[ applause ] two sioux city teenagers who conspired to rob a local bank branch where one of them worked are being sentenced today. an-helica perez and heaven zevenbergen both pleaded guilty to second-degree theft. they're being sentenced in separate hearings today in woodbury county district court. perez' hearing has just concluded. she was sentenced to up to five years in prison. sentencing for zevenbergen was scheduled to start after perez' hearing. she also faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. last august, perez, disguised as a man, walked to the counter of the security national bank branch inside the hy-vee store on hamilton boulevard. she said she had a weapon and demanded money.

handed over the cash. the women were arrested a few days later and admitted to staging the robbery. ktiv's tiffany lane is covering today's sentencings and will have the details tonight on news four. south dakota's death penalty would be repealed under a measure that's being considered today by the senate state affairs committee. the bill's main sponsor is republican senator arthur rusch of vermillion. he's a former judge who has prosecuted a death penalty case. rusch told the committee this morning he's seen first-hand how costly and hard and court personnel. he says death penalty cases are unfairly taxing on county governments and he doesn't believe the punishment is an effective crime deterrent. last year, the same two measures to repeal or limit the death penalty. a pair of bills in the iowa legislature that would increase the speed limit on rural two-lane roads are raising concerns among some authorities. a subcommittee has approved measures that would increase the hour.

safety at the iowa d-o-t says when speeds increase, fatalities increase. woodbury county sheriff dave drew says it would be best to leave the speed limit alone. he says when you speed up five or ten miles per hour, you increase your injuries and property damage if you have an accident. > weather ad-lib a light snow dusting will greet some northwest iowans/southeast south dakotans early this morning, so plan for a slightly longer morning commute where some roads will be snow-covered. snow will quickly move southeast this morning and exit by lunchtime leaving us with a coating of snow up to an inch or two farther north and east, mostly cloudy and temperatures in the 20s. clouds should stick around for the most part tonight which will

fall short in the sunshine department again thursday with similar temperatures and perhaps another quick snow dusting late tomorrow evening over northwest iowa. we'll continue our cold trend into the weekend when temperatures are forecast to drop below zero friday night and top out in the teens saturday afternoon with a chance of snow showers. valentine's day will bring a decent temperature hike into the 30s with yet another chance of snow showers. much better warming into the 40s is expected next week! see graphics. >> the so-called establishment s of both political parties have been rocked to the core with the outcome of the new hampshire primary. the outsiders won, and won big. now, they set their sights on south carolina. nbc's chris clackum has more.

second...albeit a distant second.. he, too was the on the today show. john kasich / (r) presidential candidate "i was the only one with a really positive message." disappointed by how surprisingly poor he did, marco rubio remains unfazed. marco rubio / (r) presidential candidate "i think in the months and weeks to come, you're not gong to see anyone work harder or more passionately." ted cruz came in third... but is expected to have a better showing in south carolina where the next republican primary takes place february 20th. the 20th is also when the democrats next face off... in nevada.. ...after bernie sanders turned his underdog campaign into a real fight in new hampshire. bernie sanders / (d) presidential candidate "together we have sent a message that will echo from wall street to washington." while hillary clinton's campaign was bruised by the margin of her loss, she struck a note of confidence tuesday night hillary clinton / (d) presidential candidate "it's not whether you get knocked down, it's about whether you get back up." one casualty of new hampshire... chris christie is said to be contemplating an end to his

the morning after his big win in new hampshire, bernie sanders met one-on-one with the reverend al sharpton at a landmark harlem restaurant. sharpton says they discussed issues that affect the african- american community around the country -- including affirmative action, police brutality and the water disaster in flint, michigan. rev. al sharpton / civil rights activist "my concern is that in january of next year, for the first time in american history a black family will be moving out of the white house. i do not want black concerns to be moved out with them." sharpton says he plans to meet with hillary clinton next week. he says he won't endorse any candidate until after that meeting. voters have approved a 16-million dollar bond issue to pay for improvements at all five campuses of iowa lakes community college. the measure passed with 63 percent approval at the polls tuesday. it needed 60 percent to pass. homeowners will pay an extra 11-dollars and 70-cents per 100-thousand dollar

i-l-c-c is based in estherville. it serves 12 counties in nortwest and north central iowa. the sioux city school district has presented it's initial contract offer to teachers. the district is proposing a 1-point-14 percent pay increase for district employees. the union asked for a six-percent increase for salaried teachers in its initial proposal. the two sides will now try to hammer out a deal. superintendent dr. paul gausman says it's a challenge to negotiate this time of year because it isn't known yet how much state aid the district will receive. "based on all the conversations we've had with the legislatures. we have a rough idea what could happen here; so the board had to open in a position they felt like they coud certainly afford," said dr. paul gausman, superintendent of schools. the contract negotiations will be private from this point forward. the woodry county sheriff's office will provide law enforcement services to correctionvil le.

