right now at ten - a sarasota firefighter is in big trouble.. >> right now at 10:00, a sarasota firefighter is in big trouble after being accused of sexting with an underage girl. >> a couple in bradenton are facing charges for whipping their daughter with a belt. and parents weigh in, to spank or not to spank. >> you can't keep an animal that size in captivity. whales at seaworld. today, what peta has to say about it. >> good evening, i'm sirnt i can't shoot in for kelly ring. >> and first up here at 10:00, a sarasota county firefighter off the job, accused of sexting with a 17-year-old girl and what's more, deputies say this guy, aaron was actually doing it while he was on duty. josh, disturbing, none the less. >> yeah, mark, aaron key's text messages are being used against him some of which were sent from this fire station behind me and in the texts he seems to acknowledge what he is doing is wrong and illegal but deputies say he kept doing it. >> deputies say when he was not fighting fires, 44-year-old aaron key was playing with fire, 17 years old, it sent shivers down the spine of his neighbor. >> it's awful, i had no idea. >> he apparently met her at an applebee's and saves his income income numb number on her phone. she told him she was 17 but that didn't stop him. and he asked for nude pictures of the girl which she sent, and in a text he said you drive me crazy, i know you are young. you are the most beautiful woman that i have ever seen. >> in you are more interested in sexting and tecting texting and not taking care of people's homes. trust we expect our employees to act with integrity and accountability. he is charged with a felony. >> that is absolutely horrible and just goes to show you never know what your neighbors are doing. >> and key was released from jail on $50,000 bond. he is facing up to 15 years in prison. >> josh cascio, reporting for us, josh, thanks. >> and deputies with looking for a man they think stole al car with a toddler inside before abandoning both a sort time later. the child was in the care of a family friend who left the toddler in the car for a few minutes while she was into the pharmacy, but the car and child were later gone. parking lot with the child inside unharmed. >> and 26-year-old pauline lee and her fiance were arrested for spanking their child with a belt. polls show that most americans with okay with spanking but where do you draw the line? >> it's difficult to make the call but parents seem to feel that multiple hits leaving bruises is definitely exe excessive. according to a medical examiner she was hit many times and had bruises. any time there are welts or bruises left on the body it can be considered child abuse. not against the practice of spanking they say it is important to know your limits. >> that is not the purpose. you are not to make your child scared of you but show them, you know, don't do this again. >> talking things out has always prun proven to be more effective but i have not ruled out using corporal punishment. >> both parents are being held without bond at the manatee county jail. their daughter is in the custody of child protective services. and coming up i will tell you how many american adults say they do or would spank their children, and the number might surprise you. >> well, two people have been arrested that deputies say were taking advantage of people, rosalita santos and alejandra solis claimed they could bless and cleanse money and they services on a local hispanic radio station, and detectives say in addition to blessing the money, sometime they took the money, replacing it at times with counterfeit bills. police are warning people for watch out and the two women have bonded out of jail. >> and all u.s. and florida state flags are fly at after staff tomorrow and the funeral for deputy katila junior will be held tomorrow and we will carry that on air live. >> seaworld says it will no longer breed killer whails killer whales and the whales will also stop doing the ceo announced people are becoming uncom comfortable with the situation. >> mixed reaction about a monumental decision by seaworld. >> i think it's sad that the next generation won't be able to kid. >> the no more breeding and the phasing out of breeding programs and a partnership with a former enemy, the humane society of the united states. >> we are former 20-year at ver ad ver adversaries who are coming together. sea world is committing money to become t leading rescue organization in the world. >> all ofnlg of this in response for public pressure. >> we love our whales but we become a growing concern for many people. >> as many as 20 whales live at sea world parks one of which is pregnant, and sea world says families will continue to be entertained at their park, but focused on education and fun. >> think of the rides and the attractions and shows, it's about a direction, it's about as 20 million guests, 20,000 employees, let's be an army of people making the world better. >> seaworld will begin to phase out the shows features the orca's starting next year in san diego and then san antonio and in orlando in 2019. >> there has been mainly a positive response to the announcement but peta released a statement saying for decades, seaworld confinement and to do right by them, seaworld must know open the gates to ocean sanctuaries. >> and many kids became ill. from 4 to 11 years old, and we got the 9-1-1 calls and you hear them coughing in the background. >> there was chlorine and all of the children ran out and they are throwing up, and -- blood, they are coughing and they have tummy aches and chest aches and hearts pounding fast, they are crying -- >> we are told there was a strong smell of chlorine at the pool and it's been shut down. officials say the chlorine levels were double what they so far the apartment