Leslie Ovalle

On this Tuesday, July 2, episode of Sundial:

Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner On COVID-19

Gov. Ron DeSantis has made the message loud and clear that Florida has no plans on rolling back, even as the state continues to see thousands of new coronavirus cases every day. 

On this Tuesday, June 30, episode of Sundial:

Florida & New York’s Responses To The Pandemic

Florida’s coronavirus cases continue to trend upwards as the state has become a new hotspot for the virus. It has added tens of thousands of cases over the past week, bringing the total to more than 156,000.

This comes as former hotspots like New York have seen a decline in new COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.

Statues and monuments linked to slavery are being taken down — sometimes forcefully by protesters themselves — across the United States as people grapple with the painful history that they often memorialize.

On this Thursday, June 25, episode of Sundial:

Miami-Dade Mayor On COVID-19 And The Civilian Review Board 

Miami-Dade County leads the state in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths. On Wednesday, the county reported an additional 957 cases and 24 deaths. 

Some hospitals are finding their intensive care units are reaching close to capacity — Homestead Medical Center’s ICU beds were full as of Tuesday. 

On this Wednesday, June 24, episode of Sundial:

Florida’s Ousted Data Scientist & Her Own COVID-19 Dashboard 

Rebekah Jones was a manager in the Florida Department of Health and played a critical role in creating the state’s COVID-19 dashboard. She says she was fired after refusing to manipulate data on the dashboard. A statement from the department says she was fired for “repeated acts of insubordination.”

On this Tuesday, June 23, episode of Sundial:

Miami-Dade County Cities Requiring Masks 

Florida continues to see a rising number of coronavirus cases and municipalities are working to reduce the spread of the virus. 

On this Monday, June 22, episode of Sundial:

COVID-19 Cases In Florida Pass 100,000

Florida reached a grim milestone on Monday with a total of more than 100,000 COVID-19 cases. Half of those are in South Florida.

Juneteenth commemorates the day emancipation reached enslaved people in the deepest parts of the South.

It wasn't until June 19, 1865, two months after the end of the Civil War and more than two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, that Union Gen. Gordon Granger and more than a thousand U.S. troops went into Galveston, Texas and shared the news of freedom with the 250,000 enslaved people in the state.

On this Thursday, June 18, episode of Sundial:

Supreme Court Saves DACA 

An estimated 650,000 people living in the United States will not face the immediate threat of deportation. In a 5-4 vote Thursday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court found the Trump administration’s case to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program wasn’t strong enough.

On this Tuesday, June 16, episode of Sundial:

Miami Gardens Mayor On Improving Policing 

Cities across the country are grappling with how to reform their police departments to hold officers accountable and prevent violence against black communities.

On this Monday, June 15, episode of Sundial:

Dueling Rallies In South Florida

Protests over police brutality continued in South Florida for the third week in a row. They’re calling for an end to police violence against the Black community and many are proposing sweeping reforms to the criminal justice system, including defunding of police departments. 

This weekend things were different. There was a “law and order” rally in downtown Miami and in Miami Lakes, Trump supporters celebrated the President’s birthday and carried signs that said “All Lives Matter.”

On this Wednesday, June 10, episode of Sundial:

Fort Lauderdale Mayor On Defunding Police

On this Tuesday, June 9, episode of Sundial:

Drive-in Theaters Make A Comeback

Movie theaters are now allowed to reopen across the state — but not in most parts of South Florida. In Broward, they are set to reopen June 15. Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties haven’t announced any plans to reopen movie theaters yet. 

On this Monday, June 8, episode of Sundial:

Fort Lauderdale Police Face Scrutiny Over Violence

Protests over police brutality continued across South Florida over the weekend from Jupiter down to Homestead. They remained relatively peaceful although a number of arrests were made. 

On this Thursday, June 4, episode of Sundial:

Holding Police Accountable 

Protesters across the country are calling for police to be held accountable for their actions following violence by officers at demonstrations. The Ft. Lauderdale Police Department is asking for any video footage from protestors at Sunday’s demonstration as an officer is being investigated after shooting a woman in the head with a foam rubber bullet.