>> and i april county school employee is accused of lying and trying to cover up information after the death of a student. kalen kirk was hit and killed while trying to get to his bus stop. that is where melissa marino joins us live and we understand that employee could be fired for what she did right after the accident. >> reporter: that's right. the employee we are told lied and said the student was no street and then we're told she tried to cover up for that live. 8 on your side went to brenda young's house. >> brenda? wondering if you wanted to talk to news channel 8 about what happened. >> reporter: she wouldn't open the door but talked to me through the window.>> [ indiscernible -- low volume ] >> reporter: according to school records, the day of the accident, young, the transportation manager, told

road to get to his bus stop. ater that day, kirk's. was changed in the system. school officials determined that young was the only one that could have done this. >> so this was all you're doing?>> [ indiscernible -- low volume ] i will comment after the hearing tomorrow. >> reporter: documents show that young admitted to changing the bus routes the day of the crash and says she did this to create a safer bus stop for other students, not to cover anything up. young has been suspd without pay since june. the superintendent recommended she be fired. on tuesday, she will fight for -- fight for her job. >> are you fighting or termination? >> yes, i am.>> they do not do what they are saying you did? >> i did not do that. >> reporter: school board members are expected to make a decision at that meeting tomorrow at 5:00. stacy? >> did kalen kirk's family have

they did not want to comment but told me with thanksgiving, it's really hard as you can imagine. they also said they may make a comment tomorrow after that meeting. >> melissa marino live in polk county. thank you. tonight, the fallout from at the nfl fans are calling, many of them are calling, a big buccaneers blunder, mike evans refused to stand during the star-spangled banner. he says he was protesting e sidelines during the national anthem. fans lit up the lines on sports talk radio. folks were split down the middle. some supportive and others furious that he did this on military appreciation day. >> and to be disrespected on that day, there is no excuse. >> i am offended but i am over it. i have forgiven him and i encourage all buccaneer fans to

>> by the way, even though evans is registered to vote in texas, he did not cast his ballot this year. coming up in sports, dan lucas has exclusive reaction from the head coach in cutter's corner. investigators are trying to find out who is behind a politically motivated arson. someone spray-painted a vulgar message against president-elect trump on a mobile home in the mango area. next to it "burn everything" with an arrow pointing next door to a home that was set on fi vandalized with anti-trump graffiti. a tampa bay man once sentenced to life behind bars has been freed. ian emmanuel shot a mother of two in the face at 13. his victim is now one of his biggest cheerleaders. candace mccowan is outside the hillsboro county courthouse. this is all about forgiveness, right? >> reporter: absolutely. that mother of two tells me she has been called names and

supported the man who almost killed her. still, she was one of the first people to give him a hug after he was declared a free man. >> it was like a reunion with a long-lost son. we just had for like two minutes. >> reporter: looking at them smiling together, it's hard to believe that ian shot debbie in 1990 at 13 years old. >> he came through this and he came through with like a nice guy. not hardened. >> reporter: to the let the shooting hard in her. years after the shooting, she tells me shiver gave -- schieffer gave ian. ian began writing to her and a bond was formed.>> i was ready for him to be released years ago. >> reporter: he was resentenced to 65 years and she didn't miss the hearing last week when a judge decided that ian had served enough time. >> we did the thumbs-up and you know that kind of stuff. very happy. >> reporter: hours later,

his first meal as a free man.>> that was the first picture. >> reporter: ian is in a reentry program. i talked to him by phone today. >> for her to continue to be there for me 26 years, three months and 10 days later after our incident, it was just so amazing for her to be there. >> reporter: at 39 years old, ian is just starting his life and debbie, once a victim and now a friend, is in the making. >> reporter: ian told me today that he is looking for work and he also plans on writing a book. debbie and ian plan on staying in touch. >> that's quite a story. what happened to ian, that can no longer happen, correct? >> reporter: yes. the supreme court ruled in 2010 that juveniles who haven't committed homicides cannot be

that won't happen to anyone else and that ruling also led to ian's released last week. >> quite a second chance. dennis mccown, thank you very much. truman boulevard is back open tonight after a massive hole opened up, swallowing a car. a water line broke and opened up the roadway. the driver barely escaped his thinking car but is okay tonight. it took all day for crews to fix the line, so the holster and repair that road. the strawberry festival brings great music to tampa will not disappoint. check out the lineup announced today including willie nelson, 3 doors down, little big town, jennifer nettles, scotty mccreery, l king, patty labelle, and rascal flatts. you can find the concert dates and ticket information on our website at www.wfla.com little big town, one of my favorites. >> are you a country fan? >> here and there. we are working to get money owed to you back in your pocket.

