the auburndale location was temporarily shut down, 65 rodent droppings were found in several areas. >> also evidence of rodents in the walls, ceiling and food prep area. it was the same violation the their last inspection six months ago. >> a statement was released regarding this. >> abc action news has been doing "dirty dining" reports more than 12 years now. check abcactionnews.com/dining for a list of our reports. >>> march 1st marks the start of national peanut butter month. and today is national peanut butter lovers day. this morning there's another way to enjoy it. put a few scoops on a microwave- safe bowl. newark it for 15 seconds at a -- nuke it for 15 seconds until it becomes sauce-like, pour it over granola or yogurt for a treat. also works great with fresh fruit. >>> starting off with temperatures in the upper 50s. by this afternoon nice and mild, upper 70s. a cold front is coming. i'll let you know how it's impacts your weather coming up tomorrow and the next hour. >>> spacex is hoping the fourth time is the charm as it tries to launch a communications and land on an asia

auburndale is 52. wimauma is 52. look at the 24 hour temperature change, you are 11 degrees colder right now in brandon than this time yesterday. but crystal river, you're 22 degrees colder so a cold front came through. just high thin clouds and i'm today, in between those fronts. should feel nice by the afternoon, up to 75 degrees. in weather and traffic on the 8s at 5:38, i have an eight-day temperature trend to see how long we stay in the nice weather. and i know a lot of people are hoping it sticks around. >> i am. >>> traffic-wise, folk, it's not perfect but we still have a couple issues going on but overall, a good drive. what you cannot do is you cannot exit on to kennedy boulevard coming off 275. when you come off the howard franklin bridge, heading into tampa now, kennedy boulevard exit blocked. an hour. county. same situation but this one is southbound 275 and this is at 54th avenue south. you can't exit as of yet. within the next half hour, should be reopened. but in the meantime, if you're leaving right n

notice it is 65 in bartow and auburndale. cooler at inverness versus 68 in tampa the cold front is beginning to affect the northern areas. so we'll just see a couple of showers along this front. the better news, you don't have to wait long for it. northwest breeze. mostly sunny this afternoon. going to wake up to season blaechl cool weather. and emoji man got his shades on. thumb up. beautiful and comfortable for monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday. how about traffic on the 8's. for the most pafrment a good drive through i-4 through the lakeland area. no delays. i-75 pasco county through wesley chapel. state road 52. to 275, 11 minutes. good drive in pasco. we had earlier construction in sarasota. it has been cleared from the freeway. northbound i-75 past toledo blake boulevard. it is gone from the roadways and also this traffic light apparently fixed. cortez road in manatee county. that is a look at weather and traffic on the 8's. back to candace and gayle. >> thank you. >>> we like to think that we learn from our mistakes.

a couple degrees warmer than yesterday afternoon. polk county, how about 52 in auburndale and bartow. crystal river, 4 3 . lake placid, 59. not too bad. mostly clear skies at this point. and i will show you the cold front that's on the map and it will affect us. just not a lot. watch the long range forecast. mostly sunny and gorgeous today. a couple extra clouds overnight. and here's the cold front, yep, only a 10% rain chance with it. just a couple degrees cooler as we head into friday. another do nothing cold front comes through. only a 10 to 20% rain chance with that one. and again, keeping highs in the mid-70s. less lay, how about -- leslee, how about traffic on the 8s? accident, folks. i-75. southbound 75, 301 to big bend road, about eight minutes. really the only part that's really congested is when you get to the closure and you're i'm going to show you the map in gibsonton. this is the slow down when you're exiting on gibsonton. let's go to meliek on the street. what you see is a crunched up motorcycle there. motorcycle rearended the back of a vehicle. this is a fatal crash so

just a little cool for you. 54 in lakeland and auburndale. 55 in sarasota. in fact, march is coming in like a lamb. we've got 77 degrees, mild, sunny and less president. on this super tuesday, i have a poll question for you, what temperature is most comfortable to you? page, and look at this, 56, 70, 75 or 80? right now, 75 degrees is in the lead with 39% of the vote, gayle. >> all right. thank you, leigh. >>> happening today, we're expecting another emotional day on the stand from sports reporter and tv host erin andrews. the details are absolutely gut wrenching. she is suing her stalker and the nashville marriott over recordings made through a peephole during her 2008 stay in the hotel. news channel 8's adrienne pedersen is live from bloomingdale high school where erin went to school. of course, her dad is our lead investigative reporter. she has been around the station. i remember her as an intern is. and it's just so hard the to watch her have to relive this. >> reporter: good morning, gayle. that's right. >> i mean, listening to that testimony is just s

