the planned parenthood clinicin colorado springs where three people were shot and killed nearly three months ago reopened today. 9news reporter ryan haarer spoke with the ceo of planned parenthood of the rocky mountains and pro life supporters who were also there. >> reporter: you can see that the clinic has not been completely repaired since the november shooting. that work will continue as this planned parenthood gets back to operating as it was before the incident. >> we made a commitment to our community the day of the shooting that we would be back just as soon as possible. >> reporter: a commitment fulfilled monday at a place still showing signs of that terrifying day. planned parenthood of the rocky mountains president ceo crediting the staff with saving live here. >> this group of folks were strong and brave the day of the shooting and they've been resilient and hard working since so that they could get the health center open. >> reporter: since the shooting the clinic reviewed and updated security measures to insure patients feel safe.

healthcare freely and with a sense of welcome and warmth, not with a sense of fear and so we're working very hard to make this new space exactly that. >> reporter: also at the reopening pro live protesters adamant that what the shooter did those a lack of respect for life. >> that's not the way you do it. as much as we want the place closed, prayers and us being out here, action, educating people to the truth, yes, i wish they would stop doing abortions and become a real woman's health clinic. >> reporter: this clinic may be damaged, but it's back to offering all of its services including the most controversial and they don't plan on letting anyone stop that. >> planned parenthood has been here for 100 years and we will continue to care no matter. what. >> reporter: in colorado springs ryan haarer, 9news. >> the clinic hopes to be operating at full capacity in a few months.

court-ordered mental health evaluation and is due back in court february 24th. federal funding of planned parenthood is still a topic on the campaign trail. money for the organization passed quietly in congress in december as part of a larger budget bill. funding fights started after protests of controversial videos that purported to show planned parenthood employees selling fetal parts for profit, although there was no evidence of anything illegal on the tapes. 9news reporter political analyst floyd ciruli says he expects both democratic and realm candidates to keep the issue in the headlines. >> depending who is nominated in the republican party, it will be a major issue among republicans. there is the base of the party, particularly the conservatives and evangelical conservatives, are dead set against government funding for planned parenthood. they will fight over it. >> two of the gop front runners are at odds over planned parenthood. donald trump said he supports planned parenthood for women's health overall but not what it does in terms of abortion. senator ted cruz just released

trump over his support of planned parenthood. analysts say it's a sign cruz sees the issue as a weak spot for trump in south carolina. an estimated 1,500 people including law enforcement from across the country gathered in grand junction today to honor a mesa county deputy killed in the line of duty last week. deputy derek greer died after he was shot multiple times while responding to a report of an armed man. tonight we hear from mesa county sheriff matt lewis who spoke at his memorial service. [ music ] >> as we come together today to honor derek, i understand that this loss has shaken our community. i understand that our very sense of safety and security has been shattered. i also know that we are a remarkable and resilient people. derek was a hero for this community and stopped at nothing to give of himself to

derek was happy. he was fun to be around. he was always joking and he never took himself too seriously. this is rare and can be hard in this profession, but it's what allowed him to instantly met. he was loyal. he was steadfast in his commitment to this organization and to his peers. derek loved this community and he stopped at nothing to actually fix issues rather than just addressing whatever the immediate symptom was. derek was a true servant of good. being a deputy sheriff is not what defined derek. what defined him was his love for his family. nothing in his life was of greater importance. he always made decisions with his family as a priority and he cared so deeply for his children.

and our memories forever. he's reminding us not to take anything for granted. use the time we are given to the fullest. treasure and prioritize your loved ones just as derek did. >> deputy geer was a navy veteran. he had been with the mesa county sheriff's office for 15 years. he leaves behind a wife and two children. the 17-year-old accused of shooting him is in custody. prosecutors are expected to decide this week whether he will be charged as an adult. well, for the second time in a year vandals have poured red paint on a memorial to fallen officers outside of the denver police department's headquarters. police say the damage was done early this morning. red paint was poured on the monument a year ago during a demonstration against police misconduct and two men were charged with vandalism in that episode. one pleaded guilty to criminal mischief and sentenced to

restitution. the other pleaded not guilty and failed to appear for a court hearing. investigators say a suspicious device found sunday under a rental car near the albuquerque international sun port was a hoax. police say a mechanic found the device under a rental car at a rental car facility during a routine inspection after the car had been returned. an atf spokesperson said the device looked like a pipe bomb but was not an explosive or a threat. the rental car facility went under lockdown until it was determined. customers went over to a dirt work. now they are trying to track down whoever made the device and left it there. president obama plans to make his third pick for the u.s. supreme court after the unexpected death of justice antonin scalia saturday. republicans are quick to say they will block any appointment the president makes. 9news political reporter brandon rittiman looks at the options. >> reporter: when president

