Hundreds flights were already canceled today. Bringing the total to more than 12 thousand since friday. The storm brought record setting snow totals. Glengary, West Virginia got hit the hardest. With 42 inches. But several other cities also saw more than 3 feet of snow. Kirsten Joyce and in pennsylvania. Hundreds of people were stranded on the turnkpike. After a semi jackknifed on friday night. Causing a 7 mile backup. Some drivers were stranded for about 24 hours. More than 300 people with rescue organizations like the Pennsylvania National guard. Volunteer firefighters and the red cross responded. Handing out food and water. brian loftus that same snow storm also caused major flooding along the coast. Leaving thousands without power. Many people in new jersey. Maryland said the flood water was higher than superstorm sandy. Sparking mandatory evacuations and a state of emergency. The high tide ripped through towns. Leaving icy water and a wake of brian loftus while the blizzard was pretty rough of the east coast. Many people bundled up. And enjoyed the mounds of snow Kirsten Joyce and of course. That means, snowball fight Sherry Swensk hundreds of people were throwing and dodging the snowballs yesterday in the nations capitol. The massive fight was organized by the washington, dc snowball fight association. It was dubbed snow wars the snowball strikes back and people were encouraged to wear their favorite star wars costume. Kirsten Joyce and in philly. Dozens of people brought their sleds to the art museum. They sledded down the big staircase. And as you can see it looks like they all had a ton of fun. brian loftus but people werent the only ones frolicking in the snow. This panda was in his hey day Smithsonians National zoo and conservative Biology Institute in virginia. They posted this video on saturday. Showing the panda pretty excited to wake up and see all that snow. sherry hows the weather today . Erpic snow totals back east. Still a while before that sun comes up. And it will keep getting colder for the next hour or so. Right now we are dropping to 40s and even chillier 30s. Yesterdays breezy north winds have calmed down quite a bit. But will pick up again along the Colorado River valley. Well have mostly sunny skies. Temps near 60 today. In fact, plenty of sunshine to start off the week. Then some midweek high clouds. Back to you time were hearing from a local veteran who was invited to sit next to the first lady during the president s final state of the union address. Kirsten joyce cynthia dias fought during the vietnam war. 8 news now reporter Michael Stevens explains why her story has motivated federal politicians. Good morning michael . Michael Stevens cynthia dias lives here at Veterans Village after overcoming homelessness. She called the streets of Las Vegas Home for six months and suffers from post Traumatic Stress disorder. Dias did something she never dreamed of doing. She sat alongside first Lady Michelle obama, as the president delivered his last state of the union address. We asked the vietnam war veteran to describe her experience at the white house in one word and she said unbelievable. Dias was humbled by the invitation cynthia dias u. S. Navy veteran disbelief. Its like, its a one in a lifetime experience and why me . Why amongst all the veterans in this country would they pick me . I have no idea. Michael Stevens dias says she didnt get to talk to the first lady much. But she kept busy during her stay in washington dc. She, along with Veterans Village founder arnold stalk, arranged meetings with politicians to gain their support in the fighto end veteran homelessness arnold stalk founder, Veterans Village ms. Dias was an excellent advocate for veterans, by the way. She was all queued up and we went in there and talked about the need for hud vash vouchers rental assistance. Michael Stevens coming up in 30 minutes, well let you know what the future holds for Veterans Village. As the organization looks to expand. Back to you. brian loftus michael, homelessness among veterans continues to be an issue in the valley. Whats the Current Situation at the shelter . Michael Stevens were told, there arent any vacant rooms right now. More often than not, this facility is at capacity. demetria, how are the roads this morning . Demetria obilor jones is closed in both directions at edna after a man in a wheelchair was hit while trying to cross the road. Metro expects the closures to if the pedestrians injuries become critical or life threatening, the closures could last longer. Use rainbow as an alternate. Accident on the southbound i15 ramp to eastbound 215 along the south beltway. Traffic still getting by. < back to you brian loftus saying goodbye to the last of the lamb dynasty in nevada. Kirsten Joyce a look back at the life and legacy of darwin lamb. brian loftus plus. Thousands packed their cars. And headed out to the super recycle event. The massive amounts of trash you donated. Thank all of our viewers for coming out to our super recycle event this past weekend Sherry Swensk nearly 6 thousand people participated. And so much more. Demetria Obilor and we loved meeting every single one of you brian loftus 8 news now photojournalis t neb solomon caught all the action from saturdays event. Greetings exchanged between anchors and viewers Sherry Swensk so here we are again. Another successful year at the thomas and mack at the super recycle event. Every year it gets