MIAMI, Fla. — With Hurricane Ian set to strike Tampa Bay sometime this week, the Buccaneers announced they are temporarily relocating to Miami.

On Monday, the team said on Twitter that they would be moving to Miami-Dade County Tuesday and then spend the week practicing at the Dolphins' facility.

"No changes have yet been made to Sunday's game schedule," the team added.

According to ESPN, the league is monitoring the situation, but for right now the Bucs are still planning to host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

If the game has to be postponed because of the storm, it's unlikely the game will be moved to Miami because the league doesn't want to take away state resources for a game that could be better utilized for recovery efforts, ESPN reported.

A hurricane warning was issued for the area Monday, with the National Hurricane Center projecting the hurricane to make landfall by Wednesday as a Category 4 storm, the Associated Press reported.

The last time a major storm hit the city was Oct. 25, 1921.

The team also announced Tuesday that they are rescheduling the induction of former head coach Bruce Arians into the Ring of Honor, which was supposed to happen on Sunday.

The team said that ceremony would be rescheduled for a later game.

ATLANTA —

A flight from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport headed to Tampa was diverted to Atlanta Friday night after an incident onboard.

A Frontier Airlines representative confirmed to WLWT, flight 1761 was diverted to Atlanta after witnesses reported seeing one passenger with a box cutter.

No injuries to passengers or crew were reported.

The aircraft landed safely in Atlanta and the passenger in question was taken into custody by police officers, a Frontier spokesperson said.

The plane departed from CVG around 7:23 p.m. and landed in Atlanta just before 9 p.m., officials said.

Police have not released the suspect's identity at this time.

All passengers were taken off the aircraft and are being put in a hotel overnight. WLWT received images from the incident from a witness on the plane.

Passengers will be booked on a rescheduled flight for Saturday morning to transport them to their final destination of Tampa.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

TAMPA, Fla. —

The police chief of Tampa has been placed on leave after a video emerged of her flashing her badge from the passenger seat of a golf cart to get out of a traffic ticket.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor placed Chief Mary O'Connor on administrative leave Friday pending an investigation of the Nov. 12 traffic stop in Oldsmar, a city northwest of Tampa.

The body camera video, posted online by the Tampa Police Department, shows O'Connor's husband driving the cart and the chief in the passenger seat when a Pinellas County sheriff's deputy pulls them over for not having a tag.

"Is your camera on?" O'Connor said. "I'm the police chief in Tampa."

"I'm hoping that you'll just let us go tonight," she says, showing the deputy her badge.

The deputy let them leave without a ticket, saying "it's nice meeting you."

In a statement, O'Connor said it was "poor judgment" for them to have taken the cart out on public roads without a tag. She said it was the first time they had driven it outside of a golf cart-friendly community where they own property.

"As someone who has dealt with, taken ownership of and grown from my past mistakes, I know that no one is above the law, including me," she said.

The mayor said an internal review is underway. Assistant Chief Lee Bercaw will serve as acting chief.

"We hold everyone accountable, no matter their position and this behavior was unacceptable," Castor said. "Chief O'Connor will go through the due process and face appropriate discipline."

CLEARWATER, Fla. — A Clearwater brewery is the first in Florida to use a special type of beer-making process that is helping save the environment.

Beer makers say that carbon dioxide is naturally produced during the fermentation process, which usually gets released into the atmosphere.

"We're now recapturing the CO2," said LJ Govoni, the president of the Big Storm Brewing Company.

Govoni says new technology allows Big Storm to capture that CO2 and recycle it by putting it back into their beer.

"Instead of going to buy CO2 — a less pure form of CO2 — this allows us to keep what we're already naturally producing and re-use it, save those dollars and have a better product," Govoni said.

Govoni says the process not only improves the quality of their product, but it also helps the environment by limiting carbon emissions.

Earthly Labs, the company that makes the machines Big Storm uses to recapture carbon dioxide, says it would take 1,500 trees one year to recycle the same amount of CO2 done by their device.

"Anything we can do to help preserve our beaches, our waterways, anything that is local tourism, that's important to us," Govoni said. "We just want to be that good neighbor."

This story was originally published by Wendi Lane on Scripps station WFTS in Tampa, Florida.

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — The Saddle Up Riding Club is an equine therapy center in Florida.

It was started 18 years ago by Kellie Sipos but in 2021 she thought it may all be coming to an end.

The owner of the property the club sat on wanted to sell and asked Saddle Up to vacate. Fortunately, days later someone purchased the property and kept the club in place.

