funeral services for john lutz. he died saturday in a wrong way crash on the selma express way. intentionally hit the wrong way driver head onto save her life. the funeral starts at 1:00 and we will bring the service to you live on newschannel8 and stream it live on our website. >>> waiting hours just to get help. we showed you the long lines at the irs office in tampa. 8 on your side pushed the irs to do something about it. and now, we are seeing results. the agency promimised 8 on your side it would send more employees to fix the problem. 8 on your side's melissa mereno is live. >> reporter: take a look here. today, they started accepting people by appointment only. when we checked in, there was virtually no line, but we did come across some frustrated people. what a difference a couple of weeks can make. at the beginning of the month, the irs office in tampa looked like this. >> this is the last time i came, the line was all the way back to about that sign. been telling you about identity theft victims trying to

lutz. josh -- >> reporter: good morning, adrienne and gene. well, funeral services for deputy john kotfila will begin here at st. timothy catholic church in lutz later today. now the deputy, of course, died in the line of duty last weekend on the selmon expressway. and now according to a witness, deputy john kotfila drove his cruiser into the path of a wrong-way driver to prevent that car from hitting other cars that were going in the right direction. the deputy and the wrong-way driver both lost their lives in the crash. deputy john kotfila is remembered by his fellow law enforcement officers as a man who wanted to make a difference. >> john made us better. he made this program better. he makes this sheriff's office better. . and he's going to be missed. >> reporter: family, friends and law enforcement officers from hillsborough county and across the bay area will attend his funeral later today. now that funeral will begin at watch it live on wfla tv as well as on our website, wfla.com. >> an emotional day ahead, josh. thank you. >>> it's 5:35. happening today, closing arguments i

lutz. >> reporter: good morning gene and adrienne. funeral services for john kotfila will be held here at st. timothy church in lutz later today. of course, the deputy died in the line of duty last week on the selmon expressway. according to a witness, john kotfila drove his cruiser into the path of a wrong-way driver to prevent that car from hitting other oncoming cars. the deputy and the wrong-way driver both lost their lives in the crash. fellow officers as a man who wanted to make a difference. >> john made us better. he made this sheriff's office better. and he's going to be missed. >> reporter: family, friends and law enforcement officers from hillsborough county and across the bay area will attend his funeral later r today. now that funeral will begin at 1:00 this afternoon. and you can watch it live here on news channel 8. gene -- >> josh, thank you. >>> it's 4:34. happening today, closing arguments in the hulk hogan sex tape trial. terry gene bollea better known as hulk hogan is suing gawker for $100 million. the website published a sex tape showing h

cocounty are at half-staff as family and friends of deputy john kotfila come together to say their final good-bye. the funeral service is happening in lutz. deputy john kotfila was killed by a wrong-way driver last saturday. >>> eight people are getting help from the red cross this morning after a fire at an apartment building in tampa. someone living there was doing some sort of electrical wiring. overnight in the attic. thankfully though, everybody is okay. >>> and lots of eyes on this closing arguments in the hulk hogan sex tape trial. terry gene bollea is suing gawker for $10000 million. the website published a a sex tape shohowing him with the ex- wife of a tampa-based radio personalty. >>> we will have more local news in a few minutes but always important in the mornings, the weather leigh. >> that's right. and it's really not too bad this morning. we don't have the fog that we have had the past couple days but there are extra clouds and temperatures if anything are cooler than yesterday. i mean, still above average but it's cooler. 57 in zephyrhills. 64 plant city. 64 clearwater. 68 in bradenton. 70 in tampa. and notice the extra

john kotfila come together to say their final good-bye. his funeral service is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. in lutz. you will remember john kotfila was kill bid a wrong-way driver last saturday. >>> eight people are getting g help from the red cross after a fire at an apartment building in tampa. someone living there was working on electrical wiring sparked overnight in the attic. thankfully everybody is okay. >>> and closing arguments in the hulk hogan sex tape trial are scheduled to begin today. terry gene bollea, he is suining gawker for $100 million. the website published a sex tape showing him with the ex- wife of a tampa-based radio personalty. >>> more on that story y and others in a few minunutes. but we want to check on ththe weather as we head into the weekend, leigh. >>> temperatures are maybe in some places a degree or two cooler. 60 in brooksville. down to 58 degrees in zephyrhills. still well above average but cooler than yesterday. 65 bartow. 61 currently in apollo beach. and patchy clouds across the area already. and i think we're going to see more cloud cover throughout the day than

john kotfila... and hundreds of fellow law enforcement officers will be in lutz today, to pay tribute to him... and his career. 3 ((russell fox-13's shayla reaves joins us now from st. timothy's catholic church. it's going to be an emotional 3 3 3 3 ((russell thanks, shayla. 3 3 3 (vanessa in polk, the search continues for a man who stole a car with a toddler inside. it happened outside the "mulberry pharmacy" on "north church avenue" thursday afternoon. detectives say: a family friend was taking care of the child... and left the toddler in the car, while they ran into the pharmacy for a few minutes. that was just enough time for someone to slip into the car, and drive-off. but he didn't car a few minutes later, in an "auto zone" parking lot. the child wasn't hurt... but the carjacker is still on the run... call the polk county sheriff's office if you have information on this case. 3 (russell) after sending the jury home early yesterday, the judge in the hulk hogan sex tape trial says: we can expect to hear closing arguments today. 3 (russell the pinellas county trial ground to a halt, as attor

