is underway after mother nature drops up to 17 inches of snow in some areas of siouxland.(candidate cuts)and then there were nine... as two more republicans drop out of the race for president.(mosque visit)it's a first for the current president ... a visit to a mosque. (no show) and... despite a subpoena... a key player in the flint, michigan water disaster refuses to testify before congress. 3 after months of delays... we now know when the akron man accused of murdering his mother will stand trial. thanks for joining us. i'm larry wentz, diana castillo has the night off. the date is set for opening statements in the trial of 43- year- old jonathan neunaber. 3 and tonight that story is first on fox. 3 plymouth county district judge steven andreasen has set may 10th as the first day of the trial. this comes after the judge ruled neunaber competent

charged with 1st degree murder in the death of his mother... whose body was discovered along with that of neunaber's father in july of 2014. an autopsy determined esther neunaber died of blunt- force trauma to the head... while donald neunaber had died of natural causes.jonathan neunaber was arrested in wisconsin two days after the bodies were found... and later charged with murder. 3 one day and more than a foot of snow later... siouxland is trying to get back to normal after the biggest snowstorm we've seen in a couple years.our nick popham joins us now after a day observing the cleanup...nick... is there anything particularly special about this dig out process? 3 larry... the blizzard has come and gone which means the real work for local residents is just beginng. 3 that work involves clearing their driveways and yards of the massive amounts of snow. but some people like fernado claren have found a positive outlook on the task."been out

shoveling about 14 inches of snow. it's a lot of fun we get a good workout of it hence the reason we don't buy a snow blower because we do get a good workout. ." siouxland experienced snow in some places that reached over a foot causing people to come out with snow blowers and shovels earlier this morning. schools in turn were closed in the area causing some students to put down the books and pick up the shovel.".i think we should just do it because of the amount of this snow.// it was pretty good because we had no school and it was good break i got to sleep in. ""i hope we don't get to much more (laughs) we get a break.// i guess the kids will like it on that hill over their they go sliding down."another problem in the area is fire hydrants covered in snow.sioux city's fire department wants anyone with hydrants on their lawns to dig them out and give enough space around them so

necessary."because time is essential during those fire emergencies so we want to make sure that we can get the water to the house as quickly as possible to prevent further damages."the hydrants are just one of a number of things that need to be dug out as a result of this storm. 3 now after speaking with lieutenant rodriguez-he told me that if you can't move the snow away from a hydrant on your lawn... you can call the fire prevention office and they will send a truck to help as soon as possible. larry? 3 3 yesterday's storm closed i- 29 in south dakota between north sioux city and sioux falls... and it also created havoc on i- 80 in nebraska. 3 this is video taken by a nebraska state patrol airplane flying over i-80 near grand island this morning.that road was closed between lincoln and north platte for nearly an entire day... re- opening gradually between 1 and 2 o'clock this afternoon.several roads in nebraska remain impassable due to drifting snow tonight...though none of

3 the city of sioux city is making plans to deal with the disruption the storm caused to garbage collection services.city crews were unable to collect garbage and recycling yesterday *or* today.the city's asking anyone with scheduled pickup yesterday or today to put your bins out *tonight*... and they'll be collected starting tomorrow.thursday collection will take place friday... and friday collection will move to saturday..in dakota city... the storm is forcing garbage collection to be moved back as well.the city says garbage regularly collected on thursday 3 will instead be picked up on friday. 3 a buena vista county family is lucky to be alive after their furnace vent was blocked by snow.the fire chief in newell says the family of 8 went to bed last night feeling slightly sick... and woke up vomiting early this morning.the father called 9- 1- 1... and crews took the family to the hospital... suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.the home's furnace vent had been covered by snow... forcing the fumes back into the home.high levels of carbon

family remains hospitalized... but they're all expected to recover. 3 "one of the hard parts is that carbon monoxide is an oderless, colorless, tasteless gas and the only way you really detect it is through a carbon monoxide alarm so it's important if you do have one you put it near your bedroom area so you can hear and wake so you can hear it. " 3 3 it's not all work when it comes to the snow!this afternoon we shot this video in dakota dunes. a group of kids enjoying their second day off from school this week... playing and climbing on massive piles of snow left behind. we still have a few siouxland area schools either closed or opening late tomorrow. those announcements are scrolling along the bottom of your screen and are also posted online at siouxland news dot com. 3 3

during the day on thursday, look for mostly sunny skies. even though it will be a pretty cold start, we should see afternoon highs top out in the lower 30s. for friday, it will stay pretty mild but we may see the slightest chance for light snow as a weak wave will move mainly north of the area. highs again will be in the lower 30s. for the weekend, temperatures will be warming up into the mid 30s on friday and near 40 on sunday. despite the warmer weather on sunday, we will again see a slight chance for light snow to close out the weekend. for early next week, it appears that the trend will be for colder air to move into the area.>> 3 3

critiques focused on issues at several democratic precincts in central iowa... where hillary clinton was accused of voter fraud after dozens of voters vanished.today... a "possible" issue was reported on the *republican* side at a caucus location in northwest iowa. this video shows attendees at a caucus event at dordt college... where it's alleged voting started well *before* the caucuses began at 7... a practice against republican party rules. this happened after a professor who was selected to lead that caucus site sent an email to all dordt students informing them of the option.there are also reports of early voting taking place in orange city and hull. sioux county republican party chair mark lundberg says this is perfectly legal... and blames miscommunication. we're still waiting to hear back from the republican party of iowa. 3 3 the iowa republican party *has* certified texas senator ted cruz as the winner of monday night's caucuses.cruz received 51,666 votes to take

