This is a 35 pound weigh my son was hit in the face with a 45 pound weight. Roberts son played football for linnmar and was one of the players that was allegedly abused by coach matt casebolt. He claims the coach was upset and used his position to hurt his son. Son. Instead of talking to him and doing it in a the right, appropriate, professional way, he hit it with both palms in the mouth, breaking his tooth. Tooth. The verbal abuse, the physical abuse has got to stop. One parent says the abuse goes outside of the locker room room some of these kids get it in the classroro from these coaches and theyre pushed from the team to go and bully them where they cant even have lunch in the lunchroom. Members of the Football Team adamantly deny any wrondoing. They say the coaches do nothing but coach them. Them. The coaches do not bully us, they do not abuse us. The word abuse, i think that is so blown out of proportion. Proportion. These things that have been coming out in the e wspaper lately have been really shocking to me and it gets emotional because most of things in there arent true. True. Theyve taught me more than just football, theyve taught me life values and theyre making me into a better man. Mark spokesperson for the families who claim abuse says hes not buying it. And the School District shouldnt eithe either. We have asked what is the linnmar School District doing to protect our children . we have been promised a response and then dismissed with no response. No action was taken by the board tonight. Though the district did invesigate the matter and didnt find enough evidence to take action. E concerned parent group still plans to move forward and take their case to the board of education. Covering the corridor in marion, ra miller, fox 28 news. Dora thanks, there i ia lot of news coming out of the cedar rapids School District tonight as well. Well. Fox 28 news begins with the push to open a second Magnet School. Leaders say they Kenwood Leadership Academy this fall. The move comes just one school year after the district opened the johnson steam academy. The new Magnet School will continue to serve the kenwood neighborhood. Other families who want to send their kids to the Magnet School will take part in a lottery system. New tonight, a change in the Cedar Rapids School calendar that will impact every parent and child in the district. Just a short time ago the school board voted to give students an early out eveve friday afternoon starting next school year. The extra time gives teachers opportunities for professional training but some say the change is disruptive and doesnt outweigh the positives. Positives. Fox 28 News Reporter matt hammill joins us with the latest, matt . Youll remember the board met a month ago to discuss a two hour late start every monday morning but parents saqd not so fast a we are on a slippery slope if you think this schedule is for children. Im going to have at home waiting for a bus all by themselves and that cares me. Everyone from parents to School Bus Drivers bristled at the idea of needing extra child careor leaving children ho alone every monday rning. After asking for more input the teacher training moves to every friday afternoon giving students an early dismissal. More than 80 percent of those who filled out the survey said friday afternoon was the best option. Friday afternoon makes much more sense for the kids before the board voted some parents thanked members for the change but others still worry about the e urs of school kids are mimiing why cant the Team Meetings be set outside of school hours some teachers value the training but not the time out of the classroom work is important but also i want the instructional time a few become a skip day for teachers but pete clancy says this is what educators have been begging for teachchs will want to be there theres no reason to skip out. One other concern the mornings because it says kids tend to get into more trouble when theyre not supervised in the afternoons. Doctor buck says he plans to check with the city and other resources to see what creation opportunities might be availalbe for kids friday afternoons. Matt hammill fox 28 news besides parents, some students want to have a bigger say in their education. Education. Members of the Iowa Student Union say one way to do that is have ateast one student onon Districts School board. They say theyre also in favor of the democrats plan to boost Education Funding in say if students want a better education, they have to fight for it. Its extremely important that students are able to advocate for whwh they believe is beses for education since i would argue its them that are affected most by the School Boards and education leaders decisions. Decisions. Right now the group has a large following at Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School but are urging students from other schools to join. Theyre holding a rally april fifth at the capitol in des moines. We have more information about the group on our newly redesigned qebsite, fox 28 iowa dot com. After a shot of springlike temperatures over the weekend, weve fallen back closer to reality. Reality. Lets find out how it look as we dive deeper into the wee. K wee. Kchief meteorologist terry swails steps in now with your an update now to a story fox 28 news has been tracking all day. Day. One person was rescued by firefighters after flames ripped through an apartment complex. Complex. Crews were called to the shamrock apartments on jacolyn drive southwest in cedar rapids around nine this morning. When they arrived, one person was trapped, but fireghters were able to pull him to sasaty. The man was treatment of smoke inhalation. Three Apartment Units sustained heavy damage, several others had water mage. The