has your first alert forecast, kaj... plan on a quiet thursday with a clear start s well. while we'll l art off cold again, highgh should make the upper teens to lower 20s. tonight, another batch of light snow should move into the area. this one should be farther east than yesterday's snow and should affect more of eastern iowa as a result. while amounts will remain light and generally under 1", it'll make for a slick morning commute on friday. the wind will pick up behind this system during the day on friday and may cause some patchy blowing snow yet again. saturday is still on track to be cold and quiet with another snow chance coming our way for sunday.tay: mostly sun high: 18-24 winds: light n alo: 18 dbq: 19 iow: 22tonight: snow likely y ate loww14-20 nds: sw 5-10 aao: 14 dbq: 14 iow: 18tomorrow: early am snow, clearing high: 18-24 winds: nw 15-30 alo: 19 dbq: 20 iow: 23torrow night: st e low: -3-3winds: nw 5-15 al dbq: -3w: 0anks kaj. dar rapids police are cedar rapids police are

near hoover elementary this morning. that's at the corner at wiley and johnson. authorities say an earlier pursuit ended in this area. police say they don't believe there is any danger to the public. state senatoto are expected to debate a bill about the state's medicaid program today. the bill would end contracts with three private companies that are slated to take over ownership on march 1st. majority in the senate, so the bill will most likely pass there. republican- controlled house. speaker linda upmey said she likely won't let the bill on the house floor, because governor branstad will veto. senator liz mathis is a sponsor of the legislation. she is hoping upmeyer will reconsider if republicans have a good show of support today and in the house. "hopefully she'll see that there maybe a lot of republicans and democrats who will support this bill when it gets over there and it won't be dead on arrival. "

well-known senate republican, is supporting the bill. governor branstad is pushing privatization to help cut costs for medicaid. recent federal legislation is giving more people access to health care, so there is now a greater demand. nurses are a crucial part of providing those services, and unity point health - st. luke's hospital in cedar rapids says they don't have enough. kcrg-tv 9's brea love joins us this morning. brea, hospital officials say it's in need of more nurses? they do. currently, st. luke's needs to fill 57 positions. but with that demand increasing everyday, keeping up with the job pace is hard. that's why st. luke's is encouraging nurses to help fill those positions, keeping the hospital out of a aritical situation. the digestive health department inside of st. luke's hospital isn't busy right now. but, it's usually packed with patients. 53:44 "colonoscopys, upupr scopes, we see a lot of patients in and out." recently hired nurse paula bulicek just started

nurses helping fill spots within the hospital. 54:07 "it's a good place to work, i like the business of it, you kind of get to know your patients a little bit." and it's all about the patients. st. luke's officials say patients are aging, as well as the nursing force, and as they both grow older, nurses will retire, and patients will need more healthcare services. 46:16- "that puts a demand for more nursrsg additionally there's been some changes in legislation that really increased access to health care, so you have more of a demand for those services as a result." those changes have diversied health care, houlihan says healthcare is now much more e an coming to a hospital for care. 47:11 "that's just one piece of the experience. how health care is changing, is it's outreach, to homos, to clinics, things that were previously done in a hospital are being done in an ambulatory basis. " and that means there are positions open at hospitals. houlihan says it's important to have a team that's ready to take care of patients when they need it. that's why they are looking toward existing interns and partnering with local colleges

which they hope will give other nurses the chance to talk about how much they love what they do. 54:31 "i like the change everyday, nothing's the same everyday." houlihan says they have had ups and downs in the past, and will continue working to adapt. she says they're looking for motivated, caring, individuals. chris, nicole? thanks a lot brea. cedar rapids area law enforcement and prosecutors say they are committed to fighting the heroin epidemic. more than 150 people packed the cedar rapids public library last night for a town hall meeting on the topic. speakers focused on how they're working to stop it

prevention, treatment dnd law enforcement. cedar rapids police, the u-s attorneys office and the area substance abuse council were all in on the discussion. police say last year the city had about 250 cases involving heroin -- and that much of the heroin is coming from illinois. "13:08:15 you see an increase primarily in eastern iowa on the heroin, beginning to get more reports of it showing up in the central part of the state, more of the des moines/ames corridor. to the lesser extent to western iowa. it seems to be migrating geogrhically fromo east to west. " town hall organizers also hoped to let more people know about what can lead to heroin use. police say prescription pain killer abuse is the gateway to heroin addiction. the university of iowa hospitals and clinics is changing its top leadership. it's a part of an effort to bring clinical and educational efforts closer together. the u-i vice president for medical affairs and the dean of the carver college of medicine will

