property. i'm rod carter. >> i'm jennifer leigh. thanks for joining us tonight. one of the busiest roadways in hillsborough county will be closed starting monday. the florida department of transportation will be working on the railroad crossing near krenshaw lake road. jamel lanee joins us live and about this. >> reporter: they are. patience. this part of the highway is a nightmare during rush hour, so come monday, this part will be closed down meaning delays and detours will take twice as long. u.s. 41 is a major thoroughway through lutes. but come monday, it will be jam packed. >> all i know is it is going to be two weeks and everybody better be prepared. >> reporter: be prepared for the delays and detours when fdot closes down the road to work ton railroad crossing.

>> a six-lane highway is closed when the next largest road to the east is two lanes? >> reporter: that means almost 30,000 commuters will find residential streets to maneuver through tieing up two-way lanes. just how long will that take? well, we tested it. from u.s. 41, we turned on crystal lake road, then south on delmavery high school and then van dike road putting us back on u.s. 41, 17 minutes later. and that is without traffic. >> that impact with that traffic on those roads, there's kids, vehicles, safety, police, all those. the delay in time is going to hurt someone. >> reporter: dot says the work has to be done. >> we know this is really heavily traveled corridors. we are asking them as much as probable to try to get it done sooner. >> reporter: david helps relief comes sooner. >> a much better plan. a traffic plan.

>> reporter: well, there may be some relief for commuters next week. it is spring break, so fdot hopes that will help drivers out next week. but again, starting the week after that, then, that is when they expect the heavy delays. >> i can certainly understand why people are frustrated in anticipation so the question is with all six lanes blocked, where does fdot want people to detour? >> reporter: they are asking drivers to either take delmavery highway. you have gps and you will find your way through the nooks and crannies through residential streets to get around. there will be traffic anywhere you go. >> jamel lanee live in hillsborough county, thank you very much. and we posted a map of the road closure and alternate routes on wfla.com.

there is an increasing danger on the streets of tampa. spice. tampa fire rescue have responded to dozens of calls involving that synthetic drug. police told me today they are working very, very hard to slow it down, this trend. but they admit it is difficult. if you tool around the internet, you will see a lot of videos of what taking the synthetic drug spice can do. it's not pretty. >> we had an increased call for service. >> reporter: but these folks, first responders in tampa bay don't have to look at a video the see the problem. they see it up close and way too personal. >> they are increasingly violent and or just noncooperative and combative. >> reporter: in this past week, they have seen more and more cases from march 5 to two days ago, they responded to 30 calls for suspected or admitted use of spice. 12 of them in a single day.

deaths could be linked to the drug. they are trying trying their best to put a stop to it but it is difficult. >> if compound a is illegal and we test for that, we can make a case. but since they changed the compound all the time, the law cannot keep up with it. it is not possible. >> reporter: the area that law enforcement says they see the most problems is actually near downtown. more specifically near the marion street bus terminal. and spice use also endangers first responders. >> this is a dangerous drug. >> reporter: keep that in mind the next time you chuckle all- star the videos. >> you are only going to see the stuff that looks funny. >> first responders say they are at serious risk as well when they come into contact with the people who have used spice including biting, hitting, and the transfer of bodily fluids. with just days until florida's primary, chelsea

in sarasota on behalf of her mom. she spoke to supporters at the francis downtown. hillary clinton and senator bernie sanders both stopped in tampa yesterday. republican front runner donald trump is back to full blast today after last night's civil debate. as brian moore shows us, he picked up a high-profile endorsement in florida. >> reporter: good evening. donald trump is hoping to score a knock-out punch next week. but today, he picked up the assistance of one of the most mild-mannered candidates in the race. ben carson quit the presidential race for lack of support, but today, he is getting behind donald trump. >> it is not about mr. trump. it is about america. >> reporter: carson is just the latest political star realigning ahead of next week's big primaries in ohio and florida. ted cruz now backed by carly fiorina is trying to consolidate the stop trump vote. >> join our team. we welcome you. come on in, the water's fine. >> reporter: marco rubio is in

