Rst, meteorologis t kaj omara has your first alert forecast, kaj. Clouds will be racing back in from the north as the day goes on. As the clouds increase, temperatures will level off, and many areas will probably see highs rehed around noon with mid30s common. Tonight into friday, it t es appeaeathe clouds may break up a bititleading to a partly cloudy finish to the work week. Late saturday into sunday is our next area of low pressure, and that should bring a light mix of rain and snow into the area. The system following this continues to look substantial with a risk of heavy snow in part of the midwest, including iowa. Its important to understand this system is closer to japan than the united states, which means we are way too far out for any kind of detail. Any kind of snowfall numbers could not be broadcast with confidence until around sunday, and even that could be pushing it. Bottom line is, stay tuned today mostly cloudy high 3238 winds nw 1 120 alo 33 dbq 34 iow 36tonight mostly cloudy low 1925 winds nw 515 alo 19 dbq 21 iow 23tomorrow partly cloudy high 3541 winds s 1020 alo 36 dbq 36 iow 38tomorrow night mostly cloudy low 2531 winds sw 515 alo 28 dbq 29 iow 29 housing agencies in waterloo number of Homeless People in the area. U. S. Department of housing and urban development requires all agencies using federal dollars to preform a count every other year. Last night, groups spent 3 hours checking spots like car washes, parks, and bridges for unsheltered people. If they do find someone, they make a note. They also offer to help them to an open bed in a nearby shelter, or give them with hand warmers and a sleeping bag. Cocounity housing initiatives, a Transitional Housing Program for the homeless, participated in the group. Development director Marileigh Fisher and says the count is an important thing to do. 29 1128 it helps us get an understanding of whats going on in the community, and as a Housing Provider we need to know if there are Homeless People on the streets keeps people informed of whats going on, the Community Needs to know whether thats occurring. During the last count, only 8 unsheltered were found. Local shelters would like to get that number dowow they ask the public to keep supporting the shelters, allowing them to get people off the streets and inside. Kids at the Linn County Juvenile Detention Center are getting help in a diffefent way. Theyre doing yoga. Volunteer instructor Allison Ordman started teaching yoga to offenders and Detention Center staff a year ago. The idea is the yoga methods of teaching relaxaxaon and stress relief would benefit teens in custody. Now the program is expanding. Earlier this month, the Greater Cedar Rapids Community fndation gave the county more than five thousand dollars ininrant money. My hope is well see a decrease the explosive time outs maybe even physical restraints that we end up having in our facility this is sometime that will stay doors. The Grant Funding will let the county train more staff to teach yoga techniques, with classes more than one day aa week. A task force in cedar rapids is proving its effectiveness with some big arrests. Cedar Rapids Police formed the Police Community action team to address violence in the community. 10 months ago, the Cedar Rapids City Council approved funding for 4 new officers. That allowed 4 veteran officers to shift to the new task force. The officers have between 3 and 10 yeaea of experience and backgrounds in gang identification and narcotics investigations. Chief jerman says pcat will be deployed to what he calls atrisk neighborhood s, and areas of the city dealing with specific crime problems. He says the commander of the Patrol Division will review these issues and look at complaints from citizens. Chief jerman told tv9 hell be measuring the teams effectiveness in a number of ways. That includes a reduction in calls for service and an overall decrease in when theyre deployed into a neighborhood that may have an identified crime trend, ideally, wed want to eliminate that trend so those reports of whatever incidents or crimes theyre dealing with will certainly be reduced. Chief jerman says in the near future, he plans on sending the officers on the team to kansas city to see how its similar Anti Crime Team does things. He says the overall goal behind pcat is to address s quality of life c ccerns in the neighborhood s that need it the most. This comes one day after the Cedar Rapids City Council formed the set task force. Set stands for safe, equitable and thriving. The t tk force members plan to try to get to the root causes of poverty as a way to decrease violence. The task force is also making an effort to bring all of the groups together that formed following the deadly shooting o o 15 year old aaron richardson. 14 year old robert humbles pleaded guilty that case. Hell serve time at a juvenile center until hes 18. Then a judge will either release him or send him to prison. In a tv9 followup this morning. 