now four headlines at 4:00. number one, it's warmer out there today. find out how long it will stick around. >> number two, a string of armed robberies. police need your help to figure out who this is. number three, bird in custody. a stolen cock too is now safe. >> and number four, have you been caught in traffic on i-75 yet? if you drive through tampa, you soon will be.

morning, you know it was cold. we had the low of 38 in tampa and st. petersburg. a lot of folks woke up to this, frost. this was taken by mo'nique, taking a frostman in st. petersburg. then three hours later after it warmed up, this is the frostman. temperatures warmed up in a hurry. today we were about 30 degrees warmer during the afternoon hours than we started off the day. right now we are 65 in tampa, 70 in zephyrhills, lakeland and northport. satellite and radar, just a few clouds floating around but that's about it. it will be a lovely evening, temperatures down to 60 degrees

by 10:00 p.m. we're at 57. so not bad this evening temperature wise. satellite and radar, it is quiet right now. we are watching a storm system developing in the middle part of the country. that's going to bring us some rain to the tampa bay area. we'll have details on that coming up in a bit. thank you. a warning now about an armed man sticking up stores in south pinellas county. investigators believe he could be responsible for six holdups so far. this is have from a sunoco in st. petersburg. this is the third time he robbed the same store. he's threatened the clerk with a handgun, demanded cash and cigarettes, even smashed a coin game near the door. crime stoppers is offering a reward for information leading to his arrest. hector is home. three days after someone

from a petco in largo, he's back home again. store managers believe a man stuffed the bird in a bag, who gave it to a woman and she called deputies, so hector is back. >> i was one of the hand feeders when hector was a baby, so i'm a mama bird to hector. >> detectives are on the trail of the alleged bird napper and hector is happy to be back home again. we'll let you know when there's an arrest. traffic troubles continue today on i-275 in tampa. the new stretch of highway just opened but workers needed extra lanes so they dropped it to three from four. delays stretch from the pinellas side of the howard frankland bridge all the way to tampa.

open by mid-february to cut down on the backup. a breakthrough for the citrus industry, and it's being developed and tested here in josh thomas shows us what it citrus crop. >> reporter: citrus greening years. new technology could be what growers have been hoping for. citrus greening killed millions of trees in florida. now using lasers, scientists have figured out a way to trees. senator bill nelson helped get $125 million over five years to fight citrus greening. >> in order to get it into the sap of the tree, where the bacteria resides that is killing the citrus trees, that is going to kill our citrus industry unless we are

we are going to be successful. >> reporter: 65 million boxes of oranges will be shipped this year, far less than the 240 million just ten years ago. growers hope they can use the technology by march. josh thomas, newschannel 8. let's take a look at headlines from hollywood, including big movie and music news. >> american people are getting screwed by the big banks. >> i'm getting madder and madder. >> reporter: there's a new favorite in the oscars race. the mortgage meltdown movie the big short has been named the best picture of the year. why is that a big deal? the last eight oscar winners for best picture have also taken the pga's top prize.

really complain. >> reporter: and zayn is back early spring. into it. >> reporter: chris rock was working on the oscars hosting gig and says he won't boycott. his producer says he's writing a new opening monologue. we'll see what he comes up with when the curtain rises february 28th. for hollywood minute, i'm david daniel. it is tax time and there are some changes this year you need to know about. we have those next. >> and this pup is still having some fun.

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turns out americans are buying bigger, pricier homes. the average home size rose about 40 square feet last year to an average of 2700 square feet. almost after the new homes last year had more than four bedrooms and garages to fit at least three vehicles. hilton is opening new hotels. true hotels will debut at the end of the year, intended to appeal to millennials. they will offer beer and wine and ping-pong and foods foosball tables. filing your taxes this year will be different than in years past, in this first at 4 consumer watch.

