listen to the sounds that

a discovery under denver's confluence park will keep it torn up for at least another year. >> the president's final state of the union address, less than 24 hours away. what to expect from the president and congress tomorrow night.

hotel along one of denver's busiest streets. >> frozen solid. a city known for snow is bringing us a striking photo of a car incased in ice. >> and some things just don't add up. especially this powerball meme making the rounds on facebook. 9news starts now. colorado's latest shooting involving a police officer happened at a parking lot in a hotel in denver. a civilian is in critical condition. police say he was armed at the time. both officers involved are fine. 9news reporter steve staeger has been at the scene near speer and i-25 since after the shooting around 4:00 this afternoon. police are saying this guy was armed. any idea if he fired shots at police? >> police have not said whether or not he fired his weapon. they've now been on the scene for about six hours. it's also unclear what sparked all of this. they were here to check out a report of a stolen car and they found something completely different.

relatively standard call, two officers looking for a stolen car then things changed quickly. >> officers were approached and pointed toward suspicious activity in a separate vehicle. >> reporter: something strange going on with the car in the speer and zuni. >> two officers were going to make contact with that vehicle when a male suspect exited the vehicle armed with a firearm. >> reporter: what happened next is only partially clear. police say shots were fired and the they won't say whether the suspect shot his gun. it's also unclear whether both of the officers fired or only one. the unnamed suspect was taken to the hospital in critical condition. neither officer was injured in an event that once again under scores how dangerous this job could be. >> an officer never knows what type of encounter they're going to have when they approach a vehicle or when they enter any type of situation and obviously it can be very dangerous.

lot here. that is the one thing that they've found. also an interesting side note. there was a shooting here last night parking lot. police say there was an argument, someone fired a gun. they've not made any arrests in that case. in fact they're looking for more information on that one as well. >> steve staeger reporting. con fluence park in downtown denver will remain a construction zone for a year longer than initially expected and could cost up to a half a 9news reporter victoria sanchez is this project really hasn't been doing anything for months. >> no construction work has happened for the past eight months. the plan was to have the popular park's trail, ramps, and shoemaker plaza updated and ready to go by august but crews hit a sludgy snag that turned construction in to cleanup. >> reporter: confluence park

longer for permanent trails to reopen and the make shift metal dam to come down. >> i think parks and rec list. >> reporter: deputy executive director scott gilmore says the park construction is just one of six projects to improve public spaces along the platt river, costing around $30 million. the plan for confluence park originally was going to cost $4.2 million. but that number is rising along with the number of months it will take to finish it. >> we wanted to make sure we were doing everything right so we tried to shut down, evaluate what was going on. >> reporter: while excavating the site in may, crews found cold tar, thick dark colored liquid that's messy but the city says not toxic. >> it's a piproduct -- it's a byproduct of the coal fire plant. it was a byproduct so they actually buried it in different places throughout the city. >> reporter: now that it's been found, it needs to be cleaned up. that can't happen until summer or fall 2016.

on another year to finish the original project. although the construction site will stay until 2017, park visitors will soon see a change. a temporary trail in two to three weeks. >> we're going to try to get the trail back in as quickly as possible so people can mover through -- can move through this area safely. >> the coal power cleanup could cost a couple hundred thousand dollars to half a million dollars but denver officials are not exactly sure. if they find more buried it will have to be cleaned up, meaning that price tag keeps ongoing up as well. >> it is a popular place. people will have to dodge the construction zone for a while. our partners at usa today asked millennials what they want to see out of our next president. by a wide margin the under 35 crowd wants two things regardless of party affiliation. the poll found 80% want the u.s. to transition to mostly clean or

2:1 margin millennials said the government should invest more heavily in public rail line. more than 80% of democrat and yes. the article on 9news.com also includes views like police body cams and accepting refugees from syria. the president will give his state of the union address. the white house says this year's speech will be nontraditional. 9news reporter whitney wild is here to explain what the president is likely to say tomorrow. >> he's likely to talk about broad themes and reflect on the way the country has changed in the last seven years. a video posted on the white house page, the president says he's optimistic for the year ahead. he wants to push for longer term goals that will take more time to accomplish. specifically

calls his successes, such as lower unemployment numbers, climate change, and obama care. earlier today brandon rittiman spoke with nbc's chuck todd who said he thinks the president will use this as a platform to influence the 2016 race in order to avoid becoming a lame duck. we spoke with 9news political analyst floyd ciruli for his take on the speech. >> as this state of the union classically all about legacy? >> no, when they say it's going to be a different kind of a state of the union, i think the way to look at it is he's going to be throwing down i think an issue gauntlet of saying if i were running for a third term, this is the agenda i'd run on. and what that really means is this is the agenda i hope my democratic successor ends up running on. >> you remember when he came in, he was for hope and change. i think that's the kind of theme he's going to try and say. we did change things and things are better.

