floor...some lawmakers hoping to make iowa number 42.... 'i think they are a tremendous device, they are for hearing protection, a suppressor itself is not a weapon, its an accessory thats put on a firearm just to cut down the noise as a hearing protection device.' representative terry baxter introduced the bill...he says suppressors reduce the sound of gun shot by 20-30 percent, direct the sound downrange away from the shooter and help protect the shooter's hearing... but those in opposition see it as a weapon.... 'the fact that the federal government with the second amendment in place categorizes a suppressor as a class three weapon tells me that there is some added danger to its use.' also debated---how old a child should be to shoot a gun- currently in iowa, children must be 14 years or older to shoot a revolver or pistol or handle ammunition. the proposed bill drops the age requirement all together but

opponents say some parents are not responsible enough to regulate their children's actions...and the age requirement protect them... 'while most parents would not allow their two year old to weld a revolver, we pass laws for those parents who lack the parenting skills needed to protect their own children.' however, representative jake highfill, who is sponsoring the bill, says the decision should be the parents and says its one of the best bill to advance the 2nd amendment rights of all iowans... 'it returns the power back to where it full belongs back in the hands of the parents to make the decisions they are entitled to do instead of the government.' both the suppressor bill and dropping shooting age passed out of

passed legislation allowing someone on an a-t-v or snow mobile to carry a loaded gun and a bill that would prohibit the governor and other officials from having a person's firearms confiscated during a state of emergency. all of those bills will now go over to the senate for debate. a former state legislator who's now running for the u-s senate is warning about possible problems with the huge fertilizer plant under contruction in lee county. a federal lawsuit filed by contractors claims they aren't getting paid by orascom...the company building the one-point-nine- billion-dollar plant. democrat bob krause contends that suit shows the project could be in serious jeopardy. political director dave price joins us now with more... statehouse democrats have had issues with the plant...long before construction began three years ago. that's because lawmakers and the iowa economic development authority have already pledged more than 100 million dollars in tax credits for the company. supporters say the plant...when

financially distressed southeast iowa but also all across the state. the company expects to eventually produce at least 1.5 million tons of nitrogen fertilizer a year. besides the hundreds of construction jobs...that production's expected to employ more than 200 people. and the fertilizer's supposed to provide iowa farmers with a cheaper, closer supply. but bob krause says the federal lawsuit that claims the company's not paying contractors...means orascom may not have the resources to complete this project. bob krause...1538 the biggest concern i have is the money we have a lot of farmers that have the potential to be really, really hurt very soon."

weitz company...which is overseeing the project. krause wants state legislative oversight hearings looking into what's happening since it potentially involves to much taxpayer money. tonight at six...we'll talk to the leader of a committee who has the power to do that to find out his plans. a former state senator won't go on trial tomorrow as planned. in july of 20-15, kent sorenson was charged with domestic abuse and interference with official acts. today, he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. as part of his plea, he faces a sentence of up to 30 days in jail and a maximum 625 dollar fine. sorenson is awaiting sentencing for violating federal campaign finance laws during the 20-12 presidential campaign. opening statements are now underway in the trial of a boone man accused of killing his wife.

degree murder charges. his wife... emily... was found dead at the couple's home in 20-12. fazzino told police wife drowned in the bathtub and she was addicted to prescription pills. prosecutors say he choked and drowned his wife because she wanted a divorce. the case was moved to winneshiek county so an impartial jury could be seated. a newton man... originally charged with attempted murder... plead guilty to lesser charges today. john britton rammed his car into another car... carrying his estranged wife and their granddaughter last october. no one was seriously hurt. today britton pleaded guilty to assault while displaying a dangerous weapon... and second degree criminal mischief. the judge sentenced britton to seven years in prison. an f-f-a group in des moines was the victim of theft over the weekend, and it could hurt how the organization operates. i came back and thought about things, then realized the door to the keybox was open, that i looked out the window where i parked the

