breaking news -- a massive fire at a hillsborough county rec center. what this means for the families that use this after school site. >> he shot and killed his neighbor over an argument about skateboarding kids but trevor dooley is about to walk free from jail. why he's being released. >> and in tennessee, seven people are dead from the wildfires. crews searching the ruins for those till missing.

gayle guyardo. >> i'm gene ramirez. >> the weather now. >> humidity sky high, fog and rain on max defender 8, not on land but a thin line of showers in the gulf. that is in association with a cold front that will bring a chance of rain today. look at the fog there though. that is the view from lakeland auto mall. portions of the area dealing with reduced visibility, it's soupy. upper 60s and lo the day. there's the fog, visibility zero now in lakeland. mostly cloudy and 79 today. the rain chances fairly slim. staying at 20% through today. you may have to turn on the windshield wipers today. >> whoo, good to see you here. we've got a decent drive in traffic. a couple of things. quick look at travel times here. wesley chapel up to speed and 2p 75 into downtown tampa looks

275. this is i-75 by i-4, just a few minutes ago -- i think they are take it away now, we had the right lane blocked. i see one of the trucks leaving -- you can see it leaving the camera to the far left there. they have just cleared the construction northbound i-75 at i-4. heading to wet weather there. 275 on the howard frankland bridge. that's a look at weather and traffic. we have breaking news out of hillsborough county. firefighters battling a raging fire at a popula >> the fire is a devastating blow to families that use it for child care and other activities. mary mcguire joins us now with more. >> reporter: we've been out here about an hour. i'm going to step aside to give you a better look at the flames. they are still raging in the

hillsborough county. -- claire mel city area of hillsborough county. you can see trucks are spraying water on the flames trying to tame this. again we've been out here an hour and the flames are still burning. this building has been in the news lately. in march vinix announced they would donate $25,000 for this. neighbors say it was under construction now. this is a case kids came to play basketball and also offered child care programs that feeder schools in the area could have depended on. we spoke to a map who has been coming to the rec center since he was a kid and he was watching the flames in disbelief. >> it gives hope to young kids that they have something to look forward to. now it's gone. playing basketball, with all my

day care here. just the after-school programs and things that they've done for the community for, you know, for clair mel, it's just sad. >> reporter: this is also located next to the little pals preschool center and there are several businesses in the area. a sav-a-lot, dollar tree and some homes. right now it appears the rec center is the only place with damage now but it's still da smoke and so many emergency crews around we can't tell if it's the only building with damage. the public information officer for hillsborough fire rescue did just arrive on scene so i'm going to chat with him and see what else i could learn and what more i can bring you. we'll have an update in the next half-hour. >> this is tough because so many parents depend on rec centers for after school care, even during the holidays, many stay open when schools are closed so kids have a place to

right now manatee county man accused of sexually abusing three young girls for years. if that was not horrifying enough we are told he worked as a substitute teacher in the manatee county school district this. is 29-year-old brad bellinger of ellenton, he faces three molestation counts. victims 10, 12 and 13. he's been a substitute teacher with the school district since 2011. for most of the time at ida stewart elementary school in bradenton. a valrico man who killed another man overska skateboarding on a basketball court could be out of jail any minute. ryan has more. >> reporter: trevor dooley was serving eight years and recently asked to be released claiming that jury instructions

incorrect and a judge recently agreed and will allow him to leave jail here shortly. dooley shot and killed david james six years ago after an argument about skateboarding on a neighborhood basketball court. the victim's 8-year-old daughter witnessed the killing. dooley claims stand your ground but was convicted of manslaughter the attorney recently requested he be released and yesterday a judge agreed. the victim's widow certainly wasn't >> i hope that you enjoy the holidays. i know your birthday is coming up i believe in december. christmas, new year's, easter, all the rest. just remember we never had to continue any of that with dj because you took him from us. enjoy that time. >> reporter: dooley is 75 years old.

where he officially leaves, may only leave the county for court related matters and must not have any contact with the victim's family. we'll bring you the latest if he does leave jail this morning. >> i don't think a lot of folks were expecting this. thank you. now to the ashes gatlinburg, search and rescue efforts underway as victims being identified. >> meredith has more. there's new information from overnight? >> reporter: door-to-door searches will continue today to look for more dead or injured. the death toll is now seven and that figure could rise as those search and rescue missions continue. overnight the son of this woman alice haggler confirming his mother was one of three victims found dead in shally village, a collection of rental homes.

