right now on news channel 8 at 5:30. >> good evening, thanks for being with on paying close attention to the spread of the zika virus, officials are warning a popular plant in your yard could be partly to blame, a feeding ground for the species of mosquitoes that spread the zika virus and it is a big concern. officials are removing all of those flowers to help with the efforts and residents need to be proactive, john rogers has more. >> good evening, with a little

and help stop the spread of zika. >> whether they are on the ground or in the trees, bromeliads are a popular site. >> this one you might recognize. a florida mainstay they reproduce quickly and are included to be easy to maintain but they cause a problem when it rains, water pools in the center. >> collecting water and debris making their own compost stew so they get the nutrition and water. >> a breeding ground for that spread zika. michelle rencher got rid of all of the bromeliads on her property. >> you need to do the best you can for your kids. >> the director of sarasota county mosquito management says to help stop the spread people need to be mindful. >> we don't like to tell people you have to get rid of them. >> there are products like these that you can sprinkle on plants

larvae, you can also use a hose to rinse out the plant. >> that is one of the things people like they are located plants. plant and forget but you can't do that in the modern world. >> anything holding as little as a teaspoon of water can be a breeding ground of water. if you have them in your yard, take care of them to stop the threat. john rogers news channel 8. a florida teenager arrested after posing as a dr. facing fraud and identity charges in virginia. love robinson was charged for practicing medicine without a license, friday he was arrested in stafford county virginia. authorities say he tried to buy a car using fake employment information as well as information from an elderly woman. >> i proceeded to do an application with him, send it

approval form from him. he had a cosigner. >> love robinson has been charged with three counts of fraud he was arrested last month on grand theft charges. jury selection underway in seminole county and the trial for a man shooting into george zimmerman struck. facing charges of attempted second-degree murder for the road rage incident. the bullet missed zimmerman, he claims zimmerman th without bond. the national media and late- night talkshow hosts are scolding the relationship of pam bondi and donald trump. >> pam bondi is the only person in the world to ever make money from trump university. >> stephen cohen bear ripped attorney general pam bondi and her relationship with donald trump last week. a $25,000 check from the trump foundation to her campaign came

general decided not to make a case over trump university fraud allegations in 2013. democrats are making the connection between the check and these comments from trump in january. >> i give it to everybody. that was my job. when i want something, i get it. when i call, they kiss my. >> the state attorney general is supposed to look out for us, is taking illegal campaign cut emissions. >> the attorney general's office has said this is not a pay for play situation. >> a spokesman says a lengthy email pushing back against the allegations that the contribution led to bondi choosing not to pursue action. the email sites there was never a multistate case, there was never an invitation to join the original lawsuit and there was only one florida complaint

the attorney general was absent from a florida missing children's day event in tallahassee. an event she usually attends and her office did not make are available for interview. from tallahassee met calcutta -- news channel 8. >> trump had to pay a fine for the contribution and about making the donation to the political action committee. a pain that no part who have left one day and never came home. tears and pain were on the faces of parents and loved ones for the missing children's day ceremony. the aunt of a lost child says the pain is fresh. >> it is rough. >> how long has it been? >> 11 years.

>> since the beginning of the year florida has issued 30 missing children alerts and seven amber alerts. getting winter some more room to swim around. a mega makeover for the aquarium , a look inside at the changes. >> we are going to show you what is distracting teenagers. behind the wheel. on the radar moving across the region to the west we will look at the radar and tropics, a new tropical storm and we look at your weekend forecast.

i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message. i know more about isis then the generals do. john mccain, a war hero. he's not a war hero, he's a war hero because he was captured. i like people that weren't captured ok. donald trump compared his sacrifices to the

