>> reporter: she has been asking officials to put a sidewalk here for years. those living at vista grand can safely make it to nearby stores and doctor's offices. richard even showed up to express his frustration with commissioners dragging their feet. >> this is a simple project. it's not like we're building a nuclear submarine. we're putting in a sidewalk. >> reporter: there are plans for sidewalks on both sides of quality job. but that won't be done for at least two years. commissioners say there isn't money available now but they agreed today to look for cash to get this done. in the meantime residents continue to dodge cars just to run basic errands. >> we live across the street from the hospital but we don't want to use it because we got hit by a car. >> reporter: darlene continues to lead a fight she has been at since 2012.

>> reporter: everybody seems to want to make this happen. the sheriff even offered up inmate labor to lay down the new sidewalk. in spring hill, eric waxler, abc action news. >> thank you, eric. right now the polk county school board is discussing the next steps they need to take to find a new leader. >> the superintendent resigned amid controversy. ryan raiche shows us why teachers are now speaking out. >> reporter: hey, guys. check it out. about two dozen teachers out here making standard requests. this sign asking for a 2% raise. others asking for fair working conditions. some teachers will tell you under catherine leroy's leadership there was a culture of fear and that's what we thant to address going forward. it's been a week and a half

>> right now i'm counting four tornado warnings. and what is left of that is going to be arriving this way tomorrow morning. and the key words is what is left of that. in our opinion, there won't be really all that much. certainly nothing close to what is happening right now. now, we still have to keep our guard up. there's a slight risk according to the storm prediction center of severe weather. possibly a spin of tornadoes. a small one. maybe even gusty winds at 50, 60 miles per hour and power outages. bottom line, the worst of it stays off to the north. this evening we're good to go. tomorrow morning, it starts to turn nasty and we will time it >> thanks, denis. new tonight a colorado woman is facing 140 years in prison after cutting a baby out of a pregnant woman. today lane was convicted of attacking michelle wilkins last year after wilkins responded to a craigslist ad for baby

the baby died in the attack. wilson survived. 29th. developing now in south florida, a man once named teacher of the year is accused of having sex with a 15-year- old female student. that is gary burnett. director. the teen confirmed the allegations and burnett is off the job. current coaches are defending the university of tennessee tonight in the face of a lawsuit against the school. in a rare move, speaking out about a title 9 lawsuit. several women filed the lawsuit saying that the university enables student athletes to commit assaults. >> everything is about the alleged victims. and, you know, we take that very, very seriously. we feel for them. we have a very good culture in place. that's why i said we will defend our culture. >> the group suing the

unspecified cash award and an order preventing ut against gender discrimination among other things. the department of agriculture scientists got a firsthand look at the fight against citrus greening. scientists alternate the research station are trying several different approaches. the sda dedicated $6 million in research money to the university solely to study citrus greening. >> it's important to see where the research dollars is going. meet with the scientists doing the research. and bring back to washington to me. >> the usda estimates citrus greening affects more than 75% of the orange crop in florida. well, a national organization is spreading its message of the need for companies to hire veterans right here in tampa bay. an estimated 250,000 veterans leave the military each year

hiring our heroes hosted a career fair and training workshop today for wounded veterans and caregivers. purple heart veteran justin says a lot of what they do goes behind basic training for job seekers. >> what we try to do is show that someone like me who has gone to counseling for post- traumatic stress and has a mild brain injury can come in and do whatever you want us to do. we might need accommodations but we are viable employees. >> you can find links to resources for veterans with this story on abcactionnews.com. publix is giving a record- breaking donation to the united way. they shared this photo of company leaders meeting with united way of central florida. they are pledging more than $4.5 million to the charity's community campaign. that is half of the fundraising goal this year for united way. it will fund programs for more than 70,000 people here in florida.

moment. straight ahead, the i team is showing us how they are working in one agency and why local departments still don't want them. inside an icy rescue with every effort to pull this 10- year-old girl to safety, she falls deeper into darkness. >> i could hear her but i couldn't see her. was. >> next at 5:30, the miracle that saved her life after her father decided to let her go. somebody. a driver makes not one, not two but three calls to 911 and still did not get help. the reason that police officers

