kathy sabine expects flurries to make it to denver tonight. >> this first wave is not a terribly strong storm. there's another one after this one that will complicate things further for friday morning. as we check out the radar and satellite composite, we can see the showers pushing on shore in california. they're dealing with heavy flooding rain. we're dealing with one wave beginning to lift out of albuquerque toward the northeast. not terribly strong. the second system moving across southern california arrives on thursday night. heavy snow expected. with a winter storm warning that's now in effect for southwestern colorado. winter weather advisories outside of durango and trinidad will be upgraded to a winter storm watch by tomorrow. snow develops in denver after midnight, light snow expected for the morning drive. expecting an inch or so of accumulation tomorrow. into friday. so dry pavement tonight. probably not so much tomorrow morning. temperatures are comfortable now. but they'll be trending downward heading into the

we're going to detail that snow forecast for you, kyle, coming up in a few minutes. not one but two storm systems heading our way tonight. terminally ill residents no longer have a hospice program to turn to. heart of the mountains was the only hospice program in the county. they closed their doors two days ago. it's leaving patients looking for new places to find care. >> in rural colorado, our communities are so far apart. >> at the grand county rural health network. >> they have to look at those factors. >> executive director jen fanning says health care in small communities has always been tough. >> access to care is not as great. >> reporter: and around here, it just got tougher. >> to have hospice assistant service, to not have that is a big blow to the community. >> two days ago they closed due to a lack of funding.

>> executive director mike says keeping it open has always been a struggle. >> rural america doesn't have the resources or the volume of patients that it would take in order to make it work more successfully. >> about 40% of their money comes from medicare and private insurance. the other 60% through donations. but those have gotten smaller. >> it's difficult. you're talking about 180 to $190,000 a year. >> more than they could raise. so the door is closed and grant county is without hospice. the program typically cared for 25 people a year. two were under its care when the doors closed and had to find facilities out of grand county. >> now medicine is about making money unfortunately. and there are shareholders so the profit margin is much more important. we would love a miracle at this point in time. >> for now the terminally ill will have to go elsewhere for care. >> there's going to be no hospice care. there's no death with dignity at your house assisted.

rural community. in grant county, matt renoux. >> to have dignity in death, that's what we all want, right? >> grant county commissioners voted to close the home health care program that sends nurses to houses to help with rehab and other long-term medical issues. denver police believe vandals shot out the windows. investigators think they were shot out with a bb or pellet gun. there are no reports that the vandals stole anything from inside the vehicles. close to half of the cars were parked near the 2700 block of west ellsworth near federal and alameda. >> as far as i'm aware, last night's the first night we heard of this. especially in this quantity. so that's not an okay way to have fun. we want this person off the street. >> a witness reported seeing a

blazer near the scenes of the vandalisms. anyone with information is asked to call denver crime stoppers 720-913-stop. students go back to school with more than just a new year. 9news education reporter nelson garcia talked with an education expert who says there's a shift in the paradigm of teaching. >> reporter: as colorado begins a new year, dr. elizabeth says schools begin a new era. >> the tone is changing. and it's a welcome change. >> reporter: she's the dean of the school of education for of denver. this year the colorado department of education will have a new commissioner, president obama enacts a new plan called every child succeeds replacing no child left behind. and those who protested too many standardized tests get their wish, this spring the state will give fewer exams.

we went over board. i mean we got so much into left behind. >> she says teachers won't feel like they're being punished all the time by the system. >> i think there's a new found appreciation for what we do. and that is going to set the hope. >> the states two largest school districts jefco with a new board and denver with a superintendent on leave, hind believes students and parents won't see too much difference. >> the schools are doing what schools do. >> after 15 years, the state wants to make the mandatory exam the sat instead of the act. a move that may be on hold for a year. hind says the world of education is all about change. >> so we can't be stagnant. and it's funny the word curriculum comes from a latin root meaning always moving. >> a new year she says, a new era in colorado schools. in denver, nelson garcia,

some people think, schools in america are actually doing pretty well over all compared with other countries. she says u.s. test scores are appear lower but she says that's because our schools are more accessible and everybody is required to take standardized tests. chipotle reported that the u.s. attorney's office and the fda are investigating a norovirus out break. they reported symptoms back in august. those cases are not linked to a boston. and an e. coli out break. droves. sales dropped nearly 15% in the fourth quarter of 2015 and stock fell 38% in the last year. it's been a good year for denver's housing market. the denver metro association of realtors says more than 55,500 homes were sold in 2015a record

