his stepson says he's happy fraaken didn't die so he can think of what he did for the rest of his life. eric: kcci's mark tauscheck has more. mark: after three months in the hospital, barney fraaken finally appeared before a judge, visibly trembling, the left side of his face showing damage from the bullet investigators say he put in his own head after reportedly shooting and killing his daughter amber and wife amy. >> he looks messed up, but, he did it to yourself. you brought this whole thing on yourself when you could've just walked away. but he did stupid thing and take two people. mark: greg russell-lane lost his mom and stepsister in an instant last november when they were gunned down in their des moines home. the 22-year-old keeps their ashes in his pleasant hill apartment. >> they stayed together, they're together right now. mark: his mother worked at this daycare near the state capitol. russell-lane says she worked hard to keep her marriage

her husband's unfaithfulness. >> i call her phone, i text it at least a couple times a day, hoping she'll text me back but knowing she won't. but still to the point that i text her every once in a while to say hey, mom, i miss you and , i love you. mark: he says he originally wished his stepfather had died from his bullet wounds but he's changed his mind. >> i'd rather be completely satisfied to know he's in prison, he's never going to see the light of day, he's never going to do the things he wants , and he has to sit in a room with bars on it for the rest of his life. yeah, i'm glad it didn't kill him. elizabeth: greg russell-lane says his mother told his stepfather she wanted a divorce the day she and her daughter were killed. fraaken's next court appearance is scheduled for march 4. developing story in central kansas. police say at least four people are dead and as many as 14 are

plant, in hesston. the suspected gunman, reportedly an excel employee, was later shot and killed by police. investigators say there are at least four crime scenes, including the plant, the facility parking lot, and two roadway intersections. elizabeth: students at dallas center-grimes are speaking out about monday's controversial basketball chant. a group invoked presidential candidate donald trump's name, taunting racially-diverse perry high school. eric: as kcci's ryan smith reports, dcg student leaders extended an olive branch, apologizing to perry. ryan: concerned perry students contacted us at kcci hoping that , degrading trump chant would not be repeated at tonight's district championship game. >> just to see how much we hurt perry, just hurt me inside. ryan: the now infamous trump chant started in the second half. dcg's student body co-president

>> there's that feeling inside that this is wrong, but at the same time, you don't think of the big context, the feelings of the other side. >> it hurts. it hurts at first instinct. it's troublesome. ryan: sonya harwood wasn't proud of dcg's public image after our tuesday report. >> i knew as soon as we saw it, we had to fix this. this was a wrong. ryan: so she and other student leaders organized a meeting with athletic leaders from perry high school. the two groups met this morning. their mistake. they didn't want to make excuses. our kids did not want to go to perry today and defend themselves. they wanted to say, we were wrong and we're going to own this and get better because of it. ryan: shouting "trump," at a school largely composed of latino students, taunting them by using the candidate's controversial anti-immigration stance. >> it started a really good conversation about race and ethnicity. ryan: harwood says her composition teacher threw out the day's lesson plan, opting instead to discuss the incident.

community and support one another and love each other no matter what our skin color is, that's the important part and i think that's what really needs to be learned here. ryan: as you can see at the district championship game this , week's trump chant incident not dampening the school spirit for these perry blue jays at tonight's district . we also want to mention a few dallas center-grimes staff and students in attendance to show support for perry. reporting from johnston, ryan smith, kcci 8 news, iowa's news leader. metinka:elizabeth: we want to check in with metinka, and we are on the way up. metinka: we are headed for a great stretch of weather. right now temperatures are a little frosty, and the upper 20's and low 30's. 29 degrees in ames, but this

along with light reasons, and highs will be close to 50 degrees or the southern half of the state. 62 degrees tomorrow, a real piece of spring. sunday will be a day of change with a chance of rain drops by the afternoon. eric: critics of des moines water works lawsuit over nitrate levels have been pointing to a practice water works has been using. elizabeth: water works is suing three counties, for not doing enough to keep agricultural nitrate runoff out of the raccoon river, des moines' main water supply. eric: water works says it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to remove the nitrates. but critics say water works then just dumped what they removed back into the river. that practice will and soon. elizabeth: des moines water works leaders want to build a pipeline that would connect their facility to the wastewater reclamation authority. it's a one and quarter million dollar construction project, they feel is worth the price. eric: kcci's rose heaphy shows us what water works plans to do. rose: it's an environmental issue des moines water works wants to keep current.