complex has not released a at the same statement about what went wrong. >> and that 12,000 petitions were brought to the governor's office to tighten regulations on 65 abortion clinics and cut off funding for those associated with planned parenthood. some say it will cut off access to safe and legal abortions and others hope that the governor will sign it. >> it would make access much harder and although it doesn't outlaw abortion it make it is very, very difficult to access and that is not okay. >> planned parenthood should not get taxpayer dollars and i believe there are plenty of organizations that will take care of women and their health, and i urge the governor to sign this very good women's health bill. >> governor scott teffed received it and coming up, easing up on the marijuana. >> plus a love of baseball has a local family with cuban roots excited tonight. see how they are going to rediscover their heritage. coming up at 10:30. >> and we see some seafog to start the day, sunshine in the afternoon and now we are watching the threat of rain your full forecast is during this extended visit from your extended family, all you want is a peaceful moment to stream your show. and you need enough bandwidth to share with a full house of hungry users. lightning internet from bright house networks. the speed you need. and now connect to... standard tv and 50 megabit lightning internet... only $94 a month >> the city of tampa is easing up when it comes to the. ment for the. punishment for being caught with a small amount of marijuana, up to 20 grams of the drug, and the mayor says he will sign it. >> miranda. >> no. >> suarez. >> yes. >> reddick. >> yes. >> cohen -- >> with a 5-1 vote tampa city council decriminalized the possession of small amount office marijuana. the ordinance has had strong support since it came before council for a vote two weeks ago but opponents still have problems with what they see as a green light for marijuana use. >> we are giving the key to the decide >> but antidrug volunteer has a comment about this message. >> marijuana is not a harmless drug. it is really a dangerous drug. it is much more potent than back in the 70's. ten times stronger. it it is not your daddy's pot. >> instead people will get essentially a traffic ticket and a fine. the first oa offense is $75 increasing each time up to a cap of $450. the law goes into effect after mayor bob buckhorn signs it, and his office says that will happen in the coming days. snell and others worry because the law lacks education or a treatment element. >> not one of these includes an education piece, assessment or treatment and that is what a lot of these people need to get on >> the law will go into effect they say after the mayor signs signs it, according to tpd and they will have a couple of weeks to education officers. >> and ever wonder what christopher columbus' ships looked like? well, now you have a chance so see. the columbus organization recreated the ships and use them to educate people, like a sailing museum. they are open to the public and we have posted the ticket prices and hours, and you can tell you from seeing the jamestown ship replics when you see how tiny those ships are that they came across the ocean in, it's mind boggling. you are like all of these people packed on there together for months. >> that is when salem was -- >> not that it's easy, but -- >> but that was a whole different time. >> and can you imagine sailing without a wrongful weather forecast or nothing the winds or the waves -- >> it was good luck. >> and seafog-wise we saw it but i have not seen much this evening, and i don't see much of it popping up between now and tomorrow morning. the winds are just too variable for the development of seafog. here is the time lapse view from today. across the area, the sun going down throughout the distance, and it's a sign of what is to come. we showed showers earlier this evening, up to the north across kit citrus county, and almanac for morning and the fourth day in a row of lows in the 70's. we are running about # 5 5 degrees above arrange for the month, and you take february out of the mix and it's been an incredibly warm five or six months. periods of showers and storms through the weekend, a perchance on saturday betterchance saturday and into sunday morning, but if you like the cool weather it's not going to be around long. 70 degrees and a dewpoint of 65, and the barometer is steady at 30 inches. 72 currently in brandon. 70 in venice, and 70 in leesburg. dewpoints -- this is the other key to fog. these dewpoints are not as high as they have been been, mid to upper 60's along the coast and inland. this is not as conducive to the development of seafog and so maybe good news on roads for the morning commute that were impacted the past couple of days. there is our west-southwest flow, and this is where it stays overnight and for most of the day on friday. there are going to be a couple of showers that try to make their way into the coast. for the most part they fall apart before moving on shore, but you can't rule out the showers during the day on friday. rain chances 20% and then saturday is our best shot at seeing raip. rain. this future cast model with rain off to the north and the threat is there. but especially saturday afternoon and saturday night. patchy fog out there, mild and humid one. inland upper 80's to near 90. the forecast has 80's the next couple of days and 70's on sundayer and look at the overnight lows, 40's sunday and monday night. >> brrr, does old man winter >> big changing coming to deal diva coming through. you see all my bogos, my weekly ad. my savings. and brace yourself. are coming next. look at her, so proud of her momma. you saved quite a bit today go ahead. say it. cha-ching! the weekly ad, bogos and coupons. three