today, the lakeland police chief argued against decriminalizing marijuana. commissioners voted to move forward with more discussions before making a final decision. >> i think this is something that has to be a regional wide decision. sense at all for us to do it. >> my general belief is that it should be a simple ticket. at least for the first offense. if you have some other rules maybe. >> tampa recently passed an ordinance decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana. >> there is an app you can download now to help you get through tampa international customs very quickly. this newly unveiled free app is mobile passport control. with it. you can file claims with customs while you are still on the plane digital receipt and you are through. this works for american and canadian citizens. >>> well, a stunning revelation about the backlog affecting hundreds of thousands of veterans. >> we have been investigating this never ending nightmare. coming up, what the va has to say about its own appeals in florida, people are working hard, just to get by. but in washingt

right now in lakeland, you're 75. to the south, my weather watcher bob in venice checked in at 78 degrees. you will see the fast warm-up through the day with morning sunshine. and we have this east to west wind. you will see the first few showers in the early afternoon. and they head west toward the coast and clear out overnight so we can do it again tomorrow starting with morning sunshine, steamy, winds generally bringing those storms in. at the same time tomorrow, that's when we see the tropical bahamas. here's the forecast models, all the different possiblies that can happen with this invest 99d -- possibilities that can happen with this invest 99l. through saturday, it's headed toward the bahamas. and after that, it gets more uncertain. it's the reason why i added in a higher rain chance sunday, monday and tuesday. but not that much higher, only about a 50% rain chance, leslee. >>> looking at traffic, folks. let's move over to tampa. we're going to kick things off southbound armenia, right around 275, we had a per

tens of thousands of kids are live near lakeland. and ryan, in less than an hour, the first morning bell will be ringing. >> reporter: exactly, gene and gayle, that's right. classes here begin around 7:00. and that's when we expect to see a lot of students soon. all schools in polk county and pasco counties open today. sarasota schools start next week. this is video from polk county last year when firefighters and deputies took to the streets with signs reminding people to slow down now that school is back it's an annual tradition done for seven years. 8 on your side learned they're expected to be back at it again this year with the reminder for drivers at seven local elementary schools. we will be here as students trickle in around 7:00 this morning. i'm sure some are looking forward to it. some probably not. back to you. >> that's probably the case. early start for the kids. thank you. we will check back. >>> right now, a beloved pinellas county music teacher is in the hospital along with a friend after their vehicle was news chann

lakeland, you're at 73 degrees. 74 in wimauma. 78 in sarasota. heading once again to the second day of class today, giving the forecast an a because it's exactly what we expect to get as, right? 78degrees in the first class. lunchtime, partly cloudy, 87. the storms start after school. the final bell around 9 0 degrees. coming up in weather and traffic on the 8s at 5:38, i have an eight-day temperature trend for you. and meredith is going to help you get to work and school. >>> yeah, and you know, school buses already hitting the roads. it's amazing how early some of the pick-up times are. but right now, no school yet in polk county. fowler but as you can see, no delays. one accident reported now in largo. it's on ridge road just north of walling road. we have ems responding there. and we will have an update in a couple minutes. gene and gayle, back to you. >> thank you. >>> we start with breaking news. at least 20 to 25 people including two firefighters are hurt after a possible explosion and fire at an apartment building in the washington, d.c.

>> we have one problem, fhp reporting a crash on i-4 over near the lakeland area. we can see it on the cameras, i'll show it to you. >> weatherwise looking pretty good early on. we have changes though by the afternoon. we'll get back to a summer pattern here which just means the heat will get back to the thunderstorms that we were missing yesterday and before. we'll check in on current temperatures in the 80s for the most part. a few upper 70s. a lot of upper 70s but just feels warmer because of the humidity. quiet titan doppler radar, that will change later on today. we should hit highs to 93 and 96 once again as we did yesterday. of course with the humidity it will feel like 100 to 105. what we didn't have were the thunderstorms. those are back, we're talking 40% rain chances. as we check the forecast, looks pretty good. we had an "a" yesterday with "b" now with 40% coverage. that will continue the next few days. i'm always careful to spell this correctly because these are typed in. can you imagine? >> i would not forgive you. >> you would not. >> neither would t

lakeland. 23478 auburndale. and in fact, places like auburndale and lakeland, you will see the rainfall first. notice it stays dry through lunch. and we have the southeast wind so the first few showers, polk county, highlands county around 1:00 p.m. and not many. just isolated spotty showers. by the time we get the kids home from school, it's 3:00, 4:00, we have a better coverage of rain. and some showers sneaking in to manatee and hillsborough county. and by evening, more rain toward the coast. 40% rain chan same tuesday, wednesday and thursday. leslee lacey, how about traffic on the 8s? >>> well, updates for you. sarasota county. we did have a disabled big rig tying up the right lane partially. that's cleared from the roadway. that's good news for those driving through the north port area. and now let's move over to manatee county and palmetto, southbound i-75 passing 275 here, we have an accident. so be on the look out for that one. other than that, bradenton is bradenton and 75. this one still trying to clea

