right now on news channel 8 at 5:30. >> good evening. i am jennifer leigh. >> i am josh benson. >> another revealing day of testimony in the hulk hogan sex tape trial. a former editor testified the newsworthy. elements of the tape were court. news channel 8's jeff patterson joins us live. people seem fascinated with this trial based on the social media response, jeff. >> reporter: yes, yes, they do, jen. today's testimony can best be tmi.

and nsfw. not safe for work. >> in a recorded deposition, former gawker editor a.j. delorio told the court about getting an anonymous dvd showing hulk hogan having sex with an unknown woman. he told the court he found it amusing, but also newsworthy. >> i was thinking that if we can show some of the sex that was taking place, it would give a little more excitement to the stuff that was already in the public record. >> reporter: also on the stand today hulk hogan's attorney, who first talked about trying to find out who leaked the tape. >> if there was a sex tape out there, i felt i should try to find it and essentially put a bullet in it. >> reporter: but numerous websites were putting up still

hogan with the ex-wife of bubba the love sponge. >> tmz was among the first to show still images of the tape, but they never published it. the website gawker did, and david houston sent gawker a letter demanding they take down the video. >> i was asking them to take it down. that was my goal. take the video down. >> reporter: yeah, you know, we are still getting a lot of calls, emails, people posting on social media about terry bolea wearing that black bandanna in court. we reported on this before. just to make it clear, early on gawker attorneys objected to awearing it. most people are not allowed to wear hats or head gar. when gawker objected he said he could wear it as long as it was a plain black bandanna. nothing fancy.

>> that is the number one question i get asked on social media when people are inquiring about this story. why did the judge allow it? do we know? >> you know, it's not really clear. she ruled in court he could wear it as long as it was plain and that is it. there is no written order on it. so there you go. that's the whole reporting on the big black bandanna. >> you heard it here. thanks, jeff. small business owners in lutz are cleaning up after a fire last night. why it may take months for those businesses to get things back to normal. >> the smell of smoke is still heavy in the air here in hutz after a devastating fire destroyed businesses here late last night. >> a lot of expensive cabinetry. a lot of hard work ruined. a vision that we had for this place that was complete for a little bit. now it's just been destroyed.

casanova had put the finishing touches on a new showroom until late last night when flames, smoke, and water destroyed her vision. >> you can see it came through the ceiling. all of our displays are real wood. now they have been compromised by the water. >> reporter: the two-alarm fire seen from eagle 8hd as crews tried to stop the blaze and save those businesses. we are told the fire was sparked by a drier at a rug cleaning business that had a propane tank attached to it. once the fire sparked, the tank exploded and the tanks spread quickly next door. >> i don't know what to do. it's so fresh and we're just trying to gather everything up and collect all of our information and keep going. it's not going to be easy. >> reporter: today clean-uppers were underway as employees tried to salvage what they could and draw up a new design plan for the future. from destroyed cabinets to water

damages caused by this fire could top $1 million. reporting in lutz, mary mcguire, news channel 8. >> no customers were stored in the showroom. a jacksonville sheriff's deputy is in the hospital after being shot. it's not clear if he was on duty at the time of the shooting. the man believed to have shot the detective was also shot, but it's not clear who shot him. the sheriff's office hopes witnesses can reveal what led up to the confrontation. a group of run away ponies a busy south florida highway. they gap line-upped and grazed along the side of the florida tank. state troopers and road rangers tried to corral the herd. they made their way back home after a few hours on the run. the highest education funding in florida history

singing the praises of the state's education budget. it's an increase of 1%. according to the florida education association, with inflation the dollars don't go nearly as far for students as they did nearly a decade ago. >> i wouldn't say this is an exceptionally good year for the budget for public education. it could have been worse, but we'll -- we just have to deal with it when it comes. >> florida's governor proposed that some of the increased spending come from local property taxes. an idea initially opposed by the house and senate. how would you feel if a relative left you an inheritance and nobody told you about it? think. in fact, 32,000 floridians are owed death benefits from life insurance policies that companies never bother to try throw indicate. could change under legislation that has already cleared the house.