beyond the law here, and do something we think is right for surface water quality in iowa. rose: the present system dumps nitrate and chloride or salt into the raccoon river. high chemical levels could cause drinking water and wildlife issues downstream. >> instead of putting it into the raccoon river like we are able to do under the law, we're going to connect it with a pipeline. rose: that would run from the water works plant under the raccoon river to a sewer that goes to the wastewater treatment plant. about 300,000 gallons of water a day would go through the pipeline. >> by volume it's not that much. by concentration, it is a pretty significant load of chlorides and nitrates. get diluted by the 65 million gallons of water going through the plant each day. that brings the salt levels down, and the nitrates? 40% gets extracted into this energy-rich sludge, used to make bio-gas and fertilizer. >> as much possible of that we put into bio solids and send it out to farm fields where it

rose: in the end, 60% of the nitrates go back in the water and rejoin with the des moines river. operating costs could reach about a quarter of a million each year but leaders say , they're more focused on the end cost. >> thinking downstream is very important. we wish producers upstream from us on the raccoon river would think more about the environmental impacts of what they're doing downstream. elizabeth: water works leaders hope the pipeline will be up and running by the end of the year. a dnr spokeswoman tells officials are whole-heartedly in support of the project. coming up, iowa senator charles grassley has already said he will not consider anyone president obama nominates to the supreme court. but what does iowa's other senator think? we hear from joni ernst. >> i came up around the corner. i did think he was a potbellied big. eric: and obesity isn't just a problem for humans.

he needs. >> this is iowa's news leader. this is kcci eight news this morning with eric hanson, elizabeth claim, meteorologist metinka slater, and right now coverage with shaina humphries.

down overnight, so the wind chill is not a factor. you're going to want to dress in layers today. headed for ratings close to 50 degrees this afternoon, and it gets even better over the weekend. 60's on the way saturday, and the 50's will linger into monday before we get active weather and a chance of snowflakes next week. elizabeth: a fiery republican debate in texas last night. it's the last chance for the presidential hopefuls to face off before voters in 12 states head to the polls. omar villafranca has more on the showdown in houston. mr. trump: i know you are embarrassed, but keep swinging. omar: the two republican presidential candidates vying for second place turned their sights on frontrunner donald trump, who fired right back. mr. rubio: you're the only person on this stage who has ever been fined for hiring people to work on your projects illegally. mr. trump: no, no, i'm the only one on the stage who's hired people.

omar: trump criticized ted cruz for having no support in the senate. mr. trump: you do not have the endorsement of one republican senator and you work with these people. you should be ashamed of yourself. mr. cruz: if you want to be liked in washington, donald, that's not a good attribute for president. omar: this was the last gop debate before super tuesday, and depending on the outcome of those contests, probably the last time all five candidates shared the stage. the lower-polling candidates took less contentious positions. ben carson on immigration. dr. carson: real compassion is providing people with a ladder of opportunity. omar: and john kasich on religious liberty versus same-sex marriage. mr. kasich: if you're in the business of commerce, conduct commerce, that is my view. and if you don't agree with their lifestyle, say a prayer for them when they leave. omar: all five candidates vowed to repeal obamacare, but none provided specifics for an alternative. omar villafranca, cbs news, houston. eric: on the democratic side, hillary clinton and bernie sanders are preparing for saturday's south carolina

