st. petersburg, along 275. and those are slowly drifting towards the north and the east. so into the say downtown area of st. petersburg could see a few showers as we go through next hour or so. then you get down to our south. this charlotte county, but lot of this activity is going to tend to lift to the north. sour southern counties getting quite a bit of rain as we get through later afternoon hours as well. over in brandon you ever got sun. 90 degrees here in tampa though. 83 along with clearwater. downtown st. petersburg at 84. you head down to braden top and sarasota. both sitting at 87 degrees. we're looking a that area of low pressure. that tropical wave. just kind of moving it over the state. moisture. not only today, but over the next several days. as just kind of slowly drifts over the state. and you can certainly tell there's lot of moisture siting across southeast. we're also talking the tropics this here is tropical storm ian. you notice the center all located to the south of the deep convection. that exactly what we saw yesterday. it's still dealing with some strong wind sheer over the system. s

downtown st. petersburg currently sits at 85 degrees along the brooksville. weeki wachee you're at degrees you work your way down into pan manatee and sarasota. lakewood ranch 92. venice. bradenton checks in at 90. lakeland 84. and wauchula currently at 89 degrees. so across the southeast we're starting to really dry things out. ridge of high pressure building in. still watching that one area of low pressure just kind of churning along the carolina coastline. they will continue to see more clouds and these off and on showers. and some cooler temperatures starting to work their way across the upper midwest. at 65. chicago 72. so the dryer air continues to work it is way across the state. so you can see just a few isolated showers for today. and again for tomorrow. we're going to see partly cloudy skies. in just a couple of random showers as we go through the afternoon. forecast for today, partly cloudy, isolated storm daytime high at 90. then for tonight overnight low of 77. and again for tomorrow, we're going keep that rain chance on low side. you can see tha

and downtown st. petersburg at 84. and a so if you look across state pretty much over past mainly down to our south. we still have that one stationery front to our north. and yeah you guessed it that low, still sitting off the carolina coastline. so they've got more clouds, more showers, and past several days they've had several inches of rain. and it's dealing with flooding issues and some locations. so they are, they are ready for that just to go ahead and move on out. but it looks like it will hang out for at least a few more days. but, the one byproduct this has been doing helping drag down some dryer air so we've got plenty of dry air across the panhandle in down into central florida. now we still had some stronger showers developing yesterday afternoon. we continue to dry the atmosphere out. so our rain chances they will stay on low side. as we go through the next several days i notice on low side. not going to completely get rid of the rain, but at least we're drying things out to keep an right around 20 to 30 p

we'll stay with that overnight because the humidity is so high. 82 in tampa. 82 in downtown st. petersburg. dewpoint 75 degrees so really high humidity. surface cold front right in that area which is why we're seeing thunderstorming develop n heaviest rain now to the northern sections of the news channel 8 viewing area or in citrus county. the path of tropical storm matthew forming today will eventually curve to the north. that is the consensus at this point. potentially monday, with 105- mile-an-hour winds and a hurricane passing over the bahamas east of the florida, but that can change. shower chance overnight and off especially northern spots closer to where that cold front is located. highs in the upper 80s thursday, friday and saturday. the rain chances seasonal levels. it is fall but the temperatures are warm. it comes with high humidity. not much refreshment to the north. not for most. >> you can tell it is trying so hard in the morning in >>> exactly. >> it is a good time to live here. >> we'll be right back. i wore a badge for 38 years knowing how much you trusted us to keep you s

east to west that is the flow pattern. 88 degrees at the airport, very humid, same story downtown st. petersburg but the air is cooler as a result of showers and thunderstorms. write a bit of moisture high above, looking at the water vapor imagery, you know that green means deep atmosphere tropical wave left over. 93 l enhancing rain chances for two days as it moves across the florida peninsula. we will see sunshine with warm temperatures, 93 degrees despite the clouds and showers but the overall pattern continues from east to west enhancing the rain chances. in the tropics we have 40 mile- per-hour winds today and it the ninth named storm of the season, our model keeps the possibility of showers in the forecast early in the evening but into the later evening probably not as much for tuesday morning sun and clouds with a warm start, by the afternoon, you can see widespread showers and thunderstorms expected for the area, fairly high is the left over tropical wave an area of low pressure taking advantage of the bright green slighting to the north helping to enhance rain chances especially for tom

