in the early morning hours... and asked the public for information.

The downtown streets were mostly deserted on christmas morning& which kept injuries to a minimum.

We've made 3 transports to area hospitals.

None of those transports at this point are critical as canine units searched the area... federal resources flowed into nashville& including explosive specialists& with the top priority of making sure there are no further threats to public safety.

Ep, cbs news, new york top the mississippi top are no further threats to public safety.

Ep, cbs news, new york top the mississippi department of health reports one thousand five hundred and twenty-seven new cases of covid-19 today with 6 new deaths.

There are 239 active outbreaks among long term care facilities across the state.

More than one hundred and fifty four thousand people are presumed to have recovered from the virus in mississippi.

First look stinger first look summary: sunny skies will hang around for the rest of the holiday weekend.

A few showers are possible sunday night and monday with a weak cold front but moisture will be limited.

A stronger, wetter system is possible wednesday and wednesday night.

Several inches of rain and some during this season of giving..the folks at honeypot catering and creations in westpoint were inspired to do their part for those in need this holiday season.

So they teamed up with west point police to hold what they hope is the first of many feeding the homeless on christmas events.

Wcbi news reporter stephen pimpo was there today and has the story.

"christmas day is about giving.

It's not about presents or anything."

On a day where so many are unwrapping gifts and sitting down to a christmas feast...there are plenty of others who don't have a home to go to for the holidays.

"contrary to belief, we do have homeless people here in this community."

So angela colbert, owner of honeypot catering and creations in westpoint, decided to spend her christmas providing hot meals for those in need.

"the state of the world right now, i really just wanted to reach out and feed some of the less forutnate.

You know, everybody's catching it with this pandemic and i just kind of wanted to reach out and help somebody."

Honeypot joinned forces with the west point police department for a feeding the homeless on christmas event..providing turkey dinners with all the fixings free of charge for the less fortunate.

Su: because of the pandemic...the event was carry out only, with the catering team putting together the meals inside the station and the officers stepping outside to give them away.

While honeypot supplied the food, west point police did their part to make sure it made it to those who need it most.

"she knew that the police, chances are we would have an idea where a lot of these people are located and that's true."

Westpoint pd also did their best to get the word out about the free meals in the days leading up to christmas.

"we have patrolmen out, when they meet these people on the street, they tell them that there's an event going on today and told them to come by and get them a plate."

They even went out and delivered plates of food to needy members of the community like rider pruett, who is not homeless but does rely on food stamps."

"i really thank the officers for giving me this plate, this food, it's a tremendous thing.

They're doing a tremendous great job and i thank them for what they're doing today."

In west point...stephen pimpo...wcbi news honeypot told us they donated enough food for almost 300 meals.

West point police say several of those meals also went to area first responders working on christmas day and inmates at the clay county jail.

During this holiday season loaves and fishes gave out 154 meals to those in need.

The food drive was from 11:00-1:00pm.

Due to covid guidelines all the meals were packaged to go this year.

They served baked chicken, dressing, green beans, corn, and dressing.

It started with marantha faith center.

The folks there say they enjoy giving back to community, and spreading christmas cheer.

They say are ready to serve their community again next year for the christmas season.

"we are just out here trying to spread the christmas cheer and were giving back to the community some plates for them to have and let them know they are loved and trying to remind people that this is the time to love one another".

"we're serving the community and were so excited to be out here to help- spread the christmas cheer to make sure people feel loved and appreciated in this time.

We are hoping that everyone stays safe and we are doing everything the right way".

154 meals were given out in total .

Over the past year, video conference calls have given us a way to get together while staying apart.

But effectively communicating during virtual meetings can be a challenge.

That's why toastmasters has shifted its focus from simply training members in the areas of public speaking and leadership to giving a polished presentation in virtual environments.

"it helps me present myself in a better way to the public and to speak more intelligently."

Columbus police chief fred shelton is a proud member of his local toastmasters chapter.

He says, even before the pandemic, the organization was staring to take things virtual.

