easy to remove the offensive messages on di place in public. state park. vandalism. channel 9's roy ramos spoke with visitors who say they can't believe someone would damage the natural beauty like that. >> feels almost tropical, so you >>. >>reporter: every day, kayakers paddle down this portion of the wekiva river. especially on a picture perfect day like this. kayakers tell me they come to this area right off of katie's landing to get the beautiful scenery, like here, but they say when they came across these trees spray painted with symbols like kkk and swastika, for some, it ruined their experience. >> every tree was marked up. with kkk, or nazi symbols, swastikas.

up and down the river for 25 years, but today, he hoped his grandson would experience the river with him. instead, it was to face trees covered in black spray paint with messages his grandson never expected to see in a state park. >> it's disgusting, and you know, i hope not in my lifetime i'd see that kind of thing. >>reporter: we reached to park rangers who said they were aware of the markings that were brought to their tension yesterday. they notified fwc, now investigating the vandalism, but it's -- worries the anti-semantic messages of hate will tarnish the experience tourists have on the river. >> it would offend just about anybody with common sense. >> a beautiful, beautiful day, but you know, it did put a little bit of a cloud on the sunny day. >>reporter: in seminole county, roy ramos, channel 9 yns news. >> officials have been working a controlled burn in the park, they have not been able to determine how to remove the markings without damaging the trees.

find the vandals responsible. defeating the donald, there is a movement already underway to knock off the repen front-runner -- republican front-runner. the idea, a third party candidate. chris, is this premature, considering there are two other republicans in the race? it's never too early, kasich and cruz are in the race, cruz has a mathematical chance to beat trifrp, it is a long shot -- trump, it is a long shot. he did win enough that he's pulling away from the field, which now has republicans considering their options, and looking for someone, anyone, to take the lead, even if that mean s running against their own nominee. >> i love the poorly educated. >> that's really what donald trump is all about. >>reporter: republicans spent 16 million dollars in attack ads to stop this from happening in florida. >> we're leading by a lot.

>>reporter: a landslide victory has donald trump on the way to the republican nomination, a prospect that has some republicans considering a third party candidate. political reporting today, that top republicans will meet on thursday to weigh their options. >> no third party candidate has ever won the presidency, in american history. >>reporter: the third party idea may just be wishful thinking, on the part of some within the gop. election rules would make it difficult for such a candidate to qualify in all 50 states. the idea of splitting off has been simmering for a while now, last month, top republican donors asked the gop consulting firm to research an independent presidential bid, those finds like today showed it would be difficult to under take that kind of task. bob and martha. orlando police are looking for two men they think might be bind a couple recent armed robberies.

subway last monday and grab cash from the register. you see the one in the green shirt, he's got a gun in his hand. police think these two may have robbed the mercy market on mercy drive the same day. one orange county parent says she's not going to stop posting videos like this one showing drivers blowing right past a school bus, which her daughter was on, until something is done about it. channel 9's jeff deal sat down with the parent today. deputies have been trying to crack down on the drivers they told you it will take extra patrols to fix the problem. >>reporter: they say that a a wareness is key, that people need to realize just how dangerous this is. this is a bus stop that we're talking about right back here, you can see the orange bench over there on the corner. this is a very busy street, and a lot of cars could go by, people don't stop, a child could get killed. this is the video. >> while the bus the s stoped with the lights on.

>>reporter: one orange county parent wants people to see. cars blowing past the stopped school bus with its red lights flashing warning drivers to stop. >> in the lane right next to them. right after it. the turn lane, doesn't matter. they just go fly right by. >>reporter: she has been gathering these videos at her daughter's school bus stop on 436 and posting them on social media since january. >> all cars travelling in the same direction. are supposed to come to a stop. >>reporter: she says nearly every day, drivers ignore the law, requiring drivers to stop. she contacted us after a seeing our story yesterday. highlighting similar concerns from a parent at a nearby bus stop. >> we have a real problem here. people don't respect the school buses. >>reporter: today, we saw sheriff's deputy citing people for illegally passing school buses, that were picking children up. the sheriff's office says it does regular enforcement efforts but recognizes this is a county wide problem. there are 13,000 school bus stops in the county. >> there needs to be a budget