haley largely considered a rising star in the party will give the republican response. surulae -- ciruli says she's well known outside of her state and ultimately she could be the vice presidential pick. this all comes as the president's approval rating going in to this speech hovers around 45% and just about 25% of people polled say the country is moving in the right direction. >> lots to think about, especially as we look to the next election cycle. >> absolutely. president obama is making an example out of a business owner from greeley. the association is using rhonda rice as a symbol of progress. she's one of 23 guests invited to sit in the box. she runs a business her grandfather started in 1924, a small company with big reach these days. last few years the company began exporting honey to china, japan, and south korea.

calls from home while she's in dc. >> just lots of love and support and people we haven't heard from for a while. and my son called me and said he was so excited. he says mom, your pictures are everywhere. >> also attending the address, benmasut, the mom at the denver islamic center. we've had him on before talking about the interfaith religious work in the area. you can watch the state of the union address tomorrow at 7:00 here on 9news. nbc's coverage is expected to last for two hours. donald trump said over the weekend the state of the union is a mess. trump will take his message to late night tv short ly. we'll see what he has to say to jimmy fallon in about 30 minutes. the mexican government released dramatic video today of the raid that ended with the capture of the drug lord known as el chapo. mexican marines

guards first and killed five of them. the marines found an assortment of weapons including rocket launchers. he was recaptured by the mexican marines and taken to prison. the process has begun to extradite el chapo to united states. that could take at least a year. the woman accused of boldly robbing jewelry stores across the south made her first appearance in court today. abigail kemp held up jewelry store workers in five states at gunpoint, tying them up and taking $4 million in jewelry. the fbi said tips from people who knew her helped them track her down. acquaintances who saw her recently said they saw her wearing expensive jewelry they say she couldn't afford. she had a handgun and recently had her car painted a different color. the fbi used data from cell towers to track kemp's phone to the stores robbed. there are tributes being offered worldwide tonight for

bowie, died at the age of 69 from cancer. fans left flowers and candles on his star at the his death came at the end of an 18-month battle with cancer and two days after his birthday and the release of his latest album. you would never know by looking at the powerball billboard but the jackpot has the sign stopped at $999 million. the jackpot might keep climbing before wednesday night's drawing. across the internet today was a graphic as well that claimed the jackpot would be enough to end poverty. >> a million people shared the online graphic claiming the jackpot could do it. it said if you take the $1.3 billion and divide it amongst the u.s. population, every man, woman, and child would receive $4.3 million. actually, it works out to $4.33 a person. who came up

the author of the bogus graphic is still a mystery. obviously it has people talking about what could and should be done with the money. share with us on the 9news facebook page. still ahead, the thief who put a python down his pants. the shop's owner talks about the snake's feeding day. >> no matter how good the defroster is, it just isn't enough to get rid of what winter can do to some cars. >> down right balmy around here. kathy will let us know how long the 40s and 50s stick around. >> that broncos item that had all these people lining up today. >> even though they saw it with their own eyes, the broncos

this thief, he likes to live life on the dangerous side. he took a python from his cage.

store in portland, oregon caught him taking it and putting it down his pants. the store's owner says the thief is lucky because this wasn't the python's typical feeding day. >> snakes are up against the glass looking for food and they're ready to eat by saturday. so he made it in the nick of time. they like dark, warm places so he was probably very comfortable where he was at. >> a little attempted humor. even though the store's owner is upset about the crime and says she hasn't seen anything like this happen in the 20 years >> super. a new pedestrian bridge is going up in denver, it will connect the north neighborhood with curtis park. crews this afternoon lifted a 230-foot it will open over the summer. a frigid ride in new york is along the great lakes just outside of buffalo. drivers are