cacae of the fire is still unknown and right now, the red cross is helping those forced out of their homes. In waterloo right now, now,a School Principal is accused of driving drunk. Drunk. Black hawk county deputies arrested 39yearold amber dietz friday. Dietz is charged with first offense owi. The sherififs office tells fox 28 news her breath test was nearly twice the legal limit. Dietz is the principal of Kingsley Elementary School in the e waterloo School District. After monts of falling prices, the cost of gas ticked back up in iowlast week. Week. The latest numbers from gas buddy show t t average cost of a gallon in iowa jumped eight cents. The statewide average now sits at a dollar74. Area refineries are starting to cut back on their output because of low oil prices. Prices. To find the cheapest gas in your area, head to fox 28 iowa dot com and click on w to north liberty. Liberty. Where the Booming Community is trying to keep up with public needs. Needs. Among the issues city leader are discussikg right now is the creation of a fulltime Fire Department. Right now, the city is served by an all volunteer department that responds to more than a thousand calls a year. Leaders sasaa fulltime crew would drastically cut down on response times. When the alarm gfes off these guys are getting out of t tir bedsdst night, leaving ththr families, theyre getting their shoes on, getting in their car driving over here, especially in the winter with snowstorms and that and then heading out. Out. Talks of a aulltime Fire Department are in the early stages and no approval or timetable is set for making the switch. Now to cedar rapids rapidswhere leaders are working on a new structure for storm water fees. Fees. The Current System is based on total acreage of a home or business and ultimately has the biggest Financial Impact on large companies. The new proposal would change that to a rate surfaces on a property are impervious like parking lolo sidelks and cost for some. News at nine. Nine. The power of play. How a simply childhood activity, can be a powerful healing tool. My special report when the fox tomorrow on fox28. Losing a loved one can be one of the hardest moments in your life. A local woman realized nobody really tells you what you need to do next. Next. Now shes made it her mission to help prepare others. Her tips for you tomorrow on their young lives children and teens are likely to experience some degree of emotional trauma. Whether its the loss of a grandparent bullying or even clinical anxiety or depression. Today more and more therapists are trtrting those youou people and as i found out in this fox 28 news special report its working. Working. Its not okay for mom and dad to hit you. Stacie mitchell listens to children for a living. As a therapist and supervisor at tanager place she has heard countless stories of heartbreak, disappointment, and abuse. But her office is welcoming, warm, and full of toys putting children at ease the minute they walk in. Youre allowing the kikito communicate and kind of process through and deal with problems they might be having in their life through play. Tanager place has more than 15 therapists who specialize in play therapy. Sons of stacies co worker sat with her to show us how play therapy works. You want to come play . A typical less than 45minutes of pure play time. Many choose mitchells sand box. She says so many of todays kids are not accustomed to being given that much unnterrupted time with an adult. Ive even had kids say to me, go look at your phone, go to your cocouter. butt bite 05 31 10 the world we live in is so busy, so much going on. How often do kids get 4550 minutes of 100 attention. . The other therapists agree and say kids will often use the toys to act out what is happening in their own lives. Thats their chance to reframe the negativity and teach them that life can change and get better. Their play can sometimes start out as very aggressive, or the kid is kind of goinin off f into some place, then you see the kids join together, wanting to be more playful with things, maybe stop being as aggressive with the toys, and they kind of have a happier play. I think its them grow, and you see them get to a point where they may y not need the therapy anymore. Thats the greatest reward when a child is healed and no longer needs to play to communicice. What were trying to show them is that everything they do is important. And making the child feel important carries them back into the real world 45minutes later knowing someone cares all day every day. Iowa is among other states that has a chapter of the association for play therapy. For more information about play therapy includi whether you think yourr child might t nefit from it. It. Just go to our website, fox still to come on the fox 28 news at nine. Nine. New numbers show a dramatic result after years of pushing the hpv vaccine. The impact it has on an infection connected to cancer. Cancer. And the Cedar Rapids PoliceDepartment Celebrates a connection with the community now half a century old. Youre watching the fox 28 news at nine. Health experts continue to encourage nearly all women to get a vaccine to stop the human pappiloma virus, or hpv. Hpv. That infection is responsible for twothirds of all Cervical Cancer cases in the us. Now, theres new information on the effectiveness of the vaccine. Vaccine. Topping tonights to your health report. Report. The centers for Disease Control and prevention reports, over a six year period, the rate of hpv infections among teenage girls fell by an astonishing rate of more than 60percent. In adult women, hpv rates fell more than 30percent. The cdc says about half of all teenage girls now get the recommended hpv vaccine, but those rates fall quickly among older