good evening and thank you u r joining us tonight im jenna rehnstrom titi and im tim seaean. as the nation finds itself 9 9 months out from electiti its next president, pope francis has propelled himself into the equation. jenna: but experts in the religious world say this isn't the first time religion has affected politics in the u-s. abc9's elisa raffa has more. elisa: tim, jenna, lines may occasionally blur when it comes to religion and politics. but religious experts here in siouxland say much like the election cycle we are witnessing... this pope is one like we've never en before. the pope hit headlines early this week, commentiti on donald trump earlier this w wk.... n modern history, absolutey. there's nothing like him, he's not afraid to speak up and to speak out on allllinds of issues...very free- wheeling, i'm sure the vatican press corp wonders what's he going to do next" says bishop r. walker nickless, dioceses of sioux city. social media bursting, after a proclaimed people's pope injecting his opinion on proposed policy coming from a the presidential candidates. throwing an already irregular election cycle for a loop "when you get information quick and you see a quick headline, or a tweet, or an email, you don't have much time to react and so there's going to be all kinds of fall-

to understand better" says bishop walker nickless, dioceses of sioux city. and even with all the political talk surrounding the race for the white house religious studies professorsbruce forbes believes the pope may have beeeea bit misinterpreted with hihimessage, albeit a strong one. "mass right on the border, i mean... he was tryingngo say something about divided people and how in the world can we get people to come together. i think he was making a social statement, but it's a mistake to see it simply as a political statement" says bruce forbes, professor religious studies, morningside college. forbes says religion and politics coming together is nothing new. prohibition, womens rights, and the civil rights movement were all religioly based issuesn their time and today, relgion still plays a pivotal roll in politics and although my don't know the religious affiliation of specific candidates, the number of those looking to elect candidate based on their belief in god is on the decline while the percentage of non

people is on the rise. this, forbes points out a similar trend within both religion and politics. "virtually no group is growing except for the unaffiliated and the reason i think that's interesting is there politics people out of the ordinary, establishment and in nation people are establishment" says professor religious college. elisa: political analysts aren't sure exactly how the pontiff's message will affect the presidential race. will his message for donald trump impact his performance at the ballots leading to november? only the voters have that answer. reporting live in studio, elisa raffa abc9 news. tim: a more than century olol siouxland business brokeground on a sioux city expansion project today.

facility once used by saber industries. the expansion adds 30 thousand square feet of space .. doubling braunger's footprint. the food service company says it will use the new space to store and process frozen and refridgerated foods. "we are very excited, we couldn't be happier. it's a much needed space improvement for us. it'll really drive efficiences into our business" says tom kloucek, president of braunger foods. "we are glad that they chose to stay in sioux city, work with our economic development team, and put this package together" says dan moore, mayor pro tem. tim: braunger foods opened in 1887.... planning to start using the new the next 9 months. jenna: orange city's fire looking to expand. people in orange city will be able to vote on a 2- point-seven million dollar up march first. that would fund a portion of the expand the department. fire officials in the current station, which was dire need of some upgrades. the city of sioux city lookiki to

the city's limits, bubuit needs your help. last year sioux x city crews patched over 37 thousand potholes... with your help that number could grow. if you see a pot hole the city wants you to report it. just visit the city's website that's sioux- dash-city-dot-org . crews will look to make repairs on roads as possible. jenna: city officals are looking at the potential for a river bank camp ground in sioux city tuesday, there will be a meeting open to the public to go over sites and ideas for a potential campground project. that meeting will be held on thehe fifth floor of citit february 23rd. tim: after fighting for months to become dupont johnston iowa got some bitter sweet news today. thcommunity won't serve as headquarters after the 130 billion dollar merger between the two companies finalizes, but become a global business center giant. the iowa economic authority and the city are awarding

million dollars in state incentives. "where are things going to end up at e end of the day? but i think that we ended up in very good placeceor our community and for the state." dupont pioneer's current employment is at 26-hundred and more layoffs are expected as the merger continues. but in the end, both johnston's city council and mayor believe the global center will be a positive for iowa's ag development. tim: next week is national entrepreneur week... and in siouxland, there's a big push to support home- grown local businesses and fresh new ideas. jenna: one morningside college graduate who's made his career in sioux city... is also o starting a familil business o othe side. and hihinew take on supporting your favorite team... may y st be a hit at your next tailgate party. in a world where ipads and video games are many kids' priz posessions, jim braunschweig wanted something simplier for his family, and especially 5-year- old, brady, who loves soccer.

