It’s Tuesday, February 2nd - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Miami Beach's mayor says there will be an increased police presence after a weekend triple shooting and a recent spike in crime in the city.
Mayor Dan Gelber said at a news conference Monday the city is increasing its police presence, particularly in the city's Art Deco Cultural District, and will be bringing in additional officers from Miami-Dade County on the weekend. The news conference was held after a weekend shooting on crowded Washington Avenue that left three people injured, one critically. The suspect is the shooting is still being sought. Gelber said the city's entertainment district has become "ungovernable" and said there need to be changes to how some businesses operate.
No. 2 - Sercilia Desir’s husband died six weeks ago, and now she’s dealing with the death of her son, Kevin Desir.
The grieving family wants to know what happened to the 43-year-old, who died last week after time inside a Broward jail. The family’s legal team filed an emergency request with the Broward court Monday for surveillance footage to be released immediately of the incident they believe lead to his death. NBC 6 also put in a request to see the video, but so far, the sheriff’s office has cited Florida law preventing its release, saying that it would reveal important security features inside the jail. To hear what else they had to say, click here for their interview with NBC 6 investigator Willard Shepard you’ll see Only on 6.
No. 3 - Concerns expressed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last month that Florida could be forced to withhold first doses of vaccine to allow booster shots to be given have so far proven unfounded.
That's because the Biden administration this week boosted the number of doses sent to Florida to 307,000 -- the biggest shipment in the last six weeks. Florida has administered more than 2 million vaccinations, including second shots. That's mediocre -- 25th per capita among all states and the District of Columbia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. DeSantis acknowledged Monday that the state’s been sitting on second doses, including some received last week. He estimated up to 70,000 second shots could be administered a day in the coming days.
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No. 4 - For more than 10 years, Jonathan Broder said he had seen his South Florida-based business grow. But when the pandemic hit in 2020 and shut down courts, he said business essentially stopped. Nearly a year later, he said they were still struggling.
The SBA reopened the program in mid-January for businesses applying for the first time and for those that had already received PPP loans. As of Jan. 24, the SBA said it had already approved 400,580 loans, totaling $35 billion. Broder said he wanted to apply for a second PPP loan but, so far, had been unable to do so through his original lender. To hear why that happened and how you can apply for the program, click here for a report from NBC 6 Responds’ Alina Machado.
No. 5 - The Northeast region is digging out from under piles of snow that shut down public transport, canceled flights, closed coronavirus vaccination sites and left at least seven people dead on Monday.
More than 15 inches of snow dropped on Manhattan’s Central Park, and as much as 30 inches was reported in northern New Jersey. Whitehall Township in Pennsylvania saw just under two feet and Spring Valley, New York, reported 21 inches. NBC News meteorologist Bill Karins said the tristate area could see its biggest snowstorm in five years, while New York City could get up to 20 inches possible if one of the heavy snow bands sits over the city. Karins said the National Weather Service’s New York office forecast has called for 21 inches in Central Park, which would tie it for the fourth largest snowstorm in New York City’s history.
No. 6 - Locally weatherwise, South Florida is feeling the chill Tuesday morning with temperatures dropping well below average and only getting colder in the coming days. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
