it's replacing old equipment with better equipment to separate liquids from solids. plant officials say having city leaders visit helps them get a better idea of what they do at the plant. >> (matt) while many may have an idea of what happens once waste gets to the plant, they may not know all the details. (sheila) ktiv's tiffany lane gives us an inside look into the process.

12 and a half million gallons of waste flows into the plant per day. there is a screening process to get out anything that may have slipped through the system, upstream. from there it goes to a settling process. sludge settles to the bottom and the clear water from that will travel on through the system and be treated later through an activated sludge process. in that process, you have bacteria dependent on oxygen, which reduces organics and oxygen within the water. that is required by the plant's permit from the state. from there, the water is pumped over and thickened. the water then flows through a set of clarifiers, and into the river. the sludge originally separated from the water, goes onto some anaerobic digestors where the sludge is heated up to around 95 degrees. bugs will begin to eat the food that is in the waste. and biogas is produced and reused within the facility. in sioux city, tiffany lane, ktiv news 4.>> the plant uses 800 gallons of chlorine each day during disinfection season.

by law, that process is required from march 15th through november 15th. plant leaders are working on improvements, every day. this comes almost three months after state officials confirmed they plan to take action against two former sioux city wastewater treatment plant employees. the action follows an ongoing investigation by the iowa department of natural resources and the epa into releases from the plant. former plant supervisor jay niday, and supervisor pat schwarte, lost their state certifications after improper disinfection practices. they were fired in june. the plant's current supervisor says, now, they are doing things above and beyond what the dnr is requiring. "we're sampling several times a day even though they have not asked us to do so," said maynes. "we just want to prove that we are meeting the requirements. anyone that asks, we can say here's our data. and hopefully that'll clear things up." the two former employees increased chlorine levels on days where they were sampled

requirements... as opposed to consistently being up to par. that's important because the water is discharged into the missouri river. the u.s. senate has passed a resolution to eliminate a bill to expanded definition of the "waters of the u.s." senator joni ernst, of iowa, says the wotus rule represents a "power grab by the federal government". ernst says an iowa farm bureau study warned the bill would give the epa jurisdiction over 97 percent of land in iowa. "the heart of this debate is about how much authority the federal government, and unelected bureacrats, should have when it comes to regulating what is done on private land," said sen. joni ernst, (r) iowa. the legislation heads now to the house of representatives, but still will need a two-thirds majority vote to pass a likely presidential veto. the cooler weather has moved in. but how long will it stick around? chief meteorologis t ron demers joins us now with the first look at our forecast. weather ad-lib it was a day of cooling as some of us saw temps in the 60s early this morning only to see them fall into the upper 40s by late this afternoon. a lot of clouds (but only a few showers) were in the region but we should clear out some tonight and see a

chilly night with lows in the 30s. the next couple of days will stay cooler with highs in the low to mid 50s. today is winter weather awareness day in the states of iowa and nebraska. it's a good time to remind ourselves of how to stay safe in the extremes of weather that winter brings us. (see graphics) and don't forget to sign up for daily e- mails from storm team 4 by going to the weather page on ktiv.com and signing up on the right hand side of the page. and feel free to download the storm team 4 weather app for your phone and tablet to keep up with the changing conditions

tonight is the deadline for airlines to submit bids for the essential air service program to provide air service to sioux gateway airport. the airport board met with city

about future air service. airlines have until 11:59 tonight to file their bid with the department of transportation. right now, american airlines has the contract to serve sioux city with 13 weekly flights to, and from, chicago's o'hare airport. that contract expires april 30th of next year. airport director mike collett says he is hopeful continue service. to chicago and then having a west hub, whether that be a denver or to another direction to go out of sioux city." american started serving sioux gateway in 2012 replacing delta airlines. american's most recent bid for 2014 was for 611- thousand dollars per year. the dot will review the bids, and will post them publically tomorrow. a decision will be made at a later date. (sheila) throughout the past few weeks, we've introduced you to todd

landen, an iraq war veteran, who was injured in 2008. (matt) at sioux city's orpheum theatre, tonight, you have a chance to help landen, and the organization that's helping renovate his home to deal with his disabilities. ktiv's sam curtiss is with "live link 4" for the event. sam, it looks like a good turnout, tonight. matt and sheila... joining me now is projects for patriots member breezy struthers

still to come... a professor with a 40- year-old beard shaves it off! hear why the professor made the decision and the reaction from his students.

it was a day of cooling as some of us saw temps in the 60s early this morning only to see them fall into the upper 40s by late this afternoon. a lot of clouds (but only a few showers) were in the region but we should clear out some tonight and see a chilly night with lows in the 30s. the next couple of days will stay cooler with highs in the low to mid 50s. then highs could get closer to 60 again by sunday and into the first part of next week before some rain may move in by the middle

agriculture secretary tom inductees into the u.s. department's agriculture hall of civil rights activist cesar chavez and biologist dr. mary-dell chilton were inducted. the hall of heroes recognizes those who have had a lasting impact on agriculture and america's rural communities. still to come... a professor battling cancer decides to shave off a part of his identity. hear how his students

(matt) today, dozens of students and staff gathered at morningside college for a special assembly. (sheila) one of their professors faces an obstacle that he's tackling head-on.

