woman: made in georgia greatest accumulations, and that's where a winter weather advisory is in effect through this evening. the radar shows snow falling throughout most of the area. we have temperatures in the teens and 20s. let's get a look at the planner where most of the snow will fall this morning and we'll have a high of 20. your forecast is coming up - your news starts now.

sioux city, iowa... this is abc9 news this midday.... " " jessica rae: good morning and thanks for joining us this midday. i'm jessica rae. thanks for jning us this midday. i'm jessica rae. i think a lot of us would agree during the winter months... we use space heaters for extra warmth. but, what you might not know is, if they're not used just right... those heaters can pose a serio threat. jessica rae: they're actually one of the leading causes of deadly fires. a tragic example... just this past weekend in boxholm, iowa... a mother and her three children were killed in an overnight fire that officials say was sparked by a space heater. abc9 news reporter deborah souverain has more. pkg during the brutal winter months...space heaters are a common go to for extra warmth.... however, you may not be aware...they are also the leading cause of fatal fires "these are very safe because you do have the screen, but at the same time all bomgaars manager lisa nordstrom...says the key to safely using space heaters.. is knowing the proper protocals. "you have to use precaution, anytime you know , keep the heaters away from curtains or anything that is combustible, " said nordstrom.

extension chord or a power strip. plug your unit into a grounded outlet source...to avoid over heating or blowing a fuse. and make sure your heater ibeing used for the right space... to warm an entire room...turn to ceramic heaters...they're energy efficient and safer. "ceramic heaters are designed with elements but there's also ceramic inside and ceramic is basically like touching hot cement in the summer "when you're shopping for a space heater there are a few things you should look out for, make sure there his a warranty on your device so that if something happens to it you can return it. also look out for safety features like overhe protection," said deborah souverain space heaters..placed too close to flammable items...are the leading factor in igniting fatal house fires.. "3 or 4 feet is a good idea that way it gets a chance to breathe, in front of it and behind it, because as i mentioned before it needs to breathe fresh air to keep the unit cool and functioning properly," said drew baier sergeant bluff assistant fire chief. while correct placement of your heater is crucial...taking a close at the heater itself is just as important... "a common hazard people dont think about is the age of the unit, the condition of it - if itsbeen taken care of - not beat up," said drew baier sergeant bluff assistant fire chief deborah souverain abc 9 news . jessica rae:

of defense should be a smoke detector. they encourage home owners to place one on each floor of their home. jessica rae: a devestating fire in fort dodge at a multi-use building is now smoldering. the building... which is owned by several businesses went up in flames. the building is being considered a total loss, and one firefighter suffered a minor injury while battling the blaze. as with most winter fires, the cold made the fire harder to deal with than usual. "be pretty cognizant of the conditions that our troops are in, making sure that we keep them warm and keep their blood flowing, keep them fed, we've got some food coming for them so we'll be able

frequency with which they go to the rehabilitation." we currently have no leads as to what exactly started the fires. crews were on the scene for three hours before they were able to get the flames under control. jessica rae: on monday, a groundbreaking was held at the site of northwest iowa's first of its kind regional children's center. nearly three years after 3 year old autumn elgersma died from child abuse sustained at daycare... her family is helping break ground at the site of the new children's center that will carry her name. autumn's center is a facility designed for children with behavioral health issues or who might be victims of abuse. jessica rae: farmers in in the quad cities for the 25th annual farming equipment show farmers are getting an inside look at everything ag related. with thousands of products designed to make working on a farm more efficient, and some of the focus on the latest cutting edge technology.

show attendee) "to look at some new ideas for taking care of our horses personally, and then for my parents some new ideas for farming and things like that to make the whole process more efficient." jessica rae: ag experts say precision planting systems and navigation systems that help drive navigation systems that help drive tractors are a big hit the farm equipment show runs again today until 3pm. no justice no peace yesterday in des moines, several protestors used martin luther kind junior day to shine a light on civil rights issues in the area. fighting for the african american community atop the skywalk in downtown des moines. "what did martin luther king die for? we're still living in something that he died for. we're trying to get awareness to everybody because, obviously, no one's really aware of it. we shouldn't have to do this. we shouldn't have to protest for people's lives. everyone's lives should matter." protests were run by, d-s-m, an advocacy group based in des moines. but the frigid

