>> right now at newschannel8 at 5:30. >> sweeping changes could be coming for abortion clinics in florida putting a near total ban on abortions across the state. tonight, reaction is pouring in. good evening everybody. i'm josh thomas. >> i'm jennifer leigh. thanks for joining us. the abortion changes are similar to new rules in texas which are being challenged in the u.s. supreme court. among the changes, the state would defund planned parenthood. capital bureau reporter matt galka joins us live from tallahassee. opponents are worried women's health would suffer because of this. >> reporter: yeah jenn, absolutely right. the defunneledding of planned parenthood or other abortion clinics, that has people worried and it has some thinking the clinics will have

the florida house argued about abortion for more than an hour- and-a-half thursday. >> should an innocent child in the womb be killed because of a heinous act of the father? >> the reality is if we continue to move in this direction, women will die. women will die. >> reporter: representative colleen burton's bill would make sweeping changes to the clinics in the state. >> i ask you to support this good bill. the work of many people who care about women in florida, who care about the health of floridians. who believe in life. >> reporter: changes include how clinics are licensed and inspected. the bill defunds clinics that perform abortions. >> opponents of the legislation don't see it as just a regulations bill. they see it as an attack on planned parenthood. >> reporter: missy wasalowsky with planned parenthood is afraid it would cause clinics

>> it is about preventive healthcare services. treatment, cancer screenings. >> reporter: another portion of the bill says fetal organ sales are against regulations in florida. it needs to be approved in the senate. now, yesterday, democrats tried to amend the bill to make it an outright ban on abortion and if that sounds strange because it was coming from democrats, the hope was that it would actually end up killing the bill, but it never got amended that way. >> matt galka thank you. another big story at the state capital today. lawmakers agreed to change the death penalty. 10 out of 12 jurors must approve it previously. 7 out of 12 only had to. it goes to governor scott to

polk county deputies put the cuffs on three older men who are accused of exposing himself and grabbing an undercover detective. james simpson is adozed of exposing himself. and mickey myer is accused of soliciting a detective to perform a lewd act on him. it is the third day of jury selection for the hulk hogan and gawker trial. they petitioned the much smaller jury pool as a whole. hogan is suing them for violating his privacy. it has been more than a decade since a bay area man was shot and killed on i-75. now, crime stoppers is taking another look at his case. jenn has more on that now. >> when you listened to david neil's wife talk about her husband, your heartbreaks. this sunday will mark 11 days

driving to meet his family at the florida strawberry festival. he was shot through the drivers side door as he exited onto i- 4. investigators believe a car pulled up alongside him and fired the shot but they never found any witnesses. his pickup ran off the exit ramp and hit a tree where he died. his wife still chokes up thinking about his final moments. >> none of us were there to tell him good-bye, to hold his hand. i'm i'm sorry. i get upset about that. he died by himself. no family members. that was the hardest thing. >> detectives believe someone out there knows who killed david neil and they are hopeful someone will come forward.

the number you can call is 1- 800-873-tips. the florida strawberry festival got underway with extra security on hand. many are there enjoying the games and the food. this is a live picture from the festival. they want to be extra careful and have ten false alarms than let one incident slip through. >> it is a sign of the times. we feel we should do this. there is no specific threat. we just feel for the patrons' safety and security that we should do that. we will do waning at the gates. we have enhanced our own cameras. also, our patrolling of the fences to make sure patrons will feel safe coming to our event. >> and this morning regulators inspected all the games and the rides at the festival making sure the games are winable and not rigged. they also check to ensure that is rides are all safe. well, the strawberry

>> not only are there strawberry food creations but there bands at the festival. newschannel8's lindsey mastis shows us what to expect. >> reporter: more than a half million people are expected to visit the festival and we are getting to go behind the scenes showing you everything from entertainment to the food. >> this looks good. >> reporter: before the sun came up, the band came out. [ music ] all so we could show you what is in store. you may not realize the strawberry express is all family. >> we are all family. we are originally from alaska. we are all strawberries. that may be why they hired us. >> reporter: and this year's festival queen hailey riley has strawberry in her blood. >> my great grandfather came down here and started the strawberry. >> reporter: it is easy to lose yourself in the magic of it all. there are secrets at the festival.