better call behnken phone bank. call right now and find out if you are owed any cash. we are going to check in with shannon coming up. plus, a stalled project you already paid for is costing taxpayers more money. mark is looking into what is behind the holdup. temps are a little cooler thanks to a cold front right now. the cloud cover, 73 degrees for a high. slight rain chances but the rain chances are dropping long- term and cooler.

butterball -- better call behnken is reuniting >> we want to make sure that money goes into your pocket where it belongs. shannon behnken joins us live from the 8 on your side phone center. how is it going? are we reuniting people with their cash? >> reporter: the phones are ringing off the hook and that is exactly what it means. we are reuniting people with money they didn't even know they had, which is extremely exciting. i am joined by joel. how are we doing? >> the 6:00 hour, we have reunited 247 floridians with just over $67,000.

talking?>> we have $343 million just in the bay area alone that remains to be claimed and just under 1.5 million accounts. >> reporter: we have gotten questions on facebook. i wanted to clarify. how much does it cost to take care of this? >> nothing. there is no fee, no charge, no amount that needs to be paid by the consumer. this is a department and division run by the state of florida, paid for by taxpayers, to reunite them with free so make sure if you -- to call to see if you have cash on the table. >> this is one of those times were if it sounds too good to be true, it isn't. it's the real deal. people need to call. >> that is normally my advice but tonight, give them a call. a construction project you paid for is being dragged out for years. >> coming up, mark explains how a stalled sewer project is costing taxpayers even more money and what is being done to

after more than four years, the city of largo is struggling to complete a small sewer project you have paid for time

holdup? >> reporter: the city blames a series of contractors for failing to finish a lift station. whoever is at fault, that project is at a standstill. the cost has risen dramatically and you paid for it. next time you are on starkey road take a look at this hole in the ground you paid for. why can't the city get this project done? >> it's not that the city can't get it done. we need to find a contractor that will complete it. >> reporter: four years ago, a city contract a lift station for $299,000 but quit after four months. the city hired a second contractor who agreed to finish the project for $475,000. that is a 60% increase that you paid for but that contractor went bankrupt in july and work stopped again. >> i can't even begin to speculate why this last contractor closed its doors. >> reporter: now all taxpayers have to show, after spending

mud puddle. this project was supposed to take three or four months but we are four years down the road. it's only half done. there is no contractor doing any work at the moment. >> that is the factual matter at hand coming yes. that is correct. >> reporter: largo hopes a third contractor will finish the job. >> we have been working due diligence with the current income -- >> reporter: that's nice but no one has lifted a shovel since july and there is no contractor insight. >> who should be fired? >> no one. >> why not? >> because everyone inside the city of largo has been working diligently with every situation that has come up with this project. >> reporter: largo can't fire the contractors because both

stuck with a mighty big and a mighty expensive hole in the ground. >> here is the question. how much is all of this going to cost taxpayers in the end?>> reporter: the city swears no more than a half-million dollars when it's done but the question is when? maybe sometime next year. it's up to the bonding company to find the next contractor to stick with it and finish this job next year. >> thanks, mark. that super moon morning at 6:21 am. this is not our sky. we are looking at cloudy skies but it's still in place tonight. 14% larger, 40% brighter from our perspective. this is the largest super moon since 1948. the next one like this in 2034. veterans ford here in tampa. 64 degrees, overcast conditions right before sunset.

on the dolphins bead, not a bad job. got a great shot somewhere in tampa bay. not exactly sure where. tuesday through thursday, a bit of a temperature jump by friday. average high 78 degrees this time of year. that's dropping but by the end of the week, we have another cold front. we have one over us now. we take a dip sunday, monday, tuesday. highs in the 60s and overnight low temperatures in the 40s in some areas. it will be fairly chilly. cooler temperatures long-term. short-term, 60 degrees. right at average for this time of year but we will see clouds this evening. by the morning, clearing south to north as you see on the computer model forecast. tampa, apollo beach, lakeland frostproof, brinton, cooler, crystal river 63 degrees. actual clear skies here. still mild with higher humidity