the average price was more than $363,000. home sales totals 20.2 billion. the association says home values have skyrocketed posting a 14% increase over 12 months. people posturing for powerball have pushed the jackpot to the fourth largest in powerball history. the grand prize now a half billion dollars. lottery officials credit the increase to jackpot chasers. people who wait until it gets big and jump in. if you win and take the lump sum, you'll get 306 million before taxes and fees. remember the odds of winning, we keep saying this, 1 in 292 million. you have better odds of becoming an nba player, a movie star, or the president. here in the pool. >> i'm in the pool. i can't believe you didn't put billion dollars. brett, you could be $2 ahead. you. >> we've been discussing this a little bit today.

getting concussions these days is not found on the football field. and it's a new way to share a handwritten message. it's a alive, really,. keeping your new year's

doctors report they are treating a growing number of kids for concussions and not due to football. kids are getting concussions while riding their bike, a hover board or skate boarding mainly because they're not wearing a helmet. it won't guarantee a child won't get a concussion, it can significantly minimize the harm. >> it doesn't take much of an impact to rattle that child's

skull fracture or maybe something worse. these things are happening close to home, in the driveway, on the sidewalk, down the street, no matter what time they get on these things or how far they go, they need a helmet. >> the doctors would prefer not to see your child for this thing. kids are still getting concussions from contact sports but they're learning better techniques for tackling. the key to sticking with your new year's resolution to lose weight might just be booze. stick with me. in a cnn article scientists say several studies found that people who drink moderately exercise more than those two don't drink at all. the motivation behind the correlation remains unclear. scientists have theory, one theory, alcohol and exercise both work on the same pathways in the brain. people feel good when they exercise. they feel good when they drink. a second guess, alcohol makes people feel guilty and then

roller ball pins are nice and magic markers are a staple. a new way to get the message across. one that will grow on you. nick mcgill has more on what they call living ink. >> reporter: inside this fort collins lab. >> we wanted to develop a product that engages a lot of people. >> reporter: is the intersection of science and art. >> we wanted to develop a product that makes an impact. >> reporter: for them each day, that intersection -- >> day one it says happy birthday, day three the cake shows up. day three the candle shows up. scott. think time lapse for greeting cards. gardening with pin and paper. >> sticky messages. comes back. >> using special markers to write a message or picture. that message disappears but

its full glory. allowing messages to unfold over a few days or weeks. >> it's a way to engage people. if you could go into a coffee shop for a month straight and look at a piece of art that changes over that entire month, that's pretty exciting. >> albert says the best part about living ink is that it's nontoxic. because it uses living algae, it's completely biodegradable. >> it opens the world up to things we never thought were possible. >> for now they say living ink will focus on greeting cards and works of art. but over time they hope it can become a replacement for the petroleum based ink we use today. >> we get to discover new things. we get to discover new processes. we get to discover new applications of science. >> reporter: in fort collins, nick mcgill -- >> i'm actually writing with a plant. >> reporter: 9news. >> the two hope to use living ink as a way to get younger

they hope to create living ink children's work books as well in the future. >> i could imagine a honey do list that progressively gets longer. parts of colorado have all ready seen big snow this week. >> when the flurries will make

>> the break from the cold and snow, so nice, wasn't it? i'm meteorologist kathy sabine in the 9news backyard. calm and quiet for now. we're talking two storm systems that will change our weather picture tonight. temperatures in the mid 40s for denver. 50s on the southeastern plains. the average is 44. for the past few days, the temperatures have been right about where they should be for this time of year. we'll see the numbers cut in half by the time we hit the weekend. down to 30 at dia, winds northeast at 8. the winds tonight out of the south as a series of weather systems coming off the pacific move into southern california and approach southern colorado. heavy flooding rain will continue to be an issue from san jose to los angeles with snow they'll measure in feet across donor pass in the sierras. a foot of snow in southwestern colorado, a winter weather

the areas shaded in blue. half a foot of snow expected with this going into a winter storm watch tomorrow. the snow increasing on the west and south facing slopes. denver, an inch to an inch and a half between the over night period tonight and midday on thursday. but a second stronger system will follow the first one through, interact with cold air to the north. and we could see another 1 to 3 inches of snow on friday. temperatures trending downward. especially with the approach of the front from the north and the wind shift out of the northeast. winds out of the south will drive that snow into the central and southern mountains where the snow will pick up. denver sees the snow fly after midnight. light snow for the morning time. a break in the afternoon, but a cloudy and cold day. much of the snow will melt initially but with the second wave coming in thursday night into friday, additional accumulation could kind of complicate the drive for friday morning. more so than tomorrow. foothills snow could see 3 to 6 inches of snow there. precipitation.

