i-75 at state road 54. we have an accident there state road 52, appears to be in the eastbound lanes just under i- 75. having trouble with this, low clouds getting all the way up there. so you can see the headlights from the top, i-75 southbound through 54, 56, apex and on everything is moving smoothly. breaking news from europe. the desperate search for survivors continues in italy where a powerful 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck several towns in the central part of the country. >> it struck while the people were sleeping. here's a live look, at least 37 people are dead, 150 people missing. homes and buildings collapsed. abc action news anchor lindsay logue is live in the studio, you've been following the story all morning. the pictures that we've been seeing and video is >> reporter: i have another one from one of the town hardest hit. an aerial shot of amatrice where the mayor says most of the town is gone, wiped out when the earthquake struck. you can see at the bottom of the screen most of the homes an

this is i-75 through the brandon area. no crashes or breakdowns, captain al is flying right now checking out the interstates. we'll talk to him in just a minute. >>> coming up -- we're heading back to pasco county, getting a better look at the flooding out there. also how homeowners are trying >> the final decision on a ferry between st. petersburg and tampa, three governments ok'd it and we're waiting on >>> with more rain this morning more concern for homeowners right near in pasco county as floodwaters closer to those homes. coming up in a live report i'll detail exactly when many -- what many of the homeowners plan to do. >> another tampa bay community could ban fracking today. >> the reason is they say florida is especially at risk for water contamination. coming up in a moment. >>> thank you for joining us for abc. >> as you saw rodney is out there watching floodwaters creeping closer to homes in pasco county. more rain following that, not news they want to hear. >> in fact the area hit hardest about the very heavy r

the crash are is before i-75 near mango road. let's take a live look. oh, say it isn't so but it is. things off to the right and not blocked. significant back-up. let's move over to the other camera. no video stream but you can see in the distance very, very heavy westbound. back to gene and gayle. >> messy. >>> in the road to rio, team usa making us proud once again. >> you could say it was a gold and silver-type of day for the red, white and blue. news channel 8's paul ryan is live in rio this morning. the u.s. is >> reporter: yes, they are. 28, 28, 28. 28 gold, 28 silver and 28 bronze. if the rolling stones taught me anything it's that you can't always get what you want. team usa didn't get what it wanted. but the squad got it back together yesterday and honestly, the most american way possible, a good ole fashioned >> oh, my! >> reporter: stop me when you heard this one before, a guy walks into two bars and wins two medals. he finished second in parallel and horizontal bar. the punch line, he was added to team usa a month ago when one went down with

you are looking at a live picture at i-75 and fowler. as you can see traffic is moving quite nicely. janelle will join us shortly to give us the latest update on the roads. >>> if you want to earn extra money before the holidays or need a part time job listen up. amalie arena hosts a job fair today to fill opens for upcoming positions include retail concessions, raffle sellers, security and even more. to apply all you need to do is visit the arena's promenade level between 3:00 and 6:00 this afternoon. make sure to professionally dress and bring copies of your resume. always a good idea. >>> family and friends will say final goodbyes to a new york city woman killed while out running near her mother's home in massachusetts. a burial and mass is scheduled marquotte. her body found august 7th near woods in princeton. state police say they received more than 600 tips but they have not made any arrests. she graduated from boston university and worked as an account manager at google. >>> this morning we're hearing from a 10-year-old girl who f

also i-75 near north port we have the storms bubbling up. they are headed back towards port charlotte. it's hit or miss out there. nothing too extreme. mixed bag. once we get past sunset through about 10:00, the showers and storms taper off. you would be more likely to see them east of i-75 or around poke or highlands county, a few linger showers between 8:00 to 10:00. overnight, we are all nice and dry as the temperatures gradually fall closer to 80 degrees. now, high pressure is in control. so we have switched patterns to a more today has been transitional. in general, we're looking at a west to east flow over the next couple of days with high pressure in control though. it acts like a bubble, keeps the storm clouds less likely to form. we won't have a ton of coverage of storms. and the rain chances though as a result of the west to east flow will begin earlier in the day. even before noon. with very low coverage. not everybody will be seeing that rain. so if you're trying to figure out, well, now with this any work? before 11:00 a.m. tomo

this is i-4 just east of i-75. again i-4 looking great. no issues there, no crashes just about seven minutes to get from 75 to 275. and on 275 southbound from the apex, 13 minutes to make that drive and down there at the bottom just five minutes to get from i-4 to the howard frankland. >>> 5:33. a big morning ahead in polk and pasco counties. students head back to class and we've got you covered with team coverage. >> we begin in polk won't -- its new school. ryan reyes live in davenport with more. >> exciting day for students in polk county, especially the ones coming here to polk's newest school called the citrus ridge academy in davenport. if you're not familiar with this part of the county, we're about five minutes away from disney world. that is how close we are to the theme parks out here in davenport. last week i got a sneak peek of this school. it looked like an active construction site, just four daysag to be done but they assured everyone it would get done and this morning it is. the school is a little different than what you may