that they can get caught. >>reporter: other states use cameras on buses to catch drivers breaking the law. florida has considered it but a house bill that would allow cameras for enforcing the law here died in committee last week. there was also a senate bill that involved school bus stop safety that died but the camera portion was taken out of that pretty early on in the process because of the same concerns about problems that we've seen with the red light cameras. reporting live in orange county, jeff deal, channel 9 eyewitness news. folks living in one seminole county neighborhood will get a chance to express how they feel about a proposed development. >> the catholic diocese of orlando has decided to sell part of this 500 aircraft piece of property near 436. back in 2014, the county didn't allow the church to build on the property as they had hoped so they have decided to sell it. the new developer told us they plan on creating a high-end

of a footprint than the previous plan. >> vacant property is such high demand, we're in such a great area, if it's available, they're going to build on it. >> the dropper says the meeting will be scheduled in the next 30 days to get input from the community. right now, lawmakers debating -- a veteran stuck on the phone trying to make an appointment with the v.a.. >> more than a million people have watched this video, the faster care for veterans act authorizes the v.a. to develop a mobile app for vets to make appointments. the sponsor of the bill is a veteran himself and says simply finding the a prointment making process is a no-brainer. >> it's not a democratic issue, or a republican issue, it's an american issue. >> he says is optimistic that bill will get a vote. numbers show 22 veterans per day commit suicide. and even though many of them tried to get help, it didn't work out. however, there's a new form of treatment now that some veterans

but the v.a. won't pay for it. channel 9's justin gray joins us now from washington, there's a push in congress aimed at getting service dogs to vets suffering from severe cases of ptsd. >>reporter: two different veterans today who told me very similar story, both of them tried medication, they tried counseling, but those traditional treatments weren't working. marine corps veteran tried medication, he tried counseling, but none f it helped with the nightmares brought on by ptsd until his service dog came home. >> i felt like the sleep aids weren't really working and i felt like the anti-depressants were exacerbating my issues. >>reporter: he was getting his treatment through the v.a. but it doesn't pay for service dogs, his family helped pick up the cost, there's also charities that can help, but for most veterans, it's just not an option. >> they're stuck in the v.a. system and trying to get better on their own.

service dog like molly doesn't cost cheap, $25-35,000. a new bill by florida congressman called the paws act would have the v.a. start picking up the tab for service dogs for veterans with severe cases of post-traumatic stress. >> i think it's a very common sense bill. i think it will give veterans more options. and i do think that it could potentially save lives. >>reporter: now doing well in college, his service dog trained to notice when the nightmares are coming and wake him up. the restless nights, now rare. >> a dog, more than a pill can give you a sense of purpose, it gives you a reason to wake nup the -- up in morning. >>reporter: to get service dogs to other vets suffering like he was. >> if it pass as, the paws act would provide 10 million dollars for the program. reporting live in washington, justin gray, channel 9 eyewitness news. meanwhile, leaders in central florida are looking for ways to help our local veterans, tomorrow night, concerned veterans for america is holding

park, organizers are going to discuss long wait lists at the v.a. and delayed access for care for veterans. the event starts at 7:00 p.m.. today, construction on the nearly 2 billion dollars south terminal complex was approved to start. he's a picture of how the new complex would look. the greater orlando aviation authority signed off on the project after word that increased passenger traffic may cause a problem with the current terminal. a bill that would help families rebury their loved ones whose remains were found at a shuttered reform school is sitting on governor rick scott's deck. 51 bodies at the author g. doech sher school. yesterday, state lawmakers sent a bill to scott asking for 1.5 million dollars, to cover funeral expenses for the family. paychecks to all 1400 of orange county's poll workers just bounced.

