is 50th and causeway for a crash. look out for the flashing lights in the area. >> the southbound 75a mile past big bend road, and an accident. we are not seeing delays in the area, and another update in a couple of minutes. >> meredith, we will check back. >>> a pinellas county mom has with the killing of her newborn baby. >> she is not accused of killing the child, instead her 6-year-old son is. >> ryan hughes is live. we understand the mother was part of a reality show and bragged about getting pregnant so late in life. >> reporter: kathleen steel was on the tv show i'm pregnant. she paid a doctor to impregnate her with her deceased husband's sperm. she is locked up after her 6- year-old son killed his sister. >> i tend to be a perfectionist. >> reporter: that's kathleen steele on the program it when she had her son frankie. fast forward to this year. the situation was called the most troubling the sheriff had ever seen it start in the parking lot of a cell phone repair shop in pinellas county. kathleen steele left

. >> pinellas and commissioners may not be on the same page when it comes to the dunedin causeway. >> thank you for joining us on this tuesday, i'm dan shaffer. >> i'm deiah riley. first we're updating a story brought as breaking news at 11:00. the florida highway patrol believes a bicyclist turned into the path of traffic on dale mabry last night. they believe he was riding in the median before he turned into moving lanes near sligh. two cars hit him. the bicyclist died at the scene. in? in central florida a argument between a police officer and cam. he told his bicyclist to ride the bike on the sidewalk and the man and the man p tells the officer it's illegal. >> i've been doing this for 12,000 miles man. >> the officer in the video won't face discipline but the department says it will retrain officers on bicycle laws. >>> the city of tampa unveiling an aggressive plan to keep zika- infected mosquitos out of our community. the question the city purchased 3,600 dunks, that's the giant chemical tablets that kill the mosquito larva for up to 30 days. the city is not responsible for mos

. >>> manatees are mating along the causeway causing traffic to back up. abc action news reporter cameron polom was there alongside the spectators. explaning why this is such a sight >> reporter: a rare sight in tampa bay literally stopping traffic on the courtney campbell causeway. dozens of drivers pulling over during rush hour climbing out of their cars to snap photos and videos of the churning water. >> and saying that just about every day. >> it is called the manatee mating view. that it is a sight you can only >> there are at least seven manatees competing for a single female's attention. harold says his wife drove by earlier. >> it is a pretty cool experience to hear -- to see it. it is pretty cool to see it as well. >> in tampa i'm cameron polom abc >>> turning to the zika virus. blood banks are now testing all donors for the virus. this comes as four more people in miami have tested positive and they believe they got it from local mosquitoes bringing the total number to 21. all the cases have been focused on the same area. increasing their patrols

see. >> reporter: a rare sight in tampa bay literally stopping traffic on the courtney campbell causeway. dozens of drivers pulling over during rush hour, climbing out of their cars to snap photos and videos of the churning never seen them like this. >> reporter: it's called the manatee mating ball. chris harrell and the crowd is interested for good reason. officials say it's a sight you can only see every three to five years. but deciding between suiters can be difficult. there are at least seven male manatees competing for a single female's attention. the male strategy, push the female into shallow waters and mate with her. harrell says his wife drove by earlier so he couldn't resist bringing his son down extraordinary show. >> cool experience to be able to see that. i heard it's a once in a lifetime for most people. pretty neat and pretty cool for the little man as well. >> reporter: in tampa, cameron polom, abc action news. >>> today is a big day for hundreds of thousands of students around the bay area. it's the first day of school for many school districts. that means more cars and

and physically get to the little causeway portion before westshore. you can see the two inside lanes closed now, fhp doing an investigation. we're not sure how long this is going to last. not really causing delays. we'll stay on top of this and let you know as soon as we do when the road will reopen. >>> i've been watching this crash on our cameras, you can see it here, two inside lanes block, traffic seems to be getting by fine. about a mile back i've been checking the cameras, waiting to see if we're seeing any backups. in these cars headlights coming at me are heading northbound. you can see no delays on the howard frankland. let's check drive times across all three bridges so we can see exactly how long it's taking to get across. not bad, we're still in in in >> right now the roads are dry so we can't blame wet roads for the crashes. >>> the roads have been dry in the mornings the last couple of days. we're in the pattern where we have the dry starts to the day which has been nice and pleasant, right? temperatures right now around 77 degrees in ta

and seven on the courtney campbell causeway. sunshine skyway bridge also up to speed, only 10 minutes between each of the toll plazas. when it hit, it really was quite dramatic. road signs bent over because of the force of the water. you know, gushing down the street everywhere anything that anyone's left out is moving down the street. we always think we're the keeper of the house... ...so it makes a lot of sense you would have flood insurance. knowing that you have that and if you need it, it's going to be there, and you've done everything you can that this house might be here in a hundred years for another family to enjoy it. >>> breaking overnight, fire breaks out at a palm harbor condo. and you can see the charred balcony as investigators now try to figure out what sparked the flames. >>> keeping the zika virus at bay. tampa's mayor goes on th offensive as the virus spreads in the state. >>> and the road to rio ends in a spectacular show. check it out. the summer 2016 olympics are now officially over. still ahead, the guest

