Lawyers representing families of victims and survivors of the condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, last June have told a judge that they've reached a nearly $1 billion tentative settlement.

Harley S. Tropin is a lawyer representing the plaintiffs. He announced the settlement during a hearing on Wednesday before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman. Still pending final approval, the settlement involves insurance companies, developers of an adjacent building and other defendants.

“I’m shocked by this result — I think it’s fantastic,” Hanzman said. “This is a recovery that is far in excess of what I had anticipated.”

Earlier this year, Hanzman had approved an $83 million settlement to compensate people who suffered economic losses such as condominium units and personal property, the Associated Press reported.

The 12-story building called the Champlain Towers South condominium collapsed suddenly in the early-morning hours on June 24 and almost instantly destroyed dozens of individual condo units, burying victims under tons of rubble. Rescuers worked for weeks digging through mountains of concrete to find survivors, then later to recover the remains of those who died. A total of 98 people were killed.

Another fall for stocks on Friday had the S&P 500 flirting with a 20% drop from its peak set early this year, putting it within the grasp of what Wall Street calls a bear market.

The benchmark index was down 0.4% for the day in afternoon trading and on pace for its seventh straight losing week. Rising interest rates, high inflation, the war in Ukraine, and a slowdown in China's economy are all punishing stocks and raising fears about a possible U.S. recession. The last bear market was in 2020, an unusually brief downturn that sliced 34% off the S&P 500.

The index finished the week off with a 3 percent loss, which was its seventh straight weekly decline, the New York Times reported. It's the longest window of losses since 2001.

Surprisingly low earnings reports from Target and Walmart this week didn't help either which contributed to dragging the markets even lower. The New York Times points out that since World War II, recessions almost always follow bear markets.

Puerto Rico's Comptroller Office has released a report saying the island's Senate made nearly $30,000 worth of "extravagant, excessive and unnecessary" purchases from 2013 to 2020.

The report released on Wednesday comes as the U.S. territory tries to emerge from the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history and remains under the eye of a federal control board overseeing the island's finances. The report found that the items bought included a $2,545 sofa, two chandeliers worth $1,200 each, three chairs valued at $675 each, two laptops worth more than $9,000, and an $870 console table.

In addition, $8,200 was spent to buy 225 red shirts for a 2015 sporting event that already included official shirts, the report said.

“This expense turned out to be unnecessary because it was of no use to the public,” the report said.

MIAMI (AP) — Prosecutors in South Florida announced a second-degree murder charge Thursday against social media model Courtney Clenney related to the fatal stabbing of her live-in boyfriend.

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced the charge against the 26-year-old model during a news conference.

Clenney was arrested Wednesday in Hawaii. Fernandez Rundle said Clenney, who goes by the name Courtney Tailor on platforms like Instagram and OnlyFans, remains jailed in Hawaii while authorities work to have her extradited to Florida.

Fernandez Rundle characterized Christian Obumseli's April 3 death at the couple's Miami apartment as the culmination of a "tempestuous and combative relationship" that began in November 2020.

The county medical examiner said in an autopsy report that Obumseli, who worked in cryptocurrency, died from a forceful downward thrust from a blade that went 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) into his chest, piercing a major artery.

According to an arrest report, Clenney acknowledged killing Obumseli but said she was acting in self-defense. She said Obumseli had pushed her and thrown her to the floor, which prompted her to grab and knife and throw it at Obumseli from about 10 feet (3 meters) away.

The medical examiner said Obumseli's wound could not have been caused by a knife thrown from that distance.

Clenney's Miami defense lawyer, Frank Prieto, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment from The Associated Press.

He previously told the Miami Herald that Clenney was in Hawaii while in rehabilitation for substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder. He said they look forward to clearing her name in court.

MIAMI, Fla. — With Hurricane Ian set to strike Tampa Bay sometime this week, the Buccaneers announced they are temporarily relocating to Miami.

On Monday, the team said on Twitter that they would be moving to Miami-Dade County Tuesday and then spend the week practicing at the Dolphins' facility.

"No changes have yet been made to Sunday's game schedule," the team added.

According to ESPN, the league is monitoring the situation, but for right now the Bucs are still planning to host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

If the game has to be postponed because of the storm, it's unlikely the game will be moved to Miami because the league doesn't want to take away state resources for a game that could be better utilized for recovery efforts, ESPN reported.

A hurricane warning was issued for the area Monday, with the National Hurricane Center projecting the hurricane to make landfall by Wednesday as a Category 4 storm, the Associated Press reported.

The last time a major storm hit the city was Oct. 25, 1921.

The team also announced Tuesday that they are rescheduling the induction of former head coach Bruce Arians into the Ring of Honor, which was supposed to happen on Sunday.

The team said that ceremony would be rescheduled for a later game.

MIAMI —

Maria Torres' passion for weather began at a young age. She and her family left San Juan, Puerto Rico and moved to Miami, Florida over 25 years ago.

"I remember back in 1989, it was my first experience going into Hurricane Hugo when it hit Puerto Rico," said Torres. "It was a Category 3 hurricane."

Torres attended Braddock High School in Miami, Florida, where she was a part of the ESOL Program that helped her learn how to speak English.

Her love of atmospheric science led her to Florida State University where she received her bachelor's degree in meteorology. Torres was also the first person in her family to attend college and get a degree.

"It's a big accomplishment and I feel that it was a push for my cousins from both sides of the family to be able to say 'hey if she can do it we can do it as well,'" Torres said.

Torres interned with the federal government while attending college. This experience helped her land her first job at the National Weather Service as a forecaster in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Torres eventually took another job within the National Weather Service and moved to Brownsville, Texas, which is close to the border.

"During the time that I was there in South Texas, projects I tried to get with the community is to build better relationships with them," Torres said. "Having a Hispanic person that could speak to them in their language, was a way to build better trust with the community and educate them in the process of showing what are the watches and warnings and what do they mean, what are the different hazards that could affect the area and how can they be prepared for it."

