It’s Tuesday, October 5th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Some residents from a high-rise condo building in Bal Harbour were evacuated from their homes Monday after a suspected "clandestine lab" was discovered in an empty unit.
Residents from the 14th, 15th and 16th floors of the Majestic Towers Condo on Collins Avenue and 96th Street were told to evacuate as Miami-Dade police, fire rescue, ATF agents and hazmat crews investigated what they called a "hazardous situation." According to city officials, a manager went to inspect a vacant unit on the 15th floor and discovered chemicals inside. Fire rescue initially suspected that it was a meth lab. Police later said that the materials inside were “objects and stuff that is consistent with a clandestine lab,” said Miami-Dade Police Spokesperson Alvaro Zabaleta.
No. 2 - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday that his wife, Casey DeSantis, has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
"I am saddened to report that Florida’s esteemed First Lady and my beloved wife has been diagnosed with breast cancer," Gov. DeSantis said in a statement. "As the mother of three young children, Casey is the centerpiece of our family and has made an impact on the lives of countless Floridians through her initiatives as First Lady." Casey DeSantis, 41, married Ron DeSantis in 2010. She is originally from Ohio and previously worked as a television host in Jacksonville. She has played an active role in her husband's administration, advocating for people with mental health issues. The couple are parents to 4-year-old daughter Madison, 3-year-old son Mason and 18-month-old daughter Mamie – who is the first baby to be born in the Governor’s Mansion in more than 50 years.
No. 3 - There’s a sadness which will always linger in Parkland, as it does wherever a mass school shooting occurs. Now the latest effort to prevent these tragedies focuses on studying each incident.
U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is proposing a bill called the School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act, which, among other things, would create a definition of what qualifies as a school shooting. H.R. 4301 would direct three federal agencies to report annually on school shooting statistics, including the motivations of the shooters and how they acquired guns. It would also track prevention efforts at each school to see what worked and what didn’t. To hear why one parent of a MSD victim says the bill is incomplete, click here for the story from NBC 6 reporter Ari Odzer.
Local
No. 4 - Miguel Hernandez has always had a passion for helping others and has been a trailblazer for Hispanics in the field of nursing.
Hernandez is now leading the way as a nurse, but he made a lot of sacrifices along the way as he left his native Colombia to come to the United States. He's been in the country for over 16 years, and since he arrived at just 19 years old, he has hit the ground running, juggling multiple jobs and school. He says his Abuela, who has since passed away, was the driving force that motivated him every step of the way. The devoted nurse has worked his way up the ranks and has been with Memorial Healthcare System for seven years. The past year and a half, he saw the realities of the COVID-19 crisis head-on as he treated patients on his floor, which was temporarily converted to a COVID unit. To hear his story, click here for a report from NBC 6’s Amanda Plasencia.
No. 5 - Homeowners say they paid thousands of dollars to have swimming pools built, but the company they hired didn’t finish the work.
NBC Responds and Telemundo Responde Units across the state were contacted by frustrated homeowners. Angel Lacasse says he contracted with Villa Pavers and Pools in December 2019 to build a pool in his backyard. The total project was estimated to cost $25,000. But more than a year later he says he still doesn’t have a pool. Lacasse says after paying roughly $21,000, all work stopped. Click here to see what happened next in a report from NBC 6 consumer investigator Sasha Jones.
No. 6 - After 40 consecutive Powerball drawings without a winner, someone at last has hit the jackpot.
A winning ticket was sold in Morro Bay, California, at Albertsons, the California lottery reported. The biggest lottery prize in months grew larger Monday as the Powerball jackpot climbed to $699.8 million, making it the seventh largest in U.S. lottery history. It's the fifth-largest top prize ever for Powerball. The winning numbers for Monday's drawing were 12-22-54-66-69 and a Powerball of 15. The Power Play was 2x. On Sunday, officials initially raised the winnings for Monday's drawing to $670 million. The increase announced Monday reflects a surge in sales from players attracted by the potential payoff.