bigger and bigger. Viewers every year, it cleans out my closet and is environmentall y friendly. Were just trying to clean up and save the planet at the same time. Lisa howfield the constant theme has been that they are really excited that we are doing an event that makes it easy for them to come out here and recycle. And a lot of thanks yous. Anchors and viewers volunteer pretty much take anything that has value and either if we can rebuild it and resell it. We do so. Viewers im estatic cant wait to empty out our car im a clutter freak i cant wait till its all gone Sherry Swensk they wanna do the right thing. They wanna recycle the old electronics, donate their used goods so that other people can live green as well. Its ecofriendly. Hi everybody everybodys just asking for it and this is our opportunity to let las vegas respond. Volunteer seeing everyone come out today. I feel great to know that my donate, come out on a saturday morning. Come out and drive, sit in a long line and donate stuff that is really going to help a lot of different organizations. Goodwill, shred it, the blind center of nevada, of course. Its incredible to see. Its really heartwarming. Sherry Swensk okay. So heres some more of the numbers. You guys dropped off. Just shy of 35 hundred pounds of medication. A full van of books for spread the word. Shredit actually lost count of how many truck loads were full. And Republic Services had to order another dumpster to come out on sunday to pickup the rest of the overflow and thats not all, folks were still waiting on the numbers for the amount of electronics donated to the blind center. And items for goodwill. sherry hows the weather today . With temps chilling down to the upper 30s. But we have some nice sunshine coming today and to start the week. Still a while before that sun comes up. And it will keep getting colder for the next hour or so. Step outside and see if you can get a look at the planet lineup to the south in the sky. Five of our best planets lined up from southeast to southwest. Yesterdays breezy north winds have calmed down quite a bit. But will pick up again along the Colorado River valley. Well have mostly sunny skies. The mountain will stay cool and the lake should have some of those north breezes. Temps near 60 today. In fact, plenty of sunshine to start off the week. Then some midweek high clouds. And a big warmup at the end of the week with near 70 for some neighborhoods. Back to you learned former clark county commissioner darwin lamb passed away sunday afternoon at his home in cedar city, utah. brian loftus he was 83 years old. The iteams george knapp spoke with his family. Who says darwin fell and broke his hip a few weeks ago. Then got pneumonia. Kirsten Joyce the lambs were often called the kennedys of nevada. Darwin served on the commission. While brother, floyd was a powerful state senator. And famous brother, ralph. Was the longest serving sheriff in county history. He took on the mob. Brian Loftus Darwin was roles in several big budget movies and also had a nightclub act. demetria, how are the roads this morning . Demetria obilor crash on the southbound i15 ramp to northbound 95. Jones should reopen between 6 30am and 7am. < back to you Kirsten Joyce the county hasnt turned this signal on and its driving you crazy. When things will finally get up and running. Kirsten Joyce and its time for todays facebook contest. Register to win on our facebook page. Demetria, whats driving people crazy . Demetria obilor kay says, a traffic light has finally been erected and installed at the tenaya way and warm springs intersection, but it has not yet been activated what are they east west dont know if they should stop, keep going or what last november, clark county started an 819,000 project, which included the construction of the warm springs tenaya signal. The poles are up, but the county doesnt plan to flip the switch until mid february. This project also entails Flood Control and drainage, sidewalk and gutter improvements on warm springs, west of tenaya. Hey whats driving you crazy . Send your traffic question to traffic eight at las vegas now dot com. Back to you. Kirsten Joyce excitement is building for the upcoming super bowl. But local fans who subscribe to cox cable might have to make other plans if they want to watch the game. brian loftus it will be 8, but unless something changes in the next few days, the game will be blacked out for cox subscribers, along with Everything Else that airs on klas. Kirsten Joyce george knapp reports on the contract dispute between klastv and cox. Heres some reallife daytime drama for you. Things are about to get a lot less bold and considerably less beautiful for cox cable customers. After january 29th, cox customers will be blocked from watching their favorite programs on channel 8. Mornings. And in the evenings, say goodbye to alex trebeks jeopardy brain twisters or vanna whites stylish letter turns on wheel of fortune the most popular prime time programs on the nations most watched network will vanish when klas is taken off the menu. The big bang nerds. The sleuths of ncis. And tom sellecks iconic stash. Klas g. M. Lisa howfield does not want to this. Lisa howfield klas general manager im doing this because i dont want viewers to go to their tv and turn it on next saturday morning or late friday night and find out were not there. But, she says, it looks like thats where things are headed. It means nevadas most watched local news station, 8 news now, would be gone. This sundays 60 minutes will be the last for cox subscribers. A nd if no agreement can be reached soon, the Biggest Television Event of the year. Super bowl 50. Will not be carried by cox, which is the Service Provider for about half of all viewers in southern nevada. Cox customers would have to make other arrangements. S witch to another provider or try your luck with rabbit ears. Lisa if you are a cox customer and dont make arrangements, theres a very good chance you will not be able to see super bowl 50. Pays fees to rebroadcast original content. The biggest chunk of your monthly cable bill goes to pay for espn. 8 bucks a month per customer. T. N. T gets 1. 