easy ways to save love to shop. publix. where shopping is a pleasure. (vo) making the most out of every mile. that's why i got a subaru love. it's what makes a subaru, just moved to >> a woman who just moved to sarasota got an unusual welcome morning. she decided to go out on her back porch and looked down and saw that, a boa constrictor. three and a half feet long. she called over a neighbor and they called police and the snake was actually friendly, and so it may have been someone's pet or >> i'm terrified of snakes and when i saw that thing, i was bustin' through the front door. >> that snake is now with sarasota animal services. they are going wait five days to see if someone claims it and if not, it will go to perhaps a licensed reptile handler. >> and look at this. officials at the airport say their old tower was outdated and short and this one is three times higher so that air-traffic controllers are see twice and far. it has all after the bells and whistles and they are hoping that this will convince noaa to relocate its hurricane hunter planes from macdill to lakeland. >> here we are in the waning hours of st. paddy's day, and in the country to celebrate awarding to wallet hub. >> some folks are showing their irish pride in dunedin. >> we so look forward to this, dunedin is amazing. and they are so ready to party. >> everyone has a great time, drinking, dressing up and partying together. have you seen how happy people are here? >> i've been dancing will four years. >> we have been preparing for today for about a month or two. >> you dance to the beat of the bagpipes and it's great that people are interested and they stop to watch. >> we've been coming here so long we get to see the young tiny bagpipes get older and graduate to the bigger bagpipes as their skill level increases. >> it's unique because it traces back so far. these dances have like history to them. >> they usually have little cards and up on the stage and some of them describe the dancing. >> you absorb the food and dance and mousse i guess music and it's a lovely family holiday and does not have to be about drinking at all. >> well done, indeed. and while we are on the subject of irish pride, one bay area marchs band will be in the weekend. and still come to at 10:00 just days a head of an historic trip family is the bigger the burrito, the bigger the fun. dunkin's new grandde burrito -- a breakfast burrito packed with big southwest flavor. go grande with veggie or sausage today. put more fun in your day with ice-cream-flavored coffees at dunkin' donuts. go for delicious flavors like butter pecan, enjoy one today. america runs on dunkin'. u >> okay, updating you now on the push for president obama's high court nominee. today merrick garland sat down with several lawmakers but so far he has not met with a single republican. >> he hardly needed an introduction. he was on capitol hilda hill, today for informal meetings with democratic lawmakers this on a day when the left called on the gop to hold hearings and an up and down vote. >> we stand with people who have to do their jobs and who wouldn't be able to say there is a part of my job i don't like, >> all we are asking is for the republicans to do their job. >> in fact, garland attended harvard law, and like other justices he served on the powerful d.c. circuit court and prosecutor. but gop leaders say it's not about the person. it's about the process. >> republicans have made our position on this very clear and that we will give the american people a voice and the opportunity this year to debate the role of the supreme court in our system of government. >> grassily is chairman of the senate judiciary committee made up of 20 members, 11 republicans, nine democrats and along with mitch mcconnell, grassily and the republicans get the final day on whether garland gets a look now or after the election but that could be risky. >> nothing will happen unless that end at least right now, garland remains a relative longshot, and while several gop lawmakers have agreed to meet with the judge, chairman grassily says maybe, maybe not, and will leader will mcconnell says he won't. >> developing tonight, north korea has launched a medium-range ballistic missile into the sea, coming just days after kim jung-un says his county will develop a missile capable of reaching the united states. >> and senator rubio withdraw from the race after failing to garner any wins including his home state of florida. he spoke with supporters on the race and what the future holds >> i'm not going to be anybody's vice president and i'm not interested, and i don't mean that in a disrespectful way, i'm not running for governor of florida. i'm going to finish out my term in the senate, and work really hard, we have things we want to chief and i achieve and i will be a private citizen after that. >> he added that he believes that donald trump getting the nomination would damage the conservative movement. >> governor crist is crist -- outside st. pete city hall, a majority of councilmembers and the mayor endorsed crist for his bid for congress. and councilmember kennedy says crist has with a what it takes to get things done in washington. >> the reason i endorse charlie to work in a cooperative fashion to get things accomplished. i believe charley will be able to shake up the partisan gridlock and will become what we want in a representative in congress. >> crist is currently battling battling lind. >> and fox 13 has obtained details of the state inspector general and it found that charles pasano abused his position of power for personal gain. he authorized a purchase of candles from a candle company his wife owns and a hot tub and also free tampa bay rays tickets from a fair vendor. of the fair when a teen was elected in 2014. the teen died trying to cross i-4. >> and