green on i-75 and 275, indicating no delays. south tampa, we want to let you know about the emergency sewer work that got underway directions between concordi a and ferdinand. you can get by, but look out for workers there. delays pasco into hillsboro county, gayle and gene, back to you. >>> thank you, and right now a horrifying murder of a 13-day- old baby, and a 6-year-old boy is accused of killing his little sister while their mother left them in the car alone, and the pinellas county jail expected to appear in court on aggravated manslaughter charges. ryan, this is not only an unbelievable case, but it is just so very disturbing. >> reporter: gayle, good morning. really in every sense of the word, and what is crazier, this woman was on a tlc program about having children later in life. she gave birth to a little boy program, and investigator say he went on to kill his infant sister. >> i'm kathleen, and i'm pregnant and 55. >> reporter: that's kathleen steele on i'm pregnant and 55 years old. fast forward to this year, and t

this is i-75 at the selmon expressway, this is the selmon overlooking i-75 and traffic up if you're hopping on the selmon it's going to take you just seven minutes to get into downtown tampa from that point. checking the drive times on i- 4, still looking good there. the drive all the way from the lakeland area into downtown tampa. that drive is going to take you just 22 minutes. 14 minutes from county line road to 75 and just 7 minutes at the bottom from 75 to 275. >>> if you have to fill up this morning prices are pretty much staying where they've been in recent in tampa you're paying $2.03 for a gallon this morning. the state average is $2.10. across the country the average is $2.16. >>> two people are now charged with the murder of an associate professor at penn state. >> state police there saying danielle grier and josh ishley jr. drove ronald berry to a quarry inconvincing him it was ishler allegedly pushed the victim over thening and he fell 50 feet to his death. >> ron was amazing. he took my sister in. he took care of her. he put a roof over her head. >> police three days before re

just as i thought, the rain is going to march its way to i-75. pretty big thunderstorms, and then after midnight, the rain pushed off the shoreline, and i expect the exact same. today, the rain is pushing off the shore. if you're headed back to class for the third day. 78 for the first class. nice and sunny this morning. you leave school for the first weekend on your friday. the better rain chance is going to be here i-75 with a 60% chance. smaller rain chances ahead. meredith will let you know what the roads look like on this friday. >> we have overnight accidents that are being worked. let's go southbound to the veterans, and let's go right there as you courtney campbell causeway this 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 chi

we're seeing delays southbound i-75, just after i-275. you might want to try taking u.s. 41 or 301, that seems to be moving a lot better. a quick check of the drive times on the toll roads, veterans expressway still looking great, 18 minutes from 54 to 275. just a expressway, seven minutes from 75 to downtown. >>> 6:32. big morning ahead for polk county kids. >> the summer is over and time to start a new school year for the 100,000 students across that county. abc action news reporter ryan raish joins us live at the newest school in polk, in davenport. >> reporter: exciting time for students all over the county behind us. they should be getting here soon. this is the citrus ridge academy in davenport. if you're not familiar with this corner of the county, literally disney world, theme parks, five minutes down the road. probably where students spend half the summer. now reality sets in and they are coming to their brand spanking new school. it's pretty cool. i got a sneak peek last week. it literally looked like an active construction site

i do have one crash to tell you about, northport in sarasota county, southbound i-75 at toledo blade boulevard, reports of some earlier roadblocking on i-75 but we're not seeing any slowdowns, we're still in the green there threw the northport area. >>> captain al is flying over the crash we've been talking about on the howard frankland in the southbound lanes. what are you seeing out there? >> reporter: good morning. we're looking southbound 275 just on the other side of the overpass there, or bridge in the middle of the bridge there. not really a problem because it's there on the shoulder. over my right shoulder, looking in downtown tampa where westbound i-4 merges with downtown 275. i do see some emergency activity at dale mabry at waters. back to you. entering its third day for this man who slipped out the back window of a deputy's cruiser while he was handcuffed. >> deputies say the man, joel canchola was arrested for violating his probation but managed to escape. abc action news anchor james tully is live at the manatee county sheriff's office. exactly how did this happen? >> r

this is what it looks like at i-4 near i-75, or right at i- 75. looking great. so we have no crashes or breakdown on his i-4 from lakeland all the way into tampa. you are looking at a smooth ride. it is taking just 22 minutes to make that drive, 14 minutes from county line road to 75 and 8 minutes from 75 down to 275. >>> tragic story from georgia. the circumstances we have reported too many times. twin dead after they were left in a lot car. the girl's father and neighbors did try to bring their body temperatures down before paramedics arrived. police found the girl's father and neighbors holding the girls in a shallow pool. some were using ice packs to help bring their temperatures down. investigators now questioning the father. neighbors have a lot of questions of their own about the investigation. the girl's mother was in the hospital at the time, after being involved in a car accident. >> wow. >>> when you take your child to a daycare you expect employees imagine how upset you would be if you went to pickup your child and he or she is nowhere to be found. i

this is i-4 and i-75. very light traffic. dry conditions there. we'll wrap up here with a look at 275 at bush boulevard. i'd noticed sprinkles on the camera. street level looking fine. we'll have an update in a couple of minutes. >> thanks. >>> a south florida police officer finds something strange staring out at him from his >> yeah, still ahead, wait till you see what that was. >>> flipping out at 11,000 feet above sea level. yikes. did you see that? the daring stunt one man pulled off and where this happened. >>> if you want to connect with me on facebook and twitter, i like to upload fun videos. there was a dolphin at orlando's sea world tired of having his picture taken. see what he did to stop a woman in the act. in our house, imagination runs wild. but at my table, i keep the food real. like country crock's recipe made with real simple ingredients. and no artificial flavors or preservatives. real country fresh taste from real ingredients. >>> we are back. you have to take a look at this daring stunt in norway. a man flipping on a rocky towe

