In August, the White House announced its second-ever Astronomy Night, where astronomers, engineers, and other leaders in science and space will talk to students and teachers about their experiences. Then, they’ll stargaze on the White House lawn. It’s slated for October 19 and it’s all part of the Obama Administration’s…
Rick Beasley, a stocky, middle-aged man with a bushy handlebar mustache, stood at the head of an oval table on the fifth floor of a building in Doral. Nine nattily dressed managers filed into the windowless private conference room. After Linda Pierre, a petite 29-year-old, took a seat four feet…
The blinds are drawn in Murphy’s Miami Beach bedroom as the 33-year-old pulls a white, silicone, four-inch conical contraption from his nightstand. Called a TLC Tugger, it was designed to stretch skin gradually, as earlobes are stretched for gauges. Except Murphy isn’t stretching his earlobes. His project is much more…
For the last month, Jonathan Harrington has been living every practical jokers’ worst nightmare. The University of Miami student faced a felony drug charge and expulsion from school — all because, he insisted, he’d put out lines of powdered sugar as a joke before a dorm inspection. When a police…
Roderick “Rick” Beasley earns more than Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez. The burly middle-aged bureaucrat with a penchant for bow ties runs CareerSource South Florida, a county agency that connects thousands of local job seekers and employers. With a $70 million budget fed by state and federal funds, it’s the largest…
On April 23, 2013, Kiera Wilmot conducted a volcano experiment in her Polk County high-school hallway. The 16-year-old junior, who was working on the project for her science class, watched as a lid popped off and smoke seeped out. No one was hurt and no property was damaged in the…
Inside the University of Miami’s dorms, administrative searches are commonplace, and students are warned days ahead of time so they can get rid of their bongs, beer bottles, and hotplates beforehand. Last month, Jonathan Harrington thought he’d have some fun with the search. Before inspectors arrived, the 21-year-old English major…
Earlier this week, environmentalists raised a sea level rise rallying cry with Miami Dade County commissioners. Their demands: a $500,000 pool for engineering solutions and a new “chief resiliency officer” for the county who would act as a point person for new infrastructure to keep Miami dry. “The eyes of…
In June 2014, Colin Foord and his assistants, with hammer and chisels in hand, dove to the bottom of the PortMiami shipping channel. Their mission: to rescue 500 native corals threatened by the Army Corps of Engineer’s massive dredging project to deepen the port. Foord also had a bigger mission…
On a searing Thursday afternoon, Carlos Franco saunters down an Overtown sidewalk with a navy backpack slung over one shoulder. Inside are 18 wrapped syringes. Locals call out to the 66-year-old retired rehabilitation specialist: “Hola, Profe” and “¿Que onda, Tío?” Two men approach, their eyes scanning the street for cops…
On Friday August 22, Andres Pombo was in the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon with three friends competing in a paddelboarding competition. They were on a practice run, stand-up paddling in gusty downwind conditions. Three miles short of the finish line, the group stopped for photos amid the swells. That’s…
A team of residents has been working to keep the billion-dollar retail chain out of their neighborhood and over a year of legal hurdles hasn’t dissuaded Walmart from opening one of its superstores in Midtown. The company won an appeal last week, and now it looks like Walmart is coming…
Earlier this year, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez announced $200 million plans to raze and redevelop Miami’s oldest housing project, Liberty Square Houses, also known as Pork ‘n’ Beans. Built in 1936, the buildings are in need of an upgrade — most residents complaining of the lack of air conditioning, along…
Last week, more than 2,500 new students were welcomed to the University of Miami’s lush Coral Gables campus. They picked up ID cards, checked into dorms and kissed sobbing parents goodbye. And at night, it appears that many attended a slew of “unauthorized social events” along San Amaro Drive —…
On July 16, Edward “Butch” Foster III walked to the M&M Meat Market a few blocks away from his Homestead home to pick up some items. The 32-year-old father of six never came home. At 4 p.m., two Homestead police officers, responding to a 911 call about a gun-wielding man,…
As Miami Beach is midway into a $300 million project to install dozens of anti-flooding pumps around the island, the jury is still out on their effectiveness at battling sea level rise and tidal flooding. But some residents say they’re sure about one thing: That the pumps are flooding Biscayne…
Dressed in forest-green scrubs, Dr. Hansel Tookes spends his lunch break searching for used syringes around an Overtown overpass. Tookes’ eyes scan the weeds beside the sidewalk. He glosses over condom wrappers and shattered beer bottles, then hones in on one tiny orange cap from the tip of a syringe…
Richard Conlin woke up to the clatter of construction on Wednesday. He lives in Southgate Towers at 10th Street and West End. From his window nine stories up, he scanned Biscayne Bay and saw a sight he says he’s grown all too familiar with: the sheen of an oil slick…
This past March, Killian High School was rocked by a shocking attack — a 17-year-old female student stabbed 15-year-old star football player DeAndre Johnson in the chest, leaving him clinging to life. Then news emerged of an alleged crime that had sparked that assault. Months earlier, the female student had…
Construction is almost done at 250 Wynwood, the modern, six-storied, 11-unit residential building going up on 24th Street. In a neighborhood that seems to have it all — world-class street art, craft beer, artisanal coffee, creative office spaces — there aren’t many options for people to actually sleep there at night. And that’s mostly…
Wynwood has a lot going for it – art galleries, a booming restaurant and cafe scene and yeah, that world-class street art. But there’s one thing sorely lacking in the former industrial neighborhood: green space. There’s that one lovely Royal Ponciana rooted outside Panther Coffee and a few flimsy palms…
Miami-Dade county’s new transit director has big plans. While Alice Bravo, the city of Miami’s former deputy city manager, has several short-term projects in mind, her grand vision is sure to raise eyebrows in South Florida: Eventually, she hopes that the plans her and her team put in place in…
