While you were sleeping, we compiled the biggest stories of the day in one place. Each story has a quick and easy summary, so you're prepared for whatever the day brings. Just click on the links if you want to know more!
On This Day In History
Today we start with "This Day In History" in celebration of Groundhog Day. On February 2, 1887, Groundhog Day, featuring a rodent meteorologist, is celebrated for the first time at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. According to tradition, if a groundhog comes out of its hole on this day and sees its shadow, it gets scared and runs back into its burrow, predicting six more weeks of winter weather; no shadow means an early spring.
You can watch his prediction here:
1. South Florida Democrats call for resignation of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., is planning to introduce a resolution to strip U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., of her House committee assignments.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell is blasting Greene, calling the far-right Georgia Republican’s embrace of conspiracy theories and “loony lies” a “cancer for the Republican Party.”
Greene has been facing backlash after cellphone video recently emerged showing her verbally attacking Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg. She also claimed the Parkland shooting never happened, wildfires were started by space lasers, posted a video suggesting protesters kill Nancy Pelosi and more.
2. GameStop developments haven't stopped: Florida law firm files class-action suit against Robinhood
A class-action lawsuit has been filed in Florida against the trading app Robinhood for preventing its members from trading GameStop shares last week.
Fueled by small-time traders who had banded together on social media, shares for GameStop closed at an all-time high on Jan. 27. But when the market opened the next day, Robinhood restricted trading of the stock to its 10 million customers, citing market volatility despite other competing broker-dealers continuing to execute trade orders, Shumaker said.
At the time Robinhood shut down transactions, GameStop was trading at about $445 per share. But during pre-market hours on Jan. 28, shares of GameStop began to drop precipitously, falling to as low as $263 per share. When the market opened, GameStop rapidly rose from $263 to a peak of $483 per share within a span of 30 minutes, all while Robinhood customers were forced to watch from the sidelines, the lawsuit alleges.
3. Vaccine site sits idle in Palm Beach County
Starting this week, Florida will begin receiving tens of thousands additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government. Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state will get about 307,000 first doses of the vaccine this week.
However; a vaccine center that's been in the works for over a month on the grounds of the South Florida fairgrounds sits empty. Palm Beach County Commissioner Gregg Weiss says the station isn't going to open until they secure the needed doses. Weiss says the county was getting roughly 4,000 to 4,500 vials in the beginning but that changed in recent weeks after the governor's announced the decision for Publix to offer vaccine back on January 19th.
Weiss says the new set-up at the fairgrounds could help 7,000 people daily. He's a bit optimistic considering the state's receiving more vaccine vials.
4. Back to school for 13,000 students for the first time in almost a year
The second semester of the school year for the Palm Beach County School District begins Tuesday and thousands of students will return to the classroom for the first time.
According to the school district, about 81,000 students will be learning in-person, 66,000 are doing remote learning, and about 20,000 don't have a choice registered in the district’s portal. Those numbers are expected to firm up throughout the week as teachers see how many students actually show up to class.
We are working to learn exactly how many students fall into that category, as well as how many remote teachers may have been required to come back to campus because of the increase in students.
5. Where are you going on vacation after the pandemic? How about space!
A U.S. billionaire is buying an entire SpaceX flight for himself and three people to circle the globe.
Pennsylvania entrepreneur Jared Isaacman aims to use the trip to raise $200 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. He's offering the three other seats in the SpaceX capsule to a St. Jude's health care worker, a donor to St. Jude's, and a customer of his credit card processing business.
The orbital mission is planned for October. According to The Associated Press, Isaacman bought an ad that'll publicize the mission that'll air during the Super Bowl.
Today's Forecast
It'll be even colder tomorrow:
Get your complete hour-by-hour forecast here.
Remember, you can join Mike Trim and Ashleigh Walters every weekday on WPTV NewsChannel 5 beginning at 4:30 a.m. And you can always watch the latest news from WPTV anytime on your favorite streaming device. Just search for "WPTV."