the diverging diamond there at i-75 and university. right now the northbound on- ramp from university on to i-75 is closed. they typically have this open by now, they are hoping to have it reopened by 5:30. if you get there and it's closed you may have to take fruitville to get on to i-75. >>> 5:16. a sheriff in ohio is facing a slew of charges including 38 felonies related to stealing drugs and money. officials say sheriff kyle tampering with records, deception to obtain drugs, theft in office and filing false financial records. officials say they had been investigating him since september of last year over concerns of prescription drug use. overmyer was allegedly taking drugs from drop box locations. right now he's still a sheriff but expected to surrender for arraignment today. >>> a florida boy is making a miraculous recovery after contracting a brain eating to contract it. the boy ended up at a hospital complaining of a headache and sensitivity to light. officials say it has a mortality rate of 97%. often contracted through the no

and they'll get stronger west of i-75, more widespread, a 50% rain chance there. an it has a 70% chance developing in the next five days but the forecast models, thankfully, keep it out to sea over the next five days as well. so even if it develop, no issue here in the u.s. at 4:38, we will check on traffic on the 8s. >>> everything is okay as far as congestion, we don't have any. that's nice. we have a good drive across the bay area bridges. let's take a look at construction. not congestion. typical. usually overnight. and this morning, we have two southbound lanes on i-75 right at university are taken away due to the overnight construction. and meanwhile, a good drive in bradenton, nice drive across the sunshine skyway bridge. and looking at the other bay area bridge, four minutes on the gandy. six to cross the howard frankland bridge. 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 w

showers in polk and highlands county, and then towards 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, very strong storms along i-75, and it actually took it until about midnight for most of them to push into the gulf of mexico. i think today to will be similar. if you're headed back to school today, giving the forecast an a for during school time. partly cloudy at lunchtime, and and still only a small rain chance, and it's after that, 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, again, a 60% rain chance along i-75. that's as good for lakeland, and hillsborough county, and a smaller rain chance. at 5:38, a temperature trend for you. we will help you get to the weekend. >>> okay, maybe if we get to it faster it will come faster. i-4macintosh road, no problems, and also 275 at mlk, a hot spot, but no delays. south tampa bay-to-bay, emergency road work there is taking out lanes in both directions, and you can get through, but you may find extra congestion as you head to your starbucks, which is near there. starbucks are. gayle? gene? over to you. >>> a pinellas county mom is in jail in connection to the death of her 13-day-old baby. she's not a

a significant backup on i-75. this happened just south of university parkway. let me zoom out and show you exactly where if you can make your way to lakewood ranch boulevard or to north cattleman you can head south that way. we're also seeing delays heading northbound on i-75 just some visual delays there. either way you want to give yourself extra time. a new crash eastbound hillsborough avenue at racetrack road so give yourself extra time there. i-4 starting to clear up, now taking about 30 minutes to get from lakeland into tampa. held you a off for the morning commute, now it's with us. light rain across interior counties but let's focus on the heaviest pockets. you're about to get clocked across southern pinellas with very heavy rainfall. no lightning but it's those tropical raindrops that can accumulate quickly and will set the stage for another flood event here which is of course already ongoing. additional threat continues today. 2 to 4-inch totals in general but along the coast where you saw the heaviest r

this is i-75 at fowler, 10 minutes to get from the apex to i-4. and checking your drive across the bridges, this is the tampa side of the howard frankland bridge, wide open here. just about six minutes to cross the bridge. and checking the average speeds on the major interstates in our area -- so i-4 and i-75 heading into 275 in pinellas county from the sunshine skyway to the howard frankland, 69 the average speed there. >>> 6:01. it's election day in florida. today's primaries will give us the matchups in the general election and determine which major parties will gain or retain power in the senate and house. >> polling places open in one hour. abc action news anchor james tully joins us live at one of the locations on davis island to break down a crucial race. both republicans and democrats frontrunner today. >> reporter: on the republican side, running for president tends to help you in a re- election bid for senate. i think that is the case with marco rubio. the latest poll from the orlando sentinel shows him with a nearly 40-point lead on the

here's a live look at the selmon overlooking i-75. up to speed in all directions. checking your drive times on the toll roads, veterans expressway still in the green, 18 minutes from 54 to 275. we want to talk about construction in pinellas park. they are actually doing some resurfacing, on 78th avenue north between 49th street north and u.s. 19 so if you're trying to get to u.s. 19, take 49th to 82nd avenue or stay on park to head in either direction. either way just prepare yourself. this is going to last the next two weeks. so especially around morning and afternoon rush hour this could get pretty busy. >>> authorities now say the people at a charleston church became self-radicalized in the months before the attack. according to documents just released dylann roof grew more and more entrenched in white supremacy beliefs. investigators say the 22-year- old shot nine black church members during bible study in june of 2015. authorities have previously said roof wrote an on-line manifesto embracing confederate symbols and racist views. they believe he wrote a simila

