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 knocked out power to thousands and closed hundreds of schools, egg prices began to fall after months of rises , Oprah revealed the 100th pick for her book club and the world mourned the loss of singer Bobby Caldwell, who died at the age of 71.

Bobby Caldwell, the soul singer and songwriter behind R&B hits like “What You Won’t Do For Love” and “Open Your Eyes,” has died, according to a statement from his wife, Mary Caldwell. Frank Micelotta/Invision/AP

Meanwhile actor Billy Crystal recreated his iconic ‘When Harry Met Sally’ look for his 75th birthday, a Florida amusement park dismantled a ride where a teenager died last year, USA Today reported its Women of the Year list, which includes Sandra Day O’Connor and Michelle Obama, and House Republicans have launched their own version of the Jan. 6 committee.

But that’s not nearly all.

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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 professor’s viral videos have helped inspire women to pursue careers in science. From the story: 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 man serving a 400-year prison sentence is free after being exonerated. From the story: 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 bills, and some states are worse off than others. From the story: A growing number of Americans say they are struggling to pay their bills, battered by inflation and the loss of federal pandemic aid. 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.

An Arkansas man found a 3.29 carat “ugly big diamond” in a state park. From the story: 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 2021, the park said in a statement.

A woman posing as a sick and injured Marine has been sentenced to six years in prison. From the story: A Rhode Island woman who posed as a sick military veteran to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits and charitable contributions has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison, it was announced Tuesday the Ministry of Justice. 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. From the story: A toxic algal bloom known as a red tide is already killing fish along the Gulf Coast, causing a stench. Now a massive mass of seaweed twice the size of 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. Until then, follow CBS News on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

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