for the first time there in decades there is direct mail service from the united states to cuba. the president wrote to a woman who had been writing to him nation. >> and the rays will also be making the historic trip and it's hoped it will be a part of restoring an old connection. steam trips ran between the island and the u.s. >> but when castro came to power, most of that just stopped but now tampa nativing are hoping to rediscover their roots. cuban-american family. and for phil nuez, the love of the latin beat is only matched by his love of baseball. this is him in useful more than 70 years ago. >> i'm 87, and there were not many people i could talk to but they have not lived to be my age. >> he never thought he would live to see the rays play in cuba but phil and his son mario will be there for the game. >> we'll be in the stands watching the game and i will look over and say pop, here we are. >> mario visited the island two years ago o , finally seeing the places he had heard about all of his life. phil was 18 the last time he visited in 1947. cigar factories, fill's dadder dad made many trips on the tampa-to-cuba steamships. >> what did he do? >> see people? >> his family, brothers and nef nephews. >> but the connection ended with castro in 1959, and things changes and the connections with cousin, aunts and uncles were lost. >> we lost contact and that was it. >> but a preseason baseball game would signal a new season and renew old connections with baseball as a bridge. >> maybe even find a long hurricane -lostcousin, with a bation for passion for baseball and a latin beat. >> the rays will play the cuban team next tuesday. phil nuez lands in cuba sunday for the first time since 1947. and our sports director and political editor will be covering the ray's game and president obama's visit, be sure to look for their reports all next week. very interesting, the whole thing is fascinating. and we are hearing about a special graduation ceremony for a tennessee high school stiewnlt student battling cancer. >> his class mates mainly graduated while he was battling battling cancer but his friends and family wanted to make sure they are so proud that he did not give up. >> i am so proud to call peyton my son. through all three of these battles. and he is definitely been an inspiration to the entire dixon county and i am proud to call him my son. >> peyton's health is still pretty fragile. doctors say he may not make it to the end of the school year but he says he is staying positive and is thankful for all of the support he is receiving. >> and we always hear that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but this may surprise you. saying that two coming up tonight at 11... a pep rally at a >> coming up at the top of the hour, a pep rally at florida high school takes a turn for the worse when a performer accidentally sets himself on fire. students had to be rushed to the hospital, what he says went wrong and how everybody is doing. and then there is a recall for something you may have right in your pantry. thousands of cans of tuna. >> and we all know how important eating breakfast is for our health but for some students, two breakfasts may be better. the cleveland clinic found that students who skipped or didn't have breakfast on a regular basis were more than twice as likely to be overweight or obese home or school. those who wait two breakfasts were not any heavier than anyone else, and the study concluded that meals at school do benefit children's healed. >> health. >> and now a new device can at the point you how well you slept and how much exercise you need, and it may even offer you a bit of encouragement. the alexa will tell you everything you need. >> mission to my in addition to my wife, i need alexa to snap me into shape, and the bolts in today will todaywill coming up next. >> i want to say sorry musical apology that what does fresh epcot mean? maybe it's sampling seasonal dishes... ...enjoying hand-picked music or seeing locally grown topiaries. whatever you pick here, the epcot international flower and garden festival... ...is certified fresh epcot. experience a year of fun and all four theme parks with a florida resident annual 3 first up in tonight's trending.. a little march >> tonight's trending a little march madness, and if you have the messenger app, you can have fun with this. if you have the latest version of this app and you send someone a basketball emoji you just tap it and surprise, you get to play pop-a-shot, just swipe and shoot and if you make ten baskets then the game gets harder because the hoop moving back, and you don't get much done throughout your workday. >> we have to get ten now, we are so close. >> i believe this is being played live in our control room -- >> whoever is playing is pretty good, but how are they at the three-pointer. >> and you know nobody says sorry like adelle but that didn't stap stop this guy from trying for the things i've done, and i'll try to be stronger -- >> his name is brian earl taylor and this is the sentencing hearing and he is trying to sing an adelle-style sorry to the judge, his mother and victim. he was convicted of a felony for unlawful imprisonment and carrying a gun but says he is trying to turn his life around. i'm not sure how far that went with the judge. >> too bad "american idol" is over. >> and he did try it. >> i love this story, this is trending on my facebook page. and we have amazing students in the tampa bay area, from great schools but check this out. this is the ltc school having a dance-a-thon to raise money for >> we raised this year -- all at once, $21,000! >> how about that? >> wow, that is a lot of dancing. >> that is a lot of dancing for pretty much a small school. it has a lot of support, great students and teachers and hats off to all of the