It’s Wednesday, May 27th - and NBC 6 has the top stories you need to know for the day.
No. 1 - After months of being closed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, restaurants and hair salons will be reopening their doors Wednesday in cities across Miami-Dade County.
Restaurants will be allowing dine-in services with up to 50 percent capacity in Miami, Hialeah and Miami Beach on Wednesday while hair salons will be opening in Miami Gardens with similar restrictions and safety protocols from the county and state. Miami Gardens officials have not given an exact date for when dine-in services would resume in the city. Miami Beach city commissioners have created a “MB standard” decal to indicate businesses that have had all their employees tested as well as provide monthly tests and daily screenings among other steps.
No. 2 - The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's office ruled Tuesday that the official cause of Alejandro Ripley's death was drowning, and that the manner was homicide.
Police found Ripley's body in a lake Friday at at Miccosukee Golf and Country Club. His mother, Patricia Ripley, is being held in jail on no bond and has been charged with premeditated murder. Parents, mental health and disability experts are trying to sort out why the tragedy took place and what led Patricia Ripley to allegedly kill her son, who had autism and was non-verbal. Prosecutors say video shows she pushed the boy into another body of water an hour before, just a few miles away.
No. 3 - With the weather looking up, SpaceX and NASA officials vowed Tuesday to keep crew safety the top priority for the nation's first astronaut launch to orbit in nearly a decade.
Veteran NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken were set to make history Wednesday afternoon, riding SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule to the International Space Station on a test flight. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are expected at Kennedy for the planned 4:33 p.m. liftoff. NBC 6’s Jamie Guirola will be in Cape Canaveral for the event - watch for his reports Wednesday on NBC 6 News.
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No. 4 - Walt Disney World is presenting its plans for reopening after being shuttered along with Florida's other theme parks since mid-March because of the new coronavirus.
Disney World and SeaWorld Orlando will present their proposals for phased reopenings before an Orange County task force on Wednesday, said Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings. If Demings signs off on them, the plans will be sent to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for approval. Last week, Disney World allowed third-party businesses at its Disney Springs dining and shopping complex to open with new restrictions.
No. 5 - The financial toll of the pandemic hits harder when even help seems hard to come by. For undocumented immigrants who were working cash jobs before the pandemic, things are tough.
NBC 6 interviewed a woman from Honduras, who is a wife and a mother of four children. She says her family is struggling for food and carries worry every minute of every day. Click here for more of her story from reporter Stephanie Bertini in our weekly series Helping Hands.
No. 6 - Weatherwise, South Florida will start off Wednesday dry, but afternoon storms return to an area already dealing with heavy flooding. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