. >>> we're expecting new details about the planned launch of ferry service between downtown st. petersburg and tampa. a conference set for 10:00 this morning near downtown tampa about this. >>> a community workshop about the tampa bay express project is tonight, it was earlier this month because of tropical storm hermine at the time. it's 6:30 tonight at the seminole heights branch library. >>> hillary clinton brings her campaign back to florida. she's holding a rally at the frontline outreach youth and family extent center in orlando. she discuss america that is stronger together and the economy that works for everyone, not just for those at afternoon. rally. >>> donald trump is heading to toledo, ohio yesterday. he made controversial comments during a campaign event in north carolina where he told an nearly all white crowd that african-americans are in the worst shape than ever before. >> you get no education, you get no jobs. you get shot walking down the street. they are worse -- honestly, places like afghanistan are safer than some of our inner cities. >> the comments igni a firestorm

it will dock near the convention center in tampa to downtown st. petersburg saving people sitting in traffic a lot of time. >> the one reason that i don't like going to st. pete is because of the commute and the traffic and all of that stuff. >> the ferry isa x-month trial run. if all goes well, it will become a permanent fixture on the bay but only operate six months out of the year in the bay area. >> the florida department of transportation alters plans for the express project. tbx as it is called would require buildings to be torn down in historic tampa bay neighborhoods. you can learn more about the plans at the workshop. this was post poped earlier this month because of hurricane hermine. it starts tonight at 6:30. >>> well, all this week, as part of our taking action against domestic violence campaign, we're introducing you made a difference in the lives of domestic violence survivors and local advocates. our next hero is one you probably recognize. her name is melissa dome, a dv survivor herself. as abc action news anchor wendy ryan shows us, she is h

little more humid in downtown st. petersburg, 88 degrees there at the airport. that is the key, this red stripe right here is basically dry air high above on the water vapor imagery, deeper moisture to the south is where the shower activity is across south florida. high pressure continues to dominate, though, across the southeast, more of an easterly surface wind, you can see the difference and boundary with the dry air to the north. as you look at the rain chances in the forecast area, clearly will favor farther to the south for tomorrow, same story, better rain chances there. in the tropics, 70% chance of potential development the next 5 days for this area. we watch the thunderstorms cross the continent and get over warmer waters and develop into something tropical. that one likely will stay at sea but it is something we watch because of general east-northwesterly rather west-northwesterly movement. pleasant morning to start. as i mentioned, the drier feeling air for some and you can see thursday afternoon, the dry air limits the amount of rain we see in the f

downtown st. petersburg, 82. pinellas park, 88. palm harbor, 89?. northern counties low 90s. cools things down a little bit. currently 86?. lakeland, 88 wauchula, currently sitting at 89. that is what is left of tropical storm julia. churning off the east coast of the carolinas. fell apart over the weekend. watching this front here. this is working its kay into the one of the cold fronts. it is going to pull up stationary across northern part of the state as we go through the next couple of days. more and more of the fronts across the rest of the country. temperatures are starting to cool down. places like chicago, not bad, 80?. minneapolis, 66. fargo, 71. you get the idea starting to see the cooler temperatures their way across the country. we are talking the tropics, this is tropical storm karl. continuing to work its way across the atlantic. couple more days until we can see much happen. winds of 40 miles an hour. it is that wind sheer. as we get three days from now, wind sheer is going to lessen. make the turn more towards the north. there is bermuda. watch very closely.

a few clouds around downtown st. petersburg. winds calm, out of the east, very mild now. taking a look at your most we'll drop a degree or two down to 77. up to 86 by 10:00. that's when tailgating is going to be in full effect as they start off, could be a big game it's going to be a noontime here on abc action news kickoff temperature should be about 89 degrees. a complete look into the tropics and your seven-day forecast coming refusing to make an endorsement, days before this debate, texas senator ted cruz announced he is voting for trump. >> hillary clinton calls off plans to visit charlotte because of the protests. >> reporter: tonight, ted cruz snubbing the nominee for months >> i'm not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and father. >> in a statement, cruz saying, if you don't want to see a encourage you to vote for him. they plan to take their long distance attacks at their first debate. race relations in the wake of the shootings in tulsa and charlotte are weighing heavy. >> our african-american communities are absolutely in the worst shape that

