i'm rod carter. >> i'm stacie schaible. thank you for joining us. there is a new twist to the county. the associate superintendent of operations has resigned. he accused the former superintendent of sexual harassment. it turns out he has quite a past himself. jamel lanee joins us live. the story just keeps getting more and more outrageous. we have been on it for weeks now. >> reporter: well, stacie, the details just keep coming out. board members here, they are shocked to learn that greg rivers was investigated himself for having a sexual relationship with several of his former employees at the university of florida. >> i standby everything i said in my complaint. >> reporter: associate suspect of operations greg rivers, the one who accused katherine leroy of sexual harassment is now under fire. rivers was the subject of an internal investigation in 2006 while employed at the university of florida. 8 on your side obtained documents where he admitted to having sexual relationships

. >> i'm rod carter. thank you very much for joining us tonight. we are beginning with breaking news. a three-year-old child has been shot and an adult is also hurt. paul mueller has the latest. >> reporter: well josh, the investigation intensifies here at the scene of this drive-by shooting in south saint petersburg. a lot of crime scene investigators have been here for the last hour-and-a-half. and take a look on the ground there. we have dozens of evidence markers not only on this street here, but on tenth avenue south on the other street as well. and you can see there's a woman picking up some evidence right there. from the crime scene investigators and putting it in the bag right there. and look at the house. three-year-old girl, little jayla and a 23-year-old man terrell holliman were shot. again, the evidence markers are all over the place. that is what police are looking at right now. they want to get as much evidence as they can from this scene. they are also interviewing witnesses. obviously trying to figure out a motive. also searching f

rod carter, news channel 8. >>> the cherry blossoms are not blooming in washington, d.c. yet. this is video from last year. but now we know what will likely be the peak days of this year's bloom. the national park service estimates the peak of the blooms should hit around march 31st to april 3rd. the national cherry blossom festival runs from march 20 to april 17. spectacular. something to see around the potomac basin there. fantastic. washington, d.c. our eight-day forecast calls for pleasant temperatures. mid 70s. a bit of a dip here friday, saturday. you can see taking a jump long term. next week mid 80s in the temperatures in the 60s this evening. a little bit cooler than last night because a cold front has passed to the south. not a huge impact on your weather overall, but it did add a few mid-level clouds as it passed through the area today. no precipitation. tomorrow morning starts out with sunshine and a few high clouds like we've seen today. right now it's 59. apollo beach 67. 66 venice. north port upper 60s. high pressure building in behind this front. a pretty good

i'm jennifer leigh. >> i'm rod carter. thank you very much for joining us tonight. we are beginning with breaking news. a three-year-old child has been shot and an adult is also hurt. paul mueller has the latest. >> reporter: well josh, the investigation intensifies here at the scene of this drive-by shooting in south saint petersburg. a lot of crime scene investigators have been here for the last hour-and-a-half. and take a look on the ground there. we have dozens of evidence markers not only on this street here, but on tenth avenue south on the other street as well. and you can see there's a woman picking up some evidence right there. from the crime scene investigators and putting it in the bag right there. and look at the house.

rodd carter joins us live. rod, tell us the latest on this. >>reporter: here's the deal, jenn, the president of the naacp and the vice president are going to meet on civil rights and have a meeting on friday. the released new numbers on how many people were stopped and or ticketed on bicycles. many people believe this is an all too common sight. an african american being ticketed. they say this man -- the guy walkining away was asked by the suspect to keep it. >> this addresses the issues of biking while black. >> the naacp held a news conference about this issue and announce a trip to dc to meet face-to-face with the u.s. commission on civil rights. >> the rights of the naacp has been involved with the united states justice department since they came down in july. >> the tampa bay asked them to came down -- african american on bikes were ticketed at a higher rate than others. the report has not been released yet, tampa police gave me numbers total number of from november 2014 to january, 2015 -- from november 15 through january of thiss year.

i'm rod carter. >> i'm jennifer leigh. thanks for joining us this evening. you could hold the key to an unsolved murder. new billboards are going up offering a cash reward for information that brings killers to justice. peter bernard is live in largo. you spoke to some of the victims' families. there has to be tough on them. >> reporter: it is, jenn, but they want the killer's caught. this is one of the places where one of the billboards will go up over the next few months. >> my daughter deserves justice. >> reporter: someone shot 15- year-old malacia gamble. her body found in a lot. the passage of time has not lessened the pain.

