the courtney campbell causeway, 10 minutes, that's from pinellas county over to memorial highway. and eastbound on the gandy bridge and westbound, just seven miles per hours from pinellas to manhattan. that's a look at weather and traffic. back to gene and gayle. >> all right. thank you so much. >>> we have more breaking news right now. a gas pump in hillsborough county burst into flames. this happened while you were sleeping at the station near the intersection of bearss and nebraska. it happened when the driver of a car slammed into the pump, causing the fire. no one was hurt. and investigators believe the driver was under the influence. he is now under arrest and we are working to find out who the driver is and what charges he will face. >>> and also breaking this tuesday morning, a port richey neighborhood is waking up to a a water main broke in the brown acres neighborhood overnight. crews repaired the line but homeowners are being told to boil the water before using it. it will be tested today to figure out if it's safe to use. >>> and this is the second full day of president

in pinellas county i'm on top of a crash on i-275. you'll see it on the northbound exit ramp to gandy bridge. this is not blocking any lanes either. injuries are reported. again, watch out for police on scene there. pinellas county you are looking great with all of your majors. no significant delays. we are in green everywhere. veterans expressway, i-275, i- 75. look at i-275 now. we are definitely seeing heavier traffic. this is a live look at fowler avenue. all of the head lights coming south. north is much quieter. your drive time is 15 minutes from the apex to i-4. no delays yet. looking live of i-4 west of kathleen road in polk county. you can see it is quiet. traffic is picking up a little bit. so far if you are traveling from lakeland into a tampa for work, from polk parkway to i-75 along i-4 it is taking you 15 minutes. looking at our majors in sarasota and manatee county. you can see a delay on u.s. 301. it is 32 miles per hour heading south past state road 70. i-75 is looking great. no delays there just yet. bobby? >> thank

. >>> we begin with continuing coverage of breaking news in pinellas county. we are over the school bus crash, happening at east lake road at tarpon woods boulevard. the driver of the other vehicle was not injured as well. but we will bring you more becomes available. >>> now to a critical day for the presidential candidates. polls begin to close in an hour and a half in some of the super tuesday states and this fight could be over on both sides if donald trump or hillary clinton win big tonight. candace mccowan joins us now >> reporter: there were many who were hoping but realistically it's a long shot. outside of an early voting location in temple terrace, some voters know the candidate that they voted for could very well not be in the race two weeks from now. >> afraid that everybody is going to vote for trump. >> yeah. >> reporter: 12 states this super tuesday will have a huge impact on this primary. if polls prove correct, donald trump could win in most states taking a large portion of the delegates. >> i think we will see some surprises, certainly in tex

it's a tough drive in pinellas county. in st. pete, following this for you throughout the morning, folks. what you need to remember is that central avenue is completely blocked as they continue their investigation and so forth right at 54th street where the big accident happened. again, central avenue completely closed down. just go up and take 1st avenue north or south, they run parallel and they are excellent at getting by through the area. traffic still light in the area. and again, an easy alternate. so that's good news. and big issue on the courtney campbell causeway, westbound lanes are blocked here. there's an accident involving a semi-truck, another vehicle and a pole has been knocked down. never good when there's an accident but especially not good when there's a pole knocked down because it takes time to get the pole out of the roadway. if you're headed westbound, take the howard franklin bridge instead of the courtney campbell causeway. eastbound, just got some delays but leave the house five minutes early and you shou

a super pill that's invading the streets of pinellas county. the pill looks like a xanax but it's mixed with powerful main medications which can be deadly. at least nine people have died of overdoses in a matter of weeks. much more in a live report in minutes including all you need to know to keep your loved ones safe. >>> meanwhile, it's decision republican candidates have been campaigning heavily in arizona where 58 delegates are at stake. and for democrats, it's also a big prize day for delegate, 75 for them. >>> and the calendar says spring but our temperatures that the hour tell a different story. it's cold in the bay area but meteorologist leigh spann says good news, it will warm up fastly. >> exactly. once the sun comes up, we will see big jumps in the temperatures. between now and when the sun comes up, you need an extra layer. for sure up in inverness, brooksville, weeki wachee, all in the 30s. polk county, into the 40s. 46 bartow. milder closer to the coast like 50 in clearwater. but frost advisory for inland portions of citrus and he

some of the drugs are cheap, pinellas county. we will hear with the local sheriff about the issue tonight on abc action news at 5:00 and 6:00. >> right now we are watching history in the making. >>> the first official talks between the united states and cuba in more than five decades. president obama met with cuban president raul castro in havana. he wants to lift the trade embargo and return to gaunt tan monnet val base in cuba. he talked with castro about democracy and human rights. >> the ongoing engagement is guided by one overarch anger, advancing the mutual interest of our countries and improving the lives of our peek, both cubans and americans. >> president obama attended the ceremony before meeting with castro. the memorial honors jose, the independence from spain more than a century ago. we have the news there not only visit but they are about to play cuba's national baseball baseball team. >> reporter: we are on the field where the historic game will happen between the tampa bay rays and the cuba team, the first time th

