approach has high hopes for ridership. since it launched at the beginning of the month, nearly 150 people used it. connections happen once an hour. and drivers from both counties are communicating, making sure that you get from one bus to the other. >> there's a need for better transit connections like other major cities have. and it's been a challenge here. >> reporter: the head of tba says it's the first step in transportation options. >> we have to do it incrementally. doing successful projects like this and adding more on to it, this is how we ultimately get to the end goal. >> reporter: connection routes are monday through friday and you have to pay the fare in each county. next they hope to have one bus fare card for all of tampa bay. in hudson, i'm ashley yore, abc action news. >> now to another major traffic concern, there's currently not enough room for the $3 billion

planned along 275 and i-4. the florida department of transportation is buying properties, one hundred to be exact. there's a group showing the toll that the express lanes are taking on the community. they are organizing a bike ride this weekend. it will take the people through the homes and businesses that may be impacted and torn down. some include cafe hey, charlie's steak house and the mogley apartments. >> 200 families are going to be displaced. they have to move. there's not room for something like this in tampa heights. >> fdot does not have all of the money it needs for the project. they plan to start construction in the next five to ten years. now the most accurate weather team in florida, abc action weather. >> good afternoon, everybody. at long last we finally got back to where we should be this time of year with temperatures

a lot of clouds are rolling in. this. area of low pressure. it's the same one that will north. but it's also going to bring us and the possibility of some severe weather. but you notice the bulk of the to our north. we are right on the fringe. it will not be an issue tonight or around sunrise tomorrow. by mid morning, clouds build, showers and storms likely. then big changes by the weekend. we will pinpoint the details coming up in a couple minutes. we have dramatic video to show you. it's a taxi cab engulfed in flames exploding in massachusetts. there was an 80-year-old woman inside and the driver were able to escape just before the fire started. in all, six explosions captured on cell phone video. john mcdonald watched from his balcony 50 feet away. both driver and passenger were safely out when he started

mcdonald says not a safe distance away. >> this is going to blow. you have to get her in the apartment building. literally picked her up and moved her away from the situation and got her in the building. >> what a story. with the taxi's horn blowing and black smoke billowing above, you see it right there, mcdonald's next fear was the more than dozen cars parked within feet of the out of control blaze would go up as well. it took firefighters only seconds to drown out the flames. the passenger and taxi driver are expected to be okay. a former oklahoma city officer convicted of rape will spend the rest of his life in prison. 29-year-old daniel arrived for sentencing today in shackles. he was convicted last month of four first degree rape counts. 14 other charges with thatment

kyle mavin entered aa not guilty plea today. he is accused of murder and disposing of the bodies. police discovered the bodies in october. his girlfriend is also being charged. pro of theres in georgia say they are camping out until a grand jury decides if they will indict a dekalb county police officer on murder charges. it's just outside of atlanta. they have been enduring sub freezing temperatures all week to do so. an air force veteran was naked and unarmed when he was shot and killed by an officer. robert olsen. his family claims he was bipolar and had ptsd. the district attorney is seeking a murder indictment. a man under the influence of meth is accused of stealing from his mother. he now faces charges for stealing from her home. police say he admitted to taking meth and pawning the belongings. they arrested him and took him

grand theft. lake hamilton hires a new police chief and they celebrated by making it facebook official. the town administrator, sarah irvine, first posted the news on her personal page. michael tieg was elected over he was previously a police city. the current chief is retiring on january 31st. well, catherine smith is getting ready to start a new job. headed to the buffalo bills to work as a full-time special teams coach. she is the first full-time nfl. her name is trending on twitter. she has worked with the team on a part-time basis for seven years. many of you might remember the dog rescued after being severely abused and used in dog fighting rings. you. instead of being put up for

passion for pits, the organization that rescued her and nursed her back to life. she is so part of the family they don't want to let her go. she may need more long-term special care. next at 5:30, will smith joins the oscars boycott. the super power that no other country has. i thought she was going to be here forever. a little girl dies after getting the flu. next at 5:30, the one thing that you need to know if your child gets sick. a call for more deputies in the challenges they're facing finding quality workers and the

