>> and what a new deal between the u.s. and cuba means for you. good evening i'm keith cate. >> i'm stacie schaible. thank you very much for joining us. heartbroken and looking for justice. family members of a tow truck driver killed in a hit and run speak publicly for the first time. this, as the driver faced a judge today. 8 on your side has uncovered new details about the arrest of allison huffman. we have now learned she admitted to investigators that she was driving and she knew she struck somebody. candace mccowan joins us live in hillsborough county right now. and candace, i understand it was a friend who actually turned huffman in. >> reporter: good evening. i spoke with florida highway patrol. they called alison, invited her over and alerted the police. now the victim's family couldn't be more thankful. >> you always see the news and you see it happen to other people, but you would never

>> reporter: it is the kind of pain that will shake you to your core. and for zerias perez, she cannot stop the tears remembering her brother. he was hit and killed on the howard franklin bridge early monday morning. a tow truck driver, he saw two people in need and stopped to help. that is when 37-year-old alison drove into the emergency lane hitting and killing him. >> you are charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death. >> reporter: huffman appeared before a judge tuesday. she admitted she knew she was in a collision and was scared so she didn't stop. roger's sister wishes she could have talked to huffman in court. >> why. why would you ... i don't know. >> it is disgusting.

>> reporter: roger's boss is hurt and angry. >> i have no words for alison. she's a coward. doing what she did. >> it is very overwhelming. very overwhelming. >> reporter: they are waiting now for huffman to be extradited back here to hillsborough county to face the charges. they are hoping they have an opportunity to speak to her in court. >> candace, understandably, some of the family's anger comes from the fact that huffman has a track record of duis right? >> reporter: she has multiple dui convictions and several other driving arrests. they are wondering why she was still on the road. they are hoping this charge will get her off the road and they hate that it took a death for something like that to happen. >> so sad. candace mccowan live in hillsborough county. thank you. we want to give you another look at some video we showed you yesterday.

right in the middle of an intersection. now, pinellas park police know who this is. investigators identify the driver and the two passengers in the car. and they are all juveniles. authorities may charge the driver with wreckless driving. a man hurt in a crash that may have been caused by street racing has been identified. 27-year-old dustin fowler of tennessee remains in critical condition after yesterday's crash on fullerton road. they are still looking for a second car involved. be aware of condos offered for rent at a low, low price. the internet is full of con artists waiting to take your money. they offer a condo often listed on craigslist with a review for going rate. if you take the bait, they will ask you to send a deposit and in some cases, the victims show

the condo owner who never placed the ad. >> if you see a condo, a 2,000 square foot condo on the tenth floor overlooking a gulf for $100 a night, it's a scam. >> your best defense against falling for the scam? using known vacation booking company or a real estate agent and check out a property in person or have a relative check it out for you if possible. sarasota county school officials are trying to come up with a bathroom policy for transgender students. the board met this morning for the first time to talk about this controversial topic. john rogers joins us live in sarasota with the story. what did the board decide to do about this? >> reporter: well, they did admit this was really tough for them. because whatever they decide will likely make somebody mad and lead to a lawsuit. so they are going to be patient

nate quinn, a senior at pine view school is transgender and he successfully lobbied his principal to let students like him use the bathroom of the sex they identify with. >> if i went into the women's bathroom, i might get bullied. they say you don't belong. which is true. >> reporter: schools are encouraged to handle the issue on a case by case basis. today, school board members discuss the idea of a county wide policy for the first time. but, they are hesitant to move forward just yet. >> it is scary for a lot of us as school board members and parents. it is uncharted waters. >> reporter: the school board attorney says there are a couple of federal lawsuits on this very subject that are waiting for rulings. so, the school board members decided to wait. they want to learn how other school districts are handling the issue. >> we don't want to run out there and be the leader one way or another on this. >> reporter: this has quinn concerned for his fellow transgender students. >> because i feel like leaving

make it a lot harder for trans people to be accepted in schools. >> reporter: it is unclear when a final decision will be made. one big reason behind the patience is of course money. they are worried about lawsuits and also if they make a decision that is discriminatory, they will miss out on funding. >> so they had a big meeting and nothing happened because everyone is afraid to do anything for legal reasons. did they even talk about setting aside specialized bathrooms for the students? >> reporter: that is discussed. they have very torn over this. nate doesn't feel that is a good idea because it would further ostracize transgender students. thanks john rogers. should transgender students be able to use the bathroom of their choice?