After the Lonestar State, Torres, her husband, and her son moved back to the Magic City for another role at the National Weather Service in Miami.

"Once I got to Miami, it was, 'Get ready!'" said Torres. "I moved back to Miami in 2016 and I had to deal with Hurricane Matthew. That was my first one here as a forecaster."

Now, Torres is now the new bilingual public affairs officer at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

"I'm really proud of carrying that culture with me and sharing that through my son and the family that we have here in Florida," said Torres. "I carry those deep roots within me, and they define who I am. I carry that through my career as well."

MIAMI, Fla. — When the pandemic hit South Florida, small business owner Leslie Schwimmer was forced to close up shop, leaving behind her massage business and her sense of security.

But more than a year after becoming unemployed, the 58-year-old is back at work and loving the path life has taken her on.

"I really am happy. I love the day-to-day of what I do," Schwimmer said.

When we first met Schwimmer in March of 2021, she was worried that her age was keeping her from finding a new job.

"I try to mask my age during interviews as much as I can," she said at the time.

After being forced into bankruptcy, Schwimmer thought she'd lost everything. But after countless interviews last year, she landed a job selling medical devices for a small company in Florida and is now back on her feet.

"I loved what I did before but I really like this new challenge," she said.

While Schwimmer misses running her own business, she does not miss the stress that came along with it.

"I really enjoy getting a check every two weeks and not worrying about paying everybody else," she added.

As for the two million, or so long-term unemployed Americans out there still looking for a new job, this single mother of two says don’t give up.

"When I look at the jobs I didn’t get, I have to admit I cried over some of them," she said. "Now, I think I’m where I should be."

This is part of a series of stories examining the question, "How are you doing?" where we check in with people from different walks of life to see how they’re handling the pandemic.

The death of an LGBTQ advocate and brother of a former Miami mayor is being investigated as a homicide, authorities said, after his body was discovered in a Florida landfill.

Jorge Diaz-Johnston, a plaintiff in a historic same-sex marriage lawsuit against Miami-Dade County in 2014, was found dead at a Jackson County landfill on Jan. 8, the Tallahassee Police Department said.

The body had been in trash collected from an Okaloosa County landfill that morning and transported to Jackson County by a garbage transportation company, according to a statement released by the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.

The 54-year-old was last seen Jan. 3 in Tallahassee, police said.

Diaz-Johnston and his husband Don Johnston were one of six couples who filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade County in 2014 challenging Florida's ban on same-sex marriage. A Miami-Dade circuit judge ruled in the couples' favor in 2015.

"There are just no words for the loss of my beloved husband Jorge Isaias Diaz-Johnston," Johnston wrote on social media Wednesday. "He touched so many people with his kind and generous heart."

Manny Diaz, chair of the Florida Democratic Party and the mayor of Miami from 2001-2009, released a statement thanking police and city officials who worked to locate his brother and investigate the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.

"I am profoundly appreciative of the outpouring of support shown to me, my brother-in-law Don, and my family after the loss of my brother, Jorge Diaz-Johnston. My brother was such a special gift to this world whose heart and legacy will continue to live on for generations to come," the statement said.

The investigation into Diaz-Johnston's death is ongoing, the Tallahassee Police Department said. Investigators asked for those with any information to contact detectives.

HAMILTON, Ohio — An Indiana man is facing multiple charges for allegedly raping a Miami University student in January 2006. The arrest involved coupling DNA with forensic genealogy.

Lloyd Wendell Ailes, 58, was taken into custody on Thursday in Connersville, Indiana, by Ohio law enforcement, including Butler County Prosecutor’s Investigator Paul Newton, according to Prosecutor Michael Gmoser.

Ailes was arraigned on Friday morning by Butler County Common Pleas Judge Keith Spaeth, who set bond at $775,000. He is scheduled to be back in court on Jan. 6 for a pretrial hearing.

Ailes, who was a construction worker in Oxford in 2006, was indicted on Thursday afternoon by a Butler County grand jury for rape, aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery. All charges carry a gun specification alleging a gun was used in the crimes.

The assault occurred on Jan. 9, 2006, at an off-campus house, according to the indictment and Gmoser. The suspect wore a mask, but his face was visible to the woman for a brief time and a sketch of the suspect was made. His DNA was also found at the scene. After forcing the victim to commit several sex acts, Ailes took $60 from her purse, Gmoser said.

In March 2006, a similar attack happened in Fayette County, Indiana. DNA collected there matched the DNA in the Oxford case, but there was no match to DNA entered in any law enforcement data base. The case went cold.

During the arraignment hearing, Gmoser said Ailes wore a mask in the Indiana assault, but “didn’t speak a word,” because the victim was known to him and his voice would have been recognizable.

Gmoser said Newton and his office have been working for years with experts to track down the suspect using genealogy DNA data bases piecing together a family tree of the suspect.

“And we finally did,” Gmoser said.

He said he will be prosecuting the case himself, along with Assistant Prosecutor Lindsay Sheehan.

“The science of this investigation is fascinating,” Gmoser said.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Miami Beach is home to one of the largest Art- Deco buildings from the last century, including Al Capone's house and the fight to preserve these buildings here and around the country.

“I grew up here in Miami Beach in an old house from the 1930s. I was always so fascinated by the older architecture,” said Daniel Ciraldo of the Miami Design Preservation League.

It was a late morning in Miami Beach when I met Ciraldo at the Art Deco Center in Miami Beach. He’s eager to explain what they do at the Design Preservation League.

“This talks about the main styles that we have in Miami Beach. Art-Deco being one of the predominant styles that we want to protect, but there’s also Mediterranean and mid-century modern,” said Ciraldo.

Yeah. He loves architecture. And he loves Miami Beach.

“What makes Miami Beach the state's number one beach for vacation destinations? We strongly believe it’s the arts and culture, the architecture, and the melting pot of different diverse visitors,” he said.

But Ciraldo and the MDPL have taken on a new fight. They want to preserve a house as a historic site.

