live from the station taking action for you, this i now at 5:00, breaking news on i-4. a deadly crash near downtown is impacting your morning commute. janelle martinez is tracking traffic. she's got your detours just ahead. the extension project expected to bring some much-needed traffic relief here in tampa, but it doesn't come without a few headaches. ahead in the live report, the impact that it could have on local businesses. and one dog owner is warning people to check their pantries

dog. all those stories for you coming up in just pa moment. thanks for joining us on this finally friday morning. i'm dan. >> we want to check in now with ivan for a look at our forecast this morning. >> i think we are going to be off to a great start. similar to yesterday. a lot of sunshine out there. a few scattered clouds as we head through the afternoon. temperatures right now, every single morning we've been on. a couple degrees warmer and warmer. that's been the pattern here. mid 70s right now. we peel go back into again. so certainly warmer than normal. not oppressively humid, but humid enough for the 88 will feel like about 90, 91. 69 in brooksville. look at crystal river. cheating there at the mid 60s. we'll take that. but all of us warming up well into the 80s this afternoon. doppler pretty quiet right now. we'll begin to see those showers sneaking in by the afternoon. get a little more coverage here. 10% would be about it. i think we are staying mostly

weekend forecast here with higher coverage as far as the showers and even thunderstorms through sunday. talk more about that in detail in a few minutes. >> yeah, ivan, this is not what we like to talk about on a friday morning, but we have a deadly crash right at the junction here. i-275 and i-4. so this is gonna be the westbound ramp from i-4 to southbound 275. this is video taken just a little while ago. we know one person was killed in this crash. it happened about an hour and a half ago. so expec for some time. looks like we have a motorcycle involved in this crash. a lot of activity out there on the roadway. so we will continue to watch this. right now, we can tell you if you are heading westbound on i-4, getting ready to head out the door and you are trying to get into downtown tampa, you might want to consider taking the connecter and take the expressway into downtown. otherwise, if you are coming in on i-4, they are going to take you northbound on 275. you'll have to go to mlk and

unfortunately, we have another serious crash to tell you about, this one in polk county, county line road south of u.s. 92. fhp saying this is a possible fatal crash, as well. we'll continue to watch both of these crashes. make sure you are following me on twitter and stay right here. back to you guys. >> thanks. 5:02 now -- make that 5:03. big concerns this morning for tampa business owners over the extension project. the plan will add an elevated toll lane over gandy boulevard. abc action is live this morning along gandy. what exactly are they worried about? >> well, dan, traffic, or at least the lack thereof, during construction. we spoke with one business owner who believes he'll see his profits cut by at least 30% during construction. >> i've never been for or against it. i think that it could be good. it's gonna hurt. will i get all my business back? i hope. >> he certainly hopes so.

up traffic issues in this area. the elevated lanes will run for 1.6 miles from the foot of the gandy bridge connecting to the expressway, essentially connecting brandon to u.s. 19 nonstop. now, unfornl gnatly -- unfortunately, area businesses will have to deal with the pain of this construction. this construction project is expected to last about three years. a number of drivers are happy to hear about at 6 a.m. >> thanks, rodney. four minutes after 5:00. we are getting our first look this morning at the man accused of a deadly hit and run that killed a hillsboro county high school student. investigators say the 56-year-old clearwater man hit and killed 17-year-old ashley. she was trying to catch a bus home from work wednesday night when she was hit. grief counselors had been at her high school.

constantino yesterday. a man accused of crashing his truck full speed into a lakeland house is expected in court today. 24-year-old ryan talan is in jail on dui manslaughter charges. investigators say he crashed his truck into the guest room of this home on orange valley drive. janice had just walked into the room. she was killed by the impact. after the crash, he tried to walk home. he has a long list of traffic violations. in fact, in 29, contest to a dui causing injury. the man accused of kidnapping a four-year-old girl from polk county and triggering a multi-state amber alert should also be in court today. west wild hogs is charged with kidnapping rebecca luis. her family says he was a friend and took the girl from their lakeland trailer home saturday. she was found safe on monday when a guard at a hospital in memphis, tennessee recognized hogs and rebecca. hogs was extradited from tennessee and booked into the polk county jail yesterday.

