3 thanks for joining us. Im walter Allen Vanessa and im vanessa ruffes, in for jen epstein. We start this hour with a Police Pursuit that crossed the bay. 3 vanessa detectives say it started a couple of hours ago in tampa, when someone stole a vehicle from a car lot. Tampa police pursued. With a chopper up in the air following them. And followed the car all the way to st. Petersburg. Where more officers joined in. The thieves pulled over in a residential area. Parked behind a house and ran behind a house and ran inside. But someone there reported them. This morning, threepeople are in custody. 3 3 dave 3 more sunshine on tap for today, with high temps back into the mid 70s. Clear and seasonable tonight, with lows back to the mid 50s. Mostly sunny skies are expected for both saturday and sunday, with 3 no closed captioning is available for traffic. 3 3 3 vanessa it was just named americas best beach. And the weekend weather is gonna be perfect. But the drive to Clearwater Beach will be anything but. There are big detours planned. And they start, in just a few hours. 3 vanessa fox13s Shayla Reaves is on the story for us. Shayla its all because of construction, right . 3 3 3 wipe vo 3 wipe vo 3 vanessa 3 3 3 3 thanks, shayla. vanessa 3 vanessa thanks, shayla. 3 war zone thats how a Pinellas Park woman described her front yard. After a driver blasted through a brick wall. 3 walter investigators say the driver. Was just 13yearsold. And the van. Was stolen. 3 the door is broken this is a stained glass door,as you can see all of these bricks those became projectiles. Walter this is what happens. When a kid gets behind the wheel. Pinellas park police say wednesday night, a 13yearold girl stole a van out of pasco county, and made her way to Pinellas Park. But shes not old enough to get her learners permit, let alone drive alone. Not long after officers tried stopping her. She smashed through the brick wall entry at bayou pointe. They say she went through it like a knife through butter. But those bricks, and a tree, stopped her from smashing into the house. 3 walter no one was seriously hurt. But the teen now faces serious charges, including grand theft auto, which is a felony. The Homeowners Association will pay to have the wall fixed. And the home damage should be covered by insurance. 3 3 rounds one final time today ahead of tomorrows crucial primary in south carolina. During a town hall last night, voters got the chance to question donald trump, john kasich and jeb bush. Real estate mogul donald trump used him time on stage to defend his recent statement. That former president george w. Bush lied to get the United States to go to war with iraq. He also addressed the criticism he has recieved from pope francis. Saying the Mexican Government prompted the pontiff statements. 3 you think that the government of mexico somehow got the pope to say this . Oh, absolutely. I dont think they said it that way. But i think they probably talked about, isnt it terrible that mr. Trump wants to have border security, etc. Etc. The bottom line is, weve gotta have a border. Weve gotta have security. We have tremendous illegal immigration in the country. 3 today marks the final full day of campaigning in the palmetto state. Starting at 7 am tomorrow. Republican voters will head to the polls. Donald trump holds a doubledigit lead in most polls. But theres a real battle for second and third place. 3 event in las vegas the two remaining Democratic Candidates were on msnbc. Both Hillary Clinton and senator bernie sanders. Focused on winning over minority voters and women. 3 the republicans are going to see the error of their ways and quit using immigrants to divide our country and quit taking the kind of mean spirited actions that they do. We should not be sending people back to a country that they can barely remember and a language they may not even be able to speak. 3 both clinton and sanders are in a dead heat in nevada. Sanders however. Has moved into a slight lead over clinton nationally. Tomorrow democrats will begin to caucus in nevada around 2 pm local time. 43 delegates are up for grabs. 3 3 vanessa a bill mandating at least 20minutes of daily recess in florida Elementary Schools passed the state house. 112to2. But it may not even be votedon in the senate. There are concerns by some lawmakers that it arbitrarily forces time rule. Theyd rather let School Officials make that decision. So for now, the issue may be dead in tallahassee. 3 vanessa it was supposed to be a fun site seeing tour. But the thrills turned into chills. walter the Helicopter Crash that five people incredibly survived. And the splitsecond decision that undoubtedly saved people on the ground. 3 walter and. On a sad day for dale jr. Something to smile about. The sweet move he pulled off at daytona. While no doubt thinking about his dad. 3 you could hear it, it was sputtering, white smoke was coming out of the back of the helicopter. i definitely thought it was part of the tour, i thought they were just getting close and i mean when someone screamed everyone get down, i was like, we just turned and ran. Vanessa 3 dramatic moments in hawaii. When a tourist Helicopter Crashed into pearl harbor. The video is stunning. The chopper dropped. And quickly sank yesterday. Witnesses rushed to rescue the five people onboard. They all got out, and are in the hospital this morning. One but this accident could have been so much worse. 3 vanessa people who saw it happen, say the pilot stayed calm, and in control. And was able to steer the chopper away from hitting people on shore. walter the busy arizona memorial is very close by, and was packed with tourists at the time. 3 anchors its now 5 . 