continiuing coverage now of a major construction project on the university of iowa campus. crews are nearing completetn tonight at hancher auditorium in iowa city. city.construction on the 170- million dollar fine arts venue started in 2013five years after historic ffoding destroyed the original building. cbs 2 news reporter steffi lee brings us an excluive inside look tonight as crews work on the final touches. years of waiting are now down to months.hancher auditorium's staff say they're excited for not only the grand opening of the auditorium - but to also

take the new venue's stage this april. april. "i just keep on focusing on that opening. it's so close now."with the lights turned on and glossy wood ceilings throughout hancher - the constructiti ttls covering the floor means work on the venue is in its final stretch. stretch."we're down to ceilings, we're down to flooringwe're dn to painting"even without old hancher for the past eight years - staff and construction crews kept the historical mission to bring the best of the best to iowa city. city. "the intimacy of the theatre is going to be unbelievevle." new hancher r will grab your attention as it shines bright outside - but the show starts inside. inside."there's the theatrical piece of it - to make surehe theatrical tuning takes place properly, which involves having people in the theatres, in the rehearsal halls, making sure that the sound systems work perfectly." perfectly.""from backstage all the way to the front of the

fill eighteen hundred seats under elegant circles of led lights.but on a smaller scale - "we're going to have a great hancher cafe, we're going to hopefully be able to have some experience to put on some soft events, where we can experience what the cafe is like."after breaking ground three years ago - every morning - more than 200 craftsmen put eir hardhats on - chipping away at every corner of the building. building. "there's still a lot of work to be done, both on the building and for the hancher staff too, but we're gearing up. we're gearing up - i think it's gogog to be out of the past 43 years, one of the best seasons hancher's ever had." hancher gets the keys this summer.they'll hold grand openings the weekend of the iowa and iowa state football game in september.steffi lee, cbs 2 news. as that flood recovery project wraps up, improvements to two different water systems are coming to the city onorth liberty. liberty.cbs 2 news rererter mellaney moore talked to city planners today

about the projects. north liberty city officials been able to keep up w wh the steady population increase.but as the city continues to grow, struggle. in 2008 the city of north liberty completely rebuilt their waste water treatmen plant.now thth're moving on to phase e oryan heiar, city administrator23:54:38 the end product after we treat everything, exceeds some drinking water standards and so we're pretty proud of the plant we have down there. recently north liberty's special census counted more than 18 thousand people in the corridor city.that means the city's needs for water and drinking water and waste water treatment are growing too.ryan heiar, city administrator 23:55:33 this expansion, which is about a $17 million project will allow us to treat more water.....a lot more water. drew lammers wastewater pollution control assistant perintendent00:14:29 it changes from us being able to handle a capacity of 4.3 million gallons a day to process up to around 7.2 million gallonsthe city hopes to have the waste water treatment plant construction

is also designing a new drinking water plant, which heiar says will allow the city to use less chemicals23:59:13 this is about a $20 million project, so it's a brand new plant. it will serve a capacity of about 30,000 residents.city officials say that project should go out to bid in the next 9-12 months...and online in two to three years.heiar says it will join the public works campus ananprovide even bettererater than right now00:02:27:02 from a safety standpoint, it;s 100 percent safe, it just would be a better tasting, better lookink water for the community. city officials say both projects are designed so as the city continues to grow, they can be expanded too. llaney moore, cbs 2 news. tiffin is also workininon a water system right now.the city administrator says bids are due the 16th of february for an inflow and infilttion reduction project. he says the project will eliminate ground water that doesn't need to be treated

sewer.he says that has put stress on their aging infrastructure. a new committee is being set up to analyze the imimct of johnson county's new minimum wage ordinance. ordinance.the eleven-member group is being appointed by the johnson county board of supervisors.they'll study how the wage incrses are affecting workers as well as businesses.many members of the johnson county business community are divided on the issue.so far, solon, swisher, shueyville and oxford have opted out of the new ordinance. we have new information on a story that broke just before last night's newscast. newscast.police are now saying the man who was shot on the southeast side of f dar rapipi wawarobbing a home on 15th street southeast.officers arrived at the scene late yesterday afternoon following a report o& shots fired.the would-be robber suffered a gunshot wound and was taken to the hospital. he is expected to recover. right now, the identities of those involved have not been released--and

