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Heard On Sundial: Tropical Storm Isaias, Rep. Jones Battling COVID, Guac-a-Thon, Miami Heat Doctor

AL DIAZ
/
MIAMI HERALD
Miami Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. dunks the ball in the second quarter as the Heat hosts the Cleveland Cavaliers at AmericanAirlines Arena on Saturday, February 22, 2020.

On this Monday, August 3, episode of Sundial:

Tropical Storm Isaias Headed Towards the Carolinas

Tropical Storm Isaias stayed mostly off the east coast of Florida and is now heading toward the Carolinas. Although Palm Beach County experienced heavy rain and winds and thousands were left without power, emergency managers said this was an important dry run for hurricane procedures. 

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“It’s good to go through something when you don’t need it, just to know how to do it when, possibly, a next storm comes and it will be an actual emergency situation,” said WLRN’s Danny Rivero.

We spoke with Rivero about Tropical Storm Isaias’ effects on South Florida.

State Representative Shevrin Jones' COVID-19 Experience

Democratic State Representative Shevrin Jones from Southern Broward County tested positive for COVID-19 at the beginning of July. Now COVID-free, Rep. Jones has asked the governor to issue a statewide mandatory mask order and is pushing to improve contact tracing measures.

“I intentionally said to myself, when I first got COVID, that I’m going to document this, because for everybody who thinks this is fake or this is a hoax or doesn’t want to wear a mask, I’m going to put this in a real-life scenario for you,” said Rep. Jones. 

We spoke with Rep. Jones about his experience with COVID-19 and contact tracing as well as Tropical Storm Isaias’ impact in the Bahamas.

Guac-a-Thon

Tomorrow would have marked the 20th birthday for Joaquin “Guac” Oliver, one of the 17 victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018. In honor of their son, his parents, Manuel and Patricia Oliver, are hosting a 20-hour livestream called Guac-a-thon through the Facebook page of their nonprofit Change the Ref, which supports youth movements for gun control reform.

“He was so happy every time he was getting close to a birthday, so we had to do something Joaquin-style,” said Patricia Oliver. “When this happened to Joaquin, we decided to go and do something to honor him, because we couldn’t leave the situation in vain, so we decided to go out and speak out.”

The event will feature appearances from presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former NBA superstar Dwyane Wade and many more in support of gun control and reform efforts. 

We spoke with Patricia Oliver about the upcoming event and her family’s involvement with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Miami Heat Team Doctor

Action in the NBA bubble in Orlando began late last week. The Miami Heat kicked off its return to basketball with a big win on Saturday against the Denver Nuggets. The Heat has had to limit the roster of people allowed in the bubble. Dr. Harlan Selesnick, the Heat’s team doctor since the franchise started back in the late 1980s, was not included on that list. However, he may be able to head back to Orlando for the playoffs. 

He’s also the doctor for Inter Miami and was there for the return to soccer for MLS.

“There’s really two areas of concern. The first area is minimizing the risk of COVID spreading to other teammates and unlimitedly to their families or coaches, staff members. ... The second risk is, remember, guys didn’t really train for three to four months and now you’re asking them to go back and play with less training than they’re used to having and the injury risk is probably more significant,” said Dr. Selesnick.

We spoke with Dr. Selesnick about both teams’ COVID-19 preparations and his long career with the Miami Heat.

Leslie Ovalle Atkinson is the former lead producer behind Sundial. As a multimedia producer, she also worked on visual and digital storytelling.