"now we're more virtual.

We're still having to conduct our meetings, but we're doing them on zoom.

Again, it's a learning experience.

We're learning how to communicate in a different venue."

Toastmasters international president richard peck says conducting yourself professionally online is just as important as conducting yourself professionally in- person.

"so, we always say, you only get one chance to make a first impression.

Well, if it's the first time i'm seeing you online, what i see is going to be the impression i get."

He says anytime you're taking part in an online- meeting, you should try and limit anything that could distract your audience.

"i tend to encourage clubs to say, how would you conduct yourself if you were together in the same room?

Would you be on the phone instead of listening to the person at the front of the room?

Would you be talking to your neighbor?

How would you conduct yourself?"

"we're learning that there's now zoom etiquette, how you present your self, what you do... so, toastmasters was more verbal, now when we're communicating, we're using verbal gestures, we're using pitch and vocal variety when we're talking, so now you're being more entertaining, you can become more animated because you do have an audience out there who's looking at you, so, like now for example, i'm using my hands, and i'm trying to draw my audience into me, so now, without being there, you have to learn how to use more vocal variety, more hand gestures to draw people in, so again, i don't have that physical presence there."

Peck says anyone interested in bettering themselves professionally, should consider paying close attention to their online etiquette.

"there are individuals who have a hard time in this one-on-one conversation, and being in a small environment, being in the safety of your own home, if you will, there's some opportunity there to try things and do things that you normally wouldn't."

Stinger see a recap of this year from 2020 coming up next, stay the coronavirus ravaged countries around the world this year.

Terrorists took aim at europe.

And there was movement toward peace in the middle east.

Cbs' ian lee is in london with the international stories that shaped our world in 2020.

Nats... the biggest story of the year began overseas - as the coronavirus struck wuhan, china.

Some of the earliest cases were linked to a live animal market there.

Covid-19 spread quickly - and northern italy became the epicenter of the disease that overwhelmed hospitals and morgues across europe.

Many countries enforced strict lockdowns, but the virus devastated the world - killing more than 1.6 million people.

Nats.... ?terrorists?

Struck europe - carrying out deadly attacks...including the beheading of a french teacher who showed students cartoons of the prophet mohammed.

Nats... the u-s took out top iranian general qassem soleimani in a drone strike on baghdad.

Iran retaliated with missiles targeting two u-s bases in iraq.

No one was killed, but more than 50 american service members suffered traumatic brain injuries.

Iran shot down a ukranian passenger plane killing all 176 people on board - saying it thought the jet was a missile.

Nats.... president trump ordered a drawdown of us troops to 25- hundred in both iraq and afghanistan before he leaves office.

There was movement toward middle east peace as israel established relations with the united arab emirates....bahrain and sudan.

Nats... a deadly chemical explosion rocked lebanon's capital - killing more than 2- hundred people.

In hong kong, massive demonstrations hit the city this year....as people demanded an end to a controversial extradition law that allows china to deport them.

Nats... 2020 was devastating for australia....wildfir es destroyed about 46 million acres and nearly 3 billion animals were killed or displaced.

Britain saw turmoil over brexit.

After officially leaving the european union earlier in the year -- the country failed to reach a new free- trade deal.

And prince harry and meghan markle broke ties with britain's royal family to start a new life in america....moving to los angeles with their one year old son, archie.

Ian lee, cbs news, london.

Stinger weather open summary: sunny skies will hang year old son, archie.

Ian lee, cbs news, london.

Stinger weather open summary: sunny skies will hang around for the rest of the holiday weekend.

A few showers are possible sunday night and monday with a weak cold front but moisture will be limited.

A stronger, wetter system is possible wednesday and wednesday night.

Several inches of rain and some storms could occur so we'll have to keep watching it.

Friday night: clear, calm, and cold.

Lows around 20.

Saturday: sunny.

Highs in the low 50s.

Winds s 5-10 mph.

Saturday night: clear and chill.