“It sits on a man-made island in the middle of Biscayne Bay. And it was one of the first homes built on this island, Palm Island, in 1922,” he said.

The house that sits at 93 Palm Avenue had a very infamous owner. Notorious, bootlegger, mobster, and tax avoider, Al Capone.

“A lot of people will tell you he was a very bad person, and he was, but he also played a real role in the history of our city,” said Ciraldo.

The house was purchased over the summer by a developer who quickly applied for a demolition permit. That’s when Daniel and the MDPL stepped in.

We reached out to the owner but were told he had withdrawn the demolition application because they had sold the building.

The fight to preserve the Capone house and Miami Beach is emblematic of what different parts of the United States are grappling with as the country continues to build.

“Some of these sites which are historic, maybe recognized more so in the future,” said Scott Montgomery, an art history professor at the University of Denver.

“It’s not that old. We still have a memory there. But these places may become storied. They already are storied,” said Montgomery.

Montgomery researches music venues of the ‘60s and beyond. He’s worried that in the pursuit of development and profit, we may cast our history aside.

“My favorite cautionary tale is of the medieval walls of Florence, Italy. They tore the walls down to make circuit roads, to modernize and build it up,” he said, “But, since then, I think most of the city of Florence has lamented the loss of these walls that were part of its identity, part of its medieval charm.”

Ciraldo wants to make sure that Miami Beach doesn’t walk down a similar path.

“We have seen a big increase in applications to demolish historically significant but unprotected homes. In the last 15 years, there have been almost 300 of these homes that have been approved for demolition,” said Ciraldo, “It’s such an important part of our history. It would almost be like cookie dough ice cream and taking all the cookie dough out and just being left with vanilla. If we lose all of these homes to big white boxes, what set us apart from any other city?”

CINCINNATI —

Many college students will begin returning to campus and class next week.

The spring semester will be a little different for them. Modified start dates, virtual learning, COVID-19 testing, and in some cases, mandatory flu shots are factors coming into play.

At the University of Cincinnati, 70 percent of coursework will be online for the spring semester.

"We have a required return to campus testing for any student that's a residential student or has an interest in coming to campus for any reason," said Dr. Chris Lewis, vice provost for academic programs at UC.

Students can get tested on campus. Lewis said more than 1,800 have already done so.

"It's very easy for the students and very quick. I'm told that from the time they show up, they can walk out the door in 60 seconds," Lewis said.

Any UC student registered for more than six credit hours is also required to get the flu shot.

At Xavier University, students are not required to get the flu vaccine.

"It's something we're monitoring, but currently, we feel really good about the number of students who have the flu vaccine," said Jean Griffin, dean of students at Xavier University.

Before heading back to Xavier on Jan. 19, students are being asked to take several precautions.

"While they're at home, we're asking them to kind of limit their exposure to other people. Do self quarantine at home. Get a test if you can before you come back to campus, " Griffin said.

Ohio University launched a new testing program for the spring semester. All OU students are required to take an at-home saliva-based COVID-19 test before returning to campus. Students living on campus will be also required to get tested for COVID weekly. Off-campus students will be tested every other week.

Ohio State students will also have to complete an at-home COVID test prior to returning and then a second test once they arrive in Columbus.

OU and OSU do not require flu vaccinations.

Miami University says it will be testing all student for the coronavirus upon arrival back to campus. Miami does not require the flu shot.

Fifteen staffers of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools District have died from COVID-19 in the past 10 days, officials said.

Sonia Diaz, a spokesperson for several unions in the school district, confirmed the number of deaths to NBC6.

One of the educators that lost their life to COVID-19 was Abe Coleman, a teacher for more than 30 years.

“It’s a tremendous loss. The number of lives that he impacted are countless. So many young men had the benefit of him intervening in their lives and pointing them in the right direction,” said Marcus Bright, with 5000 Role Models of Excellence.

Coleman was also a mentor and Site Director for the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Program, overseeing the Holmes Elementary location. He helped shape the lives of hundreds of young men over the years in the organization that mentors minority men in Miami-Dade County.

“In particular, he was a bridge builder for the students there. He connected them with opportunity, with resources, with infrastructures of opportunity that fed into and contributed to their development,” Bright said.

On Tuesday, Coleman lost his life to COVID-19 at the age of 55.

Congresswoman Fredricka Wilson, the founder of 5000 Role Models, released a statement saying, in part:

“Mr. Abe Coleman was a highly motivated, dedicated, and inspirational Site Director for the Holmes Elementary Role Models Chapter and never missed a day. The pandemic did not deter him.“

Abe Coleman leaves behind a wife, son and countless men he inspired.

Officials haven’t released the identities of the other teachers or staff members, and a Miami-Dade County Public Schools spokesperson said the district doesn’t release the cause of death for employees or students.

Firefighters in Surfside, Florida, have ended the recovery mission from the June collapse of a condo tower that killed nearly 100 people.

The conclusion of the mission comes one day ahead of the one-month anniversary of the collapse of Champlain Towers South. Ninety-seven people were killed when the tower spontaneously fell on the morning of June 24.

In a letter to Miami-Dade and Surfside officials, structural engineer Allyn Kilsheimer, who was hired to find out why the building collapsed, said the site might be unsafe due to a perimeter wall near Collins Avenue could fail, the Associated Press reported.

In the letter, Kilsheimer recommended that an earthen berm be built to support the walls because parts of the street could collapse.

According to the Miami Herald, Miami-Dade County officials said crews would be brought in to shore up the remaining underground walls.

Collins Avenue, which has been closed to traffic since June 24, could be reopening soon, the newspaper reported.

The announcement comes a day after Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman said in a hearing that victims and families who suffered losses in the collapse would be initially compensated a minimum of $150 million.

The United States Coast Guard in Miami is monitoring any activity aimed at increasing “unsafe and illegal” crossings between Florida and Cuba in response to rare street protests on the island.

Rear Adm. Eric C. Jones issued a warning statement Monday night as groups of Cuban immigrants said they planned to travel in boats filled with supplies to Cuba to show support for the Cuban protesters. South Florida has the country's largest population of Cuban Americans.