“I tell people all of the time I have memories that will last me way beyond my grave someday, I will smile for the rest of my life," said Kellie Sipos.

The mission of Saddle Up Riding Club is to improve and change lives. Kellie said today 75% of her clientele is autistic, and many others have physical disabilities.

“For the rider who is in a wheelchair, unable to walk, that movement of the horse, takes the same thing with their hips, building core muscles, their balance and build their strength quite a bit,” explained Sipos.

WFTS

WFTS

Those benefits are a dream come true for Melissa DiCesare’s 7-year-old son Hudson. He is completely non-verbal, cannot walk or even sit up on his own but, he finds new life at Saddle Up. Hudson’s face lights up with joy when he gets on a horse.

“I think any mother would agree [that] when you see your child happy and enjoying things all children can enjoy, it’s almost hard to put into words,” said DiCesare. “We were thrilled when we found out this was an opportunity he could have.”

Kellie said horses are such amazing creatures who do amazing things. Saddle Up is taking 11 students to the Special Olympics area competition to see if they will qualify for states. Kellie said every year she’s had students make it to the state round.

If you think your child could benefit from equine therapy at Saddle Up you can fill out the forms here.

Saddle Up also needs volunteers. You do not need to have any prior experience with horses to help out. If you are interested in volunteering, visit saddleupridingclub.org/volunteer.

This story was originally published by James Tully of WFTS in Tampa, Florida.

Tom Brady's future in the NFL is uncertain.

ESPN's Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington, Brady reported Saturday that Brady is retiring after 22 years in the league.

However, Brady did not make an official announcement.

In a statement to Schefter, Brady's agent said, "I understand the advance speculation about Tom's future. Without getting into the accuracy or inaccuracy of what's being reported, Tom will be the only person to express his plans with complete accuracy. He knows the reality of the football business and planning calendar as well as anybody, so that should be soon."

About an hour after Brady's agent released that statement, The Associated Press reported that Brady told the general manager of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that he has not made a decision about whether he will retire.

Brady's quest for another Super Bowl victory came up short this season. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost last week to the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

Brady, 44, is widely regarded as the best quarterback in NFL history.

He has seven Super Bowl victories. His most recent win came last year with Tampa Bay. He has six more Super Bowl wins with the New England Patriots.

He was named MVP of the league three times and holds numerous records in the NFL.

Brady has thrown for more than 84,000 yards; 624 touchdowns; a career completion percentage of 64.2 percent; winning 243 games while losing just 73 in regular-season play.

Brady was the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft.

TAMPA, Fla. (WFTS) — There are many ways to remember a deceased loved one, but a seamstress in Tampa, Florida has come up with a unique.

Over the years Jade Sanchez, owner of Sew Sew Amazing Alterations, has stitched everything from sweaters to pants to gowns, but 2022 is becoming the year of the "memory bear."

What’s so heartfelt is that the materials used to make these bears are from the shirts and pants loved one used to wear.

“Their favorite clothing that they always used to wear, maybe something you bought for them,” said Sanchez.“It’s a great way to put them to use definitely, even if you only have one shirt,” said Sanchez.

The first "memory bear" Jade created was for the family of her own boyfriend, Sherrod Hunter, who died suddenly from a heart attack.

Hunter’s favorite shorts were used for the belly of the bear that was given to his sister Fredrita Blanks.

“He literally wore them all the time, now mind you he had clothes for days, but whenever we saw him he had these shorts on,” said Blanks. “So when we got the bears we cried because it was very emotional, but right after the tears, came the laughter.”

Sanchez embroiders a special message to the families on the tummy of every bear.

“These are clothes I used to wear. Whenever you hold it know that I am there, love Sherrod,” is what the bear read.

“When someone passes suddenly you really don’t have the time to say goodbye but this right here, this is our goodbye, this is our goodbye from Rod,” said Blanks.

Sanchez is just so glad she can use her talents to create something that’s so positively Tampa Bay. She’s already made 25 bears in the past month and they are all one of a kind.

“My motto is every stitch is made with love, I love what I do,” said Sanchez.

“I keep it in the car, in my room, the living room, he travels with me,” said Blanks who joked about what her brother would say about the bear.

“He would say, ‘no she didn’t, no she didn’t cut up my shorts,’” said Blanks.

This story was originally reported by Robert Boyd on abcactionnews.com.

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. -- The charges against a Florida pastor arrested for holding a church service during Hillsborough County's "safer-at-home" order

have been dropped.

Dr. Rodney Howard-Browne, pastor of The River at Tampa Bay Church was charged with unlawful assembly and violation of a public health emergency order at the end of March after it was discovered that he held a church service with large crowds that did not maintain social distancing guidelines.

