strike right now on news channel 8 at 7:00:

tampa police raises questions. was the driver who plowed through a crowd of people in fear for his life or did he do it on purpose? chip osowski joins us live in ybor city. a number of us when we saw this video gasped out loud. it's pretty incredible. >> reporter: absolutely. a number of questions. why did the driver leave? was he in fear of his life or did he plow into that group of people on purpose and was in fear the surveillance video makes you ask the question, how was nobody seriously hurt or killed? but let's rewind. the video shows the fight breakout, punches exchanged. you see the front-end of a black sedan on the left side of your screen, now take a close look at the tires. it appears the man behind the wheel is trying to leave. >> what you don't see is that he did a u-turn on seventh avenue and it was too narrow.

moving forward and backward as the wheels are turning. finally, the wheels straight now. >> reporter: and it appears one of the victims is punching at the driver. the car barrels into the crowd. mostar able to escape to safety but michael silhol, a server at the nearby columbia restaurant, is hit. the driver then gets out of the car and takes off on foot. silhol lease over the car and collapses on the sidewalk. paramedics rushed him to the hospital where he was treated and released. police are still looking for the driver although they have a pretty good idea of who they are looking for because he left his car here. he will likely face a hit and run charge because of the damage to that building and the damage to that individual. other charges are possible depending on what the investigation and the interrogation reveal. reporting live in ybor city, chip osowski, news channel 8.

trying to figure out what caused a motorcyclist to lose control in a crash that cost him his life. joel schubert collided with a burial -- a barrier wall just before midnight, tossing him into the northbound lanes where a car driven by an off-duty pinellis deputy hit him. schubert's coworkers received news of his death this morning. >> that's going to be hard. a lot of hugs and tears but we are a family at work. he was part of our member. >> representatives from the sheriff's office said the deputy is shaken up and may take time off to cope. we now know investigators believe the report of a robbery at usf was alive. campus police arrested 19-year- old fatou gueye, saying she admitted she made up the story

she lied but is now claiming that she and for other students received threatening letters in their dorm rooms on election day. a former librarian at a bay area elementary school is suing the city of tarpon springs saying she was seriously injured when a toilet exploded in 2012 at the fundamental elementary school. the lawsuit claims a toilet had exploded earlier that day but a maintenance crew told the woman the bathroom was safe to use. when the toilet was flushed, another explosion sent porcelain flyingin city today. a group of 30 cuban dissidents paid a visit to jose marti bike -- jose marti park. as they visited the park, they took down an old and weatherd cuban flag and raised a new flag in its place. then, they heard about democracy here. >> it's sort of a seminar they are visiting and the seminar covers democracy, human rights, how our system here works, and

experience of how you can unite and assemble, go to a park and speak your ideas, all those freedoms that are part of democracy. >> the cubans told us they had high hopes when president obama first announced normalization of relations between the two countries. however, they do not believe the changes are having much of an impact on the lives of average cubans. a couple of pictures tweeted out by governor rick scott raised questions after he spent time meeting with president-elect trump in new rk mean for his future but last week, governor scott says he likes his current job and is not interested in a different one. it is a major setback for the bolts. team captain steven stamkos is headed for surgery to fix a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee. we talked to a local surgeon about when he could be back in the game.>> we can see him heading to the locker room. >> reporter: and bad news for lightning captain steven

that. the sheer force causes the meniscus to tear. >> reporter: orthopedic surgeon doctor phuc vo seizes injury often with athletes. he tells us if steven stamkos has the torn pieces removed, he will be back to the game in short time. >> it's painful and can lead to arthritis. down the road, 10 to 25 years down the road, we can develop arthritis. >> reporter: if they repair it -- >> the future of e four months for that to heal so the athlete is out of action for a long time. >> reporter: fans are hoping for the best. >> i was looking forward to this season. i want him to come back. >> reporter: melissa marino news channel 8. usually, if the truck is broken, we can blame our photojournalist but he conveniently made sure there were other suspects. did that roseville errors --

video through the bay area -- beam video throughout the bay area. courtney dempsey took some time to talk at the tampa day school in citrus park today. chief meteorologist steve jerve joins us now. do you see that amazing sunset? that was taken about -- that one with the sun setting.>> and that's the sun studying. >> shot by paul in eagle 8 hd. we were hazing him on tv. >> the kids look like they had a great day. that is a great shot. think the sunset is 5:37 pm. we were watching this live and i looked at the recorded time. abr perspective was different.