the 30 delegates up for grabs. donald trump placed second, marco rubio 3rd... they will each get 7 delegates.ben carson in 4th place gets 3 delegates... 3 and rand paul, jeb bush, carly fiorina, john kasich and mike huckabee all receive one delegate each.huckabee withdrew from the race monday night after a poor performance in iowa. 3 3 speaking of rand paul... he has bowed out of the race as well... suspending his run for the white house today citing a low vote count in iowa.in an interview on capitol hill today, senator paul told our sister station he believes he ran a great campaign and plans to continue the fight on key issues like protecting privacy, having a reasonable foreign policy and balancing the budget 3 "i think it just wasn't enough votes to have the momentum to win in new hampshire. i have always been a big believer in spreading the message but also doing it in a race we can actually win, so we will carry on these same principals, but we will now carry them on in the us

to say if he will endorse any of the remaining g-o-p candidates. the new hampshire primary is next week on february 9th 3 3 paul is joined in leaving the republican race tonight by former pennsylvania senator rick santorum.santorum won the iowa caucuses in 2012... and nearly beat mitt romney for the republican nomination.this time around... he managed to obtain support from just 2 percent of caucusgoers monday night.in an interview this evening on the fox news channel... santorum endorsed florida senator marco rubio... who placed third on monday.he says rubio's values are the closest aligned with his... and the florida senator real understanding of the threat posed by isis. 3 3 still to come tonight on siouxland news at nine... those affected by and responsible for the flint water crisis testify before congress. which major figure was missing and why, coming up. 3 but first... president obama is catching criticism for visiting a mosque in baltimore

religious tolerance. why critics are upset... coming up after the break. 3 "siouxland news at nine on fox 44, with larry wentz, diana castillo and siouxland's chief

3 for the first time in his presidency, barack obama visits an american mosque. he criticized politicians for what he considers anti-muslim rhetoric. but, as jeff abell tells us, the president's choice of mosques comes with controversy. 3 (neighbor) "he's on the way here in the motorcade"(track) when the presidents motorcade rolled into west baltimore. neighbs watched and wondered...(neighbor) "most of us don't really know the history of the muslim community"(track) for the

president, president barack obama visited a mosque...the islam society of baltimore, one of the largest in the country and one whose members today listened to the president as he delivered a message of tolerance for all faiths.(president comments) (abell). but the 3 comments)(president comments) (abell). but the event wasn't without protest. 10 yrs ago it's former imam was quoted saying he condoned suicide bombings in certain cases." (resident speaks)(gaffney).

the kind of company the president should be keeping" frank gaffney is with the center for security policy. (gaffney). there are plenty of law-abiding muslims in this country it's just that the president never seems to reach out to them."(mosque spokeswoman)after 2 hours at the mosque, 3 the president returned to washington.while some members question why his visit took so 3 3 officials and residents of flint michigan appeared before congress this morning to testify about the city's water was missing.the attorney for former emergency manager darnell earley refused service of a subpoena last night

this morning... saying his client couldn't make it to washington in time.that excuse not sitting well with committee chair jason chaffetz... who asked u- s marshals to track earley down. meanwhile... in michigan... governor rick snyder proposing additional relief to flint water customers. 3 "when i do my presentation next week, i'm going to be calling for a 30 million dollar appropriation for a consumption and consumer credit for water bills in flint."snyder says it will take nearly 800- million dollars to fix flint's water system... on top of money already spent on bottled water and filters.the governor's announcement on bill relief comes after a lawsuit with the same goal was filed last month. 3 3 3 taking a live look out over arnold's park tonight on our great lakes countertops and kitchens sky watch camera. a lot of nice sun today. we'll we see a repeat tomorrow?

3 "first alert weather with siouxland's chief meteorologist chad sandwell." 3 3 3 3 larry, diana and chad talk about today's weather and the upcoming forecast.3 3

bottoming out in the single digits over a fresh snowpack. during the day on thursday, look for mostly sunny skies. even though it will be a pretty cold start, we should see afternoon highs top out in the lower 30s. for friday, it will stay pretty mild but we may see the slightest chance for light snow as a weak wave will move mainly north of the area. highs again will be in

weekend, temperatures will be warming up into the mid 30s on friday and near 40 on sunday. despite the warmer weather on sunday, we will again see a slight chance for light snow to close out the weekend. for early next week, it appears that the trend will be for colder air to move into the area.>> 3

expanding operations north of the border. which chain and how... coming up, but first... 3 cavuto says: "your significant other may have have a significant financial secret.... but not for long...i'm neil cavuto with

3 jobs and debt dominating news out of the business world tonight.neil cavuto has the details in tonight's 'fox means business' report. 3 new year jobs... for job seekers.a private firm tracking jobs in the private sector... says 205-thousand of them were added to the economy in january. that's less than the previous month, but more than expected.the focus will shift to friday (2/5)....when the government releases its job numbers.and for those of you still seeking work...home depot is hiring 80-thousand temporary employees for its very busy spring season....the company says more than half of the positions usually become permanent.and if you're planning to get married...you might want to consider doing

mouse....because a new study naming orlando, florida the best city in which to tie the knot.wedding costs, the number of churches, planners, flower shops...they're all big reasons why....but before you say 'i do', you might want to listen to this first....a separate survey on financial infidelity.... revealing 13- million americans admit... they are hiding...or at least once hid, things like a credit card or a bank account from their 'significant other'.for better, or worse...that's business... i'm ...neil cavuto. 3 3 home depot competitor lowe's is expanding north of the border. 3 the retailer is buying canadian competitor rona in a two-point-three-billion-dollar deal.both companies made the announcement today after their boards agreed to the deal.the arrangement gives lowe's its first foothold in quebec.rona shareholders still have to approve the deal before it can be final.it also faces regulatory scrutiny by both the u-s and canadian governments.

of the forecast after 3 3

have a great evenininin [bell ringing] - pick up--chicken breasts.