protestors to move indoors. high school students participated in the protests... holding signs and reading poems during the march. jessica rae: here locally, a handful of different performances were showcased at bishop heelan fine arts center superintendent dr. paul gausman pressed his excitment for students to celebrate the holiday in their own way. bishop heelan alumni shared their experiences of growing up bi racial at the high school, while current students from various backgrounds reflected on the civil rights leader by reciting speeches and performing different cultural acts. "i was so pleased to see so many of our public school students celebrating their way the different cultures. whether your celebrating the native american drumming, or the mim presentation that went on, or the reader's theater if you will..the speeches that went on. it's certainly something of great value to our community and we need to do our job to make certain that the students understand the work that's gone behind all of this," said gausman. jeica rae: employees of sioux city had to go to work

employees of sioux city had to go to work yesterday but next year they will be able to observe the federal holiday. jessica rae: and on a day where civil rights is on the fore- front of everybody's mind, state leaders spoke up about inequality in iowa's justice system, looking to make a difference. amanda krenz has more from des moines. ""when you look at the number of african american prisoners in iowa...compared to the state's african american population,.. leaders say something's not right. 21:02 justice cady when racial disperity and all of it's causes are eliminated justice will be served. ((applause)) here's the disparity. three percent of the iowa population is african american... but minorities make up about 30 percent of the state's prison population. 20:40 cady - racial disperity is a community problem requiring a community solution. nats of ceremony at this ceremony celelbrating m-l-k junior, iowa governor terry branstad spoke passionately about fixing the inequality. 19:59 gov - we can make steps so that when our criminal justice system does impose judgement we are punishing the right person and that race does not play a role. the keynote speaker at the event, judge odell mcghee says

attention, but won't be an easy fix. odell 42:35 there are so many reasons for it, what we're trying to do is ascertain is it the system? law enforcement? who is the basis for us having so many young people locked up in our prison system who are minority? judge mcghee says drug offenders make up the vast majority of iowa's prison population, but it's time to give people a chance at rehabilitation before incarceration. odell 42:57 i think all of us can say where we think it lies, but i don't know if anyone really knows who's to blame for all of this." jessica rae: the norfolk state senator met with members of the

corn growers at their meeting yesterday, and a cause for a fire in norfolk has been detertimened paul huges has more on these stories. " " the fire that destroyed a two- story home in norfolk late sunday night was caused by the failure of an electrical circuit. city fire marshal terry zwiebel says the home at 2630 w. benjamin ave. was owned and occupied by roger and alice gentzler. the gentzlers were home when the fire broke out just before 11 sunday night, and were able to escape unharmed before firefighters arrived. courtney dentlinger has been in her new position as nebraska director of economic development for a week, and the city of norfolk is working hard to find a new norfolk city economic development director. city administrator shane weidner says a committee will start looking over resumes and conducting interviews after february 1, and he hopes to have someone in place within three months. norfolk state senator jim scheer met with members of the elkhorn valley corn growers at their meeting yesterday. scheer discussed his plan to provide $3,000 foundation aid for each public school student in the state. scheer says most states have both equalization and foundation aid, and he believes both are necessary to be fair to all schools. those and more stories can be heard on news talk wjag, lite rock 97.5 and 106 kix. jessica rae: the salvation army of siouxland had a

annual red kettle campaign. the campaign topped the two hundred thousand dollar mark, this year's campaign exceeded the goal of one hundred and eighty thousand dollars more than 300 volunteers rang bells over the course of the kettle season which ended on christmas eve. mail and intert donations were also received and counted in the final number. jessica rae: still to come... the same great taste, but a new slogan, we'll have more on coke's new catch phrase when we come back scott:

scott:good morning siouxland. let's get a check of conditions outdoors on the port neal welding company skycam hd in sioux city. snow is sliding into the area. to the south, we'll

accumulations, and that's where a winter weather advisory is in effect evening. we have temperatures in the teens and 20ss. the wind is fairly calm at 5 to 15 miles per hour. going through the stormcast hd, you can see that it won't be sticking around too long and by late this afternoon it'll be done. then we'll have some more seasonal, warmer temperatures for a couple days. a second disturbance moves toward us on thursday. today, look for 1 inch of snow to the north, between 1 and 3 inches for central siouxland, and up to 4 inches south of sioux city. here's a look at your 7 day forecast. jessica rae

jessica rae: after the break... today is national popcn day, how much do americans love this snack? we'll fill you in after the break! jessica rae:

in 19-79-- it was "have a coke and a smile." and in 2009-- it was "open happiness." now coke has a new phrase it hopes suits your fancy. today coca-cola rolled out its new ad campaign with a new slogan. "taste the feeling" is the soft drink's new catch phrase. it will be used to advertise coca- cola... and products such as diet coke and coke zero. the company is hoping the new slogan will help it overcome declining sales and profits. jessica rae: break out the kernels...