its quite a sight off the courtney c causeway. quite a sight off the drivers pulling over and taking a look when the probm and need to take drastic action. >> anchor: folks flat out sick and tired of the constant flooding in their neighborhos. theyay something's got to be done to fix it. >>> slow down. those crossing guards are there >> anchor: a reminder tonight to take it slow during tomorrow morning's commute. it's back to school for much of the tampa bay area. >>> that's not a rescue operation. that's a death operation. >> the owners of a polk cnty animalescue chaed tight wi neglecting more than 100 pigs, leaving some of them to die >> announcer: you're watching fox 13. and the 10:00 newsrts>> ancr: . welcome tonight. i'm mark wilson. >> i'm kelly ring. everybody. we're gegin goo neai fallearing t. is going to he a lt our sky terar rad i a cpl s. buome pasco cnt neighborhoods, they're still dealg withdwater. and crews ared to clear roads and drains. haley hiebds is live in o of eporter: it is.streets. as we speak rht now flood

stopping traffic on the courtney campbell causeway. the reason that this sight is >>> developing story -- we've learned it was a 73-year-old community volunteer and librarian shot and killed by a punta gorda police officer during a citizens academy. this as a tragic accident. a live look outside the police department here where the investigation is underway. police say the scenario in which she was killed is used to demonstrate the decisionmaking process to use lethal force in role play. mary knowlton was a librarian with the scott county public library and also known to be very active in the abc action news reporter rodney dunigan is live in punta gorda this morning and will have a live update later this hour. >>> after the rain you've seen recently you may have pulled out your insurance policy to see if you have flood coverage. in pasco county we've seen overflowing streets, street flooding from ponds. we talked to the director of emergency service that's says most of the people that filed claims last year did not have flood coverage

approaching area courtney campbell causeway earlier crash on shoulder. looks like still causing some concerns. but good news us we've gone down before about 60 minutes to get from top of the bottom of vets to around 40 minutes or so. so not too much to cheer about, but some improvement. we'll get to this right now. live look downtown interchange 275 and i-4. we have some improvements here by a couple of minutes on travel times. down to 23 minutes heading from bearss to i-4 in forget you can traffic updates on check my facebook and twitter. in florida, it used to be that if a child, a senior or one of re not allowed to save them unless we were willing to be sued. has government lost its mind? so i fixed the law to make sure we are all empowered to rescue those who can not rescue themselves. that is the least we can do. after all the love they give. dana young for the florida senate. introducing dunkin's new cold brew coffee, steeped slowly in cold water for small batches with an ultra-smooth, full-bodied flavor. discover the craft of cold brew today and k

it's right before you get to the courtney campbell causeway. and look at, that just jumped up four minutes. ehrlich to 275, now 22 minutes. really starting to see a slow down on the veterans expressway. i will watch it throughout the morning. that's weather and traffic on the 8s. back to gene and gayle. >> thank you. >>> what you need to know before you walk out the door is next. >> including a game ge bucs when it comes to the next pre-season game. >>> and never too early to be prepared for tropical. with what you need to know to get your family ready for the storm. >>> you're watching news %f0 >>> the bay area is bracing for tropical weather. >> for some people, that means is live in tampa at a sandbag filling location. >> reporter: well, sandbags really are the first line of defense when it comes to protecting your home from flooding and stations just like this are expected to be very busy today. all across the bay area, sandbag filling stations are opening up as residents prepare for the flooding that could happen with the heavy rain. a num

delays are still lingering eastbound continue to avoid that direction of the causeway. >> you see it all the time. people driving while they are looking at their phones maybe you're guilty of it too. sitting a light. turned green, because it's time to instagram. there's new psa out that could alcides segui has more on t effort. good morning, alcides. >>> instagram, snapchat, facebook, twitter, there are more out there that i'm sure i don't know about. but, there is a new psa out there as well. and hopefully people who are watching that because it's an eye opener. they interview teenager as well young adults to find out if they text and drive. here's what they said. >> never done it at stoplights i've always been really about it passenger has pretty important role driving red light.re light. someone you like texts you can't just let it sit there without just knowing what they said. >> what what iffing exciting happening. every time i think about them why am i doing this i just keep ding it. >> kind of addicting that's the appearance. again it can be whatever social media platform they

hey guys we want to update you on courtney campbell causeway crash. i did want to show you this, top of the hour, we showed you and we told you about this woman was stuck inside the vehicle. that gentleman you're seeing wearing green and khaki, we believe is an off duty deputy. this vehicles responded. and he's actually in there holding her hand and talking to her as she's inside that vehicle. fortunately we are able to report in case you missed the last report she cass conscious and moving talking when she was and brought to the hospital. and what we're seeing as far as lane blockage is still going concern in eastbound direction. likes lie any lane blocks we're seeing have cleared out. right now we just have left lane blocked heading into tampa. basically all across the bridge. we will keep using alternate bridges howard frankland which loves lovely all green here gandy you can take hillsborough if you this want to take any bridges. we will get you updated op some drive times on inter states. fortunately starting to clear out with congestion. 14 minu

