dangerous situations, 8 on your side goes with them. a sheriff sounds off on a school district scandal. the warning all parents need to hear. a good save by a quick thinking dad, what happened seconds before a bat flew at his son's face. i am jennifer leigh. >> i am keith cate. thank you for joining us. breaking news, a wrong-way driver is accused of smash nothing to a deputy's cruiser, eagle 8 hd is live over us 301 near gibsonten drive. they were trying to stop the driver when the driver ran into a cruiser. we want to show you video taken earlier. the cars nose to nose, the driver finally got out of the car, investigators say he tried to fight deputies. nobody was hurt and that driver is now in custody. emotions were running high at a murder scene, an upset man tries to cross the tape and an officer takes him to the ground,

channel 8, and it is one example of the situations officers face. we wanted to see what police patrol. death. going home at the end of their shift comes down to one word: training. melanie michael outside tampa mel. >> reporter: keith, you are spot on. they train and train and train some more because police officers on the streets know unexpected. >> you get up every morning and strap on a vest. >> intense, stressful, and unpredictable, every day is different, every day is dangerous. >> no, ma'am, you can not go through. >> case and point, a murder in south tampa monday night. crowds gathered and emotions ran high. tampa pd tells us they try to calm down this guy, they began talking with him, asking him what is wrong.

to enter the crime scene. he starts to go behind the police line, they took him down. >> you just never know when something will happen and when things get a little crazy, you really resort to your training. >> officers like robert moore know exactly how important it is to train, both his parents were cops. our cameras were rolling as we joined him on patrol. it is officers like this who never know what they will find and never know if they will come across a scene like this on tampa streets. >> patrolling, responding to any calls for service and doing anything proactive to keep the city safe. >> when it comes to keeping the city safe, it is all about training. just ask tampa police chief erik ward and mayor buckhorn who symbolically opened a gun range

>> reporter: i have to say i have been to a lot of ribbon cuttings, never been to a ribbon shooting, symbolic of the training to what they do every day on the streets. we have been in the business a long time but that is a first for me. >> the mayor really unloaded his clip there. his magazine. it is clear, though chief ward is putting a priority on training, includeic take down-- including take down techniques, that is a positive for all of us, isn't it? >> reporter: indeed it is, the more training that goes in, the better the officers are at doing jobs and a lot are excited to be at the training facility and begin the work right away. >> thank you, melanie. a fire at pinellas park restaurant is under investigation, it started at the kitchen in the kozy korner after the restaurant was closed. this is hd video of the scene, nearby businesses had to be evacuated because of smoke but no one was hurt.

driving drunk right into the back of a police car. st. petersburg police tell us it was parked central avenue with lights on when cathy maloney ran into it, maloney is charged with dui. the sheriff of highlands county has a strong message for everyone in her county, report child abuse or you could face the criminal consequences. 8 on your side's paul ryan tells us why she is-- paul mular tells us why. >> 3 teachers are on porn accusations. one student's gone viral. >> barba walker is retired but before that worked for the district for 45 years and call the sex scandals an embarrassment. >> you know, that is down hill now. that is bad. >> but these positions are

>> today sheriff susan benton laid down the law, she says if teach ers and parents think something is wrong, they need to report it. >> everyone of us is responsible for reporting abuse and neglect. >> i don't care if the principal or superintendent says not to, the law says you have to. >> a parent came forward to report this high school teacher, stacey hooks arrested for having sex with a 14-year-old student. then later a sebring high school teacher resigned and an avon teacher on paid administrative leave, accused of inappropriate pictures of themselves or students on their phones. >> the moral correctness of what you are supposed to be doing should come before your selfishness. >> the sheriff believes reporting child abuse is a great first step. >> we are here to minimize the

child and to stop the victimization. >> good teachers, be can't put them all in the same bag. >> the school superintendent says they are going to craft a consistent plan for the district when it comes to reporting these cases, as for those 3 teacher, the criminal and school board investigations are far from over. in highlands county, i am paul mular, news channel 8. it is super tuesday, part 2, the big winner, donald trump, who won republican primaries in michigan and mississippi. hillary clinton also doing well tonight, winning the democrat primary in mississippi. but in michigan, the race between clinton and senator bernie sanders is still too close to call. steve handlesman joining us now from washington, steve, this democrat race in michigan, i know it is one to watch and we are all watching but even if sanders pulls out the win, the odds are still stacked against him. don't you think? >> they are stacked against him, no question, but the race is in

closer, same time the front runners are still front runners. >> only one person did well tonight, donald trump. i will tell you. >> 2 wins are 2 wins and donald trump credited his kind of turn out. >> we have democrats coming over, very importantly, we have independents coming over. >> earning victories in michigan and mississippi azide hoe and hawaii voted. the anti-trump push did not defeat the front runner but john kasich was battling for second in michigan. >> we are going to win the state of ohio. it will be a whole new ball game. >> texas senator ted cruz did take second in mississippi ft, claiming he is-- mississippi, claiming he is surging. >> closing the gap in state after state after state. >> another bad night for marco rubio, two 4th places and last in the national poll, kasich way up, the gap smaller, cruz close. hillary clinton won in

