It’s Tuesday, May 25th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Florida will be ending a $300-a-week federal payment for the unemployed starting next month, the state's Department of Economic Opportunity announced Monday.
The supplemental Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program payment will end June 26, the department said. The announcement comes after the department said April labor statistics showed private sector employment increased by 18,800 jobs and more than 460,000 online job postings available throughout the state. Recipients have been able to receive the $300 federal benefit on top of their regular state unemployment aid. The payment, which lasts nationwide until Sept. 6, was included in President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion financial rescue package.
No. 2 - Hours before a father and his young son were found dead in a murder-suicide at a Fort Lauderdale condo, the boy's mother had sought to have him removed from the father's custody, saying he had been stalking her and sending her threatening text messages, new court records show.
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Attorneys for mother Alison Kessler had filed the emergency motion Friday to have 4-year-old Greyson Kessler removed from the care of his father, 47-year-old John Stacey. Hours later, around 10 p.m. Friday, police found the bodies of Stacey and Greyson in Stacey's Las Olas by the River condo unit. To hear why Greyson’s mother says the tragedy could have been prevented, click here for the story from NBC 6 reporter Alyssa Hyman.
No. 3 - A mother is demanding justice, claiming the man accused of attempting to kill his ex-girlfriend and her friend last week in southwest Miami-Dade also killed her son earlier this year.
Jonathan Clemente killed Frankie Cordero less than three months ago, the mother claimed. The state attorney would not confirm or deny, only saying that prior to the filing of a criminal charge, they would not be commenting on any criminal review. When Carolyn Villalobos learned about the attempted murder on May 19, she was stunned to hear the person who allegedly pulled the trigger was Clemente. To hear why she’s saying this could have been prevented, click here for the story from NBC 6 reporter Laura Rodriguez.
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No. 4 - President Joe Biden is set to meet with members of George Floyd’s family at the White House on Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of his death while in the custody of Minneapolis police officers.
The marker Biden set to pass a major police reform bill couldn't have been clearer — he urged lawmakers directly in his address to Congress last month to "get it done next month, by the first anniversary of George Floyd's death." But as it became clear that no bill would arrive by Tuesday, White House officials spent last week wrestling with how Biden could mark the moment, instead. "The president has spoken repeatedly to how meaningful his relationship with the Floyd family is to him," an official said.
No. 5 - The best evidence to put rapists behind bars is often found in DNA samples taken from their victims. For years in Florida, thousands of samples sat in storage unanalyzed, leaving hundreds of rapists unidentified.
That began to change after sexual assault survivors and their advocates pushed a law forcing the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to clear that backlog and take no more than four months to analyze new ones. Today, FDLE tells NBC 6, there is no backlog. But there are terrifying memories left among thousands of victims waiting to see if their cases were ever resolved. To hear why one survivor is working to get the state to do more, click here for the story from NBC 6 investigator Tony Pipitone.
No. 6 - The Florida Panthers entrusted their season to a rookie goalie making his playoff debut. Spencer Knight delivered, in a huge way.
The 20-year-old Knight stopped 36 shots, Mackenzie Weegar had a goal and an assist, and the Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 on Monday night in Game 5 of their Central Division playoff series. The Lightning still lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 and host Game 6 on Wednesday night. But Knight — the third different goalie to start for Florida in this series — stymied the reigning Stanley Cup champions. Mason Marchment and Patric Hornqvist scored for the Panthers, and Frank Vatrano added an empty netter with 14.6 seconds left. Aleksander Barkov had a pair of assists.