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startling news, statistics show a majority of teenagers do not think they are distracted when using apse behind the wheel. as parents how do you address the issue to keep children safe or? we have some advice to help you navigate the situation. >> 19-year-old texting and driving on the liberty mutual research institute text >> i didn't think i was staying in the lane or i felt like i was drifting. >> 17-year-old samantha had the same reaction. >> i was on a railroad doing it i could definitely injure someone else. >> the idea is they are trying to get insight in their own abilities. >> according to the aaa foundation for traffic safety more than half of teen drivers reported using a cell phone

pirated -- reporting typing or sending a text message while driving. a survey conducted by liberty mutual finds social media and app usage is up among teenage drivers. 27% of teenagers report texting and driving. 68% of teenagers admit to using apse while driving and 80% of them felt app use was not distracting. >> if it involves looking away from the road to the device, all of that can impact your driving ability. your capacity to respond. >> i tried out the driving simulator. texting and checking out facebook while driving 70 miles per hour on a highway on a windy day. it is much clearer that you are swerving or going off to one

to talk to their teenagers and encourage them to keep phones turned off and out of reach in the car. >> the 2016 heart walk is right around the corner, we need your help, the first $50,000 will be matched so every dollar you donate counts as two. the walk is november 12 at raymond james stadium. after weeks of brutal competition, one person will walk away $1 million richer tonight crowned the new american ninja warrior. the season wraps up tonight, 17 athletes will try to conquer the obstacle course for $1 million. >> it is us against the course and we root for each other and hope one of us can take a. >> the performances are unbelievable. we don't want to spoil it but it will be in credible.

>> jesse graph is the first and only woman to make it this far. she was the fifth fastest on stage won -- one. catch american ninja warrior right here on news channel 8. followed by the season finale of running wild and then stick around for news channel 8 at 11:00. miss arkansas has been crowned miss america for 2017. winning the competition with a jazz dance your -- routine. in addition to the crown she also wins a $50,000 scholarship a six-figure salary and expenses. the clearwater marine aquarium is expanding, new buildings being dedicated for education and habitat. we take a look at what is going on. >> the expansion at the aquarium

, two buildings for education and guest space, a large 1.5 million gallon dolphin habitat which includes substantially more space for the rescued animals, underwater viewing and approximately 100,000 square feet of guest space, officials want to include a pelican habitat and make rt natural habitat for the rescue marine life. the good news, this place will remain fully operational ases o with no close dates and all guest activities open at all times, clearwater marine aquarium ceo david yates is excited about the benefits of the expansion. >> we are very unique, primarily we want to see how they do this. our job is to rescue marine

back to the wild. we wanted to experience that, get immersed into that role. >> the estimated cost of the project is $50 million, officials will build the areas in phases and they hope to have everything completed within the next 30 months. reporting from clearwater back to you. and unexpected discovery in mississippi. in late july a paleontologist found a dinosaur tooth in a creek bed. it belonged to a horned dinosaur which makes it one of only two horned dinosaur fossils to be found in the southeast united states. >> it is not just a pretty rock. polling center together putting into context all of the pieces of nature. >> the tooth is being studied by experts in claremont california it will stay there until analysis is complete. and casts will be on display in

clouds in connerton temperature 78 degrees with a little bit of rain almost 1/2 of an inch of rain. this amount is typical with the passing showers moving across the region in new port richey 75 degrees with east wind almost 1 inch of rain, impressive amounts especially the western part of pascoe county, very strong thunderstorms passing across the area. 84 degrees with mostly cloudy skies in sun city center temperatures are cooler sunday six degrees, the rain is back in the picture certainly the case tomorrow as we get moisture slighting our way from the bahamas direction coming from the tropics. max radar picking up shower activity moving from the west and northwest, showers along i- 75 around saint leo weaker at

very quiet showers moving across south tampa in the downtown area moving toward clearwater eventually safety harbor moving off to the west this passing across the howard franklin slowing down traffic a little bit. a few shower the soin earlier h off to the south and this area north of inglewood around venice all moving to the west, some downpours here an inch of rain. dark clouds from holiday, that was the case very dark clouds and passing fast-moving showers and thunderstorms earlier in the afternoon. the rain chances are higher the next couple of days, keep in mind what we had last ek below normal a 60% chance for tomorrow, 50% wednesday, same for thursday and by the weekend falling to average or typical levels, forecast clouds look