erie. this is the reason why. waves and spray from the lake combined with freezing temperatures are enough to the parking lot is next to a restaurant and the owner of that before. >> i tell my employees, never even in july. you never know what's going to happen. >> were you surprised when you saw that car this morning? >> no, we've seen it before when the winds are that high and the lake is frozen and it starts getting cold. that's what happens. >> so now what do you do? there are two options. slowly chip away at it or let nature take its course and wait for the temperatures to warm up and have all that ice melt. if it wasn't so awful, it would actually be beautiful and rather artistic to look at. and i don't think they make a blow driver big enough to help out that car owner. i'm meteorologist kathy sabine outside in the 9 backyard. it's cold out here. the winds

did you see the sunset tonight? beautiful sunset shots coming in, these from up north. this one from lagerman reservoir. if us. our high temperature today close to the average. greeley, 21. 39 in pueblo. 9 in gunnison. temperatures for the past five days have been below average. we've been trending upwards and that will be a trend that will continue for 48 hours ahead of the next storm and the next chance of snow. that will be thursday night in to friday. d.i.a. at 25. light wind in the backyard. we've been running warmer downtown than d.i.a. for much of the day. around a dominant ridge of high pressure, the jet stream is pushing cold and snow through the northern rockies in to the midwest where temperatures are going to be in the single digits and teens and we may be measuring the snow in feet outside of chicago and st. louis and across boston and philadelphia.

anchored here means a quiet period of weather but that california storm is on the move. temperatures are trending above average. while our neighbors to the north who are right on the fringe of the arctic air. 17 in bismarck. 20 in omaha. 3 the high in minneapolis. 11 in chicago with wind chills, going to feel a lot colder than that. other than a few high clouds around the area, not going to have to worry about that dense fog on the plains and a quiet period of weather shaping up for us for the next 48 hours. some of the high mountain valleys are going to be bitter cold. really not handling the cold very well. i have gunnison down to minus 24. vail at minus 1. on the plains we have temperatures tonight in the teens, not as cold as last night but pretty typical for january. tomorrow decent travel weather on i-70 with a high of 29 in frisco. 31 in rifle and close to 40 in greeley. some areas will come close to 50 tomorrow. maybe another day before we get there.

we'll cool off again. foothill temperatures, 30 in grand lake. 17 with fair skies tonight. a cold night. sun is up at 7:20. doesn't seem like we're really adding a lot of daylight yet but we actually are little by little each day. partly sunny. 38 by noon. 46 in the afternoon and just a beautiful period of weather for us until thursday. things change thursday. flurries thursday night. light snow and cold friday. that looks familiar, doesn't it? 32 is your high at the end of the week. you look at saturday and think yay. but then i have to add flurries in sunday. another weather system clipping northern colorado. flurries are possible when the guys take the field. warm ahead of the next season which arrives next week. if you're going to the game, you know the drill. january in colorado. partly cloudy. chilly. flur ries are possible. temperatures around freezing when the guys take the field and a whole lot colder when they head home. speaking of cold, i know it's cold but it's so beautiful. many beautiful shots coming in on the digital network tonight. this was the sunrise

i started with the sunset but this may actually be even better than that if that's possible. it's been more than 20 years since los angeles had a pro football team. two days from now they could have two of them. nfl owners will beat tuesday and wednesday in houston to decide if the st. louis rams, the san diego chargers, the oakland raiders, or some combination thereof should be moving to l.a. roger goodell sent proposals to each cities to keep their team were not good enough to block such a move. we'll keep you updated on the owner's meetings and the decisions that could impact the biggest rivals. passionate and patience. that's how we'd describe the crowds today. line at the king soopers in brighton wrapped around the building. if you want to get one you do need to get there early. tomorrow we

arvada starting at 6 a.m. at the king soopers at wadsworth and west 8th avenue. 7 a.m. in glenwood springs at the city market at grand avenue and 14th street. then the afternoon at 3 p.m., the magnets will be given away in craig at the city market on west victory way and pershing street. then starting at 4 p.m. in the green valley ranch neighborhood of denver, our giveaway will be at the king soopers on green valley ranch boulevard and tower road. we have a full list of all the giveaway locations still to come this week on 9news.com. today is day one of our broncos photo challenge leading up to the big playoff game on sunday. we asked for photos of your pets in broncos gear. oh, my goodness. we got hundreds of submissions. not too late. keep on sending in those pet photos on yourtake@9news.com or upload them from your phone using the 9news app. your pictures will be featured in a