>>russell: lakeland built a wave pool. that's cool. >>walter: it is. finally we have a hamster with a real life character of his daughter wanted the hamster to get a little exercise and figured this would be better than a maze. can't use a short cut in the pipe. looks like he'll have to finish the good old fashioned way. >>russell: the hamster can use a little exercise, it looks like. a little bit. hasn't missed many meals. that's cute, though. >>laura: that is funny. >>laura: it does. >>russell: see you later. we have mario on the brain this morning. at 6:30, why the italian plumber made an appearance in rio. >>laura: and imagine an extra $18,000 a year. ken is on that story. >>reporter: if you have kids, you have to pay for them and it's expensive. $18,000 a year. that's what parents are paying for child care. >>laura: good morning. welcome to "good day tampa bay." i'm laura moody. >>russell: i'm russell rhodes. monday. here we are, back together. >>laura: good weekend. what about you, dave? closing in on 6:30. 7:04 is the sunrise time. it's going to

lakeland s venice could use a few showers. a slight chance a few of those could be to the north of this evening. still a chance as the activity goes to the west. high pressure, from northeast to the southwest. the wrap model picks up on shower activity for the short term. long term quiet. partly cloudy skies. developing showers once again for the afternoon hours. that is in the morning. but in the afternoon, we will likely see the west coast sea breeze. similar to today. the model on that particular we could see similar shower activity as the thunderstorms come together and see the sea breeze collision. 40% chance for wednesday. same for thursday. high temperature near 92 degrees for friday. an then you can see for the weekend, very typical afternoon activity looks like for saturday and sunday. we talked about the tropics. the severe thunderstorm warning for pinellas in effect until 6:45. folks in pinellas, watch for that as it breezes your way. some good wind gusts to baton down the hatches. >> thank you steve. >>> coming up

in lakeland. >>> tonight a 4-year-old is in critical condition. a car hit him in the middle of off of the the way. investigators believe the boy ran into the road into the path of the car. >>> tonight, there are more cases of travel-related zika in the bay area and a new case of locally transmitted zika in south florida. that case is a person in palm beach county who recently traveled to the miami area. that means health officials are investigating now the 17 cases of the disease likely transmitted in new travel related cases. polk county has one. >>> hillary clinton brought her attacks on donald trump to st. petersburg today. the former secretary of state was touting her job creation plan but also took aim at trump's economic plan saying he repackaged trickle down economics. she also said americans would lose jobs under trump. >>> still ahead, it was the what were those red splotches on michael fell phelps arms? the answer comes from cupping. coming up. >>> a patient becomes the first registered in the state of florida to receive marijuana and we

lakeland is looking good. let's look at the travel times through plant city, and up to paul buckman to the i-75. you have 10 minutes on your commute. if you're headed across the howard frankland bridge, 6 minutes to cross it right now. that's weather and traffic on the 8s. >> not bad, leslee, thank you. >>> many fans will get their first looks at the renovations a the raymond james stadium as the bucs host the browns. we got to try out the new food, and yo the new video boards. reps want the fans to have the best experience at the games. >> in all total, 31,000 feet of video space that our fans can experience the excitement when they come to an event, not only our event but all events at raymond james stadium. >> a second round of renovations will take place after the season. the game tonight kicks off at 8:00 a.m. the boards are important, especially in the nosebleeds, others use miss the action. they were like you have a great stadium and i was like, yes, we do, as a matter of fact. >>> talking about concert

it would be a massive one for lakeland. it is a pretty conservative place and sits in the middle of polk county, a very conservative place. who is the head of law i have to guess he would say, what are you kidding me? fibromyalgia and spina bifida keep stacy in constant pain. she says marijuana is her only relief but every time she buys it she worries. >> it is a matter of being afraid that i am going to get put in jail for using a natural medicine. >> reporter: she and others came to lakeland city hall to ask commissioners to de-criminalize pot. they're not taking the issue lightly. they just got report on the pros and cons. lakeland's police chief says he has made up his mind. his stance? keep things the way they are. especially for the sake of young people. >> it's important we send the right message but not ruin their lives. >> reporter: he has the backing of the mayor. >> i can't think of anything that would change my vote. >> reporter: one of the biggest points of discussion: is pot the first step towards using other

expanding a little bit down to lakeland and bartow and pasco county as well. by 9:00, 10:00, it winds down as it tries to um can back towards the beach. the pattern will not change right through the weekend. so if you look at futurecast, expect to the afternoon, sunny. saturday and sunday, same deal. friday afternoon may be the stormiest day in terms of moisture. we will watch it but either way the heaviest will be in the corridor from around lakeland back to plant city and right on down to east of bradenton and over towards ruskin. hour by hour forecast. tonight, there your storms. about i midnight, they're gone. sunny skies for the second day of school. i do think that rain chances will be slightly higher tomorrow andriy as opposed to the weekend. if you're planning your weekend now, do it. the mornings will be great. the afternoons will be great. you can get the yard work done, with temperatures back in the lower 90s. >>> keeping your children safe from sex offenders. how the laws are changing in pasco county to do just that. at 6:00. >>> the one thing that

