Initially blaze at a home on the 800 block as suspicious. As firefighters as firefighters the flames, they of 36 yearold adam blazek. And after a preliminary officials believe a selfinflicted police say the was not home at the time. The fire itself is suspicious only indicators have people on the scene still processing it. Well make a determination later once we get everything together. Amanda the investigation is still ongoing. We will be sure to keep you updated as the story develops. Amanda we are also following the case of a metro teacher. Who has been accused of exposing himself to a female employee of valley west mall. Former Lincoln High School madson has been questioned by police accusations. Local 5 went to madsons home for comment on the case, but no one answered. The Des Moines School district on administrative leave after the incident and was not allowed to return to he resigned his tuesday. Amanda new this morning, ankeny steps to keep up with the citys growth. Amanda the city is closer to building a new library and council chambers. The project will cost between 15 and 17 million dollars. The money will come from three Funding Sources capital reserves, civic trust funds and a bond that must be approved by voters. City leaders say its the right time move, since ankenys population continues to fast. City manager our library is about half communities library, address that and some of the critical needs in the city and this plan will do that. Amanda Ankeny City Council has approved a plan that would start some reshuffling with city buildings. The Current Library will be house other city offices once the new facility is done. Amanda many hawkeye fans would rosebowl. But an iowa lawmaker isnt letting it go. It wasnt the lopsided score of the ballgame with stanford that angers him but the halftime show. Maybe you saw part of it, the marching band that took the field basically making fun of iowa. There was a largerthanlife cow running around, and band members poking fun at farmers. A republican senator wants to pass a law requiring stanford to make a formal apology. 40 51 what it says future collarboaration between stanford and whould be put on hold until that apologys made publicly. Amanda chelgren says hes a hawkeye fan, but hes not a sore loser he says this bill is about the band and their halftime performance that was in poor taste. He says its idependent of the Football Teams. Chelgren says the bill is a way to patch up what could be long term animosity between stanford and the state of iowa. Other lawmakers dont getting very far at all. Amanda more news from the statehouse. Whe re Senate Democrats are making a bold move to stop governor branstads plan to privatize medicaid. Elias the governors plan to change over iowas medicaid has been met with lots of criticism. Even the federal government says the state was not ready on january first, so they moved the deadline of the rollout to march first. But Democratic Senators say its time to stop the whole thing. And have introduced a bill to halt the plan. Gronstal 11 20 they assured us back in november and december they were signing people up left and rightr and theyre still not the halfway point. We think its timr eto pull the plug on this, go back to the old system, maybe someday come back to this issue. Amanda House Republicans say repealing the plan would be a step in the wrong direction. And confuse people further. They say when the bill gets to the house floor it will likely be dead on arrival. Puzzled why were not moving forward instead of looking back and protect a status quo amanda speaker upmeyer says another reason the house wont bother debating the bill is because any repeal of the medicaid privatization would just be vetoed by governor branstad. Amanda meteorologist sam schrier joins us again with a look at your forecast. Sam weather adlib its finally friday and were looking at a fairly mild and average february day. Well be overcast with a lighter breeze out of the west keeping our highs right around 32 degrees. There will be a few flurries to a light dusting that will likely swing through northern and possibly central iowa this afternoon, so while a couple roads may get slick accumulations should be minimal. Overnight we will be fairly mild with a low in the mid 20s and a calm wind. Saturday is going to be warmer and feel fairly nice with highs climbing into the mid and upper 30s. Sunday well climb right next to 40 for the high, but a few light snow showers may swing back through in the accumulations again look fairly minimal but watch the roads if youre driving around to any super bowl watch parties. Light snow may stick around into monday morning with heavy winds and falling temperatures. Temps bottom out tuesday and wednesday morning but we should warm back above average thursday. Amanda headlines now amanda developments in lovell one of the charges has and one of the victims friends is now claiming she tried to was wrong. Abcs eva pilgrim is in blacksburg, latest. Chilling details about old Nicole Lovell . Her courtroom thursday prosecutors alledge virgina tech students natalie keepers and David Eisenhauer planned to dispose and the middle School Student after eisenhauer had an relationship with her keepers body . Keepers immediately tried to warn eisenhauer ; texting him police . It was then she told fbi eisenhauer killed nicole and put her lexus. Reportedly with the body in the car to walmart where they bought supplies to clean up the crime. Where to locate the murder weapon