auburndale, bartow, 53. and warmer near the coast like 61 in st. pete. but everybody is cooler than yesterday. inverness, 16 degrees chillier. lakeland is about five degrees cooler. front to the south, high thin clouds today. and the next cold front moving through the middle of the country right now will affect us tomorrow. so we are between the cold fronts leading to a beautiful day. a quick warm-up to 75. in weather and traffic on the 8s at 4:38, i will have an eight-day temperature trend to see how long we stay this night. and leslee is going to give us the trending traffic at the moment. >> i always wanted to be an astronaut. >> you know they were accepting applications a few weeks ago. >> i met buzz aldrin back in the '70s and i said, can a girl be an astronaut? of course you can. >>> the 54th avenue south off- ramp is blocked until about 6:00 a.m. take 22nd avenue south instead. and here is hillsborough county, folks and this is in tampa. you cannot exit 275 northbound on to kennedy. they've got that blocked. that's due to overnight construction as

coming in at 80 in auburndale. 81 currently in arcadia. partly cloudy skies staying warm for us. all the way through the late night hours. we will begin the day in the upper 60s and end in the low 80s . a few small showers may develop, but shouldn't amount to much. by sunday, showers begin in the morning hours and some of our northern areas an then we will continue to spread inland as with head into the afternoon and evening pushes away from the coast so it is possible we could see a few showers during the grand prix races tomorrow. sea fog could also be an issue along the coast. it may not be the best of beach days for tomorrow. just fair warning. adds we head into monday, a small rain chance with a front and fog could be an issue on monday as well. but sunday looks to be the main day we will be tracking some you can take a look at those rain chances. that slim 10% chance on saturday. sunday, we will call for a 40% chance of rain. 20% chance we could still have lingering showers around on monday. and dry throughout the rest of next week. what we are not expecting an improvement

warmer than yesterday. 64 sarasota. 67 in auburndale. and in fact, talked about the southeast wind. usually in the morning we have very calm conditions. out there. in polk county, about a 9 miles winter haven. 9 miles per hour in tampa. and stronger in sarasota at 10 miles per hour right now. and it all has to do with the area of high pressure. and keeping all the rain well back to the west. around it, you get the clockwise wind flow and that's why we're seeing the southeast wind and that's why the warming trend is going to continue. mild in the morning, low to mid- 80s tomorrow. we stay in the low 80s with the best rain chance coming on sunday. leslee, how about traffic on the 8s? >>> well, leigh, all we're construction. dale mabry at 275, that on-ramp from dale mabry to northbound 275, it's closed. it will reopen in time for the morning commute. but if you travel this area often, you know that's a messy area. so i wouldn't expect anything less from that area throughout the day. but there are no issues north of i-4 on i-75 or 275. so some great news there. taking you out live. here

cool in auburndale and bartow, 53 right now. and milder near the coast, 58 in bradenton. brooksville says 47 degrees. but skies are clear. you have to go back to the middle of the country to find a cold front. and now it will affect us, just barely. today, mostly sunny, a few clouds overnight. here comes the cold front, yeah, tomorrow, about a 10% rain chance. not expecting much cooler air behind it. and there's another do-nothing cold front that comes through on friday. this is a nice seven-day forecast. low to mid-70s each day. very little rain and comfortable at night. leslee, how about traffic on the 8s? >>> for the most part, traffic looks good out there. but we have two issues. both of these issues could put extra time on your drive. first of all, pinellas county because 54th avenue south off- ramp is blocked. before you get to it, out the door soon, exit 22nd avenue south. and then go ahead and take u.s. 19 to pick up 54 again because you're not going to be able to exit. doozy of a drive because the skyway bridge is down