that's moving to the west to the causeway. the drive down gulf to pay is not good. it is moving west a rough county. and anna maria another round from the east. the same deal and sarasota now has heavy storms moving to the west. we slide to the south down to venice. a band. if you are watching us another is approaching you. inland you are missing all the here are a couple moving to the west. he are some near lakeland and there are one or two by wesley chapel. and most of the rain is right along the coast line. this has been the most die investigated and by the way is short for investigation. this is not a tropical depression yet. the problem is that you have been talking about ts. a low pressure colliding -- sliding this way and the motels are cranking this up. you have to talk about it every day. and there is not much on satellite. today the satellite presentation is better. there are storms nears center. none of the models developed in and the hurricane center is calling 30% development. the track will be fors system. but it will spin and end up being a rain maker

a driver got into a dispute with riders on the courtney campbell causeway and punches were thrown and a gun was draw. right now henson is facing aggravated charges. >> thank you. >>> george zimmerman is wake ing after he was punched in the face. that happened at a restaurant in sanford not far from us. george zimmerman claims he was talking to a group of people about shooting trayvon martin in self-defense. a large white male approached him and said you're bragging about that and punched him in the face. >> a man just p face. >> is he still is there? >> yeah and he said he's going to kill me. >> whau your name -- what's your name, sir? >> >> i'll give it to the you haves when -- to the officers when they get here. >> what started the argument? >> he recognized me. >> he shot and killed trayvon martin if 2012 and was not guilty. >>> the american woman killed in the stabbing away in london has florida governor rick scoot scott identified her as daralene horton. another american citizen was among the injured. >>> remember that unarmed black ed therapist shot by police shot by the officer

, eventually the line passing through this area was bypassed and they built a trestle bridge and causeway across the great salt lake. on the nevada-utah border, straight across the point of the promontory mountains right behind us, straight into often. that cut extra time, travel, money, all of that of have the operation of the transcontinental line. hub. became a huge materials and supplies all across the country. we had trains every hour and it became a major city, major thoroughfare for moving across the country. >> to mark the centennial of the national park service, we are featuring historic sites and national parks from the c-span cities tour. for more information about our travels, check out our website, www.c-span.org/citiestour. you're watching american history tv. all weekend, every weekend on c-span 3. >> coming up next, university of massachusetts-amherst professor er talks aboutamme slavery both before and after emancipation. she talks about how free african-americans used photography. relationshiput the of the perception of african-americans in the postwar united states. thi

appeared to be in distress, right off the courtney campbell causeway in clearwater. but that wasn't exactly the case. drivers spotted a group around in the water. but they were actually ?mating. male manatees often splash around in the water to get the attention of the female. manatee mating season can start as early as march and go through october. remember... it is ?illegal to touch manatees so always keep your distance. and if you ?think they're in trouble... just call floirda fish and wildlife. down in miami... jungle island is celebrating its newest addition... a baby ?sloth. and now, they need some help finding a name for this cutie. this female baby sloth was born on the fourth of july. the park is now asking folks to vote for a name for the baby girl. the options are: "flash", "sid" or "velcro." you can head to the jungle island selected on august 31st sorry kids... your summer vacation had to end sometime. it's the first day of school today... for ?most of the bay area. including the two biggest counties... pinellas and hillsborough. and that means a very bu

the public and pinellas county commissioners are not on the same page when it comes to the dunedin causeway. >>> first at 9:00 -- the four minute. right there. they are all accused of robbing and killing a young father and due in court for the first time today. good morning, i'm deiah riley. >> i'm dan shaffer. investigators say adam hillary's murder came after a date with this woman he met on- line. abc action news reporter rodney dunigan is live outside the polk county courthouse. >> investigators say the plan was pretty well thought out. >> reporter: it was. it turns out the four suspects have a long history of trouble with the law. now the victim's fa heartbreaking loss. >> my brother meant so much more more to us than what little stuff they wanted. >> reporter: angel cruz can't understand it, 27-year-old brother adam hillary gone, taken is police say by a robber's bullet. >> we're going to be strong. >> reporter: 18-year-old haley bustos, joshua ellington, gary investigators say hillary met bustos on the dating app plenty of fish. after casing the apartment investigators said she told

it's the courtney campbell causeway. we have one of the westbound lanes blocked here as well the lines almost blocked up to pinellas county, and that's why it's backed up. you can go through hillsborough or hop on the howard frankland. it's not that bad. only a 10-minute delay. don't get on the eastbound side of the causeway this is 301, and we are extra heavy in the southbound lanes coming it's slow coming down. now at havertys furniture, it's our labor day sale. where you can create the perfect home. from now until september 5th, you'll find huge savings on stylish pieces. get free delivery, with havertys, your home can be perfect, even when life isn't. mom? have you see my iguana? the labor day sale is on now, at havertys. >>> it's 8:00 on "today." reaching new heights. the courageous woman who came to be known as the paralyzed bride proving once again that nothing can hold her back. >> what's going through your mind >> i'm excited to go. >> as we check in on her mid air adventure. plus, it's a dog's life. our new pup

pretty busy still especially across the bridges -- or actually just one bridge, the courtney campbell causeway, we have a crash blocking a lane and we are seeing some delays heading into tampa starting all the way back at the bayside bridge. at this point the howard frankland has kind of eased up from the morning commute. so right now the howard frankland is a much better option at 9 minutes. 42 minutes to get across the courtney campbell causeway. just seven minutes across the gandy bridge. you can also take tampa road closer there. old's march. i-75 looking a lot better northbound, this crash at fowler is cleared. that was really backing things up all the way to before i-4 so things getting better there. still seeing delays southbound i-75 through manatee county, we have a crash reported here just before you get to lakewood ranch. >>> 9:05. new information after a georgia murder suspect is arrested in north florida for killing a police officer. we've learned that slain officer wasn't wearing body armor when shot. 24-year-old royhim deeds is accused of murdering that georgia police officer ti

