You can see the damage to the cruisers rear bumper in the picture. The deputy will be okay. The condition of the other person involved is not known at this time. Later today, Tampa City Council will get an update on the bike ticketing controversy with the police department. This is in the wake of an investigation that found 79 of the agencys bike tickets are given to africanamericans. Tampa police will present a report on out reach programs to enforce bike laws. It is 4 31. We should expect a wet one today. If you have to do anything outside, i would say the earlier the better. You see this rain system is pushing south. At this point were all dry but were seeing clouds north of i4 ant rain is just to the north up in cedar key. Now lets move to a forecast mode going into the future and notice right at 7, 8 00, we might get light rain along the more and more of the heavier downpours start pushing south. At 10 30. Citrus, hernando and pasco countys the well see rain that makes it to the tampa, st. Petersburg area, but this rain, again, slow moving. Were still talking about it raining at 5, 6 00 this evening. Yesterday, guess what, tied a record high. 82 tuesday, 84 wednesday. Today, 76, and you may be surprised how cold it will be tomorrow. At 4 38 ill go through the eightday temperature trend and leslee is here to get through the morning commute. It is a warm one. We have a great drive on the bay area interstates. Pinellas county just heads up again. We have at least a couple lanes taken away here. 54th avenue north at 25th street. You can get by and then, again, a little bit of construction here, tying up a lane in both directions. North and southbound on i75 right Near University. But university to clark still looks very good and despite that hernando county, no delays in downtown brooksville. Here is a look at weather and traffic on the 8s and back to gene. A an Emergency Declaration from the governor over the zika virus known for causing birth defects. Later today. Governor rick scott will be in tampa to address how the state plans to tackle this outbreak that is right on our door step. A Public Health emergency is in place for four florida counties. News channel 8s ryan hughes is live at the Hillsborough Health department this morning. Good morning to you to. It is becoming a wide central problem and it is hitting close to home. There are confirmed cases here in hillsborough as well as lee, miamidade and santa rosa counties. Nine confirmed cases in all and it has gotten the attention of state leaders including the governor himself. I want to stay informed with where what the cdc is saying so if there are things we need to be doing, fortunately we only state. I want to make sure were ready and prepared. Governor rick scott will be joined by the state Surgeon General later today when they visit the health department. The governor just signed an executive order which officially declares a Health Emergency in the four counties i mentioned. Order says it is important to take action to ensure the healthy. The governor wants his staff to educate the public on the virus which is spread through mosquito bites and can have adverse effects on babies in the womb. The governor will be here at Hillsborough Health department at 1 306789 count on 8 on your side to be here as well. Well take a closer look at a family affected by the condition caused by the zeke virus, that very inspiring story coming up in the next 30 minutes, gene. Incredible, gene. For more information about the zika virus and how to protect your loved ones. We have information posted on wfla. Com. Check that out. An ybor city home is destroyed by a one alarm fire. It is unclear how this fire on north 29th street started. No one was hurt and were checking for updates. As soon as we get any information, well bring it to you here on news channel 8. Bernard jones, the man you see right here on your screen is waking up behind bars this morning. Jones, a registered sex offender is in jail accused of sexually assaulting a 3yearold. St. Petersburg police tell us his girlfriend caught him assaulting her daughter. She called her teenager son for help, jones then attacked the teen and ran off. It is 4 35 on this thursday morning, now to your vote. Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will take center stage for a debate tonight in New Hampshire, of course, after a tight race in iowa, clinton and sanders will go head to head in front of New Hampshire voters. The twohour debate will take place at New Hampshire coverage begins at nine on our sister station. Chuck tide and rachel madow will moderate. Republican field is lighter this morning. Kentucky senator rand paul and former pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum are now out of the race for the white house. Both candidates had disappointing showings in. Iowa caucuses. Santorum is endorsing marco rubio. I wanted somebody who has experience in this area and so that is why we decided to support marco rubio. Mike huckabee and democrat Martin Omalley withdrew from the race monday night. Starting today, eight is on your side for all of the developments of the New Hampshire primaries. Candace mccowan is on her way to New Hampshire later today. Look for her updates right here on news channel 8. An 8 on your side alert this morning. You need to hear this before you start filing taxes. The irs is experiencing major this is one of our most popular stories on our website, wfla. Com. Now, the agency hopes to get everything working again later today. News channel 8s Lindsey Mastis is joining us now in studio. This is frustrating because it is like we get a pass to the computer and then it goes