News You Should Know

6 Things to Know: Major Changes Possible for Bright Futures Program, Child Killed in Plane Crash Remembered

It’s Wednesday, March 17th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.

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It’s Wednesday, March 17th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.

No. 1 - Family and friends are remembering a 4-year-old boy who died after he was riding in a SUV with his mother when a small plane struggling to return to a South Florida airport struck them.

The Broward County Medical Examiner on Tuesday identified the boy as 4-year-old Taylor Bishop. His mother Megan Bishop is a teacher's aide at Hollywood Hills Elementary School. Megan Bishop was able to get out of the vehicle and was trying to free her son. Firefighters eventually freed the trapped boy and he was taken to the hospital, where he died Monday night, sources told NBC 6. Steve Geller, the Broward County Mayor, said he felt the pain of the tragedy, adding when compared to other similar airports across much of the state, North Perry doesn’t have more crashes.

No. 2 - Two sites in Miami-Dade County where FEMA workers are giving doses of the COVID vaccine will be moving later this week.

Wednesday, March 17th, the two FEMA sites will be at the following locations from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.:

  • Allen Park Community Center at 1770 Northeast 162nd Street in North Miami Beach.
  • Miami Springs Community Center at 1401 Westward Drive in Miami Springs.

But from Thursday, March 18th to Tuesday, March 23rd these sites will then will relocate to the following locations from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.:

  • Charles Hadley Park at 1350 NW 50th Street
  • South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center at 10950 SW 211th Street

No. 3 - Some of the most heartbreaking impacts of the pandemic came in Florida nursing homes and assisted living facilities. State data shows roughly a third of the reported coronavirus deaths in the state were related to these facilities.  

Now, some state lawmakers are supporting a measure that would protect them from most COVID-related lawsuits. NBC 6 Investigators found the move could impact local lawsuits filed during the pandemic. According to the Florida Department of Health, 74 people died after testing positive for the virus at the Hialeah Nursing and Rehabilitation Center – more than any other facility in the state. At some point in 2020, the facility had more than 240 confirmed COVID-19 cases. For more on why the state is trying to keep the lawsuits from happening, click here for a report from NBC 6 investigator Phil Prazan.

No. 4 - Florida’s Bright Futures scholarship program has paved the way over the years for thousands of high school students to go to college. Students earn either 75% or 100% of tuition and fees at any Florida state university or college, based entirely on their performance in high school.

On Tuesday, the Florida Senate’s education committee approved Senate Bill 86, which would make radical alterations to Bright Futures. On a 5-4, party-line vote, with Republicans in the majority, the committee passed the legislation which would tie the amount of aid students receive to the majors they choose in college. Republican State Sen. Manny Diaz says the idea is to warn students about what they’re getting into. To hear why some parents and students are saying change a bad idea, click here for a story from NBC 6 education reporter Ari Odzer.

No. 5 - As public health leaders say the quickest way out of this COVID-19 pandemic is mass vaccination, resistance to the vaccine is emerging among one group people in particular: Republican Trump supporters.

In one of several recent polls revealing that Republican reluctance, the Kaiser Family Foundation found Republicans led the pack in saying they would definitely not get the vaccine, or only get it if required. Nearly 40% of the GOP voters surveyed were in that category, compared to 6% of Democrats, the cohort showing least resistance to the vaccines. To hear why, click here for the story from NBC 6 investigator Tony Pipitone.

No. 6 - Weatherwise, warm temperatures stick around Wednesday across South Florida before even hotter temps and some wet weather arrives. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.

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