5 people from dubuque are suing the city and Police Officers r using Excessive Force during a fight in august. According to the lawsuit, several people at the scene say the first officer to respond, jay murray, pepper sprayed several children in the face without warning them. It also claims murray also sprayed tina dean, who was 8 months pregnant. According to police reports, murray was attempting to arrest a 12 year old boy in the crowd. Police say a crowd surrounded murray and he used pepper spray for defense. In the law suit, the plaintiffs said they suffered severe and permanent injuries for the situation, including mental scarring. Police in iowa city are hoping to open more discussion with people in the city this morning. They are hosting a coffee with a cop event from 9 30 until 11 30 am. It will be at the bread Garden Market on linn street. Voice concernsnsand get to know Police Officers. This is video from a similar event in december. Some iowa lawmakers are working on legislation so iowans would have the choice to end their life if theyre terminally ill. Its called euthenasia or assisted suicide. Yesterday people showed their support at the capitol for the legislation called death with dignity act. Many people who spoke out in support eithererave a terminal illness or know someone who does. I dont want to drag out the inevitable for weeks or months wishing it would end soon because im being tortured this woman says she only has about a year left to live, and says she wants to haha control when it ends. Last year lawmakers tried to pass similar legislation but it didnt have enough support. A lawmaker says most of the opposition this is year is coming from religious groups. The university of iowa has discrimination lawsuit filed by a man who said he didt get a job because administrators wanted a woman. The ui agreed to pay mike scott 20thousand dollars for past wages and 97thousand dollars to settle all claims. The school paid his attorney 81thousand dollars. An email from 2013 showed the universitys head track coach rewrote the assistant track coach Job Description to attract more female candidates. A man faces prison time after pleading guilty to stealing corn seeds from two ag companies that havavfarm fields in eastern iowa. Mo hailong also known as robert mo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal trade secrets yesterday. Mo was the leader r a group of six chinese nationals accused of stealing corn seed from Dupont Pioneer and monsanto fields in 2011. That includes this one near dysart. Investigators say ty tried to smuggle the corn seed to china. The City Government in marquette is losing several leaders all at the same time. The mayor of the Clayton County resigned, along with a City Council Member and a member of the board of adjustment. Recently elected mayor Dave Schneider stepped down over a zoning rights dispute. It started when a man wanted the city to re zone a property in town so he could put in a mobile home. But the city denied it, saying the plan went against marquettes zoning policy. The dispute later went to court, and a judge ruled against theheity, therefore allowing re zoning. Just recently, the city council decided not to appeal the court decision. Schneider says he resigned because city leaders were not able to enforce the zoning policy. The Monticello School district wants another bond vote to improve its schools. There were a lot of opinions on the options at a meeting last night. Supporters want a new middle school attached to the current high scscol. A much bigger plan that included the middle school and work on two elementary schools. This is just the first step in a long process, but aiming for about a 17million dollar bond issue. During the super bowl for the first time. Thousand words facebook is its todays techbytes. Good morning its. Clouds will be racing back in so, let me get this straight u. S. Cellular has the phone youre looking for, a network thats built to give you coverage way out here where the other guys dont, and 6 gigs for only 40 a month. So, why on earth would you ever go with one of those other guys . Switcho u. S. Cellular noww and get 6 gigs of data for 40 a month plus get 300 back. Ddy goes on. As the clouds increase, temperatures will levev off, and many areas will probably see highs reached around noon with mid30s common. Tonight into friday, it does appear the clouds may break up a bit, leading to a partly cloudy finish to thth work week. Late saturday into sunday is our next area of low pressure, and that should bring a light mix of rain and snow into the area. The system following this continues to look substantial with a risk of heavy snow in part of the midwest, including iowa. Its important to understand this system is closer to japan which means we are way too fafa out for any kind of detail. Any kind of snowfall numbers could not be broadcast with confidence until around sunday, and even that could be pushing it. Bottom line is, stay tutued today mostly cloudy high 3238 winds nw 1020 alo 