Transcripts For KCRG KCRG TV9 Morning News 20160209

We are working to get more information on the fire and if anyone is injured. We will continue to update you as we learn more. First, meteorologis t kaj omara has your first alert forecast, kaj. While a few flurries may be out there early this morning, they will be quick to exit. Watch the road surfaces asashey will likely have a light coaoang on them from last nights snow as well. Plan on temperatures to be into the teens for highs with wind chills of 5 to 10 at times. Another weak area of low pressure will move in later on wedndnday, and this should spread some light snow into iowa. The farther west you are, the sooner you will see it. It does look light, and only minor accumulations are possible out of it. Another similar system should bring us some snow on friday, and again going into sunday. Temperatures will remain cooler this week, with a rebound to some 30s into next week. Hoping to make a more inclusive and didirse city. So its providing four free training sessions. The Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission is holding the first mediation training this morning. Kcrgtv 9s brea love is live in our cedar rapids newsroom. Brea, this is apart of an Outreach Program . Thats right. The commission will hold quarterly trainings featuring tools to create opportunities for housing, business, and the general community. Later thisisorning, an instructor from the Eastern Iowa Mediation Services will speak with participants on how to de escalate a hostile situation. For example, if there were an argument in the workplace, an individual could step in to m me sure both the Commission Hopes by providing this training, it could cut back on the number of civil rights complaints filed. Both sides are recognized, its easier to come to an agrgrment. 25 5626 12 people just, they dont get the full story. Something happens to them and theyre only seeing it from their side, where as in mediation you get to see both sides and see some of the purposes and reasons people did things. Participants will be trained on different ways to facilitate and advocate during a mediation. Along with when and how deeply involved a mediator should get. The commission will hold three more trainings talking about other topics like equal housing, opportunities, and public accommodatio ns throughout the year. The training this morning start at 10 at the Cedar Rapids Police Department Community room. Chrisisnd nicole, back to you. Thanks a lot brea. A former Iowa Governor is speaking to people in eastern iowa today about the medicaid transition to about hohothis change will put thousands of iowans who rely on medicaid at risk. He will hold a town hall at the Coralville Public Library this morning at 10. Then culver will speak at another town hall meeting in cedar rapids at 2 this afternoon. Thth will be at the cedar rapids public library. Meanwhile, a bill that would undo governor branstads plan to privatize medicaid is moving forward in the state legislature. For now, the state is set to transition to privatized care in less than a month, on march 1st. The transition was supposed to happen january 1st, but federal regulators said the state needed more time to signup the more than half a million iowananon medicaid. Iowa Governor Terry branstad says privatization will help cut the rising price tag for medicaid. The administration said costs are expected to grow 21 over the nee 3 years. The state currently spends more than 4. 2 billion dollars each year on medicaid. Branstad has said privatizing will save roughly 51 Million Dollars during the first 6 months. Some of iowas democrats a a sayayg the transition is too patient and provider relationships, and could diminish care. Senators will likely vote this week on the bill to dismantle medicaid privatization. Republicans say it wont pass through the house where they hold the majority. Yet Senate Republican David Johnson from northwest iowa says hes supporting the bill. He didnt say hes against privatizing medicaid, just that the process should slow down. Im going to support it to give it a little extra push. To give it an extra push because i want this to be a bipartisan approach to the issue. The bill passed the senate mmittee yesterday afternoon in a 93 vote. In a tv9 followup this morning. The Marion Library board will choose a new director today. The finalists for the job weighed in on a proposed plan for a mixed used facility to replace the current bubulding. 12 02 17 i think a mixeduse facility is amazing. I think it could be a boost to the city of marion. And models the inclusiveness that were not 12 03 37 i think it sounds interesting. I would be happy to push forward with it, and im always excited to see what can happen. 12 04 21 its very exciting. Im very i irigued where can we can have a mixed used building, retail, Living Spaces and library, its not very common. You see it in cases of small branches but not in terms of a main library for the community its a great opportunity these finalists made these remarks at a foror last night. The linnmar School District is changing someme of its preschool locations because of overcrowding. The district plans to make the shift starting in the fall. Right now, a Little Lions Preschool Program and an Early Childhood Blended Program run out of echo h hl elementary school. But starting next school year, they will be at bowman woods and novak Elementary Schools. The district is still growing, so theyre shifting programs to buildings where theres more room. Associate superintenden t Shannon Bisgard says that number is expected to go up. So theyre moving the preschool programs out of that building to leave more space. Thats the plan for now, but bisgard says he still has concerns. 