the forecast center. i can't call it a name because it still doesn't have one. it is just depression 9. >> hermine is the next tropical depression on the list. it could be good news that it is not a tropical storm. that it is is a tropical depression. not in a very good environment. not much better than it was 24 hours ago. there is the big picture there. gaston out to sea. we are interested in tropical depression number 9 wh still a tropical depression by the way. according to the national hurricane center. as of 5:00, 35 miles an hour winds. there's your forecast track very close to what the consensus of the major models are doing. a slight northerly shift. of course, as we get closer to potential landfall, the cone itself, that white cone, gets a little thinner. 65 miles an hour thursday afternoon. you can see moving off to the northeast. tropical cyclone. we could bring some very strong tides into the west coast of florida. especially high tide thursday any time from noon until 3:00 in the afternoon. so we have to watch the tides especially and we will get squally weather ahead of that. that is what i was talking about with the movement of the spaghetti models here following the path that is which is what the national hurricane center is looking for. the watch is in the coastal centrals of citrus, pasco. hernando. you can see the watch extend into the gulf of mexico. for the inland areas of citrus, hernando, pasco, a tropical storm watch. we could experience strong wind gusts in these airs and on coastal regions. the hurricane hunter aircraft, their trip out there, 39 miles an hour winds. is what they have been able to determine within the center of the storm, wherever the center convection. the bright red, the orange. the center of circulation kind of exposed as a result of wind shear still going on. maybe a bit more organized. it is something we will continue to watch here. at the very least, though the storm could go further to our north and go inland as a tropical storm, remember, as we saw back in june, with colin, it doesn't take much to change that wind direction. push wat tides. can cause local flooding and we could still get very tropical rains around the eastern side. >> thank you very much steve. governor rick scott and tampa bay mayor bob buckhorn talked about preparing for the storm. >> everybody has to be careful. we don't want any loss of life. everybody has to follow the weather. follow the local news. help us help you. be smart the next couple of days. we don't want to come and get you. so, don't put our folks at risk. >> pasco county emergency managers are warning people about the heavy rain from the expected storm. the head of emergency management says the county is anticipating up to ten inches of rain along the coastline with 35 to 40 miles an hour winds. what does that mean for our going down on structures, on cars. we have trees going to power lines. >> the head of emergency management told us today there is no evacuation order in place but he advised residents in low lying areas to be aware and leave if they have to. cities like saint petersburg learned lessons from tropical storm colin in june when it caused massive flooding and sewage problems. melanie michael found some closely. >> reporter: after four decades of marriage, richard and jan have seen a storm or two. they know when it comes to weathering bay area weather, timing and patience is everything. >> we are taking it seriously. we are taking it in stride. but, like she said, we have a hurricane box pack. and we are ready if we have to go. >> reporter: here at woody's, customers saw savage storms in june. tropical storm colin showed us just how mother nature to hurricane season. >> everything that has happened that has led us to this point i think has helped us improve. >> reporter: saint petersburg mayor rick reisman calls colin a dress rehearsal. the sewers are free, the preparations are bigger. law enforcement will be checking on folks throughout the storm to make sure everyone melanie michael, newschannel8. the threat of tropical weather forced the bucs to move thursday night's game against the redskins up a game. the game will now be held tomorrow night. wednesday night. you will be able to watch it right here on newschannel8. our programming will move to me tv. well, it is primary day in florida. your chance to cast your vote. the polls just c bay area. while polls in the panhandle are open one more hour. numerous local races are on the ballot, but the biggest race pits marco rubio against carlos beruff for the republican senate. candace mccowan is live. >> reporter: good evening jen. the party started within the last 30 minutes. you the see the folks starting to stream into the room here. many of them starting to pack results here this evening. they have these monitoring up here on the wall where they are hoping to watch the results come in throughout the night. now, it shouldn't be a long way for the crowd. rubio is expected to beat out carlos beruff by at least 50 points according to a poll taken several weeks ago. we spoke with beruff and asked him about the past few weeks where his ad spending has gone down. he said hey, i didn't stop spending on ads. i just went to print ads as opposed saying he is spending about a million dollars this week. he says it is not a sign of defeat. he is still holding out hope. but the polls are not in his favor. a lot of people will be here watching to see the results this evening. we will continue to be here throughout the evening and have updates coming up at 8:00 on wtta. live in kissimmee, candace mccowan, newschannel8. mistakes made on the job at one bay area polling place led to a poll worker being fired on went wrong on the lakeside avenue in lakeland. >> reporter: a registered independent voter was told there were not any ballots. according to an election spokesperson, the poll clerk was confused. the voter was allowed to cast a vote in spite of the mistake. the person who made the mistake was fired. a similar incident happened in the march primary. >> they told us it was a republican primary. >> reporter: this involves workers at a different precinct in polk county. luckily, she stood up for her right to vote and the ballots magically appeared. 