a dangerous carjacking suspect is on the loose in lakeland. >> the polk county sliver's office sending out a major warning now. sheriffs office. abc action news reporter rodney dunigan is live from the scene is the victim ok? >> reporter: thankfully she is. this could have been worse. investigators say this happened shortly after closing time on sunday. the woman was simply sitting in her car when the guy walked up to the driver's side with a chain wrapped around his hand and forced her to get out of the vehicle. she got out, wasn't hurt. the guy simply took off, drove a mile down the way where he later crashed that vehicle so he didn't even get away with the car. it was investigators tell us they are searching for him at this hour. this is a pretty busy area with a lot of restaurants and businesses. i've been speaking with folks this morning and let me tell you, they are certainly on edge. >> maybe should make you more aware. i've been standing and turning around more than i would normally this morning. >> reporter: of course that is what we've been hearing a lot from customers, stand

sykes is holdling a job fair in lakeland. it runs from 9:30 until 3:30 today. event organizers say hiring will happen on site. >>> starting today a new attraction opens up to the public, it is called the beach. 15,000 square feet of space filled with 1.2 antimicrobe beale -- antimicrobial plastic balls. it will run through august 25th. >>> so many choices this weekend. comic con underway. as we check in, not as widespread as we had yesterday. we'll talk about your ep weekend forecast coming up in a few minutes. >>> still to come, more than 800,000 ford calls involved in why this specific recall could put your kids in serious danger. >>> this dangerous stretch of road in lakeland led to one student's death last year and now it is set to get changes. what is being done to keep your kids safe as they led back to >>> i-275 at roosevelt looking janel and ivan standing by with more in a second. >>> breaking news out of georgia. authorities just arrested a father after his twin 15-month- old daughters died in a hot car yesterday. about a half hour ago we reported inve

lakeland auto mall, polk county, clear sky, still dark, 78 degrees at this point. let's break down the day after the sunrises. warm and dry around 80 degrees at 8:00 a.m. and a mix of sun and clouds at noon. could you see a stray shower? yes, mostly in eastern polk county but most dry at 89 degrees. and when it's not raining on you, 40% rain chance. when it's not, it's hot today. 93 for an afternoon high. zephyrhills, 74. bartow, 79. north port, 77. and still dealing with rain, a cold front from chicago down through texas but food watches continue across texas and louisiana. so what is happening is that rain continues, we have a general east wind. and when that happens, it's a warm wind because it's coming over the land and pushes the first few showers around 1:00 p.m. in eastern polk county and highlands county. and better rain chances later in the day, about a 40% chance. and this pattern sticks with us for most of the week. afternoon storms towards the coast. and things change on saturday and sunday with earlier morning showers. how about traffic on the 8s? >>>

tens of thousands of kids are headed back to class this mo live near lakeland. good morning, the first bell is about to ring in a couple hours. >> reporter: gene and gayle, good morning to you as well. s here begin around 7:00 this morning. we expect to see a lot of students really soon. now all schools in pasco and polk counties open today. sarasota schools start next week. this is video from last year when firefighters and deputies took to the streets reminding people to slow down now that it's an annual tradition. been done now for seven years. 8 on your side loo learned they are expected to be at it again this morning with the friendly reminders for drivers at 13 local elementary schools. and back here live, we will be here as students start to trickle in and keeped on how things go -- trickle in and keep you posted on how things go. >> excitement. thank you. >>> right now, a beloved pinellas county music teacher is in the hospital along with a friend after their vehicle was hit by an accused drunk driver. lindsey mastis joins us live. lindsay, so horrible.

a woman from lakeland was visiting the area at the time. >> it is a blessing that somebody was tching over because the house is standing street and wonder why did they deserve it. >> hundreds of people are without homes and in shelters tornado. >>> aftershocks are making it difficult for rescuers as to re 250 people have been killed and more than 300 are still in the hospital in italy. >>> all new at 5:00, a st. pete woman arrested for battery on a them. police saying that jessica gilbert called asking to speak to an officer about, quote, pedophile problems. she wanted to report that she molested a child a week ago. that's when she punched the officer in the. she is now in jail on a $5,000 bond. >>> a south florida man in jail after police say he posted child rn pics to twitter. they found 50 images on his computer. a police report saying that he admitted to having the pictures, saying he found them on twitter by searching buzz words. >>> a man shot and killed by was suicidal. he was found in his backyard, armed with a shotgun. deputies saying that he refused to put it down and that's

lakeland at 81. we are at 79 in brandon. 76 in brooksville. humidity creeping in. now time at 8 a.m. to show you the heat index. feels like the upper 80s for a few spots in pinellas county. now offshore in pinellas co have some rain that is moving the opposite rain as we have the east wind. as we look toward the eastern part of the state and especially southeast, that is where some moisture is gathering the wake of our tropical disturbance that we have been watching. and still watching it closely, but even though you see this looks a little more impressive in terms of convection or showers and storms, they are being south and east of the center because of some strong wind shears. because much it the odds of development remain very low this weekend over the next two write off this 40% chance of development the next five days. because of the weak system the model trend makes sense. by the time we hit monday. notice in the keys. by sunday we will see some squalls. by monday, moisture just to the west we are on the back side, even if this is disorganized which it proba