type board games and there really wasn't anything out there. but i did come across a video somewhere of kids playing with nail and a quarter - some similar stuff - and, i thought, 'i could make that better' and i want to make it for my son." it was a hit with brady, and then family and friends arted to get interested, too. jim says, "the idea for the business started when we found out the adults liked it just as much as the kids did." so was born the flickboard. the name, pretty much explains it all. jim says, "you alternate turns and try to get it across - oooh, i thought you were going to score! - across their goal." sound of saw buzzing before he knew it, jim, along with his dad, jerry, were making flickboards to sell. morningside college, jim's alma mater, gave the okay to use their mustang scot, and with thehelp of the unersity of iowa's venture school program for entrepreneurs, jim was able to get the license to use the

as sports fans and local game day hot spots start to pick- up on the idea, jim hopes the uniqueness of the flickboards will make them a favorite tailgating game and a lasting piece of sports memorablillia. jim says, "they're not just games, but they're actually also wall art, so when you're not playing the game, we hope that these things will find a lasting place in your home or business, hanging on the wall." not to mention the hours of family fun... no video g ges needed. with chi photographer johnathan mack, jenna rehnstrom, abc9 news. jenna: flickboards range in price from $85 to $99. jim will be selling them tomorrow at stines and vines at the convention center, and he's also one of the finalists for swimming with the sharks, an event for entrepreneurs at briar cliff next week. we have a link to the flickboards website on this

dot com. tim: tim: an inventive new exhibit in sioux city is using a familiar toy to create works of art, "the art of the brick", kicked off this morning at the sioux city art center. featuring artist. nathan sawaya's large scale sculptures constructed entirely with lego bricks. and although the sculptures are made entirely of blocks desined for child's play organizers of the exibit say it's anything but "these are very adult mature sculptures, most of the scupltures in the exhibition are figurative and they are also very emotnal which is an unusual thing to think about with something that is usually just a childs toy but nathan is able to bring alot of power both positive and negative the art of the brick exhibit will be at the sioux city art center through may 8th.

a group of folks were caught, clowning around today in sioux city details about the gaththing. when we return (fred) expect a warm saturday, then a gradual cooldown. we'll stay dry, too! your forecast details are next!

converging from ound north america here to sioux city. this week is the international shrine clown association convention and it's first ever in town the convention hosts several meetings and ceremonies and of course clowning competitions. finals for those contests wil be held tomorrow from 9 am to noon. that's being held at the abu bekr shrie center in sioux city. tim/jenna/fred (tim) frededwhat was the

today? (fred) downtown, we had 63, and the airport reached 60! fred hexom fhexom@kcautv.c om (fred) here is the beautiful port neal welding company skycam hd from the ho chunk centre in sioux city. 60 was the high today and 38 the low. the storm m ke skycam eastern siouxland. iowa ranged from 44

southeastern south dakota were i the 50s and 60s. 53 is our current temperature in sioux city. temperatures warmed steadily today, and by 4 pm, we had 60. temperatures are in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. winds are southwest at 5 to 15 miles per hour. peak winds gusts were 76 mph in mitchell, 71 mph in chamberln, 61 mph in norfolk, 60 in estherville, 56 mph in storm lake, and 51 mph ininioux city. the strongest gusts locally were at around 6 am. temperatures are still warm south and west of us, so you

the satellite and radar shows low pressure that rolled from sd to mn. it was a rapid pressure change behind this low that allowed the winds to stir up so much this morning. the stormcast hd shows very quiet weather over the next couple days. there may be a snow flurry sunday morning in the north or east, but there won't be anything measurable. the temperature forecast shows 30s tomorrow morning and then up into the 40s and 50s

tonight, the low will be 31 with clear skies. winds will be lighter. tomorrow, expect a high of 56 and mostly sunny skies. thehe-day forecast shows 40s sunday, , nday, and tuesday. 30s will be seen wednesday, thursday, and friday. . no measurable ra or snow is expted. jenna/tifred (jenna) thanks, fred. (fred) sure. still to come... new details about the zika virus and a case that's hitting closer to home here in iowa what you need to know when we

jenna: the iowa department of publicicealth announced a woman between -80 years old has contracted zika, after returning from central america. health officials are urging folks to be calm saying the general public is not at risk of contracting the virus, because the mosquitos that transmit zika are not established in iowa. "while this virus is

and we don't actually anticipate it ever being found in iowa naturally because we don't have the right mosquitos, but even though it's not found here there is concern for any iowans who might be traveling to the carribean, central america, south america. that they could pick up this virus, come home, and then get sick here." tim: a new study is showing those residing in the rushmore state are getting their winks in at night time.. south dakotans are amongst those who are getting at least 8 hours of sleep each night the same can't be said for most of the country though more than a third of americans are not getting enough sleep. the c-d-c study analyzed data from more than 400-thousand people in all 50 states lack of sleep is associated with health issues like greater risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and mental illness. sleep.... jenna: if you're in between jobs, how does a career in space sound? nasa has recently started accepting applications for people looking to

program and people seem to be very interested a record 18 thousand three hundred applications were submitted after the call. that's three times their usual haulfor apps. coming up in sports...the musketeers have lately, but their back on the ice hear from captain ahead. tournament rolls on in des moines. busy friday at the

wrestling field started with 672 grapplers.

