>> right now on newschannel8 at 5:30. >> god has a plan. if it is meant to be, you will find that person again. >> today, an emotional family reunion. years, even decades overdue for a man homeless just days ago. good evening, i'm jennifer leigh. >> i'm rod carter. thank you very much for joining us tonight. this is a story we brought you last week. a good samaritan posted a picture of a homeless man named rocky asking the community to help him. >> the response was overwhelming. it just so happened his siblings he had not seen in decades saw our story. jamel lanee joins us now at clearwater beach where he reunited with his sisters today. an incredible story. >> reporter: a very incredible story. who would have thought from one

being homeless to getting a job right here at crabby's bar and grill to his sisters catching our story. you can match the emotion ma came out of this whole reunion. >> how nervous are you? >> extremely. oh my gosh. >> reporter: waiting in the distance. >> ten years since i have seen him. i have seen pictures of him. but, i have never really met him as a grown up or an adult. >> reporter: two very important people who had not seen rocky bean, their long lost brother, for years. we brought you rocky's story last week. he was homeless, sleeping on the pier when a good samaritan gave him his sweatshirt and posted the picture on social media. that post got rocky a job, donated clothes and money, and now, family. >> i can't get over seeing marty after all these years. >> reporter: marty bean was the first to see the story.

i couldn't finish my day out. i was so excited. >> reporter: she had not seen him in ten years. it has been more than 30 years for rocky's youngest sister sandra. little. how old would i have been? six? touch with rocky. homeless. >> i was devastated because it that is sad. he had no way of reaching out to us saying hey, i need help. >> reporter: now, they are back together again. even sandra's kids met their uncle for the first time. >> i know honey. >> reporter: this time, they are not letting go. >> god has a plan. if it is meant to be, you will find that person again. >> reporter: what a happy ending for rocky. they spent the day pretty much hanging out here at clearwater beach. as well as getting reacquainted before sandra has to go back to oregon on tuesday. but luckily for rocky, marty lives here locally in lakeland, so they will be spending more time together.

>> reporter: well, if you remember our story from last time, there was a go fund me account that was created from the money raised from that account. he has had enough to still live in a hotel for a couple of nights but within the next couple of weeks, they plan to start looking for an apartment. >> jamel lanee reporting live for us. thank you. president barack obama was in florida today touting the economy and clean energy. the president spoke at the saft american plant in jacksonville. they were one of the bail-outs. they have since created 300 jobs. president obama says the economy is much better off than it was when he took office. >> if anyone says we are not better off today than seven years ago, they are not leveling with you. they are not telling the truth. by almost every economic

better off and florida is significantly better off. >> he credited saft america for hiring a large number of veterans. consumer confidence is faltering in florida. consumers are concerned about personal finances. women are the most concerned followed by those making less than $50,000. hulk hogan's trial versus gawker gets underway. hogan is suing gawker claiming the website violated his privacy by posting portions of a sex tape involving him. jury selection begins tuesday. opening statements are expected to begin march 7. comedian bill cosby dropped his defamation lawsuit against beverly johnson. she accused him of drugging and rape her in the 1980s . they dropped the suit to focus on

the lawyers plan to refile the lawsuit against johnson down the road. erin andrews' trial will continue against a nashville marriott. >> jurors did not meet today. but monday and tuesday, they will hear from the key players in the case. this is all centered around a stalker spies on the sports caster taking nude videos of her through a peephole in her room. we will hear from andrews' mother paula. michael barrett will not be in the courtroom. instead, they will show video of his deposition. then erin andrews herself is expected to take the stand. her father, steve andrews, our own reporter, took the stand and got very emotional after

>> the first time in my life as her father where i didn't know if she was safe or not. i feared for her life. >> yesterday, erin andrews excused herself from court when the jurors watched the nude video of her that is still online today. she is suing marriott for $75 million for giving her stalker the room next to hers. marriott maintains it did nothing wrong. today in lakeland, celebrities golfed for kids. charles barkley showed up. and jack nicholas. josh thomas joins us now. this is such a great event every year. this was the largest turnout ever right? >> reporter: that's correct. it was a huge turnout and a huge event. we will talk more about how much money they raised for it. now amateur and avid golfers came out to the ymca golf