>> police body cameras like this one are hot topics these days. are they reliable and worth the money? >> reporter: we have seen the video of officers behaving badly. but they can also protect law enforcement. >> put the gun down, sir. >> reporter: the i-team was

county in july. investigators say the suspect is aiming a rifle at deputies. we count at least 21 times deputies demand the suspect lower his weapon. >> put it down. >> reporter: he raises the rifle and then this. after about six shots, the man is still washed to drop his -- warned to drop his weapon. the suspect lived. he clearly had a rifle. the body camera justified the shooting. >> this could have taken days or weeks. >> reporter: the pasco sheriff's office is the only law enforcement agency in the tampa bay area to outfit all of the patrol deputies with body warn cameras. >> what do you think the biggest benefit has been over the past year. >> it has absolutely in our eyes made us a better organization. it has protected our deputies and our citizens. >> reporter: the program hasn't been perfect. the i-team went digging through

we look at equipment maintenance requests and failure to activate or where the cameras didn't record. in the past year they had nearly 200 maintenance requests submitted after mechanical issues. there were 200 failure to record incidents. out of those 110 was because deputies forgot to record. in those cases use of force was used. three cases where deputies were disciplined for violating body camera policies. >> we do look at that. it is important to us. that's why we have changed policies because of that. >> reporter: hillsborough, pinellas and polk county sheriffs are against using them on deputies. they say there are privacy issues. >> the level of excessive force is going to go down and credibility will go up. >> reporter: the cost of lawsuits can be far more expensive than the cost of body cameras. >> litigation can cost tens of

>> reporter: st. pete police are experimenting with body cameras. tampa police are wrapping up a study where they evaluated 60 officers using them for a year. a similar study with orlando pd showed positive results. >> the officers that wore the body warn cameras had significantly less use of force and complaints. >> reporter: jennings expects tampa pd's resulted to be about the same. >> at the end of the study, almost all of them said they liked the cameras, they wanted to keep their cameras. >> reporter: two usf studies involving two police departments, one local sheriff's office using them all found use of force and citizens complaints have gone down when using body cameras. >> there's no doubt about it, putting cameras on deputies is a cultural change. there were some that were against it. but within a matter of weeks or a matter of months, they came back and said we would never work without this. >> reporter: the sheriff is

have body-worn cameras for five years. he says it's worth every penny. we're posting a map on our website showing where local law enforcement agencies stand on using body cameras. i'm jared holbrook, taking action for you. intense moments for a california family. they were out snow shoeing when 10-year-old is a man awhite fell through the deep snow. here you can barely see her little arms struggling to try to get out. her mom captured the cell phone video thinking she was just stuck in the snow. they would be able to get out. then she stopped and helped. her father was force to make a tough decision. >> agonizing. yes, sir daughter screaming don't let me go, daddy. wife yelling don't let her go, honey. >> listen to this, he had to let her go.

will in frigid water. about 15 snow shoers walked by and helped pull her to safety. a brand-new consumer report lists the best cars of 2016. it highlights the best of the best. 260 models in ten categories. >> why a korean car is topping the list. >> reporter: the kia sorrento is the top pick mid size suv. for years, toyota has won this category. but the sorrento has overtaken it. >> it's got a powerful engine. it does great in crash tests. it has strong reliability. the great thing is you get inside of it and it feels luxurious. it feels like you spent more than you did. >> reporter: toyota earned two spots on the list, the camry and the toyota sienna in minivans. >> it has to have a strong record of reliability and it

and safe. two spots. the subaru for small cars and the forester for small suvs. >> they're fuel efficient and practical and for such small cars on the outside they feel large on the inside. >> reporter: only two american cars make the list this year. the chevrolet impala and the ford f-150 among pickup trucks. >> ford took a gamble going to aluminum construction but it paid off in the tests with better fuel economy, better acceleration and it fared well in crash tests. >> reporter: and finally the mazda mx5 earns the top spot for sports cars under $40,000. >> you take it out on a sunny day and it's more fun than cars twice its price.

best sub compat and the lexus rs for luxury suv. but the lexus costs $50,000 compared to the kia sorrento which is around $30,000. go to abcactionnews.com for more information. i'm taking action for you. now the most accurate weather team in florida. abc action weather. >> talk about the rain coming our way in a second. right now up north they're dealing with tornadoes. >> they are. there are tornado warnings all over the place in louisiana and mississippi. it has been the worst outbreak they have seen since 2011. a lot more tonight. what is left of that will be coming this way by tomorrow. and let me stress, i don't think there will be nearly the energy that they're seeing up north right now. you look outside from river gate and it's hard to imagine we have anything but sunny and warm conditions. we have had a stretch of beautiful weather of late. today we hit 80 degrees. the warmth out there and a little bit of moisture, there