. >>> i'm rod carter. we're going to begin with the terrible tragedy. an epidemic plaguing our area claimed the life of a law enforcement officer. john kotfila. he was killed by a wrong-way driver, upper deck of selmon expressway. his cruiser is mangled. what can be done to stop wrong-way drivers? joining us live from the sheriff's office where a memorial is in place for that deputy. good evening, chip. >> good evening, to you, rod, sad day here at the hillsborough county sheriff's office. as you see behind me fresh flowers sit at the law enforcement memorial and as we walk over here, the last deputy to die in the line of duty was deputy mark longway, september 21, 2010, in an auto accident in downtown tampa. deputy john kotfila's will be added to this memorial very soon. >> crushed metal, broken glass. you can see the sheer impact of this deadly head-on collision simply by taking a look at deputy kotfila's patrol car. >> high-speed crash. it appears the deputy was trying to get out of the way. >> deputy kotfila was after investigation. >> the two cars

i'm rod carter. >> i'm jennifer leigh. thanks for joining us tonight. one of the busiest roadways in hillsborough county will be closed starting monday. the florida department of transportation will be working on the railroad crossing near krenshaw lake road. jamel lanee joins us live and about this. >> reporter: they are. patience. this part of the highway is a nightmare during rush hour, so come monday, this part will be closed down meaning delays and detours will take twice as long. u.s. 41 is a major thoroughway through lutes. but come monday, it will be jam packed. >> all i know is it is going to be two weeks and everybody better be prepared. >> reporter: be prepared for the delays and detours when fdot closes down the road to work ton railroad crossing. >> a six-lane highway is closed when the next largest road to the east is two lanes? >> reporter: that means almost 30,000 commuters will find residential streets to maneuver through tieing up two-way lanes. just how long will that take? well, we tested it. from u.s. 41, we turned on crystal lake r

i'm rod carter. >> i'm jennifer leigh. thanks for joining us this evening. you could hold the key to an unsolved murder. new billboards are going up offering a cash reward for information that brings killers to justice. peter bernard is live in largo. you spoke to some of the victims' families. there has to be tough on them. >> reporter: it is, jenn, but they want the killer's caught. this is one of the places where one of the billboards will go up over the next few months. >> my daughter deserves justice. >> reporter: someone shot 15- year-old malacia gamble. her body found in a lot. the passage of time has not lessened the pain. able to get in front of this camera and let the world snow what my daughter meant to me. she was a good person. >> reporter: soon her picture will be featured on a billboard like this one near where paula and james whitfield were killed. but a critical tip could put the killers in jail. >> we are very hopeful that in all three cases these billboards will invite someone to step forward and be the voice for these victims. >> reporter

i'm rod carter. >> i'm stacie schaible. thanks for joining us. >>> a car has crashed into a paul lamison is live above the scene. what happened here? >> reporter: this white car looks like it backed into the side of the building. when we flew around earlier, it is hard to see from here, but there is children's furniture. so there were kids in that area at one point. we don't know about the actual impact. crews are on the scene evaluating two pediatric patients. they are not saying if they were in the car or the day care. you can see parents now here picking up kids from the day care and it is quite a frantic scene when they come up and see this car backed into the day care. we are not sure about major injuries. two minor injuries. that's all we know from the scene. paul lamison, newschannel8. >> thank you very much paul. appreciate it. >>> three teachers, all female, under investigation for what they did with their male

. >>> good evening, i'm rod carter. thanks for joining us tonight. it's a sad day across the bay area. we have team coverage of a deputy killed and a wrong-way driver. we're going to begin with chip live at the chip, everybody is mourning for their fallen colleague. >>reporter: it's a sad day at the hillsboro sheriff's county. flags at the sheriff's office are at half staff. deputy kotfila had been on the job for six short years and he had dreams of becoming a homicide investigator. it was cut short by a senseless wrong-way crash. deputy john robert kotfila, first made the news after rescuing a kitten from a river view storm drain last year. no one could have ever imagined the second headline involving this deputy would involve a deadly wrong-way crash. and incredible loss for the sheriff's office. >> what do you speak about what [ crying ] >> yeah, you know, these guys -- these men and women are -- excuse me. the men and women are out there trying to prosect everybody. and these guys are very concerned about the drivers at night. in fact, this deput

