Tim goodning and thank you for joining us tonight im tim seaman. Jenna has the night off. Although officially approved this week by the federal government. Iowas privatized medicaid plan doesnt begin until april first. But that isnt helping those whstill have questions about their service and coverage. As our bria bell found out today, that includes parents of childr who attend therapy for developemntal needs s bria tim,the federal government has given iowa the green light on the anticipated new medicaid plan that will go into affect about a month from now. But some parents dont know the ins and outs of their childrens coverage and say they feel left in the dark. Therapy station in sioux city hopes with the extra time, the Privatized Companies can help better inform concerned parents. The bad things is everyone knows the same amount of information right now which is basically nothing, says hindman. Many parents whos children visit therapy station for developmental issues are covered by medicaid, but with coverage could change. The federal extended iowas new medicaid rollout to april first. But more time, means more questions from well the biggest thing that it means honestly is more questions. There has been a shortage of information, not only for provide, parents, says reuter. According to brooke hinderman, a therapist for therapy station, parents are so confused theyre turning to anyone and everyone who might have answers. So theyre just looking for simple answers like, is my kid going to get Speech Therapy . or how many or many visits are they going to get . you know,will my childs services get covered . Will their medidition be coverere its just a bunch of questions and no a awers as of right now, says hindman. As iowas medicaid update nears, both parents and businesses like the Therapy Center are sitting back and hoping for the best for me, i think that the hard part is the parts that are unknown and not knowing and wanting to have more information, but we just have to be patient i guess, says reuter. Bria there are about 560 thousand iowans who will be affected by the new change. Reporting in studio, tim its been almost 2 decades since siououcitys, city council picked up a pay increase but that could ne changing. The council recently gave initial approval for a 50 percent hike. It may seem like a large bump but current and former City Council Members tell us they think its time. When compared to the salary of a county supervisors, who receives anywhere from 32 to 40 grand a year, the 10 to 15 thousand earned by the city council averages out to less than minimum wage. About 545 an hour on a thirty hour week. Even Council Members who were initially against the increase thinknkt could help the if the Salary Increase incentivizes people, uh others interested, good, hopefully young people interested in City Government and more importantly interested in the city and have invested commitment to the city, then so be it. The pay hike would not affect current members of the council. Tim film makers from far and wide are gathering in sioux city tonight kicked off the 12th annl siouxland fi festival where abuot 100 movie goers got the chance to check out a few of the finalists films at Wit Community colleges cargil auditorium. The event expanding over recent years to a 4 day gala with the addition of Short Documentary films this year each year bringing a different style of film competition. We did watch 126 films and we have narrowed it down to 40 films for the four growing interest, the first time we had about 30 films. Says board memeber margo chesebro. Viewers have the opportunity to vote on their favorite film though saturday. Tickets are 6 for adults and 3 for students with the next showing at the Sioux City Art Center tomorrow. Tim a lot of eyes on a high school in des moines as it makes a change geared to make students of any gender identity feel sa. Roosevelt high school is opening up two of its restrooms that used to be staff only. For all, now labeling them allgender restrooms. The change comes after a student created a petiton. And approached School Leaders with it. Principal kevin biggs says he wishes he had thought of the idea sooner. The student that lead the push for change says she started her missononfter seeing another student struggle. And a student who identifies as a male, he was using the womans restroom because for some reason he didnt feel safe using a restroom intended for the gender he identified with, i dont think thats right. All thats going to be changing at the school physically is a new sign on those single stall baoms. No one is required to use them. Theyre just available for anyone if thats what theyd like. Tim in south dakota, some controversy as a bill concerning transgendered students using bathrooms in schools is on the governors desk today, the second dadaof rallies in erre greeted lawmakers on the steps of the state house, with transgender students and advocates eaking out against the bill asking Dennis Daugaard to veto the measure the issue seems to have state representative split im protecting their hearts. Their eyes and their minds. I dont want our children to be exposed to the anatomy of other genders, it is an unfriendly message its hostile its unacceptable in a state where were trying to progress today, the governor met with advocates for transgender rights in pierre. He says the meeting put a human face on the bill, which would make south dakota the first state to require students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their sex at birth. Tim the controversy over whether or not to Fill Supreme Court justice antonin scalias vacant seat c ctinues. Today Senate JudiciaryCommittee Chair and iowa senator Chuck Grassley speaking out saying quote people in abraham lincolns time didnt have to have at concern, that they didnt hold it, is because the president had enough respect for the American People to wait for their decision. Abraham lincoln, in a like situation, didnt nominate anyone until after he was re elected. Grassley will be meeting with president obama, early