how soon it might atect florida. >> plus, who does florida favor? a new poll reveals where the sunshine state is leaning after monday's presidential debate. >> and, some customers paid big bucks for window work when all they got was excused so they knew they better call behnken. good evening, i'm jenn holloway. >> i'm keith cate. thank you for joining us tonight. hurricane matthew is getting stronger and stronger as it approaches land. we just learned, in fact, just moments ago, that matthew is now a it strengthened into a category 2 overnight, then a 3. now up to 4. it is in the central caribbean right now. you can see the big blob there. so, how will matthew affect florida if at all, and when might it happen? storm team meteorologist julie phillips has the latest forecast track. we were all a little surprised by this. >> it is really rapidly intensifying. this storm within the last 48 hours or so, that advisory just

speeds now up to 140 miles an hour. hurricane hunters out investigating this have shown the pressure drop as well down now to 949 millibars. it is beginning to slow up a bit as it moves to the west and southwest at 9 miles an hour. you can see that defined eye within the storm now. it is a well-defined hurricane and it is still strengthening at this point. it is a category 4, you notice, in the central caribbean. as we head into this weekend, that is what it takes the turn major hurricane as it heads toward jamaica. the track continues to bring it north toward the bahamas. depending on if it is toward the western or the eastern side of the cone, that will determine any florida impact. of course, folks in south florida are watching this system very closely. and for us, it could influence our weather as well. bring in drier air by the end

the hurricane hunters were out and they found max gusts at 130 miles an hour. but as of the update, the winds are 140 miles an hour. the models bringing it into the bahamas next week. we will have a better idea of where it is going as we head into the weekend. and, early next week guys. so stay tuned. >> you want to see what happens in puerto rico and port-au- prince. e, with you soon. but first, breaking news on a crash near eastbound i-4. this shut down a lane. it happened during rush hour. you can see what is going on here. this is a live look from the department of transportation camera. that is macintosh road. no report of injuries. but it is causing quite the backup there. we will let you know when the interstate is clear. hillary clinton campaigned in south florida today continue

his treatment of women. trump escalated his twitter criticism of a former miss universe winner who accused trump of making disparaging remarks about her. he is also accusing the media of treating him unfairly. in the meantime, once again, florida is living up to its reputation as a bottle ground state. the latest post debate poll numbers pretty much show that. newschannel8's rod carter joins us live from downtown tampa with the details on >> reporter: hey, good evening jen. if you watched monday's debate top to bottom, you know you could cut the tension in that debate hall with a knife. it was very fiery and tense. and you know what? the recent numbers for mason dixon polls show this race is still very tight among florida voters. >> i have a feeling by the end of this evening i am going to be blamed for everything that happened. >> why not? >> yeah, why not. >> reporter: it was a testy

and donald trump. but did the 90 minute exchange change florida voter support? a new post debate poll shows clinton has an edge over trump by four percent age points. they interviewed 820 registered florida voters statewide between tuesday and thursday by phone. >> if i were her, i would be concerned. if i were donald trump, i would be elated. >> it is a game we know ha some kind of major shocking event occurs ma moves people in one direction or the other. >> reporter: the polls also show along the i-4 corridor, clinton now has a 47-40% advantage. the hillsborough county democratic party says the debate revealed more differences between the candidates. >> it appears that the voters were listening. that they were paying attention. and that it moved the needle. >> reporter: in the central florida area, the poll shows

clinton. 46-43%. hillsborough county republicans point out debate or not, unlike trump who hasn't dropped a dime in florida advertising dollars, clinton has spent millions. >> maybe somewhat foolishly, because, they are still within the margin of error. >> reporter: and that margin of error is very important, because, right now, that same poll shows that libertarian gary johnson has 7% of the vote. green party candidate jill stein has 1% of the were polled are still undecided. the margin of error is 3.5%. the next debate comes up, the vice presidential debate is tuesday. and the next presidential debate is next sunday in washington university in st. louis. i'll be there for that. jenn? >> we will be watching. rod carter, thank you. the sky opened up on rod there didn't it? all right, a power outage

at universal studios in orlando today. this happened at 10:00 this morning. it has been going on a while. firefighters helped to remove the riders from the transformers an men in black rides. power was later restored. no one was hurt. guests were encouraged to go next door to the islands of adventure which did not lose power. a 14-year-old boy faced a judge today after the shooting rampage at a playground. josh benson has the latest on this story and the latest update, this young man is in court, and we don't even know if he will be tried as an adult. do we josh? >> reporter: yeah, that is what they are waiting to hear now, this could take up to 30 days toasty if they are try him as an adult. but jesse osborne will be charged as a juvenile for now. but police want to know the motive. what led him to kill his father, drive to a school and start shooting? that is where the investigation

the possibility pa alleged shooter jesse osborne may have been bullied. the 14-year-old was being home schooled after he brought a machete and a hatchet to school earlier in year. shots were fired at an elementary school playground. >> there were people from the school. teachers and staff at the back door that were calling. that were cain come inside. >> reporter: inside, teacher megan hollingsworth was hit in the shoulder. she and others rushed students inside and locked the doors. mcadams tended to the wounded including critically injured jacob hall who had been shot in the leg. jamie brock who was unarmed took off after the alleged gunman. >> he needily confronted and subdued the shooter. he was able to keep him on the ground until law enforcement could place him into custody.

