It’s Tuesday, February 18th – and NBC 6 has the top stories you need to know for the day.
No. 1 - A weekend in the Florida Keys ended tragically for one high school senior from Miami-Dade after he was thrown off a boat and struck a channel marker.
In an Instagram post, Westminster Christian School confirmed that 18-year-old Lucas Alvarez died in Sunday's crash in the Keys. Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission officials say the incident took place Sunday just before 4 p.m. near mile marker 79 and Lower Matecumbe, saying a total of four people were in the boat at the time.
No. 2- The security guard convicted in the murder of a South Florida woman while she was on vacation in Costa Rica was sentenced Monday to 16 years in prison.
Bismarck Espinosa Martínez was convicted in the November 2018 murder of 36-year-old Carla Stefaniak. A judge in San José, Costa Rica, also ordered Martínez to pay $50,000 in damages to Stefaniak's family. Authorities say Martínez killed Stefaniak on November 28, 2018 after she returned alone to the apartment she rented through Airbnb in the San José neighborhood of San Antonio de Escazú.
No. 3 - Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg on Tuesday qualified for his first appearance in a Democratic presidential primary debate, NBC News reports.
The billionaire media mogul received 19 percent of support from an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, allowing him to join the stage at the Feb. 19 debate in Las Vegas which is being hosted by NBC News, MSNBC and the Nevada Independent.
Local
No. 4 - At the finish line, Denny Hamlin made history with a second straight Daytona 500 victory in an overtime photo finish over Ryan Blaney, a celebration that quickly became muted as word of Ryan Newman's wreck spread.
Roughly two hours after the crash, NASCAR read a statement from Roush Fenway Racing that said Newman is in "serious condition, but doctors have indicated his injuries are not life-threatening" after the wreck on the race’s final lap.
No. 5 – If you want to take the pulse of South Florida, there is an Instagram page that’s getting so much buzz, it now has its own catchphrase: "That’s So Only In Dade."
NBC 6 takes you inside the social media site “Only in Dade” that is quickly becoming the place where local viral videos get their start. Click here to see the exclusive story and find out what’s in store next.
No. 6 – Weatherwise, keep a cold drink handy as warm temperatures and plenty of humidity are sticking around Tuesday while relief could be coming by the weekend. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
