lower 50s today! your full forecast is coming up - your news starts now. "announcer: "now live from kcau-tv in sioux city, iowa... this is abc9 news this midday.... " " lukas good morning and thanks for joining us this midday. i'm lukas voss we begin this midday with details abt the circumstances surrounding a fatal stabbing on the westside of sioux city lukas . 50-year-old vernon mace was killed... and now the lone suspect is being held on murder charges. police responded to a call early

morning at a home near the corner of west first and helmer. where they found mace suffering stab wounds. he was taken to mercy medical center where he died. 10 houou later... police apprehended the man they believe to be responsible, 47-year old eliase wanatee. who was booked on 1st degree murder charges yesterday afternoon. wanatee has a previous criminal record... including a second degree murder conviction which he served 10 years for. abc9 news reporter christina grijalva brings us details from the case and reactions from the victim's family "i never in my life would have imagined..." a sioux city man was fatally stabbed on the 19-hundred block of west first street early wednesday morning-- right down the way from his own front door. the victim was identified as vernon mace-- the father of verna hoffman. "no more than a few feet awafrom where i sleep and i didn't hear anything, like i couldn't save him..i... " the tragedy comes at the hand of someone mace's family knows-- 47-year-old elias wanatee, the husband of mace's niece.- none of the family members knew wanatee showed up at the house and confronted mace outside wednesday morning "he waited for my dad to come out of the house, he waited

dad came out, he and my dad had a verbal whatever...um theystarard arguing. he chased my dad down the block and stabbed him down the block and my dad made it back to the house to getelp." mace was taken to mercy medical-- where he passe away due to injuries. sioux city police aprehended wanatee 10 hours after responding to the inital call. wannatee is being held at the woodbury county jail on second degree murder charges. although, mace's family can breathe a sigh of relief that wanatee is off the streets-- they hold on to the good memories of a beloved father and grdfather. "he was a great guy, heas a great dad. everybody liked him, if you met him, you would have liked him. he had an awesome smile. awesome smile. and um, he help anybody, he wasn't perfect, but he was a good person, he had a good heart...and it's a tragedy...for this to happen, it's$& just like...i don't ow." lukas: a man accused of hitting a pedestrian with a man accused of hitting a

his car in saccounty is now in police custody. authorities in fort dodge located jeremy werneburg at a wal mart yesterday. he's being charged for attempted murder after police say werneburg struck a man in carna-vun, iowa sunday night and then drove away from the scene. he's also being charged with officer after resisting arrest. lukas: and now turning our atteteion to the state house... state legislatoror are making their several proposed bills. tommorow marks known as "funnel week" at the capitol ... requiring bills to get their final approval by committee in eligible for continued debate. one of those bills gaining traction at the state house, would expand iowa's access to medical cannabis. for the second

took a stand outside the statehouse in order r support the cause for cannabis to be produced and dispenced in the state. "simply the stigma to medical cannabis needs to end. we know that the discussion about "getting high" is so far gone. we know the research is out their. we know it's benefiting states and their residents and iowa staying stagnent is not proactive " "the primary substance that our iowa youth, without any expansion on marijuana in iowa, 66.3% of kids entering treatment have marijuana as their drug of choice." the bill has not passed through the commerce committee... so it'll have to be debated among the full senate. the bill looks considerably different than the one lawmakers tackled last session. the 12 dispensaries and four manufacturers included last year have been cutback to just two facilities and both manufacture and dispense the cannabis oil ... and insteaeaof 11 illnesses qualifying for the treatment ... three have been

another group of suffering iowans had also gathered at the capitol recently to promote the "death with dignity act." we are learning the bill will not be be moving on this session ... becoming a victim of funnel week. the act would haveiven those suffereing from terminal illness the choice of euthenasia or assisted suicide. lukas: one bibi that got unanimous approval b bthe senate transportation committee aims to change the way drivers share the road with bikes. the bill under consideration would require motor vehicles to pass bicycles in an adjacent travel lane... making passing a bike the same as passing a car or truck on roads. the bill is now eligible for debate in the iowa senate. lukas: iowa senator chuck grassley isn't pulling punches when it comes to the president's nomination to replace supreme court justice antonin scalia. grassley caused controversy last weekend, when he said the justice scalia the next president. he's been talking about it at recent

