im josh benson i am jen leigh. lawrence higgins founded st. lawrence catholic church in tampa and remained pastor there are 49 years. sadly, he passed away at his parish rectory home. he was 87 years old. >> reporter: not just members of this parish but those who

challenging a state law that could force their third graders to be >>> i'm jen leigh. >> and i'm josh benson. thanks for being with us. >> that story from the capitol tonight and state law requires that third graders who don't perform well on tests be held back and it is now under fire. parents from hernando, sarasota and another county are fighting back.

challenging a state law that could force their third graders to be >>> i'm jen leigh. >> and i'm josh benson. thanks for being with us. >> that story from the capitol tonight and state law requires that third graders who don't perform well on tests be held back and it is now under fire. parents from hernando, sarasota and another county are fighting back. earful and they were there because their kids were held back after they refused to take that test. what these parents want is for a judge to declare the law declared invalid. >> the day-long hearing began with lawyers jock kiing to have the -- jockeying to have the challenge heard in each of the six counties when the judge didn't rule they refused to participate. >> hernando participating because we don't think the court has the jurisdiction. >> this mom told her kids to be there but not answer questions because she doubts the validity. >> my child is not a guy knee pig and she will -- guinea pig and she will not be used for profit. >> did she receive passing grades? >> honor roll all year. they're competent even though they don't do

im josh benson i am jen leigh. lawrence higgins founded st. lawrence catholic church in tampa and remained pastor there are 49 years. sadly, he passed away at his parish rectory home. he was 87 years old. >> reporter: not just members of this parish but those who commitment to the community and admired his honesty. he met with the pope, even presidents. took these pictures detail a lifetime of memories, a lifetime of making a difference in the tampa bay community. while he founded st. lawrence catholic church, he was an influential member of the community as a whole. he had a commitment to all people. he loved children. he loved th those were the people that he connected with. one of our anchors has known him . >> in adulthood, i got to know him as an adult hood adult. we were on a lot of boards together and different events together. i would emcee everything and he would always to the invitation. the judeo-christian health clinic, an organization aimed at helping the less fortunate with medical needs. kelly bell is the executive director. >>

i am jen leigh i am josh benson multiple people in south florida have been infected with the zika virus through local mosquito bites. in response, blood banks are taking new precautions to protect their supply. mary mcguire spent the day at the sun coast blood center in sarasota. she joins us to let us know about these tests. >> reporter: many of the people receiving blood from centers this already have weakened immune systems from diseases these new tests make sure they are not hit with a one-two punch. >> you are sitting in a chair. you can watch tv. >> reporter: rod millington has donated blood countless times over the past couple of years once every three months to be exact. >> you feel good about donating and helping your community and helping people out.>> reporter: today was a bit different. after one point of his blood was collected this afternoon, it will go through a set of new screening tests for a variety of pathogens including the zika virus. >> we are always concerned about the latest pathogens. for us, we do have pathogen inactivation of our platelets which has been prove

i am jen leigh i am josh benson multiple people in south florida have been infected with the zika virus through local mosquito bites. in response, blood banks are taking new precautions to protect their supply. mary mcguire spent the day at the sun coast blood center in sarasota. she joins us to let us know about these tests. >> reporter: many of the people receiving blood from centers this already have weakened immune systems from diseases

. >> that evening i am jen leigh i am keith cate. raking news in hillsborough county as there is a deadly crash involving a bicyclist. we learn that the has -- bicyclist is a 21-year- old man all liens of dale mabry northbound are shut down in the cyclist was in the median when he traveled into the road he was hit by an suv and car. a witness says he was dragged at least one lock and fhp is waiting to release his name. >>> we are tracking storm systems and our own keeping an eye on this. steve?>>> we had tropical depression 7 and it is out there and a good distance away. the landmass that you see on the right part of the screen is africa, 40 mph winds which is the ace level and then to the west and northwest to 18 mph is what this is official track from the national hurricane center is basically following the thinking from those models. saturday 8 pm potentially a category one in this track could change but that is the current thinking from nhc on the latest system. 3 we are watching out here we have truckle -- tropical depression fi

.>>> i am keith cate expect i am jen leigh. let's begin with a look at the tropics. we are trapping a tropical -- tracking a tropical disturbance. steve jerve joins us now. hurricane hunters flew into this system today. what is the latest? >> it is more organized than it was it appears as though the system could get it together but it may take a few days to be upgraded into a depression or a tropical storm. for now, the northwesterly movement is interesting to us. as we look at the broad range of the tropics, we have a tropical storm. invest 98 al has a 90% chance of developing. the hurricane hunter aircraft's have been in there today and have determined some stronger wind gusts and we saw yesterday. we saw 37 miles per hour