Here are some of the top stories from the last week from NBC 6 News:
Florida's Governor Sued Over New ‘Anti-Riot' Law
A social justice group has filed a lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and others two days after the Republican signed a bill to create tougher penalties for people who participate in violent protests.
The nonprofit group Legacy Entertainment & Arts Foundation filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Orlando federal court, according to court records. It argues the new law violates First Amendment protections for free speech, Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment and 14th Amendment protections of due process.
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“The breathtaking scope of the Bill includes granting civil immunity to people who drive into peaceful demonstrators if such demonstration blocks a road, prevents people accused of ‘rioting’ from bailing out of jail until after their first court appearance, increases penalties for assaulting law enforcement officers while engaging in a ‘riot,’ penalizing local governments that interfere with efforts to stop a 'riot,' and allows law enforcement agencies that face funding reductions to file objections,” the complaint stated.
Hackers Post Files After Broward School District Doesn't Pay Ransom
Local
Hackers who sought $40 million in ransom from a South Florida school district that refused to pay have now published nearly 26,000 stolen files.
Many of the files, dated from 2012 to March 2021, contain Broward School District accounting and other financial records, which include invoices, purchase orders, and travel and reimbursement forms, the South Florida SunSentinel reported. None of the files reviewed by the newspaper so far contained Social Security numbers.
The international malware group Conti posted the files Monday, the newspaper reported. Last month the hackers posted a transcript of a conversation with an unidentified Broward schools representative which offered to pay $500,000 to retrieve data. The hackers initially demanded $40 million but dropped the price to $10 million.
Feds Drop Kidnapping, State Adds New Charge in South Florida Missing Mom Case
A man arrested following the disappearance of a young mother in South Florida is no longer facing a federal kidnapping charge but is now facing a new state charge in the case.
Shannon Ryan, 39, was arrested this past August following an FBI investigation into the disappearance of 21-year-old Leila Cavett.
Ryan, a self-described witch and chakra master, had been accused of taking Cavett's 2-year-old son, Kamdyn, but court records released Wednesday showed the federal kidnapping charge against Ryan was dropped.
Broward County jail records showed Ryan now faces a state charge of child neglect without great bodily harm.
Miramar Police said Thursday that they filed the charges, but gave no other information.
TV Meteorologists and the Climate Change Conversation
For many years, TV meteorologists did not talk about climate change on air. But now, we have become climate change educators — presenting the science behind the issues. And NBC makes it a priority to cover climate change. Meteorologist Steve MacLaughlin reports.
Local Efforts Aim to Fight Food Waste in South Florida
On a Wednesday afternoon, we were invited to watch a food rescue in progress. The food was from a Trader Joe’s on Miami Beach that isn’t fit for sale but is perfectly fine and safe to eat.
Instead of letting it end up at a local landfill, it’s going somewhere much more useful.
“What we do is rescue unsold, unused food and directly transfer it to the people who need it,” said Ellen Bowen, the site director for Food Rescue US in Miami.
Food Rescue US is a non-profit that connects food donors like Trader Joe’s and other grocery stores, restaurants, hotels, event venues— with local social service agencies like shelters and soup kitchens.
And it’s done all through a website.
The organization also connects them with a local volunteer to pick up and drop off the food directly.
“Forty percent of all food is wasted, yet one in five people go to bed hungry every single night,” Bowen said.
