i'm robert lowe. on thursday, the diocese of sioux city annouced a detailed plan to consolidate, and close, dozens of its parishes in the summer of -17. church-goers across northwest iowa now have to come to grips with the closure. ktiv's michelle schoening joins us live in the newsroom. michelle, you spoke with members in one of those communities, what did they say? robert, parishioners tell me ellendale was set to close 8 years ago in another consolidation plan. but they fought to keep it open. and say, they won't hesitate to do the same this time around. on a sunday in rural plymouth county, st. joseph-ellendale is anything but quiet. (nat pop) ellendale is one for the 40 parishes on the proposed sioux city diocese's 2025 plan to move to oratory status. "i understand that may be the best plan for the diocese, but it is not the best plan for our church," sasa alise allan, parishioner. fath david hemann is the priest at ellendale.

churches in northwest iowa, it is growing. "there's a hundred-plus people who come to mass. it's pretty lively. it's going very well right now, " said fr. david hemann. but the problem resides with a projection of not enough priests to cover all parishes. and while parishioners at ellendale understand it's only a draft plan, it doesn't sit well. "due to the closings that we went through localy in the past couple years, it doesn't lead a lot of comffrt to that. but i do know that we e ave a voice aad an opportunity to ssak that," said alise allan, parishioner. so for now the members at ellendale will continue to fill the pews, and pray for their parish. father david said he sees s ellendale becoming an eventual oratory. meaning it won't hit oratoryy status immediatly in july of 2017. he saibecause it's a thriving parish, he would like to supply a retired priest as long as possible. robert. orange city residents will head to the polls on march 1st to decide if their

built in 1973, the current station houses the trucks and gear. the orange city fire chief says the expansion iss all about the safety of the fififighters. voting polls will bebepen from 7 a-m to 8 p-m at the living waters church. fresh off his surprise endorsement from new jersey governor and former presidential candidate chris christie. the g-o-p frontrunner donald trump is back on the campaign trail. nbc's hallie jackson has the latest.

a lot of outsidees are comin in because they like what i say. s/senator marco rubio/(r)presidentia l candidate there's no way the party of lincoln and reagan is gonna be taken over by a con artist and we're gonna do everything we can. i will be in this race as long as it takes. maybe all the way to a contested convention - rubio, ready for it - even as establishment republicans worry his new tough tone may be too late - the new york times - reporting a frantic scramble to try to slow trump down ... the attacks against him - escalating. s/senator ted cruz/(r) presidential candidate "it doesn't hurt that he inherited $200 million from his daddy. thaa's a very goooway to get rich, piik the right daddy." ted cruz - overnight - releasing his tax returns and rubio has, too putting pressure on trump to do the same. s/senator ted cruz/(r) presidential candidate this is a man who prides himself on not getting scared of anything so what is it he's scared about handing over his tax returns? s/donald trump/(r)presidenti al candidate tax returns don't mean anything about worth, just so you understand, and you never give a tax return when you're being audited. the frontrunner - on defense - but - in

and a new poll finds republican presidential frontrunner donald trump leading the field in georgia and tennessee ahead of super tuesday. but senator ted cruz is ahead in his home state of texas. according to the new nbc news - wall street journal - marist poll ... in georgia, 30-percent of likely republican primary voters support trump. followed by senators ted cruz and marco rubio - tied with 23-percent each. on the democratic side, a new nbc news - wall street journal - mariststoll shows hillary clinton leading senator bernie sanders by a near two-to- one margin in three key super tuesday states. clinton's biggest lead is in georgia, with 64- percent of likely democratic primary voters, compared to 30-percent for sanders. our little stretch of spring-like warmth was nice while it lasted but sadly the warmth has moved

towards the east coast and now we're heading back towards a more wintry pattern. a cold front moved thorough earlier on this morning giving us a little line of showers along with gusty winds. temperatures have been much colder than what they were yesterday with highs in the low to mid 40s for most towns. we will drop below freezing tonight with the winds beginning to subside some. monday looks to be on the mild side due to a warm front moving in, and high pressure to the south. this warm front is actually associated with an area of moisture that looks to bring siouxland its next snowfall. a 2-month old girl who as