8 on your side checked back in to make sure things went smoothly. >> everyone was perfect. >> reporter: despite that, she thinks workers need more training, especially after hearing about this latest incident. >> maybe teach people better or do something to make the system work better. >> reporter: we are told the worker that was fired had been an election employee for years. coming in soon. when they do, we will have them for you on wfla.com. and at the bottom of your screen here on newschannel8 throughout the evening. well, it is not unusual to see a house filled with cats or dogs but this is a little different t pasco deputies and code enforcement officers found about 100 chickens cooped up inside a home on sand sierra way. yep, inside the home. the owner faces several charges including failure to appear on another code enforcement violation. still ahead. >> simone biles is arguably the greatest gymnast of all times. now her coach has moved here to sarasota to give us an inside look at how simone achieved >> simone biles is arguably the greatest gymnast on the planet and her long time coach is her name is amy boorman. >> reporter: a six-year-old girl named simone biles caught the attention of her mother. >> you nearly discounted the greatest gymnast in the world. >> absolutely. you need to listen to your mother. >> saw simone for herself. she became her coach and trained her for years. >> she knows where she is in the air at all times. when you see tall flipping and the twisting that is something you can't teach. >> reporter: simone biles' secret is her joy, the silly sarcastic young woman knows how to have fun while competing hard and it was boorman who led her from one achievement to the next. the pair reached incredible mission, she is the new gymnastics coach in ebo, sarasota. john rogers, newschannel8. apple is ready to fight back against a massive tax bill. that story is coming up. >> plus, what's the best bay area college for smoking some weed? a new national ranking awarding that dubious distinction and several others to local ? ? the ford freedom sales event is on! our biggest event of the year just got better! ? ? ire lineup of ford cars, trucks and suvs. plus, tagged vehicles now get a thousand smart bonus. that's freedom from interest... and freedom to choose with ford. america's best selling brand. ? ? now get 0% financing for 72 months across the entire ford lineup, >> the dow dropped 48 points today. apple is facing a massive tax bill and promming to fight it. the billion plus interest paid to the irish government. they claim apple received illegal tax benefits. ceo tim cook says they never asked for or received a special deal in ireland and they will fight. the u.s. could end up receiving less tax money. some bay area colleges and universities have captured the attention of the princeton review, but it is notlessly for everything from the best library, to the most marijuana use. >> reporter: the university of tampa has a vocal student body according to the princeton review. ut ranks number 5 on the list of most politically active students. >> i think this is really a politically minded campus because of the business majors and people like that who are trying to change the world and make it a better place. >> the prevailing attitude across the country sensorship. everything has to think the same. but they value different opinions here. >> reporter: perhaps students are carefully studying candidates at the mcdonald schmel library. new college of florida in sarasota also makes the top 20 list for politically active students. and again, is is a top 20 for return on investment. but, the school ranks in the food and the interest in intramural and collegiate sports. in saint pete, eckerd college ranks high on the reefer madness list. that is how widely used marijuana is among the student body. florida southern in lakeland is a top ten winner for most beautiful campus. and a top 20 when it comes to intramural sports. the university of south florida and saint leo university don't list. meridith sinsulo, newschannel8. the princeton review ranks the top party schools each year as well. the university of wisconsin madison is number one and the university of florida and florida state made the list as 18th and 20th respectively. if you have been cheated. when you need help, she's on your side. better call behnken. last night, shannon behnken told us about the sophisticated computer hacking scheme that robbed a woman of her life savings and today, she stayed on the case. >> reporter: cheryl johnson is shocked and devastated. a scammer hacked into her real estate agent's e-mail and intercepted her wire transfer instructions leaving cheryl to wire her $51,000 down payment for a new home directly to a scammer's account at bank of america. >> they should have processes in place >> reporter: cheryl figured out the con in time to get her money back. she told the story to the bank. cried in their lobby. begged for help. but the bank manager turned her away. >> how do you feel about the fact they didn't stop this crack? >> i'm very angry. that was my life savings. my house. i couldn't close because i don't have the money. i'm borrowing money to try to do it. bank of america dropped the ball. >> reporter: hey matthew, it is tampa. >> reporter: i called bank of america in atlanta but the spoke man didn't have much to say. >> seems like crying in the lobby wasn't enough for the bank manager to take her seriously and stop this crook. >> reporter: so how did this happen? elizabeth newguard, the real estate agent did not guard her e-mail. she sent the highly sensitive financial instructions using a nonencrypted e-mail. ou investigation shows that newguard should have known better. a scammer alert was issued to the real estate community months ago saying e-mail is not a secure way to send financial information. and your real estate professionals or title company should know that. the alert warns to have "security software up to date." but newguard's boss at boyd culpable. cheryl wants to know who is. >> the bank says it's not them. i asked if they are investigating what their employees did and they said no. but, they did say that they would be willing to work with law enforcement on an investigation. shannon behnken, 8 on your side. 76 degrees, overcast in lakeland at the moment. almost a half inch of rain. temperature falling so nice evening for us. but the humidity clearly will be there. 