neighbors see a lot of folks congregating. they spend days out here because of the local shelters are not open during the day. neighbors and businesses want to be part of the solution but they're looking for some leadership. >> we have this beautiful pedestrian walkway and it stops right here on my street. so we just have a lot of passerbies. >> reporter: the end of the road for many traveling downtown from tampa heights. >> it is concerning for me because i stay home alone with kids. i just want to be cautious and careful about going outside on my home. >> reporter: she wants to be part of the solution. tampa heights is a collection area for homeless, people seeking services at the salvation army and more. >> people loitering, using a tree as the restroom out in public. a lot of people try to come down and help the folks and

and usually the trash doesn't end up in the garbage cans. it ends up on the ground. >> reporter: neighbors and business owners along franklin street want action from the city. part of that action will be pressuring the salvation army to move locations. >> you have the salvation army that is there that refuses to be a good neighbor that doesn't acknowledge that its patrons are 90% of the problem. >> reporter: the salvation army did not respond to our phone calls or the mayor's blame. >> they are not part much the solution. they are part ever the problem. >> reporter: a problem that is not getting better for neighbors. >> it is a great neighborhood. we just want it to thrive and be great. >> reporter: okay. i want you to know that we got a late call from the salvation army major james hall. he called me personally. he told me they do want to move this location. however, they're asking for city and county supplemental funding to help with the

so they can mount a capital campaign. it will take 15 to $20 million to make that move. live in tampa, i'm carson chambers, abc action news. now the most accurate weather team in florida, abc action weather. >> how are you doing, everybody? as rough as it was this morning, that weather that barreled through our area, look where it is. it's south of the state now. it's already in the straits headed towards cuba. that's how quickly everything has been moving. and that's very typical for an el nino situation. not to mention even though this evening skies are clear. and things cleared out beautifully by about 1:30, 2:00, leading to not only a sunny afternoon but a warm one. we were in the 70s. well, we're still in the 70s across part of the area. we will wake up to fog tomorrow morning. a pleasant morning with temperatures in the 50s and 60s. as quickly as the sunshine rolls in, the storms are back

let you know who gets the worse of it coming up. >> thank you, denis. the man is paying for a coffee at the cafe in brandon. you see there that management says he slips a $20 into his pocket and then tries to accuse the cashier of short changing him. >> eric waxler shows us the latest victim of this scam. >> i was looking at the security camera and i was like it's that guy i saw on the news. >> reporter: they are known for great food and clever signs. they also trust their customers. >> we tend to believe the best. and we don't want to accuse anyone. >> reporter: but thursday when the register came up short, tony checked surveillance video and found this, a man ordering a drink at the dessert bar. he is given change. watch him slip 20 of it in his

and polite. >> reporter: the slight of hand the extra cash. it's got to be the same person brandon two days earlier. because his sister-in-law's >> same hand motion. same everything. really sneaky. >> no doubt in your mind. >> no doubt. >> reporter: at the end of the day it's not just about the money but he wonders how many other places this restaurant robber hit. >> we want people to understand that 20 bucks, it's out of someone's pocket. the repercussions, he's probably not thinking about the person on the other end. >> reporter: tampa police are investigating. but now that there's even more video out there, workers at both restaurants are hoping someone will recognize him. in tampa, eric waxler, abc action news. >> now, the original surveillance video has been shared hundreds of times from our website.

right now to a crime alert that deputies think you can help with. they need your help to find two men connected two different armed robberies in morning. the sheriff's office released these new surveillance images of the men. this is from the racetrack gas station. just before 4:00 a.m., the help forced clerks to empty their cash registers. they had a silver handgun and their faces were covered with black t-shirts. about an hour and a half later they robbed a shell gas station in north port. fire officials are investigating a suspicious fire in river view. it tore through the home on fortunately no one was home. destroyed. neighbors say it's the third on fire in the last year. the most recent was just last week. fire.

