and the countdown to the florida primary is on. hillary clinton and bernie sanders both in the bay area. clinton promised to defend planned parenthood while she was in tampa and also talked about jobs. in less than two hours, sanders will address a crowd at the fairgrounds. air action 1 captured the long lines in the parking lot. deputies say they took down ten marijuana grow houses. good evening. i'm jamison uhler. >> and i'm laura harris. jake peterson is live at one of the grow houses right now. how are the dealers blending in? >> reporter: investigators say the dealers set up shop in normal neighborhoods like this one in citrus park. if you look closely, you may see signs of a grow house operation like the installation of this privacy fence, security

dress -- and this no trespassing sign. deputies shedding light on these operations earlier this week. >> tuesday morning there were about eight deputies sitting in the front yard. >> reporter: he had no idea that his neighbors are using this home as a front for a marijuana grow operation. >> we never had any contact with them. they kept to themselves. >> reporter: but deputies say they were supplying marijuana to users in the tampa bay area. this man, julio alvarez according to deputies is the ring leader. the confiscated marijuana is very potent. >> this is not the marijuana of yesteryear. this is very, very hypo tense e. >> reporter: the operation started in miami. and then they started to set up shop in hillsborough county last year. >> the houses are often rented by individuals at the direction of a particular drug trafficking leader. they are given money to cover the monthly bills.

neighbors helped unravel what was going on. >> all of the pieces started fitting together. and the investigators started noticing that this was bigger than what we thought. >> reporter: the sheriff says the operation is ongoing. this man is glad he will soon have new neighbors. >> it's of course going to area. it's a good thing that it's gone. >> reporter: and deputies say three suspects are on the run right now. they believe the suspects actually fled to cuba. the street value of the marijuana, $2.3 million. we're live in hillsborough county, jake peterson. >> thank you, jake. we're learning details about two teachers investigated for child porn. this after the board votes to fire stacie hooks. this is her mug shot. she is accused of having sex with a student. now the board is approving the resignation of another teacher.

sending a nude photo of herself to two high school students. silva remains on administrative leave with pay. she is accused of having a student. taking action for your employment tonight. two of the areas largest school districts are looking for school bus drivers. they want to act fast. lauren rozyla shows you the money you can earn and the training required. >> reporter: two of the largest school districts in our area drivers. hillsborough needs about 50. and right here in pasco county, they need 30-plus. for john, driving a school bus is more than a job, it's a privilege. >> we're the first people that they see in the morning and the last people they say in the day. we have to encourage them. these are our future children. we need to encourage them. >> reporter: in pasco and hillsborough county, you need a clean driving record and arrest record but also -- >> you need to enjoy kids. working with kids is really the best part of the job. >> reporter: hillsborough and

training programs that will help you get your license to drive a bus. in pasco pay starts at $12 and you receive district medical the transportation department says there's room to move up. >> they don't have to remain a driver forever. they can follow career path, become driver trainers or relief drivers. they can move into supervisory positions. >> it's not a complacent job. it's an advancement job. >> reporter: she plans to continue for many more years. >> it takes patience, yes. but it's more rewarding in the sense of you see children grow. >> reporter: pasco county schools has several information sessions where you can learn more about the training and benefits of these jobs. to find out more, just visit abcactionnews.com and click on this story. in pasco county tonight, lauren rozyla, abc action news. >> lauren, thank you. abc news is keeping track of all of the open jobs in the tampa bay area.

facebook page or our actual page at abcactionnews.com. in the top right corner you will see tampa bay jobs. just click on that and it will show you all of the different lists of jobs by category. now the most accurate weather team in florida, abc action weather. >> all right. even though we have seen temperatures in the mid-80s throughout the afternoon, they're starting to come down some now. 79 in tampa at the moment. brooksville coming in at 84. bartow at 81. longbow key at 71 degrees. still under plenty of sunshine. about an hour before the sunsets. we're starting to see the temperatures come down. they will come down more after sunset tonight. we remain on the warm and dry side, especially for this time of year. no rain in sight this evening. right through midnight, we will see very nice conditions to be out and about. i'll show what you is ahead though with our next rain chance and where we're likely to see the heaviest rain coming

coming up in a little bit. laura. >> thanks, shay. right now at 5:30, police in georgia are trying to find out what led to the death of a 2-year-old. her three siblings were found safe after an amber alert. 28-year-old garrison is being held. three children ages 7, 6 and 4 were all found with her. garrison's fourth child, a 2- year-old girl was found dead at her albany, georgia home. the child had been dead for at least two days. also tonight, a highlands county mother arrested after deputies found feces and trash in her home. listen to n she says it wasn't that bad. according to the highlands today, 41-year-old marie williams says her home wasn't spotless because she has been packing for a move to europe. authorities were sent to the home after her son said she only allowed him to bathe once a month.

