It’s Wednesday, December 30th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Broward Health announced it will start giving the COVID-19 vaccine to certain members of the public starting Wednesday.
Patients must meet certain criteria, including being ages 65 and older, be office staff of Broward Health's credentialed physicians, emergency medical services personnel or non-credentialed community health care providers who do not have access to the vaccine, as well as their office staff. Eligible members of the community must call Broward Health's Nurse Connect line at 954-759-7500 to schedule an appointment. Cleveland Clinic and Jackson Health have also said they will be giving the vaccine to members of the public starting Wednesday.
No. 2 - Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said some of the $600 payments may have been sent by direct deposit to Americans' bank accounts as early as Tuesday night.
Mnuchin tweeted that paper checks will begin to go out Wednesday. President Donald Trump's push for bigger $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks stalled out in the Senate as Republicans blocked a swift vote proposed by Democrats and split within their own ranks over whether to boost spending or defy the White House. A growing number of Republicans, including two senators in runoff elections on Jan. 5 in Georgia, have said they will support the larger amount. But most GOP senators oppose more spending, even if they are also wary of bucking Trump.
No. 3 - Police arrested a man in connection with the murder of his mother, whose body was found decomposing inside her Miami Beach apartment over the weekend.
Miami Beach Police homicide detectives arrested 31-year-old Edwin Chow and charged him with second-degree murder in the case. At around noon Saturday, authorities responded to calls of a possible death inside an apartment located at 659 Meridian Avenue. When officers arrived, they discovered a deceased female inside. She was later identified as 63-year-old Candida Navarrete, Chow's mother. According to an arrest report, Chow confessed to killing his mother by stabbing her with a knife while she was in her bed.
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No. 4 - New Year’s Eve will be radically different this year in South Florida.
The annual Anchor Drop event in Fort Lauderdale? This year, it’s pre-recorded and will be posted on the city’s social media platforms to be experienced virtually. The pandemic has also squeezed Miami’s big flashy orange -- it will not rise up the Intercontinental Hotel this year. Public celebrations of 2021’s arrival are non-existent in South Florida as local leaders try to curb the spread of COVID-19. To hear what other changes residents in both Miami-Dade and Broward can look forward to, click here for the story from NBC 6 reporter Ari Odzer.
No. 5 - Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs provided some coronavirus relief in a Miami neighborhood on Tuesday, handing out $50 bills amid a crowd of hundreds.
He was joined by his children at the event set up to help Overtown neighborhood residents facing economic hardship during the pandemic. In addition to the cash, $50 Publix supermarket gift cards and bags containing hygiene products also were handed out. Diddy's charitable foundation is also working with music festival and nightlife organizer Michael Gardner and the local group Teens Exercising Extraordinary Success to provide rental assistance for 175 families. To hear why this event was important to the group, click here for the story from NBC 6 reporter Stephanie Bertini.
No. 6 - Weatherwise, South Florida will feel breezy and comfortable on Wednesday before temperatures rise across the area to end a wild 2020. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
