supporters and protesters. >> a wrong way driver kills a man of tonight his family wants to know why tragic accident like these can't be stopped. >> we are live with new details on the scandal with the polk county superintendent. good evening, everybody. >> we begin with a close look at a man who changed american politics, donald trump rallies the faithful at university of south florida sun dome and stirred up some protesters, some outside shouting dump trump, others inside causing enough trouble that they were escorted back outside. most of his opponents are still hard at work trying to win over supporters in south carolina, but trump has such a comfortable lead in the polls that he feels just as comfortable taking the long way around south carolina through florida. our political reporter candace

live with reaction from the sun dome. >> reporter: keith, good evening. no matter how you feel about donald trump there was no denying that the crowd inside the sun dome tonight was electric. they beat record attendance tonight just less than 1,000 people and as donald trump pointed out, there was still people outside wanting to get in that couldn't get in. it was like the second coming of the beatles, ralliers with signs and fans without shirts and donald trump in all of his glory. >> oh, was that a protester? get him the hell out of here. by the way, folks, how stupid. this guy, you know he's my friend, but he's really a pain. he keeps talking. quiet, quiet! >> reporter: no. jeb bush isn't the only person trump talks that way to. today trump taking a swipe at florida's former governor. >> jeb bush who is a total stiff, by the way, total stiff.

undeniably huge crowd in the sun dome for some who could be called unlikely suchers like immigrants lowe's fernandez -- supporters like immigrants jose fernandez. >> my wife and daughter did the right thing and follow the first steps and did what we're supposed to. >> reporter: also those first undecided voters hoping to be won over. >> i'm hoping to come here tonight to see what his ideas are. i'm really taking him seriously. i think he's always joking around. >> i would like to hear what he has to say about that in a serious manner. >> reporter: trump proving when it comes to support, he's got it right here in tampa bay. >> are you ready? who is going to pay for the wall? >> mexico! >> who? >> mexico! >> reporter: trump is likely on the road now headed to south carolina where his opponents are ahead of tomorrow night's next republican debate. keith? >> he's a one man show and certainly doing well in the polls, candace mccowan live in

if you missed any of the rally tonight and want to watch it yourself, you can right now on www.wfla.com. another wrong-way crash on a busy bay area interstate. both drivers are dead and tonight one of those driver's families is demanding change. drivers headed directly into oncoming traffic is a major problem here in the bay area, but once again a family is now searching for answers. paul mueller joins us live in tampa, obviously an emotional time for this family, but do they really think that something can be done? >> reporter: indeed they do. they do not want any other family to experience the heartache that they're going through right now after losing their loved one on a downtown tampa exit ramp. >> 911. what's the address of the emergency? >> reporter: drivers frantic. >> and there's a major accident. one car is on the side. one car smashed into the wall. >> reporter: a horrific sight, two cars turned into two pieces of twisted metal. >> they're both unconscious? >> yes.

>> reporter: but in the end both men would be dead. the wrong-way driver larry thompson going north on i-275 south and then getting on the ashley drive exit ramp hitting eugene fischer nearly head on. >> he was the best grandfather you could ever ask for. >> he made everybody laugh. he made every bad situation good. >> reporter: fischer's family now trying to turn this bad situation into a call for action. >> put more signs up and lights and detectors, anything. >> anything that will stop it. >> reporter: but it's not stopping of since 2008 every green dot on the map is a wrong- way crash, every red one a wrong-way driver arrested. fdot says they're working on it with arrows paymented on lanes and signs -- painted on lanes and signs warning drivers not to go. the enough the fischer family says, not now that their loved one is gone.