something like a life insurance benefit when you don't know it's yours? there is a dilemma for thousands of floridians whose loved ones sought pro effect them after they were going. companies writing half the life policies in florida have been keeping the cash. here's why. >> if these companies were invest that $111 million, in 20 years they would earn $100 million in interest. >> reporter: lawmakers have had enough. >> we have instructed the companies they have to go back 25 years and find those folks that should have been paid and have not been paid. >> reporter: 16 companies could owe a total of $111 million. the average claims claims are expected to be under $3,400. to the company's credit, the law never required them to find beneficiaries, but. >> and the insurance companies apparently were able to use the death register when they want to stop paying annuities, but

want to do it when it comes to beneficiaries. >> reporter: in the future they will be required to turn the money over to the state so it can look for the owner. companies would first have to try to find the beneficiary. if they can't, the money would go into the state's unclaimed property vault. >> and that money is there in perptuity. no matter when that person finds out that these benefits are due to them, the money is due for them. >> reporter: governor rick scott is expected to sign the legislation when it hits his desk. in tallahassee, mack vas linda. >> if you think you are owed money, contact jeff at water at the state capitol. well, president obama is sparking a firestorm of criticism for not attending nancy reagan's funeral. >> coming up, what he will be doing instead. how other mourners are honoring the former first lady. and how a fortunate fan helped a team contain a massive

bee-leave it or not today 82 degrees. tomorrow a tad warmer. i will have your seven-day in just a bit. we will have that and more coming up. you are watching news channel 8. the station that's always on your side. if you're going to say "better ingredients. better pizza." which is why i'm introducing our new papa's quality guarantee: love your pizza, or get another one, absolutely free. pget any large pizza up to 5-toppings pfor just $9.99. online only.

"8 on your side" has covered the campaign trail every step of the way. ahead to miami for a final push to the white house. special live coverage of the tonight at 11. eagle 8hd coverage is brought to you by your local hyundai dealers. welcome back. tonight nbc's comedy the carmichael show is back for the start of a new season. jerry carmichael stars in that series. it's largely based on his own experiences with his family in north carolina. you can catch the carmichael show tonight at 10:00 p.m. make sure to stick around for news channel 8 at 11. and a pair of irish singers

adele covers got an amazing surprise. adele invited them on stage to perform live in dublin. the pair were stunned and then proceeded to bring down the house with favorites like hello and someone like you. turns out the cash rapper pictures, it's fake. he filed for bankruptcy last summer and some thought he was hiding assets after that photo. but according to his attorney, the stacks of cash are actually prop money. the rapper has greed to a debt repayment plan that promises to repay $23 million over the next five years. beatles producer sir george martin died tuesday at the age of 90. he was often called the fifth beatle. he worked with various other artists including cheap trick, jeff beck, and celine dion. he produced 23 number-one hits in the united states. well, president obama is

not to attend former first lady nancy reagan's funeral on friday. the president will instead be making a speech at the south by southwest festival. >> first lady michelle obama will attend the funeral. today mrs. reagan's body was taken to the ronald reagan presidential library where it will lie in repose. >> for years the secret service agents were sworn to protect the life of former first lady nancy reagan. today they offered a token of their enduring respect, helping to escort her to her final resting place. as a hearse made its way to the presidential library in simi valley, people lined the roadway. some carried signs. others waved flags. a few expressed profound sadness. >> absolutely heartbroken. >> reporter: when she died at age 94 she had been out of the public eye, but for forgot-as the life parter, protecter and love of the late president ronald reagan. while she was celebrated for impeccable sense of style, the

mrs. reagan herself were understated and dignified. a simple casket at the entrance of a brief service for family members. >> over the next day she will lie in repose so the public can say farewell and a private service on friday attended by first ladies from rosalynn carter to hillary clinton and michelle obama. for many, the reflections of this first lady begin and end with an unbreakable bond. >> i think i respect that so much that besides anything else, that they were one. >> reporter: nancy and aggad ronald reagan inseparable in life. soon to be reunited. brian moore, nbc news. >> president george w. bush and first lady laura bush will also attend tomorrow as will family members of lynden b. johnson and richard nixon. the 82nd airborne division paratroopers are home safely from al-qaeda.

returned to fort bragg this morning. before coming home, they turned over command in iraq to the 101st airborne division. an angry swarm of bees delayed a spring training baseball game in arizona. check out this video of the swarm in temple. bees covered a blue bag near kansas city royals dugout. fortunately, and coincidently, one of the royals fan is a retired beekeeper. he helped remove the swarm. here is a weird fact. a swarm of bees did this one year ago at the same stadium. >> yikes. let's check in on an investigation we are pursuing for 11:00. mark, this story started, you say, with a suspicious phone call to the newsroom? >> right on this phone actually, josh. it was suspicious all right. this is what consumer experts call the impostor scam. boy did he get the wrong number. he called my cell phone as i was

started recording the conversation after i asked his permission. he claimed he was from microsoft and he wanted me to go to my computer to give him access to we could fix it. we ended up fixing him as you will see tonight at 11. a lot of people are getting hit by the same imposer scam. teen today show host natalie morales fell for it. >> i got the call, too. i did not fall for it. i got the call. >> you will see that tonight. >> that's the wrong number for sure. >> we look forward to seeing that at 11:00. watch tonight at 11 to see how mark turns the tables on this impostor. should be a good one. well, a total solar eclipse was observed on one of indonesia's eastern islands yesterday. this is the time lapse of what people saw in the sky. solar eclipse happens when the

as it passes between the earth and the sun. indonesia last saw a total eclipse in 1983. it will be 33 more years until they see one in that part of the world. but for us and the united states, 2017 on august 21st, 2017, we are going to have a total solar eclipse. about a year from now. should be a pretty cool sight. here is another cool sight take fran an aircraft at tampa international airport. right there is a cool picture of our wonderful coastline. i took this picture yesterday afternoon. i was actually out at honeymoon island. saw my first eagle in the wild, which was cool. i picked up a little bit after sunburn as well. beautiful island if you haven't been there yet.