florida southern in lakeland is a top ten winner for most beautiful campus. and a top 20 when it comes to intramural sports. the university of south florida and saint leo university don't list. meridith sinsulo, newschannel8. >>> the princeton review ranks the top party schools each year as well. the university of wisconsin madison is number one and the university of florida and florida state made the list as 18th and 20th respectively. >>> if you have been cheated. when you need help, she's on your side. better call behnken. last night, shannon behnken told us about the sophisticated computer hacking scheme that robbed a woman of her life savings and today, she stayed on the case. >> reporter: cheryl johnson is shocked and devastated. a scammer hacked into her real estate agent's e-mail and intercepted her wire transfer instructions leaving cheryl to wire her $51,000 down payment for a new home directly to a scammer's account at bank of america. >> they should have processes in place >> reporter: cheryl figured out the con in time to get her money back. she

i-4 through lakeland, no delays. and wesley chapel in and out of pasco county, up to speed there. here is the construction, northbound 75, the on-ramp from university is blocked so take fruitville or clark. and a couple lanes taken away westbound and then eastbound under the interstate. that should wrap up in about an hour. back to gene and gayle. >>> happening today, governor rick scott will host two round table discussions to talk about the zika virus. so far, 37 locally transmitted confirmed in florida. mostly in miami-dade county. news channel 8's jamel lanee' joins us live. jamel, doctors say it's a matter of time before we could see cases in our area. >> reporter: good morning, gayle. that's right. doctors are telling women either to avoid getting pregnant or if you are pregnant, to use protection. that's how cautious they want people to be. governor rick scott is making several trips across the state and he will florida department of health in clearwater. now florida has become a hot spot for the zika virus. more than 35 cases have been reported in south florida. over the w

i-4 looks great all the way from lakeland into ybor city. and let's talk about or the upon woods, this is pinellas county here. and a collision to look out for. that is off to the shoulder with no injuries. and this has injuries involved, 34th street at 5th avenue southern tip of pinellas county. and this one trying to clear up. and now we've got injuries reported. u.s. 41 at sunset lane but it's on the shoulder. that's a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. back to melanie and gene. >> okay. >>> you have probably heard that alligators can run fast. >> yeah, heard that before. >> coming up, we have the video that proves it. check them out. look at him go. >>> run, alligator, run. check him out. yes, that's an alligator sprinting across sun lake boulevard in lutz. and man, he has got some speed. she shared this video with us on facebook. it's one of the top clicked stories on our facebook page. and on our web page, wfla.com. fwc says alligators only run when they're threatening situations. but he is scaring some of us. what do you do if he'

live from lakeland. rodney dunigan, abc action news. >>> historic flooding in louisiana damages 60,000 homes and that number is expected to climb. the red cross is calling the disaster since superstorm sandy in 2012. the devastation hits close to home for so many people in the bay area. the waters forcing relatives and friends out of their homes. abc action news reporter kera mashek shows you how one local man is getting the bay area to help out in the city where he grew up. >> reporter: the images from louisiana's catastrophic flooding are heartbreaking. >> i cried today just thinking about it. >> reporter: red cochran grew up outside baton rouge. his dad's home took on knee- thankfully he had flood insurance but many other friends and relatives and people around the state aren't so lucky. more than 100,000 people had asked for federal help since the historic flooding started. >> my brother called me the other day, said it's crazy, it's all gone. >> reporter: we asked his boss at the salty rim grill in

. >>> the lakeland fire department celebrates 100 years in the community. imitation open to everyone in the public enjoying and giveaways.>> it's a tremendous honor to serve the citizens of lake land and we have been doing that for the past 100 years.>> the department also debuted its newly restored oldest fire engine. the anniversary for the department's tuesday, august 16. >>> we want to inform you of taking action for your future. we joined the education foundation to provide career counseling at the heart of our campaign is our future plans interactive online survey. from august 15 through september 9 viewers will be able to take the survey at no cost. participants will receive a confidential summary report. for our website abcactionnews.com. >>> still ahead, alligator attacked a woman and bid offer hand. the attempts to save her. -- that -- bit offer hand. >>> we want to take broward county where woman is in stable condition after an alligator attack. doctors were saying the woman was in critical condition going in and out of consciousness. she was cam

students at florida southern college in lakeland have returned to campus. and this semester's class... is its ?biggest yet. there are more than two ?thousand undergraduate students at the private college this year. that is enrollment in the school' s 133 year history. there's a new housing option this year to help accomodate the students. the college is also offering a new major in biotechnology with a concentration in cyber security. and another polk college is breaking ground on a new facility. florida polytechnic in lakeland is getting a state of the art wellness and aquatics center. the facility will be shaped like a phoenix... which is the florida poly mascot. outside of teaching the students about better health.... the center will also test new technologies for physical training. get ready for more fun in the sky, from disney world. the company just filed a patent for a new drone-like device. the title of the patent is "air delivered special effects." according to the plans, the device could fly in the air and send out effects like lighting, fireworks

apollo bartow. 75 in lakeland. as far as the concert goes tonight out at the amphitheater in tampa, looks like the small things like rain chances are going to be around for the blink 182 show. showers, yes. downpours, no. so there may be moist seats out there on the lawn. otherwise, i think this is going eye to the skies and beware of those showers that will be rolling through. >> all right. bill, thanks. >>> just to kind of brafrmg -- branch off to what you were talking about. in response to heavy rains, pasco county will open sandbag operations. sandbags will be provided, but you are encouraged to bring your own shovel. we have the locations posted on our web site, abcactionnews.com. >>> let's turn to dem donald trump breaking a four-day standoff and finally endorsing paul ryan in a step towards unifying the party. previously, trump refused to endorse ryan, seemingly in response to ryan's reluctance to endorse him. yesterday, ryan said his endorsement of trump is not set in stone. >>> the first time in 128 years,