peter bernard joins us live from the pinellas county jail and where is that suspect now, peter? >> good evening. the accused road rager was arrested and taken to the pinellas county deal and bonded out on the same day. >>> i notice that there was a car that cut me off. >> on her way home sunday evening, rochelle did not like being cut off so she let the other driver know. >> i was surprised and i honked at the guy and he slammed on his brakes and so i flashed my

in just a few hours, construction workers will break ground on the pinellas county. a huge new highrise condo and it will tower 41 stories over beach drive and drastically change the skyline in the booming downtown area. 10news reporter sarah hollenbeck is live on first avenue north where the new one st petersburg tower will stand in less than 2 years. sarah, give us an idea of how big this is? imagine how long a football field is. now, imagine 1 and a half football fields stacked up right here in the downtown st pete skyline. this building will be so tall in fact that the companies working to build it, have to persuade the federal aviation administration to raise the allowed skyrise height to 500 feet and divert air traffic getting to albert whitted airport. right now-- developers are seeing a lot of demand for new skyrises in both the one st petersburg tower is one of 1,200 residential units either recently completed or under construction right in tampa, at least a dozen projects are underway now that will double the amount of people living in downtown. the st pete

corey dierdorff is heading to a very serious crash in pinellas county, pinellas park. u.s. 19 in the kenneth city area. traffic moving pretty good on u.s. 19 where he is but he's going to the crash where we're hearing there are multiple

in just a few hours-- hulk hogan will be back inside a pinellas county courtroom for day 2 in his trial against gawker. it all centers around a leaked sex tape. 10news reporter sarah hollenbeck is outside the pinellas county courthouse. sarah, hogan will take the stand again this morning and this time face tough questions from the defense. today they're expected to continue grilling hogan about the sex tape-- pressing on to find out if he knew there were cameras in the room and if he "invited" gawker's coverage of his sex life by boasting publicly about his sexual prowess for years. hogan told a packed courtroom he is "completely humiliated" by the 41-second video posted 4 years ago on gawker's website. and now he wants $100 million from the blogsite for damages. the video showed hogan having consensual sex with hogan's lawyer says the video shattered hogan's reputation and relationship with his kids. gawker sees its post as protected speech under the first amendment of the u.s. constitution, and contends it was reporting on a celebrity who publicly discussed his sex life. here's what i

southern pinellas county. a quick reminder, for the next hour or so, we have the entrance is blocked from southbound 275. ha is a look at -- that is a look at weather and traffic. >>> a big event to give you great ideas on how the whole family can take advantage of the beautiful beaches and water ways. >> look at this. a wall of sand, where the winds were strong enough to stir up the dirt and bring some communities to a standstill. >> but first, donald trump's controversial plan to build a wall at the u.s. mexico border. up next, for the first time, mexico is directly reacting. we'll share how the country it is 5:10. . >>> now to breaking news out of pinellas county. while you were sleeping, a market on 15th avenue south of st. petersburg caught fire crews responded around 1:20 to dave's market. no one was injured. we're working to find the extent of the damage and if firefighters know what caused the flames. >>> mexico is directly responding to donald trump's vow to build a wall along the u.s. mexico border.

gun highway to anderson road, we a look at the pinellas county. the 54th avenue south on ramp to southbound 275 is blocked for the next hour for overnight construction. now, over the last few days it has been the exit ramp. we're working on the on ramp. if you need to hop on 275. take 22nd avenue south instead . >>> good morning and welcome to news channel 8 today. i'm gayle guyardo. >> and i'm candace mccowan in for gene ramirez. the top stories this morning, tampa is moving closer to decriminalizing marijuana. it gave preliminary approval to a plan that would only impose a small fine to those caught with pot. you can lose your driver's license, spend up to a year behind bars and be fined u $1,000. >>> a showdown in mo town.

your other alternates in pinellas county across the bay through tampa. those running good right now. you can see down there at the bottom the gandy bridge running just a tad slow. a lot of drivers will be cutting across town up to i-75 and getting around the sky way that way. either way, ivan, you've been going for a while. the commute. taking to you downtown tampa right now. as far as the visibility you go up a few hundred feet. deck. you can head out to the clouds and get into trouble as far as visibility. that's what we have going on this morning. otherwise, the rest of the area is looking good right now. 70s warm and muggy out there. this is quite a difference. first things first, we'll get you through today with temps in the 70s. we'll be back in the low 80s in the afternoon with humidity making it warm out there in the mid-80s. right along the coast, it will stay into the 7. friday night is a first round of rain heading into saturday morning coming in with a good line of showers and thunderstorms. i think that's the best chance of most of us gettin

a pill disguised as xanax is killing people in pinellas county. the sheriff describes the so- called super pill at 80 times stronger than morphine. and news channel 8's adrienne pedersen is joinings from the sheriff's office this morning with more on the deadly drug. and now obviously people are legally prescribed xanax but that's not what we're talking about. >> reporter: that's right. good morning, gayle. and the sheriff here in pinellas county has some simple advice for everybody this morning, do not buy xanax off the street because you really have no idea what you're getting. >> you don't have to take a handful. all you have to do is take one and you're dead. >> reporter: that's the sheriff talking about the super pill. it's incredibly dangerous as you just heard. and the pill looks just like a xanax but it's mixed with a powerful pain medication called fentanyl. and now the deadly struck is only $5 a pop. problem is really only here in pinellas county. so a 25-year-old dunedin woman overdosed on the super pill and died over the weekend. they'

