restaurants and retail shops." but uptown marion director, ashley zierath, saysstore turnover is hiding the growth that's taking place along 7th avenue. avenue. "we've seen tremendous growth over the last couple years. some of the new businesses that have come in to our district has been wonderful. zierath says there's been a strong interest in the vacant spots, because business owners know they'll be transforming their alleys into a place for people to enjoy public art. they've also received another grant to renovate a space on main street. "there's success in uptown marion."jodi siamis is the owner of capital commercial division which owns the "o" block building.it houses maid- rite which was just recently renovated for their 30th anniversary- anniversary-but down the street, they learned what it's like being a part of the uptown marion family. family. "we also have the 12-04 building that has had a set back, but we're looking to finish that project in 2016." the building's frame collapsed during construction and they had to start from scratch. but

the project and excited to welcome "riley's" and "the local" restaurants by the end of the year. year. "there is so many fun things going on, this is the place to be." starting this spring, you'll see a lot of construction in uptown marion but zierath says it won't cause traffic delays or concerns for drivers. they're also hosting a commercial real estate showcase in feburary if anyone is interested in bringing their business here.covering the corridor, in marion,

new new new developments kickoff tonight's vote 2016 coverage. coverage.all three democrats running for president will face iowa voters one last time before the february first caucuses. the iowa democratic party will host hillary clinton, bernie sanders, and martin o'malley at drake university for a c-n-n town hall. organizers say the town hall will be a good opportunity for voters to have their questions answered by the candidates before they head to their caucus locations. the lastest iowa poll shows

virtual tie.the town hall will air on c-n-n from 8 to 10 monday night. *tomorrow at 6-pm, cbs 2 and fox 28 are hosting "your voice, your future - the iowa impact" town hall in iowa city. city.of course, iowa has been "first in the nation" to vote since 1972cbs 2 news reporter kevin barry explains what the state parties are already doing to preserve iowa's first-in-the-nation status for future elections. elections. around the 1970's -- the iowa caucuses became what they are today -- drawing presidential candidates to small midwestern towns.since then -- a lot about the presidential process has changed -- and to keep up -- so are the caucuses. caucuses. iowa's caucuses are known for the unique atmosphere they create -- with voters standing next to their co-workers and neighbors -- making their case

another.but getting that experience relies on being able to make it to a caucus location in person...until now. now.elecaucus - outside state - military or ucava - abroad/dipipmats/peace corps sataile - - stpial worker - manufacturing plant - cant' get off - caucus right there child care at caucus locations now will make it easier for parents with all kinds of family responsibilities to take part.a pararership with microsoft is going to streamline the process to report results from each county across the state. state.while iowa fights to stay first in the nation -- it also inadvertently got help on the republican side when g-o-p jeff kaufmann had to cancel the straw poll when there wasn't enough interest from candidates. candidates.we had a lot of states saying that we went

said, you know iowa, you're going twice, but do you need to go first t ice? that strengthens my hand when i'm talking to the other states. states.you can see all the stories we've done leading up to tomorrow's town hall discussion on our website at cbs 2 iowa dot com -- they're also all on my cebook page as well.kevin babay, cbs 2 news. again, "your voice, your future - the iowa impact" happens tomorrow night in iowa city. the town hall starts at six at "public space one" - - in the wesley center---and you're invited.you can also watch it live right here on cbs 2. our panel will have both e iowa republican and democratic party *chairs s along with other political experts. university of iowa president bruce harreld is planning a town hall of his own this semester. he announced it in an open letter to the university now

for the spring semeseter. harreld wants to gather input from the community as he prepares to begin his first full semester on the job.the townhall will be held inside the pomerantz center at 4 o clock on february 23rd. another new opportunity at the u-i this semester should help students better understand their finances. cbs 2 news reporter mellaney moore joins us live from the iowa city campus to explain some brand new curriculum being offered. we are in the secoco day of springngsemester here at the university of iowa.for some students that includes a brand new class. class. the university's financial aid office helps students figure out how to pay for their college educationstaff say many students rely on help from their parents... some ask more questions for themselves when they prepare to cross intoeing a graduate. graduate. once you've worked here for years, that's kind of the common theme that you see is that, 'my parents handle that