lakeland police are looking for the public's help lakeland police are looking for the public's help to find a violent >>> lakeland police are looking for the public's help to find a violent offender. jonathan charles pierre was killed at a house on castle way about a police believe he was targeted but they don't know why. they believe that the male shooter got away in the green four-door car. they are looking for a woman they believe may have been linked to the shooting as well. hartland crimestoppers is offering a $8,000 we ward for information leading to an arrest. >> the fight against lion fish is being taken to the kitchen. several local restaurants feature lion fish on their m menu, and earlier this summer, whole foods grocery store in florida began selling it as pound. you will see it in the next shot. the idea is to get the fish out of the waters by putting it on our plates. many chefs and fishermen say overfishing and sustainability is not a concern for this invasive species. the lion fish tastes a lot like snapper. >>> putting together care packages for our troops ove overseas

we have an update this morning and he is doing much better and lakeland pd just tweeted this photo. take a look at him. people all over the country heard hyde's story and have been sending treats and gifts. as you can see hyde is enjoying all of them. >> alcides: a cute picture. a good-looking picture and are dealing with extreme flooding. >> alcides: we will look at the latest from a station out in mississippi as well as louisiana. >>> plus the bucs reflect on their first season game. didn't look that good. merissa lynn will talk about that coming up in sports. >>> hey, mike. >> mike: dry to start the day. and evening storms moving through. less in the way of rain coverage. we will talk about your rain chances for this afternoon and the rest of your weekend coming come into steak 'n shake for hand-dipped milkshakes. better yet, come into steak 'n shake for hand-dipped milkshakes at half price during half-price happier hour, weekdays, now two to five at steak 'n shake. new at steak 'n shake! 24 meals under four dollars. and fresh guacamole made from scratch. get 24 meals for under f

he are some near lakeland and there are one or two by wesley chapel. and most of the rain is right along the coast line. this has been the most die investigated and by the way is short for investigation. this is not a tropical depression yet. the problem is that you have been talking about ts. a low pressure colliding -- sliding this way and the motels are cranking this up. you have to talk about it every day. and there is not much on satellite. today the satellite presentation is better. there are storms nears center. none of the models developed in and the hurricane center is calling 30% development. the track will be fors system. but it will spin and end up being a rain maker for us. you have to be concerned and watch it because the models are not predicting much. >> the end of august you cannot write it off. we'll see how it plays out for to me. and watch it we're on it this weekend. down to 77. east to west the morning will be rain free and 92. the same deal on sunday. so no weather impacts at all and the invest and the storms 92 for a high. the 7

great drive, downtown lakeland looks great. ybor city starting to get slow, 11 minutes 301 to 27 westbound. and the veterans expressway starting to hit the brakes, southbound ehrlich to 275, roughly 16 minutes. a live look again at the police activity, that's eastbound i-4 at county line. and look at this, much different over here in hillsborough county, starting to hit the brake, 275 starting at bearss, this is near bird. and then into about hillsborough and downtown. that's a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. back to gene and gayle. >> thank you. >>> an arkansas school is putting those so-called helicopter parents on notice. it posted a sign barring parents from coming to the school to drop things off like their forgotten lunch or homework assignments. check out the sign. it's on the doors of this high school for boys in little rock. it tells parent, quote, your son will learn to problem-solve in your absence. they'll figure it out. they have to grow up. >> yeah, they do. they do. you want to spoil them -- >> oh, spoken

lakeland you are at 77 this morning and we it heavy storm. lots of lightning last night and please be cautious this afternoon and look toward the eastern sky where our rain will be coming from. also a couple of clouds around this morning but no rain bearing clouds. closest shower 26 miles offshore that is moving away. we are actually looking to the east for midday inland rain and late-day storms building west about a 50% coverage. here is invest 99 l which pretty much is a broad area of low pressure with a lot of moisture. there is a lot of wind shear. stronger. see the reds near southeast cuba and portions of the bahamas. that is the deep moisture being sheared by some of the wind shear. a 20% chance in the next few days this will develop and a median 40% chance the next five days, but it is looking more likely like a weak system. we will head into the central gulf into the middle part of the week and some models bring whatever left of this over to our state. this is not going to be a f full-blown big storm at least at this point for our loc

because of that, the area lakeland west to downtown tampa, that corridor right there will be the folks that will pick not the heaviest storms in the next two to three hours. these are slow movers. most of this rain will not make it back towards the coast. at least until midnight. isolates storms hour by hour. and then tomorrow and into the increases. we will detail that coming up. >>> we are getting the rock at the police officer who accidentally killed a woman during a demonstration last night. this is officer lee cole. he shot and killed mary nonton at a police academy. he did not realize that the gun had live ammo inside. new tonight, bay area law enforcement revealing what procedures they have kinds of events. today st. pete police showed us the guns that they used during the exercises and how it's possible to have live ammunition in them. >> they don't allow for the firing of any type of real ammunition. office say they use an electronic simulator during the training academies. they also have a triple check safety protocol in place. the fdle is now investigating that case. >>> det