65 per customer. Local providers, including klas and the other network affiliates, get a tiny fraction of that, even though the local stations are the biggest draw for cable systems. Howfield says, after 5 months of intense negotiations, cox is unwilling to pay a fraction of what channel 8s programming generates for the cable company. Lisa its crazy. Broadcasters bring about 35 of the audiences to any given cable system around the country and we get around 12 of those retransmission revenues. Were asking for a fraction of that. Howfield says cox stormed out of the last negotiation session and is unwilling to budge, even though the other local providers. Incl uding satellite companies. Alre ady agreed to a deal. Cox declined to appear on camera said it is willing to pay more but thinks that the demands made by nexstar, the Parent Company for klas, are unreasonable. Howfield is asking that klas viewers contact cox and urge them to settle this lisa were really upset at this point. We dont want our viewers to have to go through this but were really at the point where we need people to rally around us and help us out on this. George knapp 8 news now Kirsten Joyce we posted information on our website about how you can reach out to cox either by phone or social media. You can also read a full statement from klas and comments sent by Cox Communication s. Again, the deadline is this friday. After that cox will no longer carry any channel 8 programming including this newscast. brian loftus it was lights out for one valley neighborhood. Kirsten Joyce homeowners called 8 on your sides Michelle Mortensen. In hopes that she could shed some light on the situation. In todays tell michelle. there are two democratic visions for regulating wall street. One says its okay to take millions from big banks and then tell them what to do. My plan break up the big banks, close the tax loopholes, then we can expand health care to all, and provide universal college education. Will they like me . No. Will they begin to play by the rules if im president . You Better Believe it. I was walking home. Just picked us up two breakfast croissants for four bucks, when this bear attacked. With one swipe, it devoured one of the croissants. Then jack showed up and took care of the beast, so i could escape. And thats what happened to your breakfast croissant. And yours . It survived. Share it with yourself. Freshlycracked egg with ham and bacon,or sausage, metro asking for help. In the investigation into a shooting on the strip. How you can help them learn more about the suspect. Michael Stevens < Michael Stevens is live talking about the future of Veterans VillageKirsten Joyce and. The match up has been set the top two teams competing for the lombardi trophy in this years super bowl. < welcome to a brighter morning, this is 8 newsnow with Kirsten Joyce, Sherry Swensk, Demetria Obilor and brian loftus brian loftus good morning and thanks for waking up with us. Im brian loftus. Kirsten joyce im Kirsten Joyce. Its a topic that has stirred a big debate in the valley. Inspiring hundreds to protest, including a popular actor solar energy. brian loftus and today. The Nevada Public Utilities Commission is expected make a decision on a proposal over rates. It would grandfather prices for solar users who bought their systems in years past. The commission recently increased rates to customers. Who use net metering. Which sells back extra solar energy to the utility. Many customers are upset with the pucs decision. Kirsten Joyce metro police need your help identifying the man they say is at the center of fridays shooting in front of the bellagio. They released the photo of the suspect this weekend. Calling him, john doe. Metro police say he was walking in and out of traffic and pointing a gun at people. Officers say they repeatedly told him to put down the weapon. But when he refused, it league to an argument with police. An officer opened fire but missed. The suspect was eventually taken into custody. A bullet grazed a childs leg and is expected to be okay. Kirsten Joyce and the former metro officer pleaded not guilty to federal Richard Scavone is accused of beating a woman and lying about it. Despite the arrest being recorded on his body cam. This happened in january of 2015. He was fired the following september. If convicted, scavone could face up to 30 years in prison and half a Million Dollars in fines. A federal magistrate judge scheduled trial march 22nd and allowed scavone to remain free with some restrictions. brian loftus Las Vegas BasedAllegiant Air has named a new chief operating officer. After a sudden resignation last week. The airline promoted jude bricker from senior vp of planning to the position. He