family says the entire family is absolutely shocked and saddened by the senseless actions of our son. first, police say the teen shot and killed his father jeffrey osborne at the family home. then drove about two miles to the school, an at 1:44 p.m., he called has grandmother in tears. well, that six-year-old little boy jacob hall is fighting for his life in extremely critical condition due to massive blood loss. they are rallying the little >> josh benson, thank you josh. new information expected in yesterday's deadly train crash in new jersey. investigators have recovered the train's black box. it should to pride information about exactly how fast that train was going. and whether the brakes were applied. the train engineer is cooperating with the police. more than 100 people were hurt. one woman died. the jose fernandez baseball

school last night was found. the booster club went on social media hoping to shame the thief into returning it and it worked. they are just happy to have it back. that said, a crime was committed and there is still an active investigation. >> you know, this is still a crime. it will still be investigated as a crime until such time they say they don't want to prosecute. at that point, we can terminate the investigation. >> coming up at 6:00, how social media general may have played a key role in getting this jersey back where it belongs. well, thousands of dollars paid, months of complaints, and customers say they have gotten nothing from a local window company. >> coming up next, they knew they had better call behnken. shannon behnken goes straight to the business owner to ask how he is going to make things right.

vo: we asked women in pinellas county to describe congressman david jolly in one word: woman 1: dangerous. woman 2: backwards. woman 3: out-of-touch... woman 4: that's 3 words. vo: david jolly shares donald trump's right to choose and voted to defund planned parenthood and deny women access to basic health care like mammograms and cancer screenings. woman 5: i have 3 words for david jolly... not for women. vo: house majority pac is responsible

>> now, to an 8 on your side consumer alert. wal-mart is recalling a tripod school because it can break when you sit on it. it is the maco incorporated. they have three steel legs and a real tree logo pattern with camouflage. consumers stop using the stools an return them to a wal-mart for a full refund. julie, we are watching this storm. we start out thinking it will be fine. but oh, now, it is is a 4. >> really quick. less than 24 hours from a category 2 to a category 4. rapid intensification. very strong storm. it will not affect us this weekend. this weekend, we are in the clear, but as we head through

better idea of what it will do. >> there are islands in its path. >> yeah, not where you want to be as we head into early next week. right now, out at veteran ford in tampa, 85 degrees. wins coming in out of the north southwest, we have picked up a little bit of rain. spotty showers and storms afternoon today. they started up this morning near the coast and have spread across the tampa bay area. here is the harbor. if you are headed to friday night football, storms inland, temperatures in the low 80s at halftime. 80 degrees. rain wrapping up. should be mostly dry by the time you are headed home. temperatures will be in the upper 70s . so starting off tomorrow morning it will feel a little more pleasant. we are in the mid 70s . some areas in the low 70s . by the afternoon, we will top out in the upper 80s so it will get hot. even if the morning starts out

spotty showers and storms similar to what we will see tomorrow. you can see pockets of heavy rain around wesley chapel and south tampa. some of the rain around dade city extending south into hillsborough county. also tracking lighter showers heading south into sarasota county as well. on the visible imagery, you can see there is matthew. a well defined eye with this system. it is a powerful hurricane. category 4. few you ss this was upgraded to a category 4 storm. they have found the pressure has dropped and winds have strengthened as well. so it will continue to move south through the caribbean as we head into this weekend. and make that turn to the north. we do have a jamaica right in the path of the storm. a hurricane watch has been issued for jamaica there. the storm will continue to make its way north as we head into early next week, making its way toward the bahamas. still, as a hurricane, and, a fairly strong one at that.

very closely. because, if it does make a turn a little bit later and moves more on the western side of the cone, obviously, the impacts in florida will be very different than if it makes its way up the eastern side of the cone. as we head into the next couple of days, the cone will narrow and our idea of where the storm is going will narrow as well. south florida is definitely on alert as they are technically in the far western side of the cone. at this point, the stalled boundary off to the north, plenty of moisture in the tampa bay area. you notice that if you walk outside, you can feel humidity. isolated showers and storms will continue into the late evening hours. by tomorrow morning, mostly dry. but we can't rule out a stray shower near the coast. and, i think for some of us, it may feel a little more pleasant. especially the northern counties will feel a little drier. the best rain chances tomorrow will be south of i-4. overall, calling for about a 30% chance of rain. sunday, dry to start the day. and then a 40% rain chance as we head into the afternoon and to the evening hours. if you are headed out to the bucs game, a chance of storms

and during this game. again, we saw t last week. it is possible again this week as well. so just expect that. have the poncho ready. 30% rain chance tomorrow. then up to 50% by monday. but, we are looking at the potential to see some drier air rolling in by the end of next week. if you have been cheated, when you need help, she cease on your side. better call behnken. >> thousands of dollars paid for windows and, nothing in return. a bradenton coup payment of more than $4,200 for eight new windows. that was back in april. they say the company gave them excuses for not holding up their end of the deal. and now, they won't even return phone calls. so these folk knew they better call behnken. shannon behnken joins us now with the full details. >> reporter: complaints about this company have been trickling into 8 on your side for months now. when two came in just this week, i knew it was time to knock on some doors.

