"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 it's the home stretch to super tuesday and the gop presidential contenders had a texas showdown during a primetime debate in houston. this as the democrats prepare for tomorrow's south carolina primary. abc's kenneth moton has the latest from washington. gop frontrunner donald trump flanked by his rivals ted cruz and marco rubio... donald trump: "first of all this guy is a choke artist and this guy's a liar." rubio, the republican establishment favorite unloaded the opposition playbook on trump.

and china" rubio: "i don't understand, because your ties and the clothes you make is made in mexico and in china. you'll be starting a trade war against your own ties and your own suits." trump: "you don't know a thing about business." on immigration, trump was accused of hiring undocumented workers. rubio: "you're onl person on this stage that's ever been fined for hiring people to work on your projects illegally." trump: "no, no, i'm the only one at this stage that's hired people. you haven't hired anybody." on trump's tax returns trump: "i want to release my tax returns but i can't release it while i'm under an audit." ted cruz: "he doesn't want to do it because presumable there's something in there that is bad." john kasich touted his record. ben carson delivered a head scratching comment on how he would fill the supreme court vacancy. ben carson: "the fruit salad of their life is what i will look at." "while the republicans debated..." nat (charlie wilson concert) hillary clinton danced at a charlie wilson concert ahead of tomorrow's south carolina primary and talked race at a north charleston church. but bernie sanders was on a midwest tour...his biggest crowd of the day was in president obama's hometown of chicago. (kenneth standup close) for the republicans, our political analysts say an energized rubio won the debate, trump lost. but that may not be enough to impact the billionaire's momentum as we head into super tuesday. kenneth moton, abc news washington. lukas: the sioux city catholic diocese is planning major changes for siouxland ...

churches will no longer host sunday mass. it's in response to a decline in people heading to church is planning major changes for siouxland ... dozens of churches will no longer host it's in response to heading to church and fewer priests trying to take churches. abc9 news anchor has more about impact. father lingle says, "simply put, we have too many sunday masses in too many places that are too sparcly attended." father brent lingle tells me leading up to thursday's announcement, he's been praying for peace for the diocese he serves. but, he knows changes are neccessary to navigate the decreasing number of priests and also declining numbers of people they're serving. father lingle, "i look at my brother priests who are facing retirement age and i know they work hard and i know we're spending more time in our cars than we are doing ministry, so i'm actually excited about the process because as we look forward, i think it's going to revitalize our ministries as priests." the hope for a

led the sioux city catholic diocese to formulate a proposal they're calling "ministry 2025." in the next nine years, the diocese expects to have 31 available priests... down from the close to 60 today. in an effort to serve the people and not burn out clergy, the diocese is proposing the consolidation of sioux city's 108 parishes to 67. in sioux city, no churches will close. here's a look at the four propsed sioux city parishes: sacred heart, holy cross, which would include blessed sacrament and st. michael, the cathedral, including st. boniface and st. joseph, and mater dei, which would include immaculate conception and nativity. using mater dei as an example, both would still offer mass, with the same priest and associate clergy serving both churches. but, in the rural areas of the diocese, things would look a little different, with 40 parishes being transitioned to oratory status. those buildings would not longer host mass, but still be available for wedding and funerals. father lingle hopes that will give priests more time with the congregations they serve... and also keep churches full. father lingle says, "if you look at the millenial generation, they're not interested in walking into a church with empty pews. if they walk into a parish and you see life, you see vibrant literagies, you see parish programs, they're more likely to connect themselves with that parish and be part of it." still he knows this will be hard, especially for some communities built around the church. father brent lingle,

says, "i know it's not going to be easy for everyone to accept everything in that proposal, but i think if we look at it as people of faith and understand that our main priority is our relationship with christ and the church, it puts it in perspective." lukas changes under the proposed plan would take

summer of 2017. you can see the maps of the rural churches that would be moved to oratory status... on our website. that's siouxland matters dot com. lukas: the sioux city police department says they've recoverd a "skimming" device from a local gas pump. the cubby's gas station on york street is where the "skimmer" was located by a technicion. it has been removed but police are warning anyone who's used the "pay at the pump" at any gas station to montior credit card or bank statements for fraudulent activity. lukas a cornlea farmer was selected last night as the newest member of the lower elkhorn natural resources district board of directors. " " a cornlea farmer was selected last night as the newest member of the lower elkhorn natural resources district board of directors. bob noonan will replace cory beller, who has moved from the district. noonan teaches agronomy and diversified agriculture at northeast community college and was chosen from among four applicants to serve a nine-month term on the board. when members of norfolk high

at halftime of the first home football game this fall, they'll be sporting a thursday's meeting public schools board of education, board members to purchase 180 fruhauf uniforms of wichita, kansas for just under $87,000. the new uniforms will replace the current 14-year-old uniforms. potential lutheran high northeast students and their parents are invited to an open house learn more about lutheran high night is tuesday from 7 to 8 at the campus on norfolk. stories can be heard kix. lukas a special plane got some major restauration ... before debuting as a static display in washington d.c. the iowa air national guard paint facility in sioux city recently completed the craft's new paint job. the plane is an f- 100 super saber jet refurbished to look like one of the f-100's that flew misty missions in the vietnam war. while