jaw dropping moments caught in pinellas county. a little boy trying to ride a tricycle on to the bridge. he finally gets stopped at the toll booth. he did not get on the bridge and no one is hurt. no charges have been filed. after an accident on a pinellas county bus. henry fell off his mobility scooter while the bus was making a turn. the bus driver never called for help. he died from his injuries seven days later. officers asking for anyone who was on the bus to come forward. >>> breaking news now with the hulk hogan gawker case. this is him speaking live about the punitive damages in this case. >> we're very excited and happy. >> tell us about the support from the community. i know you're on twitter. what do you see from people? >> the community knows who i am. my wwe family knows who i am and have been very supportive of me. at the end of the day it's nice to get back to be with my family and friends in the area. treat me like i'm still a champ and they have been really supportive. it's really cool to be in this community and f

straight ahead the reason she >>> in pinellas county authorities trying to stop a spice epidemic. authorities are targeting the homeless. already 30 medical calls for spice overdoses in the past few days. officers are handing out brochures and offering rehab paid for by the city. crash in sarasota is recovering. the high speed crash claimed the lives of his two friends. he said he's thankful to be alive. >>> a woman accused of driving the wrong way on the interstate nearly hitting a tampa police officer head on says the police have the wrong driver. glass. >> and i'm sere ree na fizon. >> reporter: this is where she was pulled over and arrested but tonight tampa police and this woman have two different

tampa police told us they will have both inside and outside the convention center. in pinellas county major trump critic. pinellas county republicans listened to south carolina at their lincoln dinner. 10 news reporter jonathan petramala spoke to governor haley about the violence on the campaign trail. rumbles at rallies now becomming a rallying cry against donald trump on the campaign trail south carolina governor nikki haley talked to pinellas coupnty republican's about how trump divides people. coupnty republican's about how trump divides people. but haley couldn't unite the room behind her candidate. only around a third of the room willing to cheer for rubio, just three days before the florida primary as divided as the party appears now, all republicans still stand united against in pinellas county, jonathan petramala, 10 news wtsp. crime alert! police are trying to figure out what happened to a woman found dead in largo sunday morning... someone found her body while walking near 145th street north and starboard lane. investigators say they've identified the woman through fingerpr

the big massive storms, a couple of good lines moved through hillsborough, pinellas county's and especially through sarasota and manatee counties. late in the morning and early afternoon. again, things are definitely winding down. we still have rain back there and the potential for more showers tonight. 72 in tampa. 77 in ruskin. 70 in clearwater and lakeland. winter haven, 77. north port at 78. 77 in tallahassee. air is making its way in. very chilly across the northern plains as a winter makes one last gasp. spring starts at 12:30 am our time. it is literally the -- last gasp. here's the front off to the west. it will swing through by tomorrow. we will see cooler weather by monday. but for this evening, some shower chances around 10:00. tomorrow morning we will see showers move through. then we clear out and get cool. temperatures will dip down into the 40s in some areas by monday morning. tomorrow morning, mild, 67 for tampa. 63 in brooksville. closer to the water, cluster to 70 degrees for apollo beach and venice. looking at florida's most accurate evening planner. we will go from that

kim and sarah mae's home is the 351st habitat for humanity house in pinellas county. coming up at 5 on 10 news this morning, at least three police officers in chicago are hurt after a shooting during an drug investigation. we're working to get new details. cleanup will be underway this morning after a through one ohio town. a sinkhole opens in the middle of a new jersey street and swallows a car! that and more coming up in just about 20 minutes. still to come here on 10 news early morning, health code violations so bad health inspectors called in backup! we'll take you to the popular nightclub shut down by the state on today's restaurant red alert! plus, the iditarod race takes a deadly turn. now the man charged for ramming two separate racing teams with a snowmobile is talking about what tampa nightclub is a popular north tampa nightclub is after what state health inspectors call a rodent infestation. green gators bar out of the former location on anderson road, just expressway. the business is much more a nightclub than a restaurant. 10investigates looking into the

from here on out, the tribune will be printed in pinellas county by its competitor, the tampa bay times the. news staff is in the process of moving into new offices in hillsborough county. that's because their plans to downtown headquarters to build a 400-unit residential complex. it's going to be absolutely beautiful. and i actually, it will be our neighbor here. the news center has shared the property for all these years. and over to leigh spann now. >> an end of an era for sure. >>> the sun is coming up, it's beautiful. it's a little cool. so i don't see a lot of people on st. pete beach. most of us in the 40s and 50s. we see leaps in the temperatures once the sun comes up. 59 at 9:00. afternoon high of 79. that's above average. but plenty of sunshine and nice breeze. 70 by 7:00 p.m. couldn't ask for better spring training weather. bradenton, phillys and pirates, tampa, astros and yankees, looking at nothing but sunshine, mid-70s. put that sunscreen on. in fact, you will the sunscreen for the next eight days. temperatures will trend warmer actually into the low to mid- 80s by thursda