In Miami, Cuban social media personalities posted Monday that they would make the 10-hour boat ride to Cuba to show support after rare street protests broke out over the weekend, the Miami Herald reported.

The influencers said they would bring aid — and guns — and urged people in Miami to offer up their boats.

One group gathered Monday night at Pelican Harbor Marina near Miami’s North Bay Village, and people brought cases of bottled water, flashlights and boxes of canned Chef Boyardee pasta, the newspaper reported.

The group didn't get very far on a rainy Monday night.

A message posted on organizer Santiago Rivera's Instagram account early Tuesday said the Coast Guard stopped his group from crossing the Straits because of “problems with firearms.” He promised they would try again to leave Wednesday morning “with the permission of the authorities of this country."

The Coast Guard statement suggested that such permission would not be forthcoming. It noted that the voyage is “dangerous and unforgiving,” with nearly 20 Cubans dying while trying to cross in recent weeks. It said the Coast Guard is working with state, local, and federal partners to monitor "unpermitted vessel departures from Florida to Cuba.”

Rivera's post thanked people for supporting the mission and said Cubans are determining their destiny and losing their fear. “This isn’t politics, this is brotherhood, this is humanity and common sense, proud to be Cuban for my land I give my life,” his post said.

Thousands of Cuban Americans also gathered in Little Havana over the weekend, expressing support for the Cubans who joined street marches against high prices and food shortages on the island. Such unsanctioned protests are extremely rare, and Cuban police were out in force on Monday to control them.

The last such demonstrations in Havana happened nearly 30 years ago, in 1994. President Miguel Díaz-Canel accusing Cuban Americans of using social media to egg them on.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a Cuban American, tweeted that he has never “felt such raw emotion from the people of Miami desperate for intervention by the government and by themselves on behalf of Cuba." He added that “this is the moment of freedom" for Cuba.

Rescuers at the site of a collapsed apartment tower in Surfside, Florida, found 10 additional victims in the rubble overnight, bringing the death toll from the tragedy to 46.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava confirmed that 94 people who are presumed to have been in the building at the time of the collapse are still missing. Two hundred people have been accounted for.

It's been nearly two weeks since the Champlain Towers South spontaneously collapsed on the morning of June 24. Since that morning, rescuers have not found any survivors in the wreckage.

During a Wednesday morning briefing, Miami-Dade Fire Chief Alan Cominsky said there is no evidence to indicate that any of the victims recovered so far survived the initial collapse.

Levine Cava said Tuesday that the families of those still missing are preparing for the worst.

"They know what is happening," she said. "They understand that the news of their loved ones may be tragic loss...they're prepared for it. Everybody will be ready when it's time to move to the next phase."

Officials say 32 of the 46 people killed in the accident have been identified. Thirty-one names of victims have been made public. They are:

• Hilda Noriega, 92
• Gino Cattarossi, 89
• Graciela Cattarossi, 86
• Claudio Bonnefoy, 85
• Antonio Lozano, 83
• Gonzalo Torre, 81
• Magaly Elena Delgado, 80
• Leon Oliwkowicz, 80
• Simon Segal, 89
• Gladys Lozano, 79
• Nancy Kress Levin, 76
• Christina Beatriz Elvira, 74
• Maria Obias-Bonnefoy, 69
• Tzvi Ainsworth, 68
• Francis Fernandez, 67
• Ingrid Ainsworth, 66
• David Epstein, 58
• Bonnie Epstein, 56
• Frank Kleiman, 55
• Staci Dawn Fang, 54
• Manuel LaFont, 54
• Marcus Joseph Guara, 52
• Jay Kleiman, 52
• Michael David Altman, 50
• Graciela Cattarossi, 48
• Anna Ortiz, 46
• Anaely Rodriguez, 42
• Luis Bermudez, 26
• Andreas Giannitsopoulous, 21
• Lucia Guara, 10
• Emma Guara, 4

Officials have also confirmed that the 7-year-old daughter of a Miami firefighter was also among those killed in the collapse. That girl's name has not been made public at the request of the family.

Search-and-rescue efforts at the site have continued unimpeded since Tropical Storm Elsa moved out of the area. Cominsky said Wednesday that there were no work stoppages reported overnight.

"Our first responders have searched that pile every day since the collapse like they were searching for their own children," Levine Cava said.

Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said Wednesday that city officials were conducting tests on Champlain Towers North — the sister building of the tower that collapsed. That building had similar blueprints and was constructed during the same time period with similar materials.

Burkett said that analysts would review results from today's tests over the next several weeks to determine the building's structural soundness. While the north tower has not been evacuated, residents have been given alternative housing options if they no longer feel safe.

Levine Cava added Wednesday that an audit of 40 similar buildings in the county has only found one building with structural issues — a building in North Miami Beach that had issues with four balconies. That building has not been evacuated, and work is ongoing to fix those balconies.

An additional building in Miami Beach was evacuated last week.

Officials in Surfside will brief the media again 5:30 p.m. ET Wednesday.

Rescue efforts at the site of a partially collapsed condo tower in Surfside, Florida, have been suspended as officials prepare to demolish the portion of the building that's still standing.

Miami-Dade Assistant Fire Chief Raide Jadallah said that first responders suspended their rescue mission at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday. He reiterated during a press conference that the demolition was necessary to keep rescue workers safe.

An emergency order approving the demolition has already been signed.

Workers will bring down the Champlain Towers South on Sunday ahead of the expected arrival of Tropical Storm Elsa.

Structural concerns about the building prompted the stoppage of search and rescue efforts for more than 12 hours on Thursday.

The tower partially collapsed in the early morning hours of June 24.

Earlier on Saturday, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Lavine Cava confirmed that two more bodies were pulled from the debris overnight Friday into Saturday. The additional victims bring the death toll to 24, and another 126 who are presumed to be in the building at the time it crumbled are still missing.