deal on tuesday. sheriff dave drew says he sees the agreement as a necessity for rural communities. he says having one or two police officers can drain the budget of a small town. "i think the visibility of having the sheriff's office there and the stability helps the communities. it's been well received by the communities. i think there's been some concern in the beginning, but they found that it just provides better protection," said woodbury county sheriff, dave drew. every town in woodbury county has signed a deal like this with the sheriff's office except for moville. a wild elephant went on a rampage in west india today causing a lot of damage. the panicked pachyderm ran amok, smashing homes and sending frightened running. the female elephant had wandered into town from a nearby forest. a forest officer said the elephant appeared to be a loner, and was likely searching for food. the elephant did not

animal, authorities shot it with a tranquilizer gun and used a crane to remove it from town. this is usually the sign that mardi gras festivities in new orleans are over. police did their traditional street sweep at midnight last night, after the parades came to an end. mayor mitch landrieu joined the officers on horseback. the move is largely symbolic because bars stay open anyway. more than a-million people usually come to new orleans for mardi gras. parts of siouxland got a fresh layer of light snow this morning. what's ahead? stay tuned for the forecast from meterologist ben dorenbach coming up next on news four at noon. here's the live view from our skycam in spencer, iowa, where it's and degrees

some areas saw a little bit of

another chance of snow showers. much better warming into the 40s is expected next week! see graphics. >> > military veterans were treated to a valentine's meal last night, put on by the local group, "support siouxland soldiers." volunteers served walking tacos and soup. veterans were given valentine's day cards made by local students.. and they got free haircuts and sacks of groceries to take home. organizers say there's a big need for veterans services. "about six months ago, we were averaging about 245 families here, of veterans, their wives, their kids. and last month, in december, we had 545 families join us, and tonight we're looking at another 545 to 600 veterans coming." said sam hacker, community relations director for support siouxland soldiers. there will be another food for veterans event in april. nebraska lawmakers hear from farmers.. and school officials... on the governor's property tax plan.

and later, the dad who says his kids were late to school.... because they were at a

drawing praise from nebraska's farming community and opposition from school officials, who would face new restrictions on raising local taxes. both sides argued their case to the legislature's education committee. farmers testified that property taxes have increased even though the economy has weakened. school officials say the state should increase its funding for k-12 education. ricketts says the bill strikes a balance because some farmers and ranchers believe it doesn't do enough, while some school officials say it's too burdensome. woodbury county officials are looking at ways to boost it's smaller communities. the rural economic development department is proposing to use local option sales tax dollars to come up with economic development plans for the towns. it would look at factors like future land use, zoning ordinances, and economic and community development. moville and sergeant bluff already have plans, but 11 other communities don't. "what i'm trying to do is help these communities do some long range

take a hard look at their community, their existing capacities and find out what do you want your community too look like in the next 20, 30 years," said woodbury county rural economic development director, david gleiser. the county plans to apply for a rural development grant from the u.s. department of agriculture to help fund the effort. > stocks are edging mostly higher. traders were encouraged by word from fed chair

bank is not in a hurry to raise interest rates. a nine-year business relationship has evolved into a partnership for the sioux city foundry. it's struck a deal with s-s- a-b and hardox wearparts, an international company that offers specialized steel making. the foundry's c-e-o calls the new partnership a win-win for both companies. "there's new inventory, new services, there's new processes that we have. at the same time it's a double edge sword. they grow we grow. we grow hardox grows," said andy galinsky, sioux city foundry ceo. the partnership gives the sioux city foundry an opportunity to grow its market base. "hardox becomes our largest sales forces. they cover the entrie midwest they have been covering the entire midwest for decades.

said andy galinsky, sioux city foundry ceo. s-s-a-b says the strong customer relationship the foundry has with its customers made the partnership an easy decison. still ahead: epic excuse. a dad says his kids were late for school because.... they were at a bruce springsteen concert... and it was a sight drivers on a phoenix freeway couldn't believe. meet the puppy who was stranded on a median.. and her new owners

here's a live look at west lake okoboji from our okoboji skycam... "bruce springsteen made my kids late for school." it may sound crazy, but it's what a new york dad told his kids' teachers. patrick papino took his 7 and 12-year-old kids to a springsteen concert monday night. they didn't get home until early tuesday morning, so papino let the kids sleep in and sent the epic note to school with them. patrick papino / wrote springsteen excuse "we live life by three rules. be kind to everyone you can. help as many people as you can. and when the boss brings the band to town, be there." believe it or not, the excuse may fly because one of the teachers was also at the concert. mom, however, is also a teacher and not too thrilled with the whole situation. they say a picture is worth a thousand words. but in the case of a little pup

a picture is worth a new home. monique griego has the story.

to fly down your face because she's going to okay. many years ago, we had a dog that looked like dottie. so when we saw her huddled on that median, our hearts went out to her." denis and marci are retired and have plenty of time to spend with dottie. she also has a new sister named minni. s/soleil dolce/az equestrian rescue 1:09- 1:18 "i know dottie is going to enjoy her time here. they're wonderful caretakers and clearly they love their animals. dottie is really lucky out after everything she's been through." >> still ahead, the sioux city

certain pieces that we enjoy more than others and they mean certain things to us, so they'll be giving that commentary throughout the night. it's going to be a really magical evening. you were saying they weren't easy on themselves, they picked some challenging pieces. absolutely. the repertoire for this program is really exciting, electrifying, and extremely challenging. the last piece is probably the most difficult work written for orchestra but what a show stopping piece of music, it'll be really intense. it's about the past, present, and future of the musicians and the sioux city symphony. that's right, a special part in addition to everything else will be a partnership with the siouxland youth orchestra. the youth symphony will be performing a special side by side piece in the evening. this is going to be a great concert for anybody to come out to. if you've heard the symphony before or not, if you're a first timer, this will be a great time to check you guys out. we're a family friendly environment. anywhere we can express the great things that music is about, where we express life, it's a welcoming environment. if this is your hundredth time, your first time, it will be a really special evening for everyone. saturday february 13th 7:30 at the orpheum theatre. ryan thanks for being here. of course, thanks. thanks for