current v-p for medical affairs jean robillard will fill the new position. and the college of medicine's current dean, debra schwinn wqll become medical afafairs. thth new role will focus on special projects. staff members at finley hospital in dubuque are learning from a new birthing simulator. the noelle birthing simulator shows the birthing process, complete w wh fetal heart t sounds, and a removable abdominal cover. complications that might come up during a deliveru. the families of long-time finley nurses, beth hoefer and mary riegler, donated the birthing simulator. "we can simulate decreased heart rate which happens all the time. and the nurses have to go through the right steps to correct it. " "education was very important to her. she was very involved in starting up the neonatal icu. that was her baby, literally. " hoefer and riegler worked for decades in the birthing unit aafinley spital. in a tv-9 follow-up this morning.. it's back to class this morning

students who lobbied lawmakers for more education funding. cedar rapids schools superintendent brad buck says the district needs at least a 3 point 72 percent increase to maintain current staffing and programs. the group of about 75 high school students talked to lawmakers in des moines yesterday. one metro sophomore has a good feeling about their work. "i feel like we got a lot of answers told to us. hopefully that will have some effect on the outcome. " the district says it hasn't made any decisions on cuts, if the school funding increase isn't large enough. the ash trees will be coming down... eventually. over the next 5 years, crews will be taking down hundreds of ash trees on the university of iowa campus. they have to remove the trees because the emerald ash borer was found on campusus- along with other parts of johnson county. the invasive beetle is known to spread quickly and kill ash trees. university arborists say they plan to replace all 560 ash trees by about 20-20.

years old and are on and around the pentacrest. "five years, if we take down 100 a year, we're going to have them down by then, it's going to be staggered out, along the street we maa take everyyhird one, every other one, not every one." the university says it hopes to find renewable uses for the wood that is chopped down. one idea is to burn it for energy purposes at the u-i power plant. not every type of supebowl is er. today, the domestic violenen intervention program in iowa city is holding its annual soup- er bowl fundraiser. for 15 to 25 dollars, you can enjoy endless amounts of soup in a new, unique bowl. this event will feature soup from 40 area restaurants. the money will help victims facing the impact of violent crime and homessness due to abuse. the event is tonight from 5:30 to 7:30 at the sheraton in downtown iowa city. you can buy tickets at the door. the large republican

field is shrinking. as 2 g-o-pers drop out, the democratic candidates are preparing for a debate tonight. those in johnson county can get community i-ds. and two groups are working together to get more people signed up. but right now, here's a look at today's opening farm markets. good morning!

as well. while we'll start off cold again, highs should make the upper teens to lower 20s. tonight, another batch of light snow should move into the area. this one should be farther east than yesterday's snow and should affefe more of eastern iowa as a result. while amounts will remain light and generally under 1", it'll make for a slick morning commute on friday. the wind will pick up behind this system during the day on friday and may cause some patchy blowingnow yet again. saturday is still on track to be cold and quiet with another snow chance coming our way for sunday.today: mostly sunny high:

winds: light n alo: 18 dbq: 19 iow: 22tonight: snow likely late low: 14-20 winds: sw 5-10 alo: 14 dbq: 14 iow: 18tomorrow: early am snow, clearing high: 18-24 winds: nw 15-30 alo: 19 dbq: 20 iow: 23tomorrow night: mostly clear low: -3-3 winds: nw 5-15 alo: -3 dbq: -3 iow: 0

the university of iowa's

and johnson county are teaming up to help others get county i-d's. last july, county supervisors unanimously approved a program that let people with or without u-s citizenship get an i-d. in 7 months, 765 people signed up. the auditor's office wants to issue at least a thousand i-ds. an elections technician says this helps people who otherwise might not be able to get a government i-d, like a driver's license. " it's interesting to see the people who actually live in johnson county then and see where they actually y ame from before you know residing here and growing roots. " there's another i-d sign-up today from 11 till one at the old capital mall. burgegeking. as in the nameme the fast food chain is known for their burgers. but they are about to