as you mentioned, it's one of the biggest events in pinellas county. it draws more than 150,000 race car fans to st. pete every year and more than 1 million will watch the races live on tv. this is a huge economic boost for the area. city officials estimate $48 million into the pockets of is over. of course all of this leads up to the indy 500, the biggest indy race of the year. maybe this year, st. pete will only four times in the history the racer has gone on to be a serious champ. there are some local drivers racing here at the firestone grand prix this weekend. you'll want to stick around. coming up in our next hour, we're headed into the track. we'll see how they feel heading into the big event this weekend. we are live right now in st. pete. i'm lindsay logue, abc action news. >> lindsay behind the wheel maybe. >> that should be fun. >> a full list of events happening on abcactionnews.com and click on the story link. >> three days, friday, saturday, sunday. which is the better day? >> the berter days will be today and tomorrow. the showers and th

of pinellas point drive in pinellas county. i will break down the detour a little more. >>> good tuesday morning. i am allison kropff. >>> it is election day in florida. your ballot could make or break a few candidates. >> sarah hollenbeck is live. you are watching three >> reporter: they could either secure their place in this race a little bit longer or force them to drop out in florida is so important. marco rubio is battling donald trump in his home state and outside of the busiest primary ballot location that you will see today in hillsborough county, these signs next to each other as these candidates face-off. the candidates that are fine for a place today are marco rubio who must win florida today. he wants a shot at the presidential candidate spot. governor john kasich who would need to win in ohio to stay in the race. bernie sanders is betting hard on a win today. beyond today, there are concerns with rubio if he loses that he cannot win in florida today and it will have a tough time running against any seat here is wh

pso far at least nine people have pdied in pinellas county. pjosh is there live to tell us pmore about what's going on. p>> reporter: the sheriff calling pthis a major public safety pconcern, one that's almost pexclusive to pinellas county, pthe sheriff's message tonight, pdo not go out and buy xanax on pone it's illegal but two it may pnot be pure xanax. pit could be laced. pas people are finding out, one ill can kimt nine silhouettes, pnine pinellas county lives lost pto a tiny pill, passed off as pregular xanax. p>> however, these pills that pwere taken and swallowed were a pcombination of xanax and feint pno. p-- feint natural. pdr. fentanol. p>> if if people are going to{ buy pwhat they think is xanax on the pstreet they could not wake up. p>> this is really is a public psafety concern. p>> it's so dangerous, it's hard pfor authorities to understand pwhy anyone would even blend this pmore mixed street drugs are pbeing reported. p>> we don't know whether the psource of this xanax mixture is pa little source, whether it's pbeing manufacture

it was foggy out here in pinellas county within the last two hours. but things have really started to dissipate. this is a live look at the sunshine skyway bridge right now here in pinellas county. their way over the brbridge. you can actually see the very top of the pillars as well. those two red lights blinking. this was not the case yesterday when the bridge was closed from 5:00 a.m. all the way to 1:0000 p.m. as you can see here live at ththis hour, the bridge is open and the fog has dissipated somewhat. live in pinellas county, ryan hughes, news channel 8. >> thank you. >>> a big morning for donald trump. he now has all of florida's 99 delegates. he has wins in four out of the five voting states, only losing in one state, ohio. the next primary is a week from saturday. >> that's right. >>> and florida senator marco rubio is out of the race for the white house. the senator ended his campaign after losing the primary here in his home state. no word on who senator rubio will endorse jujust yet, if anyone. >>> and texas senator ted cruz is welcoming

a woman in pinellas county-- was not so lucky. find out why players are calling this-- "a freak incident." testifies-- on how a changed his life. we will tell you how "gawker" is defending their decision... to post people in parts of to witness a partial solar eclipse! this is new time lapse video from singapore ... where people could see the moon covering ninety percent of the sun. the partial eclipse of the sun was visible to millions of people in australia, southeast asia and the pacific. nasa says the world's next total solar eclipse will happen in august 2017 and will be visible in the united states. time to take a look at the stories making headlines around florida. in saint- petersburg-- hulk hogan takes the stand... to testify about a leaked sex-tape for a second straight day. the wrestler is suing the website "gawker"-- after they posted a sex- tape with hogan and a radio d-j's wife. during yesterday's cross-examination... attorneys for gawker argued-- hogan bragged about his exploits to the media... which means--the tape

so pinellas county, up to speed. no delays on the howard franklin bridge. that's a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. back to gene and gayle. >> thank you so much. >>> well, thrill seeker, you will want to stick around to hear about this. busch gardens is moving to the next phase of one of their newest rides. >> yeah, when the ride is set to open and what you can expect. >>> but fist, the exclusive event walt disney world is hosting for a limited number of guests. how much you can pay to take >>> on select dates, the park will stay open for three additional hours for those who purchase the after-hours option. among the rides that stay open, space mountain and peter pan's flight. disney is not revealing how many after-hours tickets will be sold. >>> and a new roller coaster will soon start thrilling busch gardens visitors. >> the final part has been testing phase. it will spin rider forward and then backwards and then freely bringing them just inches from four-foot long cobra fangs. and now are you a thrill seeker? doing this with me? >> yeah, but i don'