>> actor will smith will not attend the oscars much the star now joining his wife and other celebrities in the boycott. smith explaining his decision exclusive loo to robin roberts today on "good morning america." why he is calling for change

super power. >> will smith in an abc exclusive with robin roberts responding to the oscar controversy over a lack of diversity. looking at this list of acting nominees he says. >> everyone is fantastic. and that's the complexity of this issue. >> reporter: smith pointing out. >> i've been nominated twice for academy awards. and i have never lost to a white person. >> reporter: losing to washington in '02 and forest whitaker in 2007. >> it feels it's going the wrong direction. >> reporter: the academy is under pressure as more stars speak out, including his wife jada pinket smith on facebook. >> i won't be watching. >> reporter: even though he wasn't aware she was going to do that, smith voicing support for his wife and saying he will

>> if we are not a part of the solution, we are part of the problem. >> reporter: promising it is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership. the new york times reports as soon as next week the academy is expected to announce new measures, aiming to make oscar choices for diverse. they could open the awards to larger fields of nominees. new tonight a 12-year-old washington girl is dead after contracting the flu. two trips to urgent care showed she had h1n1. her mom thought she seemed okay until saturday. she rushed her to the er. her kidneys were failing and three hours later she was gone. the mother says she didn't get her daughter the flu vaccination. >> it reminds us it can be a

important to protect ourselves. >> her doctors said you did everything right. >> according to the cdc, kids need medical care because of the flu, especially before turning 5 years old. the number of americans living to 100 is on the rise. according to the cdc, the number is up 45%. as of 2014, more than 72,000 of them. that report also showing that women are outliving men. females make up 80% of the population 100 years and older. while people are living longer, alzheimer's disease is the fastest growing cause of death in the population. it has increased 120% among americans since 2000. you have to know when to hold them know when to fold them >> kenny rogers will kick off the food and wine festival at

today. third eye blind and jordan sparks will also appear. it includes 120 wines, craft buys and cocktails from all around the world. the food and wine festival runs from march 5th to april 24th. some of the cold temperatures we have been having in florida, many of us turn to comfort food. when it comes to breakfast for me, waffles and syrup come to mind. >> the tastiest to buy. >> reporter: platefuls of waffles on a weekend morning are a treat for many families. they're easy and fun to make and delicious. if you feel like you're missing out, consumer reports tried out a half a dozen of the most popular waffle makers on the market. the machines were tested on their high and low settings. scored on whether both sides browned the same and how consistent they were from batch to batch.

turn out a perfect waffle like this belgium waffle maker. it cooks on the stove top and makes a nice waffle but not always evenly cooked. consumer reports found that the warring for $58 consistently turned out evenly browned waffles toasted to your liking, light or dark. but the best of the bunch is this $100 cuisine art waffle central. it makes evenly cooked waffles and the plates are removable which makes them easy to clean. and it beeps when your waffle is ready so you don't have to keep an eye on it. your waffle isn't complete until maple syrup, the real stuff from trees. consumer reports expert taste tester sampled 14 syrups. the team found all were pretty good. so which one should you buy. >> our suggestion is buy by

>> reporter: good choices, costco's kirkland's organic and trader joe's 100% vermont maple syrup. pancake syrup is cheaper but usually made with corn syrup and coloring which often coloring. to see other stories from consumer reports go to abcactionnews.com. i'm taking action for you. >> it's one of the sure signs of the season around here. the migration of the manatees. as abc action's meteorologist bill logan shows us, they're coming out in record numbers. >> reporter: since they dwindled to 1800 in 2002, the manatee have been staging a come back. researchers counseled 6,000 last year with more than 2600

as the weather turned colder this week, it seemed this was common as researchers counted over a thousand in citrus county waters alone. here in apollo beach near the power plant, those familiar with the manatees say it could top the 600 plus that called the canal home in 2015. >> lots of manatees. you have lots of sharks and rays and fish. there's a couple hundred just here. you can see it. if you go straight down the canal to the end, there's a lot more manatees that don't see. >> have you seen this many out here before? >> no, i don't think i have actually. >> they love it. >> reporter: just as sure as the manatees are back, so too are the folks flocking to see them. and this year with the sightings so plentiful, the crowds have swelled. >> i was here a few years ago.