like it's going to be a 2 to 4- inch snow event by the time this system rolls out on friday. again, an inch for the first wave coming in. then another couple inches thursday night into friday. we've got lows in the teens and 20s. just about any where you go tonight. and temperatures tomorrow will be colder. 34 in denver. 43 in pueblo. foothills temperatures will range from 32 in idaho springs to 30 in grand lake with snow developing after about 2:00. tonight increasing clouds over night snow, low 21, inch of snow expected in the city. 1 to 2 total by tomorrow afternoon. some clearing but continued cloudy and cold ahead of a second wave and another 1 to 2 inches of snow thursday night into friday. temperatures colder for the weekend with clearing skies. sunshine, mid 20s saturday, low 30s sunday. a nice rebound in temperature for us heading into the first part of next week. but you could tell changes afoot tonight with the clouds

from colorado sports leader, here's drew soicher. >> hi everybody. broncos head coach gary kubiak will meet with peyton manning and brock osweiler first thing in the morning to inform them which quarterback will start the first playoff game. it'll be manning. whoever it is will be handing the football off to running back rodney hillman what was name the afc offensive player of the week today. he rushed for a career high 117- yards against the chargers and scored the game winning touchdown. most recent bronco to win the award, cj anderson is the special guest on the huddle tonight beginning in a few minutes. rod mackey and 9news broncos insider mike cohosting the show from team headquarters. broncos huddle. as always, emanuel sanders -- wait a minute, it's mike cliff. why is mike here? a because emanuel is still on vacation. tomorrow morning. >> i'm a little slower than emanuel. >> you're a lot slower. and you're here to talk

the decision will be made when? and the decision will be what? >> gary kubiak will inform the team tomorrow, i think their meeting is 8:30, 9:00, somewhere in there. to tell the team. i would think shortly there after, maybe we'll find out. you know. when you go on the practice field, it's pretty evident who the number one guy is. he takes the first reps. he's the first guy in line. and i do think the media, the public, everyone else will be told who the quarterback is tomorrow. who do i think? i think it will be peyton manning. >> i think most people think it will be 18. i think 17 played better. but a lot of pressure to put the hall of famer in there. we'll see what happens. last thing in the final 30 seconds, who will the broncos play? who do they want to play? i think steelers. i think they want texans. >> the steelers is probably the team they'll get. and maybe the team they don't want. they'll never say which of these teams but the team i think they don't want is the

they're the team that can score the most. in other words, that's the only team so far that's put up points on that number one defense. that's the team that scares them the most. >> and they've beaten the broncos. denver could get pay back if they get pittsburgh. drew, back to you. hey remember when half the players in the nhl all-star game were avalanche. only one this season. the team's leading scorer matt duchene made all-star game history in 2011 attempting the first ever penalty shot but missed. we are going to play drew's clues, i almost forgot the microphone. you wouldn't have been able to hear me. clue number one, he was a 13 time major league baseball all- star who belted 630 home runs. clue number two, he was elected to the hall of fame today with a record 99.3% of the vote. and clue number three, he was hanging out in his kitchen with his family when he received the call and put his cell phone on

the answer is, former mariners and reds superstar, ken griffy jr. griffy is in. three morons did not vote for him. unbelievable. mike piazza also got in. larry walker received 15% of the vote. he needs 75. he won't make it. and todd helton is not eligible. you need to be retired for five years. >> do you see mike in the back

stocks again finish down in triple digits as oil plunged in north korea added to global concerns. the dow fell 252 points. the s&p 500 lost 26.

we're back at 9:00 and 10:00.

welcome to the broncos huddle, playoff edition. cj anderson joining us, the season is taking on me, looks a little older. >> what happened? >> i tell you, there you go. now i got the smile. i got the smile.

still on vacation, he will be