waiting for his new windows since april after forking over a down payment of thousands of dollars for an energy efficient upgrade. >> an hour later, we signed a contract. give them a check for $4,250. >> reporter: the job was to be completed in july, but work never started. >> it will be six months. [ laughter ] in two weeks. so, 24. we are in the 24th week. >> reporter: there installation deadlines that passed. excuses. and this week, this bomb shell. >> when they told you they are closing their doors and someone else is going to finish the job, they gave you a date? >> still no date. there's a list. >> reporter: you don't know where you are on that list. >> i don't know. >> reporter: with numerous complaints to better call behnken and two just this week, i paid solar shield a visit. and found the showroom gone. >> wow. the place has been completely cleared out. >> reporter: i called the

and insisted the company is still in business. >> okay, because i'm substantial doubting outside of your place and it is completely empty inside. >> reporter: then one of the owners jordan richardson called back. he explained that his company is closing but promised all customers would receive what they paid for. >> so, i just wanted to give you one last opportunity to tell your side. >> reporter: i asked him to meet in person, but he told me his attorney said no way. instead of an interview, th it reads in part, we understand it is frustrating and unsettling when a job takes longer than expected. and we are working diligently to inform all of our customers of the status of their job and our efforts to get them finished. the company went onto say it suffered a financial setback this year and it is not taking on any new work right now. solar shield is working with other companies an plans to call all customers in the

status. >> so no new work, they are not finishing what they have on the books already. if it were me, i would want my money back. how many customers are we talking about? >> reporter: i asked and they have at least 100 files that they are working on. we don't know exactly how many people haven't received anything. but 100 files still need to be completed. i received a call from a customer who said she did receive a refund. but get this, she contracted with this company back where october of last year. so she has been waiting a long timing. >> that's a a full year. goodness. thank you shannon. good luck everybody. if you have a problem, better call behnken. the number, 1-855-behnken. the number is on your screen. we are hours away from the friday night blitz. high school football fans are getting fired upright now. coming up, paul ryan joins us with our game of the week. pinellas park versus country

>> we want to take a moment to remind you the 2016 heart walk is just around the corner. newschannel8 is committed to raising $100,000. but we need your help to do it. fuccillo kia is matching the first $50,000 we raise. the walk is november 12 at raymond james stadium. go to wfla.com/heartwalk for details and you can join stacie

>> right now, we are counting down to the friday night blitz. we are just hours away from all your high school football highlights. >> but right now, we have a preview of the game of the week. pinellas park versus country side. paul ryan is breaking it all

game yet, hopefully within the next 60 seconds or so i can convince you, in class 7a district 10, it is one of our most competitive districts in the viewing area. this is the game. though it is early in the season, we are looking back at the end of the year at the results on this one and think it made a major impact. pinellas park at country side. they are playing against the district champions. last year, country side won by a single we expect the same tonight. most of these teams competing for the district title. it is going to be super competitive. east lake plays both squads later on in the month of october. we will learn a little more about them then. as for tonight, we are expecting a close game between pinellas park and country side. it is our friday night blitz game of the week. for now, it is time to send it back to you.

the score of that game. of course, all your high school football highlights as well. paul and dan lucas will kick off the friday night blitz at 11:15 tonight. we hope to see you there. >> josh joins us now with more on what we are coming up with at 5:30. >> reporter: still to come, tampa police get a life saving donation. how it will help them survive a powerful threat. >> and stopping the spread of zika between the sheets. safe sex guidelines from the

i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message. i'd look her right in that fat ugly face of hers. she's a slob. she ate like a pig. a person who's flat chested is very hard to be a 10. does she have a good body? no. does she have a fat [expletive]? absolutely. do you treat women with respect?

okay, you know i was your governor. but there' s some things you may not know. my hair used to be way better. i played quarterback. my dad was a doctor here for 55 years. i swim every morning. and yes, i'm a fan of fans! and in congress i'll get things done for pinellas county. defend women's healthcare and planned parenthood, and take care of our veterans. i'm charlie crist and i approve this message. because i'll put the people first. always have, and always will. >> right now on newschannel8 at 5:30. >> his family claims he picked

for having a plastic milk crate? good evening everybody, i'm josh benson. >> i'm jenn holloway. thanks for joining us. first, let's get the latest on hurricane matthew. within the last half hour, we learned it is now a category 4 hurricane. meteorologist ed bloodsworth joins us now with the latest track. ed, this thing is getting bigger and bigger. >> this is a rapidly intensified over the last 24 hours. going from a strong earlier today. satellite presentation, very really sort of a textbook hurricane here. winds are now at 140 miles an hour. the hurricane hunters have been flying in this thing all afternoon. making several passes through the storm. they are on their way back to home base. they had the winds right at 135 initially. seeing higher gusts. now sustained wind is set at 140 miles an hour. the latest forecast track from the hurricane center keeps us rolling rather slowly off to