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6 to Know: South Florida Renters Struggle with Rising Rates

It’s Tuesday, November 2nd – and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day

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It’s Tuesday, November 2nd – and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.

No. 1 - On Tuesday, South Florida voters in several municipalities will be taking to the polls to cast their ballots.

There are several key races to look out for. Among them, is the primary to fill the vacancy left by the late Rep. Alcee Hastings to represent the state's 20th Congressional District. Hastings died earlier this year after a battle with pancreatic cancer. There are also several municipal seats that will be voted on Tuesday. Residents will decide mayoral races in Miami, Miami Beach, Hialeah and Sunny Isles Beach. Several City commission seats are up as well. Miami Beach voters will also cast votes in the highly contentious ballot question over changing the end time for alcohol sales and consumption in Miami Beach. NBC 6 will provide team coverage throughout the night with the latest results and insights.

No. 2 - Miami-Dade County Public Schools is relaxing mask mandates for high school and middle school students in the district, citing low rates of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations in the community.

Effective immediately, these students will be able to opt out of wearing masks, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced. The easing of the mask policy would give parents an opt-out provision for their children. The decision was based on the district meeting seven metrics established by its medical expert task force, including the positivity rate in the community and the number of cases in schools. The state of Florida mandated the parental opt out at the start of the school year, but Miami-Dade, Broward County Public Schools and several other school districts defied that order.

No. 3 - Law enforcement from around South Florida and across the country gathered Monday to honor the life of a Hollywood Police Department officer killed in the line of duty last month.

The funeral procession for Officer Yandy Chirino left the Vista Memorial Gardens Cemetery funeral home, heading to the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise for a service. Chirino, 28, spent four years with the Hollywood Police Department and was a native of South Florida. Chirino received several commendations during his time at the department, including an officer of the month honor. After the service, the procession headed to Hollywood to make brief stops at Memorial Regional Hospital, where Chirino died, and the Hollywood Police Department, and then to Miami Lakes for burial. Chirino was shot during an altercation with 18-year-old Jason Banegas after responding to a call of a suspicious incident on Oct. 17.

No. 4 - American Airlines again reported hundreds of cancellations and delays Monday morning following disruptions that upended weekend travel plans for thousands of passengers.

American Airlines said 436 flights were canceled as of Monday afternoon. Monday's performance was an improvement over Sunday, when American scrubbed more than 1,000 flights — more than one-third of its schedule — according FlightAware. In all, American has canceled more than 2,000 flights in the past three days as it struggles with staffing shortages. American’s troubles began Thursday and Friday, when high winds at times shut down its busiest hub, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and prevented the airline from using all runways there.

No. 5 - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took a victory lap after the federal government released job numbers for September.

DeSantis, a Republican, posted on Oct. 22 that "Florida is driving the nation’s economy forward — the nation reported adding 194,000 jobs in September, and Florida accounted for 84,500." A reader noticed this post and asked us if we could fact-check it. We found that Florida does have reason to be pleased with its showing in jobs for September. But DeSantis’ comparison of the two figures is exaggerated. Both numbers come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but they are calculated differently. Click here for the story from NBC 6 investigator Phil Prazan and Politifact.

No. 6 - Rent in South Florida is highest it has been in years and there is no sign prices will drop anytime soon.

Right now, the rental market is hot for developers, but for tenants the marked-up rates are eating up their pocketbooks and predictions about rent today - made before the pandemic— were way off. Since the beginning the pandemic, the rent in Miami is 10 percent higher than projected and 5 percent higher in Fort Lauderdale, according to some studies. That translates into hundreds of dollars for tenants. The high demand for apartments is adding pressure to renters who have deadlines to find a place. Click here for more in a report from NBC 6’s Jamie Guirola.

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