good morning and welcome to news channel 8 today. i'm gayle guyardo. >> and i'm gene ramirez. our top stories this wednesday morning, an audit finds dozens of local school employees responsible for our kids missed background checks. >> it's our children. so we need it done. >> 8 on your side uncovered the results of this report and took our questions to the sarasota county school district. in the next half hour, we will share their explanation of why

checks required by law. a convicted cop killer's case goes before the florida supreme court this morning for an appeal hearing. he is on death row for three of four murders. two of the murders are the shooting deaths of two tampa police officers in 2010. today his attorney will argue that florida's death penalty sentencing system is unconstitutional. and this morning, the midwest is getting hammered by a massive winter storm. blizzard warnings are in place for parts of minnesota this morning. officials are warning drivers to stay off the roads there. as much as 10 inches of snow are expected to fall. let's head over to meteorologist leigh spann to see how things are looking our part. >> we couldn't look anymore different than that. the temperatures, that's the typical high temperature this time of year and we're starting the the day with it at 4:00 a.m. 70 in sarasota.

lakeland, you're 11 degrees warmer than 4:00 a.m. yesterday. nine degrees warmer in brooksville. and also different than yesterday, i don't expect to see quite the amount of fog. things are clear now. we may get some fog to develop in the polk county area, very low clouds through the morning, about 7:00 a.m. notice that the sea fog is going to be ever-present again, hanging just off the shoreline. highs today, 80 degrees, warm and humid. coming up on weather and traffic on the 8s at 4:08, you will have an eight-day temperature trend for you. and we have traffic on the 8s and we have a lot of issues going on. yeah, a fatal accident and overnight construction. let's look at what's going on. we have university blocked both directions at the interstate at this point due to overnight construction. and then lanes on i-75 taken away as well. that should wrap up in about an hour or so. the biggest issues happen to be

in bradenton, a fatal crash, 63rd avenue at u.s. 301. not seeing delays because traffic is light in the area but some lanes are blocked. and whit field -- and whitfield and 15th are clear. >> thank you. in an 8 on your side health alert, the zika vivos spreading. there's now a second case here in hillsborough county. >> as josh benson report, that brings the total number of zika cases in florida to 10. >> reporter: of the florida cases are in hillsborough county. and the others are in miami- dade, lee and santa rosa counties. with the mosquito-borne virus exploding across the america, health officials want everyone to be prepared. spreading. health officials believe all nine cases in florida were state. the world health organization calling the situation a, quote,

they are expecting at least 3 million infections over the next year. >> a coordinated international response is needed to minimize the threat in affected countries and reduce the risk of further international spread. >> reporter: zika is linked to a birth defect that leads to babies being born with abnormally small heads. none of the cases here in florida involve pregnant women but in nine cases already, governor rick scott wants to make sure the state is prepared to deal with the virus. >> i want to stay informed with what the cdc is saying. so if there's things we need to be doing. in cases right now, we only have cases of people traveling to our country and state. >> reporter: just two weeks ago, the count was one case in hillsborough and three statewide. mosquitoes aren't the only way to transmit the zika virus. officials in texas have confirmed the first case transmitted through sexual contact. medical experts say this case

>> we don't know exactly how long someone can remain infectious but in this case, someone had just gotten sick with zika and that person's without a travel history. >> reporter: both officials in infection. josh benson, news channel 8. and new this morning, the red cross is now asking blood donors to hold off if they have visit southern america in the last four years. and head to wfla.com for information about travel alerts related to the virus and information on keeping mosquitoes at bay. time now 4:50. an 8 on your side investigation is prompting action. it's in connection to a danger lurking beneath a tampa apartment complex. today a demolition team, city

inspect buildings at the french quarter apartments on armenia avenue. news channel 8 exposed a massive sinkhole under this complex. today the team will look for visible sinkhole damage and they'll consider moving residentses from some apartments and possibly demolishing part of the complex. four employees at the falkenburg academy are off the job in connection to the escape of two the teenagers. the employees are now suspended. it comes after the escape of a 17-year-old and 18-year-old. they're still on the loose this morning after disappearing through a hole in the fence. it took employees more than 90 minutes to discover the teens were missing. and now officials are questioning if four employees followed procedures. take a look at this sweet face over here. this morning eight puppies left to die on the side of a tampa road are now recovering and their story is getting a lot of attention on our website, web

discovered in a box near 22nd street and bush boulevard. they were in such bad shape from a bad mange infection, vets can't even tell what breed they are. they are being value waited and treated to be -- are being evaluated and being treated to be put up for adoption. >> if somebody loves them and takes care of them and they grow up in a regular home. >> we wish them well. recovery could take four to six weeks. in your morning alert, look at this monster tornado as it rips through alabama causing damage and minor injuries. and now this same storm system is headed in our direction. news channel 8's lindsey mastis is joining us live from the tampa news center this morning. should we be worried? >> reporter: our meteorologists are tracking this storm and by the time it gets here tomorrow, it's expected to be much weaker and likely won't bring a tornado outbreak here.

