Political action committees raise money privately to influence legislation or political candidates. One called panther pac just formed to help support the university of northern iowa. The Community Group held its kickoff meeting last week. Its goal is to get candidates elected to office who will support uni and address their top concerns for the future. The cochairs of the group especially want to tackle the issue of state funding. 9 25 05 it would be hard to imagine a funding model for state Public Higher Education that treats uni more inequitably than what we have here. So what we have done is form a non partisan Political Action committee that will help to reward and incentivize state elected officials and candidates once and for all. Gorton says forming a pac in is pretty rare. The Community Group will now work out the process of deciding which candidates to support for future elections. The two democratic president ial candidates are going head to head in a debate tonight in New Hampshire. The exchanges at a town hall last night between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton show the attacks getting sharper. I say you cant go and say you are a moderate on one day and be a progressive on the other day. Some of my best friends are moderates i love moderates but you cant be a moderate and a progressive, they are different im not going to let that bother me. I know where i stand. I know who stands with me. I know what ive done. Recent polls shows sanders has a large lead over clinton in New Hampshire with the primary on february 9th. The debate tonight is on msnbc at 8 pm iowa time. On the republican side, ted cruz is defending himself after donald trump accused him of cheating. Yesterday, trump send out a tweet that cruz didnt win iowa, that he stole trump later told a Radio Station that he plans to file a complaint over the iowa caucuses. Trump was referring to accusations that cruzs supporters told people that fellow Republican Ben Carson was leaving the race. It seems his reaction to everything is to throw a fit, to engage in insults and i understand that donald finds it very hard to lose, since the iowa caucuses, 3 republicans have dropped out. Former governor of arkansas Mike Huckabee left the race late monday night. Kentucky senator rand paul and former pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum suspended their campaigns yesterday. Santorum then endorsed marco rubio. Linn county supervisors will have an open position come november. Supervisor Linda Langston says she wont seek reelection after 14 years. She says you have to know when youve had the job long enough. Its also good to step aside and make sure that other people have an opportunity to do public service. I felt langston said she has an idea what her next step will be. She just isnt ready to announce that yet. Legislation to legalize fireworks in iowa is erupting in the iowa house and senate, but now has momentum forward. The Senate State Government committee voted 10 to 5 in support of the bill yesterday. If it becomes law, it would mean iowans could buy, sell, and use fireworks like roman candles and firecrackers. So far, the bill has bounced between the house and senate with safety concerns holding it back. A new amendment to the bill gives cities more flexibility on whether to implement the law. In a tv9 followup this morning. The chauncey tower controversy is almost over. Iowa city has approved a tentative agreement with a local church over the project. The City Council Approved the settlement with the Trinity Episcopal Church on tuesday. Now the church will consider the proposed agreement on saturday. The settlement comes after a lawsuit the church filed last year which claimed the city unlawfully rezoned land for the tower. A judge dismissed that lawsuit, but the church appealed. Developer marc moen plans to build the 15story tower on the corner of college and gilbert streets. It would would house apartments, offices, a movie theatre, and more. Iowa Workforce Development has paid out thousands of dollars in Unemployment Benefits to people claiming to work for companies that didnt exist. A state audit shows it paid more than 97 thousand dollars to people who said they worked for Fake Companies in 2013 and 2014. These improper payments are part of more than 909 thousand dollars the state lost over a threeyear period. The auditor says her office was notified and started investigating in may of 2013. The Auditors Office found 20 fake company accounts, but does not know who set them up. The university of iowas Muslim Students now have a safe place to pray on campus. Uis Muslim Student association or msa is holding an inauguration ceremony today to open their new prayer rooms. Kcrgtv 9s brea love joins us on the desk this so brea, how do students feel about the new area . Chris and nicole, the members of msa say its a relief. With the closest mosque miles away and campus, muslims didnt have a quiet area where they could that space is available, students are saying its a step forward. More than 30 thousand students attend the university of iowa. So you can imagine campus is constantly packed with people. Which makes finding a quiet area to pray, hard for students like mohammad ismail. 