It’s Friday, June 24th - and NBC 6 has the top stories of the day.
No. 1 - A year after 98 people were killed in the Surfside condominium collapse, family members and the community will honor those lost in the tragedy at a remembrance event Friday.
The public Surfside Remembrance Event will take place from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the building site. First Lady Jill Biden was expected to attend, along with other local and state leaders. The event was planned by a committee comprised of victim relatives, Jewish Community Services South Florida on behalf of additional relatives, Town Manager Andrew Hyatt, Surfside Mayor Shlomo Danzinger and support staff.
No. 2 - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chuckled at the notion of a run for The White House Thursday, a day after a poll of Republicans from the early primary state of New Hampshire shows DeSantis stacking up strongly against former President Donald Trump.
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"What is this obsession with '24?" Desantis said, referring to the 2024 presidential election. He fielded the question about his political future while at a news conference at the Broward Health Sports Medicine facility, where he announced record funding to tackle Alzheimer’s disease. The survey of likely GOP primary voters shows DeSantis being their first choice candidate, with 39% versus Trump’s 37%, a statistical tie given the margin of error of 5.5%. NBC 6 political analyst Carlos Curbelo said those numbers are telling. "Of course, it is early, but the big news here is that Donald Trump apparently is no longer the singular dominant force in the Republican Party,” said Curbelo. "He has some competition and he hasn't had competition at least since 2016 when he won the presidency.”
No. 3 - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis discussed funding for Alzheimer's disease research and signed a bill related to Alzheimer's education at a news conference in Fort Lauderdale Thursday.
DeSantis held the news conference at Broward Health, where he signed Florida Senate Bill 806, also known as the "Ramping up Education of Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia for You" or READY Act. The bill requires the Department of Health to educate certain health care practitioners regarding specified information related to Alzheimer’s disease and related forms of dementia.
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No. 4 - Months after a woman died following a procedure at a South Florida plastic surgery clinic, the owner of the recovery home where the woman was supposed to go afterward has been arrested for operating that home illegally.
Police arrested Charlie Butler, 44. Police say Butler was operating the recovery home, Chasing Dreams, in Miami Lakes without a license. Tanesha Walker, 47, traveled from Indiana to Miami in April for plastic surgery and she died following the procedure. Walker had a Brazilian butt lift and liposuction at New Life Plastic Surgery Center. Butler picked up Walker after the procedure and was supposed to take her back to the recovery center. “We really miss our mom, I’m still in disbelief,” said Tierra Gosha, Walker’s daughter. NBC 6 spoke with Walker’s daughter for the first time. She says their family is still grieving.
No. 5 - The Senate easily approved a bipartisan gun violence bill Thursday that seemed unthinkable a month ago, setting up final approval of what will be Congress' most far-reaching response in decades to the nation's run of brutal mass shootings.
After years of futile Democratic efforts to curb firearms, 15 Republicans joined with them as both sides decided inaction was untenable after last month’s rampages in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas. It took weeks of closed-door talks but senators emerged with a compromise embodying incremental but impactful movement to curb bloodshed that has come to regularly shock — yet no longer surprise — the nation. The $13 billion measure would toughen background checks for the youngest gun buyers, keep firearms from more domestic violence offenders and help states put in place red flag laws that make it easier for authorities to take weapons from people adjudged dangerous. It would also fund local programs for school safety, mental health and violence prevention.
No. 6 - The Florida-based Publix grocery store chain is not offering the COVID-19 vaccine to children younger than 5 but has not explained its decision.
The supermarket chain with 1,288 stores in seven Southern states was instrumental in distributing the vaccine when it was initially released. Its website indicates it is currently offering the vaccine to adults and children 5 and older. The company told the Tampa Bay Times that Publix stores won't offer the vaccine to young children “at this time." It did not explain the decision or return multiple messages or phone calls to The Associated Press on Thursday. The company's website shows it offers other vaccinations for babies as young as 6 months. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has recommended against vaccinating healthy children, despite U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that recommend the vaccines for everyone 6 months and older.
