district's feet to the fire by not reporting suspected child abuse. hooks is facing child pornography charges after pictures of the student she is accused of having sex with were found on her phone. trouble. report inappropriate relationships with students gardless if you work for the school system or not. >> once people cannot trust us to police ourselves or protect those that we are charged with protecting, very often your trust level deteriorates. >> reporter: and for now, stacie hooks is still in jail. coming up tonight, the school board will decide whether or not she will stay a teacher. reporting live in highlands county, sarah rosario, abc

sarah, thank you. a federal judge has agreed a teacher on bond. he tells us what federal agents say this man was doing. >> reporter: a shock to students and musicians. a mug shot of this university of tampa professor along with court documents linking him to child prostitution. nathan mattson a music professor and director of the community orchestra. >> i have always had a great respect for him. >> reporter: rick alvarez used to play in the orchestra with mattson. he has two daughters of his own. >> i'm extremely disappointed. i think he served as a mentor to many students. i had a lot of respect for him. >> reporter: on march 3rd, undercover agents posted an ad on a website acting as a man trying to pimp out a 14-year- old girl. mattson responded. he was talking to an undercover

he wanted to engage in quote back door water sports with the girl, always using protection. agents say when he showed up he was nervous and brought condoms. now people like rick hopes something good comes out of this arrest. >> my girls mean the world to me. i can't imagine them involved in any type of incident like this. but, again, i know it does happen. and i do hope that it creates awareness. >> reporter: in tampa, clifton french, abc action news. >> mattson will be allowed to go back to his apartment with gps monitoring. he cannot have unsupervised contact with children. you must stay off the internet and will have a curfew. the university has put him on administrative leave. now to a story that we brought you through breaking news. lakeland police are looking for a suspect in a shooting that etta street.

blake academy and dixie land and southwest elementary school were locked down. all students were allowed to leave at the normal dismissal time. police are still searching the area. police say the victim was shot four times and now in the hospital right now. his condition though is not known. well, right now traffic is flowing again on the veterans expressway. northbound traffic was diverted for several hours this afternoon after a semi-truck slammed into a guardrail. you can see from the aerial view that it looks like the impact caused construction equipment to slide off of the bed of the semi. right now tampa police are searching for the person who shot and killed a man in south tampa. we first brought new story as breaking news this morning. the unknown suspect shot the man outside of the apartments. his body was found in a vehicle three miles away. police believe he was trying to

getting to the hospital. police say the shooting was not random but they are not saying if they have a suspect in the case. another day on the stand for hulk hogan. airing his dirty laundry for a second day today in a defamation suit against gawker media not. the testimony getting personal while hulk hogan was grilled by defense attorneys. carson chambers joins us with the highlights from today. carson. >> reporter: well, hulk hogan spent hours on the stand but mostly answering questions from gawker's attorneys. they say he did a great job on his own of embarrassing himself in public. >> when i found out about the sex tape, i was just dispondent. >> reporter: he claims a secret sex tape humiliated him, turned his life upside-down. >> not being able to eat or sick. >> reporter: gawker defense attorneys made sure that jurors

clips where hulk hogan talked about the sex tape, his anatomy on shows like bubba the love sponge and howard stern. >> you were discussing the length of your [censor] on bubba's radio program. any doubt. >> well, it's not mine because mine isn't that size. but we were discussing the length of hulk hogan. >> reporter: he is suing gawker for $100 million for invading his privacy after they published a sex tape of hulk hogan having sex with his best friend's then wife. even how he revealed intimate tell-all book. >> there are other deeply aren't there? >> i'm definitely sure there are. >> reporter: gawker's attorneys suggested the sex tape was a publicity stunt. but the pro wrestler says it was devastating to his personal

>> i was concerned because there were people that thought i might have something to do with this. we even had calls from vivid entertainment who does all of these pornographic films and said there's an open checkbook. we will pay you as much money as you want. >> reporter: okay. the day. couple of weeks. live in st. pete, i'm carson chambers, abc action news. >> thank you, carson. we're live streaming the trial on our website, abcactionnews.com. we have to warn you though if you do watch it at times it may contain graphic content and language. a lot weighing in on facebook. join the conversation by searching abc action news on facebook and commenting on the post. new details on the zika virus. sexual transmission of the

there's evidence that birth defects may be caused by zika. in florida, there are 50 confirmed travel cases. good afternoon, everybody. we are still looking at clear skies across the area. you may be seeing this green on radar thinking is the rain going on i pasco? that's a fire. it may be a controlled burp. we have a call in. it doesn't appear to be an issue. if you live around dade city, there is no doubt that you are smelling smoke in the area. with temperatures in the 70s to about 80 degrees. there's a look with winds out of the southeast bringing in i'm also hearing that action air 1 is on the way to that fire in southeastern pasco county. we will have that for you live in a couple of minutes. as i said for the time being, skies remain partly cloudy to clear overnight with low 60s. we go even cooler before the rains arrive.

