the winter blues have taken over downtown sioux city. "there's just a lot of concrete downtown," said chris cowell, planner. downtown partners, the iowa initiative for sustainable communities, with the design help of students from the university of iowa want to spruce up downtown with a number of greenspaces. the spaces are meant to enhance the livability and sustainability for anyone downtown. and there are a number of suggestions to consider. "population the number of people that work in certain blocks, shade and sunlight. things that greenspaces needs," said chris cowell, planner. "the downtown greenspaces could vary by simply adding planters to the sidewalks to give that pop of color to areas with benches and swings," said michelle schoening, siouxland's news channel. "maybe rooftop gardens, green walls, planting vines and other plantings on walls in sioux city. utilizing other buildings or spaces that aren't maybe being utilized and make them green," said chris cowell, planner. and the skies the limit on the

greenspaces to occupy. "everythiing public, everything private. what downtown when you come in as a visitor or as you're walking to lunch would make a difference in your daily life," said ragen cote, executive director of downtown partners sioux city the final design plan from the university of iowa students will be presented in may. but the key to the success in a project like this...is the power of public input. "for the city it's a chance to say, these are the things were would like to see," said ragen cote, executive director of downtown partners sioux city >> the project leaders will hold a community open house at the sioux city public museum on march 5 from noon until 3 p.m. to get that public input. that's when they'll get input from public to see how the spaces will be used. matt and shelia. a downtown sioux city hotel is getting a multimillion dollar facelift. renovations at the howard johnson on fourth street began in may 2015. it's a three-million dollar project that's more than halfway done. owners say it is an exciting process for them and the franchise. "they are rebranding their brand so they expect a lot of

hotel from the brand," "so we are doing a lot of stuff according to the franchise requirements." there's a new heating and cooling system, a re- done lobby and ballroom on the top floor. the bathrooms in all 152 rooms have been redone and the rooms have been repainted. there is also a restaurant and bar that opened last week inside the hotel. "hotel is going to the right direction and the right path of better, i think that it should work out best for the city people also, help as in conventions. we have tied up with the convention center. it brings a lot of business." renovations are expected to be completed by march 2017. the boys club of sioux city is taking a big step this summer, and will become the boys & girls club. with over 4,000 clubs across the country, sioux city's location is 1 of 4 that is still a boys-only club. the club will begin welcoming girls starting june 6th for its summer program. many programs across the country are

sioux city wants to include female specific programs to make the transition easier. organizers say that this is going to be a great step for the club as a whole. "hopefully this gives them the oppurtunity to have a safe fun place that they can go after school to learn and grow throughout the school year and the summer," said eldon bensen, chief personal officer for the boys club of sioux city. the organization is excited to finally take the step to become the boys & girls club of sioux city. we saw the sun today but are snow showers on the way? let's check in with chief meteorologist ron demers to find out. weather ad-lib today was a bit cooler with a steady north breeze blowing throughout the day. we have some changes coming our way tonight as a quick moving system will affect siouxland. we'll see a chance of an evening mix changing to some snow showers early tonight. only very light accumulations would take place with most areas staying under half an inch. any

here by thursday morning. after cloudy start, we'll see a few peeks of sun by later in the day although it'll be breezy and just a bit cooler. tomorrow, the diocese of sioux city will announce what it calls ministry. a spokesperson says these changes will affect the 108 parishes, priests and parishioners. we'll learn more during a news conference at 1:30 tomorrow afternoon. ktiv will be there, and we'll stream the announcement live on our website, ktiv-dot-com. senator charles grassley is defending his party's refusal to consider a u-s supreme court nominee. gop leaders plan to block

decison. grassley says the nominating process should be something the people should have a voice in. he says that can happen if presidential candidates talk about their criteria for the nation's highest court. voters can then express their opinion at the voting booth on election day. "these are things that we ought to decide in a national election, "said sen. charles grassley, (r) iowa. "and those are issues that can be discussed in the next election. and, so it's not about a person. it's about the process." the iowa republican chairs the committee that will hold hearings on the next supreme court nominee. a des moines public high school has opened two gender-neutral staffers. the principal at roosevelt high school said that two staff-only, single-toilet bathrooms no longer have sign now on each says is available for students and staff members. tanning has once again become a hot topic in the south dakota legislature.

