And 60s in saint paul Manatee County. Just a few sprinkles and light showers drifting across the area but nonothing to really write home abouout. We do have some pretty big storms right now south of tallahassee. Thats drifting to the east southeast. Rough timing for that heavy rain moving through, maybe between 1212 pm and roughly 4 pm. Kind of smack dab in the middle of the day. We could see a heavy downpour are two possible. Possssible partly cloudy, a shower possible, temperatures in the upper 70s upper 80s, with scattered midday showers and storms. In breaking news a motorcyclist is dead after an earlymorning crash on kennedy boulevard. It happened right here downtown. With the victims family yet, so officers really arent getting a lot of details. As soon as we get any information, we will be s sure to let you know. We now know that 62 people are dead after a plane crash in russia. It looks like weather may have caused the disaster. The airliner from dubai was trying to land in southern russia when it went down. You can see some emergency vehicles there. 55 passengerers and seven crews crew members that. They are now reporting that visibility was extremely low. We will be sure to check the wires and let you know as soon as we get any other details. In the meantime several families out of their homes after a two alarm fire in madeira beach. Fire rescue telling us it started as a grease fire in the but thankfully nobody was hurt. A bay area heros life honored for serving selflessly. Deputy john kotfila save somebodys life by slamming his crcruiser straight into the path of a wrong way driver. They said goodbye to the man who made that brave choice. He earned it he deserved it. He was not defined by one moment in time. And emotional day for sure enforcement officers fromom around the country came to pay their respects. John holloway shows us the deputy. Filled the church is one of the bravest men to ever wear a deputys uniform was laid to restst. Among family and frieiends were some of the states highest all there to pay their final respects to Deputy Kotfila , just 30 years s old. John was born to serve others. It was in his da dna. His father and uncle as wewell as brother all in Law Enforcement. I thought i couldnt be more proud on his graduation but i am more proud of him now for what he did. After the touching service there was a 21 gun salute outside the churchs courtyard and 1600 Law Enforcement stood at attention and saluted. And finally a call out for the deputy who madede his final call saturday mororning along the salmon expressway. That was jen holloway reporting. Right now the deputys casket is on its way to massachusetts for final interment. The onlyly surviving paris attacker, europes most wanted, is finally in custody. Police captured him and four other people during a raid in belgium. All lips home was on the run the attacker was on the run. Investigators believe hes one of 10 isolated isis members involved in the attacks. Trey walker died at a miami hospital. He crashed his dirt bike into an suv. Were told he did not have a helmet on or the lights even on. Walker was selected in the draft by baltimore. He was just 23 years old. Moving onto your vote. Former gop nominee mitt romney is back in texas. Senator ted cruz is voting romney did not use the word endorsement, but he is encouraging republicans to strategically vote to stop donald trump. He said a vote for Governor John Kasich makes it extremely likely that trump would win. Now both cruz and kasich arare responding. In my book when someone says i am voting for you and i encourage everyone else to vote you for you, thats pretty darn good. I am the only one who can beat Hillary Clinton so maybe they ought to knocock it off and get behind me. Meanwhile trump is facing threats outside the political realm and the front runner arrested. The Hacking Group anonymous posted what they called his social security. It appears it was just some kind of lemonade mix but investigatining. Tomorrow president barack obama will take his historic trip to cuba. They are making lastminute preparations including seeing that the Capital Building was ready. That building in havana looks a lot like the us capitol here that was built in 1929 but abandoned after the communist revolution. For the past five years crews worked to restore the building to its former glory. And our own kekeith cate is on his waway there to bring you complelete coverage of the president s trip. Hihis reports will begin tomorrow riright here on news channel 8. Looking forward to that. After hosting the Special Olympics summer games for 16 honors ofoff to another venue. Find out whos gegetting involved and find out wherere the Special Olympics will be today. You are getting a live look outside downtown tampa. Its just about 6 certainly. 6 08. I get out of workpand i go to the store, and somemebody s,psmellin around, mmm i smell cookies. I say, oh no, you just smell me. I just got o out of work. That s honey bunchess s all. Most weekends only last a couple of days. Some last a lifetime. Hampton. We go together. Book at hampton. Com the Special Olympics kick off thisis morning in a new home. A local high school is hosting after a long tradition of a Jesuit High School has been involved with the Special Olympics for 15 years but this one is set to bebe the most special of the mall. Our school really does cotter so much about have helping really does care so much about helping these kids. He started volunteering his freshman year, bubut the relationship between jesuit high and the hillsborough Special Olympics goes back much further. Helping to run the event previously held at usf for 16 years but now its happening at jesuit, a fitting home. Its a tradition that their fathers joining to help with the event. Its moving for the a dads for the dads to watch their sons as they walk around and interact with them. Jajason stokes is happy hihis dad d is participating for the first time this year. He said he wanted to be involved in what i was doing. Working directly with the students hope to help and inspire. To us it means a lot mostly because we