we also have continuing road work happening at state road 52 east of i-75. this is tonight in the overnight hours. this extends through next week as well. in pinellas county we have construction happened 113th street north between park boulevard and 80th avenue north. this project will last for another week or so. and evening rush hour. for more on these and other projects make sure that you follow me on twitter at tampa bay traffic. thk u, janelle. >>> they make our lives easier. chances are millions of people right now are using them all wrong. the common item that health officials say can lead to permanent damage and the two things that you can do to protect yourself right now. >>> plus the new way that identity thieves are using discarded boarding passes to steal your information. getting settled back in school. some can't even make it into the classroom. >> because they are fighting for they are health. it doesn't mean that they're not getting the education that they need. >> one hospital is one step ahead of the others. >> reporter: gary would love to

and those storms will push closer and closer to i-75. and the strongest storms just like yesterday around 7:00, 8:00 before the storms push into the gulf of mexico. and then be sure to step outside because as the skies clear out, you may see up to 200 meteors as part of the meteor shower. normally see with the shower. and it's peaking tonight. good news there. 91degrees today and tomorrow. 92, hot and steamy for saturday and sunday. we will check with traffic on the 8s. >>> yeah, we have one accident in pinellas which went back to school yesterday. so let's show you where that is. ems now onscene. ridge road at 119 terrace. that's going to be just to the north. bay area bridges look great between pinellas and hillsborough. they are in the look here at i-75 and i-4, still seeing light traffic. and we're wrapping up here in downtown tampa, a handful of more folks are on the road but right now, no one is tapping the brakes. gene and gayle, over to you. >> thank you. >>> fighting deadly peanut allergies with peanuts. >> the miracle method in

this is south on i-75 at university parkway. the two right lanes are taken away due to overnight construction. bridges, up here in pinellas county. orange street at pinellas avenue. vehicle caught fire here. and you might see activity but no delays at pinellas avenue also known as alternate 19. that's a look at weather and traffic. back to gene and gayle. >> thank you. >>> right now, a bay area elementary school is preparing for a very difficult day ahead. a popular music teacher hospitalized following a car crash died. caroline sign and a passenger were hit by a suspected drunk driver in and last night, sign passed away. news channel 8's ryan hughes is live at sexton elementary school, a sad day for students and teachers there, ryan. >> reporter: gene, good morning to you. they are in disbelief that their beloved teacher here died at the beginning of the school year. the secretary here explained what this woman meant to the school community. she's get-going, she's just got a lot of love that pours out of her. >> reporter: carol

a look at i-75 at the apex. pasco heading into hillsborough county, looks really good. with the sun coast parkway. and we are currently accident- free along the u.s. 19 corridor despite seeing some showers. we will certainly keep an eye on that for you and let you know immediately if we have big troubles there. gene and gayle, back to you. >> all right, we will check back. thank you. >>> how does instant pizza any time you want it sound? >> pretty good. coming up, the invention that's perfect for pizza on the go. >>> plus, heading out of town? what you need to hit the road. z22rnz zy6z y22rny yy6y to thrive in an ever-changing environment, companies must adapt. but one thing should remain constant - pnc corporate and institutional banking offers strategies tailored to your company's needs. know that our dedicated teams of local experts offer insight to help you achieve your business objectives. see how working with pnc can help your company grow at pnc.com/ideas ? foster farms presents appetites. and they only get bigger as time goes on. serve foster farms corn dogs, a

. >>> also have a crash on i-75 northbound at mlk. traffic very heavy, ivan back >>> warm and muggy start but dry so we should be in pretty good shape. 10:00 86 already. it will feel like 90 by then. low 90s for the highs this afternoon. we'll do that with thunderstorm 1:00 and continuing to push from east-to-west, so we'll end up with the beaches -- titan doppler radar widening out the shot. this is where the weather is coming from the next few days. that easterly flow, this is tropical depression 9, which will continue to move up to the north, as it does so it will pull in a lot of tropical moisture so that tomorrow, wednesday and even thursday especially as it makes its closest pass to us we'll have plenty of rainfall and in fact this should stay as a tropical storm, forecast changes but right now we're feeling pretty good about this being a big rain event as opposed to a wind you know how it is, someone does something nice for you and you feel obligated to do something nice back. maybe your aunt sent you a crocheted scarf, you sen

both directions of i-75 are >>> looking good out there with the friday. looking out on the river gate tower cam. you can see the light out there and sunrise coming up after 7:00 a.m. as we check in on the headlines for this weekend. a few p.m. storms today and heading in to the weekend. inland afternoon thunderstorms with a reverse pattern of where we've been and the tropics are more effective now. you expect that in the peak of the season. radar. the third movement east or west so it will develop inland and head over to the beaches by the time we get to 7:00 p.m. for tomorrow, a southwesterly one will take over. the coast will get in on the heftier afternoon thunderstorms. it's pretty active on the tropics with fiona. the tropical storm is still out there but that doesn't bother to watch here because this has more of a southern trajectory as it heads west. this could become the next tropical cyclone gaston for the next few days. it feels like it's approaching 100 by later this afternoon. rain chances are not super high, right? so 20 to 30 in good shape.