no other way to get to pinellas county. heading up further north over to hillsborough county, you will need to take 75 all the way around. so of course, leave the house early because this is not an easy alternate to go all the way around. so depending on where you are headed, leave the house early. and let's take a live look at the fog. this is 275 right on the skyway bridge. it is closed right now so i-75 is your alternate. that's a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. now back to gene and gayle. >> okay, leslee, thank you. >>> a craft brewery that got its start in tampa is now sold. >> what it means for cigar city and craft beer lovers. >>> and up next, what is budget. you're watching news channel 8 >>> bad news for driver, gas prices are starting to creep up because the price of oil is on the rice. it was $27 a barrel and now it's $37. the national average is still down 52 cents a gallon from last march. state are filling up for $1.91 on average. you can find the cheapest gas prices on wfla.com. >>> all right, swipe awa

i want to mention the construction project we have on 275 southbound in pinellas county. from 26th avenue south to 54th avenue south. you can't see it here, it's way off in the distance, you can see flashing lights but this project starts 9:00 at night and doesn't wrap up until 7:00 in the morning. so in the early morning hours you might see just a little bit of a disloadown but right now i just checked and you're still at 65 miles per hour. from the sunshine skyway to the howard frankland. and in the opposite direction. you can see it here, 68 northbound and 70 southbound so looking great there. so your drive times on the veterans expressway looking great, all in the green. >>> coming up on 6:02. today a multimillion-dollar throwdown in tampa bay will pit a former wwwe star against a media giant. live look now at the courthouse in pinellas county, opening statements start in three hours in hulk hogan's trial against gawker. from tampa says gawker violated his privacy when it featureereds parts of a sex tape featuring him. we'll be live streaming opening statements on our

sidetracked down the woman in charge of mismanaging thousands of dollars in charter schools in pinellas county to demand answers. >> also, a father daughter >> on wall street today, the dow ended the day down 109 points. the s&p lost 22. the nasdaq dropped 59. >>> an 8 on your side consumer alert. the makers of go go squeeze are recalling certain pouches of their nonorganic apple sauce due to contamination. they are looking at december 4, 2015 and march 4, 2017 expiration dates. no illnesses have been reported. you can go to their website to fill out a replacement videotaper. >>> banks are hoping your mobile phone can help with credit card fraud. make sure the charges to your card are legit. it will track when the card is not in your possession. it would be offered on an opt in basis and they would use it for security, and not marketing. >>> facebook users, are you ready for football? the social media giant is in the mix to live stream nfl games games later this year. they are bidding to live stream thursday night football games. other leaders are said to be interested. it is not clear how muc

heading out the door in pinellas county? heads up, we have construction in the southbound lanes on 275 around 31st. it's pretty light out there so not causing any delays, just use caution. coming up, we'll check the >>> the sex tape viewed more than seven million times. wrestling superstar hulk hogan will have his day in court suing the web site that posted it for $100 million. coming up in a live report, i'll let you know what to expect later today in court. >> we've been following the build-up to the trial. count on abc action news to follow it as we take you inside the courtroom. >>> first on this early monday morning a check of traffic and weather together. what does it look like out there? >> pretty quiet. i'm going to need sunrise pictures, sunset pictures. your cat pictures. some dog pictures here. going to be this week. we are sunny, we are dry and we're kind of in the doldrums before the next system moves in. there will be nuances as far as the temperatures the next couple of days. in the mid-50s now. look at the hu

. >>> in pinellas county, a stolen car full of teenagers tried to hit pinellas county police officers. he took aim at a k-9 officer and his dog. they were able to avoid getting hit. police used stop sticks on that car. the three teenagers inside were caught and arrested. >>> president obama has made his choice for the next supreme court justice. but getting congressss to accept him will be an uphill battle. >> this is the greatest honor of my life. other than lee an agreeing to >> merrick garland was emotional as he spoke about his mom nation and his family. many voted for garland when he was on the court of appeals but the gop is adamant theyey're waiting for the next president to appoint the next nominee. >> president obama made this without seeingg the nominee confirmed, but in order to po lit size it for purpose of the election. >> he's doing his job this morning. they should do there's. >> blocking the nomination is a risk that could backfire on republicans at the ballot box especially if a democrat wins the white house. >>> a big shift in the presidential race on the republican

you still into pinellas county. i will tell you what you will see along 275, the skyway bridge is closed, use other routes. give yourself extra time. >>> polk parkway and i-4, no issues. >>> if you have ever heard me talking about the weather, i do a hurricane spiel and we talk about being prepared. one reason why is they will shut the bridge down to 40 mile- per-hour wind. skyway. because of fog. we want you to plan ahead and make alternate plans. that is why this morning you would have to use one of those there is not much fog out there, but it's in the wrong place for the skyway. morning. we have seen some pretty good way down to the st. pete this it is not even showing up on the map this morning. north and south, it is not that terrible, but it is thickest right there over the channel. sarasota county does get sicker. the airport in sarasota is 5 miles and it is thicker than that in places. bennett, down to about half mile visibility. no advisories as far as the certainly patches north west of hillsboro county.

