distribution] good morning. i'm ryan elijah. i'm luanne sorrell. thanks for waking up with us! here are the stories we are working on this morning. first-- a sanford man is will appear before a judge today... after his niece accidentally shoots and kills herself with a gun in his home. straight ahead-- why investigators say he never should have had a weapon in the first place. plus this-- political groups in florida are now

race to the white house. why they say the candidate is not fit for the job. and big news for u- c-f downtown. the project has gotten another green light. coming up... what needs to be done next... to get the plan moving forward. toss to kristin new this morning...

sheriff's office is investigating.. after reports of an explosion at a speedway. this all happening... at "orlando speed world" ... off colonial drive in bithlo. here is video from the scene.. where witnesses reported seeing a motorcycle explode. right now... we're being told that one person was taken to the hospital... but no word on their condition. officials have not said what the victim was doing at the time of the explosion.. or what caused it.

a seminole county man will appear before a judge today-- after his niece accidentally shoots and kills herself... while playing with a gun in his home. that man is a convicted felon-- which means he should have never had the weapon in the first place. police say erik williams was watching 6-year-old a'leatha burke tuesday night at his home in sanford -- when the little girl found a loaded gun in the living room. officers say the gun went off-- hitting her in the right shoulder. she later died at the hospital. this is the second shooting like this in seminole county in the past week. last tuesday-- a 3- year old girl shot herself in the hand. sanford police plan to hold a gun safety class next wednesday to teach the proper handling -- and storage -- of guns. new this morning-- ls are emerging in the case of a 3-year-old boy who was injured after falling out of a moving s-u-v in ormond beach. this morning... police say the little boy was trying to drive the s-u-v-- when it rolled into traffic. ormond beach police say it happened tuesday

granada boulevard. they say the mother went inside a store-- leaving the keys-- and her 3-year-old son inside the truck. according to the "daytona news journal" --the boy told police he was trying to drive. he reportedly told investigators he was playing with the keys... and pulled down the shifter-- which caused the s- u-v to roll into traffic. the boy also says he got out of the car... to try and stop it. the case is still under investigation. also new this morning-- the man accused of vandalizing a titusville church will go before a judge today. michael wolfe is scheduled to be arraigned at 8 o'clocj this morning-- in brevard county. he was arrested back in january... after police say he used a machete to destroy a mosque on new year's day. wolfe was originally charged with armed burglary and criminal mischief. but "florida today" reports the charges have been upgraded to a hate crime-- which means-- wolfe could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted. in orange county-- a orlando boy is now speaking out... after saving his friend from drowning in a canal.

risked his own life... to pull him from the water. tiffany teasley has the story. in volusia county-- a man remains behind bars this morning...

with his son ends in gunfire. grady edmondson senior -- is behind bars being held without bond. deputies say he shot his adult son at his volusia county home tuesday afternoon. deputies say the two men were arguing in the driveway when things got heated. that is when they say the dad grabbed a gun.... and fired into his son's chest. friends say the son is expected to make a full recovery. .

republican candidates will go at it-- in their most intimate debate yet. while ben carson stopped short of officailly announcing he's leaving the presidential race yesterday... he did confirm he will not be at tonight's event on fox news. the remaining candidates are expected to team-up against donald trump once again... and they're not alone. here in florida... the race is on to stop the front-runner from running away with the nomination... following his success on super tuesday. the conservative advocacy group "club for growth" is backing a 1.5-million dollar ad here in the sunshine state... that accuses trump of being being a lousy businessman... who hides behind bankuruptcy laws. u-s-a today reports several-dozen prominent g-o-p businessmen are also planning to join forces and fund an anti-trump super pac. democrats are piling on as well. trt:11 oc:piece by piece

to speak on the "state of the 20-16 presidential race". romney has attacked trump in recent weeks... saying the front- runner's unreleased tax returns might be full of "bombshells". meanwhile... trump's rival, marco rubio, is counting on florida to propel him to the head of the pack. marco rubio voted in the florida primary yesterday in west miami-- before continuing his campaign in south florida. the florida primary is on march 15th. fresh off his first win in the presidential race-- rubio is opening up new campaign offices across the sunshine state today. his new offices will be located in orlando.. tampa .. and jacksonville. rubio won the caucus in minnesota on super tuesday-- but still trails donald trump and ted cruz -- by a considerable margin-- in the

*5- the democratic front-runner is getting even more support... by getting jajor endorsement right r21=i%a. state representative ed narain is the chairman of the florida legislblack caucus. he says clinton is the best person for the job. both the democrats and republicans have several contests this weekend. the democrats also have a debate in flint, michigan on sunday. happening now-- it's deadline day in daytona beach. the city and county are looking to reach an agreement on how to handle the area's homeless problem. the two sides are looking to agree to terms on how to finance a new homeless shelter in the area. the daytona beach news journal reports-- that city commissions agreed last night to pay 400-thousand- dollars a year to run the shelter. that is-- as long as

4-million-dollars to build it. back in january-- county council members issued a deadline of today... for the city to find a way to cover the cost of running a 250-bed shelter-- or risk losing county funding. county commissioners are scheduled to meet today... to discuss the city's proposal. the u-c-f downtown campus is one step closer to becoming a reality this morning. the florida board of governors have given their approval for plans to build in downtown orlando. the board voted "14 to 2" in favor of approving 20-million dollars for the new campus. once it's complete... it will serve more than 7-thousand u- c-f and valencia college students. it will sit just west of i-4... and east of parramore boulevard... near the site of the old amway center. the university is also chipping in 20 million dollars, and raising another 20 million privately. but its not a done- deal yet. ucf.... the city.... and the county still need to get the governor, and state lawmakers to sign off on the deal. speaking of ucf-- the university is also working to battle a growing

we are talking about heroin-- which is causing more and more overdoses in orange county. coming up after the break-- more on a new tool-- that is helping u-c-f police save lives. after trying brookside crunchy clusters, @carlybeyar tweeted: at this point, i should just be a brookside chocolate ambassador. well, i am sorry, carly... it' s something you earn. brookside.

when it comes to the zika virus in flordia. the c-d-c is now giving florida 500 more zika test kits. governor rick scott asked for them last week. right now-- doctors can test more than 46-hundred people. there are 44 confirmed cases in florida so far. all of them travel- related. developing at this hour-- the u-s supreme court is "deeply split" over a controversial abortion case-- that could impact every state. texas argues it's trying to protect women with strict regulation that would close 75-

but opponents argue the requirements... which would force clinics to meet hospital-like standards... are not necessary. they say the rules are designed to make it impossible for women to get an abortion. a decision in this case is expected in june. debris -- that may finally reveal what happened to missing malaysia airlines flight 370-- is heading to australia to be examined. it washed-up in the african country of "mozambique" over the weekend-- and it appears to be part of the tail of a boeing 7-77. m-h-370 disappeared 2 years ago-- with all 239 people aboard. a news alert now-- the heroin epidemic is growing in orlando. now... u-c-f has a new weapon in the battle against the deadly drug. in the past month... police say at least 8 people have died in orange county from overdoses. it's also an issue for u-c-f police. officers say they've dealt with two cases of suspects high on heroin in the last 2 months.

now using a new weapon... called naloxone. officers say it's like an epi-pen for overdoses. officers say the heroin danger is not going away. but... the new drug gives them a way to save lives. coming up--- it is a story trending right now... a flight attendant facing charges... for setting a fire inside a plane. the bizarre details on what he did. plus this-- this local 10-year- old is speaking to county officials.

the lives of black bears in florida. coming up-- more on what she is doing-- to get her message heard.

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