and nicoles body. Keepers was excited to be a part of something secretive and special dr. Mary ellen otoole thats a really stunning comment. Theres a great deal of callousness . Nicoles childhood friend kari cook says she noticed nicole was posting pictures on facebook claiming to be dating an older guy. 21;00;27;49 i went to the officer at my school and wrote down his name and handed it to him. The Blacksburg Police department responding denying she had alerted the officer, saying if a student had reached out, the officer would have acted on it through the 21;15;03;00 did you make this up . No. 21;14;15;18 i think if he would have done something, he would have seen all the guys on her facebook. He would have seen and he could have stopped all this. Its been nearly two weeks since nicole went missing Authorities Say investigators tracked the last messages from her phone to eishenhaur. The former track star admitting to police that he communicated with the 13 year old. Saying he saw her the night she disappeared. But saying he left. And went to a close close friend . Natalie video posted on youtube in 2014. Keepers fatheran Aerospace Engineer the hearingher family stunned. Amanda local 5 news midday. Which means its time for local 5 amanda and. Did clinton or some precincts questioning the Iowa Democratic results, monday nights caucuses. Community talk about their upcoming your wathcing local 5 news midday in hd with are iowas most this is local 5 midday. We are iowa music sting amanda the following are the upcoming two productions being presented at Ankeny Community theatre. I am writing to see if and when there would be Media Opportunities with you either in person, radio interview, or just promoting on the air. Please respond to me as soon as possible at bjwagner1 dma cc. Edu so we can possibly get something confirmed. I appreciate any feedback or information that you can give me. We are also starting this next show with our new Online Ticketing System public as well. Thank you. Barb wagner Marketing Committee representative reservations recommended. Go to our website at munitytheatre. C to update on our new online ticketing procedure or call 5159645007. Show times friday and saturdays at 7 30 pm; sundays at 2 00 pm adults 15, seniors 60 12, youth ages 518 10 Ankeny Community theatre 1932 sw 3rd street ankeny iowa 50023 some sweet day written by flip kobler and cindy marcus romantic comedy directed by doug moon assistant directed by Adam Haselhuhn february 12 28, 2016 wish you could go back in time and fix your mistakes . Thats exactly what ken does when he transports himself back twenty four years to land his chance at his first true love jenny. With the help of his best tries to bring the two love birds together. Its a wild roller coaster ride with many twists and turns that bring rounds of laughter. Musical chairs prices are slightly higher for the musical written by barry berg, savage savage musical directed by directed by nicole titus music directed by frances paterik poor joe preston hasnt had a broadway hit in years. The audience has come to see the Opening Night of his newest play which he hopes will be a huge success and will revive his career. That could be quite difficult considering the audience members have some problems of their own. Musical chairs is a surefire winner with its bit of drama, abundance of now, we are iowas most accurate forecast with meteorologist sam schreier. Certified by weatherrate the independent weather experts sam its finally friday and were looking at a fairly mild and average february day. Well be overcast with a lighter breeze out of the west keeping our highs right around 32 degrees. There will be a few flurries to a light dusting that will likely swing through northern and possibly central iowa this afternoon, so while a couple roads may get slick accumulations should be minimal. Overnight we will be the mid 20s and a calm wind. Saturday is going to be warmer and feel fairly nice with highs climbing into the mid and upper 30s. Sunday well climb right next to 40 for the high, but a few light snow showers may swing back through in the Late Afternoon with a lot of wind. Accumulations again look fairly minimal but watch the roads if youre driving around to any super bowl watch parties. Light snow may stick around into monday morning with heavy winds and falling temperatures. Temps bottom out tuesday and wednesday morning but we should warm back above average into the mid 30s by thursday. Sam Sabrina Amanda still to come on local five news midday. We all know superbowl 50 is this sunday, but have you heard of the puppy bowl . Sassy the puppy is on next, so stay tuned. Televisions original adoption extravaganza than ever as the worlds cutest sporting event returns to Animal Planet for puppy bowl xii on sunday, february 7 from 35 pm et pt with two hours of fuzzy faces, sloppy kisses and puppy penalties. This year, Animal Planet worked with 44 different animal shelters and rescue organizations from across the u. S. To fill the rosters of teamruff and teamfluff with adoptable players for this epic matchup. The network also is partnering with the pro football hall of puppy bowl hall of fame to honor legacy players throughout puppy bowl and promote the adoption of older veteran animals in addition to puppies and kittens. This years pedigree r starting lineup boasts 49 puppies competing for the famed title of bissell r mvp most valuable puppy . The tailgate starts at 2 30 pm et pt with the puppy bowl pregame show, which