they are nearly deadlocked with delegates awarded so far in primaries and caucuses. elizabeth: iowa senator joni ernst is speaking out today about the battle brewing over hearings for a possible supreme court nominee. eric: as kcci's chief political reporter cynthia fodor shows us, ernst is aligning herself with cynthia: with one iowa senator right in the center of the controversy -- mr. grassley: this is an opportunity for the people to have a voice. cynthia: our other iowa senator stands right by his side, in accordance with most senate republicans refusing to take action on a supreme court nominee until after the presidential election. ms. ernst: i agree with senator chuck grassley on this and the american people will have a voice this fall when they go to the ballot. cynthia: democrats argue the people had a voice when they voted for president obama. ernst was asked why that doesn't stand. ms. ernst: we have a majority in

loud and clear in 2014, they're not happy with what's going on. election. calls everyday from iowans who support holding off, but the iowa democratic party chair says senators aren't doing their job. >> their responsibility is to vet this candidate, not to say, them. i think that's unfortunate. it's obstructionism, and not what people want. cynthia: ernst went to washington with the theme of getting congress back to work , and she insists she's doing the job. ms. ernst: as it is laid out in stated before the senate has no , obligation to vote on the president's nominee, and those are chuck schumer's words, a we will see in november what happens, and i am confident we will hear loud and clear from american voters. cynthia: cynthia fodor, kcci eight news. brian sandoval said thursday

considered for a nomination to the supreme court. his name was being floated as a possible nominee. it is now 4:45 as we head outside, just under the freezing mark at 31 degrees. a live picture of i-235 at 2nd avenue, i saw some d.o.t. trucks out treating the roads if you hours ago.

>> weather is never more than five minutes away, only on kcci 8 news this morning. metinka: good morning. finally we have nice weather on the way along with some sunshine. today is going to be beautiful. this afternoon, sunshine, high temperatures getting close to 50 degrees. this is about 10 to 15 degrees warmer than yesterday. tomorrow will be the warmest day of the weekend with a strong wind coming in from the southwest. on sunday, the wind starts to switch direction and that will be the day that starts to change in the forecast. the clouds are moving out. they are headed off to the east. there are still a few more clouds across central nebraska that will be moving through the state, but overall the trend is

on saturday. on saturday, we will have a strong southwest wind but it will be really warm, with highs near 60. sunday morning, here comes the cold front moving through the state and with it could be a few sprinkles, especially for the northern part of the state, but not a lot of moisture to work with. monday is still looking like a nice day but as we head to tuesday, that is when the weather becomes more dicey and heads downhill. dress in layers today. highs close to 50. degrees across the state. sunday, highs in the mid 50's. the wind is now, and we have the clouds, but they are heading out of here, giving way to a comfortable 49 degrees.

chance to get outside and soak up the sun. sunday will be a windy day and maybe a sprinkle. tuesday, that is when we have a chance for snow in the forecast. weekend. we will make the most of it -- of it. eric: a chihuahua-mix really needs some help in the love-handle department. elizabeth: kcci's vanessa peng show us how the cute fur ball is vanessa: babe, formerly known as tubby, has a lot on his mind -- kibble and treats and kibble and treats. >> i came up around the corner. i did think he was a potbellied big. vanessa: i'm sure he prefers pleasantly plump. >> good job, come on. vanessa: but this fur ball has goals. with the help of the animal rescue league of iowa, babe is exercising and he is on a diet. >> we want to make sure he loses weight, but loses it in, you know, a very slow fashion, you know, to make sure it's not going to shock his system. vanessa: oh, and they make him

he could barely do that. vanessa: the little guy may be on diet but he still gets treats. he gets 10 of these a day. they're only three calories, here you go, babe, good boy. babe's owners had seven dogs they were looking to downsize, so a little over a month ago they dropped him off with his brother and dad. >> and there was babe right next to them and he was just a big vanessa: they're all chihuahua mixes. see the difference? >> it's very possible he made sure he was the first one to the food bowl. vanessa: back then babe weighed in at an unhealthy 45 pounds. let's see what the scale says today. not bad, little guy, not bad. you're almost there. >> before his tail was just kind of stuck there but even now when he starts to get happy, you notice his tail even starts to wag. better and he's certainly going to live a lot longer. news, iowa's news leader.