saw combat... training vessel for pilots at the u-s myrtle beach military base. the numbers on the plane are the the plane designating it as a sioux city aircraft... but the numbers extraordinary feature of this plane... "it was designed as a like this to go supersonic and it was just the new technology at the time that allowed it," says scott plambeck, vice wing commander at the 185 air refueling wing. the f-100 jets we the first planes with the ability to go supersonic, while the inside of the plane is hollowed on the outside is painted to be historically accurate of the vietnam. the next steps to be sent to andrews air force base to be reassembled journey to washington d-c. lukas: seven finalists for a chance to dollar grant. the contest called "swimming with the sharks" was part the week "entrepalooza". businesses were selected for the opportunity to about their

they would like the money. finalists were given 5 minutes to present and then 5 minutes to answer questions the judges might have. " the question and answers they had alot of good questions. and it's hard cause are business is a little esoteric, alot of people don't know the inner workings of the construction industry and these guys every single judge seemed to get it and be able to ask poignant questions." says finalist geoffrey arnold. lien wavers an app based startup was announced as the winner o& the 25 hundred dlar grand prize and flickboards ... a game we featured last week got second place. lukas still to come... we'll see what howard has cooking for us in the mr.food test kitchen. elisa: fantastic friday.. near record warmth tomorrow.. and windy with some snow chances in the 7day. details next.

lukas elisa:

flood warning in effect for little spencer, near linn 18.3 feet, flood forecasted to fall already occurring. ground, don't cross

gorgeous blue skies on the storm lake and port neal welding company sky cams hd. temperatures are in the mid 30s and 40s. today, we'll near 50... but tomorrow in the low 60s! near record. winds are calm, out of the south. mild, beautiful sunshine today! clearing on satellite. stormcast hd is quiet for today, just sunny skies. mostly clear tonight. tomorrow a southwest wind kicks in... warm in the afternoon... low 60s, near record. cold front approaches overnight, we should be dry most if not all night. light rain and breezy winds come in for the morning. breezy winds stick around all day. today.. fantastic friday. 49 degrees sunny and mild. tonight, mostly clear skies and 29. cool, but nice. tomorrow, a taste of spring! beautiful, sunny, and warm... 65 degrees!!! record stands at 66 from 1895. 7-day, front comes through sunday with light rain and breezy winds. even stronger front tuesday with a near 30 degree temp drop and very gusty winds. lukas elisa: looking forward to

lukas after the break... howard has some oscar worthy mac and cheese for us! lukas:

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and howard has an award winning recipe for your viewing party. "with the oscars coming up this weekend that means hollywood is abuzz as it gets ready for one of the biggest nights of the year. and while those who will be walking down the red carpet are still deciding which degner to wear, teams of chefs and party planners are kicking into high gear getting ready for all those fancy black-tie parties. one dish that always earns all sorts of praise at those dinners is dressed- up mac and cheese, like this one. once we've melted some butter in a pot, we add some flour and a few spices and let that simmer for a bit. milk and letting that thicken up, we add lots of shredded cheddar and havarti cheese. now our cooked pasta goes in and when it's mixed, we dish it into individual ramekins, or we can use a large baking dish. the crowning jewel is that we sprinkle these with a buttery cracker topping, which makes them

top gets crispy, let me assure you these are oscar worthy. believe me, this is not your run of the mill mac and cheese. i hope you'll go online and get the recipe for our, "award winning mac 'n' cheese," so you can host your very own oscar dinner party without having to get all dolled up. i'm howard, with kelly, in the mr. food test kitchen. kelly: maybe we'll win an oscar this year. howard: i think we'd have to be a movie before we can win. but with this we're all guaranteed to win lots of . "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 douglas street. the zip...51101. be sure to write "award winning mac 'n' cheese" on your request.

website...siouxlan d matters dot com. and click on the mr. food logo.... lukas in two day the stars will be lining up on the red carpet for with us is david blaustein to preview. thank's for joining us david. hey lukas lukas question for you do you feel like the controversy that is surrounding the oscars is at all taking away from the actors who were nominated, response.................. ................................ ...... ......... lukas ridley scott being

the martian as best director ... sorkin for his screenplay in steve jobs ... what would you say seems to be the biggest snub? david response..................

lukas coming up after the break... we'll take a look at some furry friends looking for their forever

friday pets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !! !!!!!!!

with a final check of our forecast.

>> announcer: have no fear, friday is here, and we are celebrating by serving up delicious "chew"-approved weekend eats. we're wrapping up "chewer

test. then, she's everywhere you look, and she's in our kitchen -- star of "fuller house" jodie sweeten stops by to cook up a dish you'll shout "cut it out." plus, michael visits a hot new restaurant that's serving up favorites with a surprising twist. >> that's crispy shiitakakbacon. bacon that's madadout of mushrooms. >> wow, that's really good. >> announcer: the weekend fun starts right now on "the chew." [ cheers and applause ] >> hello. welcome to "the chew." you guys, we have made it. you mustered the strength to get through monday, you even got over the wednesday hump, and now it's friday. [ cheers and applause ] today, we are giving you an hour