features analysis and commentary from a team of sports correspondents. At 3 pm et pt, puppy bowl xii kicks off at geico stadium with a furry group of line barkers and wide retrievers, making adorable tumbles and fumbles in an effort to score winning touchdowns for teamfluff and teamruff. If youre not in the mood for coldplay, this years kitty halftime show brings a catastrophic San Francisco inspired kitten takeover to the bay area. These ferocious felines are on a spree of cat aclismic destruction as they paw across historic landmarks including the golden infamous alcatraz. But precious puppies and kittens arent the only attraction at this years big game with help from a new special assistant ref, stanley the skunk, Dan Schachner returns as americas favorite rufferee to call the puppy penalties. Rooting on the sidelines are five big haired silkie chicken cheerleaders, which will shake their tail feathers and strut for their favorite players. Award winning animal advocate and Television CorrespondentJill Rappaport introduces pup close and personal segments, presented by subaru, which highlight adorable animal bonds between puppy players and their best buddies including a kitten and a hedgehog meep the bird returns to his perch to tweet live updates sponsored by geico throughout the big game. Fans can on game day to cat youre watching local 5 news midday in amanda its friday. Time for local 5 at the movies. Amanda first up. Is a movie star headaches for studio fixer josh coen brothers hail, caesar . Set in hollywoods golden age. When clooneys character is kidnapped, brolin does his best to find the star. While also keeping other actors happy. Hail, caesar is rated pg13. All reax sam next up. We have jane austens classic gets reimagined in pride and prejudice and zombies. Based on the seth grahame smith, the film doesnt just throw zombies into the plot without a sacrifice the original story. Pride and prejudice and zombies is rated pg13 all reax amanda and finally. A ladies man meets the one person who might get him to settle down in the choice travis and gabby first meet as neighbors in a small coastal town and wind up in a relationship that is tested by lifes most defining events. The choice is rated pg13 all reax coming up on local 5 news midday. Local5 sports director Jon Schaeffer sat down with iowa state Athletic DirectorJamie Pollard yesterday well take a look back at what pollard is planning for 2016, coming up. Amanda next. The president ial race has moved onto New Hampshire. What did the democrats have to say on the debate stage last night, and what can we expect from the gop tomorrow night . Local 5 news midday in hd. We are iowa amanda good morning and thanks for joining us for local 5 news midday. Im amanda krenz. Amanda for the democratic president ial hopefuls, their last debate before the New Hampshire primary was the most spirited one yet. Hillary clinton and Bernie Sanders battled over their records on a host of issues and defended against each others attack lines on the campaign trail. Abcs Marci Gonzalez has more. After a fiery night on the debate stage sot clinton lets talk about the issues that sanders lets talk about the issues the democratic president ial candidates facing off for the last time before the New Hampshire primary Hillary Clinton trying to overcome Bernie Sanders 15 point lead in the latest poll. With another poll also showing sanders closing in on clinton nationally. Sot sanders secretary clinton does represent the establishment. I represent, i hope, ordinary americans clinton senator sanders is the only person who would characterize me a woman running to be the first woman president as exemplifying the establishment on the republican side marco rubio on the rise in 2nd place behind donald trump karl sot jk do you think donald trump is ready to be president . Rubio but trump still holds a commanding lead . Nats trump in exeter this is really crunch time. Tomorrow nights debate here on abc. Tag but trump is also looking ahead to the next big vote after New Hampshire. Canceling his only event here today because of this snow . Holding a rally tonight in South Carolina . Mg abc news manchester, nh amanda of course the Republican Debate set for tomorrow night is already drawing some criticism from a few of its participants. Due to the number of candidates, only one debate will be held saturday night. And under the criteria set by abc to be included on the debate stage. Presiden tial candidate Carly Fiorina has been cut from the roster. High profile republicans mitt romney and newt gingrich, along with candidates ted cruz and ben carson have called this a mistake, saying she should be included. Amanda while clinton and sanders may be focusing on New Hampshire. Back in iowa, many questions still remain about the results from mondays democratic caucus. Some people say won by sanders, but somehow was credited to clinton and they arent sure why. The confusion includes at least two democratic precincts in Woodbury County in western iowa. And has some participants questioning the caucus process in iowa. Our precinct went for sanders. Otos precinct, the paper work was filled out showing they went for sanders and yet somehow the Democratic Party is reporting it for clinton, said patrick west. There needs to be more people step forward and question and make those numbers more available, said schwarz. Amanda while they would like to see some changes in the iowa caucus system. Both men say they still plan to participate again. Amanda