got quite a scare after finding this man #14r50e7ing in her bed. pasco deputies identified the trooper as steven. he told deputies he broke into that home, ate a bologna sandwich and took a nap. a pinellas county deputy is off the job and facing charges after investigators say he pawned his service weapon. authorities say steven smith sold his glok ..45 caliber pistol for 250 bucks to the silver dollar pawnshop in newport richey. he stole a bottle of hydrocodone she was supposed to destroy. governor rick scott says five new locally transmitted cases have been confirmed in the little river area. the cdc is advising pregnant women not to travel to this neighborhood, about one square mile in size. the cdc also says pregnant women and their partners may not want to go to any part of miami-dade

underway in the miami beach area. the online fight between st. pete mayor rick and city councilman steve cornell is getting nastier. they are at odds after cornell compared the city's nearly 200 gallon sewage discharge to the 2010 deepwater horizon oil spill. this week, cornell posted on facebook an unflattering article from the tampa bay times about the response to the sewage spill. earlier this month, mayor chrism b twitter. cornell originally responded on facebook that he wasn't going to engage in a debate. we are expecting a major update on tainted water wells in polk county next week. independent tests do show elevated levels of radioactivity. the testing company says other elements found in the same tests point to a natural source of the contamination and not necessarily the mosaic ksc sink hole. the official says all of the other chemicals found in the

radioactivity in water in central florida can be found in many wells far, far away from mosaic, and those are due to just the geology of central florida and, you know, the depth to which the well was drilled. >> the water, with elevated radioactivity, is now being sent for a second phase of testing to help determine exactly where the contamination is coming from. a new study shows that where you go to college may depend on th a new research shows black and latino students are far less likely to attend elite public universities than students of other reyeses. researchers say minority students most often attend less selected universities in community college with lower graduation rates. a new bill lord in south florida is definitely an attention grabber. take a look at this one. it reads hey, isis, you suck. we told you about the same billboards going up in other cities. they are also in chicago, phoenix, and st. louis. the billboards are paid for by a

terror group. two chihauhaus are alive this morning. when firefighters got to this house on oak view avenue, it was already engulfed in flames. firefighters pulled the dogs out of that burning home just in time, giving them oxygen right away. investigators say they believe this fire started accidentally. a baltimore woman has a warning for other pet parents this morning. she says her dog died after eating pet food. anna cesar filet mignon dog food. the company that makes that had recalled that product saying a potential choking risk from hard, white pieces of plastic entered during production. her dog died hours later. >> it's hard to die like

pet company, which makes the pet food, the recalled pet food. it reported the recall to the food and drug administration. the company says that it is investigating. one animal shelter in the panhandle. the only thing bigger than the dogs they just rescue -- rescued is the outpouring of support they are receiving. last wednesday, contacted the animal refuge saying the breeder -- their bre to take in their 73 great danes. great danes. yeah. the refuge brought them in 20 at a time, put the dogs up for adoption online. >> when they heard we had 73 of them, it completely blew up our facebook and telephones and actually shorted out our web site for a time. >> right now, there is a waiting list for every dog. if you want to help, the refuge is asking for cash donations.

added burden of these morn 70 great danes. we'll find out what has always a cute one. 72 this morning. not as cool. we've been talking about that 6789 temperatures once again this afternoon approach 90 degrees. we'll do that with partly cloudy skies. a couple of showers in the forecast, but the weekend looks a little bit higher coverage. we'll talk in detail about that coming up after the break. it is 11 minutes after 5:00. london zoo after gorilla escapes his cage. why the zoo says the public, though, was never in any danger. and flooded homes and damaged roofs might not be the worst damage the hurricane leaves behind. new research linking storms to people's state of mind years

y2576y yy6y 15 minutes after 5:00. we've got tragic news in new york died after plunging down an elevator shaft. now, we're learning just how unsafe the building is. investigators say the mother was pushing her stroller into the elevator, but the car was not there. the mom and her newborn fell 8 stories. the mother survived the fall. the elevator car was apparently under repair, but there were no warning signs posted, and records show that building has 50 open code violations including four for elevators. in the past two years, tenants

a gorilla escaped from its den into a secure keeper area, but it still triggered a lockdown. officials had to use a tranquilizer gun to subdue the gorilla. about 100 visitors had to stay in the cafeteria during the search. no one was hurt. a new study shows that natural disasters can leave behind more devastation than just flooded homes and destroyed buildings. it can also tear families and lives apart. is a little known and tragic legacy of hurricane katrina in 2005. they point to the rise of hospitalizations for alcohol and drug misuse at local medical centers. researchers say three years after katrina, the rate of hospitalizations for those with substance abuse disorders was 35% higher than before the hurricane. most affected? people between the ages of 20 and 49, people exposed to the deepest flood waters, and those living in neighborhoods where

a lot of folks lose their livelihoods, their belongings, and in some cases, family members, as well. no surprise there. as far as the tropics for us, nicole battered bermuda yesterday, reyesing off to the north atlantic at this point here. not a threat to bermuda any longer. we were quiet. not expecting any development over the next five days across the entire atlantic base, including the caribbean and the gulf of mexico, which is completely clear. mostly have clouds right now, so we are in through today, a little warmer than we should be this time of year. in fact, mid 70s. that's even above where we should will be in the morning. where we should be is where chris kal river, brooksville, zephyr hills are right now. mid and upper 60s. the rest of us in the 70s. temperatures aren't gonna fall as rapidly at night. there it is. that east wind continuing to bring a shower. we've been talking about that pattern stuck with us here the next couple days.