11 39 03 a growing population is great, but it also makes it hard to predict and plan for the future. Novak we definitely have room. That one we feel pretty confident in that we will be in good shape there, bowman is tight on space and thats a concern. We have to make sure theres enough room for our preschool and our k5 as well. With these changes, preschool programs for next school year will be at linn grove, novak and bowman woods. In the future, bisgard says the district is looking into other options such as a New Elementary School or a central preschool location to create more room for children. The linnmar district is also considering changes to Child Care Services at a few of its schools which could force 1 daycare off school property. Community providers come into the schools for their before and after school programs. District leaders recently asked for proposals from daycares who want to run out of indian creek, bowman woods and westfield Elementary Schools. A result of the committee coming together and they had a rubric that they used to judge the proposals that came in and once they applied the rubric to the various proposals that came in, the recommendation was pretty straight forward. The district is recommending that handinhand take over the before and after School Daycare programs at those three schools. The board will vote on the change on feb. 22nd. Next school year, about 1 thousand students going to 9 iowa city Elementary Schools will lose free bussing to school. The school board decided in january to cut discretionary bus service to save about 400thousand dollars annually. The district will use that money for classroom related expenses, like reducing class sizes. Parents say they are concerned about the safety of walking routes. Instagram is now testing a long requested feature. And a new benefit to using a fitbit. One woman says the device changed her life with a surprise announcement. Thats ahead in todays techbytes. Morning, they will be quick to exit. Watch the road surfaces as they will likely have a light coating on them from last nights snow as well. Plan on temperatures to be into the teens for highs with wind chills of 5 to 10 at times. Another weak area of low pressure will move in later on wednesday, and this should spread some light snow into iowa. The farther west you are, the sooner you will see it. It does look light, and only minor of it. Another similar system should bring us some snow on friday, and again going into sunday. Temperatures will remain cooler this week, with a rebound now heres abcs reena ninan and Kendis Gibson with this mornings techbytes. In todays techbytes a highry ryly requested new feature comes to instagram. Theyll be able to switch up to between five accounts. The new feature is part of the latest update for the Instagram App for both ios and android devices. Amazon has announced partnerships. Theyll be able to listen to a womans fitbit knew she was expecting before she did. Her resting heart rate was 110, higher than usual. Her husband took it to twitter. One read said pregnant women tepid to have a higher resting hearttes. Have a great day. I thought activia wasnt for me. Until i realized how much our digestive systems handle during winter. 90 stressful days juggling hectic schedules. Over 40 meals of heavy comfort foods like baked mac cheese. No wonder after all that our digestive systems can act up. So try the activia two week challenge enjoying activia twice a day for two weeks may help reduce the frequency of bloating, gas, discomfort or rumbling. Try it it works in two weeks or its free. Dannon male penguins show their love with. A pebble. Are smarter than others. Save up to 30 on select diamonds in rhythm. At kay, the number one Jewelry Store in america. Every kiss begins with kay. Guys, valentines day is almost here. Right now, kay jewelers has the perfect valentines day gift at the perfect price. So dont wait come to kay. It may only be february, but 2016 already has its fair share of food trends. One you may not know about just yet is avacado oil. Joining us this morning to tell us more about this product that is guaranteed to show up at farmers markets and Specialty Grocery stores this year is isu registered dietician rachel wall. Rachel, thanks for being here this morning. How do you get avacado oil . Health benefits . Different from other oils . Cooking tips . How can you use it in a recipe . Avocado oil 101 move aside coconut oil; avocado oil is taking center stage according to pinterest, avocado oil is projected to be their top food can expect this oil to not only pop up in your pinterest feed, but also at farmers markets and Specialty Grocery stores. Avocado oil is derived by running the avocado fruit through a press. The pulp of the fruit is mashed, then spun in a drum at high speeds to separate the pulp from the oil. Health benefits diets rich in avocados may lower Blood Pressure as well as cholesterol the magnesium in whole avocados possesses Blood Pressurelowering properties whole avocados contain potassium, which lessens the effect of sodium on the body it is unclear whether or not these same Health Benefits are transferrabl e to Avocado Oil Healthy