Transcripts For WFTS Action News At 530AM 20160810

Abc action news taking you to school. Or your kids at least, with Team Coverage. Were there as we head to several counties as they go back to school. Good morning. Rise and shine. Todays a big day for school kids and parents weve got janelle and ivan standing by now watching both traffic and weather together for you. Any problems on the roads so far . Just lingering construction but so far so good. Weatherwise looking much better than the last couple of days. Even if we had some light rain which we dont, that would be an improvement but titan Doppler Radar right now pretty quiet. I expect that to be the case, you dont have to worry about this morning, it will be dry. By the afternoon though a different story as we transition back into our typical july august pattern now storms. Coverage about 40 to 50 . And well continue to see that. By the way, sunrise coming up at 6 58. It will be dark the next hour andahalf with temperatures in the mid and upper 70s. Reporting clear skies across st. Pete into clearwater. Something we have not seen. Partly cloudy in tampa now so looking pretty good as temperatures generally are in the 70s. Well get back to our temperatures around 90 degrees. And a summer pattern that means morning sunshine. Its a transition so today a lot of clouds in the morning but by tomorrow well to sun and afternoon storms with temperatures around 90 so lets see what we have going, again 89 as we welcome back a lot of kids. Hundreds of thousands. Remember that teacher that gave you homework on the first day . We didnt like that. But the parents, now you realize, good teacher. I like homework. Give them something to do. Corey dierdorff is stationed at the home depot not the home depot, the Pinellas County. They are already moving. They are on their way. Several others getting ready to head out. A replieppedder for drivers, even if you dont have kids going to school your commute is going to be a little longer. If i were you i would leave a good 10 to 15 minutes earlier than you were leaving to get to work over the summer, a lot more people on the roads. I275 at i4, the buses are heading out in Hillsborough County as well. I just saw a couple of them drive right by the interchange here so again, use caution if make sure you stop and obey all the traffic rules. This is a live look at i275 and fowler, looking great on the interstates. No crashes or breakdowns to tell you about. Here are the drive times on 275. 14 minutes from the apex to i 4. Five minutes busch to i4 and just five minutes if youre starting in the downtown area trying to get 5 3p students no doubt excited about the fresh start a new school year brings. And failing schools trying to turn around. Lets talk to ryan smith outside Booker T Washington Elementary School with their plans to try and improve. Reporter good morning. The new principal tells me what some call challenges here at Booker T Washington she sees as opportunities. I got the chance to sit down with the new principal yesterday for conversation. And shes an extremely passionate person, especially when it comes to her new role. And some of the new ways to retain Student Interest at the school. I have to say this goes beyond the classroom. First, they are taking a survey to find out what interests students outside of traditional subjects like science and math. Staff will compile that information and create clubs and activities that can be later tied back to the lets research. Lets learn about it. Lets bring that learning back into the classroom. We want to have kids coming home excited about what they did that day. And being able to express i was out in the garden, this is what i learned and this is what i did. Reporter many know Booker T Washington has long carried an fgrade by state academic standards. But the principal says the first step in this turnaround this year is shedding the misconception thats come with so lots of new ways she says to help that turnaround looking forward to this year. Ryan smith, abc action news. We continue our backto school Team Coverage in Pinellas County where students are going from a crumbling old school to a brand new one. Abc action News Reporter Lauren Rozyla is live outside Largo High School with a look at the new programs that could put graduates in well paying jobs right out of school. Used to be basically crumbling, it was falling apart but no more. The school was built in 1957 but look, this is the beautiful new building. Full of these blue lights that you can actually see right from the street. Look inside. At this building. And state of the art classrooms. But administrators will tell you they are actually the most proud of the new technical programs launching this year. This includes automotive. Students who graduate here get a certification in that and that almost guarantees them a local job paying well above 10 an hour. Gives students more opportunities to be able to move on after high school. Its very important for us to for kids to have the skills to be successful. Once they leave Largo High School. Reporter theres already a county and and a halfers and industry professionals manufacturers and industry professionals already signed on and hopefully will hire students for these programs. The school cost 63 million to build and about three years to get to this point. Live in largo, Lauren Rozyla, abc action news. Weve got you covered throughout the eye out for any problems with Team Coverage all across the bay area. You can also look up all our schoolrelate School Related stores on abcactionnews. Com and your abc action news mobile app. A peaceful protest overnight marking the second anniversary of Michael Browns death in ferguson, missouri turned violent after a driver hit a protester standing in the middle of the street. Some protesters pulled out driver firing at her car. Take a listen. [gunshots] [screaming] help me no one was hit in the gunfire. Overnight police spoke to the woman, they say shes cooperating with them and believe she didnt see the protester standing in the