there's got to be something, something they can do. >> reporter: besides the signs on the street fdot also has this program in place and some accidents over here where it will actually alert a driver if they're going the wrong way. >> but really can these sensors make a difference? >> reporter: that is a great question a lot of people are asking, especially with this rash of wrong-way drivers here in tampa bay. a similar case in south florida, 22 out of 23 crashes prevented. so it's working there. >> well, those numbers speak volumes, paul, thank you. it is such a tragedy. paul live in tampa. a superintendent scandal has cost the leader of the polk county school system her job even though an investigation cleared katheryn leroy of illegal wrongdoing. she decided today that it was in her best interest to resign. the school board voted to accept leroy's resignation in a meeting tonight. that means she will get 20

her paid and sick leave and her attorney fees covered. we will now hear about the ugly and inviting scandal heading for a showdown that finally came today. >> reporter: indeed, keith. the district is now moving forward without leroy, but her supporters say it was a witch hunt and she was pushed out while some others couldn't wait to see already go. >> all those in favor of the motion that we approve the resignation and severance agreement and mutual release as presented by our school board attorney signify by saying aye. >> aye. >> reporter: superintendent katheryn leroy is out. the board accepted her resignation amid allegations she made inappropriate advances toward associate superintendent of operations greg rivers. he claims leroy made comments about him with another employee saying, "i wonder if he has sex hard." he also claims while on a business trip miss leroy was drinking and kind of started touching me.

stay in her room and i kept saying no. leroy was cleared of any wrongdoing. >> and i would just really love for us to move forward. we need to heal as a community. we need to heal as parents, teachers, administrators across our system and start tomorrow as a fresh new day. >> reporter: her supporters say it was a witch hunt. >> under her administration we saw more diversity. we saw more attention to the real needs of the children. >> have never been treated more disrespectful. >> reporter: while some teachers say leroy only made things worse for the district. >> the direction that we've gone is very bad for teacher morale and really very bad for our students. i wish her the best and good luck in the future and i'm glad she's gone. >> reporter: so now that the board has approved this resignation agreement, they will have to pay her thousands,

dollars while they search for a new superintendent, keith. >> today they terminal the page. >> thank you. a couple thieves caught on camera stealing a truck off a car lot happening at a sarasota ford dealership on u.s. 301. you'll see two crooks loading up the $75,000 white ford pickup onto a flatbed and driving off. 30th. call sarasota police. there are two new cases of the zika virus in florida. the statewide total now stands at 20. none of them thankfully involve pregnant women. three of those 20 cases are in the tampa bay area all in hillsborough county and today governor rick scott announced a new zika virus information hotline if you have any questions. the number is 855-622-6735. we've also put that number on our website at www.wfla.com. a major methane gas leak

in los angeles is one step closer to being fixed. the leak has been spewing methane into the air for about four months now. today crews capped the leak. it started after a blowout at a go is company near los angeles. many people including -- a gas company near los angeles. many people including children got sick from this. crews will permanently seal the well later by injecting cement. we're learning more about the damage a cruise ship storm. the ship sustained damage to the propulsion engine and cosmetic damage. the coastguard inspecting the slip to determine when it might -- ship to determine when it might be able to sail on another trip. in havana we've noticed things are rapidly changing. close call for passengers on their way to the bay area. >> just a fantastic day, plenty of sunshine, a high of 70 degrees, should be a nice

we do have another cold front passing through tomorrow. we'll look at this and your valentine's day forecast coming

welcome back. well, it was a meeting almost 1,000 year in the making. raul castro greeted pope francis in cuba today. >> tomorrow is another big day. a u.s. delegation is set to arrive to discuss the possibility of lifting the embargo. news channel 8 jeff patterson is the only bay area reporter in havana this week bringing us events. >> reporter: it's an incredible time to be here in cuba.

havana to meet the head of the russian orthodox church. it's the first time since 1054 the leaders of these two churches have sat down together. that's not 10:54 a.m. or p.m. i'm talking about since 1054 a.d. pope francis has also been instrumental in helping to restore u.s. and cuban diplomatic relations. we're also here to cover the visit of u.s. congresswoman kathy caster to cuba leading a u.s. congressional delegation to cuba this week and i'm the only bay area reporter here to cover it. the congresswoman wants to see what impact toes diplomatic changes are having on the averaged ban. >> we want to see what's happening with private business there in the small business secretary -- average cuban. >> we want to see what's happening with private business there in the small business

travel. we're going to be meeting, for example, with an entrepreneur that has a small business that helps restore those historic cars that you see from the 1940s and '50s. >> reporter: those beautiful cars and the people who drive them are just one of the interesting businesses that congresswoman caster and the u.s. delegation will see when they arrive here tomorrow. in havanna, cuba, i'm jeff patterson, news channel 8. >> 8 on your side is the only television station bringing you reports from cuba on the delegation's trip. jeff will continue his reports from havana through the weekend and into next week. a tarmac scare for some jetblue passengers heading to tampa, a run-away van crashed into their plane. this all happened at logan international airport in boston. the plane was parked at the gate. all the passengers were on board when suddenly the whole plane shook. we caught up with some of those passengers just after they arrived in tampa to describe what happened.