on sunday night, someone broke into the horticulture office near mccombs middle school. the suspect also stole tools, batteries and some cash. instructor craig nelson says whoever stole the items, knew where they were kept. members use the suburban to get to activities... and the money students raised in the program was used to buy it.. the stolen vehicle looks similar to the one seen here. it's a black, 4-door 19-99 gmc suburban. it has official iowa license plates - number 1-1-2-7-8-7. that bumper sticker also sets it apart- it agriculture.' ice jams are threatening an county... but the bridge might be spared. this is the wagon wheel bridge near logans port yesterday. massive chunks of ice were flowing down the des moines river, bending the bridge in several places. authorities are watching an ice jam in fort dodge that could damage

officials now tell us that it appears that the jam won't be as bad as first thought... and the bridge could be spared additional damage. the indianola fire department is getting better prepared for cold water rescues. today it received the first of four state of the art suits. the ice commander rescue suit entirely covers the rescuer, except for the eyes. with it on, the firefighter can stay in water as cold as 32 degrees for extended periods to perform a victim rescue. training on the new suits starts immediately. the indianola fire department was involved in a cold water rescue, less than two weeks ago. rick rauzi crashed trough the ice at lake ahquabi near indianola on february 14th. two fishermen kept him afloat until firefighters arrived and pulled him out. the fire department said the older suits performed well in this case but they are ready to be replaced. rauzi left the hospital, two days after falling in the

ed, ice conditions changing after a stretch of warmer temperatures... newton's latest police officer is sworn in... on all fours. what it took to get smokey on services are needed. and waukee school are changing the pledge of allegiance... who will now be asked to recite the was brought to

but first... president obama announces his plan to close down guantanamo bay where prisoners would go if it's shut down... and the fight what

the obama administration is offering up a plan to close guantanamo bay... the move comes seven years after the president promised to close the military prison. president obama proposed, again today, that congress close the u-s prison for terror suspects in guantanamo bay cuba. republican leaders in congress

steve handelsman has the new back and forth on this old issue... for 7 years president obama has tried to close the u-s prison at guantanamo bay cuba "it undermines our standing in the world" u-s allies want gitmo closed. isis uses gitmo as a recruiting tool. dressing hostages for beheading in orange like gitmo prisoner used to wear there's no need for a prison in cuba where u-s law do not apply... says mr obama. "we can capture terrorists, protect the american people and - and when done right - we can try them and put them in our maximum security prisons and it works just fine." hundreds of terrorists are already held in the u-s. with no incidents. mr obama did not propose which supermax prisons might take gitmo detainees, but congress voted last year to ban all gitmo prisoners from the u-s senate majority leader :52-:57"he should know - that the bipartisan will of congress has already been expressed against that proposal. on the campaign trail today:

presidential candidate 1:01- 1:05"don't shut down gitmo - expand it and let's add some new terrorists there!" republican marcio rubio presidential candidate 1:08- 1:11"they're going to guantanamo and were gonna find out everything they know! " gitmo, that once held 680 detainees is down to 91. 35 eligible for transfer. 46 face charges. 10 will never be released 9/11 mastermind khalid sheikh mohammed is at gitmo and looks likely to stay there. audio outcue: i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. president obama claims that 1. 7 billion dollars could be saved over 20 years and our image aboard improved immediately if guantanamo bay prison was closed. iowa senator chuck grassley let it be known, that whomever president obama nominates as a supreme court justice, will not get a confirmation hearing. senator grassley is chairman of the senate judiciary committee...

republican members of that committee released a letter to president obama today. it reads in part:: "given the particular circumstances under which this vacancy arises, we wish to inform you of our intention to exercise our constitutional authority to withhold consent on any nominee to the supreme court submitted by this president to fill justice scalias vacancy." the letter goes on to say, the committee will not hold hearings on any nominee until after the next president is sworn in. all waukee students will soon allegiance... the school board voted at it's high school students to recite the pledge. the issue was brought up by a parent who questioned why the requirement only applied to students through tenth grade. last night's decision does not implement the new rule. the aclu of iowa points out to participate...

