Handling Credit Card Debt During the Pandemic, DeSantis Faces Backlash for Latest

Here are some of the top stories from the past week you may have missed from NBC 6 News:

How to Pay Credit Card Debt During the Pandemic

Elvira Maldonado may be employed, but she says the pandemic did not spare her finances. “The major impact has been monetarily,” she said.

Even though she has been able to pay her mortgage, Elvira says she asked her credit card companies for help. One company, she says, would only offer her a deferral of her monthly payments, while she continues to rack up more than $150 a month in interest rate charges.

She says her offer to pay a portion of the balance up front, as a way to settle the debt, was denied. But according to Ted Rossman, an industry analyst for Creditcards.com, a debt settlement should be a last resort.

Democrats Express ‘Grave Concerns’ Over Gov. Hiring Blogger as Data Analyst

On Wednesday, a handful on Florida Democrats sent over a letter to Governor Ron Desantis expressing “grave concerns” about his recent decision to hire sports blogger Kyle Lamb as a data analyst for the state. 

They say he’s an unqualified conspiracy theorist, claiming he’s been spreading harmful theories about COVID19. 

“This is a man who should have never been hired in the first place,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from Broward County, said.  “It is inexplicable and the Democratic members of the Congressional Delegation, we’re outraged.”

A group of Democrats making an urgent request to Gov. DeSantis. They say they don’t want someone they believe is a conspiracy theorist working in Tallahassee. NBC 6’s Alyssa Hyman reports

COVID-19 By The Numbers: Tracking Cases, Positivity Rate And More

Miami-Dade County has been the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in Florida since the virus first emerged in mid-March. Broward County and Palm Beach County have also been named “hot spots,” with both South Florida counties reporting a steady increase in COVID-19 cases since the outbreak began.

As cases of the novel coronavirus continue to surge across the state, local officials are implementing new rules and guidelines in an effort to contain the spread. Visit this page for a visual look at the number of cases across the state.

Florida added more than 4,500 new COVID-19 cases Saturday, 34% of which were found in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, still the most hard hit in the state.

Miami-Dade Schools Agree to Pay Nearly $9 Million in Teacher Sexual Abuse Case

Miami-Dade schools agreed to pay a settlement in the case of a former Brownsville teacher accused of abusing several of his underage students.

Wendell Alfredo Nibbs, 53, pleaded guilty earlier this year to three counts of sexual activity with a child.

Nibbs, a former physical education teacher at Brownsville Middle School, was arrested in 2017 on multiple sexual battery charges amid allegations that he had engaged in improper sexual activity with various female students at the school at 4899 Northwest 24th Avenue.

Miami-Dade schools agreed to pay a settlement in the case of a former Brownsville teacher accused of abusing several of his underage students.

‘We Will Rebuild’: Couple’s ‘Corona Bay’ Quarantine Project Gets Flooded After Eta

Luis Martinez, a Miami Gardens resident, was disappointed when the pandemic put his family’s party rental business on hold. But along with his wife Kirsten and their three sons, Martinez began to clean up and decorate his backyard, which faces a lake.

After nearly three months of work, the family had created a double deck, barbecue pit, full bar and even a pond for the turtles.

But after Tropical Storm Eta hit the Keys and brought strong rains and winds to South Florida, Martinez’s ‘Corona Bay’ is now underwater. The family say they are still grateful for the time they got to spend together during the project, and plan on rebuilding.

Miami Gardens residents Luis and Kirsten Martinez are…