33 dbq 34 iow 36tonight mostly cloudy low 1925 winds nw 515 alo 19 dbq 21 iow 23tomorrow partly cloudy high 3541 winds s 1020 alo 36 dbq 36 iow 38tomorrow night mostly cloudy low 2531 winds sw 515 alo 28 dbq 29 iow 29 now heres abcs reena ninan and Kendis Gibson with this mornings techbytes. Trt oc hey there in todays techbytes a first for amazon. Super bowl sunday. Cheerleaders. Marino again, i thought you were the expect at this party. Theyre planning thehe party with amazon echo. Samsung may be ready to launch its own phone upgrade program. Lease their devices for one year and exchange it for a newer model. And facebooks like button is about to get more emotional. The new reactions feature ll allow users to go beyond a simple thumbsup with an emoji. There are five new symbols. Techbytes. Have a great day. Look, the wolf was huffing and puffing. Like you do sometimes, grandpa . . Well, when you have copd, it can be hard to breathe. It can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard get air in. So i talked to my doctor. She said. Symbicort could help you breathe better, starting within 5 minutes. For sudden symptoms. Symbicort helps provide significant improvement ofofour lung function. Symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It should not be taken more than twice a day. Symbicort contains formoterol. Medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems. Symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, and some eye problems. You should tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Symbicort could mean a day with bettetebreathing. Watch out, piggies children giggle symbicort. Breathe better starting within 5 minutes. Call or go online to learn more about a free trial offer. If you cant afford your medication, the l lder of the armed group occupying a National Wildlife refuge in oregon wants his followers to leave. Ammon bundys plea for them to end the occupation came a day after he and several followers arrested on federal ccrges. Reid binion reports. Down. An attorney for oregon armed protest leader ammon bundy. Reading bundys statement asking his followers to end their armed occupation of the Malheur National here. Go home and hug your families. This fight is ours for now in the protester Lavoy Finicum protester was shot anankilled by police e ring the arrest of bundy and four of his followers. Officials say finicum led authorities on a high speed chase, exited his vehicle, and reached for his waistband, where he had a gugu two additional arrests related to the occupation were made in in arizona. As some protesters stayed at the refe wednesday in defiance, others left, including three men who were arrested. While ammon bundy wants them nevada rancher and activist cliven bundy, disagrees. They gave up from holding the refuge. Thats their only thing that brings you guys out here. Im reid binion, reporting today marks the 30th years since the Space Shuttle challenger disaster. Nasa will pay tribute to the crews of apollo 1, and Space Shuttles challenger and columbia during todays day of remembrance. Died in failed. That caused the shuttle to break apart just 73 second after launch. Donald trump isnt a stranger to protestors at his campaign rallies. Police say a protestor threw a few tomatoes and he now faces charges. Youre looking live on our camera. Kaj will be back right after the break with a look at your thursday forecast. Us now with your first alert forecast. Clouds will be racing back in from the north as the day goes on. As the clouds increase, temperatures will level off, and many areas will probably see highs reached around noon with mid30s common. Tonight into friday, it does appear the clouds may break up a bit, leading to a partly cloudy finish to the work week. Late saturury into sunday is our next area of low pressure, and that should mix of rain and snow into e area. The system following this continues to look substantial with a risk of heavy snow in part of the midwest, including iowa. Its important to understand this system is closer to japan than the united states, which means we are way too far out for any kind of detail. Any kind of snowfall numbers could not be broadcast with confidence until around sunday, and even that could be pushing it. Bottom line is, stay tuned today mostly cloudy high 3238 winds nw 1020 alo 33 dbq 34 iow 36tonight mostly cloudy low 1925 winds nw 515 alo 19 dbq 21 iow 23tomorrow partly cloudy high 3541 winds s 1020 alo 36 dbq 36 iow 388morrow night m mstly cloudy low 25311 winds sw 515 alo 28 dbq 29 thanks, kaj. Summer weather and fourth of July Fireworks may seem ages away. A new bill at the state house may make buying the big booms legal in iowa. Heres a live look on our city cam. Its january 28th and heres what you need to know today. Are in des moines getting ready for the final debate before the caucuses. Donald trump says he wont participate. Political ads arerencreasing in intensity. Our tv9 and gazette Fact Checker Team investigate the