the arl wants him down to a healthy weight first. but, his brother and dad, jug and chip, are available right now. kim: so it's the weekend, you're ready to go out. we'll take you out inside three des moines hot spots.

the places to hang out.

beautiful afternoon, and warmer highs today close to 50 degrees. the wind will be very light. the weekend is looking very good, with highs in the 50's and 60's. elizabeth: countless national surveys put des moines at the top of lists of best cities for young professionals. part of bringing that age group to our city is having a thriving nightlife. so, where are the young professionals going out to see and be seen? eric: kcci's kim st. onge went out on the town to find des moines' it places. kim: des moines is known for attracting young professionals from across the country. but when they get here, where do they go? the 20 and 30 something's are looking for a hip place with the right five that will not break the bank. friday night at 7:00 >> thank you for coming. thank you. cheers to you.

kim: that's sakari. >> it's a great way to start the the food is light. the drinks are stiff. having sake bombs with the owner is a great time too. kim: the ingersoll sushi lounge opened six years ago. in square footage to keep up >> dynamite crab roll, california and this is the philly. emmy: they come from the sushi and stay for the atmosphere. -- kim: they come for the sushi and stay for the atmosphere. >> i just graduated college so i need a place to go that's kind of affordable but has really good food so this is definitely the go-to place for that. >> clients come in, they have a few martinis, and then they decide where they're going to go afterwards. kim: a few blocks east, a new cocktail lounge. >> ok. good choice. kim: jupiter moon labels itself as a place where adults can play. >> it's a good mix of people, young and old and i just feel comfortable here. kim: juniper moon's modern-day mantra >> it's what des moines needed.

>> it's not a place you're going to find a shot of fireball or a jager bomb. you know, we're just not that place. kim: what you will find is fancy decor, comfortable seating, and an authentic phone booth with a direct line to gusto pizza. >> especially now that des moines has uber, it would be great to come here and then end up downtown at some point. kim: on the top level of downtown court center, amateur -- >> they have a really interesting unique deal with all the drinks going down in price and going up in price, so you just kind of play the market. kim: when the so-called stock market drops, prices go with it. drink prices are unpredictable but they crowds are guaranteed. >> the state of iowa has never seen something like this before. eric: young professionals will have yet another option for places to check out next week, the iowa tap room in the east village opens on wednesday. it'll have 120 iowa beers on

elizabeth: we have two hours of today's top stories coming up. overnight developments in a deadly factory shooting in kansas. the highlights from last night's gop debate. looking forward to my school reunion's coming fast. could be bad. could be a blast. can't find a single thing to wear.

won't be the same without you bro. when it's go, go to choicehotels.com. the site with the right room, rewards and savings up to 20% when you book direct. book now at choicehotels.com >> you're watching kcci 8 news. elizabeth: right now at 5:00, workplace rampage. three people are dead after a man opened fire on his coworkers. the survivors describe the terrifying scene. nikole: the latest republican debate turns into an all out war. eric: phone scams, polk county authorities say they have seen a rise in fake calls.

elizabeth: it is now 5:00 on friday, february 26, and we have a lot to, in the forecast. metinka: 31 in des moines, you will notice some wet patches on the road. the dot did pretreat because the roads can be a little frosty in some of those locations. it is going to be a great day. highs will be flirting with 50 degrees today, even warmer tomorrow in the low 60's. by tuesday, snow is back in the forecast. developing overnight, police are shooting in kansas. this. and shaina, police still don't know the motive for the shooting, right? shaina: no, they do not. shooter, 38-year-old cedric officer. ford's coworkers say they never saw any red flags.