eastern iowa ...saying he would however take the process "step by step." grassley is chairman of the senate judiciary committee... lukas: the first ofwo a-o-p town halls in south carolina took place last night -- and though the whole field of candidates did not share the stage... it was contentious. ted cruz and marco rubio continued their battle, and ben carson took a surprising stance on one hotly- debated issue. dianne gallagher has the details from columbia, south carolina. " " wednesday's republican tn hall underscored the intensity of the race heading into the south carolina primary. dr ben carson... senator ted cruz... and senator marco stage the first rubio came out down on previous cruz is a liar. (sen. marco rubio/(r) candidate you say something you say it over and know that it isn't true, there's no cruz wasuick to hit back. (sen. ted cruz/(r) candidate) and mamao rubio are following this pattern that whenever anynye points to their actual record, to what they'veaid, to what they've voted on, to what they've done, they start screaming 'liar! liar! liar!' the two cuban- american candidates

-- denouncing president obama for his upcoming trip to cuba. (sen. ted cruz/(r) presidential candidate) "i think it's a real mistake. i think the president ought to instead be pushing for a free cuba." (sen. marco rubio/(r) presidential candidate) "the problem with this cuban government is not just communist dictatorship, it's an anti-american communist dictatorship." and carson took an unpopular stance on a popular republican talking point... whether or not the president should nominate a newew supreme court justice. (b(b carson/(r) esidential candndate) " i probably would take the opportunity to nominate someone." lukas after five years of waiting, madison county has finally received approval to pave the approach to a bridge north of meadow grove, paul huges brings us this story and more, now "after five years of waiting, madison county has finally received approval to pave the approach to a bridge north of meadow grove. at tuesday's meeting of the madison countycommissioners,

johnson said federal and state officials have said that the county may fix the damage from the 2010 flood without endangering a bank protection project in the same area. farmers have been listening to reports from the norfolk livestock market on wjag since 1927, and yestery, they heard what may be the final report. on friday, employees were told that sales were suspended for the summer, with no future sale date announced. auctioneer curt wragge gave what could be his final report just before noon yesterday on news talk wjag. norfolk senior high theater students will present "the crucible" this weekend. the arthur miller classic is set in 17th-century new england and depicts the era of the salem witch trials. performances are set for thursday, friday and saturday nights, at 7 each night at the johnny carson theatre. those and more stories can be heard on news talk wjag, kix." lukas still to come... howard is in the mister food test on a hot and help you chase winter blues. stay tuned! scott: " " still to come... howard is in the mister food test

hearty meal to help you chase away those winter blues. stay tuned! scott: " " lukas scott: scott: lukas scott: lukas after the break... howard is s the mister food test dad: i know. spots. 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. 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! anncr: a culligan whole-house water conditioning system gets rid of sediment or impurities.

some cloudy skies on this thursdaymorning. visibilily is low in northern and eastern siouxland with some light fog which has spread through the region. temperatures are in the 30s throughout the area and most spots are above freezing. the planner displays highs getting into the lower 50s. the stormcast hd shows a very quiet pattern with far warmer than normal temperatures. today's high is 52 with mostly cloudy skies. tonight's low 39 and it'll be mostly clear and comfortable. tomorrow's high is 61 with sunsne. it'll scott: lukas

mister food test kitchen, working on a hot and hearty meal to help you chase away those nter blues. stay tuned!

proves that all chili's are not created equally. take a look "over the years here we've made lots of different types of chilies. we've made texas-style (without any beans), we've made lighter versions using ground turkey and lots of veggies, and on and on. but today's, recipe is a little different and one that everyone who tried it loved. we start by browning some italian sausage and a minced onion in a large pot. i'm using mild sausa, but if you want it a bit spicier, you can always use a hotter variety. after no pink remains and we've poured off any of the pan drippings, we stir in a couple cans of kidney beans that we rinsed and drained, a can of corn, tomato sauce, some salsa, a bit of water and the typical chili seasonings. we give this a quick stir and let it simm until everything is heated through and all the flavors blend together. that's it. it's the seasonings in the sausage that make this chili stand out from the crowd. and the fact that you can have a hot and hearty meal on the table in less than 30 minutes makes this even better. the super-fast recipe for our, "southwest

you chase away those winter blues. i'm howard in the mr. food test kitchen looking for an easier way for you to say . "ooh it's so good!!" " lukas: 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. our address is 625 recipe you can send us a self addressed stamped envelope here to a-b-c 9 news. our address is 625 douglas street. the zip...51101. be sure to write "southwest sausage chili" on your request. or you can visit r website...siouxlan d matters dot com.