down. Yeah, absolutely. You know, when it comes to this particular case it is very frustrating because one of the services down is the wheres my refund service. And despite the issues, the irs believes 90 of taxpayers will refund the payments within 21 days. The irs is calling this a hardware failure. Theyre in the process of making repairs right now. And during this time, you can still work on your returns, but you will not be able to submit them until these problems are fixed. You know what . You can also send your tax return to an e file provider. These companies will then hold the tax returns until the irs starts accepting electronic tax if you filed your tax return before hand, you dont have to do anything extra. It is good to go. The irs website is up and running. I checked it this morning. So far it looks like theyre experiencing some issues. The deadline to file taxes is april 18th. We have to hope that all of the problems will be worked out before then. Another reason to get it done early. Any chance of these problems might result in you getting a bigger check back. I have a feeling that would be a bigger problem. So far, no. Hopefully this iron it out. It is frustrating enough to go through tax season. When youre ready to get it done, youre ready to get it done. Exactly. Thanks. It is 4 38 on this thursday morning and the rain is on the way. Rain is on the way. Furz just stepping out the door if youre just stepping out the door now, maybe you want to grab the paper. You dont need the raincoat yet but i would pack it in the car just to be on the safe side. Let me walk you hour by hour. Rain chances by 8 00 a. M. Go up to 40 . Especially in Northern Areas. We go up to a 60 chance at lunch time. 70 chance during the early afternoon and temperatures remain steady until the evening when we start dropping off quickly into a cold night tonight. 70 rain chance today. The next rain chance, i actually lowered it saturday night into sunday morning. A 30 chance sunday night and we clear out early on sunday. But that second cold front will be the one that keeps us cold all of next week. Today we only hit 76, that is with the rain. 62 tomorrow, 67 saturday, back to 62 sunday and in fact, look at this. We stay in the low 60s pretty much all of next week. Checking in on traffic on the 8s. People need to get up early on the commute before the rain start s. It is a good one right now. When we get wet weather. If things are tough on the roadway, enjoy it while we can. We have a collision. It wont slow you down at august 54th avenue north. Still trying to clear up. It was tying up a lane. No delays. Traffic is light. Not a lot of people on the roadway. Lets go ahead, look at Howard Frankland bridge. How long will it take to cross it . 6, 7 minutes maximum. Ill look at lakeland when we come back. That is weather and traffic on the 8s. Back to gene and gayle. An important l 8 on your side recall. A vacuum cleaner affected because customers might get shocked by several models. Well tell you which models are affected coming up. Also, the search is on for r a not so friendly super hero. The Reason Police in Central Florida want this batman behind bars. Plus, the Florida State fair opens today. Im Adrienne Pedersen and ill introduce you to some interesting characters. You never know who will show up. The new caramel macchiato from dunkin donuts. Let handcrafted layers of espresso, milk, and a caramelflavored swirl uplift your mood. Indulge in a hot or iced macchiato today. Today in florida, lawmakers will look at the possibility of drugs in some cases. State legislators will revisit amendments considered last year that would allow termly ill patients the trieth try marijuana. Lawmakers will take the right to try marijuana. Lawmakers will take on a bill that protects Good Samaritans that help animals in danger. Disney world is dealing with a rash of tlefts. Since thefts. Since september, theyve had burglaries. Theyre sliding in through slide willing doors and stealing electronics. Search is on for the so called batman robber. He got the nickname after wearing a batman mask and robbing 2 stores. Surveillance video from one store shows the robber with a gun. He ordered clerk to fill his back pack with cash and then took off. It is 4 444. Happening today, in just a few opens the gates in hillsborough county. Were getting a sneak peek of the annual tradition. Adrienne pedersen or i should say newlywed Adrienne Pedersen is at the fair grounds youve worn the dress. Have at it. Eat whatever you want this morning. Reporter exactly. That is what i was thinking. It is Perfect Timing and a great assignment. Before we get to the food we have to get to something else. One thing you can do is see elvis perform. There is an extravaganza going on. The 9th annual elvis contest on the 13th and 14th of february obviously and it is at the cocacola music stage. We practiced that so many times. The coca headline music stage and it is free with admission to the fair. Check it out. Reporter what youre really an expert obviously is your i know youve wofr this several times youve won this several times. [ music ]. Im sorry. Unfortunately im married. I cant even participate in this. Tell me, why have you won so many times. What is different from your elvis act . I grew up. Elvis was one of my idols growing up and he was my first concert i ever went to in 1974, aging myself a little bit. He was an incredible singer and talent and he changed the world as we knew it in music. We appreciate you waking up early. We hope this is waking you guys up a little bit and gene and gayle. This performance is free. It is a great thing to do. It got our attention. Waking us up and causing