It’s Wednesday, February 23rd – and NBC6 has the top stories of the day.
No. 1 - Investigators have released details of the deadly shooting of an ATV rider over the weekend in Cooper City, including photos of a vehicle of interest.
The shooting happened shortly before 4:40 p.m. Sunday at 5600 Flamingo Road. Numerous ATVs and dirt bikes were riding northbound on Flamingo Road from Stirling Road when the victims were shot from a vehicle driving in the same direction. The vehicle of interest is described as a newer model Cadillac Escalade. Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue and deputies responded to the scene, where they found two men suffering from gunshot wounds. A man was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other was shot in the arm and taken to the hospital.
No. 2 - A group of parents are voicing their concerns over safety at a middle school in Miami-Dade after what they say is a string of recent violent encounters including a fight that was caught on camera.
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Several parents gathered at Georgia Jones-Ayers Middle School in Allapattah Tuesday in the hopes of meeting with administrators to discuss the recent violent incidents. The parents claim there have been a number of fights both on and off campus recently, including one that was captured on cell phone video. Parents blame one group in particular, who they claim bring knives and other weapons to the school and threaten other students to join gangs.
No. 3 - The East-West faceoff over Ukraine escalated dramatically Tuesday, with Russian lawmakers authorizing President Vladimir Putin to use military force outside his country and U.S. President Joe Biden and European leaders responding by slapping sanctions on Russian oligarchs and banks.
Both leaders signaled that an even bigger confrontation could lie ahead. Putin has yet to unleash the force of the 150,000 troops massed on three sides of Ukraine, while Biden held back on even tougher sanctions that could cause economic turmoil for Russia but said they would go ahead if there is further aggression. The measures, accompanied by the repositioning of additional U.S. troops to the Baltic nations on NATO’s eastern flank bordering Russia, came as Russian forces rolled into rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine after Putin said he was recognizing the independence of the separatist regions in defiance of U.S. and European demands.
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No. 4 - It’s officially called the Parents' Rights Bill, but Florida HB 1557 is called the "Don’t Say Gay" Bill by its critics.
It was debated again in the House Tuesday, and the amendment that would’ve required schools to tell parents if their kids came out to a teacher or counselor was dropped. But the bill still restricts what can be said in class about LGBTQ topics to what it calls “age-appropriate” groups and allows parents to sue school districts if they think their kids were exposed to something they consider inappropriate. Critics of the bill say it will make LGBTQ kids even more insecure. Click here for more in a report from NBC 6’s Ari Odzer.
No. 5 - Residents living near one of the busiest intersections in South Florida can't take it anymore.
On Tuesday, Pompano Beach residents get to square off with the mayor and commissioners, and the city has another chance to convince residents the project is good for everyone in the long term. Four months ago, the city took two lanes of traffic away on busy Atlantic Boulevard to make way for a redevelopment project, even as traffic engineers said doing that would increase the commute for anyone near Pompano Beach City Hall. On Tuesday night, the city hoped to get more residents on its side and exclusively shared with NBC 6 the renderings that show how the project will eventually unfold. It says residents will have access to new apartments, restaurants, retail shops, and a place for rollerbladers and bike riders. Click here for more in a report from NBC 6 investigator Willard Shepard you’ll see Only on 6.
No. 6 - Debbie Segreti had a big problem seven weeks ago. She needed emergency heart surgery, and one of her best friends stepped in.
"It was a very difficult emotional decision to agree to do it," heart surgeon Dr. Allan Stewart said. That's because Dr. Stewart and Segreti met 20 years ago in New York when he was a young doctor. They've been inseparable. Segreti even moved down here to South Florida after Dr. Stewart relocated his practice. Their families spend holidays together and they've formed a bond of the heart in more ways than one. Click here for the emotional story in a report from NBC 6’s Claudia DoCampo.