polk county, 60 in auburndale. it's 1 degrees warmer in brandon than it was this time yesterday. but crystal river,r, you are 2525 degrees warmer. it all has to do with an approachching cold front. it's well back to the north right now, across south georgia and the big bend of florida. but look this, this tiny line of rain that's going to move through here. 10% rain chance at best. . the average for today is 75. cooler tonight, back down to 54. in weather and traffic on the 8s at 5:08, i take you hour-by- hour through the day y as the cold front comes through. and meredith is in for leslee to get you through the morning commute. >>> and it's quiet here at 5:02 a.m. we have one accident to tell you about in the oldsmar palm harbor area at 19 and tampa road. although i am hearing that traffic can get by. sow may see ems onscene but shouldn't slow you down significantly. howaward franklin all clear this morning. i-4 quiet between 75 and downtown. and back taking a look at that acaccident. i show you a live picture here of 275 through downtown, still seeing the light junction at the

so lakeland and auburndale, bartow, all polk county, mid- 50s at this point. 62 in tampa. the fish hawk area, around all has to do with high pressure. we like high pressure. it typically leads to dry conditions but around it, you get the southeast wind. and that's why we're seeing warmer this morning. some patchy clouds throughout the day but the wind gets us to 80. the other thing high pressure does is blocks any storm systems from coming in. unfortunately for the folks back in texas, the rain is going to stay there while our warming trend continues. our high today, 80 in winter haven. 80 in tampa. 80 in lakeland. all of us warmer tomorrow at 82. and 83 on thursday. leslee, let's check on traffic on the 8s. >> all right. >>> as we continue to follow the breaking traffic in the lake wales araphic, again, a fatal crash -- wales area, again, a fatal crash right at evergreen drive. the westbound traffic is sharing lanes with the eastbound traffic. let's go to meliek on the street and you can see what i'm talking about as we look at this. the cars going by, you can see roadway

in the mid to upper 60s in most locations. 66 clearwater. 67 wesley chapel and winter haven and auburndale. 68 valrico. 70 sarasota. we will i promise see the sun mac by 11:00. we will see temperatures tumble and show you how far down they would go as we get out on the road. >>> authorities in pinellas county are worried about an increase in drug overdoses and people using bad batch of spice. also known as synthetic marijuana. paramedics responded to 12 calls at unity park and an hour on saturday. half of the people had to be hospitalized. some of the area think dealers are targeting the homeless and selling spice cigarettes for one dollar. >> it is rat poison in their and it is not something to try. >> st. pete made four arrest. recent reports of spice and other bay area communities. >>> a new round and former professional wrestler hulk hogan's lawsuit against heart -- gawker media is tomorrow. the same jury who awarded him will decide punitive damages against the website. gawker's lawyers are gearing up for another five. they say previously sealed documents now out show there are grounds

a little bit of a cell to the south of i-4 around polk city and the auburndale area and towards citrus ridge and the disney region. these are all moving from the east. weak cold front is dipping through. it hasn't affected temperatures there are 66 is around but in the upper 60s to around 70. 70 in sarasota right now. going to the day we will see the gray skies and we will see showers early on and then by the time it starts to clear temperatures temple and wait until you see how low they go to start off the workweek. that is coming up in 12 minutes. >>> an update to a search for a killer in manatee county. xavier seabrook is behind bars accused of shooting and killing themselves vegan junior. this happened this month in palmetto. seabrook has been on the run for more than two weeks investigators believe the shooting is connected to drugs. >>> firefighters rush to put out a fire at a cement plant in brooksville. employees saw the flames yesterday. fire was burning through mulch which fueled it even more. firefighters kept it from >>> five people are thankful to be waking up on dry land.

it will feel cooler than this time yesterday. 48 in spring hill. and auburndale. 51 and ruskin. 52 in ellington. 53 in tampa and sarasota. the warm spot, siesta key at 55. platte city, free kids day today. 10:00, the midway activities start. cheap trick is going to round out the evening with a performance at 7:30. here's the way your day is going to look. a nice one. temperatures pushing up into the mid-70s. even warmer tomorrow. we will take a look at that with your action weather forecast 7-day version in about 12 minutes or so. >>> hunt is on in sarasota for a man who deputies say is looking up women's skirts. see it here in this video. we are told it's all happening inside a local store. take a look at this surveillance video. this is the man deputies are looking for. this is inside a store called bonbon vintage. the act. she confronts him. so if you recognize this man, you are asked to call the sarasota county sheriff's office. >>> deputies need your help to find a suspected bank robber. these pictures are from the bbt bank on indian rocks road in belleair bluffs. deputies say th