street. Its not known at this point how bad the protesters injuries are. Later this morning the u. S. Justice department is going to hold a News Conference about its investigation into the Baltimore Police department. The Justice Department d report and finds that Baltimore Police routinely discriminate against blacks repeatedly used Excessive Force and are not adequately held accountable for misconduct. Authorities launched that report after last years death of freddie gray, gray died after suffering a broken neck while in police custody. Checking in with ivan for a look at what to expect at the bus stop. Were going to need the umbrellas later today. Not so much this morning. Unlike last several mornings. Brought the heavy rain continues to push to the west. Still leftover tropical moisture with the heating of the day will result in showers and storms later this afternoon. Ill let you know where they are going to fire and what time coming up. Still to come it was supposed to be a practice drill for officers. To know when and when not to shoot but it took a deadly turn when a gun went off hitting a volunteer. That story coming up. When i was little the ateam was very popular. That tv show. So my dad painted the back of our van with the mteam and all our names. We would always take the first day of School Pictures standing in front of it. We thought it was the best thing ever. Until we got to about high happening today you have the chance to learn about an all new plan to learn about traffic in Hillsborough County. Now Hillsborough County commissioners are giving the first details in a proposal to use 1 3 of tax Revenue Growth to transportation. The funds will improve roads, bridges and public transit. More at a public workshop at 1 30 in the county center on kennedy. Half cent. This new plan would keep tax rates the same. We soon have an option to ride a ferry between tampa and st. Pete. Pinellas county commissioners gave final approval to the plan yesterday. Starting november Ferry Service will run from the Convention Center in downtown tampa to the basin in st. Pete. A oneway ticket will cost about 10. Good morning and good luck to parents who are getting ready to wake those kids up. Its always a struggle in house. It was growing up. Its the first day of school for many of them. We have crews live across the bay area where School Starts in a few hours. If you drive the kids to school the u. S. Department of transportation wants to be sure you remember that safe cars save lives. Get a free safety check on your vehicle today. Experts will look at your tires, car seats, even cross check your vehicle with any recalls. The Hillsborough County Tax Collectors Office is where this cant miss it. A lot of buses out there and well be dry on the roads. That is a big change and just in time from the last couple of days. We still have issues to get through. Well talk about that in a second as far as rainfall to deal with. Mid and upper 70s now but some low 70s to the north. Nature coast 73, 74 which of course we dropped the flood watches we had yesterday and the downpours at this point e still seeing a lot of clouds around but the area of low pressure continues to move further and further west so. Slowly but surely its lost influence on us. Today still getting tropical moisture. The difference is it will translate into afternoon thunderstorms as opposed to the steady heavy rain we had all morning yesterday and the day before and day before that. So back to more typical pattern certainly by thursday. The low is well out of here. Area of High Pressure moves in, giving us that southeasterly flow which will favor those through the afternoon. So here we are by later today, so keep in mind still looking at showers and storms popping up along the coast. That would coincide with pickup time. Were going to see showers and storms later on today. Dry morning but wet afternoon. Then well reset again for thursday, quiet through the morning and afternoon thunderstorms will continue with us. High temperatures today by the way in the upper 80s to lower 90s. With the additional sunshine well keep that it way through thursday and friday. Here coverage through the weekend. So lets head to the Traffic Center and hope to talk about a quiet morning commute so far. We have an issue in pinellas park. But first lets check our cameras behind us here. This is i275 just south of roosevelt and the interstates throughout Pinellas County, throughout st. Pete looking great. Up to speed in both directions. Just want to point out, just got word that 62nd avenue north at 49th street north the on 62nd avenue north. Already seeing showdowns here especially southbound on 49th street north. So if your morning commute takes you through this intersection make sure you give yourself extra time to make the detours. An update now on the cargo ship that sank in the bahamas during a hurricane last october. The black box is now expected back on land this friday. Search teams retrieved the black box monday, they ocean floor. They got it with a remote controlled vehicle. The ntsb will now go through the data to figure out exactly why it sank. Democracy 2016 lets go there, republican president ial nominee donald trump says democrats are misinterpreting his comments. Accusing trump of encouraging violence against Hillary Clinton and Supreme Court justices. The Clinton Campaign claims that trump suggested gun rights advocates could take action if she wins in november and names fayetteville, North Carolina he clarified the early statements saying the Gun Rights Movement must vote for him on election day. If you knew where she stood on the Second Amendment where she basically wants to take your safety away. She wants to take your guns away. If Hillary Clinton gets in the Second Amendment, it is under siege. At a rally in texas democr original comments shows he doesnt have the temperament to be president adding the billionaire has no understanding of leadership. Paul ryan wins in a landslide. Could be a bad sign for donald trump. Voters naming ryan the winner of the Wisconsin