It’s Friday, May 28th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for your day.
No. 1 - Two people are dead and 10 others are missing after a boat that left Cuba overturned Thursday near the Florida Keys, officials said.
The U.S. Coast Guard responded to a location several miles off Key West around 1 p.m. Crews rescued eight people and pulled two bodies from the water, Petty Officer Jose Hernandez said. Two Coast Guard cutters and several small boats continued to search the area Thursday evening for the missing passengers, Hernandez said. There was no immediate sign of the overturned boat. The survivors reported they left Puerto de Mariel, Cuba, on Sunday, and capsized sometime Wednesday evening, Coast Guard officials said. They will remain aboard a Coast Guard cutter where they will receive food, water and basic medical attention.
No. 2 - Chaos erupted outside of a casino in northwest Miami-Dade Thursday when a shooter opened fire and three people were struck by bullets, police said.
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The shooting happened after 6 p.m. outside of Casino Miami, where two people were shot and a third was grazed by a bullet, Miami police said. According to Miami-Dade police, a black sedan was chasing a white sedan and gunshots were fired throughout the chase, which ended outside of the casino. Two people inside of the white sedan were shot and taken to the hospital in stable condition. An innocent bystander was grazed. Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
No. 3 - Floridians will get a chance to take part in a 10-day sales tax holiday to help purchase goods in preparation for hurricane season.
The holiday runs through June 6th. Items available for purchase include flashlights, generators and other supplies. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed several “tax holidays” into law last week, including in late July and early August when Floridians won't have to pay sales taxes for school supplies, some clothing and the first $1,000 for a computer. New to the “tax holiday” lineup is a “Freedom Week” during the first week of July on recreational purchases, as well as for purchasing tickets for concerts, athletic events and museums.
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No. 4 - With Memorial Day weekend approaching, the city of Miami Beach and its police department are expected to ramp up patrols and security to enforce safety measures and prevent people from breaking the law.
Barricades were put into place as early as Wednesday night along Washington Avenue in an effort to try and control traffic and what some worry could be the chaos of past years. Over 250 MBPD officers will work 12 hour shifts starting Thursday while over 550 officers from both Miami Beach and other agencies will be on duty for a three day period starting Friday. Lane closures will start at 10 p.m. Friday on the McArthur Causeway, but starting at 7 p.m. anyone driving east on Interstate 395 will be forced into a traffic loop - one way in, one way out. Click here for a complete list of traffic changes and what else you need to know for the weekend.
No. 5 - After the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota one year ago, people took to the streets in South Florida for mostly peaceful but sometimes violent protests.
Dozens were arrested in Miami and NBC 6 Investigators found most of those charges have been dropped a year since the protests began. NBC 6 Investigators requested arrest records from the city of Miami, the center of many protests and some violent confrontations between protesters and police. After reviewing the court records of 67 people arrested by Miami Police, NBC 6 found 55 of them had their cases dropped. To find out why, click here for the story from NBC 6 investigator Phil Prazan.
No. 6 - Khris Middleton scored 22 points, Jrue Holiday added 19 points and 12 assists and the Milwaukee Bucks moved a win from a berth in the Eastern Conference semifinals after easing past the Miami Heat 113-84 on Thursday night.
Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds for the Bucks. They lead the first-round series 3-0 and will try for a sweep of the reigning East champions on Saturday. Jimmy Butler scored 19 points and Bam Adebayo had 17 for Miami. Nemanja Bjelica — little-used by Miami this season, then called upon Thursday out of desperation for any sort of outside shooting — scored 14 points. The biggest crowd of the season, by far — the Heat were expecting 17,000 in a building that in normal times called 19,600 a sellout — showed up, most of them in their seats by tip-off.