Eighteen of the 22 people killed in the collapse have been identified. They are:

• Hilda Noriega, 92
• Antonio Lozano, 83
• Leon Oliwkowicz, 80
• Magaly Elena Delgado, 80
• Gladys Lozano, 79
• Christina Beatriz Elvira, 74
• Maria Obias-Bonnefoy, 69
• Frank Kleiman, 55
• Staci Dawn Fang, 54
• Manuel LaFont, 54
• Marcus Joseph Guara, 52
• Michael David Altman, 50
• Anna Ortiz, 46
• Anaely Rodriguez, 42
• Luis Bermudez, 26
• Andreas Giannitsopoulous, 21
• Lucia Guara, 10
• Emma Guara, 4

Officials have also confirmed that the 7-year-old daughter of a Miami firefighter was also among those killed in the collapse.

CINCINNATI —

The Surfside condo collapse is bringing back memories of a recent collapse here in Greater Cincinnati.

The Killen Generating Station along U.S. 52 in Adams County was set for demolition, but it collapsed during the process trapping five men inside. Only three survived.

The men and women who go into situations like this are a special group of people who often are working through harsh conditions to try and save lives.

Cincinnati Fire Department Operations Chief Tom Lakamp is also the Commissioner for our areas Urban Search and Rescue Team. He says one of the biggest issues they have is holding his team back, even after long shifts, as they try to grind out every moment to bring a victim home.

“Nothing moves fast,” Lakamp said.

Lakamp knows scenes like in Miami all too well.

“There's always a hope until you've exhausted any and all areas where you think there might be a void for survival,” he said.

His team is made up of about 125 firefighters from multiple departments across the region. They get the call to save lives in devastating situations.

“The key is having really good experts with you. They probably have a plan A, a plan B, a plan C, a plan D they are starting to implement simultaneously,” Lakamp said.

In December 2020, his team responded to a deadly collapse of that old Killen plant. Their quick response and planning paid off.

“At the Killen collapse, we were able to rescue one of the workers within the first three hours to make that rescue. That does a lot for morale,” Lakamp said.

Lakamp says the tragic incidents of Miami and Adams County are different because of the construction methods. Each has a very different possibility of open areas for survival. But the bottom line remains the same, the men and women on these teams are putting their tools and training into action to reunite families.

“What you see on television and what you've been able to follow, they are coming in from the bottom and they're also coming in from the top. They are doing whatever they can to give anybody the opportunity to survive,” Lakamp said.

You can hear our full conversation on the beyond the studio podcast which is out right now. Click here.

SURFSIDE, Fla. —

Video above: View from air shows destruction at condo collapse

When Mike Noriega heard that part of the condominium tower where his grandmother lived had collapsed, he rushed with his father to the scene. They arrived at a nightmarish 30-foot pile of pancaked concrete and mangled metal, the remains of her 12-story building — and no sign of 92-year-old Hilda Noriega.

But among the flying debris, they stumbled across mementos that bore witness to Hilda's life on the sixth floor in Champlain Towers South: an old picture of her with her late husband and their infant son, and a birthday card that friends from her prayer group sent two weeks earlier with the acronym “ESM,” Spanish for “hand-delivered,” scrawled across the yellow envelope with a butterfly etching.

“There was a message in the mess of all this,” Noriega said. “It means not to give up hope. To have faith.”

Days after Thursday's collapse, Hilda remains among more than 150 people unaccounted for in Surfside, north of Miami Beach, with five confirmed dead and authorities and loved ones fearing the toll will go much higher.

As scores of rescuers continue to use heavy machinery and power tools to clear the rubble from the top and tunnel in from below, the Noriega family still have hope she will be found alive.

“Some miracles are very big, others are small,” said Mike, 36, who last spoke to Hilda the day before the disaster.

They described Hilda as a fiercely independent and vivacious retiree — in Mike's words, “the youngest 92-year-old I know ... 92 going on 62.”

Hilda Noriega had called Champlain Towers South home for more than 20 years. But six years removed from her husband's death, she was ready to leave. The condo was up for sale, and her plan was to move in with family.

She had loved living near the ocean and friends, but “when you lose a spouse, you want to be surrounded by family ... and she wanted to spend more time with her family and grandchildren,” said Sally Noriega, Hilda's daughter-in-law.

Sally called Hilda a sweet, loving person who built a life with her husband and raised a family after coming to the U.S. from Cuba in 1960.

“She was just one of those people who from the first time she met a person she instantly loved that person, and that person instantly loved her,” Sally said.

Carlos Noriega, Hilda's son and police chief of nearby North Bay Village, was one of the emergency responders clambering atop the pile.

The Noriegas don't entirely know what to make of the treasured mementos found amid the chaos, but Sally said: “We are a family of faith. We’ll just leave it at that.”

They are among dozens of anguished families awaiting word on the fate of loved ones. The wait has been agonizing.

The atmosphere inside a hotel ballroom where around 200 family members were being briefed by authorities Saturday was tense, two people present told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversations.

The two said families frustrated with the slow pace of recovery efforts had demanded they be allowed to go to the scene and attempt a collective shout — an attempt as much to find survivors as a cathartic farewell to those who had died.

The confirmed death toll rose to five Saturday as rescuers battled fire and smoke deep inside the heap in a race against time. With a sulfur-like stench hanging in the air, they used everything from trained dogs and sonar equipment to buckets and drones.

“Our top priority continues to be search-and-rescue and saving any lives that we can,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.

The mayor said the identification of three bodies had dropped the number of people unaccounted for down to 156, and crews also discovered other unspecified human remains. The remains are being sent to the medical examiner, and authorities are gathering DNA samples from family members to aid in identification.

A video posted online showed an official briefing families. When he said they had found remains among the rubble, people began sobbing.

Late Saturday, four of the victims were identified, as Stacie Dawn Fang, 54; Antonio Lozano, 83, and Gladys Lozano, 79; and Manuel LaFont, 54.

The Paramount Miami Worldcenter tower in downtown Miami was also lit with the words “One World, One Prayer.” Organizers plan to light up the condo building with the message every night for two minutes on the hour until all victims of the Champlain Towers South collapse are accounted for.