next week says he , quotete, welcomes the opportunity to explain his position to wait for the next president , before the supreme meanwhile, rumors that this man, brian sandoval, governor of nevada is being vetted as scalias replacement. Sandoval is a former federal judge. And is considered a moderate republican in his home state. Tim february is National Heart month. And, if you, or a loved one, have signs of a heart attack. You should call 911 or go to the er immediately. Jenna has more about the system in place to save your life. Once you get there. Jenna rehnstrom the difference thats why the association has to connect first responders, doctors, and Community Members to improve patient heres more in tonights your health matters. As soon as siouxland paramedics get to a heart attack patient, the lifesaving measures are put in place immediately. John says, we automatically do these four out here to start with. John jorgensen has been using equipment and American Heart Association fofo several years. He also teaches rural, volunteer amlence squads to do the same. s part of an initiative called Mission Lifeline. The idea is to close the gaps that lead to slower and less effective patient care. John says, the key is to save time, because time is muscle and so thats our goal throughout this whole process is to save the time. While still in the field, paramedics do an ekg, so a heart attack can be diagnosed in the field. The results are sent to doctors at a aocal hospital, they can know almost immmmiately what situation to prepare for. Dr. Jerome pierson says, were able to pull these ekgs up and look at them and it tells us if a heart attack is occuring, is it normal . Is there Something Else going on that we need to identify. Mercy heart Center Director dr. Jeroue pierson says the goal is to have a patient diagnosed and get treatment underway within 90 minutes. In a Smaller Community like sioux city, that can happen even faster. Dr. Pierson says, i off the gurney from the ambulence, [we] take them right up to the catherization labratory, onto the table and go. A lot of times we can have these arteries within 20 minutes of them entering our emergency rooms. Doctors, and emts, know its that Early Intervention that saves lives. Dr. Piern says, we know that greatly reduces the amount of heart damage thats being done. And Mission Lifeline gets everyone one the same page when it comes to the best care for you or a loved one. Jenna rehnstrom the leona m. And harry b. Helmsley Charitable Trust is the lead funder r is initiative. Mercy Medical Center recently got a a eck for 105 thousand dollars to help implement Mission Lifeline. Statewide. About 4 and a half million has been given to hospitals and ems squads. But, each piece of equipment to perform and send those ekgs is about 30,000, and the hope is to eventually equip all 900 servies in iowa with the same technology. Still to come. Still to come. E. A special tradition between two iowans for nearly the past 50 years. Well explain after the break. fre light snow will continue tonight with minimal accumulation for most, and breezy winds will remain in place through tomorrow. But a big warmup is coming saturday see you after the break for the forecast. Someone whos been through it all, knows just about every detail and is there, year after year. In st. Ansgar, iowa theres a duo fitting that very description. And along with years friendship, theres been a special card. Through every birthday since 199. Reporter megdan reistad shares their story. Who would have thought, a cammode adorned card could hold such treasure getting quite full so we had to turn it over. It reads. Well, there it goes another year down the drain. Or at least it used to. Text now barely visible after 37 years being passed careful not to lose it. And its never been sent through the mail, save a lot of stage always hand livered. Fun and happy Birthday Well count them sometime okay reading card hope this year is a lot better than last. It must have been a bad year. reading card harriet and i were quite a bit younger when we started this. Sylvia wilsons now 87 and harriet hoi er heuer 92. And even with an address change for harriet, the card keeps coming. Were kinda an oddity oh real oddity. And it all started on accident. When i gave it to you, you got a a but hysterical and i thought that isnt that funny. In 1979, harriet had boug the same card for sylvia. So they decided just one would work. You said, well, because i have it in the drawer. Going to give it to you. I remember that. Whod have thought wed fill a card up like that . Well who would think that paper would be that good . We cant quit now our fun is just starting messages covering their friendship. Cover with vid knew each other as s teenagers and ouou husbands both were longdistance e uck drivers so she andnd and the kids s snt quite a bit of time entertaining each other and pause it was a good life. A lot of give and take, a lot of sorrownd happiness weve had everuthing. Weve had a good life. A card almost full. And two lives to match. I dont know where the time goes but it goes by so fast. Oh it does, it really does. In st. Ansgar Meghan Reistad abc 6 news while the card spans 37 years. Sylvia and harriets frienship goes back to their teen. About 75 years ago. tim fred, what is the outlook for tonight . fred a half inch or l ls of snow. 2 line super fred hexom the hd radar shows light snow mix in parts ofofiouxland. A time lapse of the Port Neal Welding Company skycam hd shows that weve had periods of non accumulating snow tonight. 