u-s supreme court justice antonin scalia passed away at his home in texas. jenna: that's lead to a controversial battle in washinton over who should appoint his successor. tim: scalia who was appointed by president ronald reagan in 19-86, has sat on the highest bench in the land for thirty years a perhaps most famous for writing several scathing dissents during his tenure as supreme court justice. jenna: scalia's impact has been felt across the nation... even here in siouxland tim: abc9's elissa raffa has reaction from two legal professionals speaking on the supreme court justice's legacy. "he was kind of viewed as the rock star of the court" says kyle irvin, attorney at corbett anderson law. a great loss for the justice system over the weekend as supreme court justice antonin scalia passed away in texas. siouxland lawyers and judges are remembering him as a man who cared about not only his career, but the legal system overall attorney klye irvin says scalia stuck by the constituion, and wasn't afraid to use colorful words to do it. calling scalia's

a great legacy. "the fact that liberal justices were seeking to go back to history to show what was kind of in the air when the founders were putting together the constitution shows the impact that scalia had on the court, because we didn't see that as much before scalia" says kyle irvin, attorney at corbett anderson law. irvin says scalia's death came as a shock.... but even more so when conisdering the timing... right in the middle of a hotly contested election cycle where the vacancy is causing controversy. "we like to see vacancies filled because it lends stability, continuity.. when there's an opening, that opening can cause delays" says judge jeffrey neary. there have already been fighting words between candidates concerning who should fill scalia's vacant spot. local judge neary says the new appointment shouldn't be a political ploy. but rather an a-political process, saying judges take an oath, regardless of political party they align with "those people who can apply the law, and do a great job applying the law... the best in the land should be doing that job irrespective of political affiliations" says judge jeffrey neary. adding to the excitement and controversy, judge jane kelly, iowa native currently serving on the u.s.

has been mentioned as a potential nominee. judge neary and judge kelly worked together before their time at the bench and says he's thrilled to see his colleague mentioned even as a potential candidate, saying he's honored at the thought of iowa being represented in the highest court in the land. "that would be just fabulous. it would be a real feather in our cap to be able to our niche to become justice... and she'd she got the chance" jenna: political almost immediately after justice scalia's death. prompting republicans in suggest should wait to appoint a justice to the vacant spot. including iowa senator chuck grassley. grgssley says he's against obama appointing a justice stating quote: "given the huge divide in the country, and the fact that this president, above all others, has

about his goal to use the courts to circumvent congress and push through his own agenda," grassley believes the pesident should defer the appointment for the remainer of his term critics of grassley have brought up the last time this happened... citing the appointment of justice anthony kennedy during regan's last term as president. tim: grassley's not the only siouxland senator talking about the potential scotus appointment. nebraska republican senator deb fischer was in south sioux city nebraska today for a community coffee q&a. when asked about the potential appointment, fischer said, just like supreme court justices, we need to look at past precedent in order to make the best decision for scalia's replacement. " i'm just looking at the process and i don't believe that the president should have a confirmed supreme court justice at this point in his tenure in the white house. it has been a long long time since that has happened and there's a reason for it. so i probably would be supporting that the president not have that appointment confirmed." says senator fischer. tim: fischer also spoke to

other issues facing the nation such as free tuition and manufacturing in the u-s tim: senator fischer chance to stop here at our abc9 studios. to hear more about what fischer has to say about the the nation and the week in siouxland. at 9 am jenna: speaking of the presidential race, several candidates are sharing their thoughts on the future of the open supreme court seat. jenna: bernie sanders thinks president obama should go ahead and move forward with appointing a justice. the same can not be said for those on the republican side of the race. ted cruz is vowing to philibuster the appointment on the senate floor tim: speculation is swirling around another presidential candidate considering a thrid party run. during a town hall meeting in south carolina today, donald trump again floated the idea that he could run as an independent candidate. saying quote: "the republican national comittee better get its act together."

ted cruz to "take down false ads and retract his lies".. those are trumps words. trump has previously comitted to the r-n-c. jenna: a fraternity house at the universityf south dakota was vandalized over the weekend. the phi delta theta was spraypainted with a lewd message. university officials says they're working with police to investigate the matters. and officials from u-s-d's greek system say is not reflective of the fraternity. laura roof, director statement against the fraternity but the university has no reports on file of any sexual assaults and so there's no reason for us to believe that we need to investigate the fraternity, we're really more concerned with their well being at is time. the fraternity men are very disappointed in this and do feel targeted jenna: crews from usd spent the afternoon cleaning off the spraypaint from the side of the brick building. tim: a former iowa governor is continueing to speak out against iowa's move to privitize medicaid. chet culver was on hand for a

receipients. abc 9's bria bell was there for brings us more in studio. tim, former governor chet culver is now a for "aims" which advocates for iowa medicaid and the organization give iowa medicaid voice by that patients currently face plan. with the new medicaid program set to begin on march 1st former governer culver patients to weigh problems that the new plan brings. governor culver stated that the executive legislation really needs toake a look at how it's affecting iowa citizens and that he's here to be an advocate. "i'm taking all of this testimony, we just had 2 hours of it today, non-stop and i'm sharing it with policy makers both in des moines and in washington d.c.," says culver. bria: many who would be covered under the new medicaid plan say they had many questions go unanswered and that they did not know where else to turn.