Lows in the upper 20s to low 30s.

Sunday: sunny.

Milder highs in the upper 50s.

Winds s 5-15 mph.

Monday: mostly cloudy.

A 20% chance of showers.

Highs in the mid 50s.

Tuesday: sun & clouds.

Highs in the upper 50s to around 60.

Wednesday: mostly cloudy with a 60% chance of rain and storms. highs in the low 60s.

Thursday: morning rain then mostly cloudy.

Colder highs in the mid 40s.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app stinger sports is next spx open pkg summary: sunny skies will hang around for the rest of the holiday weekend.

A few showers are possible sunday night and monday with a weak cold front but moisture will be limited.

A stronger, wetter stinger sports is next sports is next florida sports john cyclops joined by the one and only chris bolton chris on the you know stable football obviously in the rearview mirror almost almost you know lately a ball game season but it started i down our soup season sound play ball like all his life and know that you were interviewers but i'm kind of over evil cupcake games for both pcs ready for conference way to start and that's exactly obviously having coming up very soon to start with the women's teams for mississippi state and ole miss let's start with obviously the bulldogs i mean by hunting for an attorney they lost the vide oregon last year there was no turning back a ton of returning players on the scene but something is new you that coach mckenna craig hansen what you can see from her so far as we get home i seen this team know she's tried to have for her system around where she has also noticed utilized the the town see as their disposal the best he can is a very talented team bring back a lot of layers might sailor was wikia jackson all sec performer her own right to see very good and so you coach this is trying to put the players in position to be the best and what better position than all the returning players like you just mentioned are coming back and you also that same team almost the last of number two seed in the ncaa tournament last week about this is you want to see the rain and have everyone back so as a culture we want to see from the greatness of the kind of put it all together to get the steam over the top of your you know is the process of was with his first year as a coach we havemethersystemandwillseethe usmostwerebeingdisciplinedand dotheirbestofislowballedout ismyfavorite tobringbackalotofexperienceatt hepointguardpositionyoualsohav eoddsmyamigoyoung seasonplanverywellaswellandyou arejustacarseasonthesefellow isdidn'tdoesknowveryeasily sociallifeworkwithrespect willseehowthetogetjumpover toolemissalittleadifferentstor ytheyarenot agreatlasttwoyearsfinishedbses thetwoyearsagoandinlastyear finishingdeadlastsixtoknowonth eseasonandbegintoplay onewinawayfrommatchingtheirwin totaloflastseason doyouthinkthisseems finallymakingsomestridesreally havesome newadditionstoseetheteamthisye arandacouple playersthesecureaustinthemaryl andtransfer brianmadison'sgotoutof firstfive- starolemisscommitsanotherjohns ongeorgiatransferaswell isnotenoughtocometoseemobiusha rdtotellanonconference whatishardtoopen knowthosethreewordsismissing berrycountyplayersintheirownri ghtsocket egowillbedeftlyhaveateaminplac etocompeteinthesec whatyoucanseefromcoachjo becauseinthefirsttwoyears 'steamreallydidnothave muchsuccessatallonthecourt andnowi'musingthefirst afterfinishinglastintheconfere ncenotwhenasingleconferencegam eandolemiss decidedtofornowwhileithatit tothefiresisverycharismaticasy ouseenowjustabout thisisbrian's veryhighlyringrecruitingclass forthenotionofbringingthetalen tisonlyamattertime nazisprobablyhasherplayersinpl ace resealedthisteamiscapableofdoi ng andwedefinitelyaresoldmississi ppistatessecopenerdecember31 againstgeorgiathatoneisonasdc networkplusandtheolemisswomen' sbasmatisilveralso onnewyear'seveaswellthenumberf ivesouthcarolina fiveforourconferencebutyeah startwith you asked for this since i was a graph we are saturday and sunday know when the worries about his long holiday weekend and are touches her back the 50s when he was 60 and sunday so we climbed out of the deep freeze of utah's funnel money chance for wind they went to the christmas