downtown st. petersburg is down off the distance. you can see this whole area. this is tampa bay out here. the and all the water with come all into here. you can see there's a lot of water around here. the houses are right up on the water. some of the roads, like this as i said, as the tides come up, all of those water -- all these streets are mother water and usually all hold water and i can push right in here. here's another street that has water in it. again, anytime cars drive on it, it is the drive a bathtub. when you slosh the water back and forth, it has to go somewhere. it's going to end up in these houses. hofu high tide around 3:00 today. that's a sketchy situation for those folks, if they can stay put, do. >> no. they're pushing the water in those homes. avoid driving in the area. >> thanks, paul. we'll check back with paul. it's eerie so other the overhead view, where we're getting a picture now that the sunlight is through the homes. >> that's not an inexpensive part. >> governor rick scott gave us an update on tropical storm hermine. >> here's what

tampa to convention center to downtown st. petersburg. the trip will last just under an hour. >>> all right. we need to get to shayla reeves right now. she's standing by live where she has been all morning long reporting on a situation. shayla, good morning. good morning to you. right now we're in front of elementary school where a dangerous scene und folded in car pool line yesterday. in fact i want at this mug smot. right now you're looking a mug shot of 34-year-old, lawrence dean franklin. he's accused of a not only breaking the rules, but breaking the law. and right now, we learn the trouble started if parent drop off loop. deputies say franklin refused to switch lanes ask could have put people walking in danger. volunteer stood in front of car to intervene. just listen to what happened next. intentionally took his foot off the brakes. the car struck the 79-year-old man injuring him deputies arrest franklin on felony charge for using a vehicle to harm someone over the age of 65. he's in jail this morning in land o'lakes with $50,000

we're expecting to learn new details about a planned launch of the ferry service between downtown st. petersburg and tampa. a news conference set for 10:00 project officials are expected to unveil route maps and some on-line elements. >>> fdot continues to alter plans for the controversial tbx road project as it receives feedback. tbx requires buildings to be torn down in historic tampa neighborhoods. a workshop about this can help you learn more, 6:30 tonight. it was the workshop postponed earlier this month because of hurricane hermine. starts 6:30. >>> you can help save lives of st. jude day today. restaurant donating $353,000 to st. jude, in hopes guests might double that. so participate head to any bay area chili's and donate, buy a t-shirt, crazy straw or decorate a pepper. >>> we have a crash here on the sunshine skyway. it's causing some major delays. this is southbound, you can see it here blocking the inside lane, cars slow five-minute delay. looks like the camera is sticking there. but, if this continues to be stuck there on the skyway we could see even more delays there on the skyway

downtown st. petersburg at 80. clearwater, 78 degrees. you head down into bradenton, 77. throughout the interior, most locations we are either sitting in the mid to low 70s. lakeland at 73 degrees. bartow at 72 along with fr frostproof. as we go through the day, plenty of sun. warm temperatures. by noon we are already up in the upper 80s. low 90s for this afternoon. 5:00 at 89 degrees. we will talk more about the forecast coming up in just a little bit. >>> thanks, jim. a look at your headlines this half hour. an 82-year-old pasco county man beaten and robbed by a teenager dies less than 24 hours after the attack. deputies say alexander perez walked up to the victim who was sitting on his porch in hol holiday. detectives say perez hit the man several times in the face before running off with his wallet. did not go to the hospital. detectives caught perez and facing several felony charges. >>> st. petersburg mayor rick krisman is trying to find answers about the sewage spill crisis. 150 million gallons of wa wastewater poured out of the treatment plants during and after hu

downtown st. petersburg, 86. clearwater has an 88. you head up to brooksville currently sitting at 87 degrees. so the view across the state pretty quiet. we see few more showers down to our south we've got a little bit more moisture down in that direction. and we're still watching that area of low pressure. just kind of churning along the carolina coastline. some clouds and off and on showers. but high pressure is really been in control across much of the southeast. we've also had that drier air which is worked its way across the state. we also have cold fronts well, well to our north. so all the fronts just racing on towards the east. cooler temperatures up in that direction. w. with some clouds and scattered showers. but that dryer air will continue to keep our rain chances on the low side. as we go through the next several days. by time we get into first part of next week i think we're going to start to bring in enough moisture back that we'll slowly bring that rain chance back up as we get into say about tuesday, and wednesday of