facebook page or tweet us your opinion on wfla. sarasota county schools are scrambling to make sure every teacher and staffer has a proper background check. they are failing to follow up on the background checks. a superintendent announced today all of the checks will be completed some time in the next six to eight months and they are researching methods to make sure this never happens again. good changes. you will be able to take advantage of upgrades very soon. we will show you what is new at the siesta key beach. >> plus, exclusive coverage from havana as commercial flights get started in the country. night across florida. but given way to a beautiful clouds. looks like we will have a great seasonal weather. we will have your forecast

>> we'll have that and more

>> in pinellas county, a woman caught on camera swiping a wallet out of a shopping cart has been arrested. this is surveillance video from the family dollar store.

child and leaves her wallet in the cart. that is when kimberly pardee comes and takes it. theft. a homeless man is getting a second chance after a good samaritan took to social media asking for help. matthew cardoza saw rocky sleeping on the clearwater sweater. he took a picture of him and posted it on facebook. within hours, people donated clothing and raised enough money to put him up in a hotel for the time being and a local restaurant offered him a job. >> this is overwhelming. i never thought this would ever happen to me. i still think i'm dreaming, i'm waiting to wake up and hopefully i don't. >> organizers of the go fund me account hope to raise enough money to find him a permanent place to call home. well, it is the number one

with some new upgrades, siesta key is looking to be the number one beach in the world. it has been under construction for two years. we are talking a $21.5 million upgrade. more parking spaces, a sun deck restaurant, and a new playground. >> i think it is great. i said yesterday to my husband that it is the best playground that i have ever seen. >> other additions include a quarter mile walkway from the parking lot to the beach. and, a 360-degree command center for law enforcement. rain or shine, the grand opening is set for this saturday, the 20th. and, a manatee is recovering at the lowry park zoo after being rescued from three sister springs in citrus county. the manatee was suffering from cold stress. volunteers were able to pull the sick manatee from the springs and load him into a truck. we are told the manatee is now

the 80-degree water at the zoo. amazing what they can do. >> i'm not sure he liked the mode of transportation. but he was happy with the water. commercial flights to cuba could become a reality in the near future. >> coming up, our exclusive coverage from havana on this day. what this means for people who

exclusive coverage from cuba e. u.s. cuba relations took a major step forward with the signing of a new agreement in havana. >> it will make it cheaper and easier for americans to travel to cuba. >> jeff patterson is the only reporter covering this for you. >> reporter: in is the hotel nationale in havana. finding rooms here can be challenging. with more americans on the way, just about everybody i have spoken with agrees cuba is not quite ready. [ applause ] >> reporter: today, the u.s. secretary of transportation signed an agreement allowing daily commercial flights from the u.s. to havana and other cities throughout cuba. >> is cuba ready for that? >> no. no. but that's okay, let cuba deal with that problem. i think from our side, what is

should not be restricting access for our people to the cultures and people of other countries. >> reporter: sarah silverman is with the center for democracy in the americas and helped organize the congressional trip to cuba. she believes this will make it easier for americaning to travel here and eventually, she thinks cuba will catch up to the increase in people visiting. >> the easier it can be to get here, the better and the cubans understand that this is a tsunami and they have a lot of work to do to create more hotel rooms. to create more infrastructure to make it work and they are hard at work doing that. >> reporter: hard at work getting it done. but as i'm finding out, very quickly. jeff patterson, newschannel8. >> and newschannel8 is the only television station covering the congressional delegation's trip to cuba.

the exclusive reports from havana all week. do you remember the record- ball jackpot? you may have been one of many win. but the florida winners are coming forward. they bought the ticket in a publix in melbourne beach more than a month ago. the winners are claiming their prize tomorrow in tallahassee. we will bring you their story on newschannel8 and wfla.com. right now, south florida cleaning up after severe storms left a lot of damage. the national weather service confirmed late this afternoon, two ef1 tornadoes touched down this morning. lauderdale area. storms ripped roofs right off buildings an even turned over

good news here, no one was seriously hurt. eventually tornado warnings were placed but some violent weather moving through. we had a tornado watch in effect until 8:00 a.m. it was canceled before that point. but the tornado threat was definitely there in the early morning hours. a nice view tonight from the plantation, crystal river. skies are clear further to the north. almost an inch of rain in this location. this evening looks pretty good. mostly clear skies. rain, doesn't look like it. pleasant temperatures in the low 60s . all that rain is now gone. a gorgeous shot from barbara out in lake placid. these are created by ice crystals. it can create a rainbow effect. a ring around the sun. that is what these clouds look like. you can download the weather max app. it will let you know when there are severe thunderstorm warnings and watches in the area. it will send out an audio alarm