2015 taxes this year, if you're prone to procrastinate, you have four extra days to file this year. the deadline's been moved to april 18th because it's a leap year and there will be a february 29th, plus friday the 15th is a holiday in washington, d.c., where the irs is headquartered. something else different this year, the 1095 forms, which you'll have to file describing where you purchased your health insurance. the penalty for not having health insurance goes up to $325 or 2% of taxable income, whichever is greater. also going up, the number of taxpayers who file electronically, which means those due a refund, averaging $2,797 last year, will get them quicker. and do it before an identity thief does. cyber crooks are busy at

numbers and filing false claims refund. we are expecting bad weather later this week. details coming up. >> and a florida police officer gets a huge surprise when he sees who's joining his team for a pickup game of basketball. >> and we'll take a closer look at the teams playing in super bowl 50, coming up in first at 4 sports.

welcome back. we have breaking news, rescuers on the scene of a school bus crash at trinity boulevard and

we are told 35 students were on board this bus from seven springs middle school. no injuries at this point but paramedics are still assessing everyone for possible injuries. we have a crew on the way to the scene and we'll have a live picture coming up. good news, no injuries in that crash. joining us now for another look at the forecast, brian bennett. >> it was a cold one. this weekend we had highs in the 50s, finally today broke the 50s. we're back in the middle 60s. tomorrow 74, so a warming trend. first a cool picture of the blizzard. this is the winter storm over the mid-atlantic, taken from the international space station. that burst of light in the clouds could be thunder snow. scott kelly tweeted this over

really good pictures. that is a cool picture from space. from the ground, we know that blizzard made quite an impact. check out this car. this was in new york city. just looks like it's been brutal for those folks. fortunately it's history and they are having time to dig out. here at home, nice florida weather, 58 degrees this evening. not quite as chilly, so fairly nice throughout the late evening, even the overnight hours. right now we have a few temperatures near 70 degrees. satellite and radar, not much to show you here. we don't have much in the way of cloud cover and no rain, so really nice conditions for your evening. offshore high pressure system is turning our winds more easterly to southeasterly, and that's helping to warm the temperatures up.

upper 60s and tomorrow we're in the middle 70s. then we focus on this front here. it will come our direction and bring us showers on wednesday. here the front is, moving closer. by tomorrow we see a few additional clouds but no rain tomorrow, just a few more clouds and 74 degrees. moving into wednesday, line of showers and storms with that front starting to move in. it will be a slow mover and could bring us rain thursday morning through thursday afternoon, potentially 1 to 3 inches of rain possible. isolated severe storm is possible as well with strong damaging winds, so we'll keep an eye on that for wednesday. major outbreak. we could get some decent rainfall on wednesday. overnight tonight, partly cloudy skies, about 15 degrees warmer than we were last night. last night we were at 38 and tonight we're at 52, not as chilly, and no frost overnight tonight.

cloudy, above average temperatures. we'll top off around 74, which is going to feel nice compared to the 50s we've had. this weekend. it will be warmer this weekend for the invasion, 62 degrees. later, fairly comfortable and partly cloudy and dry. so a decent gasparilla weekend. showers and storms on wednesday, moving out on thursday, looking good in time back to you. this weekend's blizzard up north provided a great opportunity to get great video. >> we have a city surfer, dog sledders, and time lapse view of the snow. >> reporter: it's not like you can snow board every day through the streets of manhattan, so over the weekend, casey did.

but the officer was cool about it. to further prove his craziness, he reportedly used a 30-foot video cable to tow himself. for an equally adorable way to get around in the snow, these kids enlisted the help of their dog brutus. david shot this video of his kids being pulled around by brutus. and how much snow did the washington, d.c. area get this weekend? a 15-year-old put his friday in the window friday afternoon and left it there till saturday night. you can see how fast it filed up in a day and a half. i'm jeremy roth. a former u.s. defense secretary is launching a gaming app called churchill solitary. it's a variation of solitary that winston churchill devised,

ten rows of cards instead of seven. before now, not many people knew of this version of the game. >> winston churchill used to play this game and he taught it to a friend of mine, and he taught it to me back in the 1970s. so it's a game that dates back many decades. >> the app is free to download but includes in-app purchases. profits go to military charities that support troops and families, and families of the fallen. another game going around the internet today? >> it involves a gainesville police officer and an interesting game of pickup

>> i told you i was going to bring some backup. you guys ready? bring your good game? >> yeah. look at these big boys i brought. you sure you could take them? i got some other backup for y'all. >> get out here. >> it's shaq! >> step up.

>> playoff defense right there. >> oh! >> step in my office. get two shots. you make one, you get $100. >> you got this. >> oh! >> you can do it. >> yeah! >> in there.

