building inspectors overloaded in hillsborough county. what's being done to stop those problems. and another city getting ready to take down those pesky red light cameras. and it's going to be a good one. a stanley cup rematch as the bolts are getting ready to take on the blackhawks. good evening i'm stacie schaible. >> and i'm keith cate. and an investigation on building inspectors. one hillsborough inspector took on 81 inspections today and he was saddled with 77 yesterday. >>8 on your side began investigating this overload, and it really hasn't eased up all that much. >> reporter: the county claims it's doing a better job managing the building inspections load, but the numbers tell a much different story.

to the storms in manati and sarasota to understand how important it is that buildings are built to code. inspection logs find that are. on wednesday, 77 inspections for one building inspector, 68 to a second, 64 to a third. the international code council recommends 16 to 18 inspections per day. i showed the log to county commissioner al higenbacher. >> do the inspections you are seeing surprise you? >> it's a heavy workload. i don't see how you would accomplish 80 inspections in an

>> reporter: the heavy workload led an inspector to quit. barkley sited pressure that produced undue stress. >> if we're under a lot of pressure, i believe that something could be missed. we're playing beat the clock if you will. >> reporter: another resignation letter stated the workload put on inspectors every day is ridiculously high and way out of the industry recommended standards. >> you see the workload that's that high, it makes you wonder why. >> reporter: well here's one reason, building official mike maldi who was in meetings today told me one reason for the back up was this week was martin luther king day. county might shut down but not the building industry. >> he's going to talk to you later, he didn't have time today. >> he was in meetings all day, we hope to talk to him later. >> what are inspectors telling you. >> inspectors worry that if

lose their jobs. the folks i spoke with say that the workload is heavy. and i have logs that reveal inspectors each shoulders, 50, 60, 70 inspections a day. >> 81 in one day, i can't imagine their angst in trying to manage that. >> you can't get through 81 and do them right. >> what do you miss, that's the >> exactly. >> thank you, steve. well another bay area city is putting the brakes on its red light camera program. gulf port is joining a new group of places on red light runners. peter bernard is showing us why the cameras are coming down. >> reporter: the short answer is people don't like them. in fact, they hate them. this is three in gulf port. we did some digging and found out these red light cameras are not preventing accidents. they sit on poles at busy interceptions watching for

the red light cameras snap a picture which could result in a fine when sensors detect a violation. >> are you a fan of them? >> not at all. >> reporter: and the mayor says his city will say bye bye after residents voiced their concerns. >> and of the calls i had you can imagine none of those have been, hey these are great. >> reporter: eight on your side found statewide stats that show accidents at red light camera intersections are actually up. incapacitating injuries are up 25%. and incapacitating bicycle accidents are up 20%. >> they were sold to them about money. >> reporter: while several bay area communities like tampa, clear water and hillsborough county still have the cameras, others are tearing them down. >> they were put in with false consequences, now that the

going to see them disappear from several florida cities. >> reporter: farell does not like the way they issue red light violations and others don't, for the mayor it's simple. >> when you have that kind of no public outcry, see you later. >> reporter: experts warn those red light camera deals may be higher because people are driving more. but compare to 2015 and 2016 and there's 60 fewer red light cameras and most likely that's going to plummet in the years ahead. >> reporter: other than the fact that they're not popular any other reasons that the city is going to take them down in golf port? >> yeah, they say that the mayor tells me there's a bunch of people that are suing the city over these red light cameras. so they have to hire and attorney and it's costing them money. it's going to be more of hassle than they're worth.