>> running for president shouldn't be about delivering insults. it should be about delivering results. >> for hours, the democrat primary in michigan was too close to call. bernie sanders saying earlier he won't quit. >> we see a road to victory. >> with a republican showdown next tuesday. in florida, of course and ohio, both winner take all, kasich and rubio have to win in their home state. >> no doubt about it. >> live from washington, steve handlesman reporting. >> you mentioned rubio behind, 4th place finishes, what do you think we see from marco rubio tuesday during the debate? >> look, he is a tough guy, he doesn't want to be embarrassed in his home state. he wants to be president and said, what? a week ago, i will do anything to be president. he is going to fight tooth and nail.

want to see the more solid, more mature, more presidential marco rubio? or does rubio figure despite the evidence that being a tough guy, trying to out trump trump helped him or hurt him? a question, the gesing is less attacking trump, more attacking cruz, with that aeroa of presidentialness about. >> tight rope to walk fshgs so tough road-- walk, so tough road ahead for marco rubio. a reminder y will be traveling to miami for the upcoming debates, candace mccowan and i will cover the debate tomorrow night and the thursday the republican debate. that will take place as well at the university of miami hosting that debate. florida's presidential preference primary is march 15th, everything you need to know about voting in the primary is on wfla.com. hulk hogan maintains he has a right to privacy, that is what

in his sex tape trial today. terry, better known as hulk hogan, is suing the website gawker for $100 million for publishing that tape. he testified for the second day in a row and maintains he has a right to privacy in his own home or the home of a friend. >> in the privacy of your own home, i am not hulk hogan, i don't have to worry, in my home, i am terry, and nobody invades my privacy in a private setting. >> hogan told the jury he knows he gives up privacy in public, he maintainathize publication has rue-- maintains the publication has ruined his life. workers in saginaw recorded some of nature's fury, the air full of flying debris. watch this. yeah, a big blinding flash as a

a home owner in prosper, texas saw a trampoline blow across his back yard. raining so hard you can barely see but the tramp lane goes fly-- trampoline goes flying by smashing into a tree. 2 texas fisherman were on a lake and saw a water spout forming, they pulled up to a bank and waited out the storm. a sinkhole under a apartment complex for 7 years. >> 8 on your side got involved. what the latest test uncovered and why it could be months before any repairs get started. close call, a dad blocks a bat from hitting his son in the face. why the boy was so distracted. we will hit 80 before too long, 81 the high today at tampa international. we continue with that theme the rest of the week while other parts of the country are getting drenched.

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eagle 8 hd over a 2 alarm fire at a commercial building at lutz, at kitchenality on u.s. 41, they build and install cabinets, i imagine a lot of wood and burning, no reports of injuries weeshgs will keep you post-- injuries, we will keep you posted on it. danger lurks beneath. we exposed a sinkhole under an apartment complex there for 7 years and officials ordered updated testing. shannon behnken has those results. >> reporter: 8 on your side uncovered a 100-foot sinkhole under this tampa apartment building and city officials want it fixed. but updated testing reviewed by city engine ers show it is safe for residents to continue living in buildings surrounding the massive hole for now.

is of concern 64-11, vacant, we feel comfortable with that vacant, we are safe. >> the property owner closed up the building on top of the sinkhole activity when it was discovered 7 years ago. city officials had no idea until 8 on your side told them. we were there when they showed up in force last month demanding new testing. code enforcement director, sal, says testing results show the hole is the exact same size it was 7 years ago. no need for evacuations. but the property owner will still have to make repairs. >> i mean, they have been cooperative and want to fix the buildings. they want to have a safe environment, and we do too. i think everybody is working for the same goal. >> so what is the hold up? why isn't this being fixed immediately? one word: money. the property owner is battling in court to get more money from citizen 's property insurance so residents will have to keep

city officials will be watching. >> now that you know about it, are you going to keep on them to make sure that it eventually is fixed? >> yeah. we have a red flag in the system that if any permits are pulled, we will review it. >> they won't be able to hide this? >> no. >> this is set for jury trial in june. citizens insurance agreed to pay for repairs but the property owner is arguing for a more expensive repair method. >> so how much could this cost? is there a deadline for these repairs? >> city officials tell me this could cost at least $2 million. there is no deadline but they are going to wait to find out what happens during the jury trial and will be on them to make surethality they do something soon-- sure they do something soon after that. >> thank you, shannon. a father's quick reflexes presents his son from taking a baseball bat to the face and the picture has gone viral.