>> okay, come on. >> yeah! >> stop smiling. get serious. focus. >> i will become whatever i want to be. i will be a leader, not a follower. i will respect my peers, my elders, and especially my parents. love you guys. >> that is pretty cool. doesn't happen every day when you're just out shooting hoops. >> that changed their lives forever. >> and he's got a bill to pay, too. having shaq show up, and all

they'll never forget. >> about $800. pay up. >> i don't think he minds. so, did you have broncos and panthers? >> panthers. >> i thought the broncos were the better team yesterday, but the patriots hung in there and came down to the two-point conversion. >> the other game was a blowout. >> but you thought arizona might come back the way the previous week went. super bowl 50 is all set. and if you thought the panthers were the team to beat during the regular season, the odds makers agree with you. the panthers have gained momentum overnight. late sunday carolina was a 3 and a half point favorite in vegas to beat the broncos. by lunchtime today, it grew to 4 and a half. how can you argue after a dominating 49-15 win over the cardinals? you know, there's just enough

veteran, peyton manning toppling the patriots by two points in the afc championship. in two weeks we could be convinced that this game is dead even. we've got two weeks to talk about it. this is kind of cool. the super bowl matchup has shaken up the pro bowl lineup. congratulations to bucs linebacker lavon they david. and logan menkins will appear as well. over the weekend, the lightning's win streak came to an end. this little nugget slipped out as well, details of a contract offer to center steven stamkos emerged. he reportedly offered 8 years worth $68 million. he was asked about it sunday at the lightning family carnival, so he knows fans are paying attention.

when a report like this one emerges. >> things come out, things are said, some things are true and some things aren't. i think because there's been a blackout, for something to come out, i think people are surprised maybe. but whether it's true or not, lots of people have said things that haven't been true and some people have said things that are true. you have to make a story when there's not much going on. all the stuff we talk about is obviously going to stay internal. >> i would be stunned if he accepts that offer. the annual salary more than $8 million a season, i would take it, it would put him in the top ten nhl salaries but other clubs are looking into the $9 million and $10 million range for him. >> he'll take it? >> he's said he wants to win a cup here and happy to be here.

that and the word of gm they are working on a deal. this number over the weekend, that's called a starting point. at least they're talking. that's a good sign. >> peyton manning is not old. y'all have to stop saying that. >> he's my peer. >> look where he is. coming up, update on that school bus crash with 35 students on board. no injuries but we have the

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now four headlines at 4:30. number one, thousands are digging out of the snow today. in pennsylvania some people had to abandon cars in the street during the storm. today city leaders are being accused of a snow response failure. number two, takata facing more trouble. a tenth death is linked to the

u.s. regulators added 5 million more cars to the 19 million already under recall. volkswagen and mercedes-benz are now included. the air bags can explode during a trash and fire shards of glass and metal. number three, seven people treated for injuries after a plane made an emergency landing in canada overnight. paramedics and ambulances waited to evaluate the 192 passengers and crew. the extent of the injuries have not been revealed. number four, blue bell is back. stores in the bay area are once again selling blue bell ice cream today. this is following a listeria outbreak at one of the company's plants. right now florida and georgia are the last of 16 states to get it back. update on the breaking news out of pasco county. we have a picture now from the scene of a school bus crash.

at trinity boulevard and little road. that intersection is closed at this point. there were 35 students on board the bus from seven springs middle school. we have been told no injuries at this point but eagle hd is on the way there and we'll have a live report once they arrive. florida state university agreed to a large settlement for the woman who accused jameis winston of rape. >> today the school agreed to pay her $250,000 and her attorneys will get $700,000. she sued the school for not immediately investigating the case and denying her an education. more than 13,000 rape kits across the state are untested, creating an alarming backlog.

being called in to solve the problem. >> reporter: while florida is bogged down in untested sexual assault kits, lauren's forecast is next hope proposed new rules prevent another one. the senate criminal justice committee approved the bill monday that requires law enforcement to submit rape kits in a timely manner. >> i thank you for sending this forward and sending a strong message to victims that the evidence that will bring their victimizers to justice matters. >> reporter: under the bill, law enforcement would have 21 days to submit a kit for lab testing. >> testing the kits would have to be completed within four months of receiving it. now your first at 4 forecast with brian bennett. it's been chilly but we have horrible weather only horizon. >> we'll have some storms moving in on wednesday. doesn't look like a major outbreak but the possibility