82 degrees at saint the loews don cesar. winds will increase from the south over the coming days here. the next two days especially as the tropical system remain to the west. freedom plaza in sun city center. overcast conditions. 80 degrees with a northeast wind. at hula bay. 80 degrees as well with an east wind at 4 miles an hour. 82% humidity. bucs are playing tomorrow night. redskins, 80 degrees for this game. and note the possibility of seeing some passing showers that could be quite heavy at certainly is there. bring that rain slicker slicker that says tampa bay bucs. you can see some of the northern counties, western sections of citrus county. also a few showers have developed. a few thunderstorms south of palm harbor. north of clearwater. and they are slowly drifting it looks like to the northwest. decent downpours here. looks like around, gillette, ellington area. venice, all the way engelwood and north port. 4:00 p.m., 85 degrees. temperatures will be on the cooler side. you can see where we are relative to the center of that tropical depression. and how it starts to take control of the flow from south to north. that will be the way the showers and the winds will be coming the next couple of days. still a tropical depression. 65 miles an hour winds. note the time stamp here. thursday at 2:00 p.m. going into the north in the big bend area, but still, the colin in june. doesn't take much to change that wind direction. so the rain chance tomorrow, on and off through the day, 70% with the breezier condition. the winds likely stronger thursday. 80% chance of showers. 60% friday as things start to improve. and, potential tropical storm pulls away from us into the atlantic. by the weekend, things normalizing to some degree and the highway coming back a little bit. the heat. we will continue to watch it. changeable. it hasn't strengthened into a tropical storm. that's gas concerned. >> i totally agree. hey, we have something else that is good. >> i know. >> max defender 8. we really need a lightning bolt sound or something to make that more dramatic. the dome went on top of the tower. >> the tower is 100 feet tall. >> taller than you steve jerve. >> that's not possible. >> it is very unlikely. but possible. >> this is a great technology. hopefully, we will get it going. the idea is to try to make you safer. >> science, science, science. max defender 8! >> echo. [ laughter ] >> we'll be right back. >> plus, we are on your side to help get the kids back to school. here is what you will see tomorrow on newschannel8 today. >> concussions. why are girls more prone to them and what school districts are doing to help protect your kids. >> get schooled. >> in case you turned on the tv for the first time in two weeks, something is coming. >> a tropical depression. watch the tides thursday. and coastal flooding potential especially on thursday. so, just stay tuned. >> we will hang with you the next couple of day. >> that will do it for us. have a great night. and he's playing the blame game. >> it's been dragged out way too long. >> who he's calling out now on "extra." ? ? ? ? is "dancing with the stars" olympian ryan lochte's last-ditch effort to save his image and his career? >> i did lie about that >> we are behind the scenes of his big-apple confessional. the incredible shrinking oprah. >> you need to stop, by the way. >> no, no. i'm not going to stop. >> how much weight winfrey's lost and the sexy scene that's giving her ideas in the bedroom for stedman. >> you said it! >> the first pics of sex-crazed anthony weiner since his front-page scandal blew up. >> did he know his marriage was >> new details on gene wilder's final hours. his wife holding his hand and his favorite song playing and why he kept his alzheimer's a secret. >> two superstar couples, two wild late-night date nights. rihanna and drake trying to fake out the photogs. kim k., white hot with kanye. plus do not mess with kaley cuoco. >> i'm doing an interview right now and i'm going to need quiet. >> now on >> from universal studios hollywood, the entertainment capital of l.a. hi, everyone. welcome to "extra." i'm mario lopez. coming up, we're with the new mrs. jeter and leo's leading lady nina agdal in new york. her first words since the car crash. >> also coming up, mario, in today's beauty by the numbers, the three beauty tips every oman needs for the fall. first, dancing's new class was announced and we were the first to break the news that ryan lochte will be joining the show in changing the public's perception. >> in the hot seat. >> i'm human. i made a mistake. >> and finally confessing he lied to the world. >> the thing that i told that wasn't true was having the gun pointed to my forehead and cocked. >> ryan lochte's first live interview since the rio scandal erupted still blaming everyone else for the fallout. >> the media has taken this to a whole new level. >> his gma sitdown as he confirms what "extra" first reported. he's joining the "dancing with the stars" before all of the controversy and now on a potential image-salvaging mission. >> do you still feel like it's a good idea to put yourself out there on a reality tv show? >> this is perfect, because i want to put that behind me. >> new pics ryan snappig selfies with fans and cheryl burke back after a three-season hiatus and the extra special correspondent. >> hi, mario. i'm with the gorgeous gabrielle union. >> put that spray tan and glitter back on. i just can't get rid of it.