a jolt, plane went up and came back down. i'm sitting in the front row. the pilot jumped up and said i think we just collapsed the landing gear and somebody in the back said no, somebody just hit us. >> the driver of the van forgot to put it in park and hurt himself chasing the van to stop it. no one was injured. the passengers boarded another plane to tampa about an hour later. trouble in the skies for allegiant passengers flying from the bay area to nebraska. what was described as an electrical odor filled the cabin shortly after taking off from st. pete clearwater international airport. the pilot made an emergency landing in alabama. after boarding a new plane those passengers made it to omaha about six hours later. this has been a very special day for a lot of young bay area hospital patients. >> not only did they receive gift baskets full of toys, books and puzzles, but the baskets were delivered by a football coach soon to be in the hall of fame. that's tony dungy. you recognize him.

they handed out the baskets at st. joseph's children's hospital in tampa. the basket of hope campaign they call it designed to brighten children's spirits who are still in the hospital. >> we know what it's like to be parents, to be there for a couple of weeks, to be a kid who is just cooped up. so to just bring books and puzzles and times to make the stay a little bit nicer is something my wife and i really looked forward to doing. >> the gift baskets were put together in california during the super bowl and sent to 30 hospitals all over the country. we made it to the weekend and we have some great weather plans, 67 degrees. we have a few clouds expected tomorrow morning with the passage of a cold front headed our way, some slightly cooler air behind that. valentine's day looks good here, 67 degrees, a lovely afternoon, maybe a few extra clouds on stronger easterly winds that may move across the state.

than the west coast of florida this weekend. today is the eighth consecutive day below normal. it's been kind of cool here of late, a long run of chillier temperatures. the average february high temp so far is 68 degrees, about 3 degrees below our normal. headed to the state fair, been nice all week, a little cool, nothing a jacket couldn't solve, same for tomorrow early. 62 degrees at 11 a.m., at 3 p.m. 68 degrees, loads of sunshine, 54 degrees at 8 p.m., keep in mind we have that cold front moving through the first half of the day. nice shot with the clear skies tonight from karl randall in avon park, the crescent moon gorgeous. weather pictures, send them to storm team 8 wfla on facebook. tonight mostly clear skies but increasing clouds in the early morning hours as the cold front starts to arrive. there's not a lot of cloud associated with the front, certainly nothing in the way of showers or thunderstorms, our arch looks good.

7 our high -- 67 our high temperature. 55 in riverview, 60 treasure island, 56 in apollo beach, low 50s in lakeland, 55 in brooksville and north port a chilly 49. high pressure back to our west and here comes the front, not that ominous but slowly moving down to the south and trying to make out a few clouds along the boundaries. you can tell it's not a big deal. we have not seen showers at all develop with this cold front pushing south. still enough moisture in the atmosphere if you are headed out in the early morning hours on the roads, keep in mind you could see some fog. we saw thick fog this morning, but obviously as that fog pushes farther south, drier air moves in and our visibility goes up as the fog disappears. the rpm forecast paints it out for us, tomorrow clouds, maybe a sprinkle to our west in the gulf of mexico. then really before noon likely this is all down to our south, but blue skies returning with breezy northwest winds and as we get into sunday, it will switch the winds around to the northeast and east.

throughout the day and drag a few clouds across the state, not a big deal. temperatures mid-and upper 60s highs both days. for monday mix of sun and clouds, really warming up near 74 degrees ahead of another round of rain expected later monday into early tuesday and a little cooler tuesday. low temperatures 409 degrees in inverness, crittersal river, 51 bar -- crystal river, 51 bartow. similar to what we saw today, near 70 in a lot of locations. some early clouds saturday, sunshine later, 67 degrees sunday, mostly sunny skies, 74 degrees for monday. rain chances are low again late monday, early tuesday and long term a ridge of high pressure as we've talked about all week will build back in. that should allow our temperatures to lift back up into the mid-and upper 70s by the end of the week. for those waiting for a warm- up, it looks like we'll have one by the end of the week.