the sun coast parkway would be your only option unless you go all the way east to i-75. this is a rural area here and going to be investigated for some time. use a detour now and put that in your morning plans. that detour for you right now. the sun coast parkway right here, looking great. i checked the average speed, 73. so no delays if you can get there, definitely the sun coast parkway is going to save you time. >>> elsewhere in the bay area, we are looking really good out there. i-275 through downtown tampa, the lanes wide open. taking just about 5 minutes to get from here down to the howard frankland bridge. across the howard frankland 8 minutes across the courtney campbell. we have been talking that it is the weekend and comic con is going on. got your cossey assume ready? >> got the costume ready. the rain is -- costume ready? >> got the costume ready. showers to talk about here appr may get lightning with this particular cell. certainly getting lightning with this one here, and that is headed up toward bradenton in the next 15 to 30 minutes. these were kind of be

basically everywhere east or west of i-75 across manatee county. you can see that heavy rain is coming down. that stretches down into sarasota. all the way down towards say about venice or osprey right now. you can see lightning count as well. we're seeing about 33 strokes of lightning over the past 20 minutes. so thunder and lightning in these cells working there way further out into the gulf of mexico, you are seeing a few breaks. so the trend is going to be as we head into say mid afternoon hours, we won't see as much activity along the coastal areas, we'll start to see some more scattered showers and thunderstorms throughout interior. eventually shifting over on to the other side of the state. late into the afternoon. then as this low moves away, we start to transition back into our more typical pattern with scattered showers and thunderstorms more during the afternoon hours. so we'll talk more and more radar views coming up in just a little bit, linda. >>> there are a concerns aut how to keep students safe from the ooekdz virus as they head ba

so that the showers that push on shore eventually make their way east of i-75. but specifically north of i-4 notice a little bit more of the poltava gulf of mexico, some round -- pull of mexico. so some rounds of rain through the afternoon. but this pattern we typically see the rain tapering off in the evening, this is around 9:00 p.m. we have thunderstorm earl but not for long, it's going to try die out in the central portions and mountainous areas of mexico. 89 degrees for a high today. 78 degrees overnight. as we head through the next eight days, 50% chances for showers and thunderstorms. all the way through tuesday. close by. guys? thanks, today is a big day for the nasa jet propulsion lab. >>> those are the guys behind the mars curiosity rover. flush flush and today is the rover's four year anniversary. on this day in 2012, curiosity landed on the red planet and began a historic mission. since then we've got an look at mars like we've never had before. curiosity has rolled through 8.3 miles on the rocky terrain its 17th sample on mount sharp. >>> oh. the ro

four clock, you see a couple of storms east of i- 75. seven or eight,, all of a sudden it starts to pop just like they did today. they will again on friday. into the evening. if you are going to the beach tomorrow or any day of the weekend you have nothing to worry about until the early to mid-evening hours. is a big change from the last several days. by friday, more of the same. wake up to the nice day. temperatures will be primarily in the upper 70s. none of afternoon might be different. a bulk of the action will be in 8:00. friday will be the day where we have more wives spread storms. late afternoon and early evening storms. i suspect rain chances and coverage go down a bit. i have to do is look at the overall rain, about an inch of this is three or four days ago. we had four -- five inches of rain expected. that never turned into anything tropical. just gave us worry -- dreary weather. if you go east of i- 75 you will be about 92 or 93 degrees. mostly sunny skies developing later on in the day. back to what we should be, for the mid

maybe you're about to head north along i-75. here's a live picture near 301. also very quiet. bay area bridges between hillsborough and pinellas county looking good. no problems with the courtney campbell, howard bridge or gandy. you're looking at 10 minutes between drive times. another update in a few. gene and gayle back to you. >> thank you meredith. >>> zika spreads in florida . there's finally some good news about possible vaccines. now one ask headed to clinical trials. news channel 8 lindsey mastis is live from the hillsborough county health department this morning. latest vaccine if all goes according to plan they are going to start start testing it on humans by october. there's another vaccine further along. we will not see a vaccine in the immediate future and that's why health departments across the state are monitoring zika will closely. >> just to be very clear zika is unprecedented. we never before had decide that could cause a birth defect. that's why we take it so seriously. the key is to protect pregnant women. >> reporter: in miami planes are dumping insectic

and hillsborough, we have one accident northbound 275, approaching the i-75 apex. and florida highway patrol on the scene telling me no lanes blocked and plant city very light to 60. >>> straight ahead an arrest at disneyland for a man impersonating an officer. >> how it was nothing short of luck that they caught this guy. >>> and we'll tell you what is drawing new firing criticism gold, gold, gold and more gold for our swimmers and gymists. you're watching newschannel 8 introducing new olay eyes. a collection for the look of every eye concern. lift depuff brighten smooth or ultimately all of it. eyes express every emotion, not your age. new olay eyes. ageless. ? ? ? this is the sweetest thing anyone's ever done. that one's from my friend caitlyn. "you always encouraged me to go after my dreams. well, it's my turn now. ? ? ? . >>> what a night in rio. >> look at them. the u.s. women's gymnastic team dominating from start to finish. the final five is what they call themselves. in the to 2020 games they will be limited to just members. after rio, long time team coord