panthers -- >> and how long did they dance? >> eight hours all day long, and all of that money is going to children's hospital. >> good for them. >> all right, let's go sports now. being on the road can wear a team down but the lightning is actually one ofort strongest teams in the league away from home, in fact, they have only lost one road trip longer than three games all season. and a special moment at the start with brendan retiring. kucherov deflects it in off the skate, not too shabby. dallas responding after nearly ever goal, tieing it up there, but stamkos has a great goal, his second on the night bringing him up to 33. this one currently many progress, and tampa bay is up 3-2, and now to baseball. the rays taking on the phillies. longoria left the game after fouling the ball off of his lift shin, and he may be on the d.h. tomorrow. the first batter of the game, no ill effects from getting beaned on the left he will joe the elbow the other day. schaffer adds to t lead in fact the rays this one goes yard, his first to the spring and the rays outslug the phillies 6-1 today. and in havana cuba, the ballpark is undergoing final preparations. the park seats 55,000 fans and the place will be jumpin' come tuesday. >> well, i'm hoping to brush up on my spanish so i can interact with some of the people over there but outside of that just being there as a baseball player representing the tampa bay rays and not only the rays but major league baseball and our game here. i think is going to be a very special opportunity for us. >> the bucs have signed another free agent, 34 former raven one-year contract with the bucs. the previous nine years he was in jacksonville where he played under smith. and even as an aging middle linebacker he tallied -- tackles -- -- scoreless in the first five minutes but don't worry this was not a shut-out. they get on the boards, but valpo opens up t lead, with a nice pass inside to alex peters leading scorer and they give up the fly pattern to vickers and ended up going away, 81-69 ending florida state's season. florida plays their second round coming up this sunday against ohio state. >> not the state of florida's year for basketball. that we are locally focused on. >> we know the big dance. all right, still come to, police man hunt to there's no one road out there. no one surface... no one speed... no one way of driving on each and every road. but there is one car that can conquer them all. the mercedes-benz c-class. five driving modes let you customize the steering, shift points, and suspension to fit the mood you're in... and the road you're on. the 2016 c-class. lease the c300 for $399 a month at your local >> welcome back. once again we have the fog around this morning across the area, but afternoon sun, filters sun and high clouds that set the stage for a nice looking sunset out there, this one from belleair beach, and just a beautiful sky out there, tashen tarpon south sunset it was and a sign of what's to come over the next couple of days. high clouds with a little bit more of that late this evening and more to come tomorrow. some of you may have seen a ring around the moon tonight, that is basically high clouds over the moon and the ice crystals refracting the light around the moon in that ring. it may look out because that is what it does, and it's usually a harbinger of rain to come and that's what it is, rain coming this weekend. 86 in bartow, 89 in sebring and 86 in wesley chapel, 85 in broomsville, and notice cooler weather on the coast. water temperatures are warm, back into the mid 70's but not warm enough to get the temperatures from getting up to the mid 80's. upper 80's throw, though as you head as you head inland, and so just slightly less humid. and you see the west-southwest flow across the area, and future cast continues to show a few showers out there tomorrow, rain chances generally 20%, and maybe up north closer to 30 opinions, but a better chance of showers and thunderstorms friday night and again during the day on saturday. your forecast over the next couple of days temping warm friday and saturday, and much cooler beyond in a into monday, we'll talk more about the rain chances and the cooler temperatures coming up in just a bit. >> how about some s. paddy's day between for stocks? surging back into positive territory for the year, meantime it's getter more expensive to borrow money for the american dream, we are now above 3.7%, but still historically low, and according to a new survey, around half of companies out to school for extra job training and many of the companies are paying for those classes. that's business, i'm neil cavuto. >> thank you, neil, and how about our numbers. similar numbers, this is odd here. and new at 10:00, striking it rich without playing the lottery. a california homeless man landed a huge prize helping police catch two suspects. he led them to a stolen van that he thought was suspicious back in july and turns out that was the van two escaped prisoners were living in after breaking out of jail, he was living on the street outside of golden gate park and he called police ending a nation-wide man hunt of reward money and he says he plans to help his son and disabled daughter. >> thank you, mark. right now at 11:00, a couple behind bars over a spanking that went too far. >> you don't need to spank them to the point that they are scared of you. >> how badly they hurt their young daughter and how it's reigniting the discipline debate. and a carjacker strikes stealing a car with a child inside. where that car and child are now. >> everyone was screaming and bolting for the door. >> how this seasoned former accidentally set himself on fire. >> we begin at 11:00 with this bradenton couple facing chilled abuse charges. police say they whipped their young daughter with a belt at