new developmpmts tonight in a story cbs 2 news has followed about a popular church leader who was deported last year. year.congressman dave loebsack has introduced new immigration legislation that could help deported iowa city pastor max villatoro reunite with his family.the new legislation would allow villatoro to be issued an immigrant visa to be admitted lawfully for permanent residence.villatoro was deported to honduras last march despite receiving prosecutorial discretion under obama administration guidelines as the calender closes in on caucus day - armies of volunteers are getting ready. months of work by republicans and democrats in iowa culminates on monday night. night.cbs 2 news reporter joe huisinga spoke withboth party's state leaders about their final preparations. joe? thousands of volunteers have been working tirelessly to molize voters and get ready for monday night.

the state looking to get some last minute support.across the state volunteers are staffing morerehan 16 hundred caucus sites.the caucus process is very different between the parties but it has taken a lot of time and effort on both sides to get them ready. "we've done over 300 trainings in the state and that's just the republican party the democrats also have their volunteer efforts as well so so were feeling about as ready we possibly can at this point in time" a big part of prpraring volunteers for this caucus has been teaching them how to use a new reporting system. "iowa is kind of famous for having cutting-edge technology for their reporting systems so this is a really good time for that and its going to be very fast, very efficiant, and very secure." secure."tune in on sunday as we take a c cser look at the new technology coming to the caucus joe huisinga, cbs 2 news, still to come on the cbs 2 news at 6

rapids police found thememlves

car repairs, home improvements, a family trip... it's not easy to afford them. what did marco rubio do? he put $22,000 in personal expenses on a republican party credit card. rubio's bad judgment caused a scandal and for five years rubio refused to release the credit card records. marco rubio: skipping major votes... all over the place on immigration... bad judgment. marco rubio: just too many questions. right to rise usa is responsible for the

2 this morning, we'll track the latest details coming from the campaign trail, just hours before the much anticipated iowa caucuses..join us momoay morning for everything you'll need to know, before you caucus.see you at five. university is welcoming

world to its campus - and sending its students out, to experience a world beyond iowa. mount mercy university currently has about 60 internional students enrollll, and the school is sending even more abroad to visit other places across the globe. the school's international program has been picking up steam over the last few years, and staff members hope that continues. some of the students we spoke to call the programs "life-changing" and say they are so glad they stepped outside otheir comfort zones, to experience a world beyond the one they know. the first is that they all greet you warmly and maybe it's because of the culture differences - america is a multi-cultural country. in erica, there are so many different people from all over the world. you get to meet people from all over in just one state, so you get to experience their culture and you get to impart your culture

if you'd like to learn more about t e international programsmsmount mercy offers, log onto our website. police officers paid a visit to a local school today, but for good cause. students at harding middle school and officers s om the cedar rapidsdsolice department took part in their ninth annual kids vs cops dodgeball tournament.the event raises money for the c-r-p-d's k-9-9 unit, and pays for training and new equipment for the dogs. officers tell cbs 2 news taking a few hits is worth it for their four-legged partners. - "anytime we c get out and hang out with these kids, and show them we are a normal human being, where they're not intimidated by what we wear as police officers, it helps out tremendously." this year, ______ dollars was raised for the k-9 unit. unit.they're still counting the money raised at today's tournament, but last year, the school raised 22 hundred dollars for the k-9 unit.

but--you're probably aware--a major snow storm is in the works for next week. week.chief meteorologist terry swails has the latest update to your most accurate weather

coming up in sports the tough strecht cocoinues for iowa state saturday -- why the cyclones are all smiles heading into the big 12 - s-e- c challenge... next on cbs 2. 2."cbs 2 news connects wh yoyocall us at 1-800-22222gan email us at news at cbcb2 iowa dot comconnect with us on

talk about an there are those who say we cannot defeat a corrupt political system and fix a rigged economy. but i believe we need to lift our vision above the obstacles in place and look to the american horizon. to a nation where every child can not only dream of going to college, but attend one. where quality healthcare will be a birthright of every citizen.

