good evening and thank you for joining us. i'm erin kiernan... and i'm dan winters. the eighth grade boy is suffering from a severe concussion -- after he got into a fight this week at merrill middle school, the principal has visited the boy in the hospital... but his family say's the school's efforts are too little too late... channel 13's jodi whitworth has the story... the boy's family admits there has past tension between their son and this other student at school. they aren't denying their son's involvement in the fight... bu they are blaming the school for not taking care of the boy's issues sooner. 450111 - hes got a heart of gold known as big john on the football field... 14 - year - old john brillant junior is described as an all around good kid ... but also known as the type of kid who doesn't mind standing up for himself 470826 -having words exchanged with kids in school is common but have it get pushed to this when your in a bathroom, he was probably like where did this come from - john brillant senior on

fight with another student at merill middle school in the bathroom over the lunch hour.... that child then punched my son one time, my son when to return a punch. that kid ducked it and this child hit my son again then swooped down onto the ground and took my sons legs out from underneath him the fight -- landing john junior in the hospital, with a severe concussion and injures to his arm and leg. according to police -- the boys were involved in a "play fight" a few weeks ago.... and tuesday's fight was a rematch.... witnesses say the fight the was mutual the victim's father knew the boys were having trouble getting along... but claims emotions ultimately spilled over due to lack of adult supervision in the cafeteria.. 380107 - how many staff members or teachers would over see the cafeteria at the time, it seems like that you have a lot of kids there at once how many people

on things. they told me three and in the same sentence there is only three is because they are understaffed. john senior says his son will have to undergo weeks of physical therapy for his arm and leg... and doesn't plan to press charges against the other student.... but says the school needs to watch it's students more closely.... 395426 - we give these schools our trust to care for these kids, its not like they are watching a pet turtle. we expected them to come home the way they left the des moines public school issued this statement regarding brillant's claims... quote -- there was ample supervision in the lunchroom. however, the investigation clearly concluded that both students went into a restroom -- away from adults, and willingly participated in the fight. both students are facing disciplinary action as a result. " -- end

a new bill calls on iowa teachers to help prevent the number of student suicides... teachers in grades k through 12 would undergo training in "trauma informed care." that means they would learn how to handle students who've experienced physical or emotional abuse at home. then, starting in 6th grade, they would be trained to spot symptoms of depression. a supporter of the bill says his son displayed many of those signs before committing suicide four years ago... we did see some signs, we saw some of the withdrawal, the sleeping patterns, some of the things that are hard to distinguish from typical teenage behavior and mental health behaviors for a teenager because they're so different. the bill will likely be assigned to a subcommittee next week. suicide is the second leading cause of death for iowans 15 to 24 years old. polk county deputies are investigating a fatal crash in

officers responded to this scene, near the airport, around noon. officials say a driver went into a ditch off of northeast 29th street, then struck a tree. the woman behind the wheel was found dead and a child was taken to the hospital. their names have not been released. ottumwa police believe a medical condition is the cause of a deadly crash... it happened near the intersection of mary street and south sheridan street. police say thomas dunning was driving yesterday, when he struck a utility pole, and sideswiped a home. dunning's truck came to a stop in the home's garage. he was taken to the hospital, where he later died... no one else was injured. two men are behind bars after reportedly leading police on a high speed chase on des moines' north side overnight... police arrested 31 year old zeferino padilla and 33 year old felipe padilla. both men are facing several charges including felon in possession of a firearm, felony attempted burglary and traffic violations it all started when officers responded to an attempted burglary in the 600

when they got there, two men sped off in a car. officers say the chase reached speeds up to 70 miles per hour at points, so they put down stop sticks. that caused the car to spin out in a ditch at 63rd and park. the two suspects then ran away into a nearby wooded area but police quickly caught up with them. 'the suspects tried to run from the car but not a wise move with the fresh snow, it was easy to follow their tracks we had them in custody in a matter of minutes. police say although conditions were not ideal last night they continued the chase because the crime was so serious. both men remain in the polk county jail. webster county turned up a pair arrests. officers executed a search warrant at a trailer on third avenue northwest yesterday. they found methamphetamine, as like the drug. officials say both were being made and distributed at the scene. 21 year old tennessee ferry and 25 year old danielle wilson were charges

midamerican energy is warning of a phone scam targeting latinos... it says at least 50 spanish speaking customers have reported the scam. the caller claims to work for the company, and threatens to shut off the customer's power unless they make a payment by credit card over the phone. officials say several customers have followed orders and lost money. if you receive a similar call, notify police. a metro road has been given the green light in time for the evening commute. crews closed a portion of watrous avenue to fix a water main this morning. one of the lanes reopened this afternoon. a break happened in the same area last week, which officials say is common... that's because the pipe is becoming corroded. another thing that could prompt pipes to burst... plunging temperatures... and they're headed our way overnight. let's go to chief meteorologist ed wilson for a first look at the forecast. high pressure will remain in place through the overnight hours, which will keep skies clear but cold. wind chills will dip way below zero, so a wind chill advisory is in place for

