Here are some of the top stories from the past week you may have missed from NBC 6 News:
Confirmed COVID Cases Linked to 4 Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Three students and one employee were among four confirmed COVID-19 cases with the Miami-Dade County Public School system Friday.
School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the four cases had been confirmed by the depratment of health and that all were in isolation.
The schools impacted by the cases are Zora Neale Hurston Elementary, Poinciana Park Elementary, William Lehman Elementary, and Charles D Wyche Elementary.
Record-Breaking 18 Foot Burmese Python Captured in the Everglades
Python removal agents working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have caught the largest Burmese python yet to be captured in Florida.
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The 18-foot, 9-inch long snake was captured on October 2nd by Ryan Ausburn and Kevin Pavlidis along the L-28 Tieback Canal about 35 miles west of Miami. The previous record for the longest python caught was just one inch shorter.
"Today's record breaking capture shows that our increased efforts are working to get harmful pythons out of the precious Everglades ecosystem,” said South Florida Water Management District Governing Board Member Ron Bergeron in an email.
Amendment 4 Asks Florida Voters to Make it Harder to Change the Constitution Going Forward
Floridians can make it harder for state constitutional amendments to become reality. On the November ballot is Amendment 4, which would require future ballot amendments to be approved by sixty percent of the voters in two general elections.
In effect, it would make it harder for citizen-led petitions to skirt the legislature and change the constitution themselves. The ballot initiative is how Florida created the Florida Land and Water Initiative, it’s how the state legalized medical marijuana, and it’s how ex-felons were returned the right to vote - after they pay their fines and fees.
Family Plans to File Suit After Opa-locka Officers Seen Dragging Teen Down Steps
The city of Opa-locka says they're planning to investigate cellphone video of police officers dragging and restraining a 19-year-old who family members say has a mental illness.
Jasef Castro-Reyes' family called 911 for help on Sept. 25.
"This is a tragic case of a mentally ill teenager calling for help and getting treated very brutally," said Michael Pizzi, the family's defense attorney.
Mask-Associated Dry Eye an Emerging Phenomenon Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
Mask-associated dry eye is an emerging phenomenon that has some South Florida eye experts curious.
Dr. Mario Rojas, with Aran Eye Associates in Coral Gables, is one of the experts who has been looking into it.
"People are speculating still because we don’t exactly understand what we call the pathopysiology or the cause of why these symptoms are happening," Rojas said. "Of course people think that naturally just having that current of air going upward from your mouth to your eyes is causing a type of dryness."