>> we should be outside. >> we are on tv right now. >> there is that. >> the weekend forecast, 70 degrees for saturday, 68 on sunday. cool air is going to surgeon. = will change things but won't bring much in the way of precipitation, maybe a few extra clouds. this is exciting for us becaus goes our satellite -- gosar satellite. we will be at the launch at 5:42 pm. hopefully, it will not be delayed. thanksgiving forecast looking good. just a week away if you can believe that. more on that weekend forecast and the holiday forecast coming up.

samaritans after their boat caught fire. now they are publicly thanking you them. i am finding companies charging you to reconnect with your money that should be yours

breaking news out of polk county. lakeland police are helping the sheriff's office search for an escaped inmate. i of i-4. we are working together more information and we will bring you updates as we get them. their boat was on fire and they were trapped far from shore until good samaritans came to the rescue. the survivors are speaking out to say thank you. they shared their story with john rodgers. >> reporter: when you meet mr. and mrs. nguyen, they are

>> i'm glad you can laugh about this. >> i cannot cry anymore. >> reporter: they are just happy to be alive. on sunday afternoon, they finished a fishing trip and were heading to sure when their engine exploded. >> flame started to spread. no way to escape. >> reporter: the called for help on the radio and gathered on the deck. they were unsure if they could swim to shore but in the nick of time, the whitmer family arrived. they navigated their small boat to the fire to rescue them. >> not many people wh stay distance, but this family came to us to help us. that is very nice of them. >> reporter: the boat was soon destroyed in the fire but the whitmer's saved their lives and they are eternally grateful. >> god send them to us. a wonderful family. >> they like guardian angel. >> reporter: john rodgers, news

cheaper this year? find out coming up. plus, you can soon send a text using amazon echo but it will only work with one cell phone provider.

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500 of 10 and the nasdaq up 30 points. starting tomorrow, at&t wireless customers with an amazon echo or., they will be able to send text messages hands-free. at&t is adding the skill to alexa's list of abilities. once you have preset 10 friends, you can ask alexa to send them a text message without picking up your phone or typing. here is something to be thankful for. will be a little cheaper. the american farm bureau pegs the cost of dinner for 10 at $49.87 or just under five dollars per person which is $.24 less than last year. i'm distracted by the food on the screen. it's hard to stay focused. the average turkey price is $1.42 per pound. pumpkin pie mix and milk also cost less this year while roles, fresh cranberries, and sweet potatoes are more expensive.

selfie? there is a solution to this first real problem. e-marketing company in israel teamed up with coca-cola to develop the selfie bottle. they thought of everything. think of it as a boot that slips onto your soda bottle and every time you took it back, it takes a photo. it's unclear when the selfie bottle will be available to the general public. the biggest problem for robots is gravity. hilarious results. what's the solution? how about a robot that's lighter than air cracks researchers at ucla are showing off an assistant robot that can delicately dance across the floor with flamingo legs. it can hop and dance but you probably wouldn't want to take it outside on a windy day because while it won't fall, it will blow away. here is a reason to drive

remarkable sty -- show in the sky called starbright holiday. it uses drones to create images in the sky and here's the best part, the show is at disney springs, not inside a park so it's absolutely free. the shows start this sunday night with three 5 minute performances per night. it's never too late or too early for a cupcake after months of delays, the cupcake atm is finally up and running. it allows you to buy cupcakes 24 hours a day at the sprink the cupcakes are baked fresh and restocked every day. if you've been cheated, when you need help, she is on your side. better call behnken. >> shannon behnken has shown us how the state is holding onto millions of dollars and some of it could be one to you but be careful. there are people who want to take it from you. a tampa woman says a company demanded she pay up to help her collect so she gave shannon a