to deal with its wrath right now. in mississippi, the national weather service confirms four tornadoes touching down, trees fell on home, roads, and even a school. one massive tornado was caught on video in alabama. it touched down in pickens county, knocking out power and tearing through mobile homes. take a look at the damage. there are reports of minor injuries. and people that live here are thankful that they're alive. >> i didn't know what had happened until i came out of the closet and i saw everything around. yeah, i got nervous then but i was grateful for god, he brought us through it. >> reporter: forecasters believe some areas of alabama are still on alert this morning for more tornadoes. storm team 8 including meteorologist leigh spann continues to keep aan eye on the storm. we will have updates onair and our news channel 8 storm team weather max app.

>> yeah, fortunately this line of tornadoes reeking havoc across the southeast and through mississippi and now in alabama. you can see it's going from the great lakes down to the gulf of mexico there. is a tornado watch right now for alabama. locally, it won't have any impact on us today other than keeping us warm and humid. 70 at 9:00 a.m. mid-70s by the lunch break. and then a high of 80 today. about a 10% rain chance through the afternoon and evening. if you're like me and training for the gasparilla distance classic, go ahead and get out this morning. it's going to be warm but it's going to be warm and humid all day long. tomorrow, when the system pushes through, slowly from north to south, it will bring on and off rain, about a 70% chance. and cooler friday but another cold front comes through saturday night and sunday morning and that will keep us cool for next week. let's check in now with leslee lacey and traffic on the 8s. we have a fatal crash and some other issues regarding

let's go ahead and back up and look at what's going on. traveling through sarasota, overall, a good drive on i-75 except right around university parkway. and you could still get by but construction out there. and then underneath the interstate in both directions, it's currently blocked. keep that in mind. again, overnight construction. and elsewhere, fatal crash, folk, sad news this morning, one person has died in this crash. 63rd avenue at u.s. 301 and blocked. so take 15th street. it's nice parallel alternate. and that's a look at weather and traffic on the 8s. back to gene and gayle. >> thank you. boy scouts to the rescue. ahead, the way a local troop jumped into action when boys heard screams for help. and then guns and college. the topics on tap for state legislatures that could allow concealed carry weapons on it's 4:10.

new this morning, traces of dna are found in the crash of two marine helicopters in hawaii. crews found the dna during search and rescue operations.

helicopters died during nighttime train. the families were notified. people dealing with the water emergency in flip, michigan may get help paying their water bills. the governor is -- in flint, michigan may get help paying their water bills. the governor is proposing $30 million in state funding. the move comes as the city deals with the lead- contaminated water supply. president barack obama is addiction epidemic. he is asking for a a billion treatment. the extra money is part of the 2017 budget requests. in today in florida, the state's 60-day legislative session heads into day 23. we are in tallahassee with a agenda. everyone. bureau. controversial bills will rule

households a floor session. bills alouing concealed carry, open carry throughout the state and a bill cracking down on undocumented immigrants living in florida are all up for a vote in the house and are all expected to pass. a senate bill that would allow schools to offer computer coding as a foreign language credit faces the last committee stop. and florida's space day will be capitol. and out of this world stuff going on in tallahassee. >> all right. thanks. developing this morning a denver broncos player is out of sunday's super bowl 50. investigators in california questioned ryan murphy in a prostitution sting. he was not cited but the team decided to send him home. happening today, it's national signing day, high school football players across the nation and in the bay area will announce their team of choice. one player is the tampa catholic wide receiver.

at 11:00 this morning live on espnu. he has cut it down to auburn, war eagle by the way, ole miss and north carolina. news channel 8's sports team is all over signing day. tune in this afternoon beginning at 4:00 p.m. to find out where bay area players are going. >> good choices. >> yeah. a bay area father and son can thank some local boy scouts for their quick actions following a boating accident. >> incredible story here. their boat hit an object as they were traveling down the manatee river. it flipped and they were tossed into the chilly water. a boy scout troop camping nearby heard the screams for help. two scouts jumped into a canoe and quickly came to their aid. they were ready to administer cpr but emts arrived within minutes. the son is in intensive care. a naples couple is starting over this morning after their new home burnt down. this couple had just unloaded their belongings the night before. and they returned the next

listen to this, fire officials report it started with boxes left on the stove. the couple didn't know the stove knobs were left on so when they powered the utilities on, the boxes caught fire. those of you with plans for the gasparilla distance classic might not want to get going and register right now because all four popular road races are close to selling out. a total of 27,855 runners l are signed up for either the 5k, 8k or half-marathon the weekend of february 20th and 21st. we have included more information on wfla.com. how's this for a challenge? today's the day for the world's oldest and most famous tower race, the 39th annual empire state building run-up. yikes. it challenges runners from around the world to race up 86 flights.