claims in Bernie Sanders latest ads. More arrests at a wildlife refuge in oregon after the leader of the armed occupation calls for those still resisting to leave. Cedar Rapids Police says its new Police Community action team will help areas of the city dealing with specic crime problems. And a church in cedar rapids is sending tens of thousands of bottles of water to flint, michigan to help with the lead water crisis. Youre watching kcrgtv9. Now, from your 24 hour news source, news. First, meteorologis t kaj omara has your first alert forecast, kaj. From the north as the day goes on. As the clouds increase, temperatures will level off, and many areas will probably see highs reached around noon with mid30s common. Tonight into friday, it does appear the clouds may break up a bit, leading to a partly cloudy finish to the work week. Late saturday into sunday is our next area of low pressure, and that should bring a light mix of rain and snow into the area. The system following this continues to look substantial with a risk of heavy snow in part of the midwest, including iowa. Its important to understand this system is closer to japan than the united states, which means we are way too far out for any kind of detail. Any kind of snowfafal numbers could not bbbroadcast with confidence until around sunday, and even that could be pushing it. Bottom line is, stay tuned today mostly cloudy high 3238 winds nw 1020 alo 33 dbq 34 iow 36tonight mostly cloudy low 1925 winds nw 515 alo 1 dbq 21 iow 23tomorrow partly cloudy high 3541 iow 38tomorrow night mostly cloudy low 2531 winds sw 1alo 28 dbq 2w 29 publican president i ndidates are meeting in des moines today for a final debate before the ucuses on monday. L the major candidates will there exce forenald trump says he will not at the debate toniniht. He defendededhis posisiion on the same chaanel he is boycotting he spoke to bill oreilly on fox news last night. Trump blasted fox host megyn kelly, whom he first criticized in august following a debate. He said he has zero respect for kelly, adding shes overrated. Instead, Trumps Campaign says it will hold a special event at Drake University tonight, benefiting wounded veterans. In the most recent quinnipiac showed trump and senator ted cruz in a statistical tie among Iowa Republican voters. Senator marco rubio held onto third place with 13 percent, but no other candidates were above 7 percent. Those on the main stage tonight include john kasich, jeb bush, marco rubio, ted cruz, ben carson, Chris Christie, and rand paul. Fox news is hostitig the debate at t te Iowa Events Center in des moines at 8 iowa despite missing tonights debate, trump and nearly all otker candidates are just days before the caucuses. Coming tonight on the kcrgtv9 news at 6, well look at what the causes really mean. Does a candidate have to win the caucuses president . One university of iowa professor says its really about finishing in the top 3 if you want to survive. And he those on the bottom in iowa will have little success in the days that follow. I would say that the bottom six candidates or so really going to have a much harder time, barring the fact a few of them arent competing here, but its going to narrow the field for the New Hampshire folks and on to south carolola. Again, tonight on the tv9 news at 6, kcrg tv 9s Iowa City Bureau chief mark carlson will look at the true importance of iowa. Former president bill clinton is back in eastern iowa today for the third time stumping for his wife hillary. He starts his day in waverly at 11 this morning. Then, hell be at mount vernon hell then head to Washington High School for an event at 4 30. Finally, clinton will speak in ottumwa at 7 30 tonight. All of these events are called get out and caucus encouraging voters to show up on monday night. A 28yearold man faces charges for throwing tomatoes at trump during his iowa city event. University of iowa Police ArrestedAndrew Alemao for disorderly condndt. They say he threw two tomatoes at the republican during his Campaign Event at the ui fieldhouse and missed. Protesters also interrupted trump a number of times in his tuesday night event. At that same event, university of iowa Football Players appeared on stage with trump and presented him with a jersey. The University Says its not backing any president ial candidate. Ui Athletic Director gary barta released a statement saying the studentathletes are encouraged to participate in the political process. But he said their participation should not be considered as an n dorsement on behalf of you can stay with kcrg tv 9 for complete caucus cwverage monday night. Well have live reports from des moines and acroro eastern iowa along with expert analysis. It all starts at 8 pm on kcrg 9. 