Tag Archives: Florida

Fort Myers’ NBC News affiliate reports: The woman caught on camera yelling racist insults at a mother and kids was placed on administrative leave by the Collier County School District. According to CCPS’ staff email directory, Patricia Schmidt is employed as an Exceptional Student Education (ESE) Specialist at Lely Elementary School. The video shows Schmidt mocking the child behind the …

ABC News reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — who has been criticized for opposing mask mandates and vaccine passports — is now touting a COVID-19 antibody treatment in which a top donor’s company has invested millions of dollars. DeSantis has been flying around the state promoting Regeneron, a monoclonal antibody treatment that was used on then-President Donald Trump after he …

Jacksonville’s NBC News affiliate reports: The State Board of Education on Tuesday voted in favor of a recommendation to “use its enforcement powers” against Alachua County Public Schools after the district defied a statewide order to allow students to opt out of wearing a face mask without a doctor’s note. With a unanimous vote, the board authorized the Florida Department …

From the Hillsborough County School Board: The Hillsborough County School Board will hold an Emergency School Board Meeting on Wednesday, August 18, from 1-3:30 p.m. in the School Board Auditorium. Board Members will meet to discuss the latest district COVID-19 impact and will discuss the best way to mitigate against the spread of the virus, up to and including mandatory …

Florida Politics reports: Florida recorded 1,071 additional deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the COVID-19 Weekly Situation Report released Friday afternoon by the Florida Department of Health. That total — similar to what the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services showed for Florida in that agency’s most recent seven-day total — represents the worst week for COVID-19 deaths since January …

The Palm Beach Post reports: Attorneys for Gov. Ron DeSantis asked a judge Friday to throw out a lawsuit by parents in a half-dozen Florida counties challenging the state’s ban on mandatory masks in school. Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper set a hearing date for next week on the proposed dismissal, a first step before any discussion of the …

Politico reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration backed down from its threat to withhold school officials’ salaries if they resist his anti-mask rule, saying instead that the defiant officials should be responsible for the “consequences of their decisions.” The move by the governor’s office represents a tacit acknowledgement that it legally can’t take away the salaries of school board members and …

Miami’s NBC News affiliate reports: The Broward Teachers Union confirmed Thursday that three teachers and a teacher’s assistant have died from COVID-19 within the two days. Union president Anna Fusco said those teachers were on summer break when they got the virus. Their colleagues learned of the sad news on Wednesday when teachers returned to the classroom to prepare for …

Miami’s ABC News affiliate reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis rolled out a new state treatment plan to help fight COVID-19, announcing Thursday that the state will start dispensing Regeneron monoclonal antibodies through mobile clinics. DeSantis made the announcement in Jacksonville, which has been particularly hard hit by the delta variant, but he curiously didn’t say a word about the record …

Florida Politics reports: After Gov. Ron DeSantis’ denial that Florida requested COVID-19 supplies prompted a back and forth with the White House, DeSantis said his denial wasn’t inaccurate, rather the way the reporter asked the question caused confusion. A reporter asked DeSantis Tuesday about a request from Florida’s Division of Emergency Management to the federal government for “respirators.” DeSantis said …

Fort Myers’ NBC News affiliate reports: It started off as a basic cold but within 72 hours, Shannon Ruvelas’s fever had spiked to 102.8 degrees and her blood oxygen level was down to 84 percent. “My lungs just took a dive,” Ruvelas said from her room in Cape Coral Hospital. “I was against the vaccine, I didn’t want it, but …

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports: For the 11th straight day, Florida hospitals set records for the number of COVID patients they are treating, and on Wednesday the state set a new high for daily cases. On Wednesday, Florida hospitals had 15,449 patients a significant jump from just two days earlier when admissions surpassed 14,000 to set a record. The …

Miami’s ABC News affiliate reports: On June 24, the Champlain Towers South building collapsed, killing 98 people. Officials are still in the early stages of determining the cause of the catastrophe. The town has already received an offer on the property, but what the future holds for this land is in limbo. Some families want to see a memorial where …

The Pensacola News-Journal reports: A man yelled about “abuse of power” before he struck a flight attendant on a plane to Pensacola after he was asked to properly wear his face mask, according to a recently released arrest report. John Loucky, 70, of Canyonville, Oregon, was arrested on charges of battery and resisting arrest after his flight landed Thursday at …

Miami’s NBC News affiliate reports: A health administration official confirmed the Strategic National Stockpile sent 200 ventilators and 100 high-flow nasal cannula kits to the state of Florida “earlier this week.” The SNS sends equipment when it receives requests from states and their health departments, according to the official. Despite that, DeSantis told reporters Tuesday that he was unaware of …

Florida Today reports: All three hospital systems in the county are over capacity, and are continuing to deal with a strong surge in patients, Brevard County Emergency Management Director John Scott said. The surge in COVID-19 cases also prompted Brevard County Fire Rescue Chief Mark Schollmeyer to urge residents to stop calling 9-1-1 for non-emergency calls, so as to leave …

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports: Longtime radio talk-show host Marc Bernier has been hospitalized with COVID-19, according to a top official at WNDB (1150 AM, 93.5 FM). “I don’t have an update on him at this point, other than he has been hospitalized,” said Mark McKinney, the station’s operations director. While he did not have specific knowledge of Bernier’s vaccination …

Miami’s NBC News affiliate reports: A condominium in Miami is being evacuated Monday after officials deemed it an unsafe structure. An evacuation noticed was posted at the entrance of the building at 5050 NW 7th Street. Hundreds of residents from 137 units had only hours to leave, according to a city official. “We have a lot of elderly owners here …

ABC News reports: As a result of the increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, the state of Florida requested 300 ventilators from the federal government, according to a Department of Health and Human Services planning document obtained by ABC News. The request was made on Friday “to replace expended state stores,” the document said. The ventilators were expected to be …

The Miami Herald reports: Over the weekend, Florida didn’t merely break its single-day COVID-19 case record — the state shattered it, according to numbers reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Monday. The CDC halved the weekend data sent by the state of Florida, 56,633 new cases, and put 28,316 new cases Saturday and 28,317 new cases Sunday. …