fats the fat in avocados is fat; however, it is possible to get too much, even of the good kinds of fat adults should aim for 2035 percent of their calories from fat, with more coming from monounsatura ted and polyunsatura ted fat than saturated and trans fat cooking tips avocado oil has a high smoke point o makes it ideal for searing and browning, as well as on salads avocado oil can be more expensive than other oils on the shelf o stretch it by using equal parts avocado oil and canola oil in recipes consuming whole avocados allows you to obtain all the nutritional benefits that you would receive from avocado oil. If you are uncertain about purchasing avocado oil, try topping your sandwich or salad with avocado going out for a meal can be a daily option for most people. But those in one linn county small town, that choice just became available within their city limits. Youre looking live on our kaj will be back right after the break with a meteorologist kaj omara joins us now with your first alert forecast. While a few flurries may be out morning, they will be quick to exit. Watch the road surfaces as they will likely have a light coating on them from last nights snow as well. Plan on temperatures to be into the teens for highs with wind chills of 5 to 10 at times. Another weak area of low pressure will move in later on wednesday, and this should spread some light snow into iowa. The farther west you are, the sooner you will see it. It does look light, and only minor accumulations are possible out of it. Another similar system should bring us some snow on friday, and again going into sunday. Temperatures will remain cooler this week, with a rebound to some 30s into next week. It is fat tuesday better known to many as mardi gras. Youre looking live at new orleans this morning. People have been celebrating all week with parades and parties. Today is the last day to on our citycam. Its february 9th and heres what you need to know today. A cedar falls mom and her two kids are recovering in the hospital after a fire destroyed their home voters in New Hampshire are already heading to the polls to cast their ballot in the first in the nation primary. Donald trump and Bernie Sanders hold big leads in the state. Two groups in cedar rapids want to help people learn how to talk through workplace and housing problems. Theyre hosting a mediation training today. The linn mar School District is changing some preschool locations because of overcrowding. Families can expect the changes next school year. People in robins are happy to have the first restaurant in town. Lobowskis bar and grill is open for business. Youre watching kcrgtv9. Now, from your 24 hour news source, this is kcrgtv9 news morning news. This is breaking news this morning. Waterloo firefighters are on scene of a fire this morning. They were called out to the 200 block of Western Avenue around 4. Our photographer there says there are about five trucks with crews battling hot spots. The majority of the fire out. Waterloo police have confirmed that there were people inside when they arrived. Everyone got out safely and are now at different warming shelters. We are working to get more information on the fire and if anyone is injured. We will continue to update you as we learn more. First, meteorologis t kaj omara has your first alert forecast, kaj. While a few flurries may be out there early this morning, they will be quick to exit. Watch the road surfaces as they will likely have a light coating on them from last nights snow as well. Plan on temperatures to be into the teens for highs with wind chills of 5 to 10 at times. Another weak and this should spread some light snow into iowa. The farther west you are, the sooner you will see it. It does look light, and only minor accumulations are possible out of it. Another similar system should bring us some snow on friday, and again going into sunday. Temperatures will remain cooler this week, with a rebound to some 30s into next week. Today voters in New Hampshire will step out to vote in todays president ial primary. Kcrgtv9s Washington Bureau chief jaqueline policastro is in concord with the latest. Jacqueline policastro co ncord, nh 01 good morning from concord New Hampshire today voters in the granite their choices. The candidates have been campaigning in small town hall settings and larger rallies. Voters here are known for waiting until the very last minute to make a decision on who they want to vote for. Both democrats and republicans held feisty debates here this past week. Bernie sanders and donald trump are still leading in the polls. Reporting at the state capital in concord, im Jacqueline Policastro one tiny town in New Hampshire already picked its winners. Ohio Governor John Kasich and vermont senator Bernie Sanders won the vote in dixville notch. Their voting started at midnight theyve had an early vote since 1968. Sanders shut out hillary clinton, 40, while kasich bested donald trump, 32. Those close to a cedar falls family are raising money to help them out after their mobile home caught fire. Fire crews took Ashley Calfee and her 2 children, mason and avery hundley, to the hospital early yesterday morning. A passerby saw the fire at the cedar falls mobile home village just before midnight. Police officers tried first, but failed. Two firefighters then crashed through a burning door to rescue the family. Responders took calfee to uihc with lung damage. The hospital says avery is in good condition, while