There especially for those celebrating their birthdays. We will celebrate those in a few minutes. And the oscar goes to Leonardo Dicaprio [ applause ] after five nominations leonardo finally has an oscar this morning. The Party Continues right now. Oscars. It was nice, cool and crisp in the morning, and nice in the afternoon this weekend. I think i deserve a statue for the rest of the weather im bring you. Around 45 for crystal river, and warmer around polk county, and warmer as you get closer to the coast. And everyone is warmer than you 11 degrees warmer in brandon and tampa, and 9 degrees warmer than you were in lakeland, and 15 warmer in brooksville it will feel great in the sunshine, and weather and traffic on the 8s, and theres an 8day temperature trend, and yes, i deserve a medal. Right now, traffic is looking good as far as congestion is concerned. We dont have any on the bay area interstates. Right now, it looks very good. Moving over to the maps. Pinellas county, and affecting lanes on u. S. 19, and keep this in mind. Its right underneath u. S. 19. Its not on 19 but bryan dairy road can get quite busy. Meanwhile a great drive on the Howard Franklin bridge to the right, and that will only take you 6 minutes to cross. Back to gene and gayle. Another emotional day of testify in the erin andrews trial. Her mother, paula will take the stand today. Its linked to a stalking case in 2008. Ryan hughes is live where andrews went to school. We know her all too well because hes the daughter of our very own investigative reporter, steve andrews. Reporter gayle, good morning to you. It was quite emotional all week when erin ice dad, our colleague, took the stand. For the first time in my life, sorry as her father where i didnt know if she was safe or not. I feared for her life. Reporter really tough to hear. 40 people remain on the witness list for this case, and again her mom is expected to testify from the convicted stalker in the case, michael barrett. He spent years in prison after he videotaped erin through an altered peephole. She claims her hotel was negligent, the marriott, was negligent for allowing him to book the hotel next to hers. You can count on us to monitor the situation and bring you the latest throughout the week. A very high profile case with true tampa ties. Thank you so much, ryan. A man is in the hospital, fighting for his life this morning, he was hit by a car crossing the street in st. Pete. Investigators said he was crossing the road at 14th and 15th south. His injuries are life threatening, and police say the driver did stop and is cooperating with the investigation. This morning we are learning more about the boater who brown two men were in a small boat that capsized in a pond near turkey creek row. Jose perez bravo drown. Antonio lopez was able to swim to shore safely. A group of 60 tow Truck Drivers took to the streets to remember their friend. Perez was hit and killed earlier this month when he was helping a driver. Allison hoffman is facing charges for hitting and killing perez. Edward byers jr. Is expected to be the first member of s. E. A. L. Is getting at the white house today. He helped to resuscitate a member of his team after he was shot in a mission. William schooler was shot and killed at the end of sundays service, and Police Arrested the pastors brother, daniel schooler. He is expected to be in court today. The big news of the night, after five nominations, Leonardo Dicaprio finally has an oscar of his very own. Besides the big winners this controversial. No mayor nominees of no major nominees of actors of color. How was it addressed . Reporter chris rock refused to boycott the oscars, and he his position to highlight the issue. Im here at academy awards, others known as the white peoples choice awards, and you realize if they nominated hosts, i wouldnt even get this job. The academys president also got out to speak out expert out and encourage the expansion of nomination. Chris rock is getting negative attention because African Americans are not the only group poorly represented. Latinos did not get any nominations, and the Washington Post is pointing out that asian people are poorly represented in the movies and oscars as well, but the only mention was his joke about intelligence and child labor. What will happen for next you can reach out to us on social media using 8alert. You can follow us each day on facebook and twitter. Just search 8alert. After a beautiful weekend, how is the weather looking today, leigh . Not too bad in first few hours of sun right, i do expect to see a few more clouds around, and its keeping us mild. Around 63 degrees at 10 00 a. M. After more sun breaks out, the temperatures going up quickly. 74 at noon, and 74 at 3 00 p. M. Very pleasant evening. Feeling like spring, right . Well, spring training will get underway today in bradenton. The pirates with an inner squad game. And in lakeland, 73 degrees its a springlike 8 days. 78 tomorrow, and 75 on wednesday, and low to mid70s through next week. Issue to talk about this morning in pinellas. We certainly do. Its Pinellas Park, fatal crash. Unfortunate way to wake up this morning as far as the roadway is concerned. Moving in here again, in the Pinellas Park area. Bryan dairy road is closed and it is also known as 118th road. They intersect there, and it changes names. We had a vehicle apparently traveling at a high rate of speed and actually crashed and caught on fire. They have to make sure the overpass is okay, and this is underneath u. S. 19. 19 is not affected, just the frontage roads and bryan dairy. Traffic, and back to gene and gayle. The telecandidates that will hear supertuesday results, just ahead. Starbucks bold move to Gain Customer in the rich coffee culture. Theres plans to open doors in italy. Free donuts . Pizza . Discounted meals and tickets. We will take advantage of the leap day deals. Its 4 40. Medley served with sirloin steak. The sizzling sound of fresh florida vegetables mingling together; saut\ zucchini, squash, bell peppers, and tomatoes in golden olive oil. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with juicy sirloin steak. Thats how easily pan roasted florida vegetables complete a delicious meal. And remember, delicious is always happening today, its february 29th, leap day, and more than 4 Million People have a special birthday. Happy birthday to you. Theres deals today to take a special advantage of, and for example, participating krispy kreme shots are offering buy an original dozen and get another dozen for 29 cents today. Free entree off a special menu, and free cookies at mccalliste are, s. Some pizza hut locations will give you a free onetopping pizza. Just show your id. And at jc penny, you can buy certain items for one cent, ask other items are buy one get one for a penny. Jc penny closed 300 stores in 2015. Its just one day until supertuesday. Tomorrow, voters in 13 states and one territory are headed to the polls. On the republican side, front uner donald trump has a new endorsement. Make America Great again and that is donalds slogan. Trump will have a rally in Palm Beach County tomorrow night but not before taking heat from our senator marco rubio. You cannot nominate someone like that we will get crushed. If we get crushed, the next president will be donald trump or Hillary Clinton. New this morning, one of pope francis top advisers is capturing international attention. Cardinal george pell testified before an Investigative Commission saying the Catholic Church made enormous mistakes in failing to prevent children from being abused by priests, and this his third testimony in took place a short walk from the vatican. Today in florida, legislators will discus the loose of medical marijuana and a bill that puts tighter restrictions on abortion clinics. Good morning, everybody and happy monday. Im at the capitol where we start the second week of legislation today. Reporter theres still work to be done in both chambers. A bill will be considered to put tighter restrictions on abortion clinics, and the same committee is looking to expand insurance sink hole coverage and the senate rules Community Look at medical Marijuana Bill that allows terminal patients to use the medicinal pot. A laundry list of amendments kicked it back to committee. Thats what is going on here. Have a great day everyone. Americans are gulping down the sugar. One in three americans drink the sugary drinks at least once a day. Younger adults were more likely to drink the beverages that have 8teaspoons of sugar per serving. Starbucks is claiming it plans to enter the most intimidating market on the globe, italy. They are partnering with a developer to open in milan. Starbucks has a presence in europe, but its not been as successful in other markets. Veg vegetarians, you may want to head to arbys as they will have vegetarian lineup. It will not stick around, so enjoy today. The First Official spring training game in our area is the phillies will take on the blue jays, and then the pirates taking on lakeland, and then the tigers will play in tampa. Time for baseball. Thats right. For all the information, go to wfla. Com. Lets check on that weather for the games,. Reporter and this the perfect week to start the spring training. I would call a typical spring like week. There was a chill in the area, and we will be at 56 degrees at 8 00 this morning with extra clouds, and we will call it partly cloudy, but already 70 at noon, and around average for this time of the year. 74degrees later today, and still a little chilly in places like inverness and bartow. Big area of High Pressure will move off to the east. Today, not quite as chilly as perfect weather today. Tomorrow morning, more sunshine, highs in the low 50s, and notice our winds are out of the south it will be warmer ahead of wednesdays cold front, and this cold front will only bring a 20 rain chance. Springlike into the weekend, leslie. I well you what, we have a nasty crash in Pinellas Park. Check it out. If youre used to commuting at 118th, a serious accident, and lets look at pictures you. See a lot of what it looks like. Smolders and smoke going on, and the vehicle t looks like a transformer or something. And you have smoke all over the place, and basically thats because it caught on fire when it hit part of the concrete barrier there and lets take a live look now. Can see bryan dairy is completely blocked. Also known as 119th after it pass under the overpass of 19. The frontage road is closed and so is bryan dairy. The al consider gnat is to the south. I will keep an eye on the break traffic news for you and let you know as soon as it opens. Back to gayle and gene. A special carnival for our fourlegged friends just ahead. But but first a preview of what you can expect to see tonight on the voice. Its 4 50 on this monday a hot new tv show is back. The new season of the voice starts, and it kicks off with the blind auditions we have come to love. The people i turn around for are the people i feel like have something different. Christina aguilera is back for season 10. There comes blake you can watch it here on news channel 8 tonight. Mans best friend was invited to compete at this annual event in peru. The dog carnal costume competition, and the puppies the event aims to raise awareness for responsible dog owner ownership. The candidates last push to get voters out to the polls tomorrow. And we are enjoying an extra day we only get 4 year, but why . Leigh spann explains the reason why leap year helps us to keep our calendar straight. Youre watching news channel welcome back to monday, leap day. Its time for traffic and we will go into polk county like 56 degrees winter haven. 49 in brooksville, and theres patchy clouds, and wherever the clouds are, youre warmer, and im finding the clouds over tampa, and notice there youre at 60 versus 57 now in venice. During the afternoon, a lot of sunshine, and feeling warm, especially in the sunshine, with the afternoon high of 74, and just a few clouds overnight, and mild. The low tonight of 57 degrees, and i will let you know about two cold fronts coming through the tampa bay area coming up. Thank you, leigh. Good morning, everyone. In Pinellas Park, unfortunate news this morning. Fatal accident. Im continuing to follow this breaking news here. All lanes of bryan dairy are locked it will become 118th avenue, and right now at 19, underneath it, it is completely blocked, and you will need a the frontage roads are also blocked. You not pass underneath u. S. 19 at bryan dairy, and you can see its completely blocked. And also the frontage roads are completely blocked. I will continue to follow this and keep you updated throughout right now on news channel 8 today, week 2 of Erin Andrews Stifel right there get underway. She suing Marriott Hotel for allowing her stalker tobook room next to hers, and shes the daughter of our own steve andrews. We are just 1 day away from the biggest president ial primary season. The countdown is on to supertuesday this morning, donald trump is Hillary Clinton are hoping to build on their