bill that would ban all minors from using indoor tanning beds. the bill has passed through the house "health and human services" committee. one doctor, who gave a testimony on behalf of the bill says it's necessary to keep kids safe. "this is something that you cannot realize the damage that you're doing until you're 34, 35 and you see the effect of it. it's very common that the things we do when we're young, we don't understand the risks down the road." the bill that only passed 7 to 6 in the house health and human services committee will now be heading to the full house. nebraska voters can expect to hear a lot about capital punishment between now and the november election. those who are opposed to the death penalty launched the next phase of their campaign. this is the first commercial "retain a just nebraska" has released. lawmakers abolished the death penalty in may, but a petition drive is bringing the issue to voters in november. death penalty supporters have said they plan to campaign in favor of keeping the punishment.

been sentenced to one year probation after he admitted to mistreating an animal. three teens were arrested back in october after a video surfaced of them torturing and killing a cat. the teen had originally faced felony animal abuse charges but admitted responsibility to misdemeanor animal mistreatment charge. he was also ordered to complete 50 hours of community service and follow a curfew. three people linked to robberies in sioux city have pleaded not guilty. 16-year-old jamaal ferguson, 20-year-old robert seaberry and 16-year-old austin bulizak have all pleaded not guilty. they have been charged with first-degree robbery related to the shooting of a sioux city police officer at the beginning of the month. four other people were arrested in the incident. the sioux city police department continues to investigate a number of counterfeit currency cases. this is video sioux city police posted to their facebook page. they say this man passed several counterfeit bills on february 20th at a local business. the police are asking for the public's help in identifying

a tattoo behind his right ear and tattoos on both arms. if you have any information you are asked to contact crime stoppers at 712-258-tips or detective bill nice at 712- 279-6384. if you would like to see the numbers again, we have them on our website, ktiv dot com. still to come... you can more than just "like" something on facebook, now. we talked to local students to see how they feel about the change. today was a bit cooler with a steady north breeze blowing throughout the day. we have

changes coming our way tonight as a quick moving system will

siouxland. we'll see a chance of an evening mix changing to some snow showers early tonight. only very light accumulations would take place with most areas staying under half an inch. any precipitation should be out of here by thursday morning. after a cloudy start, we'll see a few peeks of sun by later in the day although it'll be breezy and just a bit cooler. warming quickly comes our way as we get back into the 40s friday and 60 could be achieved on saturday here in sioux city. sunday will be breezy and a little cooler with a passing rain shower not out of the question. a slightly better chance of precipitation could come our way by tuesday with a rain and snow mix

still to come... a new transmission line coming to nebraska will help more people get power. a look at the

their true feelings now. today, facebook revealed "reaction" emojis, which are an extension of the like button. it features reactions of "wow", "haha", "love", "sad" and the closeso a dislike button... "angry." on top of that, you can continue to like a post as users have been able to do all along. the reactions are available to users worldwide.

briar cliff says the reactions might help clear up some awkward situations. "there's always those status updates that people put that people don't necessarily want to like," said kristen perez, an assistant digital media professor at briar cliff university. "like when something negative happens like a death, somebody's mourning the loss of something or something bad happens and it's kind of that 'am i going to like this or not'." to use the new feature just hover over the "like" button with your mouse. or, if you're using your phone, hold the button down. construction of a 39 mile transmission line picked up in norfolk, nebraska today. it's 345,000 volts and runs from hoskins to neligh. nebraska public power officials say it is similar to threading a needle. the use of a helicopter is common in rugged terrain and it saves time and does less damage to the land. they say it's important that these transmission lines are reliable. "in 2012 we had a real strain on the transmission system through the central part of the state,

temperatures at that time and it was putting a big strain on the transmission system." when it's complete, the line will help meet consumers' electricity needs. the u.s. department of agriculture says the value of south dakota's 2015 field and miscellaneous crops is forecast at $6.05 billion...a 7% decrease from 2014. the value of corn production is expected to total 2.60 billion dollars. and...the value of soybean production is expected to total $1.98 billion. brad's here -- two former iowa state employees have new jobs. paul rhoads is now working in the s-e-c, while an administrator is the new athletic director at northern iowa. and, the hawkeyes are back on the floor tonight to try and slow down wisconsin. sports

