It’s Tuesday, December 15th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - For a few hours Monday afternoon, ICU Dr. Ari Sareli was away from the patients he treats who have COVID-19 as the Memorial Health doctor in Broward was the first person in South Florida to get the COVID-19 vaccine shot.
Memorial Hospital was among locations in Florida where the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccinations arrived and were administered Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said. Memorial Healthcare officials said they received 19,500 doses of the vaccine, which will go to frontline healthcare workers. Jackson Health System in Miami will have to wait an extra day to receive the initial doses of the new COVID-19 vaccine. A spokesperson for the state's largest network of public hospitals said they weren't given a reason for the delay.
No. 2 - Residents in the city of Miami will get another chance to get a grocery gift card, this time just before the Christmas holiday at a time when more and more families are in need.
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Those who pre-registered can attend the distribution event at Juan Pablo Duarte Park from 8 a.m. to noon on Tuesday. Mayor Francis Suarez said last Friday that the city will be able to provide $334,000 worth of gift cards from various companies, including Winn-Dixie, Sedanos, Presidente Supermarkets and more, in addition to the Publix gift cards that are already being distributed. Gift cards range from $100 to $350. For more info on upcoming distributions and how to register, click on this link.
No. 3 - The Electoral College decisively confirmed Joe Biden on Monday as the nation’s next president, ratifying his November victory in an authoritative state-by-state repudiation of President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede he had lost.
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The presidential electors gave Biden a solid majority of 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232, the same margin that Trump bragged was a landslide when he won the White House four years ago. California’s 55 electoral votes put Biden over the top. Vermont, with 3 votes, was the first state to report. Hawaii, with 4 votes, was the last. Biden pointedly criticized Trump for threatening core principles of democracy even as he told Americans that their form of self-government ultimately “prevailed.”
No. 4 - Attorney General William Barr, one of President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies, is departing amid lingering tension over the president’s baseless claims of election fraud and the investigation into President-elect Joe Biden’s son.
Barr went Monday to the White House, where Trump said the attorney general submitted his letter of resignation. “As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family,” Trump tweeted. Trump has publicly expressed his anger about Barr’s statement to The Associated Press earlier this month that the Justice Department had found no widespread fraud that would change the outcome of the election. Trump has also been angry that the Justice Department did not publicly announce it was investigating Hunter Biden ahead of the election, despite department policy against such a pronouncement.
No. 5 - Tensions were high between a family and a police officer outside of a Doral Walmart - all over a video game system.
The debacle began inside the store December 10th, moments after Valeria Aguilar and her relatives say they waited in line for the Sony Playstation 5 for more than eight hours. An incident report says Juan Ramirez, a friend of Aguilar, became belligerent with employees when they announced only five consoles were left. Officers escorted Ramirez out of the store and say Aguilar tried to block the officer while holding her 4-month-old baby, punching the officer with a closed fist, causing the officer to fall to the ground. To hear Aguilar’s account and see the wild video, click here for the story from NBC 6 reporter Laura Rodriguez you’ll see Only on 6.
No. 6 - Weatherwise, the heat remains on across South Florida with temperatures in the 80s - but relief is on the way with the arrival of several cold fronts. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