showers three times a day. custody. five people are dead and officials say this attack was planned and calculated. it happened tuesday night when 15 people were gathered in a backyard when someone fired shots from an alley. people tried to run away when another person fired at them with an assault rifle. three of the people killed were siblings one a pregnant woman. >> it was just mass chaos. everywhere. yelling. and there were children in the house. and they moved some of the children out of the house where all of the events took place and to another house. >> three people were also hurt. police are still searching for the people responsible as well as a motive. an update on a manatee county judge accused of accepting baseball tickets from a law firm. judge lackland resigned this week.

found probable cause that he committed an ethics violation. he accepted rays tickets from a law firm that represented a client on a case that he was overseeing. 26 new bills have now been signed into law, including protections for pastors refusing to mary same-sex couples. it's called the pastor protection act. it will give churches and pastors immunity from litigation if they deny a marriage they don't support on religious grounds. well, it was a big day in st. petersburg today as officials raised the firestone grand prix flag. st. pete residents and verizon indy car series participating in the event. it's the 12th year for the race in st. pete. >> really solidifying the fact that st. petersburg is an international community. we love our visitors that come for the race. not only our city but all

to watch the best race car drivers in the world. >> the events begin tomorrow down in st. pete. but you can watch it live on sunday at 12:30 right here on abc action news. an update on a box of puppies. >> they were left abandoned on the side of the road in tampa last month. happy news for those eight puppies. they are going home. this is what the dogs looked like when they were found. all of them had severe mange. but within a month, this is hold on. >> there. >> there it is. this is what the final five being adopted out looked like. only one puppy sadly out of all of that did not make it. next at 5:30-n is all that is left of a teacher's sacrifice. coming up, the one thing she did that may have saved the life of her students. and later, it's one of the

straight ahead, how a stranger's silent act helped a woman reach a milestone. at 6:00, a bay area man is here at the hernando jail being held on more than a million dollars bond. ahead, the monstrous crimes

>> a california teacher is recovering after saving a student from a falling tree. you can see workers cutting that large tree down. witnesses say she sacrificed her own safety to save the student. she warned students to back away. the branch missed the children but hit shea. she is expected to make a full recovery. a big rig is nearly knocked off the interstate after jack knifing. the 18-wheeler's driver made it out with just bumps and bruises. no other vehicles were involved. the truck was transporting clothes and some other merchandise. well, tampa bay ranks high when it cups to prejudice

according to the website abado, tampa ranks third for transgender tweets. it used twitter to discern areas of the country where prejudice is the most prevalent. for every 1,000 tweets, 99 were against transgender people in las vegas. this is the moment this so many people are talking about online. a north carolina woman who is deaf got to order for the first time at a fast food restaurant. cynthia is fluent in sign language. she heard about a young cashier at chick-fil-a who knew sign language and decided to put her to the test. >> if you notice in the video, she looked at me like is this working? am i really doing this? so she really enjoyed doing that. she is looking forward to going back. >> that cashier you see right

she learned high school when she was younger so she could communicate with family members who are deaf. today republican senators insisting they will block president obama from nominating a supreme court justice. >> senator lindsey gram saying the party is setting a precedent that presidents in the final year should not fill vacancies in the highest course. marcie gonzales reports. >> reporter: today democratic members meeting with president obama to discuss potential nominees for the supreme court. >> we didn't recommend names. we didn't recommend any changes to the process. what is at stake is the constitutes. >> reporter: the death of justice antonin scalia last month leaving a vacant seat in the nation's highest court, one that the president has vowed to fill, leaving republicans insisting that they will not allow a hearing or vote on anyone that obama nominates. >> there hasn't been a vacancy

election year filled in 80 years. this vacancy will not be filled this year. we will look forward to the american people deciding who they want to make this appointment through their own votes. >> reporter: but according to the latest abc news "washington post" poll, 63% of americans don't think the selection process should be stalled. >> they say let the people decide. well, the people have decided. we're not going to drop any nominee into an election year caldron. >> reporter: president obama insisting he will not be influenced by gop pressure. >> i don't feel constrained in terms of the pool to draw from. in terms of who i select, i'm going to do my job. and then my expectation is that the senate will do its job as outlined in the constitution. >> reporter: still no timeline on how soon a nominee could be announced. no official word on who is

marcie gonzales, abc news, new york. >> marcie, thank you. right now a slow-moving storm system is soaking the central and southeastern u.s. the water is blamed for two deaths. a man was killed in texas after his kayak cap sized and a driver in louisiana died after flood waters swept his car off the road. this is desoto county in mississippi where a woman had to be rescued this afternoon, driving in the dangerous lehigh flood waters. we tell people not to do that all the time. watch as she drives deeper in the water. they had to rescue her. thankfully the strangers were there to save her. amazing they are dealing with things like that and we have the weather that we have here. >> it gives me the chills to watch a video like that. >> we know what it's like. we had it last summer. >> you tell people all the time, turn around, don't drown. >> it's not worth it. >> don't do it. >> exactly. as far as we're concerned,

