It’s Friday, March 18th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Random screenings for weapons with handheld metal detectors have begun in Broward County Public Schools.
Superintendent Dr. Vickie Cartwright announced the new policy in a video message on Twitter Wednesday night, and held a news conference Thursday to discuss the details.
“Schools and classrooms are randomly identified using a computerized tool which eliminates any bias in the selection process,” Cartwright explained.“A student will never know if we’re gonna be at their school or not so it causes, often times, that pause, should I be bringing this with me or not?”
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No. 2 - The bridge tender who was operating the drawbridge to Palm Beach that caused a woman to fall to her death last month has been arrested, police said.
Artissua Lafay Paulk, 33, of Greenacres, was arrested Thursday in connection with the Feb. 6 incident, according to the West Palm Beach Police Department.
Police said Carol Wright, 79, was walking her bike across the span toward West Palm Beach and was within 10 feet of the barrier arms that halt traffic when the drawbridge started to move.
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No. 3 - Drugmaker Moderna asked the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday to authorize a fourth shot of its COVID-19 vaccine as a booster dose for all adults.
The request is broader than rival pharmaceutical company Pfizer's request earlier this week for the regulator to approve a booster shot for all seniors.
In a press release, the company said its request for approval for all adults was made “to provide flexibility” to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and medical providers to determine the “appropriate use” of a second booster dose of the mRNA vaccine, “including for those at higher risk of COVID-19 due to age or comorbidities."
No. 4 - A 16-year-old carjacking suspect who died in police custody after he led police on a chase from Hollywood to Miami-Dade back in November that ended in a crash died from blunt force injuries related to the collision, according to a medical examiner's report released Thursday.
The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner Verification of Death report lists the probable manner of death for 16-year-old Christopher Walls as an accident.
The incident began the night of Nov. 14 when police said Walls carjacked an Alfa Romeo at a gas station in Hollywood and led police on a nearly 20-mile pursuit that ended in the crash in Miami-Dade.
No. 5 - Police have identified a man shot and killed while riding in a car on the Palmetto Expressway in Miami-Dade, as the search for the suspect or suspects responsible continued.
Timothy Starks, 20, was killed in the Wednesday afternoon shooting in the northbound lanes of the expressway near Okeechobee Road, Miami-Dade Police officials said Thursday.
Authorities said Starks was a passenger in a red Nissan Altima being driven by 20-year-old Dante' Collins Banks when someone opened fire on them shortly before 3 p.m.
No. 6 - Talek Nantes said it has taken her six years to build her travel brand using social media sites to advertise her blog, books and travel tours.
But in February, her social media accounts were disabled.
“All of my customers, everything, my entire business life is in those accounts,” Nantes said.
Nantes said after placing an ad about train travel she got a message from Facebook stating her page was “unpublished” because her page goes against the site’s Community Standards on Child Sexual Exploitation.
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