once u get east of i-75 rainfall totals drop off very quickly. still have some rain up into citrus, and hnando county sill you can notice motios w on nor right now. lighter amounts up towards spring hill. then as you get dnnto southeastern hillsborough county, that's whereou have so working its way up into polk county. over towards lakeland along i-4, basically driving along i-4 heading up towards orlando. you're going to dealing with light some cases moderate strorms east lake wales down towards frostproof. at about5 miles an ho. heaviestoronight nowo do into and sarasota. you can see the dri along i- on get dow inoradentonnd h intradentoneading in right along i-75.ial probably going toy anotn there's more rain lined up along the coastal areas. that's working its way on shore longboat key down towards siesta. that light to moderate rain all way basically do you think towards naples get to see more rain as we go through tomorrow morning more radar views talk more about coming up in a little bit linda. >> thank you, jim there are sand bag location

so major delays again heading southbound on i-75. you might want to take lakewood ranch boulevard or even 301 through manatee county. that might save you a little time. >>> if you're looking outside now, check out the rivergate tower tampa camera, blue skies and sunshine over harbor and davis islands in really a beautiful start to the day. as we look at the temperatures across the area, we're warm, 80 in tampa. clearwater all the way up to 83. st. pete at 79. plenty of sunshine and winds out of the east, that means we're warm for the first half of the day, or dry the first half of the day, and warm. then the storms begin to build inland around noon. then work your way to our coastline after that. it will be around 2:00, 3:00, at the earliest where we begin to see the showers and tampa bay and affecting our major roads and bridges by that time. that will continue through the evening drive and into sunset. we've got 50% coverage today and tomorrow and then the >>> i think what i do is very noble and actually -- what you do seems pretty

so just give yourself extra time, this is when i-75 around fowler starts to get busy. let's check your drive times on 75, 24 minutes from 52 to i-4. and 13 minutes from the apex to i-4. >>> good morning. good weather. we have that, dry conditions, roads are fine if you're headed out this morning. bus stop looks good with mostly sunny skies but we will see the clouds beginning to take over by 10:00, 11:00. then the thunderstorms getting going and everything pushing from east-to-west. so we'll rain pretty good by 1:00 heading into the evening hours. right now nothing doing across the bay area. we move to the south, this is where the weather is going to be coming from. an area of low pressure, in fact a tropical low. a depression with 35 mile-per- hour winds over western cuba now. it will develop over the next tropical storm. in fact that is forecast to happen tonight and then it heads up to the north and then thursday passing here with tropical storm conditions possible on thursday. but that is thursday. well out ahead of it we have the moisture coming in. so this event

>> u.s. 19 has a great drive right now, and state road over issues, either this is through i-75, just 11 minutes, and mcintosh to park road, 7 minutes. 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

we can fire up the mainsail the east of i-75. through temple terrace towards pennant creek and wesley chapel. none of this is very heavy but just enough to get the windshield wet. moisture from the southeast and that is where the rainfall is going to come from by later on. still seeing a lot of moisture out here to the west moving the texas coastline towards houston. it will be a mess for those folks as they cleanup and you see the soggy conditions. for us it is typical summertime day. temperatures now in the upper 70s. 77 st. pete, clearwater and tampa 79, and the most accurate digital day planner shows 79 up to 90 by later on this afternoon and see that chance of showers. they will come from the south and work towards us. when the best chances for rain st. pete. >>> second avenue north lanes are closed due to an accident. we will get more details and pass it along. this has been closed for eight hours. traffic is detoured to 54th avenue and that is what we see right here. it has cleared out a bit.>> i just pulled up and the tra

well south of i-4 and just inland from i-75. so the major roads and bridges are not affected by rain just yet. but i think there will be a continued chance for the isolates showers and this evening. but the bulk of the heavier, messier weather is still well to our north and gulf, associated with that area of low pressure. and then wal ha some of those typical sea breeze showers and storms developing on the east coast of florida. so we're kind of sandwiched in the middle with the high pressure hpi to keep us just a little drier than we would have been on a typical florida day. tomorrow, we're going to start off on the dry side. so nice start to the day. but then we will have more showers and storms through the afternoon. i still think getting that round of gulf in or a dip in the pool or some time at the beach tomorrow, you've got a at least through noon, most of the area until 2:00, 3:00. 91 degrees tomorrow for the high. a slight chance for a shower or storm. really not looking at anything terribly widespread until later in the

storms, while they're isolated in nature, they shift east of i-75 probably at 2:00. so late morning to midday, that's the time frame tampa west. by late afternoon most of the these storms are out of the viewing area. the heat, though, is up there today. 93 in arcadia and 91 in sarasota and 91 in tampa and 82 in leesburg. just as warm as yesterday and maybe a little warmer tomorrow because of even drier air. now, there's plenty of it in parts of atlantic. that may have slow development of invest 92-l. as of 8:00 a.m. the odds of development are down a little bit. that stent mean we're not going to watch this closely, because the long-range forecast is still quite questionable west-northwest with the track over the islands mid-week. fiona is a tropical storm. it's not a role in the weather at all. the week. invest 90-l is looking good towards africa. it continues to move west and northwest. those odds of goment up to 90% the next five days. here's what will likely become futurecast on. it's headed west-northwest and out to sea. here's a lot of dry air in the path of fi