westchase at 74 along with new downtown st. petersburg has an 80. pinellas park currently sits at 77. up in brooksville, 71 degrees. dade city has a 72. new port richey currently at 74. you head down to sarasota, 77. lakewood ranch at 73. bradenton has 776 and generally speaking lower 70s throughout the infor i can't remember. high pressure still pretty much in control across the sout southeast. moisture over the part southern part of the state and the drier air has held our rain chances down past several days and slowly start to recede as the moisture works back in through the first part of next week. also watching karl now starting to work its way away from bermuda. located at 32 degrees northerly president 32.2 degrees north. 63.7 west. top winds are at 65 miles per hour. this will continue its track across north atlantic and tropical characteristics as we get into about monday and tuesday and still those winds, you will be about 65, 75 miles per hour as it moves across the atlantic. so just a couple of spotty showers for today. wind down but not

here is one north of the sunshine skyway, too, and that's working its way right toward downtown st. petersburg. it may fall apart before it gets there but the point is we do have coastal showers, another one in pasco county, hernando county. we'll see more of these, really, as the morning moves along. the tiny little showers will eventually work their way inland. 40% rain chance for today, tomorrow, 50% for sunday as we reverse the process and bring the storms back to the coast matthew is now a category two hurricane, well on the way to becoming a major hurricane. this is going to cause some serious issues in cuba, haiti and jamaica early next week. more on that in the next half hour. >>vanessa: see you then. thank you. we have some big delays here on the skyway bridge. it's pretty busy. latest crash is in the northbound directions here on the bridge. skyway seeing delays. the outside lane is blocked and currently delays 20 minutes so weigh that on your mind depending on where you're coming from, going to. 75 may or may not be a good work around for you. 20 minutes are the delay if you're taki

pinellas park you're at 87 downtown st. petersburg. 83. palm harbor has an 86. you head over to brandon though, still looking at 90 degrees. at the noon hour. brooksville 84. weeki wachee 87. dade city currently at 86 degrees. 88 down in sarasota. and bradenton lakewood ranch 89. you head over to lakeland, 82. and b degrees. the view across the state. you can see more moisture as you head down southern part of the state. high pressure is really built in across much of the southeast. as you look at the water vapor imagery, looks pretty nice. you see this red shade. that is all dry air in the atmosphere. dry air means very slim rain chances. in fact that will stick around over the next several days. where we're going to keep that rain chance pretty much a second half work week heading towards say about thursday and friday. now we still watching post tropical storm hermine. and this is basically lost its tropical characteristics. but still producing some pretty strong winds and still some rain along the coastline. you can see winds are currently sitting at 60 miles

downtown st. petersburg at 80. pinellas park currently at 76. lower 70s as you work your way up to hernando, brooksville at 72 and weeki watch chee. fog to the north that burns off. no fog yet at this point. crystal river, 75 degrees. head down to venice, 79. sarasota currently at 77 and still looking at mid to lower 70s throughout the interior, but everybody heading back up to the upper 80s or the low 90s for this the high pressure is really being in control across much of the southeast. basically all week long we had this drier air which is worked its way down across the state, so from about central florida on to the north we keep the rain chances very low. more moisture across the southern part of the state. the moisture will start to work its way back across the state starting tomorrow. so 20% chance of storms for today. the time we get into tomorrow. up to a 30% chance and heading up to that more typical 40% chance as we get into the first tart of next week. the enhanced satellite review of thunderstorm carl. there is bermuda if you look cl

st. petersburg downtown partnershiip everything that's happening here."a&city leaders are making sure havana knows - st. pete wants a cuban consulate, something miribal supports, as art could be one of the biggest exports from cuba through a consulate. "having someone like this in town, showing him some hospitality, showing him that we are open to exhibiting his work - it just helps to build that relationship and it lets them know we are sincere in this effort." st. petersburg's leaders have made several trips to cuba - and hosted diplomats here. the city worked with cuba's ministry of culture to bring miribal here."question: do you think this will seal the deal? if they take it that way - then okay, but this is normally my work." a& an artist hoping his inspiration could translate to ((jen)) there's much more to come on good day.((walter)) let's turn it over to russell and laura - to find out what's ahead in our 6 o'clock hour. ((russell/2-shot)) the protests going on in charlotte are anything but peaceful.. after a police shooting - people block the roa

st. petersburg a few showers to the north of the downtown area, from north to south the bulk of the heavy showers and thunderstorms in the western part of hillsboro county moving into the northern part of pinellas county, folks in palm harbor watch for these to your east moving your way, possibly clearwater beach north of downtown saint pete otherwise quiet in polk county, same in highlands county, a few showers to the east there are some showers generating to the east so we may see a shower into the evening. moving offshore of inglewood pretty good downpours in venice on the camera image remains. a great shot from the causeway you can see the beauty but also in the rearview mirror a lightning strike. good timing on that one. our high temperatures in the upper 80s tuesday wednesday thursday the normal high 90 degrees, that is our average, 89 degrees now the average, trending downward but temperatures will be fairly warm maybe a little cooler because we are expected gh chances. at four clock p.m., 88 degrees, showers and thunderstorms possible tomorrow, 77 riverview , lakeland 78 degrees.