of the greatest golfers of all time play the game he has mastered for decades. jack nicholas' appearance packed them in. it was all for a good cause. first tee of lakeland which teaches children life skills of golf. >> it has taught the kids respect, honesty. confidence, all these core values. at an early age. >> reporter: 16-year-old plant city golfer savannah has benefited from it. >> it has helped me. i have come out of my shell. i love how giving back is the thing for me. >> reporter: that is one of the reasons former pro basketball player charles barkley has shown up every year for the event that now bears his name. >> when i started this thing, i was only going to do it for one year. this is year 12 now. it has been amazing. >> reporter: but without a

jack nicholas who gave the crowd some punting lessons before hitting the course. >> to get him this year is really about tripled our attendance. fund raising. >> reporter: while this outing is an afternoon of fun, it is about helping children through the game of golf. >> it is about changing the values of human beings. it is about giving people a reason to keep on keeping on. >> and you do that through a game? >> we do. >> reporter: by the way, the punting lessons didn't help barkley. >> he is a terrible teacher. i just missed a putt. >> reporter: now, since they started this annual golf outing more than $1.5 million has been raised for the first tee of lakeland. and this year's large turnout alone is expected to raise a quarter of a million dollars for the program, though it didn't seem to help charles barkley's game at all whatsoever. >> my goodness. but he still will talk smack

thanks josh thomas. we appreciate it. he is really funny. he is good to come back to kentucky year after year. well, the biggest night of the year in hollywood is two days aday. oscars. >> and training a puppy to be a guide dog. >> bright sunshine around the bay area and a cool breeze that will be lighter as we head

>> visit your local dealer

now an 8 on your side consumer alert. a recall on a kids seat involves even flow's transition booster seats. they were manufactured before january 29. the problem only affects the seats when they are used as a forward facing harness booster. they are sending a free remedy kit to everyone who is registered. on sunday, we will learn which of hollywood's best will take home an oscar. there is a lot of talent out there, and the race for best picture is tight. >> reporter: a mother and son trapped in captivity. >> this is our chance. >> reporter: an irish immigrant finding love and independence. a frontiers man seeking revenge. room, brooklyn, and the revenant are just three of the

picture at the 88 academy awards. the leo dicaprio has 12 nominations. other films include the big short, bridge of spies, mad max fury road, the martian, and spotlight in one of the tightest races in oscar history. >> there are three, maybe four potential best picture winners. so, it is very rare that you come down to that last envelope and people don't know what is going to happen. >> reporter: the best actor category is full of a-list talent like bryan cranston, matt damon, michael fassbender, and eddie redmain. this time, for, the danish girl. but the focus is on dicaprio and where this role will get him his first rock car win. >> he has had so many great performances and nominations.

>> reporter: the best actor carol. and first anytime nominees charlotte rampling for 45 years and bree larson for room. >> it feels like i'm part of some brave. it feels good. >> reporter: having snagged a momentum. returning for a second time as host of the oscars is chris rock known for his in your face comedy. many are wondering how he will deal with the elephant in the room. >> the one thing that everyone is expecting is how is he going to handle this all-white nominee issue and is he going to be merciless with the academy. >> reporter: a ceremony filled with a lot of controversy? it must be hollywood. employees with gte

and their wallet to help a puppy become a guide dog. they presented a $5,000 check to southeast guide dogs. through donations like this one today, the organization places more than 100 dogs each year. >> people have a lot of different types. either a disability or sometimes just need that extra help and support. and southeast guide dogs does that. and so it is just an amazing organization that really focuses on people. and so, that is real easy for us to get behind. >> the donation also allows gte financial to name the pup. the company plans on leaving that up to their social media followers. nasa just released a new picture of pluto's north pole. pluto's north pole is covered in frozen canyons. you can see the canyons on the picture. they are colored in yellow. they run vertically across the polar area.

across. well, it was a beautiful, albeit, a chilly day to get outside. video of a replica of a 16th century spanish galleon docked outside the convention center. tickets for adults are $10. kids, $5. 57 degrees. freedom plaza. not a cloud in the sky. a bit windy at times. below average temperatures for the day coming up. forecast. showers. you will see in the forecast not a great chance. it doesn't look like it will be a severe weather event at this point. change. we will keep an eye on it. mostly clear skies. quickly dropping temperatures. a jacket, especially if you