are being a a light to the community. But ultimately they are the ones enlightened by serving. They realize they themselves have needs and are supported by others. They have their fathers and their older brothers and teachers and coaches supporting and working for them. Nice to see. That was gene ramirez reporting. If you would like to head ouout there, the parade of athletes kicks off in just a few hours at 9 00. Bryan n bennett has the full foforecast coming up. Also ahead, its going to be loud in the skies today in tampa. Were talking about air fest 2016. Up next, the aircraft and tricks you can expect to see with everything going on there could be a few traffic tie ups,s, but dont worry, leslee lacey has are we can traffic report. Hello, hope you are enjoying your saturday. We have spring training games getting underway. Just remember usually about an hour before and after is when he gets really congested. In tampa weve got the yankees taking on the braves. Those games usually sell out. Also the phillies taking on the blue jays at the Auto Exchange stadium just after r 1 00 and in most will slug it out so allow for extra time as you move through that area. It looks like weve got Cirque Du Soleil in town and four will hit the stage here later so keep that in mind about an hour before and after those offense is when it gets reallyly crowded. It will be crowded in general downtown in one of the reasons is that we will be turning the river green today. Its the st. Patricks day celebration. From 11 00 a. M. To 4 pm, it will be packed. Thousands come out to celebrate saint patty state even though its already come and gone, they are using the weekend to celebrate it. Also the you must lolove dogs fest is on underway from 10 am to 6 pm. Expect a lot of congestion around dell maybe highway. Heading into Macdill Air Force base, expect traffic in that area. If you want to avoid the congestion, take the bus to britton plaza. Dont bring bicycles. They wont let you want with roller blades or skates, hoverboards or skateboards. Thats a no go. Also no coolers unless they are very small only with baby food. No pets or large bags and remember where you parked. That will save you a lot of hassle a and bring your identification as well. If youre heading to the movies weve got three movies open. Opening. The new movie allegiant, miracles from heaven and the bronze. In just a few hours tampas air fest 2016 kicks off. We got a sneak peek at this exciting event that shows us what we can expect. Learned good morning. You can watch some of these take off into the sky as airfest gets underway at 2 00 this morning. From coast guard planes to thosose dating back decades, theres something for r everyone it air fest 2016. The annual event gives visitors the chance to get a rare look inside the planes that assist our military and the most needed times and that allows people to take to the skies at intense speeds. The most exciting part about this is seeing the crowd cheering for us. Especially the young kids. We love the military and when they cheer for us it keeps us going. This is video of the elite crew. Tomorrow they will dive out of planes from 15,000 feet and punch to the grground, wowing the crowd during the trip down. Theres always a little bit of performance activity anxiety that we want to do a be impressed. And of course f16 from the thunderbirds will while the crowd as well and then organizers tell ms. Channel 8 nearly 30 plans planes will be parked for tours and 30 will show off for spectators. Again the event kicks off at 8 00. Its set to get underway at 11 15. Reporting at Macdill Air Force base in tampa, ms. Channel 8. Pretty exciting, the airshow and of course we have the thunderbirds as well. Unfortunately thunder might also be in the sky in the form of Mother Nature as well with a chance for some showers and storms today. Primarily focusing between about noon andnd 4 pm. Thats the best chance to see showers and storms. About a 60 chance for rain this afternoon. High temperature right around 80 degrees. Tomorrow they are show going on as well. Light showers during the and then clearing out. If i had to pick a day i would probably say tomorrow is a little bit nicer. It can be a little bit breezy and maybe cooler but the rain will be less, and the rarain will be less heavy. Later shower chance tomorrow. Right now w looking at a few sprinkles and light showers passing from west to east this mornrning. Citrus county, hernando and create northwestern pass. Nothing heavy. Barely even windchill wipers. Pinellas county south of i4 sprinkles of showers around bartow and lakeland the e sour. Right now a little bit of rain in Manatee County spreading to Hardee County but nothing too heavy. Heavy rain is back south of panama city passing to the southeast. That will move through later this afternoon and give us a chance for the scattered showers and storms. Behind that t cooler air, a High Pressure system with lows in on monday. Anand highs in the 60s. For you. A few light showerss at 9 30. We start to see a little bit more activity by about 12 pm. The heavier rains just offshore. Right around 12 01 it starts to move on shore. At 1 30, scattered showers and maybe a storm over tampa. Over st. Petersburg and mcdill giving going to the east. By about 3 am were seeing that and for the macdill and tampa area and then trying out into the evening hours. Drying out into the evening hours. Scattered midday showers and storms. We could see a little bit of lightning, so keep that in mind and stay safe. If a storm comes over and outdoor area, head for cover an outdoor area, head for cover then it gets cooler fromom a for monday. Of course. And theres so much happening outdoors including denying the river green for st. Patricks day. Dyeing the river green. Coming up we will catch you up on the basketball games and the rays get that news. Why theyre closer will miss at if we had to put together a bullpen for the guys, we have a camp, we feel good about it and we will way to get brad back. They will play with the hand theyve been dealt. Matt silverman expects his club to close by committee