>> we slice the berries, then a secret recipe goes in it. and it is brought up to the festival everyday. >> can you tell me what is in the secret recipe? >> i cannot. i am sworn to secrecy. >> reporter: before you head this way, go to wfla.com. we have all the details so you can plan your perfect strawberry festival experience. in plant city, lindsey mastis, newschannel8. >> we will have a concert lineup. how to buy tickets. you will find it all on wfla.com. panama city beach has been trying to shed its negative spring break reputation. coed.com removed it from the trashiest spring break destinations list because of some new rules the city has in place. in an effort to curb out of control partying, drinking on

during the month of march. >> what we are doing is marketing toward more families. we really want to bring people in and let them know in is the place for them. but i think it shows progress. you know. that the word is getting out that panama city beach is a great place to be. >> they are gorgeous beaches up there. spring break officially kicks off this week. well, the future is closer than we think for driverless cars. >> we are going to show you how state leaders are getting ready for the day the cars drive themselves. >> plus, the florida sales tax holiday is getting cut way back this year. >> 75 degrees our recorded high at tampa international airport. quite a few clouds today. cold front headed our way. we will talk about that and weekend changes coming up. >> we'll have that and more

>> the day is coming when cars will drive themselves on the roads. auto manufacturers are already working on it. and as newschannel8's josh thomas reports, state transportation leaders are also getting ready for that day. >> reporter: autonomous or driverless cars have been tested in controlled conditions here in the bay air. >> when people talk about it, they think it is the future. it is really here today with us. >> reporter: paul steinman is one of the biggest propoe

>> i don't think computers should drive the cars. >> reporter: but fdot is working to incorporate the technology. >> over 90% of the crashes are the result of human error. the technology can take a lot of that out of the equation. >> a recent iii survey revealed most drivers are not ready to hit the road in a car that drives himself. >> i want to drive my own car. i can control my own car. >> reporter: some cars use some of the technology like automatic braking and self- parking. while it may seem advanced, the day is coming. he just wants to know it will be safe. >> there is a lot of redundancy in the system. >> reporter: for now, a driver would still have to be behind the wheel. >> as this technology gets better, i'm sure we will be able to go to totally automated

newspaper or do whatever. but the technology is not guilty there yet. >> reporter: josh thomas, newschannel8. now, to an 8 on your side investigation we are working on for 11:00. shannon behnken joins us. you spent the day with a woman who doesn't want ... she would lose $19,000 in her deposit money if she doesn't go through with buying a new home. >> she thought this was her dream home. she was so excited to move in. now her confidence is shaken because she saw what she calls sloppy construction on the inside of this house. she came across recent reports then about shoddy construction that we uncovered. in an 8 on your side investigation, about this exact home builder. and now, she has turned to us because she wants to get out of this contract. she says she feels like she is trapped. she could lose the $19,000 deposit. plus, the builder could sue her if she doesn't follow through. so tonight, we went to a real estate attorney and asked for advice for this lady and what he had to say is something we

especially if you are in the market for a new home. >> is she stuck with the house? >> legally, yes, she could be stuck, but she could have so mom options. >> you don't want to miss shannon's story tonight at 11:00 on newschannel8. a teen accused of impersonating a doctor is facing more charges. 18-year-old malachi love- robinson is accused of using an elderly woman's checking account to pay his bill. the teen's lawyer says his client just has an entrepreneurial spirit. polk county leaders encourage people to vote before the primary to avoid long lines. early voting is also underway in hillsborough county.

we have had much more turnout. almost twice as much turnout in previous presidential preference primary elections. >> florida's primary takes place march 15. florida's back to school sales tax holiday will be scaled back this year. state lawmakers are cutting back the tax free period from ten days last year to just three days this august. they are also limiting the amount of clothing you can buy to $60 or less. tax free. last year's limit was $100. and you will not be able to buy computers tax free this year either. tampa, it turns out, is among the leaders in the country for house flipping. the research firm realty track found 9% of homes sold in the tampa area were flipped. the only cities with the higher rate of flipped homes are memphis, tennessee, fresno, california, and las vegas, nevada.

