It’s Friday, November 27th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - In normal times, Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year, drawing millions of shoppers eager to get started on their holiday spending.
But these are not normal times: The economy is tanking and crowds are expected to be dramatically diminished as coronavirus cases spike and shoppers do more of their purchases online.
Many retailers closed their doors on Thanksgiving Day but are beefing up their safety protocols to reassure wary customers that they can still come back the next day. For those who can't be reassured, stores are moving their doorbuster deals online and ramping up curbside pickup options as a last grasp at sales before the year ends and they head into the dark days of winter with the pandemic still raging.
No. 2 – As the United States nears 13 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus, millions of Americans are traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, despite warnings from health officials to stay home and keep celebrations small.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily barred New York from enforcing certain attendance limits at houses of worship in areas designated as hard hit by the virus. The ruling comes as state and local officials across the country mull more restrictions to curb widespread coronavirus outbreaks.
Experts say that if people disregard restrictions and socialize anyway, that could put greater stress on overburdened hospitals and lead to an even bigger spike in sickness and death over the holidays.
Local
No. 3 - President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will leave the White House if the Electoral College formalizes President-Elect Joe Biden's victory — even as he insisted such a decision would be a “mistake” — as he spent his Thanksgiving renewing baseless claims that “massive fraud” and crooked officials in battleground states caused his election defeat.
“Certainly I will. But you know that," Trump said Thursday when asked whether he would vacate the building, allowing a peaceful transition of power in January. But Trump — taking questions for the first time since Election Day — insisted that “a lot of things" would happen between now and then that might alter the results.
No. 4 - A Catholic church in Sunrise is rethinking what it will be doing for Christmas after a man was caught on camera vandalizing some of its most sacred symbols.
For more than 30 years, people have flocked to Saint Bernard Catholic Church. When its door were closed, some would stand outside and pray in front of statues placed outside the building.
However, early last Saturday morning, one man took that away from them.
Surveillance footage from the church shows the man carrying a large rock and throwing it at a statue of Jesus, knocking it down. Seventeen minutes later, the man returns and lights the ground on fire.
No. 5 - The Salvation Army of Broward County provided over 500 to-go meals while supplies last to homeless members of the community in a walk-up format. The Miami Rescue Mission and Broward Outreach Center provided Thanksgiving meals, along with haircuts and showers, to those in need as well.
"For the last 45 years, it's always been a tradition to hold what we call the Great Thanksgiving Banquet," said Miami case manager supervisor Alexis Chaviano.
With the pandemic in effect, Chaviano said the group still was able to find a way to continue the event without being able to host the usual 2,000 members of the homeless community as in past years.
No. 6 - Weatherwise, expect a few more showers on this Black Friday as the humidity climbs just a bit. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