a conundrum. Will go see barry manilow. Is that hair and side burns real. He wants to know about the side burns. Are those real . Yeah i can attest. It is real it takes skill to keep those in shape. Thanks adrienne. You have more than a week to get your fill at the fair. It opens today at 10 a. M. And runs through the 15th. Mexican actress who arranged a meeting between sean penn and El Chapo Guzman is asking the court to issue an injunction against any arrest. They are investigating money laundering. A former ceo of a Pharmaceutical Company will testify on the rising of drugs at nine this morning. Martin skrelie is one of the hatest ceos in america after he saving drug by 5,000 . An 8 on your side consumer alert. Thousands of dirt devil vaccines are under a recall. They pose a shock hazard. The vaccines electronic the vacuum cord prong can remain in the outlet when the vacuum is unplugged. Contact dirt devil for a free replacement. Forever young. Researchers in minnesota may have discovered the fountain of youth. It seems to eliminate damaged cell thats no longer divide. The results . A 17 to 35 longer life span, healthier looking organ youthful heart performance. They hope Clinical Trials can start in a couple years. 4 48 and lets get the umbrella before you head out the door this morning. Well live long enough to see the rain. Rain is just, just to our north. Well see it push down slowly as we head through the day today and temperature wise, were going to stay in the mid70s. Here is a look at the rain chances again for saturday. We go up again, but behind that next rain system we are going to see much cooler air for next week. Again, cloudy skies north of i4. Here is what it looks like through the day today. Showers in our far Northern Areas as far as 8 00 a. M. Most of us will still be dry. 70 decrease and then 70 degrees and then pockets of heavy rain and 70 rain chance by 3 00 p. M. Upper 60s to near 70. It is warm, humid and this slow moving front just gets ever closer to us. Here it is around 9 30. Citrus, hernando county, you may be seeing a few showers. Heavier downpours in citrus and hernando and seeing the lighter rain reaching the i4 corridor. By 3, 4 00. Downpours continue. By the time youre heading home most of the rain will be further to the south. The rain ends at midnight and boy, do we see cooler air. We drop all the way down to 48 degrees tonight. This friday will be cool and breezy at 62, i can say that other cold front comes through saturday night and that will keep us cool all next week. How about traffic on the 8s . J were rolling along here through the lakeland area we have a nice drive on i4. In fact, from u. S. 98, if you live in lakeland. You commute down in tampa for the morning drive. We have 23 minutes until you hit i75 no delays. On 75 from Wesley Chapel out of pasco county. It looks good. Finally got to check out the outlet mall. A 10 minute commute. Lets go ahead and take a quick look at i4. It looks fantastic. No delays there and also, 275 across the Howard Frankland bridge, it will only take you six minutes. That is a look at weather and back to gene and gayle. All right. Thanks so much. It is just his calling. An accountant turned nurse is getting attention for how he helped a patient. What ha did when one of his young patients couldnt sleep. Youre watching news channel 8 today. Features florida shrimp and clams. First saut\ olive oil, vegetables, and sausage, simmer until ready. Now add the fresh florida shrimp and clams. Things are getting delicious once the shrimp is ready and clams have opened, add the final touch of creamy butter and juicy tomatoes; garnish with parsley and serve over rice. And thats how easy it is to create a seafood delight. Visit freshfromflorida. Com for more recipes. Remember, delicious is always served fresh from florida. Is getting attention after he was captured on video sipping to one of his patients. Over side ways under on a magic carpet world. A whole new world . How sweet is this. For prandon, nursing is his second career. He claims it is just where he belongs. The little girl is 4yearold sophia. She suffers from leukemia and couldnt sleep. Brandon serenaded her and her father caught the performance on video. It has more than 200,000 views, 4,000 likes. Brandon was a little shy about the attention but he is glad the viral attention it bringing awareness to cancer. That is so incredibly sweet. It is the Little Things that make all of the difference when somebody is in the hospital. Im glad he followed his pa. Weather and traffic on the 8s is three minutes away. Plus the way the Tampa Police Department will address alarming new in the next half hour, caught on camera a family recovering from this morning after this recovering this morning after this horrific experience. Five. It is 4 58. Time for weather and traffic on the 8s. It is not raining now. But it will be. Keep the umbrella with you. 76 degrees today. Wups the rain ends and the clouds clear out. Temperatures fall in tampa to 48 degrees. Wesley chapel. 48 degrees. Break out the big coats. 49 degrees in bartow. Ill let you know how long it stays this cool. Coming up. I75, a good drive. Up a lane northbound and southbound Near University parkway. Aside from that, getting by just fine. Six minutes between university and clark. Lets talk about an accident in sarasota. Desoto road, we have a collision possible injuries, looks like it is tying up lanes. Be aware of this in society. Traffic looks good. A quick live look again, i4 looking good from lakeland all the way in to tampa. Ed layers of espresso, milk, and a caramelflavored swirl uplift your mood. Indulge in a hot or iced macchiato today