night when they told him there were flames across the street from his house. >> looking for my wife constance and my daughter lily who is 9. my other daughter chloe who is 12. >> reed and his son were unable to reach their home monday night because of the fires but overnight he said that his family was not among the seven confirmed fatalities. 14,000 people were evacuated least 17,000 acres. more than 700 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed. a curfew in place until 6:00 a.m. with roads closed, no word on when homeowners will be able to access the damage caused by the wildfires there in the great smoky mountains. at least overnight they started

two inches of rain in the last 24 hours. that certainly helped the efforts across tennessee but it's a historic fire and our thoughts and prayers go to the folks there. you can see what caused it. this large area of cloudiness associated with a cold front, now marching to the south and headed our way. our rain chances starting to come up a about the. so are the temperatures. it's muggy. low 70s this morning. upper 70s to near 80 later this afternoon and the humidity stays high. there's the cold front but notice as it gets into our area few spotty showers with this. it starts to lose energy as it rolls through central florida. as it goes into south florida the rain chances drop to nothing. so here's our temperature outlook. it stays -- gets a little cooler for friday, back to 76. only to rise back up to the 80s. overall pretty warm start to december. coming off of what was a warm and dry november there. so kind of more of the same. >> no complaints. i like it when it's not too

that >> we're in florida. >> a exactly. let's look at traffic. we have a lot of action happening now in sarasota. this is on university parkway, both directions of university parkway are completely blocked. that is a full closure, you have to take maybe fruitville or clark to get underneath i-75 here, that is all due to overnight construction with the diverging diamond interchange going on there. and we have closures by the ramps. you can still exit but again on university. so again clark and fruitville, those are some areas that you can take those alternates. i-4 at county line road, heading into plant city, a lot of fog, use caution. that's weather and traffic. back to you. happening today -- a mission to save manatees stuck in a pinellas county lake after tropical storm colin. the manatees swam into the lake tarpin during the storm this summer. experts are concerned the water won't stay warm enough through

hoping to locate those manatees and eventually move them to warmer waters. i know they've been enjoying lake tarpon, lots to eat and beautiful sights but time to go. santa banned from the classroom? >> he's on the naughty list, why? >> and people angry over the decision of black motorist keith sc >> and cuba continues to pay tribute to dictator fidel

whenever i try to grow out my hair, strands always break off.

so i can love my hair longer. strong is beautiful. pantene. ?when you've got...? ?...nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea!? ?nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea!? here's pepto bismol! ah.

now 8 on your side special coverage. cuba ur another stop in its journey across cuba today but the impact of his death is being felt all across the island. newschannel 8 is the only bay area station in cuba to cover these historic events. our jeff patterson has the story. >> this is an area that has been restored quite a bit in the last five or 10 years, even in the last year and-a-half i've noticed a lot of restoration as they rebuilt the exterior of many buildings,

tourists. we still see tour groups coming through havana but one thing that is different and you have to listen for a second to try to pick up that difference. we're hearing children's voices but one thing we're not hearing, music. right here is a group hub that is normally packed with touristses and they have live music going on but right now the group pub is closed, no alcohol, no live music. this is part of the official nine days of mourning for fidel castro. early wednesday morning his santiago de cuba, driving about 900 kilometers across the country to allow people across this country to come out and pay their final respects. in havana, cuba, jeff patterson, newschannel 8. >> jeff will be reporting from cuba all week. stay tuned to newschannel 8 for his special reports. this morning new information on the possible cause of that deadly plane crash in colombia. a recording of the plane's final minutes indicates the pilot told air traffic controllers they were out of

brazilian soccer team. last night thousands of soccer fans filled the stadiums in brazil and colombia to remember those team members. the brazilian team was headed to colombia for a soccer tournament. taking a look across america -- protests are underway in charlotte after prosecutors decided not to charge the police officer who shot and killed keith scott. more than 100 demonstrators hit the streets chanting anti- police slogans and demanding peaceful despite some scuffles. three people have been arrested. california police are looking for two female kidnappers. allegedly held a mother captive for three weeks and dropped her off at a spot more than 150 miles from where she was taken. sherri papin was found.