mason is listed in serious condition. Avery, the girl, is doing pretty good she got away with the least amount of damage. The little boy, mason, has a pretty good cough and they are putting him back on oxygen. Cedar falls firefighters say they dont have a cause of the fire yet or know why it flared up again 5 hours later doing significantly more damage. Friends and family have set up a go fund me page called the hundley family fire fund. They have raised a little under 1,900 dollars to help the family recover after they get out of the hospital. A 56yearold man has died after a house fire in fairfield. Firefighters responded to the home at 800 n. 12th street yesterday afternoon. When they arrived, they hendershot. The state fire marshal, Iowa Department of Public Safety and iowa dci are investigating the cause. A cedar rapids man will serve up to 50 years in prison for beating his mother to death more than 3 years ago. 47yearold edward cusic will be eligible for parole after 35 years. In december, a jury found cusic guilty of Second Degree murder for the death of anita labkon. He beat her with a crow bar at her home on old marion road in northeast cedar rapids. Prosecutors say he was trying to get prescription meds. A dubuque man will be sentenced in april for his involvement in a fatal crash in april of last year. 26 year old Alexander Engling pleaded guilty to his charges. The prosecutor is recommending a sentence of 10 years in prison for the vehicular homicide charge. Police say engling lost control of his vehicle and crashed on flannagan road in holy cross on april 5th. The crash killed 30 year old john cook. The Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission is working toward building a more inclusive this morning, the commission is teaming up with Eastern Iowa Mediation Services to provide free training to the public. Kcrgtv 9s brea joins us at the desk this morning. Brea, what does this mediation training include . Chris, nicole its a way to provide communication in a hostile situation. For example, if two individuals were to disagree on a situation surrounding work, this would be a Good Opportunity for another person to step in and deescalate a situation. This is apart of the commissions quarterly outreach plan. Its goal is to create more opportunities for housing, the work place, and the general community. Trainings are geared toward Housing Providers and hr professionals. But the Commission Asks anyone who comes across conflict to take the free courses. The purpose of mediation training is to make sure the situation can be resolved before it becomes a civil rights complaint. 20 47 you figure out the best way to use your tools to help manage those and if it doesnt work out, and you went through the last process were here as a resource. An instructor from eastern Iowa Services will go over different ways to facilitate, advocate, and discuss how involved a mediator should get. Officials say its easier to compromise when someone is there to take both sides into account. Mediation training is happening later at 10 this morning at the Cedar Rapids Police Department Community room. There will be three more trainings throughout the rest of the year. All of those are free and open to the public. Chris, nicole . Thanks a lot brea. The Linn County Community of robins now has something most cities that size, or even smaller, restaurant. Robins has more than 3,100 residents. And up until yesterday, those people didnt have a single restaurant in the city. Yesterday morning at 925 robin square drive. Robins city leaders celebrated the new addition before the locallyowned restaurant opened for the lunch hour. The city borders cedar rapids and people in commercial services. But a place to eat was on the wish list for years. A survey done several years ago put a request for a top. The one that was the most consistently mentioned people wanted to see a non franchised, locally owned restaurant so here we are. The robins mayor says the town has an active Economic Development group. Filling the restaurant request was one of the top pursuits in recent years. Building ramps to a better life. One man makes a difference for those in wheelchairs in eastern iowa. He says helping others has always been a part of his life. Up next. This mornings weather wise question. Meteorologist kaj omara is up right after the break. Its. First Alert Storm Team joins us now. While a few flurries may be out there early this morning, they will be quick to exit. Watch the road surfaces as they will likely on them from last nights snow as well. Plan on temperatures to be into the teens for highs with wind chills of 5 to 10 at times. Another weak area of low pressure will move in later on wednesday, and this should spread some light snow into iowa. The farther west you are, the sooner you will see it. It does look light, and only minor accumulations are possible out of it. Another similar system should bring us some snow on friday, and again going into sunday. Temperatures will remain cooler this week, with a rebound next week. Linn county is spending thousands of dollars a year to house documents. The county cant get rid of these court files because of a state code. More on that story coming iowans may find out this week if a company will build a pipeline across the state. This week, the iowa utilities board is meeting to discuss whether to approve a permit for the project. The company, dakota access, wants to build the pipeline from north