coming up at 6:30 -- reshaping the causeway. the three choices leaders in pinellas county are considering that will change the look of one coastal community. >> it's back. a popular tampa restaurant making a big comeback today. the signature menu items making >>> a polk county father robbed after murdered after a date with a woman he met on-line. details on the court case this afternoon. >> and more about the pulse nightclub nightclub surviv hospital employees broke the data and the delays in telling patients. >>> thank you for joining us. >> an historic burger joint is coming back today. in fact they will open for brake forecast in a few minutes -- breakfast in a few minutes. >> i can smell it from here i feel like. >> janelle is working on something unfortunately in the traffic world. weatherwise though we're great. a lot of sunshine, by the time we get to 7:30, 8:00. we'll be heating up big time as we get most of the day with into the low to mid-90. and the humidity will make it feel like 105 degrees. the difference today wil

. >>> good morning, we're watching the roads, this is a live look at the courtney campbell causeway. if your drive takes you across the bay you're in great shape. >>> 6:27. coming up -- braces for rain. people taking the incoming storm seriously. the resources available today to guard your home. >> my grandbaby got shot in the head. >> an 8-year-old caught in the crossfire. the violent trend that this is tied to in florida and the plea that police have to stop it. y23pty yy6y >>> sandbag locations popping up across the bay area as communities prepare for possible flooding. ahead in a live report i'll explain what is being done to keep you and your family safe. >>> thank you for joining us on abc. that tropical depression >> ivan cabrera joins us tracking the storm. what's the latest? >> it's still headed for us with pretty good downpours. in fact in a way dan, it begins today. the thunderstorms that we're going to get this afternoon are going to be enhanced as far as the tropical moisture so it's going to be pouring this afternoon, indirectly. the actual storm is still well down to t

we have a crash u.s. 41 at causeway boulevard. and down here, south tampa, westbound on the selmon expressway at the gandy exit, a collision off to the shoulder. and that's weather and traffic on the 8s. now back to gene and gayle. >> thank you. >>> what you need to know before you walk out the door is next. >> including new concerns about the zika virus. n the bay area. italy. a massive cake rocks the country. up next, a look at the damage. >>> a deadly earthquake in central italy. >> the earthquake devastated several communities. the earthquake was so strong it collapsed homes on top of residents as they slept right now and digging through the rubble, searching for survivors. officials say the earthquake has caused at least 37 deaths. >>> governor rick scott is in the bay area to discuss the spread of the zika virus. >> and he will attend a round table in hillsborough county. jamel lanee' is live from downtown tampa. >> reporter: good morning. the governorrer is meeting with local leaders here at the department of health to disc

taken care of quickly because the storms are winding down and this is over the courtney campbell causeway and it was a producing area along the suncoast things are now quickly winding down the not so much the case and desoto county and sarasota, this is all moving an eye on for the evening it will hang together moving towards the central hillsboro county and eventually into pinellas county. they see moving to the northwest , have to watch out for the storms of the next few hours. power outage forecast something we don't often show but it reminds you even though we are not talking about a tropical storm there is the possibility of isolated power outages this is the forecast for saturday with more storms in the picture for temperatures topped off in the upper 80s and low 90s and 79 and kathleen thanks to the storms that you just had 92 tampa and sarasota. tampa thunderstorm and 85 and the wind is out of the west southwest at 7 miles an hour. so far today a few degrees and so we set. 83 and the winds are calm and sarasota not right now palestra sunny and now it is raining. this shows how qui

hatching areas are wl arde in addition there are signs that pose restrict proposed changes to the causeway, and county commissioners releasing this video, a low-level drawbridge in a mid-level drawbridge and a high-level fixed bridge. they will meet at 2 pm tomorrow afternoon for those proposed changes. >>> it is back to school day at usf but many are sacrificing a lot to earn a degree. loan debt is the reason. adam winer has more on some of the biggest impacts. >> reporter: the toughest part about getting higher education is paying for it. just ask abdul. >> his friend was skipping meals to get by. >> we are way behind. >> he said he did what he could and bought his friend a sandwi to save money what little he had. >> the big burden is debt. florida students oh a average of $25,000 -- are in debt an average of 30 -- $25,000. financial experts say that students should seek money in this order first, get the free money that includes scholarships and grants next, are usually low interest and at a fixed rate. they say it's only a last resort for people to turn to private loans those rates sta

courtney campbell causeway will only take you 7 minutes as well. >>> you may not be able to afford to tesla, but one company wants to give you a ride in one. through a rough financial patch. how much money the company is losing this year and why. >>> don't forget to connect with me on social media this morning. log on to facebook and find me on there or on twitter, wflagene. i just posted the rules on how to use drones and how to make money with your drones. that's @wflagene on twitter and >>> welcome back. it's 4:23. it's a rough financial road or uber. the popular ride-sharing service has reported a loss of more than $1 billion this year. the company's head of finance blames huge expenses for drivers for the loss. financial experts don't believe the company is in jeopardy. they explained the 7-year-old company is still explaining huge growth. >>> there's a new twist to ride >>> one company is starting a ride sharing company starting tesla's electic cars. if you're going to do it, do it right. it's alled testloop. a customer books a seat in a tesla vehicle online and designates the p

