  We present results from the first lattice simulations of three dimensional
non-compact quantum electrodynamics (QED3) with N_f four-component fermion
flavors coupled to a weak Z(2) chirally invariant four-fermi interaction.
Results with $N_f \ge 4$ show that the scaling near the strong coupling chiral
transition or sharp crossover is determined by the 3d Gross Neveu
ultraviolet-stable renormalization group fixed point. Small deviations of the
N_f=4 critical exponents from the respective Gross Neveu ones, hint at evidence
for non-zero fermion mass generated by the gauge fields dynamics that might
have been enhanced by the four-fermi coupling. It is also shown that the
scaling region is suppressed at weak four-fermi couplings and large N_f values.
Measurements of i) a monopole susceptibility which is the polarizability of the
monopole configurations, and ii) the density of isolated monopoles, imply that
for $N_f \ge 1$ and weak gauge couplings the monopoles do not affect the
theory's confining properties, because they are shielded.
