It’s Thursday, February 18th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Police were searching a wooded area in Hollywood Wednesday in connection with the disappearance of a young woman while she was out walking.
Aerial footage showed multiple officers searching through Anne Kolb Nature Center, where 21-year-old Noemi Bolivar may have been last seen. Family and friends said Bolivar left her home on Feb. 11 to take a walk at the nature center, texting her roommate a photo from there. Her phone later pinged from the area of the Hollywood Broadwalk that night, but she remains missing. Volunteers have been searching all throughout Hollywood, passing out flyers for days.
No. 2 - Gov. Ron DeSantis is urging Florida residents to be patient as bad winter weather in the U.S. is delaying shipments of COVID-19 vaccine doses to the state.
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DeSantis spoke at a news conference Wednesday in Lakewood Ranch near Sarasota. The governor said Florida has received the "vast majority" of this week's shipment of the Pfizer vaccine doses, with about 136,000 arriving and around 9,000 still expected. But DeSantis said the weather has delayed the delivery of the Moderna vaccine, which may not arrive until Thursday or Friday.
No. 3 - South Florida’s public schools have been open for in-person, classroom learning since October.
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Since November, NBC 6 has been reporting on the thousands of public school kids in South Florida who have fallen through the cracks either academically or by not showing up at school at all. Many of them have switched to private or charter schools or moved away, but the impact of losing those kids might hit the school districts right in the wallet because the state is telling them, don’t count on the pandemic subsidy anymore -- next year, it’s back to funding based on enrollment. To hear how local districts are bracing for those cuts, click here for the story from NBC 6 education reporter Ari Odzer.
No. 4 - Eli Musser was planning his dream wedding to his fiance Megan Butler, but then he got COVID-19 last March.
Musser is what some refer to as a COVID long hauler. Over the past 10 and a half months, the 42-year-old has had to put his entire life on hold due to severe and prolonged symptoms from the coronavirus. He postponed their wedding, and the musician and senior copywriter has been unable to work since April of last year. Musser came across Dr. Gaylis, who is part of an approved site in the U.S. to do an FDA trial for the drug Leronlimab, made by Cytodyn. Click here for the story from NBC 6 reporter Amanda Plasencia.
No. 5 - Anthony Scott goes door-to-door in areas with recent gun violence and offers supplies like diapers, food and PPE to those in need.
Scott is one of about 10 full-time Peacemakers with the nonprofit Circle of Brotherhood. The program, which started two years ago in Miami-Dade County, aims to curb violence by going into neighborhoods right after a shooting to help. Brother Lyle Muhammad, executive director of the nonprofit, says in the past six months, the Peacemakers have responded to about 140 shootings in the county. To hear why the rise in violence is forcing the group to expand their efforts, click here for the story from NBC 6 reporter Kim Wynne.
No. 6 - Weatherwise, rain chances will be slim Thursday with warmer temperatures across South Florida before the latest cold front arrives to end the work week. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