Also late Saturday, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said a city official had led a cursory review of the nearby Champlain Towers North and Champlain Towers East buildings but “didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.”

The news came after word of a 2018 engineering report that showed the building, which was built in 1981, had “major structural damage” to a concrete slab below its pool deck that needed extensive repairs, part of a series of documents released by the city of Surfside.

While officials said no cause for the collapse early Thursday has been determined, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said a “definitive answer” was needed in a timely manner.

___

Don Babwin in Chicago contributed to this report.

SURFSIDE, Fla. —

Video above: Alabama doctor among the missing in Miami condo collapse

The first victim of the Surfside building collapse was identified Friday.

At least four people are dead and as many as 159 people are unaccounted for following the collapse of a residential building in Surfside, a town near Miami. The incident happened at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday.

Thirty-five victims were pulled from the structure and two were pulled from the rubble Thursday, including a boy. Eleven patients are being treated for their injuries.

Fire rescue officials said they have to be careful when searching because the part of the building that is still standing is also shifting.

There are more than 80 rescue units on scene, according to fire rescue officials. Rescue dogs are also on the scene searching for people.

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Stacie Dawn Fang, 54

Stacie Dawn Fang died of blunt force trauma following the building collapse Thursday, according to her death certificate. She was pronounced dead at 3:38 a.m. Thursday at Aventura Hospital & Medical Center.

Fang was the mother of the teen pulled from the rubble Thursday, according to officials.

Her family released the following statement:

“There are no words to describe the tragic loss of our beloved Stacie. The members of the Fang and Handler family would like to express our deepest appreciation for the outpouring of sympathy, compassion and support we have received. The many heartfelt words of encouragement and love have served as a much needed source of strength during this devastating time. On behalf of Stacie’s son, Jonah, we ask you now to please respect our privacy to grieve and to try to help each other heal.”

Search teams have been using drones, sonar, highly sensitive microphones and a range of other new and established technologies to help search for people in the oceanside condominium building near Miami that collapsed into a smoldering pile of rubble.

Will any of it help?

About 160 people were still unaccounted for Friday amid fears that the death toll of at least four could go much higher.

WHAT TECHNOLOGIES HAVE PROVEN USEFUL IN SUCH COLLAPSES?

The most common, time-tested technologies used to try to locate survivors in rubble are acoustic detection and sniffer dogs.

Aerial drones equipped with cameras and other sensors can be useful to get a close look at the collapse, especially in the earliest stages of a search to help rescuers know where it's safe to enter. Data from smartphones and telecommunications carriers can show if a missing person was in the area — and cellphone-detecting gadgets can pick up a phone’s signals, as long as it hasn’t been destroyed.

Joana Gaia, a professor of management science and systems at the University of Buffalo, said it's common for search teams to use radar and microwaves that bounce off objects and can identify people and objects. She said it's similar to the technology in cars that beeps when you're close to hitting something backing up.

That can be more useful than cell phone geolocation, especially when speed is of the essence. In a disaster situation, data is only useful if it can be interpreted quickly.

“Responders are operating on a speed rather than accuracy standpoint,” she said. “They think, ‘If I think a body is there I don’t care how accurate the signal is, I’m just going to try to go save the person.’”

WHAT ARE MIAMI RESCUERS USING NOW?

Search and rescue teams worked through the night hoping to detect any sounds coming from survivors.

The crews, which include some 130 firefighters working in teams, are approaching the pile from above and below as they search for any signs of life in what had been a wing of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida.

They've said they are using sonar, cameras and sensitive microphones. Microphones, though, won't pick up cries for help if a trapped, unseen victim is unconscious but alive, because there won't be any.

Neighboring communities have shared their drones, and at least one company is shipping a ground robot from California to help with the search as crews work to tunnel underneath the building.

“Once you get into that subterranean realm, ground robotics become incredibly useful,” said David Proulx, a vice president of unmanned systems at Teledyne FLIR, a defense contractor that specializes in thermal sensing. “It can safely go where humans can’t.”

DO THEY STILL USE DOGS TO SNIFF OUT SURVIVORS?

Search and rescue operations use two types of dogs on disaster scenes, both trained to detect human scent, said Mark Neveau, a former FEMA presidential appointee and disaster expert. First, there are dogs trained to pick up the scent of live bodies, but as the operation shifts to a recovery operation, cadaver-sniffing dogs take the field.

A drawback with dogs is that they tend to tire with time, and can get confused.

Chemical tracing devices are being developed that also pick up on scents that humans can’t detect, but these haven’t replaced dogs yet. These are portable labs that can analyze chemical traces and gas. They use sensors to detect moisture, carbon dioxide, or any chemicals emitted through breathing, like acetone or ammonia, said the University of Buffalo's Gaia.

“It’s almost like a mechanical sniffing dog, that can be trained to smell things we can’t,” she said.

WHAT OTHER TECHNOLOGIES COULD PROVE USEFUL IN THE FUTURE?

Drones and ground robots are already used in search operations, but the most sophisticated machines are still expensive, hard to come by and rarely as fast as the skilled human rescuers controlling them. That could change as they become smarter, more nimble and a standard part of search and rescue operations.

“It will be part of the kit that first responders have,” said Proulx, of Teledyne FLIR. “The operation of those drones and robots will be progressively more autonomous. They will be much more independent and operate as teammates rather than tools.”

One technology available to the responders — but not on the scene Friday — is a microwave radar device developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and the Department of Homeland Security that “sees” through concrete slabs, detecting the signatures of human respiration and heartbeats.

A prototype saved four lives after the 2015 earthquake in Nepal and it was used two years later in Mexico City. Its developers say it provides an edge over acoustics, the usual method for detecting people in rubble, because disaster sites tend to be noisy.

