Unwelcome to Miami

Spring breakers have overwhelmed Miami Beach. Australia is swamped by its worst flooding in decades. And there may be a new vaccine in town, er, the country: AstraZeneca.

It’s Alex, let’s dive into today’s top news.

But first, a hole new reason to vaccinate: Krispy Kreme is giving away free doughnuts for customers who show their vaccination card through the end of 2021. ?

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Let’s (not) go to the beach

More than 1,000 people have been arrested this spring break season in Miami Beach, Florida, and the vacation hub extended a state of emergency applying to its entertainment district. Police Chief Richard Clements said the trouble intensified last Monday, when an unusually large crowd blocked Ocean Drive “and basically had an impromptu street party.” By Thursday, fights were breaking out, setting off dangerous stampedes of people fleeing for safety. Interim City Manager Raul Aguila said many people from other states came in “to engage in lawlessness and an ‘anything goes’ party attitude.” The amended state of emergency is expected to be in effect on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights until April 13.

  • What’s the situation elsewhere? Popular spring break beach towns have few COVID-19 restrictions.

Spring break tourists walk alongside Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, Fla., Sunday night, March 21, 2021. An 8 p.m. curfew has been extended in Miami Beach after law enforcement worked to contain unruly crowds of spring break tourists. (Photo: Carl Juste, Miami Herald via AP)

What everyone’s talking about

  • IRS says more stimulus checks are on the way, but it’s unknown when seniors on Social Security will get COVID-19 relief.
  • Australia is swamped by its worst flooding in decades – and if that’s not enough, spiders and snakes are everywhere.
  • “Radicalized by hate”: A suspect in the assault on Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick is jailed, pending trial; new Capitol riot videos show chemical spray.
  • Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson faces more than a dozen lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct after more women come forward.
  • An upcoming UFO report will be “difficult to explain,” former national intelligence official says.

White House maintains the migrant situation is ‘not a crisis’

President Joe Biden’s border czar is headed to Mexico on Monday to meet with officials about the influx of migrants coming to the U.S.-Mexican border seeking asylum, as the White House maintains there is not a crisis. Here’s what you need to know:

  • The Biden administration has repeatedly maintained that the border is closed, but that hasn’t stopped migrants from coming.
  • The government detains migrant children because officials say it would be too dangerous for them to travel back to their home countries. 
  • On March 20, the number of migrants held in the USA reached 15,000, according to CBS News.
  • House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has labeled the situation a “humanitarian crisis,” and Republican lawmakers call it “Biden’s border crisis.”

SCOTUS will hear death penalty case against Boston Marathon bomber

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear a government appeal to reinstate the death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Even if the justices don’t reinstate the sentence, Tsarnaev, 27, would serve multiple life sentences in prison. He was convicted of dozens of crimes in the terror attack that killed three people in 2013, and he received a death sentence in 2015. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit threw out the death sentence last year, finding that the judge in the trial failed to ensure a fair jury after wall-to-wall news coverage of the attack.  As is its practice, the Supreme Court took the case Monday without comment. A reversal could put President Joe Biden in a difficult position because he promised during his campaign to push for the approval of legislation to eliminate the death penalty. The justices will probably hear arguments in the fall.

Real quick 

  • Hard workers, dedicated mothers, striving immigrants:These are the 8 people killed in the Atlanta-area spa shootings.
  • A year after COVID-19 shut schools, students and teachers share what shook them – and what strengthened them.
  • COVID-19 upended college and university life. Here’s how student newspapers covered the pandemic year.
  • Kylie Jenner hit a nerve. What her latest controversy teaches us about wealth.
  • Potato Head isn’t the only toy getting a makeover. Playing cards, books and more teach kids inclusion.

Could this mean vaccine No. 4?

The United States may add a fourth vaccine to its list soon: AstraZeneca. The COVID-19 vaccine, paused briefly in Europe after reported blood clots, was found to be 79% effective in preventing symptomatic disease. Interim results on a 32,000-person trial showed the vaccine met Food and Drug Administration guidelines for safety and effectiveness. The company announced it would continue to analyze the trial results and apply in the first half of April for permission to begin distributing its two-dose vaccine in the USA. In the latest trial, which included volunteers from the USA, Chile and Peru, an independent review board specifically looked for blood clots and “found no increased risk of thrombosis or events characterised by thrombosis among the 21,583 participants receiving at least one dose of the vaccine,” according to a company news release. 

A break from taxes 

  • ? You get an extra month to file your taxes – but should you wait?
  • ? How to avoid tax on up to $10,200 of unemployment benefits.
  • ? Here’s how we reduced our property taxes without moving.

This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Sign up for The Short List newsletter here.

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