WCBI NEWS AT TEN - DECEMBER 25, 2020

Show open 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 off 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 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.

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 .

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.

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 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 coming up, the final installment of our conversation on blood donation.

Stay with us.

Cash 3 lottery gfx goes here 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 stinger coming up, the final installment of our conversation on blood donation.

Stay with us.

Cash 3 lottery gfx tonight on health talk with baptist, part three of our conversation on the importance of donating blood.

Take a look.

No script billboard attached spx open i want to talk about blood donation one pint of blood can save up to three lives you cannot contract any diseases from donating wanting to help to others is the main reason here at baptist golden tria ngle we hold a blood drive every three months wear a top with loose fitting sleeves make an appointment be a donor make a difference a young crew and with that crew includes sophmore guard said nothing but great things a bout him how important is he?

He played last year you see the experience on the court and also he knows when to get his own buckets and when to play the play with others the dayton game they lost in double overtime where do you think this team stands in conference play?

They will play defense what have you seen in olemiss defense?

We will see you cant really want them to play defensevily it is clear they are playing hard in def white has really impeccable moves we will see who will step up another experience guy from gainesville fl we will right back