“Noise doesn’t affect us and we can see through smoke,” said Adrian Garulay, the CEO of SpecOps Group, a Sarasota, Florida company that sells the technology under license. Although it can penetrate up to eight inches of solid concrete it cannot see through metal, he said. It uses a low-powered microwave signal about one-thousandth the strength of a cellphone signal and evolved from NASA’s efforts to develop low-cost, small spacecraft radios.

At least 159 people were still unaccounted for Friday morning, after part of a 12-story residential building in Surfside, Florida, collapsed early Thursday, authorities said.Search and rescue teams have been feverishly scouring the site near Miami since shortly after 55 of the building's 136 units fell at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday.Some of those missing may not have been at home; those who were may not have survived the collapse, which left just rubble and dust.Here's what we know about some of the missing.Family of Paraguay's first ladyThe sister and brother-in-law of Paraguay's first lady, Silvana López Moreira, live with their three children on the 10th floor of the partially collapsed building, and Paraguay's ministry of external relations has not been able to locate the family, the ministry told CNN en Español.A total of six Paraguayans are unaccounted for, the ministry tweeted Thursday.Nine Argentines, including a couple and their daughterArgentines Andrés Galfrascoli, 45, his partner Fabián Nuñez, 55, and their daughter, Sofía Galfrascoli Núñez, 6, are among the missing, according to a friend.Galfrascoli, Nuñez and their daughter were on vacation in Florida staying at the condo of a friend, Nicolás Fernández.Fernández told CNN he spent time with the couple Wednesday night and made plans to meet up Thursday morning."We don't know anything, we don't have any closure and that's what hurts," Fernández told CNN.Fernández has looked for his friends in local hospitals with no luck.Nine Argentines were missing as of Thursday afternoon, the country's consulate in Miami said on Twitter.Venezuelans missingBrian Fincheltub, Venezuela's consular affairs director, tweeted the consulate has identified four of its citizens who are not accounted for and who were believed to be in the building.Jewish community members missing, rabbis saySome members from The Shul of Bal Harbour synagogue are among the 99 people unaccounted for, Rabbi Sholom Lipskar told CNN."This is something that transcends our capacity for understanding," Lipskar said about the collapse. "It's a reality, we accept it and we have to learn as we do in our culture of resilience to move forward."The outpouring of support has been unprecedented, Lipskar said."There are way more volunteers than we can use. Our synagogue big hall, which is a giant space, is filled with blankets, pillows, microwave ovens, chargers, food. It is an extraordinary outpouring and it's real and it's sincere," he said."The only thing that helps in these times is kindness and empathy and togetherness, because you can't take away the reality," Lipskar said, and for each family member waiting for news from a loved one, there are about five or six community members with them, giving support.Members of the synagogue believed to be missing are Nancy Kress Levin, Jay Kleinman, Frankie Kleinman, Arie Leib, Yisroel Tzvi Yosef and Tzvi Doniel, according to Lipskar.Rabbi Eliot Pearlson, who leads Temple Menorah, told CNN's Chris Cuomo, "It's hard to explain. This doesn't happen in America. It's doesn't happen in Miami Beach. It doesn't happen in our homes. And it's very difficult to comprehend how it's possible."Pearlson said that he saw people come together in compassion following the collapse, and his temple will host an emergency prayer service on Friday.Three generations of one family from his temple are of the 99 people unaccounted for, he said.He added, "I have to tell you, when I walked past ground zero, there was row after row after row of firefighters who are literally waiting to rush into a building that could fall at any time."Uruguayan citizens missingThree Uruguayan citizens are among the missing, according to the consulate in Miami.The consulate is in contact with local authorities and with the families of the people missing, said Consul General Eduardo Bouzout."The relatives are very concerned, of course, because they have not been able to contact them since they have knowledge of this tragic collapse," said Bouzout in audio shared by the consulate with CNN.Missing mother and grandmotherA woman who said creaking noises woke her up in the building the night before the collapse is missing, her son, Pablo Rodriguez, said.Both his mother and grandmother were in the section that collapsed first, and the family hasn't heard from them, Rodriguez told CNN."You always hold out hope," he said. "Until we definitively know, we are trying to stay hopeful. But after seeing the video of the collapse it's increasingly difficult, because they were in that section that was pancaked in, in the first section that fell in, and then the other building fell on top of it, so it's not easy to watch."Rodriguez said he and his mother didn't really think anything about the creaking noise."It was just a comment she made offhand, that's why she woke up, and then she wasn't able to go back to sleep afterward — but now in hindsight, you always wonder," he said.The family is still holding out hope for good news, Rodriguez said."We are praying for a miracle, but at the same time trying to be as realistic about it as possible," he said. "Until we definitely know, there is hope. It's just dwindling by the minute."The Patel familyVishal Patel, his wife Bhavna Patel, and their one-year-old daughter Aishani Patel are believed to be among the missing, their niece Sarina Patel told CNN, adding that Bhavna Patel is four months pregnant.Cassondra StrattonCassondra Stratton, the wife of Michael Stratton, senior policy advisor with the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, is among those still believed to be missing, his law firm's spokesperson Lara Day told CNN.Judy SpiegelKevin Spiegel, who lived in Champlain Towers with his wife, Judy, said he was on a business trip in California when the building collapsed.When he woke up in the middle of the night, he had an emergency notice on his phone, he told CNN, and he notified the rest of his family."We're very hopeful that the community here will be able to find our loved ones," said Josh Spiegel, Judy's son, who lives in Orlando."My mom is an absolutely amazing person," Josh Spiegel said. "She's a fighter, and she fights for every single one of us, and we won't stop ... fighting until we find her," he said."We have a lot of hope that Judy is still alive, and still there," said Kevin Spiegel. "She's an amazing person."

HIALEAH, Fla. —

The Miami-Dade Police Department confirmed Thursday that a third person died of injuries sustained in Sunday's mass shooting.

In addition to the three who died, 20 others were shot in the 10-second shooting.

Miami-Dade Police released surveillance video that shows three masked suspects who they say opened fire at a crowd outside a concert venue in southern Florida on Sunday.

