it is the third largest parade in the entire country. during that time, they expect 300,000 people to fill bayshore. police are confident that they can keep you safe. with that confidence, there's also a plea and a promise. >> we live a couple blocks off of bayshore and feel totally safe. >> reporter: for 25 years, mark house takes in the sites and sounds of gasparilla. he is a proud pirate and a citizen of the country, refusing to let recent terror attacks affect his life. >> if we do something different, you're succumbing to what the terrorists want you to do. >> reporter: college student mary couldn't agree more. >> anything can happen anywhere so you can't live life afraid. >> reporter: police want everyone to enjoy this more than 100-year tradition. >> there's no significant threats to the city of tampa that would prevent the event from taking place.

chief, eric ward, surrounded by other top officials reassuring citizens they are on top of it. the force of nearly 1,000 will be patrolling, assisted by 21 other agencies. ward also stressed we live in different times and everyone needs to help protect one another. >> if you see something, say something. >> reporter: policies implemented years ago, like no tolerance for underage drinking, will be strictly enforced. just as strict restrictions for boaters. this year, a new promise, to crack down on anyone caught with a drone. faa safety regulations prohibit the use of the devices over large crowds. >> i think that's a good idea. people don't know how to control those things. can you imagine a remote control car running around in the parade? it's the same kind of idea. >> reporter: yeah. i couldn't.

voice mail will go out to parents reinforcing that zero tolerance policy. abc action news. >> the mother of a baby who disappeared and was later found buried in a shallow north port grave is facing a long stay in prison. 32-year-old christian berry collapsing in court after taking a plea deal. she will spend 25 years behind bars for failing to protect her son, baby chance. prosecutors saying she watched as her husband joseph walsh beat him and then stuffed the baby wipe down his throat last september. chance was left to decompose in his crib and then buried in the woods. in court, chance's grandmother told the judge her daughter deserves a harsher punishment. >> understand i will always love my daughter. she is my flesh and blood, as chance was to her. and fortunately i do have the

mother is supposed to protect her child at all costs. that wasn't done. >> as part of her plea deal, berry has agreed to testify against her husband. if she does not, she could face new charges. a trial date has not yet been set for joseph walsh. as we speak a puppy that was stole own and traded for drugs is recovering in a vet's office. barfield stole the pickup free all about puppies last week and then swapped it for cocaine and crash. a couple later bought the dog. when it got sick, the vet checked the micro chip and discovered it was stolen. >> the family that purchased the stolen dog was unaware of the criteria needed to buy a dog and was given a side story to believe that it was a wife saying they can't own the dog. they purchased the dog to take it over. and luckily they seeked medical help when needed with the puppy.

treatment at an animal hospital but he is expected to live. now the most accurate weather team in florida, abc action weather. >> good evening, everybody. definitely chilly out there. not as cold as this time last night. nor will tomorrow morning be. with temperatures right now in the upper 50s to lower 60s. this morning, we started out in the upper 20s. citrus and hernando county, the freeze warning verified nicely. even frost as far south as southern polk and northern manatee county. tomorrow morning, temperatures chilly but not a freeze. anywhere from the mid-40s downtown, 50s closer to the coast. under partly cloudy skies. the clouds will give way to rain first thing friday morning. we will detail everything about it and your weekend forecast coming up.

a police officer keeping a baby warm after the car crashed. officers tell us that the 34- year-old veered off the road for some reason while driving her three boys. the children include 6-year-old twins and a 1-year-old. the woman and one of the twins suffered serious injuries. the other two kids are now with their dad. a man accused of a brutal assault on a bay area woman will still be in jail tonight. anderson was given $75,000 bond during court this morning. we first told you about him in november when his girlfriend, christie deor said he beat, face. her injuries required multiple surgeries. marshalls picked him up yesterday at a home in tampa. we want to remind you that abc action news is committed to taking action against domestic violence. if you or someone you know is in a domestic violence situation, call the statewide hotline on your screen.