from medicaid patients and the issues they face with the new privatization program. reporting live in studio bria bell abc9 news jenna: february is american heart month ... and in today's "move it monday" we're taking time to reflect on what we can do to improve our life and take care of our hearts. heart disease ... no matter the type ... make up one in every four deaths. it has become the leading cause of death among men and women alike across the nation. one major issue according to the centers for disease control ... is that most people don't know enough about cardiac events. local experts agree that education needs to be part of the equation. dr. douglas s y, mercy cardiology says, "probably 90 percent of a heart disease is preventable and yet we spent all sorts of effort, dollars and times and people have their lifes impacted because they have heart disease and yet we can probably prevent a lot of it, so we don't do enough of that." jenna: and speaking of not doing enough... there are a couple of simple ways to make sure that you are on track with your heart health ...

don't even take five minutes. " get your blood pressure checked ... know what your numbers are .. not well the doctor said it wasn't too bad you should know your numbers ... and the other one is cholestoral ... get your cholestoral checked ... it should be checked on a fairly regular basis, if you are young it's in a good range you can probable go five years but when you are older and it's abnormal or when you are on medications it needs to be chececd annualy." jenna: and if you are interested in tting a check up ... or simply want to learn more ... mercy medical center will have their heart expo this sunday from 11 to one. they'll offer free mini screenings ... and even open heart surgery simulation that's all at mercy medical's heart center on 5th street. tim: "the antm" at hard rock, rocked out last night to the tune of folks opening their hearts and pockets to help battle a-l-s. the second annual pete goede memorial a-l-s benefit concert, drew another packed house raising more than 14 thousand dollars for a-l-s or lou gherig's disease awareness.

iowa, to aid those battling a-l-s with their medical expenses. tonight at ten... hear from the son of pete goede, who joined members of his dad's band "the establishment" on stage. tim: coming up kiddos hit the hills for a good time, but also for a good cause. details after the break... (frere we have rain and snow tonight, and it will be breezy tomorrow. a warming trend will be enjoyed this week, too. your forecast is next!

i cities hit the slopes for some friendly competition. today was the great cardboard sled race. participants were challenged make a sled out of just cardboard, duct

crayons. the event was sponsored by the boys and girls club of the mississippi valley. and all the money raised go toward the boys and girls club. sioux city's cardboard sled races are set for february 28th at two o'clock... at sertoma park. tim/jenna/fred (jenna) fred, what will the week ahead have in store? (fred) a chance of rain and snow tonight, then a nice warmup later in the weekek fred hexom fhexom@kcautv.c om (fred) the hd radar shows showers moving in from the west. the port neal welding company skycam hd time lapse shows an increase in cloud cover this afternoon. the almanac shows a high of 41 and a low of 24. the storm lake skycam hd shows the scene in eastern siouxland. highs over western iowa were in the 30s to lower 40s. eastern nebraska and southeastern south dakota saw highs mainly in the 40s, but we hit 50 in o'neill. 37 is the sioux city temperature. local

the 30s and 40s. winds are south at 5 the satellite and radar shows tonight's weather system moving in from the northwest. the stormcast hd shows that rain become more widespread this evening, continuing into the overnight. cooler air late tonight will cause the rain to mix with and in some cases change over to snow by tomorrow morning. there could be an additional round of light snow tomorrow evening. how much snow?w?

less than 1" of additional snow will be seen tomorrow night farther east, toward estherville and spencer. your forecast tonight is for rain early, then rain/snow mix late. the low will be 29. tomorrow, the high will be 34 with a chance of snow in the morning. winds will be breezy. the 7-day forecast shows a warmup t the 50s friday and saturday.