the place making it happen in >>> let's check the drive. >> still looking good and pasco and pinellas county. the next 10 or 15 minutes it will pick up. us 19 southbound from alternate 19, drivetime is 10 minutes. a similar stretch on e. lake road. from county line down to tampa road is 10 minutes. >>> morning rush hour looks good weatherwise. partly sunny as you come home this afternoon. a few extra clouds and that is it. it will be warm, 80 degrees. if you are traveling today there will be a big snowstorm in southern minnesota through wisconsin and the central and northern michigan area. some areas get 8 to 12 inches of snow. >>> a study from glassdoor says the change in pay gap is real and women in the us earn an average 24% less than men. when comparing workers from similar age and education and experience that gap shrinks with women earning about 5 1/2% less. >> dominoes is testing out a prototype for the world's first ever commercial autonomous delivery vehicle named through. the contraption that comes with compartments designed to keep the hot and drinks call. destination. it is runni

peter bernard joins us live from the pinellas county jail and where is that suspect now, peter? >> good evening. the accused road rager was arrested and taken to the pinellas county deal and bonded out on the same day. >>> i notice that there was a car that cut me off. >> on her way home sunday evening, rochelle did not like being cut off so she let the other driver know. >> i was surprised and i honked at the guy and he slammed on his brakes and so i flashed my >> and she thought that was the end. she was wrong. rochelle says the driver got behind her and got in front of her and get out. >> i thought he had a cell phone in his han and i was like gun. >> reporter: terrified she trigger. >> i screamed he had a gun and he turned it side ways. >> reporter: the other driver is dean confortty, an employee of dunbar armored trucks. i stopped by the employees' office to see if he works there. >> we have no comment. >> can you tell me what dean con forty does for you guys? >> no comment, sir. >> next, we stopped by dean con forty's house in st. pete. >> we are from new channel 8 rage in

upper 70s and pinellas county. -- in pinellas county. cooler along the coast with winds coming in. speaking of wins, it's 70 degrees off of clearwater beach. 122 foot seas on the bay. high tide at 8:11 am. showers could come in over the next couple of hours. clearing out by next weekend another front pulling through. >>> coming up, grand prix of saint pete davis said winner the chances an amateur making the cut in a pga tournament pretty low but the chances of an amateur actually winning a tournament, beyond low. it only happened a handful times in history. it was chase today in the final round of the championship. he became the first amateur to win a tournament since phil mickelson did in 1991. he was just three years old at the time. according to held by six shots entering the day and started his final round with this birdie. his magic would eventually run out and he finished with two under 69 for the day. it's good for fourth place. mccoy will never forget beating speed. the final round went down to fill half and charles wurtzel. he missed his par putt so this part. the south af

from pinellas county to hillsborough county on the howard frankland, you have a crash blocking all but one lane on the bridge. janelle martinez has your workaround in a few. >>> breaking overnight -- we're now waiting to find out who is responsible for a deadly bus bombing in pakistan. police say someone planted a bomb under the seat of a bus. government employees were on that bus. when the bomb went off. the blast killed 15 people and wounded nearly 40 more. >>> new this morning -- a 21- year-old american college student learns he will serve 15 years hard labor in a north korean prison. convicted otto warmbier of crimes against the state for trying to steal a propaganda been aer from his hotel. last month the university of virginia student made an emotional confession. he said a u.s. church asked him to bring back a trophy from north koreaa. it's still unclear if his confession was voluntary. >>> find an alligator in your house? you will call animal control. >> for one lakeland woman the 6- foot gator in her home is a welcome guest and she's fighting to keep it that way. that is a 125

this is southbound 275 in pinellas county. that's off-ramp to 54th avenue south. it is blocked due to overnight construction. so take 22nd. head to 19 and then come back around. and gibsonton, the biggest issue right now. and this is i-75. see where it's orange, southbound past gibsonton drive, all lanes blocked. you are taken off the interstate. take 301 instead. and meliek on the street has a live view. and cars are starting to slow. you can see up there, gibsonton, riversaw, the off- ramp sign and everyone is exiting. and that's because in the distance, you have debris on the roadway and a fatal accident involving a motorcyclist and another vehicle. and an investigation taking 301 is the alternate. traffic. back to gene and gayle. >> thank you, leslee. >>> happening today, we are expecting another emotional day on the stand from sports andrews. the dethe tails are absolutely gut wrenching. she is suing her stalker and a gnash marriott over recordings made through a peephole during her 2008 stay in the hotel. news channel 8's adrienne pedersen is live from high