has been with the Company Since 2006. Allegiant says it will use the leadership change as an opportunity to refocus on operational needs and areas for improvement. sherry hows the weather today . Sherry swensk were seeing a little of that and it will keep getting colder for the next hour or so. Right now we are dropping to 40s and even chillier 30s. Yesterdays breezy north winds have calmed down quite a bit. But will pick up again along the Colorado River valley. Well have mostly sunny skies. Temps near 60 today. In fact, plenty of sunshine to start off the week. Then some midweek high clouds. Back to you a lifetime experience for a local veteran. She was invited to sit alongside the first lady. During the president s final state of the union address. Kirsten joyce but as Michael Stevens explains, the battle isnt over for this war hero. As she continued to fight for fellow soldiers during her trip to washington, dc. Michael Stevens cynthia dias fought during the vietnam war but she faced an even bigger battle after returning home. Struggling with ptsd and homelessness. Now shes doing better and living here at veterans fight for her fellow veterans who do not have a place to call home. Dias says she was humbled and honored by the invitation to sit next to Michelle Obama during the state of the union address. Dias was determined to make the most out of her stay in the countrys capital. She and Veterans Village founder, arnold stalk, met with politicians to gain their support for the organizations future venture. More often than not, the Veterans Village campus is at capacity. For this reason, the shelter is looking to expand. Stalk has an eye on a property in downtown las vegas, near fremont street and eastern. Its a five building apartment complex with 204 units. He is turning to the community for help arnold stalk founder, Veterans Village a lot of what we do is the volunteerism. So were looking for corporations to help us rehab the units, furnish them, put new furniture and appliances in them 41 and create a new, newly rehab department. cynthia dias u. S. Navy veteran because i was homeless but it opened my eyes to homelessness and what it does, especially to the veteran who has done so much for this country by putting their lives on the line. Michael Stevens the project comes with a price tag of seven and a half Million Dollars. The hope is to cover some of the cost through federal grants. Were told the downtown property is currently in escrow. The new Veterans Village location is expected to be open as soon as may. But there is still a lot of work to be done. Kirsten and brian. Kirsten Joyce michael, have any city leaders stepped forward to help out with this new project . Michael Stevens stalk says he has been in talks with city of las vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman hoping to get tax credit funding. Demetria, how are the roads this morning . The ramp to 95 north from i15 south is blocked off following a rollover accident. Traffic is being forced off at 95 south. Get off at las vegas boulevard and merge onto 95 north from there. Crash on the i15 south ramp to eastbound 215 along the south beltway. Everything is off to the shoulder. Jones at edna should be reopening soon. < back to you Kirsten Joyce some of you might be reaching for an energy drink this morning to wake up. But you might want to think about keeping them locked up. They dangerous effects they could have on kids. If ingested. Plus. charlie ahead on cbs this morning, were spread out along the east coast with how the weekends big storm is still causing problems. And we visit the company organizing blind dates for its employees. The news is back in the morning. Popularity, but not everyone should drink them. Holly firfer looks at the dangers of giving the caffinated beverages to children. Energy drinks theyre cheap, highoctane, and readily available in stores. Maybe too readily available. A recent study found that over 40 of all energy drinkrelated calls to Poison Control Centers in the us were for kids under 6 many of them suffering serious symptoms. dr. Jennifer shu, pediatrician a can or a bottle of an energy drink could have as much as 500mg of caffeine which is equal to about 14 cans of soda. So way higher than youd want a child to have. Sometimes these drinks arent labeled well, so you dont see what the ingredients can be, including the high amounts of caffeine, and a the child may think its the same as any type of soda or juice that their parents might be ok with giving them. Shu says the dangers of overconsumption for kids, and even adults varies from the minor. dr. Jennifer shu, pediatrician as simple as headaches or some shakiness or jitteriness but they could even be more serious like problems with your heart rhythym, where your heart is irregular, it beats too fast or even seizures. But its not just the caffeine and other stimulants raising concerns. E drinks are also often filled th sugar. R. Nnifer shupediatrician och of that sugar can causeweight gain as wellsavities. General, shu says its best to keep kids ay from ything but the basicr. Nnifer shu, pediatrian fore most part, all of the fluid ur body eds can be found inter, in milk and some 100 uit juice. Uely dont need whats marketed as sports drinks with electrolytes unless youre doing some really vigorous physical for todays health minute, im holly firfer. Kirsten Joyce doctors say you should treat Energy Drinks like any