her home in florida has been found some 200-miles away. teraji kemp was found alive in orlando... hours from her home in fort lauderdale... after being missing for about 17-hours authorities says the baby girl and her mother were asleep at their house friday night... when gunmen broke in and took the girl. teraji is now at a hospital i orlando... awaiting positive identification. no word yet on the whereabouts of the suspected armed kidnappers. members of the prince william county, virginia police department and firefighters lined the streets to honor a newly sworn officer killed in the line of duty on her first day. officer ashley guindon was sworn into the prince william county police on friday. saturday was her first official day on the j j. she and two other officers were respspding to a domestic disturbance when shots were fired...all three officers were hit and guindon died from her injuries. the suspected shooter is in custody but has not been identified. the first victim shot during a deadly shooting spree at a manufacturing plant in

melissa torres says she's worked in the paint industry at excel for eight months. she says while spraying and drying parts on thursday... she heard at least five gunshots outside. torres says that's when cedric ford walked through the door. she ran with other co- workers as ford opened fire. torres was struck in the hand, hip, and back. "i mean, i know this is over and i will get past it, but still it's just going to take time for me to be able to feel completely calm, and i don't know if that will ever happen." torres was one of 14 people injured. three other co-workers were killed. authorities arrested a man they say got into a scuffle with a minnesota police officer. then stole multiple vehicles from northwest iowa as he made his way to kansas. ktiv's sam curtiss has more.

out his lawton farm window, willer saw this around noon on friday: a pizza ranch van parked in it's place. "i was kind of curious as to why the hired man was driving a pizza ranch van," said willer. turns out, it wasn't his hired hand. the van had been stolen from a pizza ranch in sheldon that morning. authorities say 26-year- old ivie popplewell of winona, minnesota, scuffled with police outside a worthington hospital. then worked his way south stealing both vehicles. "he had to know a little bit of what he was doing," said willer. and he did. a woodbury county deputy says popplewell has a license. translation - he can drive a semi. ottawa police caught - southwest of kansas city. "all those weigh scales, dot stations, i mean to get where he don't know how many law officials," said willer. though popplewell is in custody willers semi- trailer is still an electric company in st. joseph's, missouri, called willer complaining his truck damaged a bunch of equipment. "i apologized that happened down at your place but i informed him at that point that that truck had been reported stolen," said willer. and that's how pizza ranch found out their van was stolen. a driver called to complain of a reckless driver. and certainly not a thoughtful one either. "no, they did not bring me any pizza," said willer. "he sure could of." sam curtiss "he sure could of." ktiv news four. popplewell is being held in the franklin county jail in kansas.

willers truck has been located at a tire center in ottawa, kansas. no word yet on the condition of the truck. popplewell is being held in the franklin county jail in kansas. his mugshot has not been released at this time. willers truck has been located at a tire center in ottawa, kansas. no word yet on the condition of the truck. coming up on news 4 at 5 the musketeers were back at home today, trying to break a losing skid. mark's in later with highlights

but sadly the warmth has moved

towards the east coast and now we're heading back towards a more wintry pattern. a cold front moved thorough eaeaier on this morning giving us a little line of showers along with gusty winds. temperatures have been much colder than what they were yesterday with highs in the low to mid 40s for most towns. we will drop below freezing tonight with the winds beginning to subside some. monday looks to be on the mild side due to a warm front moving in, and high pressure to the south. this warm front is actually associated with an area of moisture that looks to bring siouxland its next snowfall. this low pressure will move through monday night, maybe starting out as a little mix before changing over to snow. this one looks to drop anywhere from an 1" or less across the viewing area. some models have showed higher amounts so this is something that bears watching, and please stay updated with us here at news 4 and ktiv.com. as that low pressure exits temperatures will drop back close to freezing for highs on tuesday. the sunshine returns and temperatures rebound for wednesday. we climb back into the mid 40s but drop again for thursday. then we start our next warming

week. highs will begin topping out in the upper 40s again come next weekend. >>

night we've got a preview of hollywoods biggest night. stay

the 88th annual academy awards getting underway in just a few hours in hollywood. the year's best in film will be honored in a ceremony that's getting extra attention for reasons beyond the statuettes. jinah kim has more from the red carpet.