41 has been our high and 24 the low. Heres the picture live from storm lake on the skycam hd. 35 is our sioucity temperature. Local temperatures are mainly in the 30s. Winds are north to northwest at 10 to 20 miles per hour. The satellite and radar shows the light snow moving through siouxland this evening, and we also see a major weather system over the eastern fourth of the country. After several Severe Weather reports yesterday, there are many more today. In the past 24 hours alone, there have been over 20 tornado reports and almost 300 total reports of Severe Weather in the incredible 200 reports of wind damage have been received. And, on the northwestern edge of this system where cooler air is found, we have winter storm warnings and blizzard warnings from illinois into michigan, including the south side of the chicago metro. Up to 10 of snow will be possible in these areas the stormcast hd shows light snow this evening, then scattered light snow showers overnit. Breezy winds will be with us again tomorrow before High Pressure calms the wind down tomorrow night, paving the way for a warming trend and sunny skies friday into saturday. The snow forecast shows the potential for about a half inch of snow tonight along and just west of interstate 29. Elsewhere, just a dusting or less of snow is expected. The forecast for chance of light snow and blustery winds. The low will be 28. Tomorrow, expect a high of 36 under mostly cloudy skies and a strong northwest breeze. The 7day forecast shows a jump to 47 on friday and then 62 saturday, both with mostly sunny skies. Winds will accompany a slight chance of light rain on sunday, then its back to the 50s monday before a stronger cold front offers a chance of snow tuesday, strong winds, and a return to highs in the 30s. Thanks, fred. fred sure. Tim plenty of people are excited about freds weekend outlook. But there are a few who were hoping for something a little colder. For the 5th year in a row, the rivercadenoon sertoma Cardboard Box ed races are cancelled. Ththgs were looking promising a few weeks ago but recent warm weather has melted snow at sertoma park where the supose to be held this years races re set for sunday at 2pm, but members of both groups say they will try again next year. Coming up in sports. The hawkeyes had the weekend off to prepare for wisconsin. Well see if the extra time was enough for an iowa win. Tim plus the top seeds in the gpac conference tournament had epossession leads at halftime tonight. Find out if the morningside women and briar cliff men could avoid upsets after the break. 32 naia teams from all over the country will be here in sioux city for the womens d2 national tournament. Theres a good chance that six of those teams s e in action tonight in the gpac tournament. Lets start with the regular season champs from morningside, taking on college of st. Mary. A two point mustang lead out of the break. But pilar aldrich. Former star at strong move to the tin and the flames tie things up at 38. But a couple of possessions later. A Basketball Court is 94 feet long. Lexi ackerman takes this one about 90 all the way fo the lay in. Stangs up three. Then check out this beautifullydrawn up play. Ackerman fights through the contact for the basket and the bonus. Morningsi de leads 4338. And the outside game gets going. Madi braun. Three of her gamehigh 20 here and the mustangs move on to the semis, 8272. Across town, a rematch of a fab four game last year, concordia and briar cliff. We pick things upi n the third. Kaylee blake with the nice footwork in the paint, she scoops it up and in for a 4136 lead. After the bulldogs got within 2, blake, knocks down the 15 footer. She had a team high 16 points tonight. Former crofton star quinn wragge, keeping concordia in it. She gets the Old Fashioned 3 point play here. She had a gamehigh 21. But Morgan Hansen answers with the triple of her own. It will be briar cliff saturday, 7669 the final. Over to the mens bracket. The regular season champs from briar cliff hosting northwestern. Check this out. Bryan n forbes, swats it off the backbobod on one end. Then in the front court. Erich erdman with the nolook dish to austin homan. Chargers go up two and tim cant believe it. On the other end. Colton kooima, answers with the pretty play of his own. Great body control on the jumper to tie things up at 20. Northwestern, played tough all night. Justin van kalsbeek grabs the deflection, puts on the spin cycle to get within one. But shane graves went for a career best30 cluding 3 righghhere. Briar cliff moves on, 9483. Other scores from tonight, the dordt men see their season come to an end, they fall on the road to nebraska wesleyan, 11198. And up in yankton, the northwestern women put up a fight but fall to the lancers, 7567. In the northern sun conference, wayne state men and women in opening rounds. The wildcat women outscored mary by 20 in the 3rd quarter to move on, 7869. And in the mens bracket the wildcats couldnt overcome 17 made threes by msu moorhead, they drop it 10983. Chris with just four games left in the regular season, iowas in good position in the big ten race. Even though they trail indiana by half a game, the hawkeyes control their own destiny for the regular season championship. But they finish with a tough tonight against won 8 of 9. First minute of the game. Mike gesell, with the strong deke. He finishes with the left and the hawkeyes strike first. A couple of possessisis later. Jarrrr uthoff, stretches the floor for three. Io takes a 5 point lead. Then gesell, inside to adam woodbury, he had a career high 18 rebounds tonight. The offense belonged to peter jok. He had 17 in the first half but just like these kids, there was no w in iow tonight. Wisconsi n heads to carver and gets it done, 6759. Football is back this weekend in siouxland as the bandits open up been some turnover on the roster for coach erv strohbeens squad, most notably at the quarterback position. Former marshall quarterback aj graham will make his team debut saturday. But with a strong core returning around him, the bandits have High Expectations for 2016. fred fred most of siouxland. The forecast for tonight is for a good chance of light snow and blustery winds. The low will be 28. Tomorrow, expect a high of 36 northw and now Abcs Jimmy Kimmel live. Dicky from hollywood, its Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight, Chef Gordon Ramsay from underground Jurnee Smollettbell and music from wolfmother with cleto and the cletones. And now, no one objects heres jimmy kimmel [ cheers and applause ] jimmy im jimmy, imm the host