a driver got in a dispute with riders on the courtney cam well causeway when punches were thrown. the suspect in the case faced aggravated battery charges he's expected to go before a judge tomorrow morning >> ryan, thank you. >>> tampa police need your help finding a 12-year-old missing boy. take a look at 12-year-old an argument with his plop. -- with his mom. beard is known to out in the belmont heights area with friends. if you know where he is please call police. >>> this morning a polk county man is in jail accused of killing a sumter county firefighter. the shooting happened at the -- at caleb mckinney's home. his ex-girlfriend showed up to drop off mckinney came up to the car and shot clifford cofer five times. his family is now mourning his death. >> that he was a proud strong man and this man raised him to be the firefighter that he is. >> deputies say this all happened in front of a 5-year-old who was also in the car. cofer was a lieutenant with the sumter county fire department and lived in winter mckinney is facing multiple charges including first degree murder. >>> t

>>vanessa: we have updates on the veterans expressway crash southbound at the courtney campbell causeway. we're hearing that authorities are in the process of clearing some bad news is you can see it right here on the map, lots of delays so now the delays are solidly all the way back to gunn highway and we can see moderate delays past that point. it should be a few minutes, quite a few minutes until we get close to normal traffic times. 45 minutes from suncoast parkway all the way to the airport. we'll keep you posted on this one. in the meantime, we'll get to much less serious crash but still worth using west shore boulevard at boy scout boulevard. one lane blocked. >>dave: we're watching a depression slowly work west now. overnight it has a little more organized but still not reaching the tropical storm status yet, although the hurricane center has said, yeah, we expect this to become a tropical storm today and once it does become a tropical storm, i alsoxpec that watches and warnis will don't be surprised if by noon time or by 5:00 tonight, you don't get wind of that as well so the sc

. >> yeah, you could see on the radar the rain moving across the courtney campbell causeway. so we want to take you out live and show you what it looks like here on courtney campbell causeway. starting to see sprinkles on the live view there. this is 275 near martin luther king in st. pete where the rain has pushed through across the howard frankland bridge. right now, howard frankland bridge all of the bridges in fact reporting accident-free. do have several trouble spots in hillsborough county though. a bad accident at linebaugh and sheldon to be on the lookout for. a crash there at memorial and kelly road. we're also seeing some delays downtown tampa and also an accident at county road 579 as you approach i-4. gene and gayle -- >>> all right, now to the rio olympic games. it's already begin an exciting few days. >> yeah, that includes michael phelps adding to his record book of accomplishments and the news channel 8's paul ryan joining us now from rio. he is there covering the olympics for us. paul, good morning. exciting times to far. >> reporter: it is awfully good morni

almost nonexistent here on the courtney campbell causeway. coming up, we're going to check your drive through pinellas >>> now at 5:30, this mother is furious over what happened to her 5-year-old in her classroom. the story that little girl told her and d.c.f. investigation. >> an alarming new trend in hillsborough county. crooks using unlocked car doors to break into homes. i'll detail the warnings deputies are sending out this morning. >>> good morning and happy friday to you. thank you for starting your morning with us. we were laughing about the fact that we all match. [ laughter ] watching weather. any issues out there so far? >> no, no big deal. >> we're all anxious to learn about the tropics? >> no problems to report at this point. instead, we'll let you know that, hey, it's friday. eric's sending us in a nice picture to let us know that, yeah, we do have to look forward to a nice day. a nice smile on that dolphin. titan doppler radar is clear across our region. we'll back it up 12 hours or so and watch most of the storms yesterday sta

courtney campbell causeway and gandy up to speed as well. back to gene and gayle. >> thank you, leslee. >>> your vehicle may be at a risk of stalling unexpectly while driving. >> a recall alert you don't want to miss. you're watching news channel 8 >>> ford is recalling several vehicles that could stall unexpectedly. it involves flex wagons and the ford taurus for model years the problem is with the fuel pump control module. it if fail, it could stall while you're driving. >>> prices of newly built homes have dropped and sales reached a high because buyers are opting for smaller homes. people who need mortgages are coming back to the home buying market which means more demand for smaller homes. the average size of a home built this summer was 70 feet smaller than several months in the tech race, the swiss put their name on the postal map. >> yes, and it's all thanks to this robot. swiss post will test out a small fleet of the postal robots next month. they'll be traveling along sidewalks to deliver dummy packages. >> that's insulting to the

seeing involving the overturned vehicle eastbound on the courtney campbell causeway. we showed you a sky fox camera. i don't feel comfortable what we're seeing now. we also have seen responding emergency crews in the westbound direction now blocking off one lane in the westbound direction. single lane shut down each direction. sensors are looking funny here. they're not green. we have lots of backups particularly heading into tampa so drivers, take the howard water, take tampa road to hillsborough and we'll keep you posted on this. >>laura: duane, the rock, johnson has been the highest paid actor. $64.5 million and most of that came from the movies including the comedy central "intelligence." jackie chan is number two on the list of highest paid actors with $61 million. tom cruise is next at $53 million. >>russell: well theri marage is over but the drama is not after word got out that amber herd settled her divorce with johnny depp for $7 million. she'll donate that to the l.a. children's hospital and civil liberties union. depp figured he would just send money to the