The shooting stemmed from an ongoing rivalry between two different groups, Miami-Dade Homicide Bureau Maj. Jorge Aguiar said Monday. The intended target was believed to have been standing in front of the concert venue when the shooting began, he said.

Police have not detailed the identities of the shooters or victims in what is one of the largest mass shootings in Miami-Dade County's history. There have been 41 homicides in the county this year, as of May 23, the same amount as at this point in 2020, according to Miami-Dade Police Department data.

Here's what we know about the shooting:

Shooters fired into a crowd

Shortly after midnight Sunday, a white Nissan Pathfinder pulled up to the El Mula Banquet Hall near Hialeah, police director Alfredo Ramirez III said.

That's when three people "stepped out of the vehicle with assault rifles and handguns and started firing indiscriminately into the crowd," Ramirez said.

Several others in the parking lot then armed themselves and opened fire toward the initial shooters, Aguiar said. The end result was an extensive crime scene with two dead and 21 others wounded.

Surveillance video released by police shows the white vehicle come to a stop in an alley near the venue. Three armed people, all dressed in black, wearing face coverings and with their hoods over their heads, then exit the car and run off-screen. Less than 10 seconds later, the video shows them run back to the vehicle and hop in as the driver quickly leaves the scene.

Ramirez said Sunday the shooting at the club was "targeted" and was "definitely not random."

The Pathfinder had been waiting in the parking lot for 20 to 40 minutes before the shooting, he said Monday.

Investigators found the Pathfinder submerged in a canal Monday afternoon, police said. The vehicle was reported stolen on May 15.

TV personality and Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the shooting, the businessman tweeted Sunday.

In addition, Crime Stoppers Miami-Dade and the Keys and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) added $30,000 to the reward, bringing it to $130,000.

Video: Police release surveillance video of suspects

Shooting left three dead

All of the people injured in the shooting were identified as Black and ranged in age from 17 to 32, according to a police news release.

The two people killed that night were both 26-year-old men, police said. Police confirmed Thursday that a woman died from her injuries.

Clayton Dillard III was one of the two people killed, several family members told CNN.

Dillard, 26, had a 2-year-old son, according to his grandmother. She told CNN that family members had tried repeatedly to call Dillard on Sunday and tried to looked for him at area hospitals. Later that afternoon, several members of the extended family spent several hours at the shooting scene.

His father, Clayton Dillard Jr., interrupted Monday's news conference at Miami-Dade Police headquarters, shouting a message to those responsible: "You all killed my kid! You must burn!"

Though Miami-Dade Police would not provide names, Aguiar confirmed that the man who interrupted the news conference is the father of one of the two deceased victims.

The banquet hall and billiards club had been rented out for a concert Saturday night, Ramirez said. A Facebook page for the establishment shows it hosts parties and happy hour events as well.

Aguiar called this weekend's shooting a senseless act of violence.

OXFORD, Ohio — Starting Thursday night and running through the weekend, thousands of soon-to-be Miami University graduates will take part in limited-size commencement ceremonies outside at Yager Stadium.

They are the first graduating class in Miami’s history since the early 20th century to have attended a full school year – through a combination of in-person and remote online classes – during a global pandemic as the university made sweeping adjustments to remain open.

And the series of commencement services, created in reduced event sizes to adhere to coronavirus prevention protocols, includes many graduates from the spring of 2020 who lost their chances to celebrate graduation due to more strict pandemic guidelines during the first spring of the pandemic.

“These students have been triumphant in an unprecedented time filled with uncertainty and hardships,” said Jessica Rivinius, spokeswoman for Miami.

“Their strength and stick-to-itiveness, combined with their Miami education, fuels them to be true leaders as they embark on this next step,” she said. “We are so thrilled to be able to celebrate our graduates in person and offer a remote option for those unable to attend.”

Nearly 4,800 associate, undergraduate, master’s and doctorates will be awarded starting tonight through Sunday with the first ceremony at 7 p.m. for 2020 graduates who missed out last year.

For specific times and details on graduation ceremonies see the Miami website.

In total, Miami will host nine ceremonies in which Miami President Gregory Crawford will address the graduates and their guests in the stadium on the school’s main Oxford campus.

Ceremonies will also incorporate remarks from 2021 commencement speaker Dr. Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins, the first woman of color elected as national president of the League of Women Voters.

To maintain social distancing and to meet capacity limits, each graduate is permitted to invite up to six guests to the ceremony, said school officials. Guests will have assigned seats in “pods” that are socially distanced from other attendees.

All participants, graduates, guests and staff will be required to wear face masks and maintain social distancing during the events.

The Journal-News is a media partner of WCPO 9 News.

OXFORD, Ohio — Miami University will refund roughly $27 million in fees to students and their families.

"At this time, we are beginning to send refunds for room and board and some other fees," said Carole Johnson, Miami's news and communications director.

Johnson also clarified an earlier report from a Miami employee which said the university would also refund tuition. Johnson said there is currently no refund for tuition. Miami previously moved instruction online on March 10 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Like all other Ohio public universities, classes at Miami continue, students are working toward their degrees and receiving credit, and there is no refund for tuition," Johnson said.

You can read more on the university's fee refund policies below:

"Room and Board
Miami will provide an appropriate refund of room and board for those students who left their on-campus residence hall by March 27, and did not return. We will provide a prorated credit for room rent, the residential fee, and buffet meal swipes. This applies to student residents of university housing who do not have an approved waiver to remain in housing and have left campus by March 27. Unused dining dollars will roll forward and be available for use next semester. Credits will begin on April 8, and a customized email will be sent to each student to provide exact credit amounts and an explanation of how credits/refunds were calculated.

General Fee
Students will also receive a credit for the Armstrong Student Center fee, Facility Fee, and Transit fee. A portion of the Basic General Fee will also be credited for those services that are no longer available because of the transition to remote learning.

Parking
The university will provide a prorated credit to students who have purchased Spring semester parking permits.

Students do not need to apply for these refunds or credits; they will be posted to the university bursar or RedHawk account no later than May."