77 degrees in st. petersburg. and 75 in sarasota. cooler by the gulf and bay batters. temperatures this week above the average of 75 for the next eight days. we are going to be 80 degrees or plus. in fact, tomorrow we are looking at a high temperature in the middle 80s. yeah. technically, it's still wintertime. satellite and radar picture. we have clear skies all over tampa bay. really a great looking afternoon and evening. high pressure is part, big time, offshore of the eastern coast of florida. that's giving us a constant southerly breeze. that's why we're seeing the warm temperatures and it's also blocking all of this rain out to our west. so the storms are actually going up and around the high pressure system and that's why they're picking up so everybody-much rain. they could pick up an additional 10 inches or so. very rainy in that part of the country. at home mostly clear skies.

overnight no weather problems. tomorrow morning lots of sunshine. a little breezy. we will have winds blowing 10-15 miles per hour. tomorrow afternoon lots of sunshine again. click the repeat button. we are going to see temperatures warming once again to 83 degrees. we were 82 this afternoon. so just a little bit warmer tomorrow and then we're mainly in the lower 80s heading into friday as well. friday morning partly cloudy, 64 degrees, and then moving to friday afternoon still looking nice. lots of sunshine and temperatures warming into the lower to middle 80s while the rain mainly remains out west coast the next couple of days. saturday we might get a little shower. a better chance on sunday. overnight tonight mostly clear skies. a low of 65 degrees. tomorrow partly cloudy skies just like today. high temperature of 83 degrees. for the spring breakers at the beach 80 degrees. the water is still chilly at 65 degrees.

so great weather for, well, spring break and for the grand prix coming up this weekend. we will have a few showers possible on sunday. so that could be a concern for the grand prix in st. petersburg. there is your seven-day forecast. beautiful over the next two days. slight chance for a shower on saturday. sunday a better chance and then drying out on monday with temperatures remaining right around 80 degrees. and also don't forget clocks go ahead one hour saturday night at 2 a.m. it will be brighter longer. if you are getting home from work, you will have quite a bit of daylight once you get home. >> sounds good. thanks. all right. ever wonder how you get the news if the power went out? >> don't worry. tv crews have a plan. how one tv station did the news

what's making headlines across america. slick roads are blamed for a school bus crash. 10 in north san antonio, texas. four people were on the bus. two special needs students and the students we are told were not hurt, but the adults were taken to the hospital.

the news in the dark last night after a power outage. they used their smartphones to get the news out to viewers. facebook live did the trick, although they had to present the news with the lights off. a storm that knocked out power to thousands of homes, businesses in the memphis area is to blame for that blackout. a violent robbery at a dollar store caught on camera. watch as a man rushed into a houston store, threw a clerk into a wall and demanded money. then he goes after the store own we are a taser. the man fills his bag with money and runs out, but then suddenly he turns bark because he dropped his gun. investigators are now working to track this man down. news channel 8 at 6:00 is coming up next. >> rod and jen are here with what we're working on. >> coming up tonight, a wrong-way driver running from deputies gave several drivers the scare of their lives. >> the 911 call that was just released this afternoon and you will hear from a mother who had her daughter in the car with her when they saw that car coming

restaurant is not closing after all. at least not yet. late night deal that is keeping it open so far, and our keith cate is on the road in miami. there is a political storm brewing. the center is lake tahoe in miami, florida. coming to you live from miami,

right now on news channel 8 at 6. >> a wild police chase in the wrong direction. tonight hear the 911 calls of how it all played out. also tonight, breaking news

resigns a very key player. and keith cate is in miami ahead of tonight's democratic presidential debate. >> good evening. thanks for joining us tonight. tonight we are going to begin with a wrong-way driver that's locked up after leading deputies on a very wild chase. we got the 911 calls from drivers who saw all of this going down. >> and he almost crashed again. >> detectives say this man, derek hyde, was driving the wrong direction on u.s. 301. they deployed stop sticks to get him off the road but then he started ramming the deputies' cars. and this was not his first brush with the law and not the first time he tried to run either. >> i don't know why he slided. the headlight is off. and he is driving the wrong way. >> reporter: carolyn griffin could not believe what she