information on our website, our facebook page and as well as twitter. two murders six years apart listed interthe solved column at the lakeland police department. investigators saying new witness statements gave them enough evidence for an indictment. ryan ray shows us the long- awaited closure. >> reporter: two unsolved murders now closed. three men who were already in jail now facing new charges and the families of two victims finally getting relief. >> every night i just go to bed thinking of him. >> reporter: for eight long agonizing years, earnest allen senior has been haunted by the murder of his son. the years came and went and still no one was brought to justice for killing earnest junior until now. >> i was so happy. i didn't know what to do. i couldn't believe it. it had been so long. i thought nothing was going to turn you have. >> reporter: while this father

headway behind the scenes. bennett was 15 years old at the time and new witness statements pointed to him as the killer, along with his counter part, 16- year-old pierson. they both have long criminal histories and were already in jail when a grand jury indicted them on new murder charges forward. >> i think moms, dads, uncles, brothers and sisters, quite frankly got fed up with the amount of violence occurring and they said you know what, we've tired of it. >> reporter: during this investigation, detectives gathered enough evidence to crack another murder from last year. fleming was shot and killed outside of this gas station pumping gas. the target of that bullet was supposed to be bennett, sitting in the car. a grand jury just indicted rival gang member mills. >> it seems anywhere that bennett goes, either he is involved in somebody's

reason. years apart. >> i just wish he was still living today. >> reporter: solving two old homicides at the same time doesn't happen very often. it brings the total number of unsolved cases in the city of lakeland down to 30. reporting in lakeland, ryan raiche, abc action news. >> manatee county investigators are trying to piece together murder victims. they knew each other and they're trying to find out if the relationship led to their deaths. 40 minutes later the body of 23- year-old jordan finland was discovered dumped on the side of a road near palmetto. investigators are not releasing the cause of finland's death but believe it could be an important clue in the case. hillsborough county deputies are on the hunt for the men caught on video breaking into unlocked cars.

get away with a loaded gun inside one of them. the thieves hit several cars in river view back on january 7th. if you know who these men are, call the hillsborough county sheriff's office. for a better look at the video, just go to our website, abcactionnews.com. you're saving on gas but it's causing all of our retirement accounts to go in the tank. stocks plunging again today thanks to a drop in oil prices. the dow losing 249 points. that's actually better than earlier in the day when the dow was down over 540 points. stock prices have been tumbling since new year's day with oil prices dropping to levels we haven't seen since 2003. experts worry if this keeps up, we could see an energy crisis similar to the financial crisis

carson chambers was a guest moderator at this event. fort tampa bay ceo paul anderson highlighted the positive economic impact of the canal expansion. port tampa bay will welcome two new cranes this year that will create new jobs. they are traveling on a ship from china as we speak and will be fully operational sometime in may. still to come, they did the work but never got the paychecks. and it's happening more than ever here in tampa bay. the new way that you can finally get what you earned. buy back your car. the new decision and the thousands of dollars it could were caught in vw's emission

>> well, you put in the work but didn't get the pay. it's called wage theft. it's a growing problem for

>> now help is on the way for victims in hillsborough county. jackie callaway shows us how a new program will recover stolen paychecks. >> reporter: it involves county agencies and the courts. it opens for those that have no place left to turn. >> i was told to wait for my check. >> reporter: former telemarketer darlene lacey videotaped the last visit to her former boss' office. she wanted to prove she did everything in her power to claim her paycheck. >> that's work for an entire month with no pay. >> reporter: the missing checks forced her to drop out of school. >> i have school debts. i have family. >> reporter: richard davie says a bounced paycheck left him facing for eviction. >> whenever i ask for the money, they say you will get it when you get it. >> reporter: the telemarketer

>> they get away with doing this to people. it's a way to victimize people. >> reporter: eric says the county's new wage recovery program will step in where other agencies cannot or will not. >> it's designed to be a fair and impartial process utilizing mediation. >> reporter: consumer protection will work with bay area legal services and the 13th judicial circuit court. >> there's a hearing process in place. if that process fails, maybe through the court system. >> reporter: the program calls on the courts if mediation fails. time will tell whether it will be successful. but for workers whose case doesn't qualify for the department of labor, the new county program might be their only hope. >> i just want to make sure this doesn't happen to someone else. >> reporter: now, we've got a link and a phone number for anyone interested in filing a complaint or just learning more about the wage theft program in hillsborough county. it's online this week.