a bit more clear skies in northern areas. places like citrus and hernando county. 66 degrees occurring here. a northwest wind at 3 miles an hour. so fairly light winds at the moment. chance of showers very early in the day on friday. this is a cold front headed our way. temperature ins the 70s behind this weak front. a major warmup next week into the 80s . some of the inland areas could see temperatures in the mid 80s as you can see in the forecast. bradenton, clear water, all great locations. the rain chance generally before the noon hour and pushing to the south ending before the noon hour, but starting early in the morning. a nice shot from paul eastman. this is a sunrise. you have a picture you want to share, storm team 8, wfla on facebook. 71, clearwater. tampa, bradenton. 71 brooksville. further to the north, look at the cold air just over the

that is the second cold front providing some chilly conditions. possibly some frozen precipitation combined cold i air with precipitation with this area of low pressure. even for places like atlanta, northern georgia. they could be experiencing some of that. we will still be on the mild side here. further south, though, we are dealing with these clouds that are kind of moving in this subtropical flow. there are clearer skies. that is generally across the northern part of the state. probe the northern sections of the newschannel8 viewing area. a few light showers possibly down in the florida straits. but for this evening partly cloudy to mostly cloudy skies will continue. the forecast model doesn't pick up on all of these clouds but we will still have them in the sky. look at the time stamp there. that is roughly where the weak line of showers will be located. probably south of the baby then. by 10:00, it pushes southward. looks like the timing right now.

they want a light jacket. cooler temperatures with the easterly flow into the area. saturday afternoon, a lot of sunshine. light breeze. temperatures mid 70s . really, the same stories as we head into sunday as well. fantastic beach weather. bad news is pollen is back. if you are sensitive to it, you probably know that. especially the oak pollen. the leaves are coming down and the pollen is close behind. friday, saturday, sunday. that is the pollen forecast. it will stay high. for tonight, the clouds will likely stay with us. 60 land o' lakes. 64 saint pete. then highs for tomorrow, mid and upper 70s . we will still be dealing with a few clouds. we will see the sun breaks and wind shift to the north and bring up slightly cooler temperatures saturday morning. 75 degrees saturday. sunday looks good too, 76 degrees.

really not much change here. 78 degrees getting into the low 80s . potentially the mid 80s as we get into wednesday and thursday. these warmer temperatures are coming back in a big way. >> people expect it. we are ready. scott kelly is back from space. >> and if you are looking for a fun family event. outdoors expo. this is the 24th year we have brought you this show.

>> now to some breaking news in pasco county. eagle 8 hd is over the scene of a car that crashed into a day care. this is the scene at the little people christian day care. paul, what can you tell us? >> reporter: this is the car. from our perspective up here, looks like it backed into the

if i push in tight, you can actually see how the car went right into the day care. currently, ems is on scene. the truck is over here. just a minute ago, there was a child in this car that the ems guys were around taking a look at. trying to evaluate. they have told us there are two pediatric patients that they are evaluating and they didn't say if they were in a car or in the day care. it is still an active scene so we don't have all the active information. but this is where the car backed into the day care. you can see they are up here looking in. they are inside now. there is no structural damage. but from here, you can see it did plow right through the inside of the wall of the day care. in eagle 8, hd, i'm paul with newschannel8. >> thanks paul. we will check in with you again. now to what is making news in headlines across america. after a year in space, astronaut scott kelly is back in houston with his family and

he just arrived home this morning. spent 340 days aboard the international space station. that is longer than any american astronaut. he says there is no greater privilege than serving his country. >> it is in our dna to explore. we must never stop doing this. we must lead. we must learn. and we must discover. >> scott kelly is now two inches taller than his twin brother mark thanks to his year in space. they will continue to study the changes in his health and compare them to mark. newschannel8 at 6:00 is coming up next. >> a disturbing school district scandal. >> three teachers are under investigation. coming up, what all three of them are accused of doing with their students. >> plus, handing out tickets instead of slapping on handcuffs. a big step forward in the effort to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana.

their tax issues. we will show you what ising with done to shorten the lines. >> those stories plus the storm team 8 forecast and sports with dan lucas coming up on newschannel8.

>> right now an newschannel8 at 6:00. >> teachers in trouble. three educators accused of exchanges nude photos with their students. >> people waiting for help with the ira. now looks like help is on the way. >> and tampa changing its marijuana laws in a very big way. i'm rod carter. >> i'm stacie schaible. thanks for joining us. a car has crashed into a

paul lamison is live above the scene. what happened here? >> reporter: this white car looks like it backed into the side of the building. when we flew around earlier, it is hard to see from here, but there is children's furniture. so there were kids in that area at one point. we don't know about the actual impact. crews are on the scene evaluating two pediatric patients. they are not saying if they were in the car or the day care. you can see parents now here picking up kids from the day care and it is quite a frantic scene when they come up and see this car backed into the day care. we are not sure about major injuries. two minor injuries. that's all we know from the scene. paul lamison, newschannel8. >> thank you very much paul. appreciate it. three teachers, all female, under investigation for what they did with their male