already up to 81 in tampa. 86 in brandon. 79 in bartow. 79 in lakeland. low 80s along the coast and dew mid- to upper 70s. pretty humid start of the day land remain humid. the satellte and radar. the southeast wind and what we are watching here, we flipped this over to water vapor and you kind of see this bin coming in. the weather word for the day. this is a tut, okay. >> jen: like king tut? >> mike: with an extra t, tuttt. up. dry air at the upper levels coming into the region. that will be limiting our rain chances as we go throughout the day. futurecast one, 2:00 starting to see showers pop their ware inland and there will be showers and storms out there accept we won't see the coverage that we have yesterday or the day before that yesterday. any shower or storm that pops up, the threat of lightning, you have the threat of gusty winds and certainly the threat of downpours. not something to take lightly. 92 for today. here is your seven-day for forecast. keep your rain chances at 30% for today. 50% for tomorrow. and better chance of storms tomorrow aft

this is what it looks like in the lakeland area. no crashes or breakdowns into lakeland and downtown tampa this morning. a check of the toll roads looking great. 54 to 475, that is not going to last much longer. as you know, traffic starts to build in about 15 to 20 minutes or so. six minutes from i-75 to

we have overnight construction in sarasota but right now, i-4 looks great through lakeland between each entrance of the polk parkway, just a 14 minute commute. and i-75, through wesley chapel, just fowler avenue. free and clear of slow downs here. let's go ahead and move over and take a look here at 275 off the howard frankland bridge. this is right by kennedy. that's a good drive as well. that's a look at weather and traffic. back to gene and gayle. >>> happening today, back to back meetings in the bay area to fight zika virus. first tampa city leaders meet and today governor rick scott will hold two round tables in the bay area. one is in clearwater and the they are happening after a serious warning from doctors in the bay area, telling women to delay getting pregnant. news channel 8's melanie michael explains why. >> reporter: when she talks about baby, there's a warning she delivers daily. >> never i have ever imagined would i be telling a pregnant woman to use condoms. >> reporter: she doesn't minutes words when it comes to the zika virus -- doesn't mince words virus. >> i've never

on friday the lakeland association of realtors dropped off 100 goody bags to the lakeland police department. each came with a note that explained why certain candy was stuffed inside. like lifesavers to remind them of how many times they have been lifesavers themselves. >> we feel like it's so important that we show the during our events committee meeting we made these bags and brought them down here today to give them to the police officers to show them our support. >> of course the officers told us they are very thankful for the support and not to mention the sweets. that has me thinking, if someone gave me a bag of candy or sweets what would it be? >> anything with peanut butter and chocolate i'm good to go. >> you stole my a >>> are we in sync with mother nature? >> last night we were. take a look at the sunsets yesterday. that's from st. petersburg. john hooper sending that one. another great one from hudson just as the sun was heading down. from sebring as well. you just can't beat that in central florida. send us all your photos on storm team 8 on facebook and twitter. monday on news

. >>> a job fair just for you in lakeland. sykes enterprises says you can catch pokemon and a job all at 215 south lake avenue in lakeland runs from 9:30 this morning until 3:30 this afternoon. >>> a cuban cigar roller is trying to beat his own record for the world's longest cigar. he wants to make one longer than 9264-foot long one he made five years ago. the 67-year-old started making the cigar tuesday and hopes to have it finished by next friday. he has held the guinness world record for longest hand rolled cigar since 2001. breastfeeding week the department of health is hosting a celebration. new moms are encouraged to breastfeed and offer peer support at medical clinics in the county. support for breastfeeding is needed in many places including hospitals, work sites and birth centers. breastfeeding weekends august 7. >>> the city of philadelphia is making an unusual plea to residents. don't swim in garbage it into a makeshift pool. the problem isn't the dumpster per se, it is that using hydrant water could make it not ava

lakeland 77. crystal river 77 and sarasota at 79. over the next couple of days we'll have about 50% coverage of storms through the afternoon and early evening storms because of that east-to- west trend. by thursday and friday we start to see some slight changes and slightly lower coverage. the weekend is where we go back to a west-to-east flow. what does that mean? a chance for a shower or two along the coast in the morning and then more widespread rain moving inland through the day. so the rain starts a little earlier. that's the bottom line. janelle, i ran into some of that traffic around the veterans expressway and morning but that is better now? >> yeah, corey dierdorff who drives around for us and lets us know when things clear just went through and said the construction on hillsborough right under the veterans expressway is all clear. you're good to go there. he's now on 275 heading in towards tampa. no crashes or breakdowns. really your drive on the interstates looking great out there. most of the lanes wide open. we have one

great drive right now through lakeland. i-4 between each entrance of the parkway, 52 to 75, that's going to take about 11 minutes. sarasota, overnight construction lingering out here the northbound on-ramp from university is blocked. and that should be wrapped up soon. probably within the next half hour. and also a couple lane closures in the area. that's weather and traffic. back to gene and gayle. >> thank you. >>> in breaking news, a powerful earthquake shook italy overnight, towns devastated are just coming in. the earthquake measuring 6.2 on the richter scale. and meredyth censullo is monitoring information as it comes into the newsroom this morning. meredyth, this struck in the middle of the night and people were sleeping. this caught them off guard. >> reporter: so scary. the earthquake was reported at 3:30 a.m. italian time. it was felt across a broad swath of central italy including rome. the u.s. epicenter about 100 miles northeast of rome. i want to bring you a live picture from the town traffic lights. it's 11:0