thanks, fred. (fred) you bet. jenna: the pope is taking road to north america. details on his current trip to mexico

historic tour through north america, already making his way through mexico jenna: the pontiff plans on heading north through the texas boarder into america, but on his way he has a special

to travel to hear his sermon. reporter melissa adan has more on the pope's visit " nats (constructi) a two million dollar altar in ciudad juarez-- now ready for pope francis-- where he will celebrate mass with hundreds of thousands on wednesday.. rev. francisco garcia juarez diocese coordinator ofofhe papal masstake cg @ 00:10) the location wherewe are ione of grand siificance it's a mass that will be celebebted between two countries and el paso is very united with us- as there will be people watching right across the river. ciudad juarez formerly considered the murder capital of the world-- is now working to move past the violence.. and the pope's visit-- speaking to that--- salvador perches, el paso funeral home owner ((take cg @00:31) of course when juarez went through its bad times s u know we were the funeral homes thatatook care of bobo families from both sis of the border. owner of an el paso funeral home-- salvador perches-- says he's witnessing more and more families move out of el paso and back to mexico..

well it has made a it's getting a lot better, people, families that moved to el paso are coming back. melissa adan ((take cg @00:57)) streets of ciudada the days get closer arrival even more rev. francisco juarez diocese coordinator of the lot of people, we already feel it in the traffic. father francisco garcia says the announcement for the pope's visit came too late-- and in just five weeks he says their labor is coming alive before them.. rev. francisco garcia juarez diocese coordinator of the papal mass it's the faith that will be projected in many different ways and d e is iexactly that of a message of peace, justice and even happiness. tim: coming up in sports...grges niang continues to climb the cyclone record books. find out what milestones he'll likely reach this week. jenna: plus... it wasn't always pretty but iowa's win over minnnnota last night has them alone first in the big ten. hear from the hawkeyes when

season, the iowa hawkeyes are in great position to win the big ten for the first time since 1979. after last night's win over minnesota, the hawks moved a game clear of both maryland and indiana in the conference standings. that win against the gophers though didn't come easy as the hawkeyes had to sweat out a 75-71 decision over a team that's winless in conference play. iowa led it by 6 at halftime, but minnesota kept it tight all night, gettttg within two wiwi under three minutes to playay even though the hawkeyes were nearly 20 point favorites, they say a win is a win. mike gesell--"we knew what we were getting into. they've been in almost every single game in the big ten. you know, thr last five games they've lost but you know they're all down to the wire

they're a team that just keeps fighting." peter jok--"most of the games they've played in the big ten, they've been close, single digits. we knew it was going to be a tough ge. but it was ugly a littlele bit but we got t t wiwiand that's all that matters. every team is good. you never know what's going to happen. anybody can have an play every game." jarrod uthoff--"a win's a win. we felt minnesota team. you their record reflects how good scrappy, they can shoot threes, they can drive, penetrate, jumpers. they can do things." head to penn state on wednesday night. head to penn state on wednesday night. chris: isu senior georges niang is already one of the most beloved cyclones in recent memory and d 's making a clclm as one of the best to ever wear the cardinal and gold as well. niang is already the winningest player in school history and he's making a charge up the scoring list as well. he heads into this week just three points behind his former coach, fred hoiberg for third in cyclone history. assuming he scores 10 points this week, which should come by

tuesday since he's averaging 20 a game, he'll be just the third cyclone to ever hit the 2020 point plateau. monte morris--"ya a think it's big time, thatust shows you the work ethic that kid has. his work ethic drjves me. the first day i got on campus i saw how he works and i'm starting to follow suit so like i said, he's a great player, that's a bad man right there." georges niang--"to have your name next to someone that means so much to you and has done so much in his life and for this program that's really cool. coach hoiberg was great to me, gave me an opportunity to be successfululnd for that i can't thank him enough. i think it's pretty cool to be mentioned in the same sentence as him, i think that's extremely cool and that's a blessing. niana and the cyclones take on baylor tomorrow night in waco. isu's deonte burton was named big twelve newcomer of the week for the third time this season. the marquette transfer averaged 15

percent clip, including a team high 20 at tas tech. spite that loss to the red raiders last week, the cyclones actually nudged up a spot in today's top 25 poll from 14 to 13. the hawkeyes held steady at number 4 after their 1 and 1 week. villanovremains number one while kansas jumped from six to number two right in front of oklahoma. and finally don't forget it's monday which means it's almost time for the abc9 top plays of the week. tune in tonight at 10 for the best of the best from the hardwood over the past seven

a rain/snow w x late. the lolowill be 34. tomorrow, the high will be 36 with a chance of snow in the morning. winds will be breezy. the 7-day forecast shows a warmup to the 50s friday and saturday.

[ music ] >> deborah: his final hours. suite. where supreme court justice antotonin scalia's body was found. and mystery over the pillows. >> they say he was found with a pillow over his head. >> then the disgraced former governor whose scandal inspired the good wife. has it happened again? >> what we learned about the young woman who says she was choked by the ex-governor. >anfirsrstimemeever.