educate students and tell them why its important that they take a larger role.it appears students are listening.a new class this semester called moneywise: personal finance basics is ful]y enrolled.the course covers things like employment benefits, insurance, investment opportunities, budgeting and student loan repayment. repayment. student debt and keeping it low is a focus for the board of regentsthe board formed a financial literacy training work group that includes representatives from the three regent universities.the board's president discussed its formation this fall to gather data and find tions to better inform students. students.the goal is to reduce student debt through more informed personal financial decisions for our students. though the board has frozen instate tuition several times, lehman says a general trend over the ars shows state financial support going down, but tuition going up.he says

help students get a clearer picture of their financial future.staff in the financial aid offi who talk to students every day agree. agree. the more education that students have and the more they are taking a proactive approach to their own financial future, the better for our students. the board of regents says they plan to have their recommendati ons from the work group this spring.covering the corridor in iowa city, mellaney moore, cbs 2 news. the city council in iowa city is moving forwrad forwradwith the washington street-scape project.it involves a number of *improvements to washington street between linn and clinton streets.right now, the estitited constructiti cost stands at five-point-one million dollars.work will begin later this year. also in johnson county, lisa green-douglass of north liberty is isnow the newest member of the johnson county board of supervisors. supervisors.voters elected green-douglass in yesterday's special election.the vote came after former supervisor terrence neuzil resigned in december to take a job in

time since the 19-60's that a resident of north liberty has a position on the board.north liberty mayor amy nielsen says she's looks forward to having more representation of the rapidly growing city. i think that when you live somewhere, you just naturally have a more intimate knowledge of the day to day needs of that community and a feel for lolo of the personality even eveneen-douglas will serve on the board of supervisors through the end neuzil's term in december. still to come on cbs 2 news newsthe ways to take care of yourself if you ever suffer a head chilly temps mean winter

ch marco rubio. he ran for senate saying he opposed amnesty... thth he flipped, and worked with liberal chuck schumer to co-author the path to citizenship bill. he threatened to vote against it. and then voted for it. he supported his own dream act and then he abandoned it. marco rubio. just another washington politician you can't trust. jeb bush. he's a leader, so you always know where he stands. right t rise usa

tomorrow on cbs 2 this morning. iowa's first in the nation caucuses brings presidential candidates all throughout the presidential cycle. cycle.we're taking a closer look at the state's role, ahead of our big town hall meeting thursday night. mean winter sports a a in full-swing, but before you hit the ice - or slip on some in the parking lot - make sure you're keeping your *brain safe. medical experts say, just a small hit on the head can cause some damage, and if it happens repeatedly, it can have lasting affects on your memory and cognitive skills. but there are things you can do to not only protect your brain, but *repair it. courtntn axelili is the director of "learning r-x," a center that specializes in "brain-training" and she says

brain *active - especially if you've ever suffered a concussion. if something has been damaged, it's not going to fix what's been damaged, but your brain has the ability to re-wire around that damaged portion, and that's where we see those increases in memory and processing while you're here doing that training 15.00.54.16 learning r-x offers one-on-one evaluations and training for kids as young as four.they also work with adults as old as 80, to help them with memory issues. it's finally starting to feel just warm enough to actually go outside after we started the week in the bitter cold. chief meteorololost terry swails is here now with your

coming up in ssports sportscoming up in ssports sportsthe hawks hit the road

rutgers -- why iowa isn't overlooking the scarlet

before the high school football season even started we knew that in

would shrink from 32 down to 16 in each class -- now the iowa high school athletic association made more changes the big one -- classes 3-a. 2- a. 1-a and a -- are moving to 7 districts of 8 teams -- with district champions, runner ups and 2 at large bids making the playoffs. while 4-a and 8 man are staying with 8 districts -- with the top 2 teams in each qualifiying. -- they also eliminated the one hundred 25 mile travel limination, brought back the playoff bracket, and increased the point differential tiebreaker to 17. this week has got a hurrrrup and wait feel to it -- with iowa's huge showdown with purdue on sunday at carver hawkeye arena -- but there is a game before the game of the week -- thursday the hawks hit the road to face rutgers -- yeah, that rutgers team who's winless in the big 10 -- who's big wins are against fairliegh dickenson and central arkansaw -- and who got beat by purdue by 50 points on monday night -- but it's also a team iowa