3 time to check the forecast with dave. 3 3 3 it is 5 time now to find out whats happening 3 no closed captioning is available for traffic. 3 3 walter such a big day in sports. Rays pitchers and catchers report to spring training. And drivers are revving their engines in daytona. Weve sent jen epstein to the speedway this morning, and well check in with her in just a bit. Shes gonna show us around the newly renovated speedway and show us all the cool upgrades and improvements for 3 fans. But first, a close call for the bolts. Heres fox13 sports director chip 3 the lightning needed to take a little confidence on the road with them, because seven out of their next ten games are not in amalie arena. So it was a must win against winnipeg and it was also a wild game. The lightning were up four one. And winnipeg ties the game. Tyler johnson with the turnover, lightning up four three. And watch, andrew ladd, scores back to back goals, this one ties the game at four. Jets pulling off the comeback. Now jets on the power play. And mathew perreault. Scramble in front. Jumps on the loose puck and suddenly its five four jets, that lead lasted twenty four seconds. Nikita kucherov. Twenty four seconds later, huge goal. And this game is tied at five. This game goes to a shootout. Steven stamkos his first shootout of the season. Finishes it, lightning win two critical points. Tomorrow is the official day that pitchers and catchers have to report, but for the rays, that date is just another friday on the calendar because a lot of players are already in port charlotte. The rays sign ryan webb to a one year deal, fox sports has the story. Webb is a reliever, pitched last year for cleveland, after starting the season in the minors. Gets a lot of ground balls as reliever one of the best in that stat in the American League last year, plus he grew up in clearwater, so he is coming home after signing a one year one Million Dollar deal. The first duel was pretty clean, big names up in front, the only issue. Cole whitt, trying to race his way into sunday. Loses the back end, spins. And is done for the night and done for the week, no daytona five hundred for cole whitt. Dale junior, pulls off a Family Signature move. And just cruises by denny hamlin on the inside. Holds him off down the stretch to win the first race, and even though drivers wanted to be cautious with the car, it was hard for dale junior to race that way. Second can am duel. Last lap, kyle busch leading, drivers working to make the move, Jamie Mcmurray in front of jimmie johnson, thats contact and thats trouble. Johnson gets caught in it, martin truex gets wrapped up in it, it really hurts matt kenseth, he was on the outside of the front row, now hes starting the five hundred from the back of the field, that car is totalled. All of those drivers will be going to back up cars. Kyle busch takes the win. Its so important to Pay Attention to kids. Be active and involved in their lives. vanessa but what if mom and dad arent available to make that investment of time or attention. 3 jen thats where mentors like byron step in. The big difference hes making in a little boys life. It goes way beyond 9to5 involvement. Hes committed. 3 we often hear about being left behind. Not getting the oneonone attention they need to thrive. walter but theres a local Program Helping the most vulnerable kids succeed. And jen tells us with the help of this weeks hometown hero. They not only have a mentor. They have a lifelong friend. 3 whats that book called . Read to tiger. Alright thats one book lets see if we can find another. Twice a week, byron and jimmy meet to sound it out. Alright lets go and see what we can do. Lets start reading these books. Whether its pronouncing the words in his favorite booka or helping finish byron is always there to make sure jimmys a success. Jimmy what i like about mr. Byron is that he helps me with my homework and he takes me places. Byron and jimmys relationship started two years ago through eckerds friends of the childrena a program that pairs high risk children in the foster system with a professional mentor. Carmi they are that caring adult that is there to supplement whatever their current caregiver is doing. Being a mentor is a long term commitment that usually begins when the child is 5 or 6. And continues through high school. Byron so my job is to make sure that im that person that will be with him 12 long years. I will never not be with him. Wherever he goes i go. Byron is more than just a tutor and a mentor. He considers jimmy and the seven other boys he helps a part of his family. I consider these other eight boys as my sons as well. I want to make sure i give them the same opportunity that i give my kids. So he makes sure all of their basic needs are met. If its making sure they have a ride to school, make sure accomodations are fine, even if its making sure they have food. I make sure they have what they need. Its more than just a job to byrona its his calling. I know im helping a child out and helping them to become a better person. So i love it, i love it. Give back to the community that once helped him. He was raised in this community, family and had good mentors, saw the need for mentors and now has dedicated his life to being a mentor. His dedication is also inspiring other kidsa like jimmy. To live a life of service too. What do you wanna be when you grow up . What i wanna do is. Is help other people with their work. You want