These are some of the biggest news from around the state that impacts you in South Florida.
Let's start with elections. All of Florida’s elections are now final. Two weeks removed from Election Day; Florida’s Elections Canvassing Commission certified every election statewide. The election is widely viewed as the most successfully run general election cycle in Florida’s history as a record number of ballots were processed without any significant issues or legal challenges anywhere within the state.
Moving on to the pandemic, the rising trend of new COVID-19 cases in Florida continued on Tuesday with the Florida Department of Health reporting more than 7,400 new cases. With the report, the daily average for cases is now 6,450 over the past week, that's the highest since August 13th.
In other news, a major child-sex trafficking ring was busted. In Tallahassee a two-year investigation resulted in the apprehension of 170 people. Of those, 106 were charged with human trafficking. The investigation revealed the trafficking of a 13-year-old girl. A teacher was among those charged. According to the Human Trafficking hotline an estimated 50,000 people will be trafficked in the US this year, Florida could be 3rd for total cases.
On a positive note, let's talk food. Chick-fil-A announced the opening of seven new locations in South Florida which will employ over 700 people. The new restaurants will be in Boca, Boynton Beach, Davie, Kendall, Hialeah, North Miami Beach and River Landing. To keep the good news flowing, the Coast Guard released over 200 baby sea turtles off Fort Lauderdale’s coast yesterday. The turtles were born at sea turtle hospitals from across the state.