moon out there tonight? >> just gorgeous. coming up the usf women's sink a series sweep in cincinnati. >> the lightning get a late start to their weekend working a little overtime against those predators. highlights are next in sports. >> plus here's what you'll see monday morning on news channel 8 today. >> reporter: watching every move you make, i'm gayle guyardo and i'll tell you why dashcams are becoming more and more popular. >> don't forget to wake up weather and traffic on the 8's on news channel 8 today. we'll have that and more coming up. you're watching news channel 8, the station that's always on

here's what's trending on www.wfla.com. valentine's day, you know it, you love it. it's just days away and news channel 8 has some unique last minute ways for you to wow your loved one from valentine's day date ideas to a list of the best restaurants along with a few fabulous deals. we have it all covered for you. just head to our website and check it all out.

now at havertys furniture, it's our annual presidents day sale. which means it's the perfect time to create the perfect home. now through february 15th, everything in our store is on sale. plus, we're offering thirty-six month, no interest financing. come in today for our best prices of the year. with havertys, your home can be perfect.

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sports on news channel 8 is brought to you by your gulf coast honda dealers. >> we're playing some teams here that are right in the mix in the wildcard and in the west and we're in the same position. we're closer to being out of the playoffs than we are in the playoffs. >> steven stamkos would know a thing or two about precarious positioning as the nhl trade deadline approaches with no contract in sight, every hockey fan in tampa bay is wondering what's imminent. meanwhile the lightning are jockeying for position in the eastern conference. the bolts are seventh in the east and the predators eighth in the west. for the fourth straight game tampa bay concedes the first goal. mike fisher goes through the legs of victor hedman over the blocker of ben bishop. in the 2nd jt brown swats home a rebound and that mess of

the last seven game ties it up. seven seconds later the puck goes back through his own legs, 2-1 tampa bay. take another look. the predators draw even in the 3rd, though, then retake the lead. phillip forsberg does the damage, bolts down 3-2. same score, final minute. closing time and steven stamkos says hey, i'll have one more shot. stammer ties it up. 27 seconds left and we're going to overtime. in the extra period hedman shifts to tyler john some and johnny comes through with the game winner. tampa bay -- johnson and johnny comes through with the game winner, tampa bay 4-3. courtney williams has a soft spot for cincinnati even if she's too young to have ever watched wkrp before it hit syndication. the south senior scored her 2,000th career point against cincy.

they wore pink to support the play for k initiative and williams came to play splashing in a 3 to give the bulls an early edge. in the second maria jesperson gets in on the fun. hoop and the arm, usf up double digit. a little later more from courtney williams cooler in the state of ohio than the cleveland browns, 17 1st half points, 22 in all. bulls up 37 at the half and they cruise from there. three time american conference freshman of the week, she likes points. south florida beats cincinnati 78-51. there's a big one coming up louisville. it all comes down to uconn the last game of the year, still undefeated the huskies. >> boy, if you could take down

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(vo) making the most out of every mile. that's why i got a subaru impreza. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. ba da ba ba ba all right. let's look at some winning numbers tonight. cash three this evening, 9, 9,

numbers 5, 3, 0 and 5. also in fantasy 5 you're lucky if you have numbers 12, 15, 29, 33, 21. also your lucky money winning numbers 33, 45, 25, 47. look at this one. it's no. 1 at the end. mega millions 1, 7, 44, 68, 73 and once again 1 at the end. there you go. those are your winning numbers for tonight. >> you want another one? they just kept coming, didn't they? final check on the weather. >> 67 both days, cold front passing early tomorrow, a few clouds and valentine's day looks nice, too. >> i like how you put lovely on valentine's day. in the night cap mount everest meets niagra falls how the winner of the titan

described the waves he took on today of 24 surfers gathered together to try out their skills. swells as high as 40 feet! one of the most popular and dangerous surfing competitions in the world. how cool is that? >> it's not popular if it's not dangerous. >> yeah. that's what makes it fun. jimmy fallon is next. have a great weekend!

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