remember a florida woman murdered in italy. ashley olsen's boyfriend found her body on saturday. they arrested a man on wednesday for the death. they believe that the man met olseata nightclub before they went to the apartment together. the suspect admitted to killing her after a fight. she is originally from north florida and moved to florence to be closer to her father. a group is pushing for treatment of kids caught with marijuana. and they are not letting the weather stop them. they held signs in downtown tampa today in honor of children arrested for small amounts of marijuana. hillsborough county is the only one punishing with a misdemeanor rather than a lighter sentence. those children apply to college and try to get jobs, it affects them. >> we don't condone children using marijuana. but we also know that arrests will follow them all the rest of their life. >> tampa city council is considering issuing civil

misdemeanors for children found with pot. they're expected to suspect that in the next month. investigators are trying to figure out why an suv was stopped on train tracks causing a fatal crash in jacksonville. you see the wreckage. the driver of the suv died at a local hospital. tracks. no one on the train was hurt. five passengers and one flight attendant were hurt after the flight hit heavy turbulence over the jacksonville area. the flight did land safely in miami with more than 160 people on board. you see the flight attendant with a broken nose. rescue crews treated those at the airport. the flight attendant is expected to be okay. turning to democracy 2016. repeating many of their attacks

with just 17 days to go until the iowa caucuses, front runner donald trump is feeling even more confident about his chances to win the gop nomination. >> reporter: a new type of campaigning for donald trump. >> you know why? because i like the pizza. >> reporter: the billionaire making his second attempt in a week at retail politics after celebrating his debate performance at an earlier rally. >> i've won every poll and every debate. >> reporter: he is hammering ted cruz for being born in canada, claiming he might not qualify to be president as a natural born citizen. >> you can't run if there's a doubt. there's a big doubt. >> back in september, my friend donald said he had had his lawyers look at this from every which way. the constitution hasn't changed.

>> but the issue isn't going away. a houston trial lawyer is now filing a lawsuit asking the courts to decide the matter. after trump's fierce attack on jeb bush last night. >> we don't need a weak person being president of the united states. that's what we get if it were jeb. >> reporter: bush is getting revenge from the endorsement of south carolina senator lindsey gram. >> are you going to support someone who has the tools and the proven record to fix it or are you going to basically follow the so-called strong man? >> reporter: trump is getting unexpected support after cruz attacked him for having new york values. democratics hillary clinton and bill de blasio agree with trump that those values are admirable. >> and abc action news is teaming up with month lit i can fact to fact-check statements made last night. and we found some false

and chris christie. you can see those on abcactionnews.com right now. we will also be fact checking the democratic debate on sunday night. >> it happened to me. , still head on abc action news at 5:30, veterans put at risk with their personal information exposed. we will tell you about the mistake that the va is blaming. a warning from researchers right now about what your child is watching and the specific age group at risk. could this be the new location for the tampa bay rays stadium? mayor buckhorn says it seems to be the best spot. what it would mean for the

>> tonight the i team is exposing a problem after two veterans asked us for help. they are facing a new danger at home. >> as jackie callaway shows us, it's proof that the government has more to fix. >> reporter: a stint in the navy. and another two years in the

libya left sammy rivera with service connected disabilities. >> i needed to get my medical records. >> reporter: records for his claim. >> when i opened it up, i went through it to make sure that everything was there that i needed. >> reporter: mixed in with his own documents. >> i have all of his information. >> reporter: sammy who lives in lakeland discovered 20 pages filled with another veteran's medical records. >> i was outraged. >> reporter: not as shocked as robber. i tracked this former special forces soldier down at his home in texas and sewed him the papers. they contain his full social security number in four places, along with detailed medical information. >> i think that's very personal. it shouldn't be out there for anyone. >> reporter: for days i repeatedly asked people here at the veterans benefits office in st. pete how it happened and what is being done to make sure

and what offer is being done to help the veterans affected. privacy related events can include mismailings. an assessment of the risk is conducted and if appropriate notification and provision of credit monitoring is offered to the individual whose information is involved. >> they need to assure me personally and everybody else that our records are secure. >> reporter: the v.a. touts its privacy training required by all employees. but these two veterans refuse to believe the agency has a handle on violations. >> if it happened to me, it happens how many more times. >> reporter: more than 10,000 privacy breaches at the v.a. since 2011. they include well over 600 cases right here in the bay area. the database details incidents at bay pines, the st. pete regional benefits office and the sunshine health care