and that's 1,576 steps. it's 1,575 too many for me. the men's record was set in 2003. it took the australian nine minutes and 33 seconds to reach the top. in the women's competition, her time 11 minutes 23 seconds. that's incredible. >> it's very impressive. >> i'm going to take the elevator. throw water on you. >> i try to get my steps in by going up steps here it's like -- >> you're out of breath. >> how about that leigh? >> yeah, no thank you. although here, i run up, i believe the sun trust building in march. so if you want to try it. 8:00 this morning, patchy clouds around the area. not the foggy conditions we saw yesterday. but even warmer than yesterday. 68 degrees at 8:00 a.m. 76 at noon. 80 by 3:00 p.m.

right now, brooksville, checking in at 71. auburndale, 69. bob in venice, he is at 72. these are temperature thes that we expect to see this time of the year in the afternoon as opposed to hours before the sun rises. still a threat of tornadoes in alabama. we are getting the warm, humid air ahead of it. the sea fog is going to continue offshore and patchy clouds onshore. about a 10% rain chance, one or two showers may pop up. hot, humid highs in the 80s. tomorrow the same storm system is going to slowly push from north to south and starting with showers in the northern areas and pushing to the south overnight into friday morning. and then cool friday before another storm system saturday night. leslee, how about traffic on the 8s? all right, well, we're moving at decent speeds. a good drive across the bay area bridges but i want to talk about sarasota because we have overnight construction tying up lanes at university parkway right underneath the interstate. a lot of construction going on

you can still get by on i-75 but we have lanes closed. university, different story. and meanwhile, fatal crash here, tying up lanes on u.s. 301, both directions of 301 are blocked due to the fatal accident at 63rd avenue east. take 15th street instead as an alternate. and look at i-4, great drive into downtown tampa and the howard franklin bridge looks great, only six minutes the cross it. that's weather and traffic on the 8s. and now back to gayle. >> thanks, leslee. what do you have in common with this puppy? for me, everything. it is never easy to get up. and that's the same for sleepy puppies. leave me alone, mommy. take a look at this pup that doesn't want to wake up: >> got to stretch. >> and tickling him. but the pup is not having it. in fact, he just keeps stretching and rolling over. and he just keeps on keeping on. >> don't you feel like that this morning?

getting out of bed. >> wake up. >> right. an internet search giant is looking to streamline things. >> ahead, the move yahoo's ceo is taking to reduce cost. and going family friendly, what united airlines is doing to make traveling with small children easier. you're watching news channel 8

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yahoo employees are waking up on thin ice this morning.

earnings didn't cut it so the company is cutting 15% of the work force as part of a $400 million cost cut. 1500 employees are expected to be laid off. offices in dubai, mexico city, ma are set to close. and many oil industry workers are losing their jobs. bp and chevron will let go of thousands of employees. and exxon cut expenses by 25% this year following a 15% cut last year but managed to save most jobs there. the cut backs and lay-office could be signs the industry does not expect the drop in crude prices to reverse any time soon. well an old policy is back this morning so parents listen up. >> they're going to love this. united airlines is bringing back pre-boarding for families with young children. starting the 15th of this month, families with children under age two can preboard united flights. it will follow passengers with disabilities and active duty

the policy was dropped in 2012. an email to customers says united helps to relieve passenger stress. and it can be stressful. >> yeah, not just for the parents but for everybody else dealing with the crying kids and the extra bags and everything. so get them on first, sit them down and shut them up. >> right. weather and traffic on the 8s is three minutes away. plus, new in the next half hour, an 8 on your side scam alert. the phone call about your taxes that may put your money and personal information at risk. and a florida gas station clerk turns the tables on a robber. check out the video. we will show you what happened when the war vet decided to fight back.

it's 4:28. time for weather and traffic on the 8s. emoji man is say, yep, going to be another warm day. kind of feels spring-like with

and then we hit 80 when they come home from school. checking out bradenton, manatee county area, folk, some unfortunate news to start off the morning. we have a fatal accident here tying up both directions of u.s. 301 at 63rd avenue east. so as you come upon it, take 50th street over here as a good