:20: "many people notice that middle age men when they cut off their beard they look younger. i figured when i started to feel old i would cut it off. this just pushed it ahead a little bit." the shove to shave came after doctors diagnosed doc with esophageal cancer in august. :33 "my surgeon said straight out the beard has to go. my oncologist said it's going to start falling out by bits and pieces." "sheila brummer says before doc started on the staff of morningside college in 2002, he spent 15 years working at public radio station in iowa and minnesota." 5:01 but, i'm dearly in love with radio, i have been in love with it since high school." and, it was the day after high school doc stopped shaving. 7:16 "i've had the beard since june of 1975." 40 years gone in 20 minutes. precision.

decades of identity chopped away. :52 "when i first looked at it i was taken a back. really, that's what i look like?" a look that should grow on doc over time as he learns a new lesson about life. 1:30 "the support from my family my colleagues and students here has been overwhelming.. they all got my back." >> when doc's students heard about his cancer they decided to make an event out of it. morningside college streamed the shaving on- line and on cable. mass communicatio n students even took the first cuts out of doc's beard. jayden :52 it's just a staple to who he is as a person. i'm sure it's hard for him to lose something like that." katie copple/former student :35 "it's an early stage of cancer and we're all praying for him and come visit him when we can

doc's prognosis looks good. the cancer was caught in stage one. he started chemo and radiation last week. doctors will remove his esphogus and replace it with part of his stomach. doc hopes to be back in class full time next semester. doc first noticed something was wrong when he had trouble swallowing. other symptoms include chest pain, weight loss and chronic cough. men are 3 to 4 times more likely to get this type of cancer. brad's here -- the iowa football playoffs resume on friday. newell-fonda is one of four northwest iowa teams that are we'll hear from the defending 8-man state champions. and, south dakota faces a high-scoring team on saturday -- in what could be a milestone win for coach joe glenn.

last season, newell-fonda won the iowa 8-man state championship as an unranked team. the mustangs haven't been anyone this season, being ranked first or second all still, newell-fonda goes into 0. the mustangs shutout harris-lake park, 35- nothing in round one and then knocked off number-9 gt/ra 28-14 on monday. up next for newell-fonda is

played a ranked team in the postseason yet. the mustangs have met every challenge this season, and their next step is clear, get back to the uni-dome to defend their title. "i tell our kids all the time, successful football teams have three characteristics," said newell-fonda head coach brian wilken. "one, they're unselfish. two. they play together and three, they play extremely hard and i think our kids do that awfully, awfully well." next season, iowa will go back to a playoff system where 16 teams make the playoffs, instead of the current system where 32 make it. that will allow teams a week between playoff games, giving them more time to recover. but newell-fonda and the other playoff teams will be playing their third game in ten days -- and that's not easy. "you got to get your kids legs back under you," added wilken. "you've got to get the bumps and bruises healed up. a very good football team comes here come friday night and we gotta make sure our kids are ready and ready to play good football." newell-fonda and colo- nesco play at 7 o'clock on friday. see highlights from the iowa

extra tomorrow night at 10. this summer, we asked for football gear from siouxland schools for our set on sportsfource extra. we got some great equipment like this. the basketball edition of sportsfource extra is coming up and we need your help again. if you have any school gear, we when the season is over -- back. you can send it to us at ktiv, at our new address, 2929 signal hill drive -- or you can sports fource extra tips off december 4th. the south dakota football team had their two-game winning streak snapped last week at northern iowa. the coyotes host southern illinois for the first time ever on saturday. usd is 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the conference. southern illinois is 3-5, but those five losses are by a combined 14 points -- including a 1-point loss at indiana. the coyotes are averaging just 21 points per game, while the salukis are averaging almost 40. obvoiusly, the numbers aren't in south dakota's favor, unless the defense steps up. "we can't let them score 39 points and

score seven points and win many football games," said south dakota head coach joe glenn. "we'll improve on offense, defense. i don't think it's going to be a low-scoring game if that's what you're asking me but i think our defense will rise to the occasion." coach glenn is trying for his 200th career win. that's a 1 o'clock kickoff saturday in the dakotadome. the bulls are off to a 3-2 start under new coach fred hoiberg. chicago is home tonight against oklahoma city -- but the bulls will again will be without kirk hinrich. the sioux city west grad took an injection for his injured toe and must be idle for two more days. the 34-year has not played in four of the bulls

it's his 13th seasothe son of a polish immigrant who grew up in a brooklyn tenement. he went to public schools, then college, where the work of his life began -- fighting injustice and inequality, speaking truth to power. he moved to vermont, won election and praise as one of america's best mayors. in congress, he stood up for working families and for principle, opposing the iraq war, supporting veterans. now he's taking on wall street and a corrupt political system funded by over a million contributions, tackling climate change to create clean-energy jobs, fighting for living wages, equal pay, and tuition-free public colleges. people are sick and tired of establishment politics, and they want real change! [ cheers and applause ] bernie sanders -- husband, father, grandfather,

to give us a future to believe in.