from colorado's sports leader, here's drew soicher. >> hi, everybody. black and yellow, black and yellow. the broncos are seeing more of those colors lately than rapper wiz khalifa who sings a popular song by that name. broncos held their first practice today since learning they'd be facing the pittsburgh steelers in the second round of the nfl playoffs. they would have been matched up with kansas city had the cincinnati bengals not blown over the weekend. >> i'm sitting there watching it and thinking about it for a while, then thinking about the other team. that's nfl playoff football. it's amazing, you go back and look at the games. it's not about where you play, it's where you play. they've been exceptional. i know they won a lot of road games this year and they found a way to win close games and that puts them in a position to win. very impressed with them. but we

to play as good as we can play. looking forward to it. six days until kick-off and the steelers' two best players are both injured. 9news broncos insider mike klis fortunately has never appeared healthier on the pages of his notebook. >> it's setting up nicely for the denver defense. steelers receiver antonio brown is woozy, quarterback ben roethlisberger has a bum shoulder, big ben will play but no way he can throw it deep. the broncos safeties can cheat up and not worry about the ball over their head. right, darian? >> i'm not buying it. i expect him to play. i expect him to be 100%. >> the broncos have heard the sand baggers stories before. they know how the steelers like to play head games. when these teams played three weeks ago at pittsburgh, cody wallace took a cheap shot at broncos safety

former csu ram joey porter, by the way, was steelers sidelines. no one is somehow sunday the broncos have to keep their cool. and unlike their previous game in pittsburgh the broncos can't let big ben and antonio brown get out of hand. mike klis, 9news. the university of alabama tonight. for the 16th time in school history, the crimson tide won a national football title. bama beat clemson in a fabulous championship game. heisman trophy winner derek henry scored three touchdowns. tide wins 45-40. pop quiz. time for tonight's drew or false question. drew or false, the drive, denver's 98-yard march to a touchdown in the final seconds of the afc championship game against the cleveland browns on this date, january 11th, 1987 is still the longest drive in franchise

drew or false, 29 years later the broncos still haven't had a series of plays that covered more ground than the drive itself. the correct answer is? during a victory over the bengals in 2006, the broncos had 100-yard drive that ended in a mike bell touchdown. you can do that if the ball is closer to the goal line than the one. >> that's how that works. >> that was in the 3rd quarter of a regular season game. nobody cares. so we'll still stick with john elway's 98-yarder in the afc championship game as the drive of all time.

a little warmer tomorrow and wednesday. chance for flurries thursday night in to friday. then you say ah, the weekend. and i say wait, we've got flurries sunday but that's no thing. >> atp -- ain't nothing but a thing. >> when the guys take the field

freezing. wasn't it colder than that when you took the field the last game? i'm still hearing about that, by the way. >> that was all your fault. >> you blame me. >> i see another one coming. i see a patriots one a week from then that it will be 20 below zero. >> let's hope we get there. tonight show is next. jimmy has

ricky gervais. leo's run-in with lady gaga. and eva's connection to the sean penn-el chapo shocker. >> right now. >> on "extra" at the golden globes. >> let's do a toast. >> let's. >> j. law, j. lo, leo, and amy. >> where is your man? >> he's here. >> the couples, the candid moments. leo and kate's "titanic" reunion. who we caught copping a feel, and two stars flashing engagement rings. then, if you thought ricky got racy, j. law takes his sex joke to a new level. >> no! sean penn and the drug lord. >> i assumed it's the new season of "punk'd." who is the beautiful mexican star who set it up, and what penn told us moments before the story broke. >> you'll understand later. then, "extra" remembers david bowie. did he foretell

a video released days ago? after-party star collisions. katy perry looking cozy with orlando bloom. plus -- how did you know this was the dress for you? >> look at it. >> our fashion countdown with "o" magazine's adam glassman. >> i'm with mario on the red carpet doing our own telenovela here. >> i'm not just hosting the golden globes. i'm hosting "extra" right now. >> hey, everyone, welcome to "extra" here at the globes. i'm mario lopez along with tracy and charissa. looking absolutely beautiful, by the way. >> you don't look so bad -- >> i was just going to say that. well, there's beautiful people here leonardo dicaprio to j. law and j. lo. >> we'll bring everything from the fashions to the backstage moments you didn't see. >> let's start with the action here on the red carpet. >> every super, superstar on the planet -- leo, j. law, j. lo. you look beautiful, by the way.

>> hot couples news --