national popcorn day! according to the popcorn board... yes, there is an offical "board".... americans eat let me say that billion!!! popcorn each that is about 41 quarts per man, woman and child. and interesting enough... even though this holiday is in january... national popcorn month is in october. jessica rae: have you ever been craving your favorite but don't want to make the drive? well howard has a restaurant favorite that you can make right at home. "today we've got a dish that's making a huge comeback since it's easy, budget- friendly . and super tasty. i'm talking about corned beef hash. no, not the stuff that comes in a can, but hash that is so good your gang will be asking for seconds. we start by sauting some diced onions in a little butter just until they're golden. once they are, we add in some diced potatoes. those can be fresh ones that we cut up and par-boil, or we can cut up a few leftover baked potatoes or even a bag of diced ones that we find in our dairy or freezer case. now we add salt and pepper and gently give it a mix. and now for the star of this dish, we add in a good amount of diced cooked corned beef. and that can be thick-cut from the deli or from leftovers. we let this cook 'til it's heated through and it starts toet crispy on the edges. and don't think this

it's just as welcome for dinner, with or without an egg. so why not go online and get our recipe for, "homemade hash," so you can add this 4-ingredient favorite to your dinner or breakfast routine. i'm howard in the mr. food test kitchen, where today we found a "new-old fashioned way" for you to say . "ooh it's so good!!" jessica rae: if you would like a copy of that recipe you can send us a self addressed stamped envelope here to a-b-c 9 news. copy of that recipe you can send us a self

stamped envelope here to a-b-c 9 news. our address is 625 douglas street. the zip...51101. be sure to write "homemade hash" on your request. or you can visit our website...siouxlan d matters dot com. and click on the mr. food logo.... jessica rae: coming up after the break... last night some isu students braved the cold temps we'll tell you why they were camping out all night stay tuned

hundreds of iowabefore last night's game to get their hands on some tickets. 4 out of the next 5 games for the cyclones are against a-p top teams, but that's not the only brutal thing fans were facing, temperatures below zero in ames greeted the cyclone nation, but it didn't stop some from camping out for hours "how long have you guys been standing out here?" "last night at 7." "we've been out here since 8am this morning." "we borrowed his dad's ice hut and we parked it right where we're standing right now and we dropped it off about 630 on saturday evening and we've been here since then." jessica rae: and good news for all of the

i-s-u knocked off number one ranked oklahoma 82 to 77. and it was the team's first win over a number one ranked opponent since 19-57. jessica rae: scott's up next with a final check of our forecast. stay with us. jessica rae: dad: i know. spots. culligan man: the problem is your water! anncr: a culligan whole-house water conditioning system getsrid of sediment or impurities. so keeping everything spotless is effortless. mom: hey. dad: the culligan man.

culligan man: the problem is your water! anncr: a culligan whole-house water conditioning system gets rid of sediment or impurities. so keeping everything spotless is effortless. dad: spots. culligan man: the problem is your water!

today. "you may have seen recent headlines attacking salad. an article was published calling it overrated. claiming lettuce has little nutritional value and is simply a vehicle for fattening dressing. so, if you're eating tons of salad and can't lose a pound, you don't want to miss today's show. then, successful model and restaurateur b. smith is going through one of the toughest medical struggles there is, alzheimer's disease. today, b. smith and her husband dan are back with an update on her condition and they tell us about the horrible night she went missing." jessica rae: again that's coming up today on dr. oz at 4 o'clock right here on abc9. jessica rae scott: today, look for 1

3 inches for central siouxland, and up to 4 inches south of sioux city. here's a look at your 7 day forecast. today, look for 1 inch of snow to the north, between 1 and 3 inches for central siouxland, and up to 4 inches south of sioux city. here's a look at your 7 day forecast.