find out what happened to all of the money. and ahead at 5:00, what fishes are doing at a vacant -- officials are doing at a vacant school to help. >> this local man paid off a new car loan but a big lender kept his title. just about perfect for spring break, and your outdoor activities so far this week, but we have some big changes,

an osceola county man claims a major lender drained his bank account long after his loan was paid off and now he can't get a title for the van he owns.

and todd got answers for that man and ten other consumers. >>reporter:less hill bought his hyundai. they kept withdrawing payments after his loan was paid off. >> they know they have my money. >>reporter: and they're not responding to your complaint? >> correct. >>. >>reporter: he claims they owe him $1,000 and he can't get a title to a car he owns out right. >> they're not giving me an pay my title. >>reporter: no help. >> no help. >>reporter: they are a big lender for local new car credit issues. since last year, action 9 tried to help ten other consumers who complained they did not credit their accounts for payments made. lee showed us statements.

$22,000 but still owed $20,000 on a $21,000 loan. >> my third year, i'm not even close. >>reporter: they have more than 1800 complaints, at the bbb. but it's rated a plus because it responds. since our investigation began, they were accuseded in this lawsuit of illegal repossessions. against men and women in the service. it settled the complaint. agreeing to pay more than 89 million dollars to con -- 9 million dollars to consumers hurt by the practice and change the are po policy. they reviewed all of the consumer complabts we sent -- complaints we sent and many were resolved. the company said it's now reviewing hill's account. >> i'm not getting what i'm asking for. >>reporter: and a st. cloud woman told me her recent new car payments were mishandled. after we contacted the lender,

current for the first time in six months. todd ulrich, channel 9 eyewitness news. last month, 9 investigated show you when an employee at a state mental facility was attacked by a patient. one bill allows florida to set up mental health supporters of the bill say it will help get mental health patients into programs and instead of behind bars. >> we've seen all of these horrible articles, bad things happening in the prison system. nobody wins by sending them there. >> the other bill creates a so-called no long door policy that allows people who need treatment to get it no matter how they enter the system. neighbors along canoe creek. on monday, a young woman was hit by a car while walking to work and they have seen 30 other people injured in wrecks since the start of 2015.

missing street lights, left the most recent victim, particularly vulnerable to that fast-moving traffic. >> the road is pitch black early in the morning and at night. when you're trying to drive. you can't see anything and you see people riding their bikes and can walking all the time. and you don't see them until you're on top of them. >> an osceola county spokesperson told eyewitness news that widening the road and adding bike lanes and sidewalks are all planned for 2019 and 2020, he says the county would be open to a joint project with the city of st. cloud. even sooner than that. folks here on spring break are happy with the beautiful, warm and toasty weather we're having, but changes are coming here we go, it's been very consistent, here, we've been quite warm, we had another 89 in daytona today. where they are certainly taking in the sunshine there. make sure you've got your sunscreen ready. it will burn you in a hurry. 87 degrees right now.

keeping that sea breeze offshore. and the high today, 87. i don't think we'll hit 90. there's that 1 degree shy of a record and came in 2 degrees shy for melbourne. either way, it's warm. 80s across the board. the lone changer is cocoa beach with the onshore breeze, down to 79. altamonte springs mostly cloudy tonight. a deck of high clouds from the gulf of mexico. this will keep us just a little bit cooler tomorrow, we're still on the warmer side of the equation, though. 88 for clermont. 87 in titusville. bill changes coming. let me take you through this. tomorrow, we're still looking pretty quiet in the morning, areas of fog, mainly across the northern and central zones, isolated showers later in the day tomorrow, looks like a little surge of energy sliding by to the north. about a 20% rain coverage tomorrow, still looks pretty good overall. friday, couple of showers early in the morning, a little bit of late day sunshine, most of

forecast model is bringing rain in later in the day, friday evening, so friday evening plans, may get washed out. saturday morning, starting with some scattered showers and then raining again in the afternoon. of course, we have the bay hill, arnold pal mour invitation, goes through sunday. mostly cloudy skies. still relatively good weather, though, for outdoor plan, golfing, whatever you have planned. but by friday, again, late day storms moving in, highss in the lower 80s. saturday, looks to be a wet day. with scattered showers in the morning, couple of rom possible in the afternoon which -- rumble of thunder possible in the afternoon. sunday, showers and mainly in the morning. and it will be cooling down towards the end of the weekend as well. so tomorrow is going to be your better day for beach plans. 85, melbourne, cocoa beach, 84 at merit island and titusville.