hill, the senate has two options to block it, option one, hold the vote and reject the person. it only takes a majority which the republicans have. some presidential candidates prefer option two. >> it's called delay, delay, delay. >> reporter: the senate doesn't have to vote if it doesn't want to. the longest the senate ever delayed a vote for a supreme court justice was 125 days. democrats already point out republicans would have to stall more than twice that long. >> there are 340 days until the next president takes office. so that is plenty of time. >> reporter: democrats also argue the court shouldn't have to operate with only eight justices for so long, but that didn't bother democrats so much during the nixon administration when they rejected two nominees and the court spent 391 days with one seat empty. democrats are correct in pointing out that justice anthony kennedy on today's court was confirmed in an election year the end of ronald reagan's presidency, but that was after the senate rejected

president obama could make a recess appointment right now. the senate is on. s daybreak this week, but the -- is on presidents day break this week, but the constitution makes appointments only temporary and would expire the end of senate's next sentence. a senate confirmed justice would be on the court for life and could change the balance of power on the court for decades. that's why appointments get so politically charged and with 11 months left in the obama presidency we're in for a test of how hard both sides want to fight and for how long. brandon rittiman, 9news. >> colorado's two u.s. senators held true to party lines on the issue today. gardner supports waiting until the next president takes office and the other senator says there should be a fair hearing. there are blatant violations of international laws in syria.

some children have died, two of the medical facilities supported by unicef and one a clinic run by doctors without borders. a syrian watchdog group based in london said the attack on the clinic was carried out by russian war planes. indigenous mexicans say pope francis visiting them call attention to their often ignored culture. a message read during today's mass says that while many others have southerned indigenous people -- have scorned indigenous people, francis has taken them into consideration. francis goaled part of his -- devoted part of his homily this morning criticizing exclusion of mexico's indigenous people. hundreds of thousands of indigenous people traveled across the country for the mass, many lined up since last night to attend. a restaurant offering free lunch if customers are willing to eat outside. >> also ahead millions of dollars of upgrades planned for the lincoln monument all paid for by one man. >> and filming begins on the

representatives from the donor alliance are with us today to answer questions about organ and tissue donation in colorado. there are more than 122,000 americans currently waiting for a transplant. if you have questions call 303- 698-0999 before 5:30 this evening. on this presidents day holiday an american philanthropist is marking the event in a very big way. the national park service says that billionaire david rubenstein is giving $18.5

he's already donated tens of millions of dollars to refurbish the washington monument and other icons. rubenstein says that his admiration for lincoln inspired the new project. the gift will be used to fix the memorial's roof, clean the marble and improve accessible by adding a second elevator. strong storms today swept lieu parts of central louisiana damaging -- through parts of central louisiana damaging trees and taking down power lines and ripped the roof off a car sending it flying into a nearby restaurant. first responders are saying some injuries were reported, but they don't know how serious the injuries are yet. the national weather service has not said if the damage was caused by a tornado, but tornado or not it was a scary experience for people caught in the aftermath. >> i seen it fall on my car and my car was shaking and my window busted and i seen it like coming at me. it was scary. >> officials are investigating reports of at least two possible tornadoes in mississippi and damage to a school.

winter storm system hammering the eastern part of the country bringing rain, strong wind, snow and sleet. they call it the polar vortex challenge. a restaurant in springfield, massachusetts, today offered free lunch to anyone who ate their meal outside. the deal was only good between tower square restaurant. temperatures were in the single digits and a wade was in effect at the time. the restaurant -- a winter weather advisory was in effect at the time. restaurant has been holding a polar vortex challenge and the proceeds go to a local rescue mission. filming has begun on the next installment of the star wars saga. shooting began today in the uk on episode 8. the announcement came with a short video that shows the filming starting where episode 7 left off. we're told that theoretically harrison ford, mark hamill and

episode 8 is expected to premier in december, 2017. so you have a while to wait. >> harrison ford lives. >> well, that's the big question and if you read -- it's a long story. about it. >> he looked very dead, but apparently he is not, movie magic. with temperatures well above normal this week, it will year it is. kathy's forecast. >> hello from studio 3b where we'll report on a volatile day in the race for president, a battle over who chooses the next supreme court court center. >> plus george w. bush has now entered the campaign fray and a fired up donald trump has been he. >> also another new study raises troubling questions

it was so windy at one point today, adele, i saw a poor commuter could not open the door of her car. >> yeah. and i heard you got a hard time for not helping that poor commuter out. >> yes, i did. i was going by at my usually sedate. >> 35 miles an hour on i-25? no. >> i should have stopped, but then i saw in my rear view

side of the car and then the wind helped her open the door. >> it was windy. we heard about the wind warnings, but it was pretty blustery out there. >> thankfully it's finally improving, adele. it's just breezy out here now, but the winds in the upper layers of the atmosphere are blowing these clouds through. it is beautiful if we can get the wind to lay down a little bit. look at this night in denver. if it's a holiday for you, good for you, lucky you and it must be because notice we're not traffic today. currently at the airport 55 degrees, winds coming in at a good clip from the west, northwest but washington monumenter calmer outside in the -- but calmer outside in the 9news backyard. we have highs way above average in the 50s and 60s for lower elevations, the average high this time of year about 46. you can see the low, so doing

