Here are some of the top stories from the past week from NBC 6 News:
Celebrating Pride Month in South Florida: What You Need to Know
In commemoration of the New York Stonewall Riots of 1969, June has been designated as Pride Month. The riots served as a catalyst to the fight for the civil rights of the LGBTQIA+ community. In 1970, just one year after the riots, LGBTQIA+ members and activists across the U.S. began to organize marches in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco to remember the injustices of Stonewall. The marches and parades spread to cities throughout the United States to celebrate the gay community.
After a tumultuous year of COVID-19 and virtual events, Pride festivities are finally returning to South Florida. Here are just some of the many events going on in South Florida for Pride Month and how you can take part in the festivities.
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Sisters Petition to Lift Visitation Restrictions at Jackson Memorial Hospital
Two South Florida sisters are petitioning to lift visitation restrictions that were put into place due to COVID-19 at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Local
Michelle Cardenas and Vivianne Nieto started an online petition that currently has more than 1,700 signatures.
"If Miami is back to normal, why can't we put hospitals back to normal?” said Cardenas.
After nearly three months at Jackson Memorial Hospital with a blood infection and other complications, their father Sandalio Cardenas died on June 7. The Cardenas sisters say with only one visitor allowed and limited hours, it was extremely difficult.
Tenants at Edgewater Apartment Building Have Weeks to Find New Places to Live
Residents at the Hamilton on the Bay in Edgewater have several weeks to find a new place to live.
Last month, the owners of the property notified some 200 tenants that they are being evicted and have 60 days to move out.
“I am going to be 72 years old in August and the rent I am going to have to pay to move out to cover the moving expenses is my whole Social Security check,” Larry Schatz said.
He joined other residents in a protest outside of the lobby of the building located off Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 34th Street on Tuesday. The group has asked the owners, Aimco, to give them more time and money to move.
Man Seen Purchasing Cellphone Could Lead Police to 2014 Murderer
Lindon Cooke started a new life in Fort Lauderdale in 2013 after living in the New Jersey area for much of his life, but his new beginning proved to be a tragic move.
"I don't want any mother to feel what I feel,” said Cooke's mother, Althea Littlejohn.
Littlejohn is still waiting for closure. Seven long years have gone by, and her son's murderer remains on the run.
"It's hard because you feel like perhaps you've brushed shoulder to shoulder with these people. You may or you may not. But you just don't know,” said Littlejohn.
Florida Bans ‘Critical Race Theory' From Its Classrooms
Florida's state Board of Education banned “critical race theory” from public school classrooms Thursday, adopting new rules it said would shield schoolchildren from curricula that could “distort historical events.”
Florida's move was widely expected as a national debate intensifies about how race should be used as a lens in classrooms to examine the country's tumultuous history.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis appeared by video at the top of the board's meeting, urging its members, many of whom he appointed, to adopt the new measures he asserted would serve students with the facts rather than “trying to indoctrinate them with ideology.”
South Florida Taekwondo Star, 18, Hoping to Bring Home Gold for Haiti in Olympics
Taekwondo may have originated in Korea, but Aliyah Shipman is hoping to bring home gold for Haiti in the Tokyo Olympics.
The 18-year-old Taekwondo star is one of the youngest athletes heading to Tokyo this summer.
Shipman trains for hours on end at I-Fight Mohamed Ali Martial Arts and Fitness Center, but she got her start in the sport early on.
"When I was around nine years old, I was a chubby little kid and my mom wanted me to do some physical activity, so she put me into Taekwondo,” Shipman said.
She quickly got hooked on the sport.