at least into the overnight in central iowa. while winds will be light at first from the nw at 5 to 10 mph, they will pick up and gust 20 to 25 mph on wednesday. with the wind, even though tthere will be more sun on wednesday, highs will be slightly cooler, in the upper 30s. winds will be even stronger on thursday with gusts near 40 mph possible. that will push highs well into the 30s for a brief cool down. warm weather bounces back over the weekend, with highs close to 60s on

with 40 megs of internet speed from centurylink, a family of four can all be online at the same time, streaming, gaming, or downloading movies. yeah, the internet's great, but i think hair and makeup went a little too far. yeah, that's not working. i much prefer the two-day beard, horn-rimmed glasses, just-slept-in-his-car kinda thing. yeah, i miss the rumpled crazy uncle look. okay. be "paul giamatti." that's the essence of this role. feel like a hollywood insider

mostly cloudy skies will hold on at least into the overnight in central iowa. while winds will be light at first from the nw at 5 to 10 mph, they will pick up and gust 20 to 25 mph on wednesday. with the wind, even though tthere will be more sun on wednesday, highs will be slightly cooler, in the upper 30s. winds will be even stronger on thursday with gusts near 40 mph possible. that will push highs well into the 30s for a brief

weather bounces back over the weekend, with highs close to 60s on

a new officer is now patrolling the streets of newton. but he didn't come from the academy... where smokey the k-9 did get his training... and what this furry addition means to the newton police

a stray pup is earning his stripes as the newest k-9 for the newton police department. the rescue dog is training to sniff out crime on the streets of newton. smokey is the department's first k-9 in 25 years. and as channel 13's jannay towne shows us, he isn't your typical police dog. don't this sweet faced, tail wagging pooch fool you. when duty calls, nats 14:43:28 find dope smokey's knows it time for to put his nose to work. nats 14:47:13 check ... yes the energetic one-year-old border collie mix is the newton police

he's training to be a drug and tracking dog with handler zach walker. zach 14:37:09 the trainers who have done it for a long time make it look very easy so once i did it, it was a lot harder than it looks 15 walker is getting some pointers along the way.. 14:00:09 nats dennis 14:07:38 he will continue for the next four weeks learning how to bond with the dog and learning how to do the tracking and narcotics work 47 trainer dennis george says like most partnerships, there's a learning curve. dennis 14:09:43 they have personalities, they have emotions and we need to key on those. but keying in on those canine cues will get easier with time. zach 14:38:44 he's a cool dog. not a traditional dog. what you'd think of when you think of a police dog 49 chief 12:02:12 we didn't want that perception of a big scary dog. not that german shepherds and malinois are always scary, but there's a perception with the traditional police dogs 22

a stray from the animal rescue league. dennis 14:13:13 smokey is very good at being with people. he loves people and already the community has embraced its new dog in blue. nats of check presentation the department has raised about 8- thousand dollars for the k-9 program... with donations from the iowa speedway and many others. chief 12:03:18 it's just awesome to see the community coming around this project nats/ 14:51:11 he's ready to work in newton, jt channel 13 news. smokey should be ready to hit the streets by the beginning of april. stick around, we'll get another

here's what we're working on for the the channel 13 news at six.. 100-percent of my burglaries were all walking past something, seeing a garage door open or a car door that was open with a light on and just

a career burglar explains how it was easy for him to break into homes and why security cameras didn't deter him. also hear what it took for him to stop his life of crime... that's tonight at six... finally tonight.... time can seem slow when living on board the international space station... and sometimes, the astronauts, go bananas.... scott kelly decides to pull a prank on his roomie, british astronaut timothy peake. kelly bursts out of a box - wearing a gorilla costume. he surprises and chases peake who didn't know what it going on.. the suit is a gift from kelly's twin brother and fellow astronaut mark kelly who sent it to his brother in a care package. scott kelly has been on his mission in space since march of last year. he will return to earth

breaking news tonight. state of emergency as tornadoes explode across the south. millions under a severe threat. fears the town could be demolished in the dark. trump towers as nevada votes tonight and can he win three in a row? and can anyone stop him. murder mystery, chicago images of the uber murderer in a gun shop hours before prosecutorses say he went on a shooting rampage. a popular sports skast e fights back after being secretly videoed in a room next door. could someone be watching you. and eating natural. millions look for on the label, but what does it really mean? amid calls for a crackdown, an answer