>> this needs to change. >> reporter: jackie callaway. taking action for you. >> thanks, jackie. a new study tonight warning those online videos your kids might be watching may be loaded with dangerous messages. children are spending more time on smart phones and tablets compared to the tv. and sources like youtube are not regulated as much. researchers say these videos are filled with images of alcohol and tobacco. 13 to 15-year-old girl are exposed more than any other group. pay attention to what your kids are watching. now the most accurate action weather. >> a lot of that rainy weather cleared out. this evening. >> the drive in not so much. >> not so much. >> it was really coming down. we had reports of wind damage in sarasota area. down south to charlotte and cape coral. and this afternoon, it's

difference six hours can make in our area. beautiful sunset. if you plan ongoing the beach tomorrow, why not. the weather will be nice. it will be warm. with temperatures in the 70s. sunday morning, well, that's another story entirely. let's start off and look at the line where it was heaviest. second time in six days a tornado touched down around the cape coral area. as we also mentioned there was damage straight line wind damage out ahead of a thunderstorm that came through, about 50 miles per hour around the venice areas. that was also this morning. and looking at the entire picture, the heaviest rain started across our northern counties with severe thunderstorm warnings in citrus county early in the morning. by the afternoon, everything cleared out beautifully. with temperatures in the 70s across the area. inverness at 66. tampa right now skies are partly cloudy. west winds at 12 miles per hour. pressure pretty low as you

off to our north. but quickly moving away. so we actually hit 73 today, which is a bit above normal. normal is 70. this time last year, we only hit 60. the record high 82. the record low 27 back in 1957. so there you see it. st. pete, sunny right now. 71 degrees. the humidity 63%. the dew point 58. sarasota, sunny and 71. the dew point 63. so we're clear tonight for a while. and then i think we have to worry about some fog rolling in. and the main reason is because of the rain that you saw came through. the moisture goes somewhere. and very often with this kind of a pattern, especially in the wintertime, you have enough moisture behind a rain event that there is fog the following morning, which i think there will be. it burns off or lifts, however you want to say it. it will be out of here by 9:30, 10:00, leading to a nice day. partly sunny. there will still be clouds.

right no in terms of cloud cover. but hard to complain. 75, 76. mostly dry. that's tomorrow. and this is el nino to a t. everything happens very quickly. everything is like a snowball rolling downhill picking up speed. beautiful tomorrow evening. then look at what you wake up to. significant storms across the area. i think the timing similar to today. the only difference is i actually think the tornado threat, albeit slim like today, may be more to the north than it was today. so i think there's at least the conversation we could be having that there could be a quick isolated tornado as the line barrels through. by late in the afternoon, we're beautiful. for the second time in three days, the morning will be stormy. later in the afternoon, it will be very nice. high temperatures on saturday, mid 70s. so we will already have the warm temperatures in place as

and that will just lead to a little more energy as that front comes in first thing on sunday morning. now, for the boaters, believe it or not, the winds are coming down tomorrow. west winds at 5 knots. good day to take the boat out. off shore, though, still a little rough at 2 to 4 feet. we're dry on saturday. but we're not dry subbed. the first half of the day, we're stormy. potentially a few severe storms. the afternoon clears out like today did. look at the difference. we're chilly next week. highs in the 50s on tuesday. lows in the 30s and 40s. >> thank you. a team gets luck -- a teen

>> none of the actors were allowed to read the script until after being cast. it's an early example of social media markets. and number one, the frantic camera style caused motion sickness for over a hundred people. >> a boise, idaho family is wondering why anyone would abuse their pet cat. they found their 3-year-old cat in orange spray paint. they noticed it on the cat immediately when it walked

outdoors, the owners don't any this was an accident. >> this is horribly sad to me that someone would intentionally harm a little creature, somebody's pet. my kids went off to school upset today. >> i feel horrible for the cat and us and the person who did this. it's a sign that something is not right with them. >> the humane society told the family to go ahead and report it to the police. in the meantime they're using everything from warm water to oils to try to wash off the paint. lottery officials just confirmed that a tennessee couple won their portion of wednesday's powerball jackpot. robinsons own three of the three winning tickets. in brevard county a multi million area keeping their identity hidden. the winning ticket sold at the local publix. another florida winner. frederick walker won 2 million

but it's how he ended up with the winning ticket that is really lucky. walker found the ticket that someone else already filled out. the person who filled it out picked five of the six winning numbers, only missing the powerball. walker paid an extra dollar for the power play and the rest is history. what a lucky guy. now here is wendy ryan with a look at what is happening at 6:00. >> a shake-up at allegiance airlines. the tool that will make sure that you don't get overcharged. and these top stories. drives forced to pack their patience along i-275. >> it's been a problem. that may be an underestimate. we go straight to fdot for answers. how long the traffic nightmare will be a reality for drivers. >> the tampa bay rays could be moving to hillsborough county.

>> live from the station taking action for you. this is abc action news. >> now at 6:00, your daily commute seemingly getting worse. you're looking live as traffic is slowly moving across the northbound lanes there of i- 275. tonight we're taking action to find when this is going to start getting better. but first we are just