*spike in people getting sick from it. fox 13's shayla reaves joins us now from tampa... with more. 3 3 3

3 race fans... get ready. one the bay area's most *exciting weekends is here. it's the annual firestone grand prix in downtown st. petersburg. and fox 13's alcides segui is live by the track right now.

while 3 you can... 3

3 today in tallahassee: several months of debating all come down to this. the state legislature is expected to formally approve the next state budget. 3 both sides agreed on it earlier this week. the price tag: more than 82 *billion dollars. the budget includes a slight boost for schools, but also *rejects several of governor scott's main priorities. they shot down his bid for a 250 million dollar fund, that would lure new companies to our state. lawmakers also scaled down the governor's tax cut package. and in case the governor tries to *veto the budget... lawmakers believe they have enough votes to override it. 3 and here's a look at the new laws governor scott just signed off on thursday. the most controversial: the "pastor protection bill." it allows clergy to say *no to performing gay marriages. critics thought it wasn't needed... since churches already have that right, under the constitution. supporters wanted to give church leaders quote... "peace of mind." also... the statue of confederate general edmund kirby smith will officially be moving from it's

will be replaced with a less *controversial historical florida figure. and another law that's a sign of the times: floridians can now designate a custodian to manage their social media, email, and online financial accounts... when they die or become incapacitated. 3 get ready to hear a lot of talk next week... about the *new st. pete pier. we've already seen master plan drawings. but next week... a design team will get public comment on what will eventually be *actual building plans. and the plan doesn't just include the pier... it also includes acres of park land leading out to the pier... plus beach drive and bayshore drive from vinoy to pioneer park. 3 also next week...we'll see the final design for the

the final price tag. st. pete is expected to spend at least 60 million dollars on the two projects. 3 a big lineup change at the florida strawberry festival today. country star "tanya tucker" *won't be performing this afternoon. instead... she's recovering in a hospital. her spokespeople say she had country singer john anderson will replace her for the 3:30 p.m. show. tickets already purchased for tucker's show can be used for john anderson's show or refunded in full. to get the refund, you need to head to festival ticket office today, by 2:30 p.m. 3 who has the *best drinking water in tampa bay? we'll find out today. the florida division of the american water works association is holding it's annual "best tasting water contest" in weeki wachee. this is for division four... which includes hillsborough, pinellas, pasco, polk, hernando, citrus, and sumter counties. judging is based

the winner will then go on to compete for best water in the *state... and there's a national contest too. 3 the best drinking water winner *last year, was hernando. and the best water in *florida... was in tallahassee. 3 toss to dave... 3

3 3 3 the latest on 3 the threat of zika... in north america. some scary new numbers, from health officials. 3 plus: a look at all the star-power, at last night's *canadian state dinner.

3 3 in the headlines: the growing threat, from the zika virus. health officals now say the number of infections here in the u-s, has just topped two *hundred people. 3 but health officials also

traced to a foreign country. the new numbers come as health officials pleaded congress to give them almost two *billion dollars in funding, to fight the virus in latin america. that's where most of these cases are coming from. they say stopping the virus *there... will prevent it from making it's way to america. some of the money would also go to puerto rico... which already has 159 cases. congress didn't approve the request. they say leftover ebola funds can be used for now. 58 people have been infected with zika here in florida. the biggest threat is for pregnant women. 3 and... the stars came out, for a state dinner at the white house last night. president obama and the first lady are hosting canadian prime minister justin trudeau and his family. it's the first state dinner for a canadian leader, in nearly two decades. the guest list... a whos-who of politicans and entertainers. including several famous canadians: like michael j. fox, ryan reynolds... saturday night live creator "lorne michaels"... and comedian mike

3 president obama and prime minister trudeau also had some *work to do earlier in the day. they talked about trade, the enviorment, and other economic issues. and of course president obama also had to get in a hockey joke:

3 ((walter/jen))