be coming up in a few minutes. if tilikum would have shown up with this disease in the wild, there's no doubt that he would have been gone a long time ago. the know nor tuesday killer whale now fighting hoar his own life. the effort underway to keep him alive. developer dispute. what has a local horse farm up in arms and what they're hoping will happen now. and affordable housing is hard to find. the brand-new program helping homeless people in pasco county get off the streets. download the new abc action news app. just search abc action news in

>> welcome back. reports out at this hour that a nuclear power atlanta could be causing damage to biscayne bay. radioactive isotopes have been found in high levels in biscayne pavement miami-dade county releasing the details today. the levels are 215 times higher than ocean water but officials have not said what risk there is to the public or pa reign life. a tallahassee judge ordered them to clean up the canals. right now see world

save the life of the most popular killer whale. tilikum is linked to three deaths and the focus of the black fish documentary. he is suffering from a bacterial infection in his lungs and they are not sure he will ever recover. a veterinarian choked bankruptcy tears as he talked about the deteriorating health of the killer whale. >> he has a disease which is chronic and progressive. and at some point might cause his death. >> sea world is saying that tilikum is receiving the best care possible. he has been at sea world for 23 years. he made international headlines when he killed a trainer. at least a dozen park guests witnessed that ordeal as the

the owner of a nonprofit horse farm says that the owner next door ripped out all of their trees. the trees provide safety and shade for the animals on the farm. >> reporter: for more than a year signs like this have protested the development of 20 new homes in the quiet farm community. >> we have met with them several times. they promised they would be good neighbors and that at the end we would be happy with everything that they were bringing into our neighborhood. and we kind of started accepting that. >> reporter: the developers even installed this black fencing to separate the construction zone from her farm. but now she is looking at this huge mess from her backyard. dozens of trees ripped out and fencing ruined. this stake right here is actually what represents the farm's property line. instead of stopping there, developers continued right on down this fence line, knocking down dozens of trees in their path. >> i felt violated.

they stripped our property rights away. >> reporter: it's not just her view that is in ruins. her families runs horsepower by kids. a nonprofit farm that attracts hundreds of visitors every year. they're most concerned about the animals. >> they are the victims because they have no shade now. we're trying to raise money to put trees back up so the animals won't suffer or die from the heat. >> reporter: thanks to the generosity of volunteers and donors, some fencing is being installed and palm trees have been planted. but she is hoping that the developer will step up and take responsibility. >> i hope that we can work together and that they will restore what they have damaged and give us what we need to survive. >> reporter: now, the parent company of ryland homes says we acknowledge that during the tree removal process on the property, one tree on the property line that was supposed

mistakenly removed and we are working to resolve that issue. they have set up a go fund me bank. i have a link to it on my facebook page. it will take you there and it will then them out -- help them out. it will cost $7,500 to replace what was damaged. action air 1 arriving at the scene of a 30-acre brush fire in pasco county west of curly road in san antonio. right now the fire is not under control but no structures are in danger and no roads are closed. as you take a look there, you see a lot of smoldering there. not too many flames. just small patches there. a decent patch burned out to this point. you can see that they are monitoring it. not necessarily putting any water on it. we will keep our eyes on it as this situation develops throughout the evening. now the most accurate weather team in florida, abc action weather. >> any issues with those brush fires is the wind.

>> still out of the southeast. we noticed it on radar five to ten minutes ago. it was burning a little hotter 10 to 15 minutes ago. i think it will wind down. the wins will calm down by sunset. what we also need is a little bit of rain. that is kind of surprising to say that considering how wet the last couple of months has been. but still, we have been a little crunchy lately. with all of the rain earlier on and the mild temperatures, everything is growing. i'm sure you noticed that if you're an allergy surfer. the pollen has been nasty out there. as i mentioned there indeed is the fire. we showed you this earlier in the newscast. right there is the source. southeast winds will blowing to areas to the northwest. if you live in dade city, i have no doubt that you're noticing it's smoky out there. it does appear at this point to not be as bad as it was earlier on. there are the winds we talked about. east to southeast at about 9 to