to be like byron when walter jimmy is no longer in the foster system and back at home with his dad. But hell continue working with byron until hes 18. Vanessa Byron says hes gotten close to everyone in jimmys family. On for any of them to call when they need help. 3 vanessa theyve been a staple at Macdill Air Force base for years. walter now, the fleet that might be flying off into the sunset. It could affect us. During Hurricane Season 3 walter plus. Ringside. At the rink. Theyre going from ice to dirt, all in a day. Now thats a floor show 3 introducing longhorn s big, bold, steaks. The only way to make em better was to make em bigger. Our new center cut 10 ounce filet. Our perfectly seasoned 16 ounce tbone. And our fire grilled 18 ounce outlaw ribeye. Big, bold, steaks. Only at longhorn steakhouse. You can t fake steak. For lunch, try our steakhouse burger 3 walter its 5 , its friday, february 19th. Im walter allen. vanessa and im vanessa ruffes, in for jen epstein. We start with a bummer for beachgoers. 3 vanessa the weathers gonna be great for a trip to americas newlynamed best beach this weekend. But the drives not. Starting this morning, getting to and from Clearwater Beach is going to be a challenge. Thats because of construction at some Railroad Crossings downtown. Drivers will have to detour to reach the Memorial Causeway bridge. Court street will be closed between south myrtle and south fort harrison, from 9 this morning until 11 sunday night. And next weekend, Chestnut Street will be closed in that same area, during those same times. 3 available for traffic. 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 across america this morning apple has hired two high profile attorneys in its fight against the fbi. Theyre best known for successfully challenging californias ban on samesex marriage. The pair will a judges order to hack into a terrorists iphone. Syed farook and his wife killed 14 people in San Bernardino last december. Agents have his iphone. But have been unable to see the data because its protected by a passcode. Other Tech Companies such as twitter, facebook and google are siding with apple. Saying a ruling against the company would set a bad precedent. Apple ceo tim cook is vowing to pursue the case all the way to the supreme court. If necessary. 3 vanessa the texas teenager known for his affluenza defense in a deadly drunkdriving crash. Is expected to appear in court today. A judge will decide whether ethan couch should be transferred to the adult system, after Officials Say he violated probation, and took off to mexico. He was deported last month. Couchs attorney has no plans to fight transferring the case to adult court. Because the sentence will actually be lighter there. 3 walter in washington today a somber scene at the us supreme court. Mourners will be able to pass by the casket of justice antonin scalia. And pay so. Scalia passed away last weekend from natural causes. His funeral will be held tomorrow. 3 3 a Martin County deputy just starting his shift. Made a big arrest without much effort. A man tried to rob a chevron gas station at gunpoint wednesday night. Minutes later. Deputy Matt Fritchie stopped by for some Sunflower Seeds before starting his probation checks. He had no idea the place was being robbed. Until he saw the fear in the clerks eyes. The deputy said his training kicked in and he was able to arrest dominique pierce without incident. The 24yearold is charged with armed robbery. 3 vanessa seems no one can resist florida. Tourism numbers are booming across our state. In fact, they just set a record high. And that means big money is rolling in. 3 vanessa governor rick scott Just Announced the numbers, during a visit to disneys epcot center in orlando. He said 105 in 2015. And he expects that number to go up, this year. And its not just tourists basking in the glow. The number of travelrelated jobs also hit a record high last year. Onepointtwo million floridians are working in the tourism industry. And theyre part of a big money making machine. The state predicts 100 billion in visitorspending by 2020. 3 walter for more than 20years, Macdill Air Force base in tampa has been home to the Hurricane Hunter planes. But that could change, soon. The base needs the hangar space for new hunter planes will have to move. The air force has given the National Oceanic and atmospheric 2017 to move out. vanessa thanks, jen. 3 walter 3 plenty of action here at home, too. 3 at amalie arena, theyre putting on the ultimate floor show. Changing it from of hours. 3 segui is at amalie right now. Get started. Talk about dyi. This is massive 3 3 3 3 3 3 anchor thanks, alcides. 3 3 3 anchor thanks, alcides. 3 3 vanessa 3 well, racing fans, this will get your motor runnin. The daytona 500 is this weekend. And this year, some of the biggest thrills, are off the track. Thanks to a stadium renovation. 3 Vanessa Jen Epstein is at the speedway this morning. Lucky you, jen you didnt 3 3 3 3 thanks, jen. 3 3 dave 3 3 3 3 vanessa Hardee County may not be the biggest county in our area. But the people there have a big heart. walter and that heart was put on display last night. At the Hardee County fair. Russell rhodes joins us now with this mornings good day good deed. 3 russell every once in awhile. Theres a story that will really restore your faith in humanity. This is one of those stories. But it begins with sadness. 