he was caught up on the storm while driving on the maiden causeway. >> the shelf cloud was moving across the bay and a lot of lightning coming out of it. probably some of the most intense lightning i have seen in a good number of years. >> reporter: a storm chaser who hails from the midwest he says he's not in kansas anymore. >> i will say florida has not disappointed me with the weather so far. lightning show your honeymoon island, scary moments for kayakers close by. >> i didn't realize anybody was in the shot i was doing but in between the island there is one shot of lightning that comes down that looks like it's half a mile away from where they were at.>> reporter: fortunately these two women who toss old and turned in the waves made it safely to shore. fire officials say lightning was the cause of a house fire in largo on shoreline drive. >> it was hit by lightning in the back. >> reporter: elliott plans to appreciate florida's beauty but safely from afar. >> down here every day the storms interact and move through the area. 20 minutes later you get gorgeous florida sunsets. there's

up to speed on the howard frankland and courtney campbell causeway it will take 7 minutes to move across the water, and the gandhi bridge has a 4 >>> funny money in the bay area, where investigators are finding fake bills and why some stores are changing the way they accept cash. >>> ryan lochte facing more trouble. why the u.s. olympic swimmer could be headed to face the music for lying about a robbery in rio. >> checking the tropics this morning. invest 99 is bringing wind and rain to the bahamas, and we are looking at where it is headed next and what it means for us. i'm gene ramirez. >> reporter: and i'm melanie michael in for gayle. >>> the important word here is it's friday. good morning, leigh.

corey dierdorff is driving around on the courtney campbell causeway. no issues on the bridges this morning. all three crossings from pinellas into hillsborough and back the other way looking great this morning. less than ten minutes to get across. we're checking our cameras all along i-4. this is what it looks like in the lakeland area. no crashes or breakdowns into lakeland and downtown tampa this morning. a check of the toll roads looking great. 54 to 475, that is not going to last much longer. as you know, traffic starts to build in about 15 to 20 minutes or so. six minutes from i-75 to

they built a trestle bridge and causeway across the salt lake from the nevada/utah border straight across the point of the promontory mountains that are just behind us, straight into ogden. that cut about 80 miles of extra travel, time, money, all of that off the operation of that transcontinental line. ogden became a huge hub for transferring troops and materials and supplies all across the country, and would just have trains every hour coming in just unloading huge amounts of supplies or people, and it became a major city. a major thoroughfare for moving across the country. >> american history tv is marking the centennial of the national park service. we asked members of congress which national park service site in your state has special meaning to you and why. >> the great smoky mountain national park, because i grew up there. because i lived there. and because i really love it. i mean, it's the most visited national park in the country. most people don't know that. it has nearly 10 million visitors a year compared to the western parks that sometimes have 2, 3, 4 million. has more tree

a driver got in a dispute with some riders on the courtney campbell causeway, punches were thrown and a gun was drawn. charges. he's expected to appear before a judge tomorrow morning. a scary situation. >> thank you, ryan. >>> a former teacher at a central florida day care is facing charges after two toddlers under her care wandered off towards a busy highway. the two little girls managed to sneak out of the playground in volusia county and walked to a nearly convenience store. that's two and a half football fields away. the owner oh the day care said she's very upset. >> that's my business. that's my baby. i've been doing this for so many years. that's the first time it happened. >> the teacher has been fired. she's charged with criminal dme neglect. dcf reports there's been no major violations at the center since it opened. >>> manatee counties conducted active shooting pastor erik reefs believes he has a duty to protect his congregation. >> the world is changing. the world is bad. things can happen. >> deputies believe pastors should talk with members who carry guns to worship und

this is what it looks like on the tampa side of the courtney causeway. less than ten minutes to get across all three bridges. since we don't have any crashes or breakdowns, let's avoid this area in ybor city. 50th street is closed between eighth and ninth avenue. eighth avenue is closed as well. this is going to last for couple of weeks. keep that in mind. also, we have construction going on 113th street north between park boulevard and eighth avenue north. expect congestion, especially around morning and afternoon rush hours. dan? >>> i just remember looking back at it and seeing its teeth. >> cute animals attack. you'll never believe which teens. [sobbing ] >> ahead on abc action news, we help a tampa family reunite two years after they were torn apart because of the cuban government. >> first at 5:19, we're getting a look at the future of automobiles and twitter announcing a major crackdown. kendis gibson and diane macedo have more. >>> in today's tech bytes, twitter is crack down terrorists suspending more than a quarter million accounts. >> this fol