wednesday. meantime, enjoy this beautiful view from lakewood ranch. we'll have clear skies this evening and fairly comfortable temperatures. right now we are 65 in tampa, 63 in st. petersburg. throughout the evening, not too bad. toward tomorrow morning, we'll drop to 52 in tampa. most of us will be in the upper 40s to around 50 degrees to start the day tomorrow. that includes much of pinellas county as well. i don't think we'll see the frost tomorrow morning that we saw this morning. satellite and radar, it is quiet here at home, hardly a cloud in the sky. going to the north, checking in on the old blizzard of 2016, it is history in the mid-atlantic and northeast. that doesn't mean it's history. it's moved all the way across and here it is, tracked all the

it's moving into ireland and england right now, bringing them heavy rain and gusty winds. what a crazy storm that was. here at home, tomorrow morning we'll have partly cloudy skies, a low temperature around 52 degrees. partly cloudy skies by the afternoon but dry with a comfortable high temperature of 74. back to you. 8 is on your side with what you need to plan the morning commute, with a look at tomorrow's traffic today. >> hope you're enjoying your afternoon. all week long i'll give you tidbits on how to get around the gasparilla traffic. start in downtown tampa today, just a quick reminder nice ways to get in and around the area. we have the trolley for marion street and the hart bus line that takes you to and from i streetcar.

up in the mayhem, park in i boar i boar and take that. is 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and that's $5 for the full day. you can also contact me on facebook for questions and follow me for your morning commute on twitter. the story of a bay area couple turning their tragedy into hope. >> and stick around for these 8 on your side stories. >> reporter: our investigation exposed truckers at risk of losing their license for something they didn't even do. now after our questions, the state agrees to step up and help them. >> reporter: this place is supposed to help veterans get quality health care quickly.

helped a brandon veteran. >> reporter: it's a recovery operation on the water. sarasota county is sending out crews to remove debris from the tornado floating out here in the water, and i'll take you along for the ride. i don't want to live with the uncertainties of hep c. or wonder whether i should seek treatment. i am ready. because today there's harvoni. a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of chronic hepatitis c. harvoni is proven to cure up to 99% of patients who've had no prior

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the loss of a child is so deep for parents it can be hard to move forward. one family took their loss and made it a catalyst to help other families also battling childhood cancer. >> it's terrible to lose a

the feeling is something that you don't ever get over. >> reporter: we introduced you to the matthews family two years ago. >> you don't realize how many people ask you how many children you have until your children die. then it's every day. >> reporter: they welcomed ezra in 2008. after his first birthday, they noticed something was wrong. he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, cancer of the nervous system, the most common cancer in infants and one with a high mortality rate. >> the first day he started chemo, i took a pregnancy test in the hospital because i couldn't stop feeling sick. i thought the diagnosis was making me sick but turned out i was pregnant. >> reporter: the stress of the illness complicated her pregnancy. she delivered twin boys nearly

>> bryce passed away after a week. he was having such a hard time, none of his organs were fully functioning. and so he passed away after a week. charlie stayed in the hospital for seven months. >> ezra lived just after his second birthday, leaving them mourning the loss of two children. 2010 was an awful year. >> because we have this intimacy with tragedy now. so we understand, you know, kind of the hardest thing that can happen. this is one of the toughest things that can happen to a person. and it doesn't go away. sometimes you feel it less often but you never feel it less strong. >> reporter: the matthews now have little charlie, still some challenges from his early birth.

channeling their loss into ezra, the charity they formed when he died. venture. in december kyle decided to leave the technology company he cofounded to focus on curing childhood cancer full-time. >> the most common reaction i got was, finally. it was really confirmation for me, a good feeling to know for it. >> reporter: this is something years ago. but the direction of his life question. they know they need to make a difference because of ezra. constantly. we talk about the fact that even though ezra has passed and this research won't help him, there are so many families now going through the same thing that we went through. we are really trying to change the story for the next family.

raised through the charity is earmarked specifically for childhood cancer research. they encourage people to visit their website, becauseofezra.org and help if they can. new numbers today show more than half children under five who died in 2013 suffered from largely preventable problems including respiratory infections, preterm birth complications and diarrhea. among teens the leading cause of death worldwide is vehicle accidents.

