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!
1. The latest in COVID-19 vaccine efforts: Doses spoiled, second doses heading to arms
More than a thousand doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were spoiled last week in Palm Beach County after the Health Care District said a refrigerator was unintentionally turned off.
A three-day drive-thru vaccine clinic begins this morning at the St. Lucie County Fairgrounds in Fort Pierce, but only for those receiving their second dose.
For those waiting to book a vaccine appointment with Publix, the next window opens Wednesday at 6 a.m.
2. Florida city begins Black History Month with Emancipation Day declaration
Lakeland is planning to formally recognize May 20 as the date slaves were emancipated in the state.
In Florida, the date was May 20, 1865, when Union Brigadier Gen. Edward McCook formally announced President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation from the steps of the Knott House in Tallahassee.
Officials say there are efforts in Florida to have cities and counties recognize May 20 as emancipation day.
3. Trump parts ways with impeachment lawyers, finds two new ones
Trump is set to stand trial on the week of Feb. 8 on a charge that he incited the riot inside the U.S. Capitol.
The departing lawyers, Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier, have left the defense team in what one person described as a "mutual decision" that reflected a difference of opinion on the direction of the case. On Sunday, Trump named two lawyers to his impeachment defense team, David Schoen, an Alabama attorney, and Bruce Castor, a former prosecutor in Pennsylvania.
Republicans and Trump aides have made clear that they intend to make a simple argument in the trial: Trump's trial is unconstitutional because he is no longer in office. Legal scholars say there is no bar to an impeachment trial despite Trump having left the White House.
4. Gay bar in West Palm Beach seeking historic designation
H.G. Roosters, the oldest LBGTQ bar in the state of Florida, had to close its doors because of a fire in May, is launching an effort to preserve its history.
The preservation allows Roosters variances during reconstruction and tax exemptions for improvements. But it would also preserve the significant history for LGBTQ's in the Palm Beaches.
To get the historical designation, there are a few more hurdles they have to jump. First, they have to go before the historical board on Feb. 23. Then in March and April, they go in front of city commissioners where the measure is expected to pass.
5. FSU fans raise more than $35,000 after player loses family home to fire
Jammie Robinson may be new to campus, but he's already feeling the love from Florida State fans.
Robinson, who recently transferred to FSU from South Carolina, announced Friday on Twitter that his family home in Georgia was destroyed in a fire.
By Sunday morning, FSU and South Carolina fans had already helped to raise in excess of $35,000.
I love my Gamecock🐔 and Nole🍢 family❤️
— jammie robinson (@JayRob_7) January 29, 2021
Today's Forecast
Coldest air of the season coming:
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On This Day In History
On Feb. 1, 1978, Antislavery crusader and Civil War veteran Harriet Tubman becomes the first African American woman to appear on a U.S. postage stamp, the first in the Post Office's Black Heritage Series.
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