local 5 has been in touch with the Iowa Democratic party about these accounts. Heres a statement. The Iowa Democratic party has released our final results. Any concerns we will look into at the local level and with the parties involved. Reporting sheets are internal party meantime, the Des Moines Register teed off on the Iowa Democrats in an editorial thursday, saying once again the world is laughing at iowa. We can take ribbing over our quirky process. But what we cant stomach is even the whiff of impropriety or error. What happened monday night at the democratic caucuses was a debacle, period. Democracy, particularly at the local party level, can be slow, messy and obscure. But the refusal to undergo scrutiny or allow for an appeal reeks of autocracy. Stay with local 5, well keep you updated on developments with regard to the the iowa caucus numbers. Amanda and take a look at this. The nobel prizes could become trump endorsed. Amanda among this years Nobel Peace Prize nominees is donald trump. The republican president ial candidate has been nominated for the 2016 prize by a mystery patron. The Nobel Committee counts among its recipients Martin Luther king junior, the red cross and, in 2009, president many nobel observers expect trumps nomination to fall by the wayside. Of others who were nominated but never won, like adolf hitler, benito mussolini, and vladimir putin. All reax amanda meteorologist sam schrier joins us again with a look at your forecast. Sam weather adlib its finally friday and were looking at a fairly mild and average february day. Well be overcast with a lighter breeze out of the west keeping our highs right around 32 a few flurries to a likely swing through central iowa this couple roads may get slick accumulations overnight we will be fairly mild with a low in the mid 20s and a calm wind. Saturday is going to be warmer and feel climbing into the mid well climb right next to 40 for the high, but back through in the Late Afternoon with a lot of wind. Accumulations again look fairly minimal but watch the roads if youre driving around to any super bowl watch parties. Light snow may stick around into monday morning falling temperatures. Tuesday and wednesday morning but we should warm back above average into the mid 30s by thursday. Amanda 2015 was a roller coaster of emotions for the Iowa State Athletic Department especially when it comes to basketball and football. Local 5 sports director Jon Schaeffer sat down with Athletic DirectorJamie Pollard to talk about 2015 and what we can expect for this year. The year didnt start the way Jamie Pollard expected he suffered a heart attack which is admittedly something he doesnt think about much these days. After watching isu mens hoops claim back to back big 12 championships it was on to the ncaa tournament where the hope was high but reality didnt live up to it. Now the ncaa tournament didnt go as iowa state had first round loss to uab what was your reaction to that . Well it was disappointing for everybody because you were still living on the high of the big 12 championship and then we drew that first game the thursday game and youre early on thursday morning and um it was like it was over before it ever started and like a bad dream. But as you learn in athletics tomorrow comes whether you want it to or not and life had to go on and so weve put that in the memory bank and moved on. Pollard then watched on that spring as the mayor fred hoiberg moved on to the chicago bulls. That meant replacing one of the most beloved coaches in school history. He chose murray state head coach steve prohm. He was the perfect person to follow fred. Because he is extremely humble. Most people would have run from freds legacy because it would be stifling. And hes been able to embrace it. And work with it. Then the attention turned to the paul rhoads was under pressure to find success from the iowa state fan base. Unfortunately the program didnt make the turn in the right direction. Rhoads went 39 before being let go. Coach rhoads is a great football coach but that friendship piece makes it easier and harder. Its easier because we are so close that you were able to just work through it in a way that was good for everybody involved. In less than two weeks pollard had already gotten the guy he wanted. Toledo head coach Matt Campbell who fit the mentality of what it takes to coach at iowa state. He wanted to be at a place where if we won a championship he would be the first there were places he could have went where they would say when we win a championship this is what you do. Thats not the kind of environment he wanted to be at he wanted to be at something where he could build it. That is kind of our mantra in our Athletics Department so he fit that. So expectations for 2016 couldnt be bigger from fans in both basketball and football. In 2016 is it too much for fans to expect a sweet 16 basketball Football Team . Absolutely not. Thats what our coaches and our administration aspires to do i think wed all be disappointed if we werent in the you know got to that level in basketball with the team that we have this year. I do recognize its hard but we are clearly one of the top 16 teams in the country and so i hope that happens. As far as a bowl game thats our goal every year thatll be no different for next year. Amanda jon will have pollard throughout the february on the future of cyclone amanda plenty of fans excited for the between denver and carolina. But not everyone tunes in for just commercials. So commentary. An