It’s Monday, September 28th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Florida's Commissioner of Education sent a letter to Miami-Dade and Broward superintendents telling them that their plans to reopen for in-person classes, which have previously been approved by the state, needed to be adjusted to start sooner.
In letters addressed to Alberto Carvalho and Robert Runcie, superintendents of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, education commissioner Richard Corcoran told the officials that they needed to reopen schools physically by October 5th, or else submit justifications as to why each individual school could not reopen. Last week, Miami-Dade's school board voted unanimously for a staggered reopening plan that would reopen schools no sooner than Oct. 14. All grades would be back and the district fully operational by Oct. 21. Broward County’s school board had also agreed to a staggered schedule running from Oct. 14 to Oct. 20.
No. 2 - It was the happiest hour of 2020 for bars across South Florida this weekend as the businesses were back on tap after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered their doors for six months.
The decision to reopen bars and nightclubs was an unexpected one. Last Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis moved the state into the third phase of reopening, lifting all restrictions on restaurants and other businesses in Florida, and allowing restaurants across the state to immediately reopen at full capacity. The decision prevents cities and counties from ordering businesses to close or operate at less than half-capacity, unless they can justify a closure for economic or health reasons.
No. 3 - A former campaign manager for President Donald Trump was hospitalized Sunday evening after allegedly barricading and threatening to kill himself inside his Fort Lauderdale home.
Fort Lauderdale Police say the wife of 44-year-old Brad Parscale called authorities to their home on the 2300 block of Desota Drive, saying her husband was armed and threatening to harm himself. Police say officers were able to make contact with Parscale who eventually willingly left his home and was placed under a Baker Act. Parscale was demoted from the campaign manager's post in July but remained part of the campaign, helping run its digital operation.
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No. 4 - Meanwhile, a report Sunday from the New York Times says President Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes the year he ran for president and in his first year in the White House.
Trump, who has fiercely guarded his tax filings and is the only president in modern times not to make them public, paid no federal income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years. The details of the tax filings complicate Trump's description of himself as a shrewd and patriotic businessman, revealing instead a series of financial losses and income from abroad that could come into conflict with his responsibilities as president. The president's financial disclosures indicated he earned at least $434.9 million in 2018, but the tax filings reported a $47.4 million loss.
No. 5 – The Miami Heat are going to the NBA Finals - surprising many, perhaps, but not themselves.
Bam Adebayo scored a season-high 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Butler scored 22 points and the Heat won the Eastern Conference finals for the sixth time by topping the Boston Celtics 125-113 on Sunday night. The Heat won the series 4-2 - and now, waiting on that next stage to decide the NBA title, are former Heat superstar LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Game 1 is Wednesday night.
No. 6 - Weatherwise, South Florida will start the work week warm and muggy with shower and storm chances increasing by the middle of the week. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
