It’s Tuesday, October 6th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Public schools in Broward County are next on the list to reopen campuses for students later this week while the leader of the school district will tour one school to make sure they are ready to reopen for the first time since the pandemic began.
Superintendent Robert Runcie will tour an elementary school in Hollywood on Tuesday morning, monitoring to make sure social distancing measures are in place for students and teachers as well as making sure necessary cleaning supplies are in place. Runcie and school board members voted last week to move up the reopening date from October 14th to October 9th to begin the staggered reopening process. The move came after threats from Florida’s education commissioner that state funding could be cut if both Broward and Miami-Dade did not reopen sooner than planned.
No. 2 - President Donald Trump staged a dramatic return to the White House Monday night after leaving the military hospital where he was receiving an unprecedented level of care for COVID-19.
He immediately ignited a new controversy by declaring that despite his illness the nation should not fear the virus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans - and then he entered the White House without a protective mask. Landing at the White House on Marine One, Trump gingerly climbed the South Portico steps, removed his mask and declared, “I feel good.” He gave a double thumbs-up to the departing helicopter from the portico terrace, where aides had arranged American flags for the sunset occasion. He entered the White House, where aides were visible milling about the Blue Room, without wearing a face covering.
No. 3 - As President Donald Trump recovers from the coronavirus, Joe Biden is capitalizing on having the campaign trail largely to himself by hitting critical swing states and investing in longtime Republican bastions that he hopes might expand his path to victory.
The Democratic presidential nominee made his second trip to Florida with his visit to Miami designed to encroach on some of Trump's turf, even swinging through Little Havana, a typically conservative area known for its staunch opposition to the communist government that Fidel Castro installed in Cuba. During a NBC town hall Monday evening, Biden said presidents should be transparent about their health, though he also “can understand that, in certain circumstances related to national security, where every detail would not be made available in the middle of a particular crisis.” But Biden said withholding such information was only appropriately rarely and for short periods of time, saying it should be done “only on the margins and only for the moment.”
Local
No. 4 - The Miami Heat look to get another big game from superstar forward Jimmy Butler and even their NBA Finals series with the Los Angeles Lakers, with Game 4 taking place Tuesday night.
Butler played 45 minutes and had the ball in his hands on basically every possession of Game 3, when Miami won to get within 2-1 of the Los Angeles Lakers in this series. Butler had 40 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists in Miami’s Game 3 win - out of the 8,175 game appearances by players in the NBA Finals, Butler was the first to have a 40-point triple-double in a finals win, and one of only three with one regardless of outcome.
No. 5 - Leaders from several communities near the Wynwood area say a big transit plan for Miami-Dade County is leaving them out despite all the people who live, work and visit the area that need a train station there.
Community leaders in the Midtown and Edgewater areas say they are being overlooked when it comes to bringing a major mass transit option to their area. The Smart Plan, as it is called, is part of a bigger plan to prioritize mass transit in the county to alleviate traffic and provide other transit options. To hear why leaders say the plan set to be debated Tuesday is “unjust”, click here for the story from NBC 6 reporter Alyssa Hyman.
No. 6 - Weatherwise, South Florida can expect a higher chance of showers on Tuesday along with feels like temperatures in the triple digits while all eyes are focused on a Hurricane Delta that is rapidly strengthening. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