st. petersburg. this is the second year for shine st. petersburg mural festival. finishing touches their murals across downtown. the festival hopes to shed light on the power of art and how it can transform communities and inspire dialogue. >> it's very necessary to have art in the street to remind people that what we are. >> shine live is the grand finale event of this featuring music at local businesses. it runs until 10:00 tonight taking place right now at along central. best part it's all free. >> help is on the way for many of those whose homes were damaged in hurricane hermine. up next when federal officials will be here to representatives will be in citrus county assessing this week fema representatives will be in citrus county assessing the damage from hurricane hermine. the sheriff's office estimates about $1.8 million destruction was done in citrus, fema will go street by street and door to door to see what help is needed. >> in pasco county crew also begin removing storm debris. they are asking homeowners to place the debris on the curb. they also want you to divide a separate pile for furniture, met

downtown tampa looking great this morning. >>> 5:0 2. protesters angered by sewage dumping interrupted a meeting last night in st. petersburg. they say sewage is killing birds. this morning wildlife officials are testing several dead birds after dozens ended up dead along the beaches over the last week. lorraine margison with florida shorebird alliance says 45 juvenile black skimmers have she and other ecoscientists in the bay area currently suspect the deaths could be connected to the more than 70 million gallons of sewage officials say they've had to dump into tampa bay since hurricane hermine. the birds may have caught salmonella from the waste water. >>> today's controversial vote to regulate ridesharing companies like uber and lyft is cancelled. according to the tampa bay business journal the hillsborough county public transportation commission called off that vote. ptc chairman victor cris because the public didn't get enough notice on the meeting. members still plan to discuss the issues, that starts at 9:00, it includes controversial fares, that uber says will leave the county if it passes. >>> madeira beach ferry an

downtown tampa and st. pete. this was all approved back in august by city leaders in tampa and st. petersburg. the ferry would drop the people off near the water front near the tampa convention center and then would travel between that point and the park in st. pete. slashing lots of time off of commutes, especially during rush hour. >> we go back and forth between to beat the traffic all the time. >> reporter: now tickets for the ferry are tentatively priced around 5 to $10 per trip. and again, the big announcement will take place at 10:00 a.m. in downtown tampa. and if all goes according to plan, the ferry could take off as soon as november, gene. and i know that we all know how aggravating it can be to sit in rush hour traffic so this could be a big help for commuters and al for people that just want to be out there an water. >> definitely a game changer. mary, thank you. >>> st. petersburg's mayor and the head of public works faced tough questions about the release of sewer water into tampa bay. the department of environmental protection revealed more than 248 million-gallons of waste wate

downtown tampa and st. pete. this was all approved back in august by city leaders in tampa and st. petersburg. the ferry would drop the people off near the water front near the tampa convention center and then would travel between that point and the park in st. pete. slashing lots of time off of commutes, especially during rush hour. >> we go back and forth between it but i'm retired and we have to beat the traffic all the time. >> rte the ferry are tentatively priced around 5 to $10 per trip. and again, the big announcement will take place at 10:00 a.m. in downtown tampa. and if all goes according to plan, the ferry could take off as soon as november, gene. and i know that we all know how aggravating it can be to sit in rush hour traffic so this could be a big help for commuters and al for people that just want to be out there and enjoy the water. we're told the trip would take about 45 minutes but a prettier >> something to look at. thank you, mary. > st. petersburg's mayor and the head of public works faced tough questions about the release of sewer water into tampa bay. the department of e

downtown tampa, channel district or ybor city can buy a special pass for $25. >>> deputies are investigating a shooting on gandy boulevard in unincorporated st. petersburg. happened sunday morning. a victim was transported to a hospital for life threatening injuries. no other details at this time. stay with abc action news, we'll get more information as soon as >>> a stunning story from winter springs in central florida. police say they arrested a father for throwing his infant over a fence. police say they found the baby face down crying. on the other side of the fence found 31-year-old richard harris sitting down naked. >> i'm just grateful the baby is ok, mom is ok and now the dad will get help. the neighbor spent the night with the mother at the hospital while the infant was checked had scrapes. the father faces aggravated child abuse charges. because he has a long criminal history he could be sentenced to even more time behind bars. >>> i didn't think this would happen to us. i saw it happen to other people but never to us. >> five people shot and killed while at a washington state shopping mall. when the suspected begunman is due in court and looki