>> in florida, i'm the only one who can beat donald trump. >> reporter: but in ohio, he is suggesting john kasich help front runners beat trump. >> be smart and unify. >> reporter: it was a stark contrast to today. >> our country has to toughen up folks. we have to toughen up. >> reporter: he complained st. louis police were too gentle in ejecting protesters. outside the event ... >> get the heck out of america! >> reporter: a few trump with demonstrators. the democrats are focused on a very different kind of violence. >> unarmed african-americans officers. >> she has been fighting for a long time with these issues. >> reporter: bernie sanders and hillary clinton reaching out to african-american voters in states where tamir rice and trayvon martin are not just names, they are movements. in just four days we will have

race is headed toward a crescendo or destined to drag on for months. in washington, i'm brian moore, newschannel8. early voting for florida's primary is underway right now. 15. we posted everything you need to know on wfla.com. family, friends, and admirers bid farewell to nancy reagan. among the mourners were george w. bush and all four living first ladies. the funeral took place in california. nancy reagan was laid to rest next to the love of her life at his presidential library. the fallout continues after the wounded warrior project scandal. they fired the ceo and the coo. they are accused of spending millions on administration meetings and travel instead of spending that on veterans. research showed 40 cents to every dollar given to the

those questionable costs. right now, some states across the south are preparing for more rain. flooding in louisiana is so bad the national guard has been mobilized to rescue people. we have water rescues in mississippi as well as tennessee. fast rising waters in kirbyville texas trapped dozens of people. officials went to other neighborhoods at risk of flooding to warn people there to evacuate. we are going to keep an eye on all of this weather throughout the weekend and keep you posted. how much is a hulk hogan sex tape really worth? testimony focused on that today. experts for bollea testified on how many people clicked on the gawker website to see the tape and what value that brought to the website. >> immediately after the posting of the hulk sex tape,

this is google searches, for the term gawker. >> jeff anderson contends the sex tape brought more than $16 million to gawker. they pointed out the number of hits actually spiked after terry bollea's lawsuit was filed. fans are enjoying the firestone grand prix. the race cars whip around the 14 turn track giving spectators quite a thrill. in case you are wondering, several classes of race cars are taking to the 1.8-mile track that zips left, right, left, and straight past the downtown waterfront. events happen all weekend long. it is a really good time. well it costs $60,000 to clean up a citrus park property that had actually turned into a disgusting dump. >> that money came out of your pocket.

visits a code enforcement nightmare. how county officials are trying to get your money back from the property's owner. >> also ahead, sarasota scientists are preparing for a shark expedition. how you can track great white sharks on florida's coast. >> and it has been a warm dry week, but we are tracking changes as we head into this weekend. we will talk about weekend rain chances coming up in your forecast. >> all these folks are enjoying the sights and sounds of the beach. but, it is not necessarily for what you would think. they are watching a massive

>> now, an 8 on your side investigation. code enforcement nightmare. >> taxpayers spent more than 6 thousand dollars to haul away junk from this property when the owner refused to do it. so now what is the county doing to get back your money? hillsborough county told the person to pay up or they will foreclose. >> code violations are really nothing new to this woman. that is an understatement. >> the county has been flipping its gums at brenda owings for 18 years but nothing has happened. she has ignored code violation fines totaling more than 548 grand but if she doesn't pay the $60,000 bill for clearing her property, the county says she could lose it. >> what do you want? >> hi. i want to know if you received a letter of demand from the county.

>> reporter: she was not in a good mood. i wouldn't be either if i got a bill from the county along with a demand letter for $60,000. it is a bill for the removal of tons of trash and junk that the county hauled away from her property. >> are you going to pay that money? >> go talk to them. >> reporter: bob mullens contacted us saying she stocked her property with everything including a school bus. our investigation discovered she ignored code violations, ran up more than $300,000 in fines, and the county let it drag on for 16 years. >> she knows she can get away consequences. >> reporter: 8 on your side took the issue to the board of county commissioners. that prompted the county attorney chip fletcher to allow

to court which included the county bringing in heavy equipment to clean up the dump. but the problem is spreading. now, she is moving furniture, appliances, and bags of bags of who knows what to this place she bought on amhurst street. the county sent the demand letter. bob mullens is skeptical and brenda owings remains defiant. >> go away. >> reporter: well brenda owings has 30 day to pay the fine or contact the attorney's office. no, i did not clean up after the dog. >> thanks for clearing that up. has she contacted the county? what if she just ignores this? >> reporter: according to the attorney's office, there has been some phone calls but she has not formally responded to

if she ignores this warning, it is authorized to foreclose on her property. >> it will be interesting to see if that happens or if this is kind of a hollow threat. >> reporter: yeah. for the last 18 years. >> i'm sure you will be watching. >> we will. right now, marine scientists are getting ready for a shark research expedition. they are teeming up with scientists from o-search. the team that tagged katherine the great white. they are planning a two-day voyage. you can track the sharks on their website. katherine in case you are wondering pinged near bermuda today. >> that is where she is. >> yep. i know you have been wondering rod. we put a link to the shark tracking website on wfla.com. spring break season here in the pam bay area. we have had a gorgeous week this past weekends it on a nice note this friday afternoon. 83 degrees at sun city center.