at landen's first game between the braves and pirates when this happened as landen and his dad explained on the today show, landen was trying to send a picture to his mother and didn't realize what was help happening. >> then the bat came flying, i looked up because my dad said something but i didn't look up in time. and my dad did this to block it. >> that is right, dad is a hero. after the close call landen was thrilled to hear the braves first baseman is sending him an autographed jersey. that 81 degrees might feel warm to some in florida, but those visiting outside town, not too bad. near 80, water temperature 65. mostly sunny skies, not much rain. that is pretty nice spring break weather. from lake placid, barba get as

beautiful shot. thanks, barbara, for that. clear skies, look s like a few high clouds, 62 with sunny skies, mild temperatures, shooting back above normal brought moisture back the past wind. 82 in the afternoon. 66 degrees at 1:00 a.m., mostly clear skies through this period, there were a few inland clouds thanks to easterly flow bringing clouds from the east coast. 62 at 7:00 a.m., 79 degrees 2:00 p.m. on the weather wheel. temperatures near 80. possibly low 80s and certainly that will be the case in the inland area. 71, clearwater beach, palm harbor, brandon still mild but a beautiful day, very, very comfortable as we talked about, like we expected the humidity has come back but not too much so it is very comfortable in the evening hours. the big picture is the ridge of high pressure allowing the warm up taking place this week. throughout the week, you can see on the time stamp this ridge of high pressure keeping the rain

showers start to break up as the trough digs at upper levels creating a rain chance for us later saturday into sunday, weekend rain chance shifted more towards sunday as opposed to what we had saturday yesterday. service as well, high pressure gives southeasterly wind, the winds have been dragging clouds folks in lakeland, highlands county probably experiencing more of thoseism look at the rain consistent, another round central texas, they have gotten quite a bit last 24 hours. west of dallas over 6 inches of rain, possibly 7 inches, did have flooding even into northwest louisiana. for us, few low and mid-level clouds continue to stream across the state so we will see some cloudiness here and possibly some high clouds as well. there will be a lot of sunshine mixed in too. high pressure is our big feature as we have been talking, it holds, you can see the next couple days it is there and the rain is there. that is because this ridge is so strong. the warm conditions will continue, spring breakers, those going to baseball games, just

florida this time of year, you will have plenty, looks like all the way through friday. saturday things start to break down a bit as we talked about, as this rainy weather gets closer to us. the bulk of the heavier stuff, the more intense thunderstorms likely passing to the north. pollen is high, you get great weather but it comes with the leaves coming and followed by the pollen. if you are sensitive you can probably feel it. lot of sneezing going on. 62 for the morning forecast, that is mild for this time of year, 84 degrees thursday, 82 on friday. saturday, sunday, don't forget it is that weekend. spring forward. clocks go forward. lose that hour of sleep. weekend gets a lot shorter. so it is really miserable if you think about it. >> wow. you are like a ray of sunshine. >> why even bother, really? >> because you get all that extra daylight. >> there you go. >> mr.-- why even bother? >> no, a new day is dawning.

dose of bad news for bay area sports fans, the bucs losing on a player they hope to sign. >> the bolts go overtime over the bruins.

first place in the nhl atlantic division was on the line tonight at amalie arena and it was a meeting of 2 tired hockey teams, both the lightning and the boston bruins played monday night and flew in at some ridiculous hour this morning, that is the schedule makers at work and it took a while for the

going tonight. but the goal tenders were incredible. ben bishop stopped brad marshen there, short handed break away. 32 saves for bishop. jonas gustafson on the other side, 42 saves. great performance, no score at the end of regulation. overtime, 10 seconds in, it is over. just like that. 1-0, a shocking finish that leaves both teams with 83 points atop the atlantic division. >> certainly it is nice to play back to back after a performance like the night before. that is not who we are as a team. we don't show that very often, if at all. um, so it is unfortunate we couldn't get 2 tonight. >> goal is making big-time saves and teams play fiscal, phases, you know, yeah, lot of big opportunities but at the same

coming back to back. >> on the eve of nfl free agency the bucs made a couple roster moves releasing bruce carter, don't be surprised if he winds up with the bucs at some point. today. today was the bucs big face to face meeting with free agent defensive end charles johnson. we don't know how that meeting went but we know johnson is not signing with the bucs. johnson has aagreed to a 1-year deal to return to the carolina panthers for $3 million, that is reportedly $3 million less than the bucs were offering. not all bad news tonight, running back doug martin is reportedly close to a deal to $6 million. check back at 4:00 tomorrow. florida state opened up the acc tournament today against boston college, the team that went 0 and 18 in the conference

do not lose this game. smith with the alley-oop. fsu cruises 88-66 and the nols play virginia tech tomorrow. you can catch all this on grath 38, our cyst-- great 38, our sister station, beginning thursday at noon, then friday night 7:00-11:30, the semi final double header games, wtta, great 38. march madness is upon us and you can say march madness as well for hockey. >> it is just incredible. >> 14 games for the lightning. we are running out of games here. >> a dog fight at the top. >> packed together. it is exciting. >> you got basketball, you have hockey, and politics. >> all the madness you want going on in march. >> very similar too. >> not much at stake. >> we will be right back with

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>> i am going to prove it and a look at that, steve. tampa zoo celebrating the birth of 2 rare clouded leopard cubs, twins born february 29th, leap year babies. the zoo has not said when visitors can see them. >> what are their names? >> we don't have names yet. >> you can name them. >> night.

>> steve: from studio 6b in rockefeller center in the heart of new york city, it's "the