issue squarely in his comedic sights. (sot nicole sperling / senior writer, entertainment weekly 1:19-1:23) "he's such a good satirist. and he has such annbility to see things in a unique way." part of what could be an oscars night remember. jinah kim,nbc news, hollywood. >> mark's in now with sports - the quarterfinals of the n-s-i-c tournament... (mark) wayne state women... looking to upend the top mark's in now with sports - the quarterfinals of the n-s-i-c tournament... (mark) wayne state women... looking to upend the top seed northern state. highlights from sioux falls are after the break. plus, the musketeers try to stop a losing skid at home.

the wayne state women beat u-mary in the opening round of the n-s-i-c tournament on wednesday. that wildcat victory set up a quarterfinal matchup with the top seed on their side of the bracket, northern state. wayne state was 13-and-9 in conference play in the regular season. wildcats down 46-18 at half, trying to chip away in he third.....taylor reiner from three reigns the deficit back inside 20 to the 4th quarter, wildcats trying to make a push - maggie schulte with a nice crossover - comes up a little gimpy, but still counts on the scoreboard. then kacie o'connor hits 3 of herer2 points....wayne state got within 11.... ...but that's as close as they could get....paige waytashek stops the rally an northern state ends wayne state's season, 76-56. the nebraska women - hosting

arena. 2nd quarter - huskers up 6 - rachel blackburn with the easy bucket - nebraska takes a 28-20 lead. and they'd finish the half strong - nobody covers maddie simon - simon makes the wildcats pay with the three ball - nebraska up 8 at the break. to the 4th quarter - jessica shepard - pick and roll - that's how it's done. huskers win, 76-67. the iowa men took their first home loss on wednesday, falling to surging wisconsin by 8 points. the hawkeyes are in a bit of a february funk, losing three of their last four games. iowa - taking to the road for another tough test against ohio state. the hawkeyes, still in a second-place tie in the big ten, at 11-4 in conference. second half - hawks down 5 - peter jok - from the corner - hits the triple - iowa back within 2. mike gesell had a huge game - 4 minutes to play, he puts the hawkeyes up 6 on the drive. but back come the buckeyes - marc loving with the corner triple - ohio state within 1. then kam williams bangs another one

the lead for good... the creighton men, coming off a loss to marquette - back at home against st. john's. 7 minutes in - bluejays get it in to zac hanson - bucket and 1 - creighton up 7 after the 3 point play. it was senior day at the centurylink center - james milliken is a senior - he cans a three - 12 poitns in the first half, 19 for the game. later in the half - creighton up 13 - isaiah zierden - for three. it was an 18-nothing scoring run - cole huff adds a triple - bluejays bounce back in a big way, 100-to-59. the musketeers have lost 10 of their last 11 games. in that stretch, sioux city has been outscored 44-to-15. the muskies lost to sioux falls last night - madison visiting the tyson events center today. first period - musketeers withth

ryan edquist - keeping it scoreless. 5 minutes in - muskies center it - cj dodero finishes, corner of the net - sioux city on the board first, up 1- nothing. david fessenden - getting the start in goal today - makes the save here - 23 on the afternoon. after madison tied it at 1, eeli tolvanen pops the water bottle with the one timer. sioux city up 2-1 after one, but madison comes back to win...

we'll show you how it's using beer baths to get rid of insomnia. and a kitten abandoned in california was taken in by an animal shelter. how his cute face has helped him go from stray to social media star. presented to the project for patriots. the organization provides chiropractic care to "active military, their families as ll as wounded warriors and all gold star dependents." many of the exhibitors donated both time and

on this sunday night, trump slammed. the frontrunner drawing fire from fellow republicans and democrats tonight for refusing to condemn the former leader of the ku klux klan. and bernie sanders looks for a path forward after hillary clinton's south carolina landslide. fallen hero. officer and former marine killed on the job just one day after she's sworn in. tonight, the small town police department in mourning.

the intense debate in one state that would allow the smallest hands to put their fingers on a trigger. the snack craze a lot of people are chewing on. "nightly news" begins now. >> announcer: decision 2016. this is nbc "nightly news" with kate snow reporting tonight from austin, texas. good evening from austin, texas. just over 36 hours until polls open here and across 11 other states. it is shaping up to be a pivotal night for so many campaigns. the republican race took on a mean edge today. ted cruz and marco rubio attacking donald trump over everything from his taxes, to his business connections and foreign policy. and trump was on defense, especially when it came to an interview this morning in which trump was asked about a