2. Then, well have full coverage starting at 9 pm right here on tv nine. A theme for Bernie Sanders campaign is leveling the playing field, specifically around income. Thats the focus of two of his Current Campaign ads. The gazette and kcrgtv9 Fact Check Team put them to the test and the gazettes erin jordan has the results. Median Family Income today, 4,000 less than it was in 1999. The ad titled working families basis this claim on a us census report showing the median u. S. Household income last year was 53,600 a aut 4,200 less than in 1999. But the average american didnt actually earn more in 1999. The Median Household Income in 1999 was actually 42,000. But adjusted for inflation, that 42,000 in 1999 is actually than the average income today. A second claims this. Acquired more wealth in two years than the bottom 100 Million People combined. Forbes magazine says the 15 richest americans think bill gates and Warren Buffett increased their net worth in the last two years by nearly 130 billion. Meanwhile, the bottom quarter of americans in less than 50. The next highest quarterf americans were worth a median 31,000. That is down 9percenen from 2010. So the poorest actually lost net worth in that span while the nation got richer. We give sanders an a on both claims. In a tv9 followup this morning. Law enforcement have a man in custody for a shooting in dubuque that 30yearold Cowan Godfrey faces multiple weapons charges. Investigators had been searching for him since july. They thought hed left the state. Law officers cently learned thatate was in dubuque and took him into custody at his home on white street tuesday morning. Police say someone fired multiple shots in jackson park on april 1st. No one was hurt. Police say cameras in the area captured some of the people involved. That video led police to zoros gyro restaurant nearby where they arrested a teenager. A Cedar Rapids Church is collecting bottles of michigan. The water crisis there started in 2014, when the state switched the water source from lake huron to the flint river to save money. Experts said the water was highly corrosive and collected lead from the pipes. As a result, thousands of people reported feeling sick and tests showed their blood had high levels of lead. Now theres a shortage of drinking water. Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in cedar rapids started collecting Church Leaders say they wanted to help out, especially after so many helped cedar rapids after the 2008 flood. They want to personally deliver all of the water they collect in a couple of weeks. 13 52 56 i want to bring in at least 100,000 bottles of water 10000 bottles of water and bring it to several sites that are passing out water churches, barber shops, we can find. The grouousays once it gets toto out what else they can do. If you want to donate water or money for the collection, contact the church at 3193646592. Walmart and several beverage makers announced they will deliver six point five million bottles of donated water to flint. While city leaders are grateful, theyre worried about all of those plastic bottles. A committee is workiki on a new recycling plan and will announce more details today or tomorrow. Activists like Michael Moore say sending bottles of water wont fix the issue. We need those pipes replaced placed since they discovered lead in their water michigan Governor Rick Snyder says officials are looking into replacing the pipes. For now, he says the priority is to distribute Water Bottles and filters to affected homes. Some iowans are hoping they dont have to go to missouri for their fireworks anymore. A revised bill has cleared the iowa senate subcommittee. It would allow people to sell, buy and use fireworks in the state. The bill lets cities and counties opt out, and continue banning the explosives if they so choose. Lawmakers say iowans are buying fireworks from other states anyway, but cant lelelly use them. Firefighters and health care representativ es told lawmakers yesterday they dont think legalizing fireworks is a good idea. A famous spot for president ial candidates to hit in iowa city is changing ownership. And the owner is pursuing a completely different career. Up next. This mornings joins us now. Clouds will be racing back in day goes on. As the clouds increase, temperaturur will level off, and many areas will probably see highs reached around noon with mid30s common. Tonight into friday, it does appear the clouds may break up a bit, leading to a partly cloudy finish to the work week. Late saturday into sunday is our next area of low pressure, and that should bring a light mix of rain and snow into the area. The system following this continues to look substantial iowa. Its importananto understand this system is closer to japan than the united states, which means we are way too far out for any kind of detail. Any kind of snowfall numbers confidence until around sunday, and even that could be pushing it. Bottom line is, stay tuned today mostly cloudy high 3238 winds nw 1020 alo 33 dbq 34 iow 36tonight moly cloudy low 1925 winds nw 515 alo 19 dbq 21 iow 23tomorrow partly cloudy high 3541 winds s 1020 alo 36 dbq 36 iow 38tomorrow night mostly cloudy low 2531 winds sw 515 alo 28 dbq 29 a school in des moines is