nobody knows why the only place in florida we're seeing this right now is pinellas county. that's the big question 8 on your side is trying to figure out, why is it affecting pinellas county? does spice at all have anything to do with this super pill? a dangerous issue. we know that. >> yeah, and sad because it could affect so many families so terribly. thank you. >>> this is the second full day of president barack obama's trip to cuba. he is the first sitting in nearly 90 years. our team coverage continues with ryan hughes live at la teresita. >> reporter: it's been a whirlwind trip for the president of the united states already. and the people who frequent this cuban restaurant here in tampa paying close attention. president barack obama met with razl castro yesterday and plans to hold meetings with dissidents later today. the meeting comes with controversy. some who oppose the castro regime in cuba this reported that they have been followed around in the days leading up to the president's visit. the government tries to keep them tight-lipped. and president barack obama w

driving around on 275 over in pinellas county. the construction we told you about earlier, the southbound ramp to 54th avenue south, that is back open so no problems there. also checking the roads out in lakeland. no crashes or breakdowns on the side roads, the main roads, or the interstates i-4 moving nicely. checking drive times starting all the way back to younty line road getting into downtown. 8 minutes from 75 to 275. coming in the opposite direction here at i-75 southbound, 20 minutes from state road 52 to i-4. ten minutes from the apex to i-4. back to you. >>> 10 minutes right now until 6:00. new developments rate now in a disturbing incident involving a school resource officer at a baltimore school. that officer is charged with multiple felonies aof this it shows him slapping and kicking a 16-year-old student. >> officer anthony spence is charged with child abuse and assault. another officer is also charged with assault. both officers posted bond and are due back in court next month. >>> volkswagen's top executives are st

call the pinellas county sheriff's office. 3 3 3 a star, a sex tape and a scandal. thats all part of hulk hogan's lawsuit against the celebrity gossip site gawker. 3 jury selection began yesterday in a pinellas county courtroom. there's 100- million dollars on the line. tape involving hogan and heather clem, who was married to bubba the love sponge. while bubba gave his consent for the sexual rendezvous.. hogan says he never gave his okay to record it. jury selection is expected to last all week long. 3 3 tampa water officials are testing the emergency siren system at the c-w bill young regional reservoir this morning. the sirens will go off at 9 a-m. there will be 3 to 5 short blasts lasting 10 to 20 seconds each. the monthly tests make sure the sirens work in case of an emergency. 3 3 the best two words you can hear in the morning: "free. breakfast." and you can get it today... at all participating chick-fila restaurants. for the past free breakfast offer on catch? you don't know *which breakfast item they're giving away... each week. it could be a chicken biscuit

in just a few hours, construction workers will break ground on the pinellas county. a huge new highrise condo and

that's the southern end of pinellas county. that is blocked. what you will need to do is before you get to it, remember if you're heading out the door soon, exit at 22nd avenue south and go over to u.s. 19 and take that down to 54th. and this should reopen within about 20 minutes or so. and we have got a big issue on i-75. and now we're not seeing any significant slow downs. 301 to big bend southbound on i- we have a fatal accident and all of the traffic is taken off of the interstate on i-75 southbound. you see where it slows down here and taken off at gibsonton drive. meliek on the street is live out there and this is what it looks like. you can see to the right with the cones in the roadway and the vehicles to the right, they are exiting at gibsonton drive and heading over to u.s. 301. take 301 and don't bother with the interstate. and we have a lot of debris on the roadway. you can see it scattered there. an investigation taking place. this involves a motorcyclist that rear-ended a car. and unfortunately, it is a fatal crash. and you can se

clear skies through pinellas county. winds out of the west at 14. 69 degrees. mild morning tomorrow. we are going to see winds coming out of the north and we will see the chilly air making it's way in. how cold will it get? we will take a look at our forecast coming up. >>> police are on the hunt for a hit and run driver that struck and killed a bicyclist. the crash happened around 9:30. authorities said the victim was a man in his 40s. stay with us for new updates. after a 14 year old biker was hit and killed along us 41, but in that case the drive stopped. >>> authorities in pinellas county are worried about drug overdose. they are saying that there is a bad batch of spice and the police are concerned about who is being targeted. >> the spice is being sold in small cigarettes, dealers are hitting up the homeless in parks like this and the police are hoping to get the drugs off the streets before someone dies. >> reporter: the eupty park -- unity park police said spice is making the rounds giving people a dangerous high. >> it's rat poison and it maybe be crac

. >>> hi everyone, you might want to avoid state road 80 in pinellas county. the westbound lanes are closed for water main repairs between mc mull len booth and land mark drive. they decided to do it this week because it's spring break. we are seeing congestion in the morning and evening rush hours. you can head north to avoid that. construction going on at the u.s. 41. water closed right at 275 this week. make sure you follow me on facebook at abc action traffic. >>> next at 5:30 an iphone fire on a plane is sparking a federal investigation. straight ahead, three things you need to know about potential dangers inside of your home. >>> alternative medicine or marijuana substitute. the eye team investigates a product that says treats >>> a verdict has been reached in the hulk hogan trial. today the jury is deciding on punitive damages. emotional damages was last week. we'll have an update on this verdict just coming down on abc action news at 6:00. >>> new tonight, there's an investigation underway after an iphone bursts into flames on a flight to hawaii. talk