overall, still pretty nice. but we're going to start to get some rain. and then quite a bit cooler to start out monday. there's your five-day forecast with your weekend always in view. an isolated shower tomorrow, rain moves in late friday, sticks around friday night, through parts of saturday, and including into sunday. so we'll l have more on this. we'll see you again at 6:00. tom, it is another devastating mistake, made during orange county's election, we broke this story at 5:00, 1400 poll workers were paid with bad checks. working to find out how this even happened. plus. >> not everyone is celebrating plans to build a new ucf campus downtown. all new at 6:00, why some neighbors are concerned about what the project means for them. and residents could only watch as this massive fire destroyed a brevard county land mark at 6:00, why the pumpkin house was so important to cocoa

volusia county leaders are deciding whether to purchase an abandoned daytona beach school and transform it into a homeless shelter. that move would be aimed at solving a homeless problem in daytona, which earlier this year, forced a government building to close down. the abandoned school is located along wright street in the daytona beach where steve barrett spent the day. buying that school would cost $200,000. >>reporter: yeah, but that's actually a good deal on this property for the county, this deal that's being worked out between the sxoun the school -- county and the school district would bring new light into this abandoned school.

many of them right now, living in hotels. last night t the volusia county school board voted family to explore a contract with the county to durn the vacant hurst elementary school into a complex to provide housing for 300 people. parents and their school-aged children, volusia county has been plagued with problems, connected to homelessness, including the recent em campment. it was broken up last month. more than 2,000 children are among the homeless in this county, the hurst elementary deal, includes a $200,000 purchase of the property. by volusia county. then, it would be transferred to the halifax urban ministries, to be converted into a shelter complex. and you're looking at the neighborhood around this school right now, a lot of -- dozens of foreclosure homes, part of the plan is would be to get federal money to fix up some of the neighborhood houses here.

homeless families. reporting live in volusia county, steve barrett, channel 9 eyewitness news. a couple of home invasion suspects are on the run tonight. but the victim of the crime is the one facing charges. 31-year-old michael was arrested after police spotted cocaine on his kitchen table during the investigation. orlando police say two men had broken into the apartment on conway road, shot and killed his dog, and stole his car. he was arrested on drug charges and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. breaking right now, in orange county, yet another big issue with the supervisor of elections office. >> we should have enough ballots. >> next at 6:00, we're understanding answers about why there was no money to pay 1400 poll workers. and the video is astounding, a beach side mansion on fire in cocoa beach. at 6:00, what else we're learn about the history of this land mark home. and then all new, 9:00 investigates why one of the

sz channel 9 eyewitness news continues right now at 6:00. tonight's major story, the election melt down in orange county. record turnouts at the polls were met with a shortage of ballots. and now at 6:00, more than 1,000 poll woeshgs can't even -- workers can't even get paid. a tip into the channel 9 news room led us to discover the lack of funds at the orange county supervisor of elections. >> that agency is already under fire for running out of certain ballots during the republican and democratic primaries.

workers whose paychecks wouldn't go through and the elections office can't afford another blemish like this one. >>reporter: this is something they don't want to happen, they depend so much on these poll workers during election night, take a look at back here, you can see where the poll workers are pulling up right now, going into the tept and receiving -- tent and receiving handwritten checks. out what happened with the ballots last night when he it gs the call that 1400 poll workers have their checks bounced. poll workers showed up at 5:00 today to get paid again. poll works were paid by check yesterday, but the checks were no good. poll workers lined up late this evening to this tent to try to collect. >> the workers are not getting paid. and they're upset. >>reporter: the issue according to the supervisor of elections is that the payroll company didn't put the money into the account. the account is only useded to