>> and the hulk hogan sex tape trial is now in the hands of i'm rod carter. >> i'm stacie schaible. thank you for joining us. >> thousands of people turned out today for the funeral of hillsborough county deputy john kotfila jr. he died in a terrible crash saturday after putting his squad car between a wrongwgway driver and another motorist. mark douglas was there and joins us now live. mark, i was there with you today. there were moments of both sadness and pride for this young deputy who literally gave his life to save someone else's. >> reporter: yes there was rorod. this was an impressive turnouout. died at the age of 30 years old. barely starting his law enforcement career. he was a deputy who carried out his oath to serve and protect it was a bittersweet sound. they paid tribute to john kotfila jr. >> i'm proud t to call him a hero. but a lilike of men and women in the room, he was not defined by one moment in time. >> reporter: master deputy gary herman thought of him as a son and said the man who put his patrol car between a wrongway driver and another motorist saturday morn

i'm rod carter. thanks for joining us this evening. a polk county school bus driver and an aide are in big trouble. they left a sleeping special needs student on board a school bus not once, but unfortunately twice. jamel lanee joins us now. she is live in polk county. the most baffling part about this story is the student apparently climbed through a window to get out the bus. and then he hitchhiked not ten, not 20, but 30 miles home. >> reporter: exactly jenn. the details in this story are mind-blowing. can you even believe that we just learned this student even told the bus driver the attendant, that they left him on the bus the first time this happened. it happened again days later when they didn't believe him. watch the surveillance video on this polk county school bus. the bus attendant and driver are packed up ready to go home after dropping students off on a morning route. but wait. a sleeping student emerges from

i'm rod carter. >> i'm jennifer leigh. thank you for joining us this evening. more fall-out after a down and dirty republican debate. front runner donald trump is backing out of a high-profile conservative event. ted cruz and marco rubio attacked him on stage and trump grabbed headlines by referring to part of his anatomy. things just got more interesting from there. >> boy, did they. fox moderators tried their best to keep control but often a conversation over policy issues turned into shouting and insults. >> this little guy has lied so much. >> here we go. >> donald, learn not to interrupt. it is not complicated. >> excuse me. i have given my answer lying ted. >> don't worry about it little marco. >> gentleman. >> gentlemen, you have to do better than this. >> i don't think the people in america are interested in a >> apparently they were not interested at all. fox news did a focus group. when canned what they thought, viewers responded with words like disappointing, embarrassing, and shameful. >> at the end. trump's rivals agreed to support him if he is the

. >> i'm rod carter. thanks so much for joining us tonight. >>> tonight sarah palin back on the campaign trail for donald trump right in the bay area. palin's reemergence comes at a time when trump is being blasted for violence at his rallies. a rally in chicago friday night canceled due to violence and many arrests have been made at others. chip osowski is live tonight at the florida strawberry festival where pay hundred just wrapped up. you -- palin just wrapped up. you don't really expect a campaign rally to wrap up at the strawberry festival, chip. >> reporter: there was no organized rally, no speech. palin simply came here, shook some people's hands, posed for some pictures and spoke with people about why she believes they should vote for donald trump. mobbed by trump supporters, former governor and vice presidential candidate sarah palin made her way into the florida strawberry festival. and, of course, strawberry shortcake. i caught up with her outside and she treated me as if we were old friends.

. >> i'm rod carter. development ins an 8 on your sign investigation. schools in chaos. the company running up huge debt managing four pinellas county charter schools is out. however, is the new company any better? the principal of one of the schools is finally talking to us. that school was windsor prep academy an it is facing some big financial troubles tonight. >> one of the three remaining board members has resigned. mark douglas has been hot on the heels of these school leaders. mark, i understand you dug up even more troubles. >> reporter: taxpayer troubles starting with $1.6 million with the schools reportedly borrowed from the management company that runs the schools. not even the charter schools or the company can show us when the loans were made and who hay proved them. all we got was lip service tuesday from the president of new point education partners. that is the day aileen quinnlan

into what went wrong stands right >> and the hulk hogan sex tape trial is now in the hands of i'm rod carter. >> i'm stacie schaible. thank you for joining us. >> thousands of people turned out today for the funeral of hillsborough county deputy john kotfila jr. he died in a terrible crash saturday after putting his squad car between a wrongwgway driver and another motorist. mark douglas was there and joins us now live. mark, i was there with you today. there were moments of both sadness and pride for this young deputy who literally gave his life to save someone else's. >> reporter: yes there was rorod. this was an impressive turnouout. died at the age of 30 years old. barely starting his law enforcement career. he was a deputy who carried out his oath to serve and protect