dakota to illinois, and it would cut through 19 counties in iowa. The concerns, from environmental to economic. Dakota access says that pipelines have a Better Safety record than other methods of crude oil sierra club points out that in 2013, more than 800,000 gallons were spilled from railroad cars. But over 5 million hazardous liquids were spilled from pipelines iowa is the only state that has not yet approved a permit for the pipeline. Thousands of dollars every year are going toward storing old, mostly unused, court files in linn county. Its because theres not enough room at the courthouse. Linn county generates about 40thousand court files each year. The county rents a half floor of the old hubbard ice building for extra storage at 50 thousand dollars a year. It has stored up to 7 hundred thousand individual files there since the flood of 08. State code wont let the county get ride of any of the files. We have to keep the physical files for a certain period period has passed, we can purge the file. Microfilm some of the records, then destroy them. In 2010, the state started the electronic Document Management system. It eliminates the need for paper records. Linn county started in april 2014, but there isnt enough man power to digitize all of the records. All this week, kcrgtv nine and our show you care sponsors are honoring nine outstanding volunteers from eastern iowa. We call them our nine who care. Today, were recognizing ed holstrom. Ed volunteers countless hours with the wheelchair ramp accessibility program. The group builds ramps for peoples homes, so those who are wheelchair bound can get out of the house. He has been volunteering his time for with the program for 10 years. Its a lesson of giving ed says he learned at a young age. 32 44 id have to go back to my dad. Back when i was a young person, my dad was always out helping other people and i would have to do some of the chores he was supposed to do at home. Its just something i grew up with, and i just love to do ed says he hopes volunteering his time will inspire others to do the same. Every day through next tuesday, well introduce other outstanding volunteers on the kcrgtv9 news at 5. And then this saturday at our 9 who care banquet, well announce one finalist wholl travel to washington dc to represent eastern iowa in a National Competition for a Jacqueline Kennedy onassis award. Each of our 9 who care winners will also receive 500 dollars to donate to their favorite charity. Tonight, weve got girls and Boys Basketball as linn mar takes on xavier. Both games will be on the saints court. Tip off is at 6 for the girls. And 7 30 for the boys. You can catch all the action on kcrg 9 point 2. Now heres our morning mugshot on your tuesday. The eastern iowa science and engineering fair is looking for students to present their solutions and innovations in a public forum. About 250 students will show their work at the fair on march 19th at lindale mall in cedar rapids. Students will compete for prizes and awards. The top students get an the Intel International science and engineering fair in phoenix, arizona in may. Go to eisef dot org to sign up. If you have a nonprofit event or organization youd like to see featured. Send us an email. Mugshot at kcrgdotcom. Heres what you need to know the door on your tuesday. The Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission is teaming up with Eastern Iowa Mediation Services to provide free training to the public today. The groups who deal with conflict on a daily basis to learn how to talk through problems before they can escalate into bigger issues. The Marion Library board will choose a new Library Director today. The board heard from the candidates in a public forum last night. The finalists are Ellsworth Carman from oak park, illinois, mary jordan from boston, and Tyler Williams from wichita, kansas. People in New Hampshire are already starting to cast their vote in the first in the nation primary. John kasich and Bernie Sanders won the first voting precinct early this morning. Donald trump and Bernie Sanders hold big leads in the state. The last poll closes at seven. We will have full results on kcrg dot com and the news at 10. Now, one last look at this mornings weather, kaj. While a few flurries may be out there early this morning, they will be quick to exit. Watch the road surfaces as they will likely have a light coating on them from last nights snow as well. Plan on temperatures to be into the teens for highs with wind chills of 5 to 10 at times. Another weak area of low pressure will move in later on wednesday, and this should spread some light snow into iowa. The farther west you are, will see it. It does look light, and only minor accumulations are possible out of it. Another similar system should bring us some snow on friday, and again going into sunday. Temperatures will remain cooler this week, with a rebound to some 30s into next week. 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. Also make sure to join us at eleven for the kcrg tv9 news at midday. Have a s good morning, america. The first votes being cast in the nations first primary right now. Donald trump riling up the crowds taking on his opponents. She said hes a [ bleep ]. Thats terrible. Candidates battling, even begging for every vote. I want this job because i love this country. Hillary clinton behind here hoping for a comeback. I dont think a little snow is going to stop anybody, do you . As Bernie Sanders holds on to