the presidential election recount in wisconsin begins today. this is the first candidate driven statewide recount of a presidential election in 16 years. the recount was requested by the green party candidate jill stein. despite the effort almost no one expects recounts this year to result in a clinton victory. a phone number mix-up creating problems for a land o' lakes couple. the phone ringing non-stop with people wanting to orde john's pizza. elliot and andi strauss had their phone number more than six years. recently it started to rings off the hook with people looking for papa john's. turns out a search pulls up their number. >> especially in football season. sunday afternoon is like call after call after call. on saturday night. it's annoying. >> the couple called the nearby

it but hasn't. the strauss's hope it happens soon. they are taking it in stride though and say they are still papa john's fans. >> after they didn't fix it i may start taking orders. no, i wouldn't do that. santa ended up on the naughty list at classrooms in oregon. >> a school district is banning the iconic christmas figure. this is outside of portland. administrators told teachers and staff not to in their holiday decorations. some parents are upset. others understand but believe the district is going too far. >> i'm from that generation where we believe in santa. my kids believe in santa. it should be celebrated. >> if you're going to put a giant cross on the window it's one thing. but i think that santa claus is more folk lore and american history as opposed to a religious symbol at this point. >> the vict explains it's in an effort to -- the district is

culture is offended. >> oh, poor santa. >> christmas without santa? mind wogling. mind-boggling. coming up kindness day. you can make donations. got a foggy start to the day. it's very mild and muggy, 69 degrees. other areas starting 70s. on max defender 8 nothing over land at this time but we have a thin line of showers out over the northern gulf. that is in association with a cold front that is now marching its way towards our area. it's the same system that caused all the severe weather across the southeast but enters our area in a much weaker fashion. very humid ahead of this boundary, spotty showers expected with this. as we continue on through the afternoon. then drier much more comfortable air coming our way by friday and for your upcoming weekend as well.

warming up into next week, better rain chances ahead. we had a lot of rain drops from earlier weather here over the howard frankland bridge. most of them cleared up and cameras moving around -- in the wind, but good drive and no delays. this is heading to plant city, i-4 at county line road here. a little fog in the delays and also nice drive through the wesley chapel area on i-75. also a great drive on the courtney campbell causeway and the bayside, gandy and skyway up to speed. back to you. many people who suffer from anxiety turn to meds for help. >> maybe you should try or perhaps wear something different? coming up, take it from polythe goat. how she treats her severe

a wisconsin university is sending snapchat acceptance letters. the school says students will typically respond with an

>> seems the owner found of the perfect cure. >> forget the meds, polly the got just throws on a duck costume. there she is just hanging out on the couch. apparently this goofy costume is just what the doctor ordered. not only does the costume help her severe anxiety but it's quacking up thousands on social media. wondering, should she be at a petting zoo? >> i read more on this. apparently it's not just the duck costume. it's what started it. she also has a big costume and x feel she's being held and it's nice and warm and fuzzy. i would wear one. it's like a snuggie. >> why is the other goat chewing on it? >> weird. the time of year when we're all receiving packages for the holidays. >> many of them are left by the front door making it easy for thieves to swipe. new in the next half-hour, a look at how you can protect your packages from porch thieves. first let's head live outside for a look at downtown tampa.

believe it's december 1st.

we offered women a mystery beauty treatment. what made their skin more radiant? only dove has 1/4 moisturizing cream. smooth dewy skin. dove, your daily beauty treatment for radiant skin. mmm... i can't believe it's so delicious. i can't believe it has 40% fewer calories than butter. i can't believe it's made with real, simple ingredients. i can't believe we're on a whale. i can't believe my role isn't bigger. oh, it's real. real ingredients. unbelievable taste.

emoji man says bring an umbrella in case. we have a small rain chance. this will be as a cold front passes by. that 20%, there's the breakdown as we go through the day. only 10% shot this morning. slightly better from 10:00 a.m. all the way through 5:00 p.m. thaf weekend. we dry out, we'll start to warm up though. 78 on saturday. 81 by sunday. pleasant and becomes more humid, especially by the second half of the weekend. time for another check of the roads. >> good morning. looks like we have a little construction, lingering in the sarasota and manatee county area. here's what is going on. we have both directions of university blocked, not just eastbound but westbound too. and we have blocks on the exit

all due to overnight construction, could be wrapped up by 6:00 a.m. it's a little foggy at i-4 near

convicted killer trevor dooley set to be released from jail later today. six years ago he basketball court. the two were organizing over a skateboarder. in tennessee the death toll from this week's fires is up to seven and that number could rise as search and rescue efforts continue. the flames also claimed thousands of acres, hundreds of homes and forced tourists out of harm's way. the largest fire in tennessee in a century. a water spout in the panhandle came ashore and turned into a tornado. it happened in destin. the tornado captured on cell