wendy. every vw owner in florida that fell victim to the emissions scandal could soon get all of their money back. the florida lemon law board ruling in favor this afternoon of an 86-year-old jupiter man ordering volkswagen to buy back his car. vw can appeal but this seems to pave the way for other vw owners here in florida to file a claim as well. right now an ohio man is in jail for trying to have an innocent dog euthanized. dotson was ordered to euthanize his dog for attacking a dog. he adopted a similar looking dog and turned that animal over to be euthanized. a worker realized the truth. a judge sentenced him to 28 days in jail without probation or work release. >> for you to ignore a court

this court. in my ten years as a judge, i can't recall a more cold and >> dotson's pit bull has since the dog that he tried to have adoption. well, it turns out our planets after all. pluto. scientists say they have solid evidence of a ninth evidence. planet x is believed to be so far away it takes 20,000 years to orbit the sun. it hasn't happened yet but it could happen in the next five years. pretty cool. >> of course some folks at home might be saying if they haven't seen it, how do they know. >> that's my question. >> because the movement on other bodies move things around. there is something causing it to move so it must be --

>> this guy is so smart. >> it's ridiculous. >> when you're old, you've heard almost everything. beautiful from bayshore where in three days it will look a lot different because the kids parade will be saturday. it will be cold. you're going to want to bundle up even though it will look tropical. it will feel polar. you look outside right now. beautiful from the main sail. sunset coming into the area with a few clouds out there. that cloud cover is going to give us a little bit warmer weather first thing in the morning. so instead of the clear skies, the calm winds, and the frost, which is what we had this morning across about half the area, that's not going to be an issue tomorrow morning as temperatures will be quite a bit warmer. right now anywhere from the mid- 50s in plant city. upper 50s in brooksville. we hit 66 today.

70, 71 this time of year. clearwater and st. pete in the upper 50s. the winds will calm. skies are mostly clear. there will be some of that high cloudiness coming in though overnight tonight. and when it does, that will act as we often say kind of like a blanket. there they are. to keep temperatures quite a bit warmer. the wind direction will be more out of the south. you have to figure if you're talking southerly air it will be warmer than the stuff up north. that's one of the main reasons we will be warmer overnight and tomorrow. warming up back into the low 70s. then all of a sudden by friday morning, we have rain coming in. futurecast is showing a little piece of energy out ahead of the actual front. we will watch that. it's not a huge deal right now. but we cannot completely write out of the chance of a strong thunderstorm. pretty safe to say this will not be nearly as active as what we had last weekend or the friday before when there was

with temperatures warming up on thursday into the low 70s. that's about as warm as it will be for the next week because behind that next front, we're going to get cold again. and that cold air in addition to what's right here, it's going to have a massive blizzard across the mid- atlantic. two to possibly three feet of snow from baltimore to d.c. all of that cold air moving east. as i said, next go-around, saturday night into sunday, we're going to get a glimpse of that and we're going to get yet northern counties. here is a look at the most accurate 7-day. rain and storms on friday. parade. 57 and blustery. and we freeze saturday night and again saturday night. hello, folks. flexibility is the key to mike smith's approach taking over the buccaneers defense.

if smith can resurrect careers that crashed and burned defensively under lovie smith. here is john sabol. >> reporter: after a year away from football, mike smith is back in the nfl. >> this would be the one place that i would come and i'm very excited because my relationship with dirk. >> reporter: both coaches have been around the nfc south for years. they know what other quarterbacks in the division are capable of. smith's defense will have to learn to be flexible. >> in this day and age, you have to give different looks. you can't line up the same look and same front every time. we're going to have a lot of flexibility. >> reporter: sounds different than lovie smith's philosophy. mike smith has been on the job for a day and a half and has laid out the goals for defense next season. >> we have to focus on getting off the field on 3rd down and taking the ball away and stopping the run. those will be the three things that i would be talking to our guys about.

bucs struggled with is the lack of a pass rush. with mike smith on board, that appears to finally be changing. >> and if you don't affect the quarterback and put pressure on the quarterback, they're going to cut you up. so it's going to be imperative that we get pressure on the quarterback. >> reporter: reporting at one buck, john sabol, abc action sports. >> meanwhile who will become the ninth buccaneer to be inducted into the ring of honor. john lynch is the favorite right now. i think the team might want to go back in time just a little bit and perhaps take a look at a couple of guys. those two should be considered strong candidates. all right. they're back tomorrow night. the defending stanley cup blackhawks are in town. straight. stinging. this will not be just another game. we will hear from john cooper

>> looking into the weekend for the kids parade on saturday, it will be windy and cold. you need to bundle up.

>> we will last about five minutes out there. >> we will see you at 11:00.