there's a lot of excitement in the mile high city right now... the broncos will continue on to next sunday's afc championship game. now... the broncos will continue on to next sunday's afc championship game. it wasn't easy, or pretty - but they beat the steelers 23 to 16 to advance. we'll have a recap of the game in a few minutes, get reaction and talk about how you can buy tickets to next week's game with

good morning. welcome to 9news at 4:30 a.m. gary and cheryl here with you on this monday - january 18th. we have a change of scenery this morning -- you may be wondering why -- it's an exciting time here because we are in the process of getting a new newsdesk and set. so, for now, we wanted to bring you into the newsroom - and we will do the show from here for a few days. 9news anchor corey rose is across the information center..we're taking over the entire place! good morning! the transition will take a little bit of time, but we hope when it's over you will enjoy the new set as much as we do. let's get a look at that forecast for today... good

understatement. sports authority field has played great broncos games this year... but none were more important than yesterday's steelers. out game really quarter. no touchdown and no interceptions. he made the plays when denver needed them. the biggest play of the game came on defense... bradley roby forces a fourth quarter fumble... demarcus ware pounces on it. broncos still need a score though--and they'd get it. c-j anderson gets the handoff... a great second effort helps him get into the end zone. broncos win 23 to 16 and advance to the a-f-c championship for the tenth time.

this morning 9news broncos analyst ron zapollo will be in for a closer look at the game. the broncos win sets the stage for conference championships. next weekend - the broncos will take on the new england patriots for the a- f-c championship. that game will be at in denver sports authority field. and the arizona cardinals will play in charlotte - against the carolina panthers. the teams that win will go on to super bowl 50... on

a-f-c championship authority field-- tickets go on sale they're available on ticket master-dot- be sold to those with a billing address in surrounding states. ticket prices range 360 for reserved are 375 to 625 there is a limit of four per household. available at the broncos ticket office until tuesday if there are any left. last night was the final democratic debate before voting starts in iowa-- that will happen in just two weeks. 9news reporter tarhonda thomas joins us with a recap... tarhonda hillary clinton is leading nationwide... but it's close in those

yes. states-- like iowa. those voters had to certainly be among the audience, last night, as the three democratic candidates squared off in south carolina. martin o'malley, hillary clinton and bernie sanders took the stage-- in a debate co- sponsored by the congressional black caucus. it didn't take long for o'malley to start fading into the background, as clinton and sanders debated one another. among the topics they disagreed on-- the affordable care act. while she says it could use some tweaks-- clinton doesn't want to see it go. sanders, on the other hand, pitched for all" health care system. the two also traded jabs over sanders voting record with the n- ...and accusations that clinton is too street politics." we asked our experts to "weigh night debate.

mejia and republican kelly maher are certainly known to have differing opinions. we'll keep breaking down the debate with them throughout the morning. corey? the u.s. embassy in baghdad says 3 americans are missing in iraq. local media reports they were kidnapped by militias in the iraqi capital while on their way to the airport. an embassy spokesman - says its working with iraqi authorities to find the missing americans. last week -- security declined in and around baghdad - after months of relative calm. the missing americans haven't been identified. three americans freed from iran are now resting and being evaluated in germany. another detainee has chosen to fifth one already has arrived home in massachusetts. they were held for nearly 18 months -- yesterday in a prisoner swap between the u-s and iran. their freedom, the u.s. dropped charges against serving time for

one of the americans released was a washington post reporter -- another a former u.s. marine. a community in west africa has started three days of national mourning after a deadly attack on a hotel and cafe. it happened in burkina faso. al-qaida militants killed at least 28 people in the attack. the president of the west african nation says security will be stepped up in the capital and at the country's borders. starting today... we'll have access to a new report on the arapahoe high school shooting. the hope is that information can help prevent other school tragedies. a research group focused on youth development and reducing the number of problems in schools will release its findings starting at 9 this morning. in 2013 a student opened fire at the school. senior, claire davis was killed. you will be able to read the report yourself on the safe colorado schools website. today investigators are hoping to learn

colorado. there will be an autopsy for one of the victims of that crash. it happened thursday in a remote area about 15 miles west of meeker and on friday the body was found. it's not known how many people were onboard. the rio blanco county sheriff's office says deputies and rescue crews searched the area again on saturday. the plane was traveling from salt lake city to granby. this morning the search continues for a hiker who has been missing for several days. a 50 year old man was reporter missing on saturday after he never retuned home from hiking st. mary's glacier. last night the alpine rescue team called off the search as they fought cold, strong winds and poor visibility. rescue dogs will help with today's search. commuters now have another way to travel to boulder from fort collins. the transfort flex rides commuter bus service starts today. it'll make five trips a day--monday through friday and will operate as an express route--with limited stops. a day pass will only cost you three