women. Wellness in the workplace is becoming a very lucrative employees. More than 80percent of the nations Biggest Companies are now offering some form of financial incentive for workers who participate in wellness programs. Research shows financial incentives do lead to a rise in the number of workers trying to improve their wellness. Thats a big boost to businesses in the long run. A more fit workforce leads to Lower Health Care costs and fewer sick days. Theres a new warning tonight to stay fit. Fit. New data out of israel suggests teens who are heavier and taller than average could be at greater risk of developing nonhodgkins lymphoma. Researchers tracking data from more than two million teens found those teens had a 25percent higher risk of this particular form of cancer. And a Stanford University project reportedly found an easier and cheaper test to detect tuberculosis. The test targets a specific gene signature in the blood that million worldwide, including hundreds here in the us, die each year from the respiratory infection. Next on the fox 28 news at nine. Nine. The next political test. The shrinking gop field heads to nevada as the remaining candidates try to slow down Donald Trumps march to the nomination. Nomination. And when it comes to a career in law enforcment, its never too soon to start. The longrunning Program Giving future cadets a legup when the fox 28 news at nine continues. U. S. Cellular has the phone youre looking for, a network thats built to give you coverage way out here where the other guys dont, and 6 gigs for only 40 a month. Thats a lot less than verizon and at t. So, why on earth would you ever go with one of those other guys . Switch to u. S. Cellular now and get 6 gigs of data for 40 a month plus get 300 back. President begins to scatter across the rest of the country ahead of super tuesday. For the gop, the next contest is right around the corner. Corner. Republican voters will take part in the nevada caucus tomorrow. Tomorrow. There is limited polling in that state, but what has been done shows a strong lead for front runner several candidates trying to overtake the billionare businessman. But history is on his side. No republican has failed to secure the nomination after winning in New Hampshire and south carolina. Jeb bush, the early front runner in the republican race, is now out of it. He ended his white house bid after another disappointing showing in south carolina. Most of the money pouring into the gop race had gone to bushs effort. Now, three candidates, ted cruz, marco rubio and john kasich, are all bidding to grab that support, and money, from bushs former backers. It appears rubio has the upper hand, as many republicans are starting to publicly back the florida senators campaign. As always, for latest on the race and the rest of your political headlines, be sure to watch iowa in focus with host kevin barry, every sunday morning at 9 30, right here on fox 28. The Southern Poverty Law Center is a selfdescribed private organization that combats hate in americaa list. That list has swelled to nearly 900 organizations nationwidea nationwidea one president of a group on that list questions the list and how it defines hate. National correspondent jeff barnd has more now in a story you will only see on fox 28 news. News. The splc hate list includes groups like the aryan nation and the ku klux klan. But critics claim that hate list a includes nonviolent conservative groups like the Family Research council which opposes certain gay rightsa the dcbased groupa center for Security Policy made the hate list this montha and its president is crying foul. The Southern Poverty Law Center has decided to target us in this smear. And i think its rehehensible. For nearly 20 years, Frank Gaffneys group warned some us islamic communities want their religious laws to supercede us constitutional law. The splc website calls gaffney the splc definesa a hate group as an organization with beliefs that attack an entire class of people but the splc is quick to say that doesnt imply a hate group condones violence or criminal activity. We dont support the kind of hatred that islamic supremacism gives to women, to homosexuals, religious minorities, and to others no doubt hate. Is a potent word. Ugly as it can be and depending whos using it, our constitutional law allows any american or Us Organization to define it a as it sees fit. We have a First Amendment in this country so people should be free to say whatever they want to say even if their nextdoor neighbor or you or i disagree with that. We tried contacting the splc on numerous occasions by phone and email to find out how it defines hate and who funds their multimillion dollar organizationa we have yet to get a response. In fox 28 news. Today, president obama spoke with russian president Vladimir Putin by phone. Phone. The two leaders have been on opposite sides in the brutal syrian civil war. Now, they both agree that after more than five years, the fighting must stop. Stop. The two sides are agreeing to honor a ceasefire set to take effect at the end of this week. The agreement still allows the us and its allies to carry out attacks against isis and other terror groups. What started as an uprising against the assad dictatorship, quickly plunged syria into civil war. Now, millions are homeless and hundreds of thousands are dead. Russia has supported the assad regime and helped turn back advances made by us backed moderates. New details tonight on a terrfying story. Story. Fox 28 news has been following all weekendthe uber driver accused of going on a shooting rampage in michigan is now facing six murder charges. Charges. Police say 45yearold jason dalton went on a shooting rampage over the two others hurt. This afternoon, a michigan prosec