3 russell take cg3 from Zolfo Springs elementary died suddenly of a heart attack. Her name is tamara hendry. And she has an 11 year old son. As you can imagine, her family is in shock. And trying to deal with the sudden loss. wipe cg3 her son, heath, had been raising a swine to sell at the Hardee County fair. Which is going on all this week and weekend. When word got out about that. The community got together to buy that swine at an 3 astounding price. They bought that pig for 170 dollars a pound. And it weighs 280pounds. That is 47thousand dollars 3 that money will go toward funeral expenses for tamara. And also to heath. Were told that when the swine sold. There wasnt a dry eye 3 3 its now 5 . Time to check the forecast with dave. 3 dave rescuing rover. Look what happened in fairfax, virginia. A dog fell through thin layer of ice on a lake in reston. Firefighters had to come rescue her. Poor angel couldnt stop barking. But shes okay. 3 in fact, her owners say she wasnt even scratched. Just a little shaky. 3 3 it is 5 time now to find out whats happening 3 no closed captioning is available for traffic. 3 3 3 vanessa 3 3 3 vanessa for a week that started with a holiday, its been busy, and heavy. walter so lets take a break from all the serious stuff. And enjoy some good day goodies. 3 i had a pretty good childhood. Want something from me. Sorry, i was going to see if the treadmill is still there. I love this man. You never know what you might see. Lets make it a good day, tampa bay. One little word. Not here today. Thursdayaircheck am20160218 0 1. Mpg4 43 30 4 43 32a town in australia got taken over by a tumbleweed. 4 44 25 4 44 52what do you do with it . Hairspray all am20160218 0 5. Mpg6 45 40 6 45 52i can kind of see my it like a kitty. New new new 9 34 05 9 34 18 aircheck am20160218 0 10. Mpg 9 28 37 9 28 51youre a good man, charlie brown. Or as we like to say. Remind them how much they do. Good stuff, right laura . 3 walter 3 laura . Good stuff, right how 3 walter it started out as a bad week for superstar adele. Things didnt go as planned at the grammys. vanessa but then, things turned around. The singers favorite thing about her visit to la, after break. 3 vanessa and. The truth is out there. And so is the finale. Whats coming up on the xfiles. We got the scoop from the cast. 3 lowes presents how to plan for the future. Happy valentines day. Happy birthday. Sorry i forgot our anniversary. Happy mothers day. Now get 3 shrubs for only 10 at lowes. I dont know what im doing. I cant find anything just when i think its just not going to work. This woman that works there comes over and asks can i help you . And he was so happy, to do it amazing right . I never would have expected would have thought that anyone would find that do that. Make that go out of their way for me. Right then, right there i couldnt believe it he was so helpful i know its such a small thing little thing. Simple thing but it made me smile made me happy made my day share your story. 3 made up. I need to feel your touch. Im gonna run to you. Ohhhh yeah. 80s time thats bryan adams. Way back in 1984. And tonight. Hes ready to rock clearwater hes performing at coachman park. Doing songs from his new album, and playing the classics, too. Like heaven and 3 summer of 69. General admission tickets are just 18bucks. Theres also reserved seating, starting at 70dollars. The show is at 730. 3 sound check went great. It went really well. I was really excited. And during the changeover the microphones fell over into the piano. Strings, which was what the guitar noise was. Some people thought it was bieber rehearsing, but it wasnt him. I was embarassed. People were tweeting me, we still love you, dont worry. i didnt ask you if you still love me, but thanks ha ha ha 3 well, at least shes laughing about it now. Adele admitted to ellen she cried all day after the grammys. And that audio glitch that marred her performance. And when people tried to make her feel better, it made her feel worse. But the week has gotten better. Adele said she had a ball at disneyland. And burst into happy tears when she met belle. 3 in the finale theres a big event thats affecting the world, theres a medical event and it has to do very much with this big alien conspiracy mythology part of it. Walter 3 okay. There you have it. The truth is out there, and it sounds tantalizing the xfiles reboot is gearingup for a season finale, and the stars are giving us little hints as to whats coming next. David duchovny and gillian newsdotcom under seen on tv. 3 vanessa theres much more to come on good day. walter lets turn it over to russell and laura to find out whats ahead in our 6 oclock hour. 3 its shaping up to be a pictureperfect beach weekend. But starting this morning. Its about to get a lot harder to get to the Number One Beach in the country. Coming up, everything you need to know about a big construction project in clearwater. 3 we have an update on what tampa police are saying about beyonces upcoming concert. As the Miami Police Union calls on cops to boycott beyonces world tour. 3 and. For 250thousand dollars you could by a ticket into space. This morning, Virgin Galactic unveils the spacecraft that know you can keep your financial big picture under control. Know you can see how much you have to spend and whether you should transfer funds. Know you can easily keep track of what youre putting away. Great escape. 3 3 if the weather is nice, weve come prussell when the weather is pnice, we expect bad traffic pgetting to Clearwater Beach. Pthis weekend a construction roject, sorry, is going to make pit a whole lot worse. Plaura and the miami police punion is sending beyonce a pmessage as she kicks off her pworld tour. Ptheyre planning to boycott her pfirst tour