at 9:00 p.m., 61 degrees. mostly clear skies. 74. the morning fog is possible because of the moisture. 64 degrees tampa international. so a jacket is not a bad idea if you will be out later this evening. weeki wachee. 68. there is the cold front. everything pushing very quickly off to the east. we have been talking about how fast the jet stream is flowing. high pressure back to the west is giving us more of a northwesterly flow. a secondary push of cooler air racing through around the area for tomorrow. that will kind of reenforce and give us a cooler temperature as you will see in the seven day forecast. with the sunshine, the warm florida sunshine, it will balance out a very nice day. skies are clear further to the north. these are the high clouds that

we are seeing thicker looking clouds streaming in from the west. heads up on the fog tomorrow morning. if you are out for the early commute, perhaps around 9:00, 10:00, the low clouds and fog will disappear and we will be left with a beautiful day. the forecast eventually calls for the morning fog here. here is the secondary push of cooler air. it is a passage of slightly cooler drier air. that will set up tomorrow afternoon, a beautiful day. high pressure will continue to shift and as it does, we will see more of an easterly flow which is a milder flow with a bit more moisture and make it is air feel a little warmer. by thursday p.m., slightly breezy. beautiful weather and the angle of those winds getting more east and southeast will help lift our temperatures mid to upper 70s in some of the inland areas. 72 degrees for thursday. 74 degrees friday. 75 degrees by saturday. and a few clouds near perfect i think.

come back a little long term. we will see how that plays out in terms of the timing and the coverage. about 70 degrees. one thing we know for sure, it will cool down in the next eight or nine days or so. we are not done with the cool air. >> and yet, i like that warmer weather. >> it feels good doesn't it? coming up next in sports, the defending champ of the daytona 500 tells us why it is so difficult to win on the track. >> and can the lightning's steven stamkos play without the pressure of dealing with

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>> in addition to injuries, the lightning are dealing with a flu bug heading around the locker room. the coach has it and missed the morning skate. the bolts are going to switch lines around. welcome back the triplets. tyler johnson, andre palate. they are looking for a boost. three losses in four games. if not for the pittsburgh penguin shoot-out loss, the lightning would be out of the playoff spot. >> you need to give yourself a little bit of breathing room. but that's not the case now. so you go out there and keep playing, play well. >> you can't make excuses. it is a brand new year this year. an thins happened last year. we got really far. did what we wanted. i think everybody had to drive this year. we had some adversity throughout the year. but, you know, we have been valid.

manager steve iserman put an end to the steven stamkos trade deadline talk. he skated this morning without having to worry about the trade. scoring goal is now the priority. he has just one goal in his last eight games. >> we have had a lot of discussion throughout the season. we thought this was the best route and something that i wanted. so obviously looking forward to not having to deal with all the questions for the remainder of the season. and just focus on hockey. i think that's the goal is to do my best to help our team win. >> and in two days the field will take shape for the daytona 500 with the traditional twin

chase elliott and matt kenseth. even joey logano knows a dream victory at daytona means nothing. >> it has sunk in, but it is in the past at the same time. we have to look forward. it will not be the same thing, you know. it will not take the same moves on the racetrack. it will not take the same car setup to win. what worked last year never works again this year. >> so, and steve said good weather this year. >> absolutely. that's a bonus. >> they have had issues. >> it has been rough. i experienced it firsthand. it is fun. >> all right, thanks. finally, part of a highly anticipated new attraction was unveiled in orlando. sea world showing off the lead car of their new shark themed roller coaster mako.

by a real mako shark. pretty cool. sea world claims it will be the tallest fastest and longest coaster in orlando set to open this summer. >> sounds fun. don't go anywhere. nightly news is next.

breaking news tonight. president obama comes out swinging late today. a harsh attack on the gop front-runner and firing back in a blockbuster battle over the supreme court. buried and blown away by record snow and a ferocious tornado outbreak. a massive storm stretching over 1,000 miles. to catch a serial killer. the grim sleeper trial in los angeles after a decade-long cold case mystery. how a bite of pizza may have caught an infamous murderer.