Here are some of the top stories from the past week from NBC 6 News:
Historic Polynesian-Themed Mai-Kai Restaurant to Reopen in South Florida
South Florida's historic Polynesian-themed Mai-Kai restaurant will be making a comeback after flood damage forced its closure last year.
The Thornton family, who has owned and operated the iconic restaurant in Oakland Park since 1956, announced Wednesday that they've found investors to help them reopen.
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The Mai-Kai was forced to close in October 2020 when a plumbing incident flooded the kitchen and caused catastrophic damage.
The family said close to $5 million will go into giving the kitchen a full renovation and restoring the property to its historical condition.
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Remnants of Collapsed FIU Bridge Being Removed, New Design Underway
The removal of some of the remaining structural elements of the collapsed pedestrian bridge at Florida International University began Monday, as designs for a replacement bridge continue to move forward.
Contractors will be removing structural elements at two locations near FIU for the next six weeks, officials said.
During the structural removal work on the FIU Campus side, one outside eastbound travel lane on Southwest 8th Street approaching Southwest 109th Avenue will be closed from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for about three weeks. During these closures, three eastbound lanes, and access to and from FIU via East Campus Circle will remain open.
The bridge was under construction when the 950-ton span collapsed onto a busy Miami highway on March 15, 2018, trapping cars that had been stopped at a traffic light underneath. One construction worker and five people sitting in their cars were killed.
The new bridge will span the same highway, connecting the university's Modesto A. Maidique Campus to the downtown area of a Miami suburb.
Ocean Drone Captures Never-Before-Seen Footage Inside Category 4 Hurricane Sam
An ocean drone has captured footage from the inside of a major hurricane, the first glimpse into an active system hurtling across the Atlantic Ocean.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration teamed up with Saildrone Inc. to send the ocean drone into the midst of Hurricane Sam, a Category 4 hurricane which is not forecast to hit the United States.
Experts say the Saildrone Explorer SD 1045 is battling 50-foot waves and 120 mph winds to gather critical scientific data in realtime, a process that is "giving us a completely new view of one of Earth's most destructive forces."
The drone includes a specialized "hurricane wing" that allows it to operate in extreme wind conditions. The data collected is expected to bring new insights into how tropical cyclones grow and intensify.
Passenger Arrested After Jumping Onto Plane Wing at Miami International Airport
A passenger was arrested after he opened the emergency exit of a plane and jumped onto the wing shortly after landing at Miami International Airport Wednesday, police said.
The incident happened on American Airlines flight 920, which arrived in Miami after 7 p.m. from Cali, Colombia.
Christian Segura, 33, faces charges of trespassing airport property, battery of a police officer, and resisting an officer with violence.
The flight was deplaning at gate D22 when the man opened the emergency exit door, walked onto the wing, and then jumped down to a restricted area, Miami-Dade Police said.
He told a security officer below that he needed help and he was in danger, but a U.S. Customs and Border patrol agent detained him immediately.
"We thank our team members and law enforcement for their professionalism and quick action," American Airlines said in a statement.
‘You Should Go Ahead And Do It': South Florida Nurse Urges Others to Get Vaccinated After Battle With Covid
After battling COVID-19 for nearly three months at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Carlos Olano is finally going home.
Olano, who works as an associate nurse manager at the hospital, was rushed to the emergency room back on July 9. Nurses are calling his recovery a miracle.
The 64-year-old man has gone through intense rehab, learning how to walk, talk, and even swallow food again.
Olano was not vaccinated. He said he was battling bronchitis for several months in the spring and was told he needed to recover before receiving the COVID-19 shot.
Although it's hard for him to speak, Olano told NBC 6 he wanted to share a message with others to get vaccinated.
"You should go ahead and do it," he said. "I am one of the few who is going to go out of that door walking, without any other organ involved. You don't see that all the time."
Man Asks NBC 6 Responds for Help with Reservation Refund Fight
It was a deal for a last-minute car rental that caught Henry Thomas’ eye.
“I went through the screen and found a Hot Deal,” he said. “I was extremely careful about making sure my times and my dates were correct because they were non-refundable, non-transferable.”
But Henry said when he clicked to pay on Hotwire.com, an error screen popped up.
“There was a little icon on the screen with construction that said, ‘Oops, sorry. Something went wrong,” he said. “And prompted me to refresh the page.”
So Henry said he did and received a confirmation.
“But my itinerary popped up on my screen and it was for the wrong date,” he said.
Henry was scheduled to arrive in Atlanta on Wednesday, June 16, and leave the following day. The confirmation he got was off by a day, he said, so he reached out to Hotwire right away.
“I stated that I had just booked a car through their website and experienced an issue that now the date was incorrect,” he said. “I thought it was an easy fix.”
But it wasn’t.