some high thin cirrus clouds around. winds coming out of the east near 5 miles an hour. and it is going to stay warm for the rest of this evening. temperatures just slowly dropping back into the 70s for us. you can see, we will be in the upper 60s by the time you wake up tomorrow morning. overall, a lot of sunshine to begin the day, but we will see a mix of sun and clouds as we head into the afternoon and evening hours. you can see we are dealing with partly cloudy skies right now. no rain on the radar. we are not expecting any rain for the rest of your friday night. as you take a step back, though, you can see the system that texas, louisiana, mississippi has been dealing with the last several days. they are dealing with more rain. but thankfully as we head into this weekend, that will let up. this area of high pressure that has kept us dry will also shift east and we will see a little bit of rain as we head into later on this week, but check out some of the rainfall totals. this is since monday. we are talking a foot of rain in parts of louisiana and mississippi this week.

with extensive flooding in this region. thankfully, we should see improvement as we head into the weekend and next week, we will get a chance to dry out. for us this afternoon, just another warm one. temperatures in the low to mid 80s . it is 84 in fish hawk. 81 in bartow. 79 in clearwater. a great afternoon if you have the day off. as we head throughout your friday evening, no weather worries. just a few clouds lingering. waking up saturday morning, temperatures will be in the upper 60s as we head into saturday afternoon. we do bring in a slim 10% chance of a stray shower. our forecast model paints a picture of a few light showers but rain is not a big issue on saturday. headed into sunday is when we will start to see showers moving in and an increase in moisture. could see some sea fog along the coast. keep that in mind if you plan to head out the coast, but a lot of the rain should all have pushed inland as we head into monday, still a chance to see some light lingering showers.

deeper moisture around. here is a look at the rain chances for you. a 10% chance for your saturday if you have outdoor plans. for most of you, it will stay dry. sunday, we have scattered showers around. not going to be a wash-out. we will just see passing showers mainly midday there. and by monday morning we could have a few lingering showers still on the map. don't think we will see quite enough rain to knock down the pollen counts. they are just a little bit lower for tomorrow, but generally, they will be in the high ring as we head into next week. temperatures also not going to system. we are looking at temperatures are generally the same. in the low 80s all the way through next week. much of next week looks great as well for those of you with spring break plans. and then, saint patty's day on the map already. 81 and partly cloudy for the celebrations there. and of course, don't forget to spring forward as we head into sunday. >> okay. >> you didn't sound too excited about that rod.

we do get more sunlight. >> thank you very much. appreciated it. several popular frozen food brands are under recall. >> coming up, which dinners you should avoid and what to do if there is one in your freezer. (phone ringing) you can't deal with something, by ignoring it. but that's how some

americans work hard, and pay into it. so our next president needs a real plan to keep it strong. (elephant noise) hey candidates,

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>> now, to an 8 on your side consumer alert. millions of digiorno, lean cuisine, and stouffer's could contain shards of glass. there are 14 total products under recall. no injuries have been reported

we have posted a full list of the affected products on wfla.com. presidential candidates are hammering the makers of oreo cookies. they will cut 600 jobs from an oreo cookie place in chicago and moved to salinas, mexicos. candidates in both parties have condemned that plan. chick-fil-a has joined the cage free movement. by 2027 take 2027 they will only serve cage free eggs. that the part of their commitment to sell antibiotic free chicken by 2018. taco bell ramped up its fight in the breakfast wars. the mexican fast food chain launched the one dollar morning value menu offering customers

this came after rumors that they might expand their breakfast menu. for low income families with babies, the price of diaper cans add up. the white house is launching a program to launch the cost of diapers by 25%. president obama announced that online retailer jet.com, cutie's diapers and several nonprofits are collaborating. it launches at the end of next month. interesting. >> yes. >> josh benson is here with what we are working on at 5:30. >> a bay area church is recovering from tragedy and turmoil. we will have a look at the renovations there. >> and rebuilding the beach. how one county is fighting back against erosion for an area

>> right now on newschannel8 at 5:30. >> good evening, i'm jennifer leigh. >> i'm josh benson. thanks for being with us tonight. >> a bay area church is ready to reveal much awaited improvements. saint joseph has overcome so much. the church is rebuilding physically and spiritually. >> reporter: say joseph has a difficult history, but the church continue to rebuild and now they are putting on their finishing touches. after more than 20 years, parishioner aldo suarez says his prayers were answered.