looks great on i-75 and interstate 4. back to gene and >>> a yearbook picture photo shop controversy. >> the hidden message that has a bay area father outraged and taking action. >>> and coming up, i explore the debate over including social issues like the lgbt movement in class. you're watching news channel 8 ? your heart loves omega-3s. and those in megared krill oil. unlike fish oil, megared is easily absorbed by your body... ...which makes your heart, well, mega-happy. happier still, megared is proven to increase omega-3 levels in 30 days. megared. the difference is easy to absorb. >>> we are back. and this morning, we get schooled on diversity as a classroom subject. social issues had many of us talking over the summer, including some of our kids, but whether they belong in the classroom, that depends on who you and. people understanding the problems. >> parents should be handling it at home. >> reporter: protests tied to race relations, controversy surrounding jenner and sexual identity, chances are your kids were a

it's been a pretty busy morning especially along i-75 here. heading northbound, look at this backed up traffic just before i-4. this accident all off to the right shoulder, just after dr. king boulevard. it was blocking a right center moved off to the side as you can see, all lanes are getting by but the delays here still all the way back down towards the selmon expressway. and earlier accident we've been telling you about that happened this morning just before 6:00 this morning. 34th street at fifth avenue north, a confirmed fatal unfortunately and authorities on scene, still investigating. they will be here for quite some time. we'll let you know when it reopens. for now, think about 49th street to avoid 34th street and do expect the detours and delays through the area. travel times, westbound i-4 stacking up from dr. king to 275. usual delay there. it will cost you about 10 minutes. now our own jennifer epstein is in the channelside area and she has the latest for us on some construction closures. jen? >>jennifer: good morning. yeah. big ch

we could see increased moisture i-75 and towards the coast. better chance inland here. so be breaking out the shades more than the umbrellas today. leslee, good morning. >>> no shades right now. dark out there on the roadway. >> right. >> but we're not having slow downs. that's nice. kicking off toy anice morning as well. and in fact -- off to a nice morning as well. and in fact, a couple cars on the sunshine skyway bridge northbound, those have removed. and the overnight construction has been cleared on the sunshine skyway bridge. of course, over here in sarasota, it remains. a couple lanes taken away eastbound on university. and the ramp is affected both northbound and southbound on 75, the transition on to university parkway. if you come by and it's still blocked, go down to clark or if you're headed north, go up to fruitville. so keep that in mind. back to gene and gayle. >> thank you. office in tampa. today you will see quite a few police car, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles at the main office. they are participating in an emergency preparedness drill begi

looking great right here at i- 75 and the leroy selmon expressway. if you are getting ready to across the bay, we'll check your drive times and tell you how long it's taking to get across theridges. y22pvy yy6y >>> we are continuing to follow an absolutely heartbreaking case right now in st. peters where police say a -- st. petersburg where police say a 6-year-old killed his newborn sister. we're looking at the tragedy. >>> good morning, thank you for starting your friday with us. we have a lot of news to get to this morning. >> we do, bufirst, let's look at another day of weather and traffic. buses are on the road. >> another day so we should be used to it. the lines back up with people drop dropping kids off. she's monitoring. look at this six-hour loop that continued through the night. upwards of 3:00 a.m., it was still raining. just in time right for the morning, we're drying out. we'll have a few clouds out there, but that will be it. those will be gone and we'll get back into full sunshine this morning through midday. i think the lunch outside

clear skies for most of us, and then from 4:00 to 9:00, the storms pushed towards i-75 and got stronger, and it took it almost until midnight for the storms to push off the coast, and i think toast is going to be very similar. notice no rain chances in the morning. very slim rain chances through 3:00 p.m., and once you 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, 8:00, 9:00 tonight, the storms will be headed to the coast and getting stronger, just like yesterday. otherwise, today, a high of 91. above the average of 90. another 5:08, an hour-by-hour look at friday, but first you have to get to work and school this morning. >> it's actually a good thing to leave early, i think because you don't have much traffic to contend with as you will see here. this is a look near the approach to the sunshine skyway accident free this morning, and sarasota county, accident free, but you have construction in the lakewood ranch area, and the ramp to southbound 75 is blocked from university parkway, and you want to use fruitville road as the alternate. >>> right now a horrifying murder of a 13-day-old baby, and a 6-year-old boy i

and may make it to i-75. most of pinellas county in the heavy rain, palm harbor, dunedin, down down st. petersburg, in the forecast, these pockets of storms, waves of rain will be in forecast off and on all day. not rain on you all day but you will see light rains. and then light rain and heavy rain, all day. keeping temperatures in the the day progresses and more of this rain comes onshore. temperatures in plant city, 75. we're at 80 in tampa. 78 in st. petersburg. not warming up much. here's the area of low pressure. that is the culprit. it's been sitting there for nearly 48 hours and it's going to sit there for another 48 hours. and with the counterclockwise wind flow around it, that's what's pulling in deep tropical moisture off the gulf of mexico and pushing it onshore. and that's why i believe the heaviest rain will not only near the coast but north of i- 4. all day today, rounds of rain but notice again heaviest downpour, north of i-4. still rain to the south, just not as much. tomorrow morning, heavie