for the folks in gulf post, peter, thank you. the year is only half way over and there's already concern for the end of year testing. the testing will now count as 30% of a student's grade. some students don't think that's fair. >> most people don't listen to children. even though we're children, we still want to be heard. that they're taking the concerns in their hands that's amazing. >> they plan to hold a

students who feel their year end testing grade is unfair. >> reporter: and we're live in thunder alley where people are gathering. and this is going to be a good one for both of them. >> reporter: everybody is looking forward to a big game. we're about a half an hour from puck drop and it's swarming with people along with lots of blackhawks red. i can tell from your sweater that you're not from here. chicago. my daughter married a naval guy from tampa so we're here to support the blackhawks. >> reporter: you guys must be very brave to be wearing this gear. >> it takes a special kind of people to come down here and that would be us. >> reporter: can i get a go

>> reporter: hey i tried. and more on the tennison durant situation. >> hey i will give you a go bolts. go bolts, thanks ryan. and a man found shining a laser at the wrong people. >> how sheriff deputies tracked the man at their home and arrested them. >> and how the u.s.s. tampa used to play a part in the pirate invasion. >> the weather certainly milder feeling today. warmer. a storm system approaching the area. but the small potential for severe weather we'll talk about that and look at a cooler

now to breaking news. this just in, manati county sheriff says his detectives have made an arrest in a double murder that happened earlier this week. dwayne comings is charged with abducting and killing carl tucksburg. their bodies were found in two locations tuesday. detectives are still searching for another man named fredrick douglas. he's already wanted on another felony battery warrant. investigators believe the murders were drug related.

charges tonight for shining lasers at a helicopter. you see the men shining the light then going behind the trees and trying to hide. the authorities were patrolling when they noticed two lasers pointed toward them. >> imagine driving the car at night very dark area and someone were to take a very bright flashlight and shine it in your eyes for a second. it's going to be very hard to maintain control of that car. a laser does the same thing over much larger distances. >> the brothers could run but could not hide. from the sky the pilots directed authorities to the brothers home. tampa electric are sending about three dozen workers to charlotte north carolina before a massive storm. these crews may have to deal with snow, freezing rain and

they're there to help restore power when needed. tico insists it's a chance to give back. >> in 2004 when florida was hit by three hurricanes, we asked for help from hundreds and hundreds of line men from other utility companies. this is one of the times that we get to return the favor and go ride like a calvary and go help in their time of need. >> the crews are prepared to stay for up to two weeks if needed. and pack some warm clothing to go with you. you're going to be up there in the chill. >> the history of gasparilla in tampa. you know it's a long one. >> coming up we're going to take a deep dive into the history books to share a story many people may not know. how the u.s.s.

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sunset after 6:00 now. getting some nice views from hula bay. kind of overcast at the moment. we do have clear patches, beautiful shot here up in new port richie. and clear patches mixed in with these clouds. freedom plaza as well, 66- degree the current temp. a little warmer today, largely thanks to that easterly breeze. that tends to make it a bit milder in the area. we have this potential severe weather event mainly to the north. we have the possibility of seeing stronger thunderstorms. the timing on that would be

to 5:00 p.m. most likely around lunchtime. a line of showers and thunderstorms through this period. a chance of severe storms closer to the area of low pressure. the same area of low pressure that's going to sweep through the northeast and bring quite a bit of snow potentially a few feet of snow in some areas according to the computer model forecast. slight risk of severe weather this does include citrus country. portions of pasco, hernando and pinellas. just kind of a swath there. a lesser risk to the south. we would talk about the northern areas in particular. storm team weather max is a great download. especially for those severe weather alerts things like tornado warnings, severe thunderstorms warnings also to keep track of the radar and the forecast. 70degrees at 3:00 p.m. the rain exits and clearing by the afternoon. it's mostly a morning event really morning afternoon. 68degrees current temperature. dewpoint 50.

treasure island. st.pete 64. 63 in lake placid. this is the forecast for the snow event coming to the east. this goes all the way back into tennessee, kentucky. possibly a foot of it. especially in the lower elevations like virginia into the northeast. including the nation's capital up to a foot of snow possible. there's the area of low pressure now on ahead of it in the south. tornado watches are in effect but winter storm warnings advisories on ahead of it. high pressure for us is giving us more of an easterly flow. fog. tomorrow morning. that's the timing around 1:30. pushing to the east. a lot of the computer models are kind of consistent on this timing as well. then pushing off to the east as the day goes along. saturday.