3 3 3 3 3 3

3 3 ((dave)) 3 3 3

3 the time is now 4xxx... and here's a look at some of the top stories trending this morning. first up: a sneak peak... at disney's next big thing. animal kingdom is set to debut it's first nightime lightshow next month. and the park just started practice runs, this week. 3 the show has been in development for well over a year. and it shows. the presentation includes floats, hologram projections, lights and water effects. the theme is an asian lantern festival which awakens the spirit of the animals. about five thousand guests will get to see the show... three times a night... in two separate seating areas along the waterfront. the title is "rivers of light." the show officially debuts on april 22nd. and next year... animal kingdom gets *another nighttime adventure... "avatar" land. it will include *glowing

3 and... it's time for our weekly american idol *spoiler. if you haven't seen last night's big elimination... you're about to. the show sent another *two singers home: 3 so "sonikia" gets the save... and that means "avalon young" and "lee (john)jean" head home. only six singers left now. the show also featured a performance from *last season's idol winner... nick fradiani. the show returns next thursday night. it all leads up to the american idol *finale next month. the *three night event begins on tuesday, april fifth. it wraps up thursday, april seventh. this is the 15th and *final season of the hit show. 3 and finally... we're

tradition today: the *prom-posal. this is "national promposal day." it's a term that reallly gained popularity in the past few years. it refers to the moment were kids ask their date to the prom... in the most *creative way possible. and thanks to social media... they just keep getting more and more creative. 3 so in honor of today's holiday... we found one of the most *creative prom-posals posted on social media this year. a boy... named brandon jose... decided to make the theme of his promposal... "the bachelor." he setup his living room to look like a "rose ceremony" on the show. his dad played the host... and of course *he played the bachelor. he invited the girl he wanted to ask over... and had two of his girl *friends pretend to be the other *contestants. he sent *home the other girls... and eventually gave his "final rose" to his promdate. 3

where you can *meet an american idol winner... today in tampa bay. and it won't cost you a dime. plus: dave has another check on the friday forecast, when good day continues. check out the fresh new look on mcdonald's mcpick 2 menu! try a flaky filet-o-fish made with sustainably sourced fish, a big mac made with 100% beef, chicken mcnuggets made with white meat, or a quarter pounder with cheese seared on the grill. pick any 2 for $5 bucks. bada ba ba ba now at havertys furniture, it's our spring home event, where you can create the perfect home. from now until march twenty-first... you'll find huge savings on stylish pieces, plus you'll save an extra one hundred dollars, on every thousand you spend. and, we're offering twenty-four month, no interest financing. come in today for storewide savings. with havertys, your home can be perfect. even when life isn't. [thwack] the spring home event. from classic to contemporary,

check out the fresh new look on mcdonald's mcpick 2 menu! try a flaky filet-o-fish made with sustainably sourced fish, a big mac made with 100% beef, chicken mcnuggets made with white meat, or a quarter pounder with cheese seared on the grill. pick any 2 for $5 bucks. bada ba ba ba 3 today in tampa: more than a dozen kids will be getting some very special bikes. and it's all thanks to the "american college of medical genetics and genomics foundation". the group is holding it's annual conference today at the tampa convention event this morning... they will present new bikes... to kids with muscular dystrophy. adapted for them. for some of the kids... it will be the first time they've ever ridden a bike. 3 and... you can *meet an american idol today in pasco county. season five winner "taylor hicks" is having a

afternoon at wesley chapel nissan. it's from four to six. there will also be drinks. and the first one hundred people will get free tickets to taylor's concert, tonight. the concert is at the "fraternal order of police park" in land o' lakes. ((//2shot)) toss to dave... 3 3 3 3 3 toss to shayla....

3 3 ((walter developing this morning: a scary warning about drugs in the bay area... one of them is killing people in startling numbers... right now. and making things worse... it's *legal. 3 ((vanessa and you thought *politics was a slugfest... look what happened on an airplane! the fists... were *flying! 3 ((walter and... forget pay raises and vacation issues... the number one on-the-job complaint... is something totally different. how the boss can help... all those sleepy workers. 3 3 ((walter)) 3 its now 5:__ thanks for joining us. i'm walter allen((vanessa)) and i'm vanessa ruffes, in for jen epstein. we'll get to the weather and traffic in a moment, but first, a developing story out of hernando county. 3 (vanessa deputies are investigating a deadly shooting in spring hill... it happened around 1-30 this morning, at "bamboo's bar and eatery" on commercial way. investigators say: three men