at northbound i-75 and big pend. traffic able to get by delay free no problems for you fury planning to heat odd door through that area. authorities are still investigating an earlier accident along 34th street at fifth avenue north in pinellas county. reports of some activity still on scene with traffic able the brain. so we will do a first birthdays. that is okay, lindsay? all right. start with julia june i don't also known a did you say turning one today. >> and he like to play ball. happy first. then our little one is having her first birthday. olivia. as you can see from picture she loves minnie mouse. happy first birthday sweetie to are you in market for a new job? yeah. how about working at the airport? consumer reporter sorboni banerjee is here to tell us about big job fair going on tia. tampa international airport is hole job fair to fill nearly 300 concessions jobs this fall. and this is the fired job fair that they've had. but it's largest so far. so here's what you need to know if you're interested in goi

we're foul -- on i-75. we'll have an update on a crash we're following in a couple of minutes. >>> a group of parents are filing suit against the state over the fsa and say their kids are being treated unfairly by being held back. >> it just doesn't seem real. is gone. >> heartbreaking words from the son of a woman killed at a police academy. the message he has for the >>> filing suit against the their kids are being treated unfairly by being held back. >> also now at 6:30, another fight against controversial student testing that rodney just talked about a second ago. we're also going to tell you more about the hulk hogan lawsuit and why one person who was held responsible is now fighting back and doesn't want to pay up. we've got details on coming up. >>> thanks for joining us. we want to get you out the door with a look at traffic and weather as you head out. how are the roads? >> we have a serious crash in largo. we'll talk about that coming up. >> clear skies out there with a lot of sunshine early on. t

if you're traveling on i-75, the main portion of the interstate looks good. but northbound from university, that ramp ramp is blocked so take clark or fruitville instead. meanwhile, westbound and eastbound university is still open. we have some lanes taken away. so a lot of construction underneath the interstate to be on the lookout for. and let's talk about travel times. good on ulmerton at 14 minutes seminole boar the only reason it's yellow is because of stop and go go action with the light -- stop and go action with the lights. and that's a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. back to gene and gayle. >>> facebook is doing something new just for teenagers. >> still ahead, how the social media site is launching a new app. >>> and traffic around outlet malls is increasing. the reason why it's harder to find parking spots. and if you want to, connect with me on social media on both facebook and twitter. there is an extra crispy sunscreen. now the bottles are sold out for now but it takes you smell like fried chicken. >> somebody's going to lick you at the b

. >>> we're watching cameras on i-75. this is traffic looking great all along i-75. coming up, we'll check the >>> just one of the many victims pulled alive from the rubble in italy. we'll show you more incredible moments from the wake of the deadly earth wake. >>> one man could be the key to solving flasher indications on the campus of usf. police need to know his name. can you identify surveillance pictures are coming up live at 5:30. >>> good morning. thanks for waking up with us. >> good morning. janelle and ivan have a busy morning. you are watching the tropical storms. >> that's right. janelle will be here in a moment to let us know about the roads. 79 in tampa right now. humidity will make it feel like it's in the mid-08s already. 12-hour storm in the gulf and that's what we'll get today. it will fire each of us. we had the storms already around noontime here, so i'm thinking the same things we continue with futurecast and of course we'll check in on the tropics hurricane hunter aircraft just arriving so we should have good info coming up. >>> we're starting o

just got a report of an accident along i-75 near sun city center. right now i'm seeing nothing but green along 75. i'm going to keep checking on this though and keep you posted on that. in the holiday area where you are seeing rain u.s. 19 at darling ton you run. injuries reported with this crash so an ambulance is on scene. back to you. >> meredith thanks. >>> right now delta passengers are facing more delays and canceled flights. this morning the airline is apologizing trying to make things right. lindsay joins us live at tampa international. are flights effected right now? >> they are gene and it's taking a while for passengers cancellations this morning as well as delays all because of a computer outage yesterday that effected thousands of flights and now delta ceo is apologizing on social media. >> i apologize for the challenges this has created for you with your travel experience. the delta team is working very hard to restore and get these systems back as quickly as possible. >> take a look at this tweet from delta promising to give customers

and i-75 through venice, toledo blade boulevard to river road, roughly 10 minutes. that's a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. back to gene and gayle. cheap and many is times students and parents turn to non-traditional ways to pay for it. >> the one way that could still spell financial trouble for you. >>> and be ware of a baby toy that could pose a choking danger. what you need to know to keep your children safe. it's 4:20 this wednesday morning. >>> parents, listen up. there's a recall involving baby toys that pose a choking danger. there are three alex, jr. brand sets of infant billing toys under -- infant building toys under recall. the problem involves small pieces that can detach. a by by then could swallow them. the toys were sold at barnes & >>> and now an 8 on your side consumer watch. you might want to do your homework before paying college tuition with a credit card. students who pay with a credit card indurr a fee of about 2.6%. for every $10,000 of tuition, you're paying about $260 in fees. >>> domino's has been rolling the dice right. its stock hi