one of our cooler in the interior lakeland. we are getting closer to sunrise on the bad -- on a bad shot this morning near lakeland automall .it is 76 degrees with calm winds. it is quite steamy and some spots. 79 sarasota and cooler for crystal river and in various. our weather watcher in burkesville is reporting 70 the 3 -- 73 degrees. temperatures back in the low around 90 degrees. now much happening over the sunshine state with a few passing clouds. check out your rain chances for today and also monday. only around 20 percent here, not nearly as many thunderstorms but that changes by tuesday as more more sure slides into the area. coming up we will talk more about what you can expect for your sunday ahead and also we will preview the entire next work and school week ahead as well. metals in the mix today before the summer games comes to a close in rio. as the competition winds down so is the controversy surrounding 4 us swimmers who claimed they were robbed at gunpoint. ryan lochte admitting it was all in life. we have deta

right now, lakeland you're 77. and still 79 in bartow. 75 in arcadia. flow. and obviously things are dry now but the rain starts on the east coast, watch what happens. the northeast wind brings those first few showers and 11:00, 12:00, and as the day progresses, the storms get closer and closer to the coast. this computer model is not putting in as many storms as i think we will see. about 40% coverage for the day. just got the latest on tropical storm st and 2 friday and saturday. how about traffic on the 8s? >>> we're flowing at great speed, 275 in pinellas county right around gandy boulevard. no delays there. quick look, st. pete 175 to hoc, nine minutes. that's a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. and now back to gene and gayle. >> thank you. >>> time now for the morning's medical report. heart disease continues to be america. but there are some exceptions. in 2014, cancer was the top killer in 22 states, up from two states in the year 2000. new data shows cancer now causes more deaths among asian and hispanic americans than heart disease. heart disea

right along lakeland, the corridor, down to desoto, this will be filling in. as they approach the coastline, it will likely be sunset or after so they will be weakening. but the clouds will stick around. that's an issue for star gazers 2:00 in the morning. a lot of improvements as you get closer to sunrise. temperatures from the upper 80s to low 90s. the feels like near 100. that's about right for this time of year. sarasota topped out at 94 degrees. as we said, tampa right now partly sunny and 91. that dew point, 74. it's a typical august day. it's about right if you look at it. 91 normal is 90 over 76. record is 96. we only have a six-degree swing to what our record highs are for the same date. st. pete, 85 and mostly sunny. the sea breeze has dried things out at st. pete. still cooking in sarasota, sunny and 90. the east to west flow, when we get that that means lots of sunshine and heat. day, early evening. we're in it today. we will be in it tonight and the foreseeable future. that means to plan with no worries at all anything worry- wise in the morning t

. >>> a car jacking and a lakeland man arrested is no stranger to the law. they put the cuffs on the 41- year-old. investigators believe he is the man who car jacked a woman outside of a bone fish grill this month. the car was found crashed and restaurant. and he has a long record and he was arrested. >>> and across america this morning, remembering two nuns brutally murdered in mississippi. people packed a church for the wake to remember the two sisters. they believe found dead in their home. police arrested rodney earl sanders. investigators claim he confessed but aren't releasing information about a motive just yet. >>> a bus driver is facing charges in connection to a crash that killed the bus was carried construction workers when it slammed into a fire truck and three other vehicles on i-10 in louisiana. investigators report the bus driver didn't have a commercial driver's license and is in the united states illegally. >>> severe weather in ohio is blamed for major street flooding. a homeowner took this video from her porch in st. bernard and you can se

. >> temperatures are about where we expect them to be mid- august. 77 in lakeland. 73 in inverness. 80 in sarasota. and it is back to school, polk county and pasco talking to you, wake up early this morning. 79degrees for the first class. by lunchtime, 88 degrees. 91 for the final bell. and that's when the storms start. notice we have about a 30% rain chance right around 3:00 p.m. when the kids come home from school. the rain chance goes up after that 40%. so in weather and traffic on the 8s at 4:38, i have an eight- day temperature trend for and you leslee lacey has the roadways. >> that's right. >>> it's a pet thety good good drive. here's what's going on. a little bit overnight construction, westbound university. and in the general area of university and 75, it's due to the diverging diamond intersection we have been talking about for a longtime. let's move up to pinellas county, northbound 275 right near the tropicana field exit by the 175, we have an accident. it's off to the shoulder. and a live look at downtown tampa. looking good on traffic. back to gene and gayle. >> thank

wimauma, 91 degrees in lakeland. 83 bartow. the changes, an area of high pressure building into the south and wewi more of a northwesterly flow. that should move showers inland to the east as the day goes along. you miss this at the top of the newscast, there is fiona there. no effect on us. the other area, about a 50% chance of five days of development, put the computer model forecast on it. you can see that general westerly track makes it interesting for us long term. anything that moves directly west. but it is a very long way away. that will change. stay tuned to newschannel8 this weekend. now, for the high resolution computer model the next couple of hours, showers and storms could develop. i talked about that convergence that could happen at the east coast sea breeze and the outflow. so we will watch for that. some of the showers could push a little further back to the west. saturday morning a plot of sunshine to start the day. we will see showers move from west to east as the day goes along with the change in pattern. th