" lukas: coming up.... a rare medical phenom lets some people exeprience the world in a whole differt way. i'll explain all up next

we're learning more about the human body than we ever knew before. but ...there's relatively little explanation about why in some cases ... the five senses are intertwined. abc9 news anchor jenna rehnstrom tells us more in this week's your health matters. soren peterson grew up assuming everyone knew that the number two is lime green. while you and i just see black numbers on a page, for this 8th grader, algebra homework is alive with color. soren says, "for instance, the number 13 would be a dark blue one and a maroon three." it wasn't until his parents caught part of a tv program about the phenomenon, that soren realized what he experieced was different. soren says, "i said, 'oh, i see like that!" "right now we don't exactly understand what is happening in your brain or why certain people have this." while reaching to learn more, soren's mom, marcy, found a friend who could identify. marcy peterson says, "i was so glad when i posted something and you said, gretchen, oh, i have that!" gretchen baller and her daughter,

experience the world in a different way... but for them, color is percieved, not just through sight... but also taste. gretchen says, "i think i was making a pot of chili, and it wasn't quite right and i was tasting it, and i thought, 'it needs more purple.'" seneca says, "i thought it was just a normal thing." biting into a piece of fruit floods seneca's taste buds.. and her other senses. seneca says, "i'm seeing pink and yellow." seneca, gretchen and soren have what's known as synesthesia. the term itself comes from greek words meaning "joined perception." it happens when one sense is simultaneously perceived with one or more additional senses. dr. lee baugh, phd says, "what you see, typically, is the pairing of two senses that are typically removed from one another." dr. lee baugh is an assistant professor of neuroscience at usd's sanford school of medicine. he did his undergraduate studies at one of the leading research institutes examining synesthesia and says it is estimated to affect anywhere from one in every 200 people to one in 2,000. so, why? there's still not a proven cause, but dr. baugh explains one theory that's being researched now. dr. baugh says, "when we're very young, we have far more connections between neurons in our brain than we do as an adult, and through the process of development, a lot of those connections actually get severed. and, people think what may be happening in synesthesia is some

remaining past those developmental points. so, you have connections between brain regions that there." dr. baugh says there are up to 60 synethesia and no two examples are exactly the same. even, with all these famlilies have in common, there are experiences are vastly different. the one exception being, they all realize this seemingly strange phenomenon... is a gift. seneca, "it's kind of interesting, but it's soren says, "you just to embrace it." lukas: there does seem to be a genetic link with synesthesia, some

passed down through the mother, ... like the case with gretchen and seneca. and more women than men report having the condition. lukas: scott's up next with a final check of our forecast. stay with us.

of our forecast. stay with us. now let's check in on the show famer and t.v. host here. he credits has always encouraged him to do well. so when his father had a life- threatening health scare, it was michael who sat him down for a heart-to-heart. his advice for anyone with an aging parent or loved one who isn't making the best health choices. and, the cutting- edge test michael allows us to perform on him right here in our studio. plus, shannen

in t.v. and films. now, the actress is real-life health scare. she opens up about her crisis the reason why she attention lukas: ain that's coming up today on dr. oz at 4 o'clock right here on abc9. scott: make sure to tune in on friday for a special story - taking a look at how to stay informed on the weather through social media. i sat down with the founder of siouxland severe weather network, jeff robinson, as we chatted about the success of his page which recently passed 25,000 followers. we'll weigh the benefits and drawbacks of getting weather information via social media...and have feedback from

service forecaster todd heitkamp. all of that plus more information on our abc9 apps and social media outreachch.that's coming up friday so don't miss it! lukas scott:today's high is 52 with mostly

because we're about to have a

here. michael's whipping up a satisfying sandwich that'll make you say chorizo-m-g. then, mario's in the kitchen with the hilarious craig ferguson and they've got a mexican classic that will really give you something to taco bout. plus, i'm cooking up a glitzy burrito with a guy who has got all the right moves on the dance floor and in the kitchen -- the amazing derek huff. it's about to get deliciously loco right now on "the chew." [ cheers and applause ] >> hola! welcome to "the chew." thank you! thank you, guys. good audience. all right, got some important questions for you, though. so let's take a poll. how many of you guys like tacos? >> me! [ cheers and applause ] >> what about burritos and guacamole? [ cheers and applause ] and who's down for some margaritas?