our own jen leigh and josh benson will be the host. and jenn holloway is going to be our pie attended a rally to raise reporter on the street. >>> it's 6:48. you can see the backdrop. it's beautiful outside. >> yeah, a nice day, gayle. we are looking at dry weather for once after all the rain good weather too for gasparilla degrees. 2:00 p.m. for the parade, 68 degrees. so maybe a little cool but by parade time, we're looking good and light winds which is good for the boaters out there as well. and 51 degrees right now, might need a light jacket. our weather watcher rich in oldsmar and his puppy dog reporting 52 degrees. and satellite and radar picture showing that the rain is history. even the clouds are moving out. and these clouds in the southern viewing area will take longer to move out but for most part, a good deal of sunshine today. check this out, high pressure, winds from the north on the eastern side and winds from the south on the western side. today we're getting northerly winds with high temperatures in the 60s. we will be

we're cacaring the pro rata pirates live and i will close with j jen leigh and john holloway is s our private rereporter in the street. . cover chararge the 2:30 saturday y and streaming live on our website at wfla.com. >>> the florida standards s assessment tesest got off to a rocky start and d still faced a lot of criticisism. >> a lawmaker wantnts to use national s standardized test and said. story today. >> reporter: the wasn't much of a honeymoon phase e for ththe florida a standards assessment nonow that one lawmaker wants to give schoolsls the options to use national tesest said. senator don gagaetz has a bill that allows schools to say goodbye toto the fsa in favor of national standardized test like ththe azt or sat. it doesn't dodo away with testing likeke some credits would like to see e what could reduce the amount of test students take. >> last time testing and more time teaching and more vavalidated assessment. nationally respepected tests and awaway frankly for stududents to be able to use those results fofor college and career readadiness in a way that i think is advant

we're going to bring you more information coming up on 8 at 7:00 with jen leigh. >> thank you for for joining >> thank you for for joining us. >> we'll see you back here walmart set out on a mission to find you the best oranges. to do that, we first had to find the best orange growers. we logged the miles, put in the hours, tasted a lot of fruit, and shook a lot of hands. but we did it for a reason. so that here you'll find the best oranges we've ever had. they're even backed by our 100 percent freshness guarantee. try them for yourself today at

follow at jen leigh on twitter and you can follow julie too. >>> getting a room for a night in new york city can be pricey. for example there's one that lacks heat but still has a romantic touch. >> they get a little giddy. the candles give it a romantic touch. >> it's an igloo. entertaining the ladies wasn't their first choice they tried to list the igloo on air b & b for $200 a night. so they're actually entrepreneurs. the offers started pouring in but then the website cancelled their listing. i guess it doesn't live up to safety standards. look at the decor in the front too. a little tree. they even have it landscaped. >> that was creative listing that on air b & b. >> no snow for us. pretty nice mild night. just rain there. >> we'll be back coming up tonight at 1: one -- 11:00. in the meantime, we hope you have a great evening. >> his new threats he'll bail on the next debate if megyn moderates, now on "extra". ." >> here we go again. >> do you really think she can be fair at a debate? >> the donald's new shots at megyn. why he's demanding she steps down from the next gop showdown.

josh benson and jen leigh are going to cohost. and holloway is going to dress like a pirate and parade the streets to report. we'll be streaming it live. >>> from that excitement to the excitement going on tonight. down at amery arena, can you feel it. >> oh i can feel it. a lot of red out there for the blackhawks. >> and we'll also have the >>> welcome back live outside the arena. i'm here at thunder alley where the doors just opened. there's dozens of people scrambling inside. the bolts taking on the chicago blackhawks winners of a franchise record 12 straight games. one of those streaks comes to an end tonight. these two teams mirror images of one another. we made this point last year in the stanley cup final but it bares repeating. but he believes the hawks model for success is the way to go in today's nhl. >> look at chicago, they don't finish first in their visional year. they just make the play offs every year. once they go in, they go about their business. i'm sure teams are like, we do chicago. that's us. there's your aur

jen leigh, josh benson will be covering the parade. the coverage starts at 2:30 and we posted everything you need to know about gasparilla. and we posted everything for you on wfla.com. >>> and some animals dropped off at the veterinarian's office. >> and what the vet was told only the freshest ingredients make the cut it's important to me to know every dish i serve is the best it can be. especially for this food critic. publix bakery scratch made bread we bake it in store every day with pride so you can serve it with some publix. where shopping >>> now an 8 on your side investigation. abandoned again. >>> animals dumped at a veterinarian's office. calls for help to the county and the response stunning. a vet says she contacted the dumped at her door. >> and the vet was told, just let them go. >> the answer to your first question is, the county says it can't find any record of someone saying just let them go. the answer to the second question what's going on at pet resources slower response times and plenty of questions. >> good boy. w