way fare is just a dollar 25. the service will go through a three year trial run--before it will decide whether to keep it permanently. metro area will be degree temps. thanks marty... so remember a couple chicago was so

could go out for a jog in shorts and tanktops... well the tables have turned. after a mild start with el nino... winter is now blasting the midwest with extremely cold weather. now people in chicago are dealing with a subzero chill. in minnesota -- temperatures dropped to 36- degrees below zero in some areas. and indianapolis, indiana... is dealing with similar temperatures. great bear ski resort in south dakota has been shut down because of temperatures as low as negative 20- degrees. in december the same resort was forced to close because of unseasonably warm weather. today coloradans will gather in city park for martin luther king day... they'll meet at the "i have a dream memorial" at 9:25 this morning.

the crowd will head down colfax for the annual "marade" - march and parade. things will wrap up at civic center with a larger rally. the city began the tradition of a "marade" in 1985-- and it is said to be one of the largest mlk day celebrations in the country. in washington... the president and first lady will join the country in service for the holiday today. last year the obamas helped assemble literacy kits to boost reading and writing skills for children. also today at the national action network's annual king day breakfast -- attorney general loretta lynch will speak. she will present an award to jennifer pinckney on behalf of her late husband- pastor clementa pinckney. he was one of nine people killed in a shooting at a church in charleston, south carolina. it's a kids dream come true, but some parents and teachers may not be so thrilled about the idea... extra recess.

of schools are adding extra play

pressure on students -- even in elementary school -- has ramped up in recent years. are packing the day a handful of more free time. shamlian. this is recess at brown elementary this is the second recess. after lunch, a

trip outside - the fourth 15 minute recess of the day. the frequent breaks are the daily routine for kindergarten and first graders at several north texas schools. it's part of a 3-year trial by texas christian university.. and based on finland's system where students get an average 75 minutes of daily recess compared to 27 minutes here. the kids, of course, love it.. but educators believe this is more than a study break. it is a trade-off: 30 fewer minutes on the fundamentals.. math, science and writing. researchers hope helping kids stay focused when in class will mean more learning.. with recess on the rise. janet shamlian, nbc

the symphony is a classic tradition... but now it's adding twist.. we'll explain how ipads are going to draw a younger

restrictions and requests to limit driving are in effect until at least 4 pm. that's because poor visibility is expected today. this is in affect for the entire seven- county denver- boulder area. besides the visibility issue... only moderate air quality conditions are expected. u-s markets are closed today in honor of the martin luther king junior holiday. and it's a good thing because they might be influenced by the sell off going on today in tokyo. asian markets continued to slump weighed down by worry about china's slowing economy and falling crude oil prices. the u.s. department of transportation released its latest list of on-time performance by u.s. airlines. the results are from last november. the on-time average for all airlines combined improved compared to november last year.... however the average also dropped slightly from october of

ranked number one with 93-point-9 percent of flights on time. rounding out the top 5 were.... delta ... alaska airlines... united... and american. last on the list with the worst performance was frontier airlines with a 74-percent on-time average. as part of an effort to draw in a younger audience -- the boston symphony orchestra is loaning ipads to select patrons. they'll be loaded with content specific to each performance. guests will be able to view sheet music for the pieces being played-- video interviews with musicians-- composers and analysis on the works themselves. they'll also get a close-up view of the conductor point of view. so marty... how's

shaping up this morning?

of the top spot at the box office this weekend-- after being number 1 for the past four weeks. "ride along 2" starring kevin hart and ice cube debuted friday and took the number one spot - with 34 million dollars. "the revenant" - starring leonardo dicaprio finished second with 29- point-5 million dollars. "star wars" still managed to bring in just over 25 million-- to take the third spot.

mid-decemeber-- the film has made 851 million dollars in the u-s and nearly 1-point-9 billion worldwide. this wedding photo out of sioux falls, south dakota has gone viral... and now we're learning a little more about it. it shows a bride with her service dog. preparing for one of life's biggest moments-- valerie parrott needed support from her best friend. parrott has a three-year-old service dog bella who keeps her calm when she's anxious or on the verge of a panic attack. on her big day... the bride needed some time with bella before walking down the aisle...

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