as i said, i do think they will come down a little bit by tomorrow -- actually later on this evening for that matter. there are the temperatures. 80 degrees right now at the airport in tampa. clearwater 78. st. pete 74. still a nice day. those temperatures are only going to go up. right on through friday. so we were talking about this a week ago. i was showing you that upper level winds bringing a bull's eye of air over florida wednesday and thursday. it's still on the way. and what we had today and yesterday, not nearly as warm as what we're going to have the next couple days. southeast winds, there they are. it brings in warmer temperatures. usually. makes sense. it's tapping air down to our south which you would think is warmer than what is going on up north and increases the moisture out there. if you look at futurecast through tonight and tomorrow morning, there are clouds and clear. tomorrow morning you will wake up to partly to mostly sunny skies. then most of the day you will

the farther east that you live, because with that easterly wind, there still can can be clouds and sprinkles on the east coast. if you live in desoto or highlands, you may see more clouds than the beach. if you're visiting us for spring training or spring break, you picked a good week. just remember that the rip current issue is still around until the weekend. what won't be around until the weekend is rain. thursday morning just as nice as tomorrow morning with clear skies and warmer temperatures, even more so by thursday. now, the rain chances, this is the european model. gsf is bringing it in on saturday. the euro is bringing it on sunday. not a ton of rain. not severe weather. i think later saturday and sunday, we will have a stretch of rain. it's just a little too early to pinpoint. it's only tuesday. but there will be showers around later saturday and sunday.

even close to the beach. think about this, if the winds are strong enough out of the east, it will pin the sea breeze just off shore. while i think it will be cooler along the coast, it won't be as cool as last week. you will see lower 80s along the coastline. you're going to see mid to maybe even some upper 80s as you get across the interior counties. i think warmer still on thursday. now, here is that upper level pattern i talked about. by thursday, there's that red blob right on top of us. that's warm air. i want you to see something. the blue color is cooler. watch through the weekend. we stay warm. watch through next week. we stay warm. seems pretty likely by then we're in mid-march. all of a sudden a threat of a cold snap starts to diminish. it isn't zero. i think we will see another front. but maybe not another frost or freeze. after all once we get to lay march the highs are well into the 70s.

water temperature now 65. there are your tides. your sunrise and sunset. pollen has definitely been an issue. that should be improving a little bit late this weekend. here is a look at the most accurate 7-day. temperatures well above normal through the weekend. then the rains arrive saturday and sunday. next week we stay mild, back in the upper 70s. call it the world's largest blind taste test. what is different about craft mac and cheese these days and didn't notice. massive flames and smoke seen for miles. coming up, the mystery about what is inside this burning firefighters so concerned. plus this -- >> someone will be held demanding justice. a boy killed outside the state fair two years ago and the mother still doesn't understand why. the reason a larger

>> 100 firefighters working to control this fire at a chicago flea market. >> one person was rescued but no reportsof any injuries. the fire quickly escalated. look at that video. a hazmat precaution was issued because they're not sure what is inside the building. the smoke can be seen for miles. officials are still trying to figure out what started this fire as the flea market is only open on the weekend. a massive manhunt underway for a suspected mass murder. he is accused of killing four people in kansas and another man in missouri. missouri highway patrol using helicopters and dozen of officers to try to locate the guy.

there is something different about kraft mac and cheese. they removed dyes and preservatives last year replacing them with other spices. the company has sold more than 50 million boxes of mac and cheese since the changes so far without any complaints. think about it this way, what if it was one of your kids living here? next at 5:30, 80 students and families are about to be on the streets. coming up, what school leaders are doing to keep them from being homeless. also tonight, pasco county leaders reveal a new plan to tackle the chronic homeless problems. half a million americans say it happened to them in 2015. protecting yourself from the number two consumer problem in

>> live from the station taking action for you. this is abc action news. >> recapping our top stories at 5:30. university of tampa professor accused of paying a 14-year-old girl for sex. nathan mattson responded it an online ad but he was really talking to an undercover agent. he has been assistant visiting profess since 2014 and is now on administrative leave. the highlands county school board will decide the fate of stacie hooks. she is accused of having sex with a 14-year-old student. two other teachers are being investigated for child porn. tonight school board members will vote on whether or not to fire her. >> not being able to eat. not being able to sleep. constantly thinking about it. >> and hulk hogan back on the stand again today, this time answering questions from gawker's attorneys. he claims a sex tape recorded

humiliated him and turned his life upside-down. he is suing gawker for $100 million for violating his right to privacy. more than 80 children and families will be on the streets because the motel they are living in is shutting down. aim jamison uhler. >> and i'm laura harris. school leaders are taking drastic action to keep the high risk kids enrolled. sarah rosario is live where families are facing eviction. >> reporter: yes, the city says that this motel is danger us and a nuisance. but the motel says that they serve a lot of local families and should be able to stay open. now the pinellas county school district is working fast to give the families options before it's too late. people who live at the mosley motel wonder if today will be the last day they will be allowed to stay. ginger has seen kids grow up as she lived here.