The Saturday Six: Red tide and seaweed drips could threaten Florida beaches, man is free after 400+ years in prison

The weekend is finally here.

In another busy news week, a storm in the northeast cut off electricity to thousands of people and closed hundreds of schools, the price of eggs began to fall After months of rambling, Oprah revealed the 100th pick for her book club and the world mourned the loss of singer Bobby Caldwelldied at the age of 71.

Meanwhile, the actor Billy Crystal recreated his iconic ‘When Harry Met Sally’ seek its 75th anniversary, a Florida amusement park dismantled a ride where a teenager fell to his death last year, USA Today published its List of Women of the Yearwhich includes Sandra Day O’Connor and Michelle Obama, and House Republicans launched their own version of the January 6 committee.

But that’s not nearly all.

Below is our weekly Saturday six, a recap of half a dozen news stories — in no particular order — ranging from heartfelt to weird to tragic, and everything in between.

• A Physics teacher’s viral videos helped inspire women pursue scientific careers. Of the history: Women make up only a quarter of U.S. graduates who earn bachelor’s degrees in physics, according to the American Physical Society, a Maryland-based nonprofit. But Dr. Tatiana Erukhimova, a physics professor at Texas A&M University, is looking to change that with the help of social media. Watch the video above.

• A Florida a man serving a 400-year prison sentence is free after being exonerated. Of the history: Sidney Holmes, 57, was convicted in April 1989 of a 1988 robbery in which he was accused of being the getaway driver. Holmes was greeted by his family as he walked free on Monday and said the first thing he wanted to do was eat something.

• More Americans are unable to pay their billsand some states are worse than others. Of the history: A growing number of Americans say they are struggling to pay their bills, beaten by inflation and the loss of federal pandemic assistance. About 36% of consumers say it’s been “somewhat” to “very difficult” to pay their usual bills, according to the Census Bureau’s latest Household Pulse survey, which collected responses in the first two weeks of February.

• A man from Arkansas found a 3.29 carat “big ugly diamond” in a state park. Of the history: An Arkansas man found a 3.29 carat brown diamond at the Crater of Diamonds State Park earlier this month. It is the largest diamond found in the park since September 2021the park said in a statement.

• A woman who posed as a sick and injured sailor was sentenced to six years in prison. Of the history: A Rhode Island woman who posed as an ailing military veteran to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits and charitable contributions has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. . Sarah Jane Cavanaugh – who never served in the US military – claimed she was a Purple Heart and Bronze Star decorated Marine who was injured by an IED in Iraq. Cavanaugh, 32, also claimed she had developed service-related cancer.

• Finally, Florida beaches could get a punch of red tide and seaweed as spring break approaches. Of the history: A bloom of toxic algae known as red tide is already killing fish along the Gulf Coast, causing a stink. Now a large pile of seaweed twice as wide as the United States is drifting across the Atlantic and could run aground in the coming weeks, creating an even bigger mess. “It could be two problems that morph into one bigger problem,” said Mike Parsons, professor of marine science at Florida Gulf Coast University.

See you next week. In the meantime, follow CBS News on TwitterYoutube and Facebook.