>> reporter: carol stumbled across a website claiming to reunite her with lost treasure but when she called to find out more -- >> they told me i have to pay $4.19 membership fee. for unclaimed money. >> reporter: the site, www.unclaimedmoneydb.com offers monthly and yearly subscriptions for a price. for carol, she was led to believe her late mother, helen but first, carol was told to pay a five dollar fee. >> so they wouldn't even tell you if your mother had money?>> no, but they had my mother's address. >> reporter: carol was too smart. she called me and i found many sites like this one, charging for something state officials will give for free. the real website is www.floridatreasurehunt.org. >> reporter: i looked up carol's mother and found

get five dollars from you and say sorry because there's nothing here.>> reporter: no good news for carol but at least she didn't have to pay to find out. officials at the florida cfo office do have millions to turn over. you can find out if you have money by searching www.fltreasurehunt.com word. our recent better call behnken unclaimed cash phone banks helps viewers we connect with $2.3 million. of polk county, $19,000 in the temple terrace area. >> reporter: as for carol, she's happy to know at once to prevent you from paying for what should be yours for free. >> so now i can rest assured that mom had no money. >> state officials say there are many websites like the one carol stumbled across and some of them do what they say but there is no need to pay them. shannon behnken, 8 on your

winter has arrived in many parts of the west. today, a couple of inches of snow blanketed the ground in riverton, wyoming. a familiar scene to the west. colorado, wyoming, the dakotas, nebraska, minnesota, as this area of low pressure comes out of the west and gives us that taste of winter. nice to admire from afar. seven days out for thanksgiving. this year is going quickly. 34th days to christmas. that our countdown. a nice day today. skies and hardly a cloud in the sky. that's our view from cypress pointe park. at 9 pm, 67 degrees, temps already in the 60s. 60 degrees at 7 am to start the day. that's very close to average if not the average low for this time of year. 72 degrees, 58 degrees weeki wachee and lakeland, winter

and sebring. clear skies, high pressure center just to the north of us. that's giving us a northerly to north easterly flow. as it shifts east, we see a north easterly flow and a few clouds tomorrow. not much in the way of precipitation. the northern part of minnesota, north dakota, south dakota, into this area will continue to snow friday up across the upper midwest. more snow expected with blizzard advisories for portions of minnesota. a be a foot of snow in the arrowhead region. 3 to 6 inches in the blue area trails all the way back into colorado. that's the accumulation expected for those folks in case you're traveling. high pressure shifting off to the northeast. that's going to give us that north easterly flow and pick up more low-level moisture. we start to see clouds pop in the afternoon and in the front saturday afternoon into sunday. that will provide the difference in the weekend in terms of temperatures saturday and then sunday. breezy and cooler sunday for a high of 60 degrees and a chilly

monday morning. high temperatures next week, holiday week for most folks, travel and florida by the way will not be a problem if you are flying or driving. great weather locally including 79 degrees, near 80 degrees for thanksgiving day. it's always the other places people have to bear in mind if they have family visiting from somewhere else, that's where the trouble gets tricky. >> or folks who are headed up to the midwest. that is a real deal snowstorm. >> why would you do that? it's so nice here. >>t' florida. we will be right back. stay with us. plus, here is what you will see tomorrow at 6 am. >> the music app makes snapchat irrelevant. three steps to keep your kids safe. weather and traffic on the

hey! is this enough? a little more... grandma! there you go... there's no more room. oh look who's here! i know i had one more... hmmm... more.

we need 1 more yes... let's enjoy. we need more rolls there was a little girl, and she became friends with every animal she met. it's getting late, grandma should go. one more? in the end, all we really need more of, is each other.

what's better than bacon? it's a trick question. nothing is better than bacon. but some mushrooms are trying to compete. some fungus farmers in tucson say it time to get ready for a schram that tastes like them eat candy. the company promises to produce a mushroom with a flavor profile similar to bacon that produces a meaty, smoky flavor when cooked and it's better for your cholesterol number. a small container sells for about four dollars. i think this is just not gonna work for me. >> it doesn't look very pleasant. if you are looking to have something that taste like bacon, why not just he bacon? >> i mean i would eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. >> all meals including snacks.

>> i'm having a bacon sunday

we are in charlotte where tonight the saints are in town to face the panthers, and both teams with the playoff hopes flicker i flickering. 37-year-old drew brees is set to lead the league's top passing attack against carolina who will count ont cam newton to salvage the season if there is in fact time for that. it is "football night in