welcome back. if you want to go to the super bowl, get ready for sticker shock. the average price of a ticket for the february 7th game between the panthers and broncos, $5,178 according to seat geek. a pair of club seats near mid- field have already sold for

expensive seats sold thus far. super bowl 50 will be in levi stadium in santa clara, california. mcdonald's customers appear to be loving it. the fast food restaurant is seeing a jump in sales worldwide by more than 5%. they are crediting the all day breakfast for the better than expected earnings report. apparently dating apps made big money over the weekend. the dating app called happn made a huge boost, messaging in new york city went up 139% from the weekend prior and philadelphia jumped 342%. they claim new user signups are up 43% across the country. i guess nothing else to do but sit at home on the phone. >> cyber dating. >> this is a fact.

nine months after a hurricane, there's a baby boom. >> i've heard that. >> power goes out, what are you going to do? >> cold in january, i was a september baby. my parents dressed up. let's go a different direction to the view outside. we have sunshine and temps around 67 degrees in sun city center, out at freedom plaza retirement community. lovely view there, comfortable temperatures. right now we are 65, heading north in the 60s and inland right around 70 degrees. not too bad, considering we are about 30 degrees warmer than we started this morning. satellite and radar, just a few high thin clouds but no rain from the clouds, just a really nice evening with high pressure offshore continuing to pump in warmer air.

tomorrow we'll be at 74 degrees, so a warmup in store courtesy of the wind direction. we have a front right now moving into mississippi. it doesn't look impressive right now but it will strengthen as it moves to the southeast. you can see as the front moves our direction, this will tap into the subtropical jet stream and intensify it a bit. tomorrow a few clouds but no rain. moving into wednesday, we'll have showers and storms moving in. this is a closer view. this evening a lovely evening, temperatures around 60 degrees. tomorrow morning a few clouds, 52 degrees so no frost tomorrow morning. then tomorrow afternoon, partly cloudy but dry and warmer with a high of 74 degrees. feeling pretty nice, then wednesday morning starting to see a few showers and storms start to move in. then by later afternoon,

we could see around 1 to 2 inches of rain on average across the bay area wednesday and thursday, and possibly some gusty winds with these showers and storms as they move through on wednesday and early thursday. something to keep an eye on. right now doesn't look like a big severe outbreak, but the possibility is there for a strong or severe storm. obviously el nio winter, we are watching every front that moves through really closely. overnight, partly cloudy skies and about 15 degrees warmer than we were this morning. drop it down to about 52 degrees, not as chilly and about where we should be for late january. tomorrow partly cloudy skies, dry weather and a little above average. our average is 70. tomorrow we'll be 74, so not a bad day tomorrow. really nice looking, other than a few high thin clouds moving in during the day. then wednesday morning, i think early in the day we'll see showers and storms rumble in, a slight chance one of those

otherwise a fair amount of rain could fall wednesday and through thursday morning before the front moves out. fortunately it moves out in time for the weekend. gasparilla is looking good, better than the children's parade did, chilly temperatures. with no wind and 68 on saturday, should be a fairly decent day. now for a look at celebrity news, hollywood today live. >> the revenant reigns supreme this weekend at the box office, hitting number one with $16 million, beating out star wars and ride along 2. most audiences were snowed in at home. >> is the good wife ending? there were tongues wagging but the series is expected to

she may be unemployed soon, as she's not renewed her contract. >> jimmy fallon announced he's donating $10,000, and sean combs and mark wahlberg say their companies are donating 1 million bottles of water to the city with the water crisis. coming up, celebrity dogs playing in the snow. >> having a great time.

welcome back now let's take a look at what's trending online today. >> beginning with a dog that likes to run with the pack. this is a story that's trending from louisiana who ends up placing twice. the energetic dog wandered to the crowd that was running. he decided to join the pack sort to speak and completed with an unofficial time of one hour and 27 minutes that placed him in seventh. he now has a special medal for finishing that race. and the four legged members of the first family bo and sonny were spotted playing in the snow and wasted no time getting their paws wet. the water dogs were wagging

forecasters say nearly 30- inches fell over the weekends. check out this video of an adorable new polar bear cub. this was at a german zoo. the cub has not been named yet and they still don't know what its gender is. the researchers will not get a full view until february that's when mama bear leaves him on his own. and we have much more news with jen and keith that's starting now. a scandal at the sheriff's office. seven deputy recruits off the their exams. florida state university pays up. how much the school is giving james winston's accuser to settle a lawsuit. >> and strong storms filled a busy water way with debris but