Republican primary by 84 . He easily defeated paul nealan who trump praised. Trump finally endorsed ryan on depot. The chain is recalling Outdoor Furniture because you could fall it from. It involves the hampton bays fall river swivel dining and lounge chairs. They received more than 400 reports of people falling and hurting themselves. If you have this chair or this furniture contact the company for a new repair kit. We have that information for you posted now on our mobile app, web site and also on our facebook page. Coming up we continue to follow tragic news in punta gorda. An officer doing a demonstration acde were finding out more about the victim. Americas golden boy does it again. As if Michael Phelps needed more gold medals, what he added to the total and how team usa is adding to the overall medal welcome back. Its an exciting day for kids back to school. It will be dry at the bus stop but by the afternoon were in our wet season so afternoon thunderstorms, about 50 coverage with temperatures this afternoon nice and warm approaching 90. Developing this morning working to get more details is shot dead as dozens look on. Abc action News Reporter Rod Blagojevich rod abc action News Reporter Rodney Dunigan is live outside the Punta Gorda Police department. We understand this happens during a Citizens Police academy . Reporter thats right. In fact the woman killed was one of 35 people participating in the Citizens Academy at the time they were going through a roleplaying activity called shoot dont shoot. The officer involved was actually playing the bad in that gun, unfortunately he shot that woman with a live round. Now about two dozen people witnessed this last night. The victim in the case has been identified as mary knowlton. From information we gathered she was a librarian with the Scott County Public Library system. She was also known to be active in the community. Police say the scenario is decision to use lethal force. Mary knowlton was in a free eightweek session for people willing to learn about local civics. The officer involved has been placed on administrative leave. At this point his identity hasnt been released. The Police Department handed this entire investigation over to fdle. Well be here throughout the morning gathering more information on this victim and the investigation. Very sad case for now reporting live in punta gorda, Rodney Dunigan, abc action news. This morning there are new complaints that a kansas water slide was dangerous even before a 10yearold was killed on it last weekend. We learned just days ago that 10yearold caleb schwab died from a neck injury on the water slide billed the worlds tallest. Now people are coming forward saying their complaints to park staff about the slide were ignored. Several people who rode that down come loose and say it was not a smooth ride. We didnt think much of it. We told the people at the bottom we told them about getting out of the thing and they really didnt say anything. Reporter caleb schwab was killed sunday while riding the slide, thats 68 feet high. So far no official word on what went wrong. A Memorial Service for caleb is planned for friday. This morning team usa continues to lead the medal mostly thanks to one man. China is second place. Japan with 14 and three golds. Russia also three golds, 12 australia making the top five with nine total. Oh, that one man i mentioned, americas golden boy of course Michael Phelps added to the record medal count winning two helped the u. S. Win the mens 4 by 200 meter fourstyle relay for the fourth consecutive olympics. Phelps now won 25 medals, 21 of them are gold. Theres controversy in rio, the diving pool chained color. You can see the Swimming Pool in the left was the normal blue, on the right the diving pool turned green yesterday olympic Officials Say they tested the water and it pose no, sir risk for athletes but are investigating caused that color to change. Still ahead weve got complete coverage as the kids head back to school today. From the bus stop forecast to traffic you might run into on your way in. And changes coming to hillsborough and pinellas new leadership at Booker T Washington with fresh ideas. Coming up ill unveil the new plans they have for improving student achievement. Gone are the old air conditioners and broken pipes. The changes students are most excited about at the brand new Largo High School. Thank you for joining us on abc. Im james tully sitting in for dan shaffer. Im deiah riley. Its a big day for both and parents this morning. Were going to go live to our crews in the feel in a moment field in a moment but first we get you out the door. Janelle . Big situation in pinellas park. Well get to that in a moment. Youre going to want to hear this. Its not weatherrelate sod were in better shape than the last couple of days. With the downpours. If you look, at the very top left corner of the screen that is it. That is where the showers are, heaviest rain so were now just mostly cloudy, some sunshine in the morning as well and then back to our typical afternoon here. Of course it should be fall but its not. Were in the midst of our wet season. Sunrise 6 58. By pickup time youll need umbrellas. Any time this time of year despite the fact it wont rain in the morning youll need that rain gear by the afternoon. So typical pattern setting up, 50 coverage i think for today. That will be showers and storms in the afternoon. Warmer temperature. Back to near 90 degrees this afternoon. Some areas in fact going into the low 90s with the additional sunshine there. So finally, were our summer pattern here which of course has been missing, some areas to the north upwards of 10 inches in the last few days. So thankfully just in time we squeezed it out dry at least on the roads. Dry roads for the first day of school for many students. Corey dierdorff is at the bus depot in largo where many buses have already left. Others are getting ready to leave. So kids, they are coming for you. If youre waiting at the School Bus Stops there. Also, just a good tip. Remind your students, parents,