downtown tampa. >>> 6:01. to a crime alert. a violent attack on a war veteran in st. petersburg and this morning police are working to track down the driver from this surveillance video. >> they've already got an head start with a look at the vehicle they are looking for and also a good description of the guy. abc action news anchor lindsay logue is live at happened. pretty bold move to attack that man in broad daylight. it was around lunchtime that the attack happened so you can imagine the parking lot here at the walmart would have been busy as well as busy 34th street along this area. the victim says she was completely caught offguard. jeffrey hardeman is a u.s. army war vet, disabled and primarily uses a walker and cane to get around. he says last week a man walked up to him in the parking lot, asked for the time and out of nowhere put him in a chokehold, punched him, beat him with his open walker and stole money and a few other things. >> is it worth to it get whatever they get for a few days and then go do it again? you know? go to jail or prison? they are crazy and hurt p

of course, our camera downtown, dew point 76 degrees, so a little warmer obviously at the airport than at our ford location. 82 degrees bradenton, 83 now in st. petersburg, temps generally thanks to the very high humidity in place. past couple of days we've seen dew points in the mid-and upper 70s, even near 80 degrees. quite a bit of dry air high above in the atmosphere. some of that is helping to affect our tropical storm julia that's well off to the east of us. you can see not in great shape for tonight. we still have some more midlevel moisture farther south, but this dry air is also drying things out across the northern part of the state. there you see all the activity on the eastern side spinning a few squally showers, but the dry air played a park to help weaken the system a bit. thursday by later in the day tomorrow and overnight again our satellite continues to show kind of dry on the western side. the water vapor confirms that and that and the strong wind shear from the northwest, but the little bands continue to spin off up into the carolinas and coastal flooding possible there. julia still a tropical storm, depression for a period of time to

st. petersburg. 275 looks very good coming up to the howard frankland bridge. we're not seeing any delays. also a very good drive as well on 275 into downtown tampa. take a live look again. this is 275 at 54th avenue north. this is pinellas county. you can see traffic is very light and it's an easy ride. also on the howard frankland bridge it's still going to take you 6 minutes to cross it. 7 on the courtney campbell. >> thank you. >>> bucs fans are waking up disappointed this morning. the team blew a 10-point lead to the l.a. rams. the rams took the lead with less than 2 minutes left in the game. the ref called a weather delay for a thunderstorm that was messy out there. play resumed just over an hour later. sadly our guys lost in the end. the rams ended uptaking it 37-32. >> our culture is not where it needs to be and that starts with me. i'm the head of that. i mean, i'm put ting that re ulders. sdls we have to get over that hump. >> next sunday they take on the super bowl champs the denver broncos at ray j. >>> the 2016 heart walk is right around the corner and news channel 8 is committed to raising $100,000. fucillo kia raise. it will be nove

downtown without having adequate facilities. when you cannot clean your sewage, and you cannot educate your children which is another problem in st. petersburg, you're going into a third level country. what you have is a democratic administration that is doing government by crisis, not solving problems beforehand but waiting until everything becomes a crisis and saying oh, woe is me, it's not my fault. we have to stop this government mayor has not been a true leader. >> susan is agreeing with that. --disdisagreing with that. >> the mayor took office in 2014. this did not happen in 2014. it's not a reflection of administration. the mayor inherited this issue but i am quite confident he's going to have the leadership to take care of it and fix leader hip o -- he has the leadership to do that. >> we're going to move on to the next topic. that's zika and combating the virus. there's a battle in congress for funding. in fact, representative jolly argued for more money by taking a jar full of mosquito larva to the congress. what do you think of him bringing that there and tacking about the zika crisis? >> i have a congressman jolly. he's going to