46 07 whenever i was looking for a room, i kinda would go through the imu and try to find something thats available, which is not the case like at 2 or 2pm, or id have to go on top of a staircase and just pray there and hope that no one would walk by and start asking me questions, because we cant talk when we pray. Many other msa members felt the same way. Thats when the group decided to reach out. After a month of discussion and planning with university officials, they found a solution. 59 34 we identified a couple that have been used as offices since the flood that happened many years ago. They are no longer needed for offices so were able to change those to prayer and meditation spaces. Two new completely renovated rooms. One for men and another for women. Ismail says getting this space is a step forward for not only the group, but the university as a whole. 46 24 its just nice having a room where anyone can go and have a quiet place to pray. Im hoping that other people other students will use it a lot as well. Hopefully it will allow for other Muslim Students on campus to get involved the msa. 47 04 if there are other religious groups that need that space to pray at i think that the university will see a need for them then theyll be fine with them and i think thats a good thing for everyone on campus. Redington agrees this is a chance for other groups on campus to be aware they can also express their needs, and their voices will be heard. 00 36 the big thing is ask, come talk to us, tell us what were missing, tell us what their wanting, tell us what their vision is and how we can help and how we can support them, and we certainly will do what we can. The msas inaugural ceremony iowa theater inside of the Iowa Memorial Union at 5 pm. Chris and nicole, this means a lot for those students. Right. Yeah thanks a lot brea. A team of researchers at the university of iowa is making some progress in the fight against cancer. They are using 3d Imaging Technology and a collection of cancerfighting drugs to stop tumors from growing. Dr. David soll started writing software for the Imaging System back in the 1980s. About 20 years ago, he started collecting antibodies that fight cancer cells. Soll decided to merge these 2 projects, with the goal of finding antibodies that would stop tumor growth. His team can watch a tumors growth in 3d that shows how special cells in the tumor reach out and grab other cells, causing it to get larger. Soll says the next step is to test which antibodies can prevent certain steps in tumor growth. 43 57 09 we now can actually rebuild the tumor, over a 2 month period as it actually builds and forms in this gel, and reconstruct everything about it, and i even soll says this Imaging Technology is unique, and this is the first time researchers have been able to watch a cancerous tumor grow in 3d. As concern for the zika virus grows, the university of iowa is now one of dozens of Research Institutes watching the virus. The virus is believed to cause small head syndrome, in newborn babies. A Brazilian Research institute is trying to create a zika vaccine. This is video from inside the Emergency Operations center at the centers for disease control, which is the disease. The state hygienic lab in coralville is not currently testing for zika. But, theyre sending two the cdc for testing. Thats not to say zika is in iowa, but they are looking into it. Lab officials expect to help testing for it soon because the cdc will likely need help. Were not just the only people in the country that are concerned, there are people all over the country, and that tests it right now, so there might be a backlog, i have no idea how many specimens are being submitted to them right now. The lab here in iowa wont have any role in developing a possible vaccine for zika. The gloves are off. Bernie sanders is on the attack toward Hillary Clinton. And what was once a cordial relationship between ted cruz and donald trump has no turned to fraud accusations. But right now, heres a look at todays opening farm markets. Good morning its. Plan on bouts of clouds to move today. While it may become cloudy for several hours at a time, the general theme is for a partly cloudy sky today. The thicker clouds north of highway 20 may also generate a few scattered flurries as well, though no accumulation is likely. Tomorrow, a warm front approaches from the west, allowing for a chance of snow in the area tomorrow evening. Snow amounts with that will generally be a trace to half inch. This weekend, we are dry saturday with a system approaching later on sunday. At this time, its too early to determine any s with that sunday monday system, but it does appear that it should be light, regardless of how it moves across the area. Thanks kaj. Plan on bouts of clouds to move across the area today. While it may become cloudy for several hours at a time, the general theme is for a partly cloudy sky today. The thicker clouds north of highway 20 may also generate a few scattered flurries as well, though