where women receive equal pay and a living wage is paid to all. an america where after a lifetime of labor, there is time for rest a a grandchildren. a nation that defends our people and our values, but no longer carries so much of that burden alone. i know we can create that america if we listen to our hearts. and that journey begins here in iowa. i'm bernie sanders. i approve this message, and i ask you to join with us at the caucuses on m mday night. thank you. (phone ringing) you can't deal with something, by ignoring it. but that's how some presidential candidates seem to be dling with social security. americans work hard, and pay into it. so our next president eds a real plan to keep it strong.

hey candidates, answer the call already. absolutely brutal strecht for iowa state -- first they took down top ranked oklahoma -- then went to t-c-u -- then beat 4th ranked kansas -- and now the cylones face 5th ranked texas a & m in the big 12 / s-e-c challenge tomorrow -- that's 3 top 5 teams in 4 games -- which would destroy most teams -- but iowa state isn't like

for the challenge of knocking off another top 5 team. "it just gives us an opportunity to get our team better continue to win big games... i think we've got a chance to be the only team to win 5 top 25 games and 4 top 4 games here." here." "the big 12 is no joke and you thought we'd get a night off playing texas a&m, but they're the best team in the sec so we are excited to get down there and play them. we've always preached here to be the best you have to beat the best so that'how we are looking at it." bluder's bunch looked like the bluders bunch of old --- you know, when they started big 10 play with 2 straight wins instead of the one that was on a 3 game losing streak .. the hawks took down the wolverines last night in a total team effort - -4 hawks finished in double figures -- the bench outscored michian's by 27 -- and they had more assists than turnovers -- all things lisa bluder hopes will carry over... "21 assists,s,2 turnovers, i

obviously because of chase, out-scores their bench tremendously. we had four people in double gures, so good balance there. so all good stuff right there.it's one game, i understand that. we're going one game at a time, but hopefully this will get us going down the right path for the last nine games." the iowa wrestlers have been rolling on the mats -- they've won 19 straight big 10 duals -- the last time they dropped on in conference -- 2014 when minnesota came into iowa city and left with a win -- so tonight is pretty big for tom brands but it's even bigger for minnesota native sam stoll -- the hawkeye heavyweight is a two time minnesota state high school champion -- and everybody thought he was going to be a gopher -- but tom brands can be pretty persausive... "i came here and there was something about.. watching the guys in the room, watching everybody compete, getting to hang out with the guys and just really understand the mentality that's in the room." room.""he was going to minnesota and he was coming to

he left here and he was he was hook line and sinker. and his comment will probably be to you, if you ask him that question.. he just couldn't say no to brands.. and i love it." matt campbell and iowa state landed another big recruit -- chase allen -- missouri's number 1 tight end prospect -- committed to iowa state -- allen's the son of former u-n-i head coach terry allen -- 24/7 sports and scout dot com labeled him as a 3 star recruit. ok guys -- picture this -- you're college basketball player -- at the free throw line -- just about ready to shoot and this happens -- michael phelps jumps out in a speedo -- it happened last night at arizona state -- the sun devils call it the curtain of distraction -- and it worked -- the player at the

look at your be the center of the off-road cycling universe for a daythe city announced today that it's been selected as a u-c-i cyclo- cross world cup race site for the 2016-17 season.that race will be held on september 24th at the johnson county fair grounds at a course widely regarded as one of the best in

car repairs, home improvements, a family trip... it's not easy to afford them.

he put $22,000 in personal expenses on a repubtican party credit card. rubio's bad jument caused a scandal and for five years rubio refused to release the credit card records. marco rubio: skipping major votes... all over the place on immigration... bad judgment. marco rubio: just too many questions. right to rise usa is responsible for the