travel time, we've got a county in lakeland. i-4 between each entrance of the parkway, roughly a 14 minute commute. hopping on 75, looks good in and out of pasco county. state road 52, down to 11 minutes on your drive. let's go ahead and move over and talk about a collision in plant city. it's westbound i-4 right at park road. you can see it but not seeing delays. all green as you move across and this is why. it's off to the right shoulder and off to the left shoulder. traffic getting just be aware as you pass through in plant city westbound on i-4. that's a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. back to gene and gayle. >> thank you, leslee. >>> there's a new twist to the traditional wedding cake. >> the new flavor that some brides are choosing. but first, a unique weather phenomenon. where this devil of a storm created quite the stir. >>> don't forget to reach out and connect with me on social media. on facebook and twitter. drive from the bay area for the weekend, get away for the day -- >> sarasota. >> gayle says sarasota. bu

petersburg, 80 currently in clearwater, tampa, 79, 77 zephyrhills plant city, lakeland, bartow, all the way down to arcadia. sarasota, myakka city also 77 degrees. 89 by noon and that is when we see the showers begin mostly inland and they track back toward the west coast today as we hit a high of 91-92 degrees. i will show you the best chances for rain with a better rain accumulations are going to be as we work through this day today in less than 15 minutes. lindsay, back to you. >> we check out the video from georgia this morning when a roller coaster last at a county fair. this is video of several parents who rushed to the roller coaster and they are holding it up so the kids were not get hurt. two children had to be rescued and thankfully there were no serious injuries and there is right now an investigation into how the ride mouth auction. >> family who recently moved into a new home in el dorado hills found a questionable clause in their subdivisions rulebook. it is a whites-only clause. foster families as it it removed from the policy book. it basically states that no one other t

we've got some sunshine in lakeland, still hot. closer to the coast earlier a few of our showers and storms make their way on through the area. those came through pretty quickly with the on shore flow. and then it started to push inland with this prevailing easterly wind, westerly wind, excuse me working on through the day today. we've got a source issue here, still showing you the camera. rpm forecast model shows that the showers and storms are wrapping up as we head on through the second part of the day today. there we go. and as we head on evening hours, that wraps up. mostly clear skies through the overnight hours. a quiet start to their sunday. that's when we'll see some sunshine. you can't rule out a stray shower with that flow. early part of the day tomorrow and then into the afternoon hours is when we're going to see the limited coverage of the showers and storms pushing inland, only expecting the isolated storms about a 20% rain chance through the second half of the weekend. also for monday just about a 20% rain chance. th

and let's take a live look, i-4 at kathleen road in the lakeland area. not seeing slow downs between lakeland through plant city and down to ybor city. looking very good on that interstate. and 275 at gandy boulevard, they have moved around the camera here. reports of an accident that was off to the shoulder. i don't see anything on the cameras. and there were never delay, traffic looks fantastic here in pinellas. that's a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. >>> the labor day holiday is just around the corner. >> why you may want to consider a last minute get away. >>> first, the recall involving two different automakers and the dangerous problem that needs to be fixed. going through facebook and twitter. while there, add me on there. on my facebook, i just posted something you're going to want to check out, especially if you're in the market for a new home. who doesn't need to upgrade to 33 bedrooms and 47 bathrooms. oh, yeah, the front gate, there's gold leaf covering on that. how much is it going to set you back? $159million, the most expensive hom

lakeland new york city delays. back to melanie and gene. >>> happening today, tampa international airport will hold a job fair. looking for up to 300 people to work in aircraft shops and restaurants. the job fair is at the hillsborough county aviation boardroom from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. check it out if you are if the job market. >> and don't forget the resumes. >>> college campuses are increasing security. >> why many are preparing students in case a gunman opens fire on campus. and the group going to campuses to help. >>> also, 49ers quarterback colin kaepernick in the t the national anthem. the outrage he caused and his explanation. you're watching news channel 8 >>> no doubt, everyone will be talking about this this week. an nfl player's decision not to stand up for the playing of the national anthem. >> san francisco 49er's quarterback colin kaepernick is talking to the press providing more details. meredyth censullo has more on this controversy. hi. >> reporter: hey. the quarterback talked to the media a

right now, it's 73 degrees in lakeland and bartow, brooksville, inverness, 72. still a toasty 79 degrees right it has to do with the area of low pressure. it has been stubborn, sitting there just south of the panhandle of florida. and with the wind flow around it, it's just sending these waves of rain onshore. we saw it all day yesterday, some on saturday as well. and look at this, the forecast for 7:30 this morning. just a little bit of time forward from now. and look at the rain that will be possible in the citrus, hernando, pasco and even pinellas and hillsborough area. as the day no progresses, more still a good rain chance south of i-4 in places like highlands, hardee, desoto, manatee and sarasota just not as good as what we're going to see farther to the north. during the afternoon, maybe even getting in some breaks during the afternoon but more rain off the gulf of mexico. so our rain chances, 70% today. 60% tomorrow. and it takes us until friday to get down to 40% rain chances. and at that point, we finally get temperatures to go back around here. meredi