on saturday. because we will start the day below zero on saturday, highs will only get into the middle teens at best. we'll see an increase in cloud cover from the west as the next system approaches quickly. snow will make another appearance late saturday night into sunday morning. we'll get a light dusting to half inch late saturday with an additional inch expected before sunrise on sunday. the highest amounts will fall in the northeast part of the state, so the farther north you go along interstate-35, the more snow you will see. likewise, the farther southwest you go, the less snow you will n into. the od news is, the ow looks to bwpd up fore the middle of the day on sunday, so if you have

ening, you shouldn't runnto y issues. you want to avoid the cold,y not wo up a sweat byting bacon. this weekend, the science center of iowa is hosting its "bacon fest junior." it partnered with the "blue ribbon bacon festival" to come up with bacon - inspired science programs, games, and of course, treats. inspired science programs, games, and of course, treats. around 100 tickets are still available, you can get them at the science center's website. it takes place on sunday, from noon to five p-m. that's good news for the bacon lovers out there... but we have some bad news for you sugar addicts. lovers out there... but we have some bad news for you sugar addicts. what we're experiencing today during valentine's parties is that we're not letting outside food come into our school district. coming up, hear why the ankeny school district says banning treats from its holiday parties will make it a sweeter experience for

but first, the iowa state mens' basketball coach has a big decision on but first, the iowa state mens' basketball coach has a big decision on his hands. find out if he'll allow a star player

chocolates and candy hearts come to mind when you think of valentine's day... but they were both missing from classroom celebrations at ankeny schools. it's safe to say, the district's parties were a little less sweet this year. that's because a new policy bans homemade and store - bought

it was put in place to ensure every student can take part... including those with food allergies or financial restrictions. instead, students are encouraged to bring things like pencils or erasers. officials say they've gotten mixed reactions from parents... bring things like pencils or erasers. officials say they've gotten mixed reactions from parents... we've got families that think its the best policy we've ever come up with because they have children that are impacted in a negative way with the use of food in our schools, all the way up to families that wish we had a buffet that students could free graze all day long. we've tried to come up with a policy, procedure, that does the greatest good for our students. the west des moines school district has a ban on classroom treats containing peanuts... and in des moines, these types of decisions are made on a classroom by classroom basis. some drake university students are getting in the holiday

singing choir students spent the day delivering singing valentines around the metro. it's just what it sounds like, people paced orders for love songs to be sung to their sweethearts. the money supports the choir's upcoming tour in latvia, estonia, and finland. high pressure will remain in place through the overnight hours, which will keep skies clear but cold. wind chills will dip way below zero, so a wind chill advisory is in place for those north of hwy 30 until 8am on saturday. because we will start the day below zero on saturday, highs will only get into the middle teens at best. we'll see an increase in cloud cover from the west as the next system approaches quickly. snow will make another appearance late saturday night into sunday morning. we'll get a light dusting to half inch late saturday with an additional inch expected before sunrise on sunday. the highest amounts will fall in the northeast part of the state, so the farther north you go along interstate-35, the more snow you will see. likewise, the farther southwest you go, the less snow you will lentine's day plans in the

after a productive week of practice iowa state center jameel mckay will play tomorrow nigth against texas. head coach steve prohm confirmed the news today. mckay will not start against the longhorns but come off the bench. . video from practice today of mckay messing around with teammates...the senior has missed the last 2 games because of suspension. the cyclones went 1-1 without mckay, losing at texas tech on wednesday. prohm is glad mckay is back cyclones need this one saturday

in the big 12 standings. missed opportunity. thats the best way to describe iowa's loss to indiana. the hawkeyes had a chance to stay in sole possession of first place in the big 10, but indiana had other ideas. missed free throws, bad start, rebounding, all contributed to the 85-78 loss. michael admire has more from bloomington. as michael said iowa now in a

michigan state and purdue move to within two games. hawks host bottom feeder minnesota on sunday iowa state football player luke knott decides to call it a career.

of eilgibility this fall because of multiple hip surgeries. knott will graduate in may and already has a job lined up in kansas city after school. knott says although he loves football, the injuries have been too much, and he has to think about his future health. he started 3 games last season at linebacker. big night for the iowa wild. rink game. the wild help raise awareness of breast cancer, and money for the fight. coach john torchetti. torchetti's sister has beaten cancer three times, his father currently has cancer.

ony pictures studios, it's america's game! wheel... of... fortune! ladies and gentlemen, here are the stars of our show -- pat sajak and vanna white!

when jim beckons, we come. thank you, sir. thank you, folks. have a swell show. i'll be over here if you need me. hi, everybody. everyone should have one of those devices. there you go. get ready for our first "toss up." it's worth $1,000. and the category is..."thing." [ bell chimes ] kendra and alessandra. sisterhood. yeah, there you go. yeah! sisterhood! yay! [ laughs ] you seem surprised. all right, let's hear about you two. hi, i'm alessandra. and i'm kendra. and we've been friends since high school for about 18 years. we played basketball together and she was my idol. [ laughs ] and life has come full circle. we both returned to our alma mater, holy names high school in oakland. go monarchs. whoo! and the best part is we get to work together every day. we both have beautiful families.