downtown tampa show limited clouds. it is warm at 78 degrees. it is 74 in bartow. frostproof at 75. 80 in st. petersburg. the closest rain to show across the offshore waters. you get the idea. it is actually a light northeast wind, kind of an unusual flow for us today and that is on the back side of a fizzling tropical depression julia. that low that you see across the east central portion of the atlantic there. we will be monitoring our rain chances to build between 2 and 8:00 last night. they will start north and slide south and west and at the beach 9 today. our rain chances the same on monday. the further north sunday, you sneak in slightly drier air with afternoon storms inland for this sunday afternoon. >>> the time right now a 6:32. a quick check of today's top stories. hernando county deputies bust a drug house less than quarter mile away. it is on cobblestone drive in spring hill. they found several bags of meth, marijuana and pills. homeowner michael politano were arrested and facing several charges. >>> a break in the case of an innocent woman riding in a car on columbus drive when he was shot

st. petersburg. pinellas county, up to speed. in fact, from the 175 to the howard frankland bridge, only nine minutes so a great drive county, good drive on 75 connecting to 275 into downtown. bearss avenue to i-4, nine >>> a traffic stop turns into a shootout between a convicted felon and officers. >> we shot back. because he shot at us. and we shot at him a lot. >> still ahead, the suspect shot is no stranger to crime. >>> hurricane hermine's high price tag jumps in one bay area county. new numbers this morning for just how much damage the storm cause when had it flooded hundreds of homes. >>> good the thursday morning. welcome to news channel 8 today. i'm gene ramirez. >> and i'm gayle guyardo. let's turn things over to leigh spann on this thursday morning. it's nice that we're seeing this stretch of dry weather. >> yeah, not only dry in the fact that the rain chances are low but lower humidity so it feels more comfortable.

downtown. tiny little orange thing. now look how bright and beautiful it is. our temps, 64. degrees in brooksville. 71 wesley chapel. tampa at 74. 77 in st. petersburg. lovely, lovely temperatures this morning and i know many people probably get outside and go, feels nice. i feel fall. hold on a second now. it's still september. we know it's going to continue to stay pretty hot in the afternoons for the next several weeks. at least another month until the cold front comes through here. lower 80sow florida and some very comfy lower 60s from gainesville up to the jacksonville area. northeast winds as high pressure sits to the north again today, but the limiting factor as it's been all week long is moisture in the mid levels of the atmosphere. it's not there. i mean, everything is just dry around the southeast and look at this mid level ridge. you can see everything going over and around it so the rain chances today, on the slim side maybe a little bit higher down towards sarasota and venice and fort myers. 30% or so like it was yesterday. if you picked up a shower yesterday, you have a shot today but for most of us, it's probably not going to happen un

downtown now. that's a look at weather and traffic. back to gene and gayle. >> leslee, thank you. >>> right now, the it's just two weeks into the baseball season but players in st. petersburg could be striking out soon. the sports management company that manages the league is holding back payments collected from fees. mary mcguire is live in st. pete this morning. good morning. parents have got to be upset reporter: that's right. parents are outraged over all of this. nearly 300 kids participate in the little league system and their season could be over before it's really started this year. now this all links back the to a company that is based out of allen, texas that is holding back payments collected from fees. 8 on your side contacted the owner who said the credit card processor froze his account after after parents in utah began asking for refunds. >> we're trying to do some temporary short-term things and we have discussed that with the northeast little league and treasurer. we are caught in the middl and we are at the mercy of merchant bank releasing the funds. >> reporter: parents say they don't buy the explanation and parents are now pitching in through a gofundme

downtown tampa looks good. but it does kind of look steamy from that view. it is we jumped to 77 this hour in tampa. no 80s yet but you're close in st. petersburg. 76 in leesburg. do want to point out satellite picture i've drawn feature which

downtown tampa looks good. but it does kind of look steamy from that view. it is we jumped to 77 this hour in tampa. no 80s yet but you're close in st. petersburg. 76 in leesburg. do want to point out satellite picture i've drawn feature which east central portion of our state. and so as these clouds kind of wrap around this low, the rain will wrap around as well. heaviest rain will be on the east coast today. and we're mainly dry. but we've got a few little sprinkle and in eastern polk county. these will give way to more numerous and afternoon storms. far from wash out but any rain could locally be heavy especially inland with highs in upper 80s. that rain chance is 60 to 70 percent. i know courtney it good edge busy on roads we will check in wu with you or an update. jammed along i-75 northbound good area to avoid if you can. with this accident we've watching this, this is northbound just before i-4 you can see they moved it over to that right shoulder. was blocking a right center lane. be sure to slow it down delays beyond selman expressway. so our travel time northbound from selman into i-4 is 27 minutes a good area to avoid if you can do t