seller of another american classic food item. more on that in today's

7. have suspended their campaigns. that means the fight is now in south carolina. and the democrats have another debate tonight. abc's lana zak has the latest on race for the white house. trump sot: we may have to stage a phony protest. that's the only way they show the size of t tse crowds. this crowd is amazing." donald trump with even more spring in his step following his major win in new hampshire--fo rcing two more candidates--chris christie and carly fiorina out of the race. trump says he's ready to take on democratic challenger, hillary clinton trump sot: we're going to beat her and honestly women don't like her, in new hampshire, clinton lost women voters

nationally, clintotostill has the advantage over bernie sanders, who tells abc's cecilia vega he has work to do. vega: if the election were tomorrow do you think you could win south carolina and nevada? sanders: no. fortunately for us the election is not tomorrow. gw bush ad nats and another candidate grateful for some extra campaign time--jeb bush--who confirms his brother will join him on the trail hitting trump hard yesterday after his fourth place finish in new hampshire bush sot:e is an entertaining person. unless you are a woman. unless you are a hispanic, unless you're a pow, unlee you're a disabled person. but second-place winner john kasich says he's unlikely to go on the attack kasich sot: i'm not gonna be a pincushion or a marshmallow but i'm also not gonna spend my time trying to trash over people. tag: back in kasich's home state of ohio, a controversial bill to cut off funding for planned parenthood programs on aids and domestic violence, has passed...kasich says he will sign it. lz abc n,

the more than a month-long standoff in an oregon wildlife refuge could be ending this morning. the final 4 activists inside the malheur national wildlife refuge say that they'll leave their weapons behind and surrender to authorities this morning. the f-b-i and other law enforcement have been surrounding them. authorities also say no shots have been fired. the situation startrt january 2nddwhen protesters took over the refuge to decry what they called "government overreach of federal land." protest leader ammon bundy and several others were arrested last month. now for a quick check on your weather with meteorologist kaj o'mara.

plan on a quiet thursday with a clear start as well. while we'll start off cold again, highs should make the upper teens to lower 20s. tonight, another batch of light snow should move into the area. this one should be farther east than yesterday's snow and should affect more of eastern iowa as a result. while amounts will remain light and generally under 1", it'll make for a slick morning commute on friday. the wind will pick up behind this system during the day on friday and may cause some patchy blowing snow yet again. saturday is still on rack to be cold and ququet with another snow chance coming our way for sunday.today: mostly sunny high: 18-24 winds: light n alo: 18 dbq: 19 iow: 22tonight: snow likely late low: 14-20 winds: sw 5-10 alo: 14 dbq: 14 iow: 18tomorrow: early am snow, clearing high: 18-24 winds: nw 15-30 alo: 19 dbq: 20 iow: 23tomorrow night: mostly clear low: -3-3

abc's reena ninan and kendis gibson have this morning's america's money. good morning topping "america's money" -- some caution from the fed. >> federal reserve chair janet yellen telling congress that interest rate increases may be layed. >> that's because of the t tmoil on the global markets. during v gold is up nearly 15%. and more automakers are recalling vehicles with those defected air bag andhey're now recalling 1.7 million vehicles with the takata air bags that can rupture and send sha ral nell to passengers in the car. burger king is adding hot

>> it willo nationwide on the 23rd of this month.h. a classic hot dog will cost you $1.99. >> bold idea by burger king. a we stop arthritis pain, so you don't have to stop. because you believe in go. onward. today's the day. carpe diem. tylenol 8hr arthritis pain has two layers of pain relief. the first is fast. the second lasts all day. we give you your day back. what you do with it is up to you. tylenol . adventures from $599, plus up to $300 to spend at sea.

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m your 24 hour news source, this is kcrg-tv9 news early morning news. democratic presidential candidates are in wisconsin this morning. clinn versus sanders tonight in a debate. the zika virus is causing concern all over the world. and expecting mothers in dubuque are asking questions about their risk. hospitals across the country are looking for nurses. a changing health care system is demanding more services. good thursday morning! its 5 'clock on february 11th. here is a ve look at . first, meteorologis t kaj o'mara