this evening will be very nice. mild. breezy. notice the wind pick up today? that is a sign that a strong front is on the way. when our winds start kicking up out of the south/southwest at 15 to 20 and it's wintertime, count on strong storms rolling in within 12 to 24 hours shortly thereafter. speaking of that, this is what we're talking about. mississippi just had a tornado move on through. that's where southern miss is. we're not getting any reports at this point of any damage but we were looking at it on titan doppler radar and pretty much it went right on through. we're showing an area southwest with tornadoes on the ground. it's interesting because it talks about a debris ball. the tornado signatures you can actually see the debris on them. that gives us a better idea if it's actually on the ground creating damage rather than maybe just above the surface

so that's just a new part of dual pole technology that can help forecast when you get the tornadoes. which usually in tampa we don't see that kind of stuff. we don't get those kind of tornadoes. although in an el nino year this is the time we would see it if we did. i don't think this is one of those times. most of the deep south is going to be dodging a lot of this over the next 12 hours before whatever is left comes this way tomorrow. it's hard to kind of focus on that when we're having as beautiful weather we have seen since the year started. 80 today and sunny. we have had a stretch of beautiful weather. south/southwest winds. there's the high 80. we should be at 74. no rain today. we will see some tomorrow. again, south/southwest winds at 15 to 25 miles per hour. the winds are a sign that we

sunny in sarasota. there's the satellite. evening. if you're going out this evening, you're good to go. don't think you have anything to worry about tomorrow morning. even bright and early there could be a few showers. i don't think it will be anything spectacular. you go through the overnight. skies will be partly to mostly cloudy. and then i suspect eventually we will see the possibility pretty good possibility for that matter of some showers and even some stronger thunderstorms across the area from around maybe 8:00 in the morning until possibly about noon, 1:00 in the afternoon. so bottom line, we will continue to look at this as we go through the day tomorrow. ivan will be in first thing in the morning. shay will be around and i'll be here as well. we will have the warnings on abcactionnews.com if there are any as well as facebook and we will give you an update to this coming up in a couple of minutes. guys.

next at 5:30, six killed, one convicted, 18 years served in vain. how a man wrongfully convicted of murder is using his pain to

>> >> we're learning more women

the number jumping by more than a third from 2005 to 2013. more women are choosing to have a double mastectomy even if cancer is only found in one breast. having double mastectomy can reduce the chance of developing cancer. a man wrongly convicted of murder is now giving back to his community. anthony graves is the 12th death row inmate to be exonerated in the state of texas. he spent 18 years in prison for the murder of six people. while on death row, he was scheduled for execution twice. now he has his own medical clinic funded by the money he got from the state for wonful conviction. the clinic targets ex offenders leaving prison with high-risk diseases. here is a look at what is happening at 6:00 with wendy ryan. >> take a look at this. quite a fight. a basketball team turns into a melee. the cause and steps authorities are making.

the two key signs that show donald trump may have already locked up the republican presidential nomination. plus these top stories. a teenager with a history of sexual violence allowed back in school. >> he said he is literally trying to rape me. the steps one mother says pinellas schools missed that let her son become the third child victim. if you see something, say something. this man did exactly what law enforcement asked. only there was no response. the answer deputies gave us when we asked why. have you filed your taxes whyet? we will show you the top five deductions not to overlook and the mistakes that f filers make

>> live from the station taking action for you. >> now at 6:00, failure to respond to multiple attempts to report a suspected drunk driving and why deputies gave for never showing un. a teenager with a history of sexual violence allowed around other students. the major lapse that let him get another child alone. >> good evening. i'm jamison uhler. >> and i'm wendy ryan. thanks for joining us. a mom demanding in pinellas county after that 17-year-old choose history is well known to the school was able to take her 11-year-old son off campus without notice from anyone. >> tonight she is talking only

concerns and her fear that it could happen again. lauren. >> reporter: the two boys attend pinellas secondary school. it's an alternative school for those who have broken the code of conduct. the mother says the 17-year-old worked to lure her son off of what she thought was a secure campus and over into the woods intending to assault him. >> you send your kids to school and you expect them to be safe. >> reporter: this mother who we are not identifying to protect her 11-year-old is angry and her son forever changed. >> esther identified. >> reporter: she says this 17- year-old was allowed to be in the same room as her 11-year- old at the school. she says the teenager lured her son out of school with the promise of mcdonalds and took him to the woods and attempted the unthinkable. >> bear hugged him from behind and attempted, you know, to sexually assault him. >> reporter: investigators say this happened twice before.