. >> i'm rod carter. thanks so much for joining us this sunday night. >>> it's happened yet again, this time a tampa police officer narrowly missed hitting the wrong-way driver and stopped the woman behind the wheel before anyone was hurt. news channel 8's chip osowski was the only reporter at the jail as this driver bonded out today. not too happy to see you, was she? >> reporter: not at all. that driver was 34-year-old aja cancela released this afternoon after posting a $500 bond. can you say anything? >> no, she's not going to say anything. >> reporter: aja cancela walked out of jail shortly after 2:00 sunday afternoon with a relative not pleased to see us. >> get the camera out of my face. >> get in the car, get in the car. >> reporter: investigators tell us she was driving this honda speeding southbound in the northbound lanes of 275. a dui unit officer on his way home had to swerve to miss her. another officer pulled her over and arrested her for driving the lord is my shepherd >> reporter: hillsbor

. >> i'm rod carter. thanks so much for joining us this sunday night. former first lady nancy reagan passed away at 94 years old at home with congestive heart failure. >> she was known for her extravagant tastes and, of course, her love for her husband. >> reporter: nancy reagan once said, "my life really began when i married my husband." >> everything just fell into place with ronnie and me. we completed each other. >> reporter: it would be the washington's most enduring love stories. >> i knew right away. took him a little bit longer. >> reporter: did you have to work on it? >> i had to push him a little bit. >> reporter: the couple even played opposite each other in a movie called hell cats of the navy. in 1966 ronald reagan started a second career as a politician and was elected governor of california. when he began his run for president, she was by his side gazing adoringly. >> it was for real. that wasn't an actress. the adoration that they had for each other. >> reporter: once her husband was in office she was often seen wearing designer gowns an

>> rod carter and i did a sunday night newscast from that sky deck in chicago. it was scary. >> yeah? thanks for joining us. jimmy fallon coming up next. >> our next newscast is 4 a.m. [ cheers and applause ] >> steve: from studio 6b in rockefeller center in the heart of new york city, it's "the

. >> i'm rod carter, glad you could join us this sunday night. >>> former first lady nancy reagan passed away today. she was 94 years old. >> mrs. reagan passed away in her home in los angeles of congestive heart failure. secret service escorted the left her home and some people are placing flowers outside the ronald reagan presidential library in her honor. she was known for her exquisite taste and fierce loyalty to her husband. >> reporter: nancy reagan once said my life really began when i married my husband. >> everything just fell into place with ronnie and me. we completed each other. >> reporter: it would be the start of one of hollywood's and washington's most enduring love stories. >> i knew right away, took him a little bit longer. >> reporter: did you have to work on it? >> i had to push him a little bit. >> reporter: the couple even played op one another in a movie called hell cats in the navy. in 1966 ronald reagan started a second career as a politician and was elected governor of california. when he began his run for president, she was by his side gaze avigdoringly. >> it

. >> i'm rod carter, glad you could join us on this sunday night. >>> we'll begin with a race for the white house. this is a big week for the state of florida. all the candidate spent quite a bit of time here in the sunshine state and tomorrow another visit, donald trump coming to tampa. >> he's coming just one day primary. he'll speak at the tampa convention center, but today another well known name in the bay area stumping for him. >> would be former alaska governor and vice presidential candidate sarah palin. she went to the strawberry festival to shake hands and pose for pictures and explain why she feels floridians should vote for trump. >> so thankful that we have a person in such a position to bust up the status quo because that's what's got to go. all these guys have been part of the problem all these years and finally we have an outsider who is so independent not bought and sold by anyone, owned by anybody, only beholden to the people. finally we have the guy in the right position to take these guys on. >> palin also attended the 88th annual arcadia rodeo in de soto county to

i'm rod carter. >> and i'm melanie michael. thank you for joining us. >>> we begin with special coverage of president obama's historic visit to cuba. havana and emerging from it -- havana and emerging from it the president and mrs. obama. >> over the past year both embassies have reopened, many business deals between those two countries already taking place including direct flights to cuba and soon cruise ships will be docking in havana as well. >> but the president stresses there is still much to do. our own keith cate traveled to historic visit. he is there tonight and begins our special coverage. >> reporter: good evening from a rainy havana cuba, not the day you want for a historic presidential visit, but still what a day this is turning out to be, look at the people, some in balconies, some below in street alleyways waiting to catch a glimpse of the president of the united states along with the first family. you can see at a restaurant people standing under the awnings just to catch a glimpse unheard of here it, really wil