d some look forward to the halftime entertainment. This year, british rock band coldplay will entertain the millions tuning in. Yesterday, the band actually explained how they were picked to be the half time performers. Sotchris martin how do you get this gig, do you campaign . How does it all come together, how did you get it . Chris martin singer, coldplay we started in iowa 3 years ago, we had a bus, a small bus, and at that point not very many investors. We had barely enough money to afford one can of pepsi. Pepsi stepped in they were very sweet, they gave us a bigger bus we got some stickers, coldplay for 2016 and we just got out there and we just worked our little butts off and low and behold, the voters of america said alright, you have a go. Amanda vo continues martin of course relating the Selection Process to the current president ial race. Amanda everyone is doing their best to pick who will be the winner of sundays big game. And we have seen a wide range of ways to hightech. ,. With advanced computers studying tons of stats. Some just go with their gut. And others may even rely on the animal kingdom. Kind of sniffed them both then decided that the Carolina Panthers are going to win on sunday amanda misha, four year old Siberian Tiger at the blank park zoo, weighed in on the matchup. No surprise she sticks with her fellow felines and going with the Carolina Panthers. Of the past six superbowls the zoos animals have correctly picked four winners. Amanda and fans of a popular vietnamese restaurant in des moines had the chance to place their orders once again at a dong last night. An august fire heavily damaged the eatery, forcing it to close as owners had the interior rebuilt. Fixing the smoke damage was the main problem, but owners say a lot of Little Things added to the delay. Last night, to reward the loyal customers for their patience, the restaurant offered a free dinner. While things arent quite back to be reopened. Neal ngu, owner well, somehow we had a feeling that we would get back on track because our customers always stand behind us no matter what. We knew if we reopened, they would come back. Amanda the owners estimated that at least half of the customers waiting in line last night were regulars excited to be able to return to the restaurant. Amanda still to come on local 5 news midday. weather sam has the details in central iowas most accurate forecast next. Now, we are iowas now, we are iowas most accurate forecast with meteorologist sam schreier. Certified by weatherrate the sam weather adlib its finally friday and were looking at a fairly mild and average february day. Well be overcast with a lighter breeze out of the west keeping our highs right around 32 degrees. There will be a few flurries to a light dusting that will likely swing through northern and possibly central iowa this afternoon, so while a couple roads may get slick accumulations should be minimal. Overnight we will be fairly mild with a low in the mid 20s and a calm wind. Saturday is going to be warmer and feel fairly nice with highs climbing into the mid and upper 30s. Sunday well climb right next to 40 for the high, but a few light snow showers may swing back through in the Late Afternoon with a lot of wind. Accumulations again look fairly minimal but watch the roads if youre driving around to any super bowl watch parties. Light snow may stick around into monday morning with heavy winds and falling temperatures. Temps bottom out wednesday morning but we should warm back above average into the mid 30s by thursday. Sam Amanda Amanda some major some major cleanup ahead for the south, especially in tennessee. Over the past three days sever storms have spawned multiple tornadoes. Incl uding an ef one tornado that was caught on Surveillance Video as it ripped into a classroom. Luckily the school day had already ended. Amanda youre watching local five news midday. Well be back after this. Jerry holub, our resident horticulturist. Heres here every friday to tell us what we need to know to keep our gardens, plants and yards healthy, happy and green. Jerry, how is it going . Now. Hell be available for all your gardening needs at the Downtown Des MoinesFarmers Market on saturdays. About the market support local agriculture and buy direct from iowa farmers while shopping the downtown Farmers Market presented by Unitypoint Health des moines. The downtown Farmers Market presents iowa producers from 58 counties across iowa, offering fresh fruit, saturday, may october. Youll find fresh herbs, beautiful flowers, farm fresh eggs, local wineries, a delicious assortment of goat cheese, an endless selection of baked goods, and many varieties of iowa raised meat such as beef, pork, chicken, turkey, goat, rabbit, lamb and tilapia. Sam weather adlib sam weather adlib its finally friday and february day. Well be lighter breeze out of the west keeping our highs right around 32 degrees. There will be a few flurries to a likely swing through central iowa this afternoon, so while a slick accumulations overnight we will be fairly mild with a low in the mid 20s and a calm wind. Saturday is going fairly nice with highs climbing into the mid and upper 30s. Sunday to 40 for the high, but showers may swing Late Afternoon with a accumulations again announcer super bowl sunday is coming at you faster than a hailil mary pa, so wereiving you everything you need to make the big day a touchdown. Michael and mario are going head to head in our fifth annual chili cookoff. Which mouthwatering chili will