men and women, with a budget of about 13- million dollars. today, uni hired david harris as their new athletic director. harris comes to cedar falls after working at iowa state for nearly ten years. harris, on the right -- is currently senior associate athletic director at iowa state, serving as the administrator for football, men's basketball and wrestling. he has also worked in the athletic deparments at

harris replaces troy dannen, who left in december to become the a-d at tulane. as with most mid-major schools, harris says the biggest obstacle facing uni is financial. "at a place like uni, that's gonna be even more extreme," said harris. "so clearly coming in as our coaches and our student athletes are coming to us, to our senior management team, saying these are the things that we're going to need to compete." harris will begin his duties at uni on march 28th. former iowa state head football coach paul rhoads has been hired by arkansas as its defensive backs coach. rhoads was fired by isu in november after seven seasons, where he had a 32-55 record, including 3-9 in his final season. before that he spent nine seasons as a defensive coordinator at pittsburgh and auburn. while at pittsburgh, rhoads coached six defensive backs who were picked in the nfl draft. it seems like the hawkeyes haven't played a game in a long time, but it's only been seven days. eighth-ranked iowa will host

being upset at penn state last wednesday. the badgers have won eight of their last nine. wisconsin has also won five straight against the hawkeyes, and swept iowa last season. the hawks haven't beaten the badgers in over three years. these games always seem to be close -- five of the last seven meetings have been decided by five points or less. wisconsin has three players averaging double figures in points. "you know what you're going to get out of koenig and hayes certainly, you know that," said iowa head coach fran mccaffery. "those guys, the more they've gotten to play, the more they've been in situations where they have to take big shots and make big plays. they've done that." iowa and wisconsin tipoff at 8 o'clock on the big ten network. the gpac tournament gets underway tonight. on the men's side, top- seeded briar cliff ons up against northwestern . the chargers won the gpac regular season title with an 18-2 record. bc swept northwestern , winning 104-81 and 99-91. the red raiders were the last team to get into the conference tourney, going 9-11 in league play. the chargers have already clinched a spot in the

they know that northwestern will be fighting to keep their season alive. "i think it's always a challenge to have to beat a team three times," said briar cliff head coach nic nelson. "so what both teams will do is look at the film from the previous games, both teams will make adjustments, take some things away that they didn't the first couple games. i think that's always an interesting dynamic, particularly when one team swept the other team, how that third game's is going to go." briar cliff and northwestern play at 8 o'clock. the dordt men play at nebraska wesleyan at 7. in the women's gpac tournament -- fourth-seeded briar cliff and concordia are already underway. top-seeded morningside plays saint mary at 7 o'clock. northwestern goes to mount marty at 7. the gpac semifinals are saturday. we'll have the highlights and scores at ten. the naia division ii women's national t trnament starts in

fan filled arena's but for one high school basketball team in perry, iowa, it's turned into a mockery as opposing fans have used the chant and presidential candidate trump's name to target minority basketball players. the controversy tonight on news 4 at 10. they say every dog has its day... just ask the next labrador retriever you meet. labs have a lot to wag their tails about these days. according to the american kennel club, the breed is now in its 25th year as the top u.s. dog breed. but some other breeds also have a lot to bark about. beagles, bulldogs, golden retrievers and german shepherds are also part of the five top breeds.

this is hadley. tonight: mix/snow showers possible. low: 27 wind: nw 10-20 mph tomorrow: breezy and cooler. high: 36 wind: nw 15-25 mph thanks for joining us tonight... et is up next... don't forget to go to ktiv-dot- com for all of your news, weather, and sports... see you back here

tonight, celine dion's performance break down. all by myself >> she wasn't sure would have the strength to go back on stage withou renee. mid song she stoped. >> behind the scenes of her tearful return to the stage. she reveals she still talks to her lahusband. >> he's tell meg zip in and start singing. >> melania trump's one on one interview since his run. their surprising love story and "e.t.'s" interview with melania, what she said about her husband's white house ambitions 17 ago. >> and chrissy teigen pregnancy controversy. why she chose to have a baby girl.