"His reckless disregard for human life put hundreds of people in his congregation at risk, and thousands of residents who may interact with them this week in danger," Sheriff Chad Chronister said at the time of the arrest.

Liberty Counsel represented the pastor. Its founder and chairman, Mat Staver, released the following statement:

This story was originally published by staff at WFTS.

TAMPA, Fla. — At a Tampa mall on May 30, Hillsborough County Deputy William Scobie was on the frontline as hundreds of rioters put on a relentless attack lasting several hours.

The violence came in waves. Periods of calm were followed by coordinated attacks on Hillsborough County deputies and Tampa police standing in front of University Mall.

At one point, law enforcement deployed tear gas, clearing the crowd. Once the wind carried the choking fumes out of the area, more and more people began to show up. Heavily outnumbered and overwhelmed, law enforcement did everything they could to protect themselves and prevent more violence.

As law enforcement scanned the crowd and sky for objects, they couldn't look everywhere.

"Nothing real violent was going on for about probably 15 minutes or so," deputy Scobie said. "And then, all of a sudden, I took a beer bottle to the face. When the bottle exploded, it caused my head to drop down; there was about three inches of my neck that was unprotected when I looked down. And, it was a lucky shot that got me right in that three inches."

Scobie said he doesn't remember anything after the brick hit his neck.

"It actually hit my carotid artery, which caused me to lose temporary consciousness," Scobie said. "I just remember waking up on the ground. The deputies were asking me where I was shot. They thought I was shot. I was just telling them I got hit with a brick and couldn't feel my arms and my legs. And, they rushed me to try and evacuate me out of there. With the amount of people and stuff that were around, it was hard to get me outta there, so there were two Tampa police officers that had a car they threw me in the back of the car and the Tampa police actually evacuated me to the hospital."

For more roughly seven hours, Scobie was checked out at the hospital.

"I got feeling back in legs pretty quick. My right arm took about two hours. My left arm, I suffered a pinched nerve, and it was swollen. So, I had no feeling in my left arm for almost 24 hours, and I had a pretty significant bruise on my neck," he said.

Scobie said he's wanted to be in law enforcement since he was 5 years old. After eight years in the military, he joined the sheriff's office. In 2018, Scobie was honored with the Tampa Police Chief's Appreciation Award after helping track a murder suspect.

On June 24, 2018, Scobie's neighbor, 42-year-old Pedro Aguerreberry, was riding bikes on a bike trail with his two children when a car veered over the grass and onto the bike trail, hitting and killing Aguerreberry and injuring his two sons, ages 3 and 8. Mikese Morse, the suspect driver, was arrested and charged in the incident.

Scobie heard the call and tracked down the car police say Morse was driving and eventually leading to an arrest.

Morse was found incompetent to stand trial.

Scobie said he loves his job and wants the public to know he is human, has a family, and only wants to serve and protect his community.

Two days after Scobie was hit by the brick, he was back at work patrolling the streets.

"When we show up on a call, just give us the benefit of the doubt. Know that it truly is our goal to help you in any way we can without getting into a fight, without being injured, without causing any injuries," Scobie said. "If I could deal with 20 people a day and every one of them says 'thank you,' it's a good day. And, that's truly what we come to work for."

This story was originally published by Michael Paluska at WFTS.

The New England Patriots aren't playing in the 2021 Super Bowl, but one of their team planes will be making the trip to Tampa, Florida.Approximately 7,500 health care workers from across the country will be in attendance as honorary guests of the NFL Sunday for the big game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs. They'll be honored for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.Seventy-six of those heroes from all six New England states will be flying to Florida from New England aboard one of the team's "AirKraft.""The mission of this trip is two-fold: to recognize and thank a representative group of the countless health care superheroes in New England, and to celebrate and spread the important message of getting vaccinated," the team said in a statement.Patriots owner Robert Kraft surprised the health care workers with the news on a Zoom call."I actually thought it was part of a prank," said Nick Duncan, director of emergency management at Tufts Medical Center. "My CEO and COO never call me unless it is bad and my heart kind of stopped.""For me to see Tom Brady and Gronk, even though they're not playing for the Pats, I am stoked," said Jenn Castellano, a registered nurse at Emerson Hospital.New England became the first NFL team to own their own jets, purchasing two Boeing 767s in 2017.In April, when the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a shortage of personal protective equipment, one of the team planes was used to deliver about 1.2 million N95 masks to Boston from China. That same plane will be used for the 2021 Super Bowl trip."I was really proud to call them our team, and then (Kraft) said: 'Hey, we're going to go on a plane that brought those masks over.' It's almost full circle," said Jessica Tellier, a registered nurse at Emerson Hospital. In addition to the flight and tickets to the 2021 Super Bowl, the health care heroes will receive transportation from Gillette Stadium to Logan Airport with a police escort, a ticket to the NFL TikTok Tailgate concert headlined by Miley Cyrus exclusively for vaccinated health care workers, a two-night complimentary hotel stay provided by Mark Stebbins and Leo Xarras of XSS Hotels, owner of both the Renaissance Hotel and Hilton Garden Inn at Patriot Place, a Patriots gift bag, a $100 VISA gift card to spend at Raymond James Stadium and ground transportation in Tampa.

