It’s Wednesday, February 17th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - The subject of several recent armed robberies was shot and killed by Miami police officers Tuesday night.
The investigation of a rash of armed robberies in the city led Miami police officers to the Paradise Trailer Park at 2750 South River Drive. Papier said officers immediately rendered aid, and the subject was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he later died. The investigation was related to a rash of armed, commercial business robberies that occurred since Feb. 8 in the south end of the city, particularly in the Flagami area. In some instances, the subject used a flare gun. The last several robberies were with a firearm. Two of them were just on Tuesday.
No. 2 - Broward County's main pump station was struck by lightning Tuesday, causing water outages to thousands of households in several cities and prompting a boil water notice.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
County officials said the lightning strike hit at Broward County Water & Wastewater Services' 2A water treatment plant in Pompano Beach resulted in very little to low water pressure in all of Lighthouse Point, northern portions of Pompano Beach and parts of Deerfield Beach. Some residents in Coconut Creek may also experience impacts. The county issued a precautionary boil water order until further notice for residences and businesses.
No. 3 - Bad weather throughout the United States was impacting the shipment of COVID-19 vaccines to Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday.
Local
DeSantis said the state was working to ensure the vaccine doses were distributed as efficiently as possible when they arrive. Meanwhile, the supermarket giant Publix said it was canceling the event due to "weather-related issues preventing government delivery of allotted COVID-19 vaccine", adding appointments already scheduled would not be impacted.
No. 4 - A South Florida doctor said the country needs to do more to vaccinate people of color.
Dr. Bernard Ashby, a vascular cardiologist, said Black people are not getting their fair share of the COVID-19 vaccine. NBC News reports Black Americans have received the vaccine at dramatically lower rates than white Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control, Black, Hispanic and Native Americans are dying from COVID at nearly three times the rate of white Americans. To hear more on what Dr. Ashby says needs to be done, click here for the story from NBC 6 reporter Derrick Lewis.
No. 5 - Magic mushrooms -- they’re popularly known for tripping or getting high. But there’s also clinical research on psychedelics and whether they could help with mental health.
Now, there’s a push in Florida to decriminalize the use of magic mushrooms and make them legal in the state. Last month, Democrat State Rep. Michael Grieco introduced the Florida Psilocybin Mental Health Care Act. If passed, it would allow state-sponsored clinics to administer psilocybin for patients suffering from disorders like PTSD, depression and addiction. To hear why Grieco says it needs to be passed, click here for the story from NBC 6 reporter Jamie Guirola.
No. 6 - Weatherwise, South Florida won't be as soggy as it has been with Wednesday seeing morning showers turn into a much warmer and humid afternoon. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