to get warmer as we transition to the middle part of the week, still very gusty along the front range with some of those higher passes where we have wind reports over 50 and 60 miles per hour creating some areas of blowing snow, some ground blizzard scenarios, all part of this high pressure ridge which is still dominant over the area producing that gusty northwest flow, low pressure, cold air centered over the midwest. this has just been our current weather pattern. the moisture is racing across the north eastern plains. it's hard to get the moisture on the ground, but a few light rain showers showing up on the radar in northeastern colorado. the blue areas, a couple inches of additional accumulation, some areas of blowing snow. off to the east of us a few light rain showers, but a high wind warning continues west above i-25 above 7,500 feet through midnight tonight. the trend is for decreasing here and now the wind and snow increasing up and down the eastern seaboard where they're dealing with not only the

southeast, but the potential for blizzard conditions as wind and snow continues to increase in the carolinas up through the northeast. this hope races off. we have an area of low pressure dropping east of us tomorrow, but a northwest flow brings us another mild day, less wind and highs pop into the low 60s i think while we remain on the fringe of that very cold arctic air mass. it's been there all week and we we do. the winter weather advisory out for a couple more inches of snow between now and midnight in the mountains. skies clear overnight, winds laying down and a beautiful day coming up tomorrow. i think we'll have more sunshine and less wind. we'll start off in the 30s for lower elevations, 20s in the high country and watch those numbers soar, close to 70 in southeastern colorado, better travel weather for you on the i- 70 corridor tomorrow as well. we will see temperatures about 48 colorado springs, 44 in the grand lake area. in the downtown denver area for

cloudy, a lot of 32. sun is up tomorrow about 7:00 and we'll watch numbers jump into the mid-50s by lunchtime, low 60s by about 3:00 in the afternoon. we'll come close to record territory both i think wednesday and thursday ahead of a weak little front that will cool us off heading into the weekend. the next storm system that i'm tracking really doesn't arrive here until sunday. we do have a chance of not only cooler weather, but a chance for rain and snow late in the weekend, but no big organized storm systems looming on the horizon. so for now i know the wind is a pain, but look at the beautiful cloud scenario, adele and mark, over the front range foothills and over some of the higher peaks, just beautiful weather conditions if you don't have to be outside. >> it wasn't horrible. it really wasn't. it was cloudy this morning. >> got to hang onto the hair back here sometimes because i do that cousin it thing. it just goes. >> get a mane tamer. >> and a few other things.

excitement is growing for the outdoor hockey game at coors field where the avalanche hosts the red wings a week from saturday.

from colorado sports leader here's drew soicher. >> hi, everybody. vail's mikaela shiffrin isn't too interested in easing back into the ski racing circuit. instead of carefully maneuvering down the slopes in her first competition since tearing a ligament in her right knee two months ago, shiffrin, the olympic and world champion, won the women's world cup slalom in switzerland. wasn't even close. shiffrin wins by nearly a 1/2 second extending her streak of consecutive slalom victories to six. >> it's really special to be able to win today. that's for sure because it was

kind of put that behind me now. >> reporter: you're back. >> yeah, i'm back. here i am. i'm literally here. avalanche play the red wings at coors field a week from saturday as part of the stadium series. 9news is hosting a special pregame show. >> i have known since i was 11, 12, 16. >> we'd go on outdoor rinks and things like that. it's good memories from ice cold byrne nights outdoor rinks. -- winter nights outdoor rinks. >> it will be fun to get back to that fresh sheet of ice. [ music ] >> outdoor rink in february in colorado sounded great at first. then kathy's forecast came. wow.

roll ends with a dramatic dunk. 9news prep reporter taking the time to list them just in case you missed them. [ music ] >> reporter: denver helps kick things off with a slam, the rebounds first points of the game come from the one-handed stuff. no. 4, regis jesuit senior mckenzie austin three-point in 5a state diving helping the raiders take second place overall of no. 3 goes to regis on the ice. duffy swipes one aside for a beauty. regis wins 6-3. back to the pool for no. 2. christian's with the 50-yard free breaking the 4a state record of her own in the process. >> it is such an amazing feeling. it's been an amazing opportunity and incredible

such an amazing team. i couldn't be more excited. >> reporter: this shock play belongs to colorado academy, the steal and the putdown. justin steele leads his team with 20 point over peak to peak. we've ranked them. now it's your turn. go to 9news.com/hss to vote for your favorite play. may, have i ever mention -- hey, have i heavy mentioned how much i love sports -- have i sports? well, i do. after this little girl was accidentally injured because of a puck going over the board, hutton gave his stick to the

tonight, supreme war. the death of tonight, supreme war. the death of justice scalia prompting a high-stakes showdown. the president vows to nominate a successor. republicans refuse to even consider it. major issues left hanging in the balance. facing trump's fury. the front-runner again threatening to sue ted cruz and taking aim at george w. bush over 9/11. trump's risky attack as the former president hits the trail. hospital bombing. a new horror in syria. medical facilities and schools are hit. children are killed. a massive storm from louisiana to maine. snow and ice in the