tipped off after an employee heard crodova on the radio offering free medical advice calling into auburndale station. the station employee disputes that. >> well he was never in the show where he interacted with people on the radio. maybe snow tonight know spanish. >> they checked into cordova after the bit and made an appointment. and pd sent in an officer on a separate cages. of ailments after examinations. it drawed kidney problems. arthritis. high cholesterol and future cases of ed. both were encouraged to purchase natural remedy medications. police are unclear how many patients he may have seen. >> maybe there are other victims that have been prescribed medicines to relive ailments. the concern is that they are out there. let us know. >> he is now facing charges for practicing medicine without a license and scheming to defraud. no word on if that station will face any penalties. linda. >> anjuli, thank you two families are homeless after a fire ripped through a duplex last night. the blaze was set intentionally. the fire department received a call after 2 this morning to the duplex. and

temperatures will be starting inland. 44 as a low in auburndale, around tampa at 47. mild closer to the beaches. clearwater with a low of 50 degrees. tomorrow afternoon we will rebound into the low 70s and mid 70s in our warmest spots. brace yourself for the cool start to the day. again with plenty of sunshine and no rain in sight it will be warming up through afternoon. i will have your easter sunday forecast coming up in just a little bit. >> thank you. we will check back soon. >>> well, we won't show you this right now, but when we come back, what set off a inside a ball. >>> -- they say verbally and physically assaulted a man in costume. both ended up going to the hospital with minor injuries. so far we don't know if charges will be filed. police are still looking into >>> well, in fort myers, the bear, the mascot at the elementary school can hold off another week or so when the kids are out of the classroom for spring break. the bear was caught on camera near campus not once but twice in one day, sending the school into a partial lockdown. >> it is very serious.

inspectors temporarily shut the location in auburndale on west polk street after finding 65 rodent droppings near the food prep table, soft drink area and soft drink cases. our i-team also uncovered rodent rug marks that were documented along the walls and ceilings. and this is not the first time rodent activity was seen there. six months ago at the same location it was warned after the state saw 35 rodent droppings in the kitchen. we were told the restaurant takes every measure to ensure a safe and clean experience for guests and are taking steps to fix the situation. in the meantime though if you have family and friends in polk county, be sure to let them know about this article we have posted now, you can share it by going to our abc action news mobile app. >>> a colorado teen is warning others about the dangers of the batteries used in vapor pens. 17-year-old marcus is recovering with severe burns to his left leg and hand. it happened when the battery in his vapor pen exploded in his pocket while at school last week. now marcus hopes his story stops others from using and getting hurt by

say 75-year-old pcordova ran his own doctor's poffice in haines city and pallegedly went to the auburndale pradio station to diagnose plisteners who called in with phealth issues. pcordova told investigators he's pa natural doctor but they say pthat what he did was criminal. pnow he's charged with practicing pmedicine without a license and pscheming to defraud. p>>russell: it could be a big pconcern for families with aging ploved ones, wandering off and pbeing lost. asco county has a program to phelp. psheriff's office has teamed up pwith a safety net to help find pmissing people. pa search and rescue program is pdesigned to help find wandering eople who have been diagnosed pwith alzheimer's dementia, even pautism. peach member is tracked with a pradio transmitter. pby just tracking those wrist pbands. p>>laura: a jury has awarded erin pandrews $55 million after a pstalker admitted to secretly precording her in a hotel room pand then posting it on the pinternet. pbut her legal battle may not be pover yet. pyesterday the jury found both pmichael barrett and the hotel at pfault in the matter

but the latest happened yesterday as a woman sat in her car in a publix's parking lot in auburndale. a suspect asked her a question and the next thing she knew, she was a purse snatching victim after he reached through >> you think you're safe sitting in the car. and you don't think anyone can see you that far down but they can. >> reporter: now she then contacted police who found the stolen jeep with five people inside here in lake whales. one adult and four minors were taken in for questioning by several police agencies as they try to figure out if there's a connection between the string of purse snatchings. we know that late last night and early this morning, a 19- year-old of eagle lake was charged with grand theft auto. those four minors all from lakeland have also been charged with several other offenses. >> wow, josh and we're always so so distracted, checking the phone, doing other things but thank you. >>> this morning, surveillance video of a dramatic crash that ended a polk county pursuit. it's a little grainy but look, that's the car flipping once, this is surveillance vi