43 degrees to start the day. sunny skies. a very chilly start to the day and high temperature of 64 degrees with mostly sunny skies should make for a very nice day. below normal temperatures about 10 degrees. as we look at the warmup for saturday, sunday, climbing the ladder above the average line which is now at 74 degrees. a nice time of year in the tampa bay area. williams, a nice shot this morning. this is a sunrise. storm team 8 dub dub. look at that. julie phillips is out enjoying south mckeel fifth graders. a great job out there julie. 54 degrees at 7:00 p.m. temperatures will be cool as i mentioned. radiational cooling, a bit of a northwesterly flow for us. 45 degrees at 2:00 a.m. chilly overnight certainly with clear skies. 43 degrees. that is just cold for

possibility of patchy frost here and there. 55 largo. palm harbor. 59 at mcdill. 62 lake placid. sarasota, 59. 55 brooksville. these are the forecast winds. you see that northwesterly flow, because the area of high pressure is sitting back to the west and the flow around the eastern side of that high is from the north western north. that is a cool flow for us. 11 miles an hour winds. so, still a breezy for tomorrow at times but nothing like it has been the past couple of days. that is our feature. it is quieting all of the south with the flow bringing in the northerly breeze. a light breeze. jackets, sweater, layers, whatever. for the morning. looks like temps in the 30s and 40s with some patchy frost possible to the north. high pressure will wont to build back in. the sunshine will persist with

there is the high sitting over lighter winds. that will set up a very cold morning still. very similar looks like with lows in the 30s and 40s for the area. that high will shift to the east. monday looks pretty good too. monday. very nice. 74 degrees. so onioned that period, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, we have slight rain chances a few more clouds, especially for wednesday. with the approach of a cold front. upper level trough. right now, it doesn't look to be that strong and we hope that trend will continue because i don't think we need another weather outbreak. we already had one of those. so we will have a nice normal weekend. >> thank you. >> all right. finally, help today for the victims of the water crisis in flint, michigan. >> we will show you how next. plus, see how victims of tornadoes this week are already on the fast track to

>> now to what's making headlines across america. an alabama man is dead after being shot with a police tazer. the incident happened at a hospital in the city of athens.

a mental health evaluation started swinging his arms and legs at hospital workers. at one point, he throws an opt at officers. they used a taze tore calm him down. he stopped breathing after that. doctors have not determined the cause of death. in texas, a police officer was caught on camera pulling a driver from a burning suv. he broke out the door and they pulled the driver to safety. the man only suffered minor injuries. pennsylvania farmers hit hard by this week's tornado already in the rebuilding process. it began immediately with the help of neighbors and local businesses. an estimated 500 volunteers helping out today. they damaged 50 buildings at a cost of $8 million, but amazingly nobody was injured.

off on $30 million to help flint residents pay their water bills. the governor says people should not have to pay for water that they cannot drink. the plan will pay for 65% of the water portion of their bills. newschannel8 at 6:00 is coming up next. >> keith and stacie schaible have more. >> an arrest gets bloody. we will show you show you this video and why the sheriff is defending his deputy. >> plus, dozens of guns missing from a home. now the homeowner's landscape er is under arrest. >> the sarasota police department is being proactive with skimmers. >> this is not the guantanamo about. i'm gene ramirez and i will show you how one couple remembers them and how they

>> those stories plus your storm team 8 forecast and

>> right now on newschannel8 at 6:00. >> controversial takedown. a bloody arrest caught on a deputy's body camera. >> and searching for skimmers. the hunt is on for the hidden threats to your bank account. >> and falling in love at guantanamo bay. a tampa bay couple's memories of the detention center. good evening. i'm stacie schaible. >> i'm keith cate. thank you very much for joining us tonight. we will begin with the takedown. a pasco county deputy slamming a suspected thief to the ground. and the sheriff is defending his deputy tonight. he released the body cam video

it shows the deputy was completely justified in his actions. jeff patterson joins us live. you see part of it. you might have one opinion. see the whole thing, maybe a different view. jeff? >> reporter: yeah, good evening keith. you have to take a look at the whole video. that is what the sheriff says. this entire arrest recorded on a deputy's body camera. i have to warn you, it is a bit graphic. during the takedown, the woman hits her head and bleeds quite a bit. >> excuse me ma'am. >> reporter: as tiffany tivo walks out of a department store, she is confronted by a deputy. things go badly quickly. >> put your hands behind your back. >> no. please. >> reporter: put your hands behind your back. >> oh my god, okay. >> reporter: stop resisting me. >> reporter: the arrest has become controversial.