the funeral service for deputy john kotfila will be friday morning at st. timothy's catholic church in lutz at 1:00. he will be laid to rest in massachusetts. >>> a st. petersburg man facing serious charges for pointing a gun at a group of kids. st. pete police say kenneth harrington, here, saw the kids passing by as he sat on his porch sunday night. according to the arrest report the 48-year-old told them keep walking but they stopped and started to ask questions. that is when he pulled out a gun and pointed it in their direction. >>> caught on camera, a video showing a police officer getting physical with a florida woman is going viral this morning. on sunday in cape coral and argued with her boyfriend when this all happened. >> i want you -- >> stop! >> it was posted on facebook by a witness. she ended up with scratches and bruises. the officer pulled the woman off the pavement telling the crowd she was faking injuries. police put the officer on administrative leave. the cape coral mayor is asking people not to pass judgment until the investigation is finished. >>> in democracy 2016 -- i

p>>laura: and again, deputy john pkotfila's service will be held pat saint timothy's catholic pchurch in lutz. pfox 13 will be airing the pservice live. pour coverage also begins at p1:00. p>>russell: the driver of the pwrong way car also died in the pcrash. phe was from hudson. pf.h.p. is investigating to pdetermine that alcohol was a pfactor and we're waiting for the poutcome of that investigation. p>>laura: take a look at this. pthis is the shield that likely psaved a tampa police officer's plife during a shootout. pwe told you about the story pearly yesterday morning. pofficers were responding to a pdomestic dispute called at a phome in south tampa. pa man walked out of the house, pheld up the gun and tried to pshoot at them. pthe first time the gun didn't go poff so he went back inside pand firing again. pthis time the gun worked. pthat bullet hit the shield. pofficers returned fire, killing phim. phe's been identified as p53-year-old sunny chin. pthe woman who was involved in pthe domestic dispute was not pseriously hurt. p>>russell: 6:06 and poel -- olk county deputies stole a car pand

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john kotfila will be laid to rest this afternoon.. fox 13's shayla reaves joins us now.. from st. timothy's catholic church in lutz.. 3 3 3 3 opponents of an abortion bill sitting on governor rick him to veto it. they brought more than 12- thousand petitions to the governor's office yesterday.. the bill, passed during the legislative session, would tighten regulations on florida's 65 abortion clinics and cut off state funding to those affiliated with planned will restrict access to safe others hope the governor will sign it. 3 3 lawmakers passed the bill last week, and governor scott received it on friday.. but he has not yet signed it. 3 3 deputies in manatee county have arrested two people.. they say were *taking advantage of people. 3 rosalita de santos and alejandra solis claimed they could bless and cleanse money. they advertised other services on a local hispanic radio station. manatee detectives say in addition to blessing the customers' money... they sometimes took the cash. in one case - they even replaced it with *counterfeit bills! authorities believe there may be more victims across the state.. and the

john kotfila was killed on saturday on the leroy selmon expressway. if you'd like to pay your respects to deputy kotfila, there's an open visitation starting at 11 this morning at lutz. the service will follow at 1:00 p-m. the deputy will be buried in his home state of massachusetts. president obama's choice to replace the late justice antonin scalia continues making courtesy calls on capitol hill today. on thursday merrick garland met with key senate democrats, including senate minority leader harry reid...but steered clear of meeting republicans. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell maintains he won't consider garland's nomination. but some in the gop have signaled they're open to meeting with him. after one year off..the tampa bay airfest is back this weekend! thousands will head to macdill air force base in south tampa for the big event. you'll be able to watch tons of performances including some by the air force thunderbirds and the geico skytypers. one the ground, you can check out some aircrafts as well. gates open at 8:00 a-m tomorrow. remember the mtv reality show the "the situation, jwoww, and snooki." --the producers are scouting for another location, t

john kotfila's funeral. he was hit by a wrong-way driver *last weekend on the selmon, and killed. law enforcement and hundreds of other members of the community attended a memorial service for him friday, in lutz. *tomorrow, there's a visitation for him in his home state of massachusetts... where he'll be buried, on wednesday. 3 took off. 3 (walter it happened near interbay boulevard and macdill avenue.. police say a man in his 40's was killed. he police have not released a involved ... investigators video that could help them find that car. 3 (vanessa) today in st. petersburg: hulk hogan and his lawyers are back in court... looking to get an even *bigger payday, in their sex tape lawsuit. 3 ((walter the jury already awarded hogan 115 million dollars on friday. and today, the jury decides on punitive damages... which could *triple the payout. hogan won't be getting paid anytime soon though. "gawker media"... the website he's suing... is already planning to appeal the ruling appeals courts often reduce the size of jury awards. 3 (vanessa did you notice... gas prices are up... way up... 17-cents over the past two weeks. the national average is now two-dollars-and- two-cents a gallon. lundberg sa

john kotfila. he passed away last weekend after a crash in tampa involving a wrong way driver. here is look inside saint timothy's catholic church in lutz where the service set to begin at 1:00. maybe a little late aspects as