other medicine or household chemicals. And keep Energy Drinks locked up. In order to keep them out of the hands of kids. sherry hows the weather today . Sherry swensk moon from the weekend hanging in the western sky this morning. Grab your warm jacket because weve slipped into the 30s in some areas of the valley and southern nevada. Sunrise is now near 6 45. And the sunset later near 5 p. M. We should have plenty of sunshine and to start the week with some midweek high clouds. A nice warm up to finish the week and the weekend near 70 degrees. That epic snow storm brough record snow fall to the east this weekend. The snow ended early sunday and left sunshine behind. Snow totals were amazing and right on target. Back to you brian loftus the manhunt prisoners in southern california. Authorities say they cut their way out of a maximum security jail in santa ana friday. And used bedsheets and clothing to rappel to freedom. The men are considered armed and dangerous. Kirsten Joyce a tenth death has been linked to takatas faulty airbags. As a result, us regulators added five million more cars to the already 19 million under recall. Takata faces multiple private legal actions, millions of dollars in fines and a Us Justice Department investigation. The bags can explode when activated, firing out shards of metal and glass. demetria, how are the roads this morning . Demetria obilor metro reporting a couple more Charleston Vall ey view. The 95 north ramp from i15 south is closed following a rollover. Expect delays in the area. Cones will be out on the strip from 10pm7am through wednesday between flamingo and harmon for work. < < back to you brian loftus the final match up is set for the big game. Kirsten Joyce the two nfl teams who will be competing in the super bowl. Youre pumped your team is going to the big game. Or bummed that they wont be competing. Everyone is talking about who is going to the super bowl the match up was finalized on sunday after the championship a close game. 20 to 18. And the panthers crushed the cardinals. 49 to 15. The leagues top new quarterback. Panthers cam newton will take on five time mvp. The broncos peyton manning. February 7th. Demetria Obilor 8 news now is giving away 25 hundred dollars during our special newscast after the big game. To enter. Just head to our website. Las vegas now dot com to enter. Click the banner at the top of the page. sherry hows the weather today . Gorgeous snow as we look to the west. We picked up about two new inches of powder saturday night. Dont forget our ski report on las vegas now dot com. It can link you to all the western ski resorts . Mostly sunny and 60s today with warmer upper 60s by the end of the week. Back to you streetlight in a local neighborhood wasnt working. Neighbors called 8 on your side hoping Michelle Mortensen could get someone to fix it. brian loftus thats todays got a problem. Tell michelle Michelle Mortensen when a street light goes dark. A neighborhood can become a very scary place. Thats why jane bogner called me for help. The corner of cedar avenue and street light that went out months ago. And she says she couldnt get anyone to repair it. Well, i reached out to nv energy about the problem. And i am very happy to report. That the streetlight is once again working. They sent a crew to fix the light as soon as we made them aware of the problem. We were happy to help jane and would be happy to help you too. Just call if you ever have a problem and need me on your side. With 8 on your side, im Michelle Mortensen. if you have a Consumer Problem or question. Call the 8 on your side hotline at 702 6501907. demetria, how are the roads this morning . Demetria obilor the southbound i15 ramp to 95 north is closed down after a rollover crash. Expect delays merging onto the south beltway after a crash on the i 15 south ramp to 215 east. You could still run into closures on jones at edna. < back to you Kirsten Joyce one floor after the other. Folks laced up to try the tower brian loftus be doing. As they run to the top of the stratosphere. One step at a time. you know the basic bargain of america is if you work hard, and you do your part, you should be able to get ead and stay ahead. But so many families dont feel like their hard work pays off. Thats not the way america is supposed to operate. I want to go to bat for them every single day. Get incomes rising. Get equal pay for women. Cut the cost of health care and child care so people can actually get ahead. Hillary clinton, she has what it takes to get things done. The markets just opned and right now, the dow is down 63 points. On friday, the dow jumped 210 points and the nasdaq climbed 119. Sherry Swensk all eyes were to the sky this weekend in mesquite for the annual hot air balloon festival. About 40 balloons were launched into the air one right after the other in the mornings just after sunrise. And the day finished with a balloon glow after sunset. The festival wrapped up last brian loftus this weekend. Folks hit the stairwells for the scale the strat practice climb. They had 12 floors opened up. And people could run up and down them as many times as they wanted. The full climb is on february 28th. Were talking 108 floors. 1 thousand 455 steps proceeds go to the American Lung association and our very own paul joncich will be hosting the event. If youd like to register. Just head to las vegas now dot com. thanks for joining us. Cbs this morning starts right now.