no accumulation is likely. Tomorrow, a warm front approaches from the west, allowing for a chance of snow in the area tomorrow evening. Snow amounts with that will generally be a trace weekend, we are dry saturday with a system approaching later on sunday. At this time, its too early to determine any specific accumulation s with that sunday monday system, but it does appear that it should be light, regardless of how it moves across the area. Its the end of an era. Subways 5 dollar footlongs are no more. Theyre going to cost you just a little more. More details on that coming up in todays americas just ahead of their debate in New Hampshire tonight, the democratic president ial hopefuls are battling over who is progressive enough. Andheres a new war of words between the republican frontrunners. Abcs bazi kanani has the latest on the race for white house. The democrats lay out their differences in New Hampshire. But i think an objective assessment would say that there is more excitement and energy in our campaign. Bernie Sanders. Argues he is more electable than Hillary Clinton. Defends his plan to for universal healthcare. Yes, youll pay a little bit more, but your Health Premiums will disappear. And promises a Progressive Political revolution. We will raise the minimum wage, we will have health care for all people, its very hard to see how any of his proposals could ever be achievable. Clion fights back against sanders charges that shes a moderate, not a progressive. Im a progressive who likes to get things done. And pledges to make history. Im going to try to break the highest and hardest glass ceiling. I hope it shatters completely. Applause. The leading republicans . In a new battle. Ted cruz fires back after trump accuses him of fraud for sending this email to supporters on caucus day suggesting ben carson was dropping out of cruz told his team to spread the word to those carson supporters. Trump tweets ted cruz didnt win iowa, he stole it. Cruz. Accuses trump of a nasty tempter. I mean were liable to wake up one morning and donald if he were president , he would nuke denmark. Meteorologist kaj omarar stay with tv9. Its. Running up a few flights of stairs can be a great work out. But running up hundreds of steps may be a little too much. Yelling then sound of horn. These are runners climbing the 86 flights of stairs in the 39th annual Empire State Building run up race. Its the worlds oldest and most famous tower race. And the fastest runners are able to get to the stop in about 10 minutes. Now, one last look at this mornings weather, kaj. Plan on bouts of clouds to move across the area today. While it may become cloudy for several hours at a time, the general theme is for a partly cloudy sky of highway 20 may also generate a few scattered flurries as well, though no accumulation is likely. Tomorrow, a warm front approaches from the west, allowing for a chance of snow in the area tomorrow evening. Snow amounts with that will generally be a trace to half inch. This weekend, we are dry saturday with a system approaching later on sunday. At this time, its too early to determine any specific abcs reena ninan and phillip good morning. Topping americas money, more recalls because of those dangerous air bags. Onda is recalling 2 million more vehicles in the u. S. Due to those takata air bags. They can rupture when deployed sending debris into the air. At least ten deaths have been linked to the defect. The recall involves 24 million vehicles. Were still in the thick of winter but home depot looking ahead to spring. It plans to hire more than 80,000 Sales Associates nationwide to help beeff up its Garden Centers just in time for those spring flowers. Finally so long. 5 foot long. Famous meal deal. Obviously it will now be 6 for a foot long hero. Subway says the price hike is the result of rising costs since the foot long debuted back in there you go. Choices. Thats amamicas money. Have a great day. Does the smell of a freshly bound presentation fill you with optimism . Do you love your wireless keyboard more than certain family members . Is your success due to a filing system only you understand . Does printing from your tablet to your wireless printer give you a jolt of confidence . If so, you may be gearcentric. Someone who knows that the right office gear helps you do great things. And theres one place that has it all. If you misplace your discover card, you can use freeze it to prevent new purchases on your account in seconds. And once you find it, you can switch it right on again. Youre back freeze it, only from discover. Youre watching kcrgtv9. Now, from your 24 hour news source, this is kcrgtv9 news Early Morning news. University of iowa students who practice islam will now have a dedicated space to pray. The work of one Student Group made it happen. The iowa lottery could face major scrutiny bececse of a scandal withthhe hot lotto prizes a few years ago. One lawsuit has already been filed. Cedar rapids schools are expecting significant budget cuts. So district leaders may change the Class Schedule to save money. Good thursday morning its 5 oclock on february 4th