"you kinda gotta throw that game away, that was an anamoly. i mean that probably won't happen to them again probably the rest of the season. so we gotta stay focus, continue to be hungry, and try to improve on ourselves." ourselves.""purdue with their incredible size was not a good match-up for rutgers. i think rutgers is much better... you look at the wake forest t game, you look at the indiana game... i mean that's more indicative of how i think rutgers is." the player of the game in iowa state's win over number 1 ranked okalhoma -- isn't george niang or monte morris -- it's matt thomas -- now the junior guard only scored 12 points monday night -- but it's not what he did on offense that got the clones the win -- it's was his defense e buddy hield -- agruablely the best player in college basketball that got the magic back at hilton. "the numbers speak for themselves. i mean buddy heild is in my mind a first team all- american for sure and for you to make him shoot 23 shots and shoot below his percentage.. i

right there and credit to matt." matt.""beingngecruited pretty much a aan off set shooter and scorer and over these last couple years just having that improvement on that end of the floor has been big for me and i take a lot of pride in that." through 6 games in the big 10 -- the iowa women are 3 and 3 -- and 2 things aren't sitting well with lisa bluder -- mber 1 -- turnovers -- the hawkeyes are averaginin18 of them in n conference play number 2 -- second half struggles -- and i'm not just talking about in their loses to michigan state and michigan -- bluder's bunch beat wisconsin, but let the badgdgs make it close late in the game -- so finishing definately a focus moving forward. "we've been frusterated with that. ot's definately frusterating to have these awesome first halves and then not bebeg able to finish inin the second halves so we can't over think it, but we definately have to make some changes and commit to doing things a little differently than we have." have.""we talk about it, we talk about it.. but if we... you can talk about it all you want, bubuif you don't go out and do it than nothing is going to come out of it. so i think it's just for us we have

going to do." we w wl be right back to take one last the break. here's the truth -- some have proposed to cut social security for the elderly and disabled vets.s. i disagree. in fact, not only should we not cut benefits -- we should expand them. my plan for social security increases benefits d cost of living adjdjtments and raises minimum payments for low-income seniors. it will ensure that all seniors can retire th dignity and respect. i'm bernie sanders, and i approve this message. (donkey sound) (elephant sound)

between making noise, (tapping sound) and making sense. (elephant sound) (donkey sound) when it comes to social security, we need more than lip service. our next president needs a real plan to keep social security strong. (elephant noise) hey candidates. enough talk.

time of year, parking lots are cleared of snow and ice but a town in neyork is trying to turn this lot into an outdoor ice rink.ththtown's usual spot for skating is closed for renovations.so workers for the city's department of parks and recreation were out at the spraying down the lot to crea a make shift rink workers say it will take a few days to get the rink ready for

thanks for watching your cbs 2 news at

is up next marco rubio. he ran for senate saying he opposed amnesty... then he flipped, and worked with liberal chuck schumer to co-author the path to citizehip bill. hehehreatened to vote against it. and then voted for it. he supported his own dream act and then he abandoned it. marco rubio. just another washington politician you can't trust. jeb bubu. he's a leadede so you always know where he stands. right to rise usa is responsible for the content of this message.

hillary clinton. she stood up to china... ...and spoke out on women's rights... ...went toe to toe with russia on human rights. the drug and insurance companiess spent millions against her... ...but hillary didn't quit until eight million children got health care. i've never been called a quitter and i won't quit on n u. she's got what it takes to do the toughest job in the world. i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message. there are two democratic visions for regulating wall street. e says it's okay to take millions from m g banks and then tell them what to do. my plan -- break up the big banks, close the tax loopholes, and make them pay their fair share. thth we can expand health care to all, and provide universal college education. will they like me? no. will they begin to play by the rules if i'm presidt? you better believe it.