jen leigh and josh benson are the host. and jenn holloway will be our pirate on the street. >>> the time right now is 4:08. pirates and all the folks heading out. >> yeah, i think gasparilla is going to be a nice day. a high temperature around 68 degrees. so all the rain has moved through. today we're looking at a fair amount of sunshine and really a nice day. a little cool today and breezy. right now, we are 54 degrees in tampa. lakeland, bartow, brooksville the worm spot at 59. and satellite and radar picture, the rain is history. only a few clouds lingering. those clouds continue to move out and make way for a decent day today. fair amount of sunshine this morning with temperatures in the lower 50s. this afternoon, topping off around 64, 56 degrees. and a good -- 64, 65 degrees. nice weather from start to finish. good weather-wise, what about traffic, leslee? >>> traffic looking good. it's a lot nicer because there's no fog. let's take a live look right now and you can see for yourself. this is i-4 around the polk parkwa

our own jen leigh and josh benson will be your host and jenn holloway will be our pirate on the street reporter. >> going to be a good time. more than 145 students became sick from a gas leak at a texas school. the carbon monoxide leak happened in texas. kids and adults were treated for nausea and headaches. officials believe there was a gas leak in the gas boiler. >>> a bill to allow gun owners to openingly carry their weapons in florida is headed to the house. the house is expected to pass the measure but the florida senate may be a road block. if the bill passes, concealed gun permit holders would be allowed to wear a gun on their hip as long as it's holstered. >>> a georgia high school is under fire this morning for its raffle give away. the wrestling team's booster club is raffling off a glob 45 single stack nine millimeter mispoll. the winner must be at least 21 years old and pass a federal and state background check. some community members don't think it's an appropriate prize for the high school however the district says it has nothing to do with the fund raiser. >>> the so-cal

jen leigh and josh benson are the hosts and jenn holloway will be our pirate reporter on the street. our coverage starts at 2:30. hook. >> yeah, no telling what you will catch. >>> all right, i have to ask the question, are you guys fowls? >> maybe. >> it's somebody who loves rainy days. so the last two day, you would be excited because it's been so rainy. >> no, i'm not one. >> i don't like staying home when it's rainy. >> that's stop with the pyles. >> today we are looking at sunshine and temperatures won't be too bad either. right now, we are in the 50s. and we will warm up to around 64 degrees this afternoon. satellite and radar showing that the rain is history, only a few clouds lingering. warming up to around 64 degrees around 4:00 p.m. a good looking day for the those who love the sunshine. >>> i like traffic moving fast. >> okay, i like that. >> yeah. >> that's right. no congestion. that's the situation right now. we have some construction though. the two right lanes take it away, this is southbound 275 in pinellas county around 38th avenue south. you can get by just fine bec

jen leigh and josh benson cohosting our coverage. and our coverage starts at 2:30. we're also streaming it live for you on our website, wfla.com. >>> a great day for bolts fans. the team hosted its second annual family carnival. it was such a great event. the event was held inside amalie arena, or the big top. friendly activities to enjoy. of course, air hockey, and exclusive photo and autograph sessions with your very favorite players. >> it's a terrific event for the community to be a part of and to meet players. you know, it really brings kids to get to see their heroes and the kid in all of us is a fan of all of these guys. we really enjoy just being part of being an attendee and participant here. >> everybody had a great time, including a few of our muse channel 8 producers who enjoy taking a few selfies with the team captain. all carnival proceeds benefit the lightning foundation, which helps hundreds of local nonprofit organizations. >>> it is a chilly evening across the bay area. take a look at current temperatures. right now, 43 in tampa. 41 in lakeland. 42

and josh will be co-hosting this year with jen leigh and generaln holloway will be our pirate reporter on -- and jenn holloway will be our pirate on the street. >> looking forward to the that. >>> social media has become an important place to find information on just about any topic lately but would you consider pinterest or instagram reliable sources of health care information? 8 on your side has answering for today. our -- answer for you today. this is a pretty big question. and a lot of people are guilty of just jumping online and searching out medical conditions and now they are jumping to social media and seeing items that talk about what they want to see. >> yeah, and if people are interested in health and whatever they're looking for, they're following people who are posting the information. and sometimes maybe it's not great. maybe it's not even true at all. or maybe it could hurt you. >> so you are seeing a range of things being posted. illnesses, about vaccines, just about anything, right? >> yeah, and actually so what we just saw is that the journal vaccine did a study. they

. >> and i'm jennifer leigh. jen holloway is joining us live. >> reporter: two boats drifted into iranian water in the gulf. u.s. officials are telling us one of those boats had mechanical problems. secretary of state john kerry immediately called tehran. he told leaders the whole thing was a complete accident. type of boat is a riverring boat. it's a boat used by the navy pretty much daily. they're designed to go in flat water, and often have machine guns on them as well. we will update you on this tire -- story as soon as we get more. >>> now to more breaking news. news about a gas leak is causing a traffic leak in pinellas. this is happening on 26th avenue north. >> 66th street is closed in both directions and paul muller is live on the scene. paul what can you see and what can you tell us. >> reporter: a lot happening out here on 126th avenue north. a gas leak as you mentioned happening around 3:00 this afternoon. as for evacuations, two strip malls one right over here and the one just down south here on 66th str