TAMPA, Fla. — A Tampa homeowner says it's a story he'll one day tell his children.

For Tom Brady it was, at the most, an embarrassing moment. But for David Kramer it was much more than that. In fact, it even helped him sell his house.

Kramer will never forget one April day in 2020 when Tom Brady — new to Tampa having just signed to a new team for the first time in his 20-year career — broke into his house.

“Who can say that?" Kramer asked. "Who can say Tom Brady accidentally walked into their house."

Kramer was confused as a tall, shadowy figure opened his front door.

“He didn’t scare me because he just looked so nice and he walked in with such confidence that it was just like he belonged there," Kramer said.

It doesn’t hit either of them at first.

“And he goes, ‘What's up man?’ he just looked at me and I just go, ‘I don't know man, you tell me,'" Kramer recounted.

It turns out Brady was looking for the home of Byron Leftwich, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offensive coordinator. Kramer happened to be Leftwich's neighbor.

Brady quickly realized he was in the wrong house.

“He had this look on his face like terror, like, ‘Oh my god I did it again,'" Kramer said.

"Did it again," because Brady had recently been booted from a closed Tampa park. The internet joked the former Boston-resident was now officially a "Florida Man."

It then clicked in Kramer's head why the stranger's face seems so familiar.

“I want(ed) to yell his name and be like Tom, Tom, Tom! I couldn't get it out," said Kramer.

The homeowner says none of his family or friends even believed him until the story blew up. The strange and brief encounter even helped him sell his house.

“[The realtor] said, 'this is the house Tom Brady walked in on,' and she did use that and it did sell," he said.

Kramer cheered on Brady and the Buccaneers Sunday as the quarterback won his seventh Super Bowl.

“Tampa's fired up...I've never seen the town like this," he said.

Kramer wants Brady to know there are no hard feelings. If the "GOAT" ever has the time Kramer, says he’d love to know what Brady thought in that awkward moment.

This story was originally published by Isabel Rosales on WFTS in Tampa, Florida.

TAMPA BAY — Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans won’t soon forget their Super Bowl LV victory on their home turf of Raymond James Stadium.

Reilly Haney will make sure of that. He has hand-written every single word that Buccaneers play-by-play announcer Gene Deckerhoff said during the big game onto a poster. It’s a calligram. When you step back, it creates the Bucs logo.

“Handwriting and patience are all it takes,” Haney said. “I can’t draw. I can’t paint. But I have this creative energy I like to unleash every once in a while.”

Haney is a disabled U.S. Navy veteran who turned a hobby into a career by creating Calligrammer.

“Everything you see on the print is my actual handwriting,” Haney said.

Calligrammer

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This poster commemorating the Bucs as Super Bowl champions contains nearly 10,000 hand-written words that took 40-50 hours to write.

“I would have the game on my computer and pausing it and playing it like ten seconds at a time,” Haney said. “Deckerhoff would say ‘Leonard Fournette runs in for a touchdown.’ I pause it, write that. It’s a lot more tedious than reading it. Tedium is the name of the game.”

Haney, who lives in San Diego, first got in the game by putting pen to paper after the “Philly Special,” a play that helped the Philadephia Eagles win Super Bowl LII.

“I did it because I could not find any Eagles artwork that I liked for the house,” Haney said. “I saw this style from someone who did it for comic books. I emailed him asking if he would make something like this. He was not into sports. So, you know I have decent handwriting and a whole bunch of patience, so why not give it a shot.”

Yes, he’s an Eagles fan but finds something distinctive about Deckerhoff.

“They don’t come like Deckerhoff,” Haney said. “Just writing that he has a whole bunch of energy that you don’t find anywhere else. You guys are really lucky to have him.”

The Buccaneers print on Calligrammer sells for $35.

Kyle Burger at WFTS first reported this story.