finalists across the three classes. abc9 sports reporter alex walker is in des moines and anchors our coverage from moving day. alex walker--"hi guys...siouxland has talented wrestlers across all three classes...but 1a takes the cake. 15 local grapplers punched ththr tickets to t t quarterfinals on thursday and aftft a dramfilled round th morning, eight kept their dream alive of an iowa state title." and we start with those 1a semis..:fifth-ranked kody berg of westwood up against the number one kid in the state at 120 and he loses by tech fall 19-3. at 145...sibley- ocheeyedan'a dylan shuck falls short of a title bid as well. the general gets pinned late in the third round. but it would get better for siouxland...top ranked daniel bishop keeps rolling along...the near fall hereins a 15-4 decision to advance to the finals. niel bishop--"it feels great. something i haven't done yet. and it's part of my goal, but it's not the end goal. final goal is winning that state championship. i ly

all-siouxland matchup at 220...rylan richardson of south central calhoun number one for a reason...he gets the best of sibley o's matt naig and he is on to the finals." rylan richardson--"it means everything in the world to me. i watched my brother wrestle here 7 or 8 years ago. i alwlws wanted to wrwrtle friday night or saturday night and it's meant the woror to me. i finally got it and it's a dream come true." alex walker--" the 2a quarterfinals underway earlier today..third ranked shea ruffridge of pocahontas moves on the semifinals by way of the 6-4 decisi. at 126.::sbl'w brayden curry ranked 2nd the only warrior to advance on day 2. he gets the reversal here and wins the 6-2 winn. brayden curry--"feels good. not my best performance but it's a good wake up call for today." alex walker--"132..fifth ranked austin rozeboom out of bhrv once again shows why he is a threat. he would go on to notch the pin and he is of to the semis. 138...the frosh steps up on the big stage. tenth ranked kyler rieck of spirit lake park wins his 2nd tournament match. he gets to live another rod. and at 285 ninth ranked elijah vant' hof out of sioux center polishes off the second period pin and he advances to the 2a semifinals. elijah van't hof--"it was a fun match.

overtime to this, finish it off before the 3rd period, that's a good match." alex walker--" three siouxland grapplers made the quarters in 3a; but just one advanced to the semis. 2nd ranked deion clayborne took care of business with a 9-7 decision. the senior is just one win away from the 170 title match. deion clayborne--"it means a lot. i've worked really hard this year. and i've got one more i've got to win but it will feel really good if i can get in the finals." alex walker--"another exciting day for wrestlers from northwest iowa. in des moines, alex walker, c9 sports. chriri we'll have highlights from 2aand 3a semifinals coming up tonight at 10. chris: it's been a rough couple of weeks for the musketeers, who find themselves on a six game losing streak and at the bottom of the ushl's western conference. but after missing the last 10 games, team captain ryan zuhlsdorf will be back with the team this weekend. a minnesota commit and tampa bay draft pick, zuhlsdorf hasn't seen game action since january 8th when he suffered a concussionagainst madison.

watch his team struggle, and is excited to get back out on the ice tonight. ryan zuhlsdorf--"to watch them lose a couple games that thty could have wo was really, really hard on me. so i'm happy to come back and make an impact." the muskies host fargo tonight and welcome lincoln to town tomorrow. " "

care check presentation if you're like to submit a facebook fan photo, just post it on our abc-9 facebookpage. jenna/tim/chris/fred: (fred) tonight, the low will be 31 with clear skies. winds will be lighter. tomorrow, expect a high of 56 and mostly sunny skies. the 7-day

sunday, monday, and tuesday. 30s will be seen wednesday, thursday, and friday. no measurable rain or snow is expected.

(music) >> john: new improvements at an american institution brings new hope and expectations to a new season. this is countdown to daytona. (vroom) >> john:n:elcome to countdown to daytona. i'm john n cko getting

500. and a new nascar season with so many story lines. (race cars zooming in the background) >> john: for one, you got a 20 year old driver, chase elliott, who's taken one of the most famous cars ever, jeff gordon's number 24 and has put it up front for the great american race. tony stewart won't be here, more on that shortly. but first, what about all the improvements they've made to this wonderful sports venue. ya know, daytona international speedway has undergone a massive rebuilding phase. they called it daytona rising. it's a $400 million dollar project that was completed about a month and a half ago. and this is now being built as a sports stadium, a racing stadium. and a little bit later on in the program we're going to show you behind the scenes of all the improvements here, which will make it a lot better for all the fans who come here. now let's get back to tony stewart. ya know, the big news this season one of the stories this would be tony stewart's last as driver. of course, he'll be very active in the sport as