this is definitely attracting a lot of tourists this winter. >> reporter: all this positive publicity could be short lived. there's a proposal to reclassify the manatee from endean engineered to a threatened status. with a move to cut back on power plants, the canals could be shutting down so the manatee might have to ply grate further south. it will be a survival story worth watching. bill logan, abc action news. now the most accurate weather team in florida, abc action weather. >> we talked about the manatees being cold but it got warm today. >> yeah. and december was warm. we have issues with the manatees because it is so cold in december. it will be the case this weekend and next week. we are in that roller coaster ride where we get really cold and then warm and stormy and repeat.

days over the last couple of weeks. folks, that trend will continue. we see no changes long-term or short term for our volatile weather. for the time being, things turned out to be pretty nice today. low 70s. more clouds than sun. still a nice day. you just have to go 400 or # 500 northwest and and you see what happens. tornado warnings and watches. the majority of it stays off to our north but we will get a piece of it tomorrow morning, mid morning. that leads to the chance if not the likelihood of strong storms and maybe even a couple of severe storms or an isolated tornado. here is the bottom line, rain tomorrow morning. no way around that. it will linger into the afternoon. tampa, right now a lot of clouds and 69 degrees. southeast winds at 6 miles per hour. we ended up hitting 71 today which is above normal for a change, considering the cold we

as we go through the next 12 hours, what is clear will become cloudy. st. pete sunny and 65. sarasota, sunny and 69. but by first thing tomorrow morning, we will be clouding up and we will be storming up by mid to late morning. there is an isolated tornado possible. again, this comes from the storm prediction center. and that yellow area means a slight risk of severe weather. slight risk means about 5% or less. it certainly is not a huge deal. i want to remind you we had a slight risk last saturday night when we did indeed have a tornado or two. it won't be a huge issue but keep your guard up just in download our app to notify you of any severe weather. tonight not a bad evening. mild and partly cloudy. by tomorrow morning, you start in. even by 7:00, 8:00, the majority of the rain is off

but it will be barreling this way. and by 10:00, we're beginning to see storms. maybe a strong thunderstorm or even a quick tornado. it is a possibility. i think the prime time for that is between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. and then by 2:00 or 3:00, things quickly begin to roll out of the picture and all of a sudden the heaviest weather is over. but then things turn from stormy to raw. i can't think of another way to describe it. strong northwest winds coming out of the gulf. all right. when that happens, it picks up the gulf moisture and turns into clouds. maybe even a quick passing shower. that is going to be an issue for saturday. thousands of people if not tens of thousands of people will be out for the kids parade for gasparilla downtown. it will be windy and cold and raw. hopefully though by the time the parade starts, more clouds, at least not showers. i can't rule it out. that's the bottom line.

so this is a look at the front as it comes in. strong showers. some strong storms. and turning very windy behind what i mentioned what is stormy here is going to be possibly record-breaking across the mid- atlantic. this will stay south of boston heaviest weather. they will get a couple of snow around d.c. clearly this will not be a northeast storm. storm. closer to home, rain chances are high. it's going to rain tomorrow. by saturday, a lot of clouds. windy and cold. turning noticeably colder by sunday. next week we're back to where we should be, around 70 degrees. >> we want to see the tape. we want to see the murder. the city of denver is being sued after an inmate chokes on his own vomit. the one thing the city doesn't't

>> breakings in right now at 5:00. he is charged in connection with the murders of tuxford and finland earlier this week. detectives are looking for a second suspect. douglas. right now comings is charged with armed kidnapping. murder charges are pending. the city of denver is being sued after refusing to release video of the death of an inmate in the denver county jail. >> now an autopsy is determining that he suffocated after being restrained by deputies. the lawsuit filed by an online website says they don't want to

last year her law firm filed and won a similar lawsuit shot 16 times by a police officer recorded on video. releasing the video is not in the public interest says the city. now here is a look what is coming up next at 6:00. >> standardized testing drives away one pasco county teacher. deputies in hernando county is becoming quite the challenge. dozens of openings and the great length that's officers are forced to go through to keep you safe. coming up why there's no guarantee there will be a buy- back for any other diesel

>> live from the station taking action for you. this is abc action news. >> now at 6:00, shutting down red light cameras. that could get the eyes in the sky turned off for good. viral resignation. attention and what one bay area teacher has about the state of the schools. deputies tell us they made an arrest in two murders. komings has been charged. tuxford and finland were found dead this weekend. detectives are looking for frederick douglas. the sheriff's office. we just tweeted out and posted