until breadbox poker returns to the lineup. He has a nagging abdominal issue and will be undergoing surgery in philadelphia. Hes expected to miss at least eieight weeks. Other arms in the bullpen will have to step up. Alex several players expecting to see more innings. They all pitched well against the red sox allowing just one he closed for seattle in 2015 and is eager to reprise the role. I just want to make the team, more than anything. If things fall into place somebody would be lying to you if they said they dont want to close out games becacause thats the number one job. I would absolutely love that. Tampa bay staff got more charlotte. He screams a single to center. And then i in the third a screening of logans run. He played at Stephen Sousa junior to give them a 10 21 lead. I think they call that race win it 51. Over 14 million brackets were submitted to the challenge this year and less than two days into the backs and the dance there were no more perfect brackets remaining. Tennessee state the ravens never trailed the spartans. They got the 9081 victory, just the eighth time in tournament history that the eighth seed beat a 2. Last time it was done, 2013. Some guy named stephen f. Austin beat t western virginia. Lookout for the lumberjacks who cut down the 7056. The rams topple oregon state 75 61 and the rainbow warriors will be in the big round of 32. Some games didnt go chalk but they were still exciting. Iowa led temple by three in the closing seconds but quentin to cozy gets fouled. He hit all three freebies to force overtime and after a couple of clutch buckets it was he misses but iowa seven footer Adam Woodberry as time expires. Iowa susurvives 7270. Thats it for sports, i am paul ryan. Thananks paul, i need to check my bracket but i dont have high hopes right now. [laughter] drinking on the job is off limits in most workplaces, but most businesses dont see it as a problem. Why a Company Believes boozing thing. You might want to put in your application now. Youre w watching news channel 8 today. Rise and shine tampa bay. Its officially the weekend, and you are taking a live look at downtown tampa. Still dark out there. Good morning, i am adrienne patterson. Thank you so muchch for joining us. In our top story this morning 62 people are dead after a plane crash in russia. Right now it lolooks like weather may have caused this disaster. The airliner was trying to land at the airport in southern russia when it went down. 55 passengers and seven crew members arare dead. Russian media is reporting this morning that visibility was extremely low. We continuously get updates on this story so we will let you know as soon as we have any more information. In the meantime several families out of their homes fire in madeira beach. Fire rescue telling us it started as a grease fire in the kitchen and eventually spread to a porch. Thankfully though nobody was hurt. Can tomorrow president obama will arrive in cuba. This is a really big deal here. The communist country is making lastminute preparations including seeing t that the cuban Capital Buildingng is ready. For the past five years crews worked to restore the building to its former glory. Time to get a check on your forecast with meteorologist bryan bennetett. Rain rain rain. Yes a little bit of rain falling, maybe some rainbows to keep the saint patty stay spirit going. Of course wewe are dying the river green today. Started off comfortable temperature wise, 70 and tampa. Lakeland t they are 74. Sarasota 69 degrees. Satellite and radar nothing but a few little sprinkles about at this hour. Fairly quiet. Heavy rain right now just south of panama city. Thats drifting to the southeast and will give us a better chance for rain this afternoon. Prprimarily between 12 00 and 4 pm. This morning mostly cloudy, a few light showers are as possible with temperatures showers are possible with temperatures in the 60s. Again 12 00 to 4 00 is the best chance to see the heavier downpours moving through. May be down towardrds high towards i80. We keep cheney checking and peteter overnight airport closed. It looks like we can see a plane crash there. The crash took off happened witnesses described it he did his best not to hit another plane that took off at the same time. Paul mueller is working updates on the investigation. Paul . Reporter moments after takeoff the cessna nosedived to the ground, on impact bursting into a ball of flames around 11 30 friday morning. Witnesses could only watch in disbelief. We saw that plane turn over and it went directly into the ground and blew up into flames almost immediately. He was right outside the airport with his two sons. One of them called 911. Ive never seen something so horrible happen before. As the investigation now intensifies, the tightknit community of pilots at peter o. Knight airport are left speechless. We almost dont even believe what happened because we know many of the people that fly around here. Hes flown out of here for two decades. Before that he flew in the vietnam war. Here, they know its all about safety. What i do every of their i go to a flight proficiency course. Like everybody else, he cant understand why. Why is it happened to them and not somebody else . We will never know that either. When you see a plane go down instantaneously no survivors, thats something you hope you never see again. Seeing that reference that wreckage is just awful. That was paul mueller reporting for us. We will let you know as soon as ththe airport reopens. A pedestrian dead after a car crash and tampa. This happened on dr. Martin luther king boulevard and 16th street. The victim died at the scene. Mlk boulevard is back open this morning. A case of abuse involving the sheriffs deputy. Right now the deputy is out of a job and behind bars after attacked a sevenyeararold girl. The child told investigators the beauty ryan ferguson, you see him there, put liquid hanand soap in her mouth because e she lied about t something. After that he threw her to the ground, choked her and hit her several times in the face. The deputy denies hitting the girl. Terry pillay a or better known to u