and the overall temperature 83 this evening, storms continue to push to the coast moving from east to west that is the flow pattern. 88 degrees at the airport, very humid, same story downtown st. petersburg but the air is cooler as a result of showers and thunderstorms. write a bit of moisture high above, looking at the water vapor imagery, you know that green means deep atmosphere tropical wave left over. 93 l enhancing rain chances for two days as it moves across the florida peninsula. we will see sunshine with warm temperatures, 93 degrees despite the clouds and showers but the overall pattern continues from east to west enhancing the rain chances. in the tropics we have 40 mile- per-hour winds today and it

the ninth named storm of the season, our model keeps the possibility of showers in the forecast early in the evening but into the later evening probably not as much for tuesday morning sun and clouds with a warm start, by the afternoon, you can see widespread showers and thunderstorms expected for the area, fairly high is the left over tropical wave an area of low pressure taking advantage of the bright green slighting to the north helping to enhance rain chances especially for tomorrow. a slight chance of rain wednesday morning getting drier but showers developed wednesday afternoon with scattered showers and thunderstorms, 50% chance. the moisture forecast is high you can see increasing moisture over the two day time period tuesday and wednesday, deep tropical moisture heavy rain possible and you will see in the forecast the chances are

temperature, cooler in spots as a result of showers close to the average but keep in mind the high-end of the low average are falling, slowly sliding toward fall but it will feel like summer this week along with rain chances fairly high. 60% for tuesday, 50% wednesday and thursday dropping to 40% as we get into the second half of the day especially friday saturday and sunday. more like a typical summer day. low the average is. so summer is still here. >> 93 was for real. thank you. a touching tribute trashed and analyze. >> hundreds of american flags snapped in half and thrown away. see how students rallied together to restore the display just-in-time. join us on news channel 8

9:00. - marco. - polo. marco. marco? marco? but it's not a game when our senator doesn't show up. i'm patrick murphy. solving problems means showing up. showing independence. and working together. it's why i worked to protect women's health care and worked with both parties to stop cuts to medicare. i'm patrick murphy and i approve this message because florida needs a full-time senator. marco?

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i want to be unpredictable, unpredictable, unpredictable, unpredictable. priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising. headlines across america, a devastating house fire in tennessee, nine people are dead including five children.

this is the deadliest fire since the 1920s. investigators found a smoke detector at the scene but they are not sure if it was working. >> jury selection began in the murder trial of a georgia father intentionally leaving his toddler in a hot car today. his trial was moved to ensure a fair trial with an unbiased jury. if convicted harris faces life in prison. in reno nevada a small plane crashed into a parking lot it happened at the reno tahoe international airport you can see the plane crashed into several parked cars all of the people who died were inside the plane. a 9/11 tribute on a southern california college campus has been the target m[ the vandals nearly 3000 miniature american flags were placed around the college. but the republican club

removed many broke them and through the flags. >> people have been tearing them down, walking over them like they are a piece of garbage. >> the vandals left behind signs that said rest in peace. the college republican say the tribute was meant for the victims not a political statement. news channel 8 at 6:00 is up next. >> underway for a missing boy. >> we will show you why the case has police so concerned and what you need to know to help find him. >> a dangerous intersection putting polk county children at risk. concerned parents are turning to 8 on your side francis. >> a father out on bond after leaving his son in a hot car to die. we hear from his neighbors that are defending him. >> thousands of yards with storm debris are getting

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right now on news channel 8 at 6:00. >> a frantic search for a missing three-year-old, why police are so desperate to find the boy and his father. >> the storm damage cost in the millions. we show you how much you will be paying putting children in danger? 8 on your side takes a closer look. good evening. thank you for joining us. a firefighter and a father forced off the job tonight, after pinellas county deputies charged him with aggravated manslaughter for leaving his toddler son in a hot truck to die. tonight those who know troy whitaker are defending him and candace mckown joins us at the

>> good evening, troy whitaker was put on administrative leave, we understand he is out of jail on a $50,000 bond and he and his wife are away from their palm harbor home where the little boy was left in the car to die friday. >> he was crying out. he was saying calling to his child. and, it was very sad. said for me. >> joe the boy was left in this trial, the boys father troy whitaker was distraught and hours later behind bars. >> i am saddened by seeing him portrayed that way.>> our cameras were there as he was released from jail, we know the little body reached a temperature of 107.6 degrees. his father admittedly forgetting the boy was in the