i'm rod carter. >> i'm jennifer leigh. thank you for joining us this evening. more fall-out after a down and dirty republican debate. front runner donald trump is backing out of a high-profile conservative event. ted cruz and marco rubio attacked him on stage and trump grabbed headlines by referring to part of his anatomy. things just got more interesting from there. >> boy, did they. fox moderators tried their best to keep control but often a conversation over policy issues turned into shouting and insults. >> this little guy has lied so much. >> here we go. >> donald, learn not to interrupt. it is not complicated. >> excuse me. i have given my answer lying ted. >> don't worry about it little marco. >> gentleman. >> gentlemen, you have to do better than this. >> i don't think the people in america are interested in a

i'm rod carter. >> i'm jennifer leigh. thanks for joining us tonight. one of the busiest roadways in hillsborough county will be closed starting monday. the florida department of transportation will be working on the railroad crossing near krenshaw lake road. jamel lanee joins us live and about this. >> reporter: they are. patience. this part of the highway is a nightmare during rush hour, so come monday, this part will be closed down meaning delays and detours will take twice as long. u.s. 41 is a major thoroughway through lutes. but come monday, it will be jam packed. >> all i know is it is going to be two weeks and everybody better be prepared. >> reporter: be prepared for the delays and detours when fdot closes down the road to work ton railroad crossing.

. >> i'm rod carter, glad you could join us this sunday night. >>> former first lady nancy reagan passed away today. she was 94 years old. >> mrs. reagan passed away in her home in los angeles of congestive heart failure. secret service escorted the

we send 8 on your side rob carter to check out the problem. rod is joining us in tampa. i saw the lines, rod, unbelievable. what is going on? >> reporter: the lines were so long and people had to wait that someone brought a couple of chairs and right up at the front door and when they got close to the door they would have a place to sit for a while. i realize that all of those people that were in this line all had the same issue. most of them, nearly all were victims of identity theft. >> it's true. >> for hours and hours today stood and stood a little bit longer. the faces of the eager people waiting to see the tax man. >> this is not your first time being here? >> no. >> jessica is on her second go round trying to get help. >> i had identity theft in 2014 and i'm trying to get my income tax this year and i'm having trouble getting that. >> reporter: and that's the story down the line. wonda rivera had the same problem. they have to show a lot of patience and proof. >> i am prepared. >> reporter: and she should be prepared. for the past couple of days, these lines have

carter and hillary clinton are expected to attend. the former first lady will be buried next to former president ronald reagan and his presidential rod -- library company >>> state lawmakers expected to vote on their more than $82 on to rick scott. we told you earlier state lawmakers reached a deal on the state budget lawmakers agree to use that money to fund dozens disabled and controversial bonuses for teachers who scored well on the college admission test. >>> this morning rake in -- managers are taking pictures of young girls skirts at a busy orlando public is free on bond. parents? >> scott erwin had nothing to say to the cameras when he left the orange county jail last night. police say he put his phone and a basket and recorded the girls last month at the publix on meeting place in baldwin park. a shopper caught him doing it and told officers and we are working to find out if there may be more victims. >>> orange county, in a few hours a jury will continue to deliberate in a trial accused of people involved in a major dogfighting ring. they deliberated until almost 11 mac os x police say they arrested more than two dozen peopl

here, a crash on the eastbound lane near exit 9 carter street is causing slow downs. you can see indicated in those oranges and heading over to golden rod road at lake underhill, we have a new crash delay. i want to take you to downtown orlando, a new i-4 ultimate road closure that is very popular colonial drive to marks street will be shut down and that will continue until next year. i do have an alternate route for you if you'd like to take garland to colonial and make a left on magnolia, that could avoid that road closure. fox 35 jackie is out there right now and has the latest on the project. >> good morning. you know, this video pretty popular, 8,000 cars here travel daily on garland avenue. you can see when you put the cones out, the signs. we did see a couple of drivers a little confusing. didn't know garland avenue was closed, but they'll have to get used to it all year. starting today, use have shut down garland avenue. >> the closure is necessary for crews to get in here and install, relocate utilities, and realign garland avenue, basically push it a little to the east so we have room to widen i-4. >> it's all part of the i-4