. >> pinellas and commissioners may not be on the same page when it comes to the dunedin causeway. >> thank you for joining us on this tuesday, i'm dan shaffer. >> i'm deiah riley. first we're updating a story brought as breaking news at 11:00. the florida highway patrol believes a bicyclist turned into the path of traffic on dale mabry last night. they believe he was riding in the median before he turned into moving lanes near sligh. two cars hit him. the bicyclist died at the scene. in? in central florida a argument between a police officer and

and seven minutes to cross the courtney campbell causeway. that's a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. back to gene and gayle. >> thank you very much, leslee. >>> moms and the door on time each morning. >> leigh spann shares ways to improve our morning routines. >>> plus, going underwater with our gadgets and a tattoo to control our smart phones. up next, the technology we may soon see. >>> big developments in smart phone technology. future generations of the iphone might be great to take to the beach. our transition to becoming cyborgs is becoming reality. >> reporter: underwater selfies with the iphone could be a thing in the very near future. so take a look at this. apple has been granted a patent for a technique that let's its mobile devices take pictures properly underwater. that suggests apple is working on letting the des water safely in the first place. and other rumors suggest iphone is get rid of the headphone jack and the traditional home button, both which would stop water from coming in. the iphone 7 could come out in septemb

the mill stone river easily floods, washing over the black mills wells causeway. not all motts >> we have a tee time at 2:50. i'm not happy. >> reporter: o'donnell is going to be late. farther north in wayne, a church got hammered by a rush of water that left a mess, especially in the nursery school. >> not just water. it's mud. it's debris. it's mulch. it's leaves. >> reporter: it will take days and dollars to clean all this up. the worst flooding this church has ever seen. way to the south, a lightning splinter sticking into the ground from this tree. they're using a long piece of molding to show me the seven-foot deep hole in the ground. the bolt traveled underground to blast through the home's wall inside, pushing out sheet rock, even shattering this plastic file bin. >> a loud bang and our whole bedroom just like lit up with the brightness from the lightning. >> reporter: were you scared? >> >> reporter: many places like this are used to this kind of flooding. they even have gates to show you that the road is closed. it is the randomness of these storms that

headed across the howard frankland bridge, it will only take you 6 minutes. 7 on the courtny campbell causeway. there's the car still there. there's weather and traffic on the 8s, and and gene. >>> upgrading your tv in time for football season. >> we will help you can 4k, lcd, and hgr. >> just turn on the tv, right? >> i don't know what it means. we will find out what you need to know before you buy. it's 5:50. >> closed captioning brought to (vo) we went to hollywood to ask thousands stepped into the jennie-o tasting booth to find out. with just one bite, they knew. >>> thinking of upgrading to a big screen for football season? tv tech terms can make the shop experience confusing. to simplify it, when it comes to size, you get more tv for your dollar, but consider your space. seating distance should be 2 times the length of the screen's diagonal. bigger is not always better. >> often times a big tv will exaggerate whatever flaws are many of us do. 4k and hdr offer the best picture quality, and if you're looking at curved screens, they are more for fashion than function it does not improve the

and actually either direction of the courtney campbell causeway from pinellas county all the way over to memorial highway, that's roughly a 10 minute drive. all right, 275 and st. pete, at the 175 to the howard frankland bridge, that stretch is about nine minutes. and nine coming in to downtown tampa on 275 bearss avenue to i- 4.ve bay area interstates and across the water. that's weather and traffic on the 8s. back to gene and gayle. >> thank you. >>> a bobble on the balance beam cost simone biles the gold medal. >> and the sacrifice one runner made to cross the finish line and get gold. you think that's fair? we will talk about that too. foster farms presents appetites. even a small one can throw you off your game. they can happen anywhere. and they only get bigger as time goes on. serve foster farms corn dogs, makes a big appetite go away. foster farms corn dogs. >>> this morning, it is being dubbed the dive for gold but it had nothing to do with the pool. >> there wasn't even water nearby. this was a dive on the track. take a look. runners nearing the finish line in the 400-meter

just nine on the courtney campbell causeway. and that's from pinellas to memorial. sunshine skyway bridge up to speed as well. and over in parish, old tampa road right and now just got word of an accident in lanes by 75. that's pasco county, more on that coming up in the next report and now back to gene and gayle. >> thank you. >>> hot wheels, those superrer fast cars you might have loved as a kid. well, ever wondered what it's like to ride one? >> coming up, the ride or drive (vo) we went to hollywood to ask if america's favorites - burgers, tacos and chili to find out. with just one bite, they knew. >>> check it out. what you're looking at is a gopro camera. it gives us the opportunity to see what it feels like to be inside one of those hot wheels. you can see through the backyard, down roads and through a swimming pool. right there. under the water. how cool is that? kids get creative with the tracks. and we've wanted to be in one of those. i did. and now we can feel like you are. >> i love it. >> it brings you back to your childhood. you hear is sound when you w

. >>> a rare sight stopped traffic literally on the courtney campbell causeway. a lot of splashing in the water just yards off-shore drew dozens out of their cars to catch a glimpse of what is called a manatee mating ball. people stopped for good reason. it's a rare sight. you can only to five years. for a female manatee, deciding between suiters can be difficult. there are seven males competing for a single female's attention. >> pretty cool experience to be able to see that. i did hear it's a once in a lifetime for most people. they don't get the opportunity to see it. pretty neat. pretty cool for the little man to see it as well. >> the male strategy, push the female into shallow water to mate with her. >>> this time yesterday we were talking about heavy downpours and of course the flood watches this morning, two or three drops falling on you across indian rocks beach, that could be about it. very isolated stuff. by the afternoon not the case. back into typical summer thunderstorms. we'll talk more about the temperatures in the extended forecast coming up next