second here. 70s and then low 80s by 11:00. we'll do this with mostly sunny skies. no oppressively humid, but humid enough where the 88 will feel like about 90/92 with the future cast showing sprinkles dwopg through the amp. as we continue tapping into that moisture off the atlantic. up above, we've been limited with how much rain we've had because of dry air. the dry air will begin to erode and that will allow for that east flow to bring us more coverage of even higher coverage, 40% for sunday. the reason for that, we have disturbance going to swing in from the north and west. that one may allow for some of the showers to turn to thunderstorms on sunday. wouldn't be surprised to hear some thunder, get some lightning out there. 87 this afternoon for plant city. apollo beach, 88. generally in the upper 80s right along the coast. mid 80s across the interior as well. again, with a bit more humid conditions. it'll feel warmer.

30% coverage again for showers on saturday, then sundays, thunderstorms get worked into the forecast, about 40%. then dry behind that disturbance on monday and tuesday followed by our next big rain chance. that's coming in with a cold front late next week. good morning. sadly, we are dealing with a fatal motorcycle crash this morning right at the downtown junction with 275 and i-4. so the westbound lanes of i-4, if you are heading to 275, that ramp is blocked. you can start to s this crash. this happened about an hour and a half ago so expect that ramp to be closed for some time. let's go ahead and take a look at this on the maps. you can see what your options are. you can see the backup continues right through city. they're making cars get off north on 275. you can take mlk to florida to head back towards downtown. another option for you is to take the connecter to the expressway if you are trying to get into downtown. the only thing there is they are doing that overnight pressure

possible those lanes could already be clear. if you are heading out the door in the next five to ten minutes, expressway could be another option for you. i'll keep you posted on twitter at tampa bay traffic. 5:19, jeopardy host alex trebec antinerd. here is what happened when one contestant tries to explain the nerd core hip hop genre. >> people identified as nerdy rapping about the things they fiction, having a hard time meeting romantic partners, you know. it's really catchy and fun. >> losers, in other words. [ laughter ] >> oh my combosh. -- gosh. >> trebec went onto laugh and say he was just teasing. that contest ant we haven't onto prove being a nerd is a pretty good thing. she won more than $22,000, destroying the competition. >> good for her. really, alex?

a little boy who was given a cold shoulder by his so-called friends. how this firefighter saved the day. picking out a halloween costume can be the best part of the holiday, but what is funny to one person can be offensive to another. next, how one florida college is

by your tv to catch up on the news. that's why we've got you covered right here with the abc action news live stream. you can't afford to miss the next weather situation, traffic problem, or job fair that could change your day, and you don't have to. download our free app and catch up whenever you find a free second. >> the abc action news live stream. download the free app and press play. prauth to -- brought to you by

afrjts little boy in texas devastated when nobody showed up to his birthday party. >> things quickly turned around thanks to big-hearted heroes in the community. it all came together after a woman saw facebook posts from tyler's heartbroken mom saying not one friend showed up for her son's party. that woman called her husband, the town's fire chief. he asked his crew to respond to an emergency of a different kind. >> first, they gave me a fire helmet. >> and it was all it? >> yep. >> by the firefighters. what did you think of that? >> i was very happy. >> his mom says her son is really shy, and the visit worked wonders for lifting his spirits. she's already planning his 12th birthday and the firefighters are on the guest list. >> how about that. with halloween just around the corner, the university of florida has a warning for students. be sensitive about the costumes that you choose. >> they say don't choose anything that might offend anyone. good grief. how is that even possible these days, you might ask? they're even offering counseling

some costumes may reinforce stereotypes of particular reyeses, genders, koultures, or religions. the university says students can report offensive costumes and talk to a counselor, if needed, adding there's a 24/7 counselor in the counseling and wellness center. it is 5:26 right now. coming up, neighbors are rallying around a polk county family. this is just a heartbreaking scene there. it's a tragic scene where five-year-old

y256yy yy6y live from the station taking action for you, this is abc action news. two men hospitalized this morning after a shootout earlier this week in st. pete. coming up, the surveillance video the sheriff wants you to see. also at 5:30, is hilary clinton a shoe in for the white house? new data says yes. and also, who donald trump says is responsible for his sagging numbers. good morning chl thank you for starting your day with us. >> we have a big issue on i-4 this morning. definitely going to impact your morning commute. let's get an update on the roads with janelle. >> you want to leave yourself a