there is that strip of drier air across the northern part of the state. jacksonville to go mobile, pensacola area. high above that, they are seeing clear conditions but most of the state is seeing cloudy skies. you can see that obviously about service cold front to the south. a few sprinkles associated with the boundary but clear further to the north under high pressure. eventually, we will sample some of that but for now, light showers are possible. even more substantial showers in hernando county. this is not the kind of shower that changes the lo and we won't see any for a long period of time. in the tropics, you can see about a 60% chance over five days in this area. sea surface temperatures are 80 degrees plus in the southern part of the caribbean, longer to cool off. computer models show this doesn't do much over the long term if it develops into something tropical. but a reminder that hurricane season runs officially until the end of november. our high resolution model, you

still the possibility of showers and throughout the day, some lingering clouds and coup attempts near 60 degrees from north to south. that clearing is taking place and even holding coat -- holding clouds into the afternoon for tuesday as the dry air missing. looks like tuesday evening most of it is down to the south. i monday morning, loads of sunshine. wednesday afternoon, nothing but sunshine, people temperatures near average. rain chances are low on the a day forecast. temps morning by the end of the week but that of the cold front long-term health drop this temperatures into the 60s for highs. high temperatures in the 60s. this set this up as your out of town guests start showing up at home for thanksgiving. they will say i thought florida was warm but we like it to cool off for a while. >> compared to the north, it usually is. sitting down with the coach after a sideward controversy. >> dan lucas has our exclusive

and here is another look at our better call behnken phone bank at one 800 528 and here is another look at our better call behnken phone bank at 1- 800-528-0808. find out if you have unclaimed cash waiting for you. if you can't get through, keep trying. these lines are open until 11

on the heels of the bucs 36- 10 win over the bears, a controversial stance by bucs player mike evans who set out for the national anthem to express political views. in tonight's exclusive kotter's korner, i asked coach kerr

field on sunday. >> i want to know the play where you snapped the play and you what the linebacker think he has a sac. you take it back to your end zone, same linebacker thinks he has a sac and then you perform a valley move. while telepathically finding mike evans, 55 yards away. what do you call that? >> chaos. that's when we didn't practice too much last week.>> a time when you could come out of the locker room and they would hit that pass. it felt like the momentum could go either way. that play needed to happen. it changed everything. >> it did. it did. a tremendous effort by janus. at the same time, it was a dangerous play to take it 22 yards back into our end zone. it could have ended in a huge negative. we are always trying to get

to take away his creativity and that was an example. >> after the game, the national anthem scene with mike evans, having him take a seat and the stance he took, reaction, is next. that kind of signifies the countries workplace lee anne walker lambs. had you keep the team moving forward? >> they want to support their guy even if they don't agree with him. back at the first of the season when colin kaepernick didn't stand for the flag and now, i stand firmly behind our organization's statement that we support the military. i think it's important that we honor the flag and honor the people that paved the way but we also, you know, we also have to respect a person's freedom of speech and freedom of expression. we know, i'm not sure.

down with mike yet to see everything that is behind it that that's one of those things that i don't think that will come and be a factor for us in the locker room. i don't think that will be divisive in any way but this is uncharted territory in that respect. that is something we will definitely be addressing this week. >> off the field, whether it's social, political, this is decades in professional locker rooms, there has been differences. teams get on the field have you seen this in your career? >> not necessarily on something at this level. usually, the disagreement in the locker room was over what kind of music will be played. we are living in a different time. these are just issues that we have to contend with and we will.>> reporter: gustaf was talking about doug martin as well today. he was really happy with the

this evening. the coach was very forthright today. let's face it. that was a big performance by the team on the field. >> thanks, dan. we have a thrilling wrap to this year's heart walk. check out the huge unveiling that happened earlier today on first at 4:00. >> we should show this huge check. >> i like writing huge checks. >> it's a $50,000 check from kia to the american heart association. >> i feel like a commercial. >> that we raised and presented it to kate, the executive director of the american heart association in tampa bay. with that $50,000 match and your generous donations, we were able to raise $117,000 this year. look at the 35,000 people who walked saturday including steve jerve e, me, and i guess 35,000

year. thanks again. >> nightly news is next followed by news channel 8 at

test test test test. snempt tonight, backlash as president elect trump picks his powerful inner circle, lifting a man with ties to white house. new protests erupt as president obama weighs in, on the new president for the first time. a father found guilty of leaving his young son to die in a hot car. a dramatic conclusion to a case that shocked the nation. exploding wildfires spreading across the south. thick smoke blanketing cities. is someone setting them intentionally. making a murderer twist, a after a trial