no delays on the courtney campbell causeway. 10 minutes. and that will take you all the way from memorial highway over to pinellas county. let's go ahead and look at traffic out here. here's 275. there's an underpass there. this is by hillsborough avenue. 275 at bird street. we are also up to speed. that's a look at weather and traffic. and now back to melanie and gene. >> thank you. >>> breaking news this morning. a baby is shot in a drive-by. she was in a front bedroom when gunfire erupted. >> the bullet went through the wall and hit the baby. news channel 8's ryan hughes is live at this home in new port richey. ryan, first, how is the baby doing? and also what are investigators >> reporter: good morning to you. thankfullythis 1-year-old girl expected to be okay. she has -- thankfully, this 1- year-old girl is expected to be okay. we have video to show you right now. deputies got a 911 call around 11:30 last night. and they rushed here and found a 1-year-old girl with a gunshot wound to the wrist. they took her to the local injured even t

. >> reporter: one was picked up and moved across the causeway. >> they started to shape and it popped up like a buoy. >> he had spent eight months renovating his family's uncle's cottage next door. >> this hurricane, it was an education. mother nature should be respected. if you don't expect it. sooner or later it will educate you the hard way. >>> and when we were going back through the archives and looking at how he forecasted the storm, the technology 25 years later has grown so much so that we are able to give more along the coast if something threatens our way. luckily, we don't have any hurricanes in the forecast for new england. we're tracking one tropical storm in the atlantic, tropical storm fiona, and that has fax waves of -- maximum waves of 40 miles per hour. it's going to track to the west, northwest and weaken. it's not coming close to the term. boston today, 81 degrees. what a grocerious afternoon. the average should be 79. and much of the day was spent in the upper 70s. 92degrees, set back in 1983 and today we didn't add to the number of 90-degree days we've had in bos

we will take to you the maps and show you the bay area bridge, top to bottom, courtney campbell causeway, howard frankland bridge, gandy, in the green. still looking at an accident in 27th avenue. i don't have florida highway patrol onscene just yet. as soon as they get there, i will let you know how it's looking. downtown tampa, very quiet. gene and gayle, back to you. >> thank you. >>> right now, pasco county deputies are searching for two people who car jacked a woman at a busy 7-eleven in holiday. this happened as people were headed to work early in the morning. news channel 8's ryan hughes is live along u.s. highway 19. and ryan, surveillance video shows the pair just before th >> reporter: gene, good morning. detectives hope someone recognizes that couple from the video and it leads to an arrest. this is the parking lot where the woman was car jacked just two days ago. let's go to the video if we could. you can see the couple walking around before the crime. it doesn't show the actual crime in progress.. deputies say he took off with her minivan. he had a woman with him. the area i

so does the courtney campbell causeway and the gandy bridge. when it hit, it really was quite dramatic. road signs bent over because of the force of the water. you know, gushing down the street everywhere oving down the street. we always think we're the keeper of the house... ...so it makes a lot of sense you would have flood insurance. knowing that you have that and if you need it, it's going to be there, and you've done everything you can that this house might be here in a hundred years for another family to enjoy it. >>> it's back to school for students and polk county. what officials are doing this morning to make sure the students get there safely. >>> also, dangerous flooding. look at this. residents in waking up to the possibility of more rain. that is the last thing they need. the latest on the rescue efforts and how the federal government is stepping in to help. >>> and a live look at rio this morning. the u.s. continues to lead in the medal count. and a new record is broken. a look at what is ahead for today minutes away. >>> good mor

this is what it looks like, tampa side of the courtney campbell causeway. let's go ahead and check drive times across all three bridges. still under 10 minutes for each. >>> 5:51. coming up, what you could be doing while you're sleeping that could end up with you in >>> in democracy 2016, a big campaign day for the republican and democratic presidential nominee. >> both in must win swing states. hillary clinton in pennsylvania, ohio. trump plans to outline his foreign policy plans, his main focus, destroying the islamic state group and other terrorist organizations. he'll argue the country needs to work with anyone who shares the same mission regardless of other disagreements. trump is also expected to propose a new immigration policy and new test for admission to the country. >>> meanwhile clinton and vice president joe biden will be in scranton, biden's hometown. and today will be his first campaign rally for clinton. biden plans to declare trump presidential nominee in history. biden's office says he'll argue that trump is less prepared on national secur

six minute to cross the howard frankland bridge. 10 across the courtney campbell causeway from pinellas all the way over to memorial highway. and also check it out, a look through lakeland and wesley chapel, up to speed, i-4 between each entrance, 14 minutes. and state road 52 to 275 on 75, 11 minutes. overnight construction tying up portions of 75 in sarasota, more on that coming up in the next report. and now back to gene and gayle. >> thank you. >>> we are following breaking news this morning out of italy. while you were sleeping a 6.2 earthquake rocked the central part of italy. the earthquake's epicenter was located about 150-miles from rome. now this is new video just coming into the newsroom. and you can see the streets torn up, residents standing about. some of them looking still for and first responders working this scene there. and it shows some of the damage causedded by the earthquake. buildings leveled. and at this hour, reports of at least and people dead. several aftershock, one measuring 5.5. and the earthquake was felt as far as rome. this is damage inside a home there.