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. SunFest is officially back!
Today SunFest returns for the first time since 2019 and people are eager for the long lost music festival.
Four days, three stages, and 50+ bands and artists coverage on the West Palm Beach waterfront. Some of the artists include AJR, Sam Hunt, Goo Goo Dolls, Lil Wayne, Boyz II Men and Slightly Stoopid.
The festival runs along Flagler Ave April 28 through May 1 and ticket prices vary by day.
2. Disney says Florida can't dissolve district without paying $1 billion bond debt
The Walt Disney Company has remained publicly silent since Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law last week dissolving the Reedy Creek Improvement District, but a letter to investors shows they're not going down without a fight.
Disney recently told investors the state would be unable to resolve the district without paying for the district's outstanding debt obligations of about $1 billion. In the meantime, the district is considering its options while conducting business as usual.
The dissolution act was passed after weeks of tension between DeSantis and the Walt Disney Co. over the passage of the controversial Parental Rights in Education law, known by critics as the "Don't Say Gay" law.
3. Fauci says the US is out of the ‘pandemic phase’ of COVID-19
Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said Tuesday that the United States is out of the “pandemic phase” of COVID-19.
Fauci said that globally, the pandemic continues, but he believes the worst is behind the United States.
“Namely, we don't have 900,000 new infections a day and tens and tens and tens of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths. We are at a low level right now,” Fauci said. “So, if you're saying, are we out of the pandemic phase in this country, we are. What we hope to do, I don't believe — and I have spoken about this widely — we're not going to eradicate this virus. If we can keep that level very low, and intermittently vaccinate people — and I don't know how often that would have to be.”
4. UN organizing complex evacuation of civilians from steel plant in Ukraine
The U.N. says its humanitarian office is mobilizing an experienced team from around the world to coordinate the complex evacuation of civilians from the besieged steel plant in the battered Ukrainian city of Mariupol with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in principle to U.N. and ICRC participation in the evacuation from the plant during a nearly two-hour, one-on-one meeting Tuesday.
The sprawling Azovstal complex, which has been almost completely destroyed by Russian attacks, is the last pocket of organized Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol. An estimated 2,000 troops and 1,000 civilians are said to be holed up in bunkers underneath the wrecked structure.
5. Congressional maps head to the courts
New York's highest court has rejected new congressional maps that had widely been seen as favoring Democrats.
The state's Court of Appeals agreed Wednesday with a group of Republican voters who say that the district boundaries had been unconstitutionally gerrymandered and that the Legislature didn't follow proper procedure in passing the maps.
The Supreme Court will decide if Alabama's congressional map is constitutional. A lower court sided with the NAACP challenging the map, but the Supreme Court stepped in, allowing the new map to be used until they sort things out this fall.
Today's Forecast
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On This Day In History
On April 28, 1996, 28-year-old Martin Bryant begins a killing spree that ends in the deaths of 35 men, women and children in the quiet town of Port Arthur in Tasmania, Australia.
People across Australia and the world were horrified by Bryant’s actions. In the hopes of preventing similar crimes, gun-control laws in many areas of Australia were significantly strengthened in the aftermath of the tragedy.
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."