highs in the 60s that day with lots of clouds and chilly. 70degrees for friday. sunday. 67degrees for monday. rain chances 70%. mostly first half of the day tomorrow. rain chances back on wednesday. but not a bad temperature range all the way, although it is chilly this weekend. keith and stacie. it is gasparilla time in time -- time in tampa an event that dates back to 1964. and tampa is tied to the titanic and world war i. jeff has more on this story. >> reporter: kennedy and dell mavery, you probably passed it a doesen times maybe more it

tampa, but it's a story most people probably have never heard. >> the city of tampa and the ship fell in love with each other. >> reporter: nancy turner has written a great deal about the history of gasparilla but she has a new passion. telling the story of the u.s.s. tampa. >> the tampa itself was called the happiest ship in the fleet. they just really had a really nice group of guys. >> reporter: the ship was launched in 1912 and sent immediately to novascotia. >> that was a month after the titanic sank. they sent her up there to identify where the iceburgs were. >> reporter: but the crew and ships spent the wintertime in tampa. >> when the ship came into town it was a big deal. there wasn't much going on. the rotary club had parties for them. gave them a silver service. >> reporter: in 1913 they even started a new tradition, that has become engrained in gasparilla.

anyone in hearing range knows that still goes on. the first year they did that was 1913. >> reporter: then world war i took off and the navy took control of the tampa. >> she was there for about a month, then she was sunk. >> reporter: on board when she sank, there were 20 tampa natives. >> what's so sad is there were cousin. >> reporter: other than this american legion post nothing here in this city. change that. soon they will open an exhibit to commemorate the history of the uss tampa. >> good for you for echoing like a cannon their history and trivia so we can all remember. a reminder that saturday

the cannons will fire. newschannel8 will carry the gasparilla event. josh benson and jen leigh are going to cohost. and holloway is going to dress like a pirate and parade the streets to report. we'll be streaming it live. from that excitement to the excitement going on tonight. down at amery arena, can you feel it. >> oh i can feel it. a lot of red out there for the blackhawks. >> and we'll also have the

welcome back live outside the arena. i'm here at thunder alley where the doors just opened. there's dozens of people scrambling inside. the bolts taking on the chicago blackhawks winners of a franchise record 12 straight games. one of those streaks comes to an end tonight. these two teams mirror images of one another. we made this point last year in the stanley cup final but it bares repeating. but he believes the hawks model for success is the way to go in today's nhl. >> look at chicago, they don't finish first in their visional year. they just make the play offs every year. once they go in, they go about their business. i'm sure teams are like, we do chicago. that's us.

there's your aura right there. and that's where we want to get to a point of why we drew tampa not too excited about this. >> the other big bolt story today is away from the ice. the jonathan durant saga. his manager reported he would not report to his regularly schedule nhl game. now both parties are put in a pretty precarious situation. >> we will trade him if and when we can make a deal that is good for the tampa bay lightning. and since that nothing has changed. >> reporter: the druen saga began in november when walsh asked too trade druen. walsh went public with those demands, according to iserman that changed everything. >> druen with a shot and he

>> i think if you ask every single player at some point they've been frustrated by their situation and they persevered through it. there's not an exact progression for every single player it's different. i know jonathan wanted to play more. he stated he's not happy with how he is used. i understand that. but cooper is doing a good job. i would like to think we're doing a good job of bringing these guys along. we're going to stick with that plan. >> reporter: what's the plan now? duran has come off as a toxic asset for any locker room and his trade value has diminished significantly. he maintains there is significant interest but a deal has never been close. >> where this plays out i don't know. he becomes a very good hockey player, all is forgotten i assume. >> in situations like these everybody needs to accept a little bit of responsibility including myself.