hoping miss class to go to the dentist. So they are bringing the dentist to the school. More to on that coming up. Stay theres g gd news this morning for those who doctors at Mercy Medical center in dubuque can now prescribe medicine to treat addicts. The drug is called buprenorphine. Doctors are using it at mercycy turning point inpatient treatment center. Doctors say heroin overdoses and deaths in Dubuque County have increased from 5 overdoses and 2 deaths in 2011, to 15 overdoses and 6 deaths in 2015. Experts say for years they relied on talk therapy and the 12 step program to heltreat heroin addicti. But now this drug is availab for treaeang patients. Whatathat medicine does is get in there and tricks the brain and then thinks its getting heroin, but its not a trick and it helps them with withdrawal pymptoms. Doctors say the drug does not cause the user to get high. And patients are able to take it as long as their doctor says they need it. New this morning this waterloo man could spend the rest of his life in jail for murder. A jury found martez smith guilty yesterday of first degree murder for stabbing his girlfriends norman. Smith was also found guilty of Domestic Violence for pushing his girlfriend latres johnson. The assistant county attorney said norman stepped in after smith pushed his girlfriend. Closing the achievement gap. A high school in cedar rapids is receiving statewide recognition for doing just that. 74 of the Washington High Schools African American students are proficient in math and reading. Thats compared to the state average of for African American students of 54 . Educators say encouraging students to enroll in advanced placement courses is part of that success. But 4 instructional design strategists also focus on how teachers can better engage atrisk students. Teachers are overworked, they have a lot of students, sometimes they dont have time to expand on some of the resources, and thats where we come in. Were able to provide those resources and the supports for those teachers so we can get down to each individual student the Governors Office presented School Officials with the breaking barriers award earlier this month. Students at a high school in des moines dont have to go far for their dental work. Students just have to go right down the halalto the new Dental Clinic in scavo high school. This is first clinic like this in the state. It provides services that you could get at any other dentist office. So far, there have been 20 appointments since it opened and School Leaders have already noticed an increase in class attendance. The clinic can serve up to 15 students a day. You just have to be a student within the Des Moines Public Schools to get an appointment. A new owner will take over a decades old restaurant in iowa city. The hamburg inn is known for its Political Campaign stops. This is video from a Chris Christie visit last year. Dave panthers family has owned it since it opened in 1935. He says hes retiring to pursue storytelling and his hobby of clowning. Panther isnt saying who the new owner will be, but he says theyll likely finalize the sale next week. We have High School Wrestling for you tonight on kcrg nine point two. The hawks travel to independence to face the mustangs. It starts at seven oclock tonight, again on kcrg nine point two. Kaj will be back right after the break with a final look at your thursday forecast. Heres what you need to know as door on your thursday. 2016 republican president ial candidates are gathering in des moines to prepare for the final debate before caucuses. Fox news will host the debate. Six, the primetime at eight. Donald trump says he wont participate and wiwi hold a Campaign Event at Drake University instead. Former president bill clinton will be in eastern iowa today stumping for his wife, hillary. Hell be in waverly at wartburg at 11. Then hell travel to events in mount vernon, washington and end his day in ottumwa. Now, one last look at this mornings weather, kaj. Clouds will be racing back in from the north as the day goes on. As the clouds will level off, and many areas will probably see mid30s common. Tonight into friday, it does appear the clouds may break up a bit, leading to a work week. Late saturday into sunday is our next area brina light mix of rain and snow into the area. The system following this continues to look substantialal part of the midwest, including iowa. Its important to understand than the united states, which means we are way too far out for any kind of detail. Any kind of snowfall numbers could not be broadcast with confidence until around sunday, and even that could be pushing it. Bottom line is, stay tuned day mostly cloudy high 3238 34 iow 36tonight mostly cloudy low 1925 iow 23tomorrow winds s 1020 alo 36 dbq 36 iow 38tomorrow night mostly cloudy low 2531 winds sw 515 alo 28 dbq 29 iow 29 we certainly hope your is off to a good start. Good morning america is next. And well be back with a local news update at 7 25. Eleven for the kcrg