they feel that they are validated for what they have been doing. >> teams from hillsborough, pinellas county and orange county participated. it was a great warm-up to the regular seasons. it kicks off this monday. >>> football and baseball and grade weather. up to 78 inland today and looking for a high in tampa of 76 and warmer into the workweek. >>> good morning, america. breaking news. ted's huge night. cruz trouncing donald trump in two states. as record numbers turn out to vote on supersaturday. >> today has been a very good day. >>> and rubio disastrous showing. his rivals calling on him to drop out. is this now a two-man race. >> i want ted one on one. >>> plus, bernie, pulling out two wins. can he catch up to hillary clinton? >>> deadly storms. the west battered by rain and ferocious or erocious winds. from crumbling cliffs to daring rescues. the flooding threatening the

news channel 8 melanie michael is live from the pinellas county morgue. this stuff is made to look like the real thing. >> reporter: this super pill looks real just like real xanax, but when people take it, they don't go to the hospital. morgue. deadly and deceiving, this secret. handful of them. and you're dead. >> reporter: its lethal contents are cleverly packaged. it looks just like a xanax, but this pill is mixed with a fentanyl. the combination is so potent that it's killing people within minutes. >> you better stop buying this xanax on the street because there's no other way to put it. >> reporter: recently in pinellas county the biggest problem with people overdosing has been from spice. now undercover cops are searching for this super pill that contains the highly addictive medicine fentanyl. so how strong is this? >> it's 80 to 100 times as strong as morphine and about 40 to 50 times as strong as street heroin. >> reporter: dr. hata has worked at the e.r. at north side hospital in pinellas county 18 years and it's the first time he's ever seen s

>>> we're following breaking news from pinellas county. officials are on the scene at the clearwater courthouse on 49th street after a suspicious package was found. details now very limited, looks like you're seeing it next to the planter. rodney dunigan headed to the courthouse now and will bring you updates as soon as we get them. >>> breaking news from seattle, washington. officials are on the scene of a massive gas explosion. >> nine seattle firefighters are in the hospital now. people are evacuated after a natural gas leak caused that building to explode early this morning. the blast happened in the city's greenwood neighborhood. officials say about 40 minutes after firefighters arrived to check on that gas leak the >> the nine firefighters only suffering minor injuries. right now dogs are being used to go through the rubble to make sure there are no other victims. officials say at least one building, possibly two, are heavily damaged while others suffered shattered windows and other minor damage. >>> the blast happening in the greenw

again this is northbound on 275 through pinellas county. so what you're going to do, if you can get off at the gandy exit and take the gandy bridge over that will save a lot of time. you want to avoid the howard frankland. you can work your way to the courtney campbell. and you could take that. let look at the drive times. you can see options now, nine minutes across the causeway. 07 minutes now to cross the -- 70 minutes to cross the howard frankland and if 16 cars are involved it's going to take some time to get all of that cleared up. 14 minutes on the gandy bridge. we're going to continue to follow this. another update in 15 minutes. >>> a lot of people going to be late to work. no question about it this morning. as we look outside. that is a nice shot. we are basically picking up where we left off from the weekend weather. hope you enjoyed that. a little cool in the mornings, thank you very much the case this morning as well. and temperatures this afternoon climb to the mid and upper 70. we're underway with a spectacular forecast once

and an inside look at what will be pinellas county's tallest building. good morning and welcome to "10 news early morning." i'm mark rivera.. lets get a look at #10weather with meteorologist bobby deskins. president obama havana on sunday. now reporter chris martinez shows you what the president hopes to accomplish in this "historic three day visit" to the communist nation. president obama brought his family to cuba. a big step toward normalizing cold war adversary. he's the first cuba in nearly 90 sot: obama this is an historic visit and an opportunuty to with the cuban people. the president greeted u.s. embassy staff and then toured old havana. for weeks - work crews have been preparing for the president's arrival. .restoring some roads - and repaving others. fresh coats of paint have also been applied to homes and businesses in areas the president will and this welcome sign was put up outside a restaurant in old havana. many cubans are hopeful the visit will pave the way for more openess between the island nation and the u.s. i think we're gonna have

especially if you work in southern pinellas county or live in southern pinellas county and work in manatee, tough go all the way around and take i-75 instead and that that is because the skyway bridge is closed -- and that is because the skyway bridge is closed. it is closed and i-75 is the alternate. and you can see again right here, everybody is detoured off. not going to be able to use it. i will keep you posted throughout the morning so stay with us here on news channel 8 and i will let you know as soon as it reopens. i-75 is the only alternate unless you have a speedboat. but something tells me, probably not the case. that's a look at weather and traffic, back to gene and gayle. >>> it's your vote. this is it. it's primary day in florida. and our state is a crucial one in this year's election. >> it sure is. and presidential hopefuls have campaigned tirelessly in the last few days hoping to drum up last-minute support. 8 on your side's ryan hughes is live in tampa where voters will begin to arrive in about an hour or so. the poll workers should be there before to set up. are you seein