gorgeous it is here. the river gate tampa tower camera looking beautiful out there. camera is still shaking a little bit. granted it is zoomed in a bit so we tend to get a shake even when it zooms in. we have had the gusty winds again, up to about 25 miles per hour. i'm watching some improvement there. but overall i think the big focus has been the temperatures. just how warm we are. we're still in the mid to upper 70s close to the beaches. lakeland at 82. brooksville also 84 degrees. bartow at 79. in and around tampa bay, the closer to the water you get, the more moderate the temperatures are. but still well above average for this time of year. 78 in st. pete. 79 in tampa. 81 in mcclear. mcdill at 79. brandon at 86 degrees.

scanning the skies and getting board all day. again, we haven't had any rain. we're on the very dry side. with the winds out there coming from the southeast, even though it's pumping in some low-level moisture as humidity, we're not getting enough moisture and enough lift where we would get showers. again, over the last three hours, not a thing coming down. and the futurecast has been showing a slight chance for a few showers on the east side of the state. but not seeing any of that moving into our area. in fact, through midnight, we continue with the southeast flow. and just a few clouds passing by. nothing that is really going to create a significant blanket to keep us real warm. but the temperatures are still going to be above normal just because of the fact that we've had such a warm flow of air and so much sunshine for the last few days. warm and humid will continue right into tomorrow. here is that storm system that i'm keeping an eye on. now, again, it's a slow mover. that's why we're seeing the flooding concerns continuing throughout some of the states that it is encountering right

but for us, the rain chances are going to go up on sunday, after about noon. the heaviest rain will be rolling through our northern counties, north of tampa bay. that doesn't mean that tampa bay will be completely dry. but the heaviest rain will be around pasco county and into hernando and citrus counties as we continue on into the evening especially. but we will have a 50% chance of rain in and around tampa. then it will gradually taper as you go to the south. tomorrow morning, temperatures in the low to mid 60s again. if you're planning to head off to the beaches, looking gorgeous. 86 is the high at clearwater beach tomorrow. quick look at the 7-day forecast. best chances for rain is sunday through tuesday, with slightly lower temperatures into early next week. back to you guys. >> shay, thank you. next at 5:30, online dating just got easier. the one thing that women need to do to get better results.

news app for your mobile phone and tablet. just search abc action news in

>> a hernando county man is facing charges tonight avenue after evening stroll. neighbors say there was just one thing missing.

have on any clothes. deputies found him skinny dipping. he said walking naked helped reduce stress. he is charged with exposure of sex organs. new research about online love. >> one of the largest dating sites says women who reach out first have a better chance for success. okcupid says women who initiative the response are more likely to get a response than where men make the first move. >> there you go. a 25-year-old writer in china is writing novels with her feet. she has published four books over the past ten years. she was unable to use her arms because of cerebral palsy. she started learning to write chinese figures with her feet. she wants to set up her own

now here is wendy ryan with a look at what is happening at 6:00. >> thanks, laura. all eyes on florida today. democrats and republicans trying to win your vote. we have coverage from both coasts. up next how deputies are describing what this man is accused of doing to children. >> they died serving our country. their immediate family can't get one of these. how that could change coming

>> live from the station taking action for you, this is abc action news. >> florida is ground zero tonight on the presidential campaign trail. bernie sanders and hillary clinton are here in tampa and the republicans are gearing up for the debate tonight. we have live team coverage coast to coast. i'm jamison uhler. >> and i'm wendy ryan. thanks for joining us. breaking news. a 3-year-old shot in a drive-by shooting in st. petersburg. >> it happened on 10th avenue south near tropicana field. sarah rosario is on the scene with the latest on that search. >> reporter: we're told that toddler and the 23-year-old

porch when shots raping out, bullets hitting both of them. thankfully police tell us they are expected to be okay. officers are working to find answers to several questions, who was responsible and why. is this targeted? taking a look at video as investigators look for anything that may lead them to a suspect. they're looking for a white four-door car, possibly a dodge challenger. neighbors heard several gunshots but police are not saying how many. one of those bullets leaving its mark here in the glass that you see of the front porch window. police tell us that 23-year-old victim is a neighbor who we're told was just hanging out at the house. the child's